Leonis: Lion City

Fiore stuck close behind, as we emerged into a decrepit hallway, caked in a hundred years of dust, settled in the cracked floorboards, mingling with the mouldy walls.

The air was thick and musky, and the silence was none too reassuring. Still, we passed under the shambled chandeliers, stepping over the rubble and debris in the dark.

There were no signs of enemies, little to fear but the endlessness of the long hall that continued was strangely haunting. The taste and the touch of this place were so wrong. I recall touching the walls and feeling the paper crumble into my fingers, with Fiore's heat, following close behind. but none of it was right.

Everything was different from earth. These creatures were not human. The wallpaper itself seemed to be formed of some mixture of sand and rock, even the texture... I thought to myself felt the distinction between materials evolved from wood, from paper and plastic, but everything here had clearly developed from sand and stone, skillfully worked upon by unknown machines and techniques to form into wallpaper and walls that crumbled; dusting against my fingertips to shift away.

I recall fear and fascination in that thought, this was a completely different world, with a completely different origin of existence.

"This place is insane, are you seeing this?" I asked Fiore whose innocent face creased in confusion, the toes on her bare feet quivering at the unfamiliar ground beneath it.

"Fioremika feels... that she is high above the sands. Fioremika is frightened." Her arms constricted around my arm like a terrified child, her breasts pressing into my back.

"It'll be okay, just stay close. I'm pretty sure I can smell the fresh air, just a little further down here."

And so we walked on careful feet, in this ruined hall that seemed to span for miles, but the promise of fresh air tickled my nose, making it simple enough to follow to another scarred and ruined door.

It too was locked but if I could just use the Mysteria again, perhaps I could ruin the structure of the--

Fiore threw herself at the door, smashing two of her arms into the lock which exploded out of its hinge, screaming as it collided with the ground sending a torrent of dust into Nero's eyes and nose.

A cough lept from my lips, looking at the huntress unamusedly.

Fiore shrugged "Fioremika is uncomfortable." She said shortly before walking directly through the door without pause.

The both of them followed a winding staircase that creaked and tattered up towards the promise of fresh air. The poor structure threatened to swallow up their feet, creaking and crunching as the duo crept up, however passing ruined banners long unreadable by eyes who had not seen them before. A gentle breeze swept down to Our worried faces, and as she tiptoed towards the landing, a tall, heavy door of wood and iron gave us all the signs of an escape.

The doors were heavy but with the cool air flowing between the cracks, and beams of light teased from the other side, I pushed with all of my might, forcing them both open... That is a time I will never forget, because it would be the only time that I could look at a city of Mars, truly for the first time.

Fiore and I came tumbling out of the door, clutching one another to keep our footing, on what I immediately realised was a towering battlement of hard Red stone.

The open-air was a blessing after being in that dank, dark place...

"Warwolf complains about Fioremika rushing ahead, but then he just---" Fiore paused, so did I "--He just....." She stammered, eyes widening to the eldritch sight that reflected in her black eyes.

The battlement stood tall, overlooking the lion city of Leonis. This place... it was unlike any city I had seen before, a hundred thousand buildings of Sandstone bricks wedged together in a circling arc, stacked on top of one another sprawled across and great ascending cliff, where strange octagonal structures lept from the stone in the form of shadowed monolith towers.

Lights scattered on the winds like fireflies, the midnight sky above shining with the violet dawn; dotted with shining stars.

But it was more than that, these... vehicles, like gleaming Wheeless motorcycles, roared and buzzed as they whizzed through the city and its black spires like swarms of birds sailing on the stream of cool air that permeated the tattered metropolis.

The City spanned for miles, with the population nary to be seen underneath the thing that crowned it all. Calling it a castle would have been a lie, it was more the biggest ruin that I'd ever seen with walls converging on it like a protective shield, extending its battlements that spanned the entire outer wall, protecting everything from the endless red sea beyond.

Sat on the edge of the stone in her ivory tailed coat, gleaming with silver plates and knives, Griffin of Blades tended faithfully to her beautiful silver sword.

Fiore seemed shaken, uncertain "This place is scary, Fiore doesn't like it." The Huntress squeaked as she quivered at this unknown, alien place.

Turning, I cupped her face and smiled "Wait for me in there, I will not be long."

Fiore gritted her white teeth and hesitated.

"Go on, it's okay, I'm just going to talk to Griff. Find out what this place really is."

"Isn't... the Warwolf scared?" Fiore whispered, averting her eyes from the city below.

I touched the small of her back reassuringly, curling a finger in her ivory hair "Of course it does, I... Have no idea what any of this stuff is supposed to be, I recognize the basics but everything else... I mean what even are those things in the sky?"

The Huntress shrugged, relaxing seemingly just from hearing that she was not alone in being intimidated by this new world.

Fiore stood up to kiss my tattooed cheek before slinking back into the safety of the rickety outer wall.

She knew I was there, Griff had great powers there was no doubt about that now, trust, however, was another matter.

"You never just stay where I leave you hmm?" Griff called, turning her silver helm to look at me.

"Yeah well, when you knock out a pair of capable but uniformed individuals with brain magic without their knowledge, they tend to find a way out before sitting tight." I hesitated to move towards the edge where Griff sat but swallowed my fear and approached the edge.

So many things felt off about this city, how certain parts of it were crumpled together like wads of newspaper, how it was scarred from what seemed to be battle damage, the odd geography was jarring, to say the least.

"You look at this city like that, and You wonder why I knocked you out?" Griff asked, twirling her blade into its sheath masterfully "Neither of you were truly ready to see this place, even now I can feel you shaking. The Huntress quivers like a newborn fresh from the womb. I meant to ease you in, get used to this place and its people--"

"You didn't have to do it like this." I protested, staring at her seriously "I get that you need me, you need the wolf that mounts the world. But I will not be tethered along on a line, how am I supposed to trust you if you keep puppeteering us? Why is that easier for you, than just working with me, telling me the truth?" Carefully I moved into Griff's space "What do you have to hide?"

The Mysterian Warrior jolted reaching out to clutch my shoulder "You must never say my true name in the open, not here."

"Don't treat me like a fool." Nero scowled "You chose this place for a reason, it's high up, ready enough to fall off the edge. Nobody would come looking for us here." It was clear enough, even walking in this 'Suspended ruin' felt near to my last.

I enjoyed Aquila, but Griffin of blades... She was a woman to be cautious of. The rest of Marte surely knew that. Damn, I really was starting to think of this place as Marte, my vision, my real vision -- the Human one felt a long way away now, this was a different world with different rules.

Griffin removed her helmet, the orange embers flying from her horns as her black locks whirled against her nape.

Her eyes were serious, but it was hard to ignore her beauty "So it's the truth you want?" She sneered royally, invading my space, poking my chest "The Truth is that if we tread in the wrong direction then we will be destroyed. If I even began to explain how much is at stake now then you'd be running back to Gaia. There is one power in this world and when we forget to fear it is when we fall." She lectured as usual.

"I don't ask for a lot. Griffin of Blades..." I knew she would understand this, She functioned on survival and ferocity, I did too "...You know that I'm not from your world. But I will not be someone's puppet, not here, not again."

Griffin of Blades approached, her eyes narrow, the rumble of her tone made a distinct growl that I didn't expect "So you think this is some, pity fest? as if the reality will withdraw at your feet. You are a Male, a lesser being, valued only by your... fascinating qualities." Her face seemed to flush even redder than it already was "Here you are, little but a twinkling spec among the rust storm of chaos, and the sooner you realise the real danger, the less likely you'll be to complain."

Huffing, I felt my patience drain away "Go ahead then, tell me what there is to fear." The suspension was tiring enough.

Griffin stepped away and knelt back down to sit on the edge of the High battlements. The light of the city below, made her eyes gleam in such an unfortunately alluring way... I tried to ignore it, but she was unlike any sorry Ghetto sket that I'd ever lusted over.

"The Empress never raises a hand," Griffin explained, spilling a long stare with shadowed eyes over the balcony edge. "That's what the Black Iron legion is for. Once there were many, Sixty in total, luckily they have fallen over the ages. They die on their own accord usually, but sometimes -- sometimes somebody gets lucky.

They came here, to Leonis, just when the Empress's grace began to grow too big for her little cult of Vermillico; and so the Legion was born. At first, it was the men, the Piss-blooded Varoon who have been our slaves for centuries. They'd find them gutted in the streets. The problem came when the women started to vanish into thin air, nobody would find them... or the babies stolen from their cribs.

Eventually, the Centurions came outright. They'd shown themselves in full, and Lord Arceus Atlas, the first lord of the Red Sea laughed at them. The City of Leonis, his home by conquest had withstood attacks a thousandfold. But do you know what happened when the Sixty got to the city gate?"

Griffin continued to look out, to the ruined scarred city that I saw still bore the scars of the aftermath.

Her pale eyes turned to me, haunted but true "The stars were scarred with Smoke and ash, eight-hundred thousand inhabited the city, and Eight-hundred thousand cadavers were found strung up. From the banks, the clinics, the poor houses, the brothels, Eight-thousand shredded cadavers hung towards the sky."

I raised an eyebrow, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued. "How's that possible?"

Griffin shrugged "The Centurions have... powers, unlike Mysteria, nobody knows what it truly is, but they are all freakish killers, faster than a Javelin and strong enough to rip any Battlemaiden in half. As ambitious as the rebellion foolishly is, they will always be butchered by the 12 remaining Centurions and their Captian, because the Legion worships the Empress, she is their faith and under the Gospel of Gore, they live and breathe as one being, working to accomplish the will of their goddess at any cost.

That's why they will always win, not just the super strength, speed and powers filled with horror. But because they are united, and the Rebellion never will be." She stood, softening slightly, capturing my eyes "I don't want to knock you out against your will, but I have no desire to lose you. I want freedom, liberty, for my people."

"And who exactly do your people qualify as?" I asked.

Griffin smirked, as she brushed my shoulder, gripping my collar gently, smiling with a mysterious excitement "Go get Fiore, and I'll show you."

That's just the way it was with Aquilla, It... was entirely out of my hands.

"Go on, don't keep me waiting." She insisted softly, alluringly.

It was with the shake of a head that I pulled away and back towards Fiore.

She'd walk with rickety feet over the battlement where we followed a set of long spiralling stairs that followed the oddly curved, city walls. Great braziers blazed vibrant orange against the cold stone, with the twisted city lingering below.

"Fioremika does not like this. She is very very scared." The Litchen huntress suddenly became a girl, I'd never seen her this afraid. I held her close by my side as she descended the stairs on quivering legs, her arms clutched closely at her side, as she cried in the kind of silent fear that expected something big and terrifying to jump out and devour her.

Aquila merely marched forward, much to my annoyance. "Hey, stop for a minute, can't you see she's afraid, I thought you said this would give us time to adjust?" The City was unlike anything you'd ever seen, like an alien work of perfect architecture, where time had worn the old away, the new was built on top of that... I don't think I will ever appreciate the newness of this.

Griffin of blade halted and turned, her silver helm glistening against the high above flames. "Come, You cannot surely fear this?" She glanced at Fiore, shivering as tears wetted her cute cheeks "Lady Fiore, there is nothing to be afraid of, nobody has patroled this stairway in the dead of night since the Night of Gallows, we will descend into the Lowside where none will bother us..."

"For god's sake Griff she's having a panic attack just give her a god damn second!" I growled, trying to comfort the huntress who could not stop herself from peering around, drenched in paranoia.

"This is the Empire, Nero. We cannot afford to slow." Reached the small satchel hidden behind her ivory cloak. In a sudden thrust, she cast something towards me which smacked into my palm as I caught it.

The clear glass tube shone in my hand, with a single deep azure capsule inside, resembling some kind of medicinal pill "Whatever kind of **** this is, I don't think giving it to her is a good idea."

The Mysterian Warrior tilted her head, it was the only part of her that I could read clearly with that helmet and her calm and collected posture. Aquilla didn't move or act like a normal person, every movement was clearly focused and deft, her stride so soft and cautions that she almost floated like a phantom wherever she walked, spoke or moved.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes, briefly opening the bottle to smell at the contents... which made my throat tighten as I felt Fiore vibrate in horror at what she couldn't understand. Taking the Huntress's top left hand in mine, I tried to reassure her with a comforting smile "Fiore, look at me."

"Fiore c-can't" She muttered, eyes whizzing around.

"Please, nothing will hurt you, I won't let it." As gentle as I promised, Fiore slowly pulled her dark eyes towards me; I'd never once thought to see anything so **** at that moment -- But the danger of this place wasn't lost on me, If we were to get out of the open then **** measures would be required. I held up the bottle, the little pill inside whirling around "You see this little thing in here, it will help you feel calm again, if you trust me, you'll eat it. Don't chew just swallow it whole, I know you don't--"

The Litchen girl snatched the open bottle and mashed its opening into her lips, I watched as she sunk the pill down her throat without a second's hesitation.

The two of us both paused, but the huntress continued to quiver "F-Fiore... is still scared?"

"Give it a while to work okay? come on stay close, I'll be here with you the whole time."

She nodded, although a little hesitantly "Promise me, Love?"

Keeping her at my side, I led her forward as Griffin merely walked on, "I promise"

The Spiralling Path led down to the spiralling city below, as eerie as it was watching the strange architecture grow closer, neither Fiore nor I had to properly delve into the City's depths just yet.

It was when our trio, following Griff, who lead us down to a landing made of moss ridden stone, that's when I noticed just how decrepit this place was, even the solid black iron gate that Griffin unlocked with a strange black key that fit into an even stranger black lock, I wondered how much she was hiding under that cloak of hers.

I carried Fiore down the stairs now, she was smooth and lean and her body had stopped shaking. She buried her face in My neck, breathing soft breaths on my arm "Tell me you're alright?" I said to her.

She huffed, closing her big brown eyes, slumping her silky ivory hair on my collar as we reached the landing where Griffin of blades turned the heavy black key, twice, three times backwards, before pushing it deep. The Gate clicked in approval.

"Fiore is... Fiore is." She mushed her thick red lips together, tasting her own speech with her tongue "I... I am alright, Great Warrior." Her voice was oddly clear now, calm and docile.

"It's a sedative." I realised, likely some kind of benzodiazepine.

With a gesture, Griffin made energy crack through the air it lashed against the gate which screamed open, clearly pulling it with her Mysteria before turning expectantly "It was the last stabilizer I had, make sure you hold her tight, her delirium will make it far too difficult for her to traverse on her own."

"Yeah uh-huh, and where exactly is it that we are going now?" I asked, exasperated.

She paused as if in thought "Perhaps... this is one surprise that is worth preserving."