Patience

I never exactly hit any scores growing up. I was a fast, action-oriented boy even as a child, I would get aggressive, cause trouble, crush anybody who tried to stop me... but I lived in a cardboard world, one that couldn't house me... so I locked my strength away, became something small and forgettable.

Everybody said the worst comes easy, but hey what's the worst that can happen?

This Red planet swept me away, away from my problems, but pocked at my fears, the thing I killed with a power I don't know, Calliope, Aquila, it's all so much, but Fiore has walked with me down a path, one that has led me to entanglement in my mind and soul.

I can't say I remember waking up... or standing as the air buzzed with power.

I was blind... but now I see.

I couldn't begin to identify what had happened to me, I wasn't high, I wasn't wired, just pure clarity, perfect harmony in all things, the world was laid before me.

I could see the waving atoms, conjoined to the specks of carbon that made up the universe, I saw the storm, fluttering by and in the harmony of its grace; I felt the brand kiss my skin.

This was something incredible, the work was simple, every plan was mapped out, switched on, ready to go.

My arms shuddered as I lifted them, tugging at the strings of reality, that was as clear as glowing lines, streaks of the cosmos made real. Clutching at the rusting storm, I began to pull, tearing with all my will, forcing this red sea to part.

My pulling was grander than nature, who was **** to obey my will, I crushed them then, and **** them to part a good forty miles ahead, creating a viable pathway.

The reasoning for this metamorphosis was alien to you, but damn was it something, I could feel the path ahead, felt the potential stirring, I wanted to learn, needed to grow my vast library, to become a **** of pure power.

"That's one hell of a ride..." The power of Attrahunt freshly branded on my arm, another Glyph unlocked, that meant four now.

"N-Nero?" A voice called.

I of course was delighted to see Fiore, charging at me so that she could pounce, her breast bouncing widely as her arms wrapped around me. She kissed me so fiercely I nearly saw stars, her eyes smouldering with passion as she parted, "Fiore is soooo happy Nero is alive!" She growled, then bursting into tears.

"No need for tears, come on, we gotta get moving," I whispered in sensible urgency,

I moved promptly over to Griff who stared in wonder, her red face bruised and tight as those same bruises began to fade "Weird Magic tree water?" The Inquiry was slightly oblivious

"Weird magic tree water, Yeah," she confirmed, her cheeks falling as she dashed towards me and grasped me in a tight hug. "Don't worry me like that, I thought we'd fail before we began."

I wasn't having any of that "What happened to the powerful woman that caught my eye?" I asked softly.

Her frown deepened, then there was a small transfer to mild sadness before she hardened, smiling quite proudly "What are you waiting for then, messiah? Conjure up some way for us to cross the desert to Leonis. Smartass."

It wasn't exactly, a difficult task. I had studied these creatures carefully while in the valley, they communicated via a whistling call that performed at different functions, I had barely heard any of their calls and yet here they were, pulled from the deepest recesses of my mind, clear and ready to go.

I put Illa aside, her gaze becoming black as her cute swept-back horns "Don't manhandle me!"

She was swiftly ignored, I merely puckered my lips and stuck my fingers between my lips, curling them into a loud pitched, screaming whistle, what they call, a saviour whistle

"What in the 9 circles was that!?" Griff snapped, I was undeterred.

"You will see, in time, do us both a favour and trust me. Mysteria." My smile deepened.

The great parting of the red sea beside us was a beautiful sight then, I didn't know how long it would hold, but there was no time to waste even thinking on that. No, I had other concerns, where were the sphinka? had I not summoned them with the saviour's call?

But just was my luck, making me think I'd dropped the ball, but just as I paused, trotting down the passage elegantly, were three beautiful azure beasts, huge feline creatures with mischievous eyes and razor-sharp claws that could race along the sand dunes for days.

The Three approached me first, I could feel it, a tight line between us, bonded by my rumbling instinct, that roared now like an Anthem.

That's what I was now, that is the name my instinct truly possessed: The Anthem of War, I knew this deep inside, engraved into the tissue, The Anthem was a fact, it kept me clear and beyond processing.

"Come on, get in the saddles, we can't waste any time," I commanded urgently, as the others grabbed our bags, with our Unlimited funds, and other goodies.

Together we went to mount the sphinka, who had a collective growl of protest. I was different now, I know how to communicate my sorrows in our little transaction "You know the deal, I do the call, you help me the best you can." I reminded them adamantly, Fiore, Griff and Ghila looked at me strangely for speaking to an animal, seemed I was no less strange.

The Sphinka were still hesitant mind you, so I cut in a deal "We'll stop half of the way, if you decide we're too much of a trouble, you can ditch us at the halfway mark." I thought it was a fair deal at the time.

Griff... not so much "We are not walking 500 miles of the desert, Nero, without the sphinka we'll never get there in time, we'll die do you get that!?"

I stood my ground "Deal or no deal, boys?"

The Sphinka all snorted and relaxed, sitting down their huge dart-shaped bodies as they allowed us to mount them, and to ride them into the red sea's great gap.

We had whispered our goodbyes to Ghila, who gave wide parting words "Do not overestimate your foe, nor underestimate your own family. Learn from the world and our god will provide. To the sky."

Fiore bowed "To the Sky, Grandmother-Ghila."

The three of you shot off, gliding like bullets through the sea, shooting further through the miles-long gab, I'd never felt anything move or... glide over surfaces this fast, it was a soft shuttle carrying you into the world, bolting across the vast sea of orange and red sand, clearing the eye of the storm at rapid speeds.

I felt my hand sneak into my pocket, clutching something small and soft. My eyes stared at the black and white marble orb in my hands... If this was what I thought it was...

The Journey would belong ahead to the halfway mark, but we still had a ways to go, it was all a case of pure unadulterated, Patience.