Sirius the Great Light Detective

[Cedahlia]

Sirius’s fashionable winter boots crunched aggressively in the snow as he walked off the beaten path through the sparse area of some forest. His hands were lodged in the front pockets of his winter coat. His youthful face was caught in a frown he just couldn’t seem to get rid of.

Beside him, a majestic white fox walked along, its paws making little divots in the snow. “So,” Vale started conversationally to end the ongoing silence. “Where are we going?”

“I don’t know,” Sirius said, his voice coming out annoyed but not in the direction of the fox. “I didn’t exactly plan beyond the dramatic exit.”

“You are very good at those,” Vale commented.

“The best,” Sirius said. “Other than Haru,” he added thoughtfully. “I might just be normal but I still know how to make a spectacle.” He came to a stop and just kicked some snow in front of him. “It’s just not fair! I can do stuff too. I’ve been through shit. I’m not some delicate teenager that needs to be protected and put behind some..some glass thing or whatever.”

“Well if you calmly talk to them about what’s bothering you about what just happened-“

“Vale, I love you, you’re my best friend, but I kind of just want to vent right now,” Sirius said. “I can’t handle logic yet. Save it for when I feel better?” he requested.

“Sure,” Vale said, his multiple tails swishing against the snow covered ground.

“Thanks,” Sirius said. He petted the top of Vale’s head and sighed softly. It was so quiet out there except for them. He couldn’t even hear the sounds of fiends moving about winter. There was nothing but silence and white. His red hair was the only color in sight. In such an environment it was easy to get lost in his thoughts.

Until...

His music player started up in his pocket and began blasting a song.

I'm just a step away
I'm just a breath away
Losin' my faith today
Fallin' off the Edge today

Vale turned his head to look at Sirius’s pocket. “If you want to blast angry music, I’m totally for it, but maybe not so loud. Who knows what sleeps out here.”

“I didn’t turn it on,” Sirius said and took the thing out of his pocket.

It's just another war
Just another family torn
Falling from my faith today
Just a step from the Edge
Just another day in the world we live

“You pocket turned it on then,” Vale said.

“No, I don’t even have this song,” Sirius said and started pushing the pause button. The music wouldn’t turn off. “What the hell? Really?”

I need a hero to save me now
I need a hero (save me now)
I need a hero to save my life
A hero'll save me (just in time)

“It won’t turn off,” Sirius said, frustrated. “Maybe the cold broke it.”

Vale cocked his head to the side. “If this is something spooky…I’m out.”

“Oh come on, it’s just a malfunctioning piece of shit technology,” Sirius cursed and tried to at least turn down the volume. No go. The thing might as well be possessed for all it listened to him. Aggravated, he turned around and chucked it.

The music player hit a wall of solid ice and bounced back at Sirius, bouncing again off his leg and falling into the snow.

Who's gonna fight for what's right
Who's gonna help us survive
We're in the fight of our lives
And we're not ready to die

The music kept right on playing, oblivious to the abuse and cold. Sirius and Vale both looked up at the tower made of ice that had suddenly manifested behind them. It was taller than their current home. Taller even than his adopted fathers in their true forms. It glistened in the sunlight as the door creaked open.

The boys were speechless for a moment, just taking it in. Such a simple tower but it was utterly beautiful, crafted with obvious care.

“Welp, I’m out,” Vale said and turned around.

“Hey, not so fast,” Sirius said and grabbed the scruff of the fox’s neck. “You can’t just leave me. Look at this thing.”

“No, you look at it. I want no part in it,” Vale said.

“It doesn’t look spooky though. It just looks…I dunno…magical?” Sirius said.

Vale huffed and turned his head back. “You are the last person I trust to tell me if something is haunted, you realize.”

“Yeah…fair enough,” Sirius said. He paused. “I really want to look inside. You’re not going to abandon me to go alone, are you?”

Vale whined. “No. Fine. I hate you. I want ice cream after this.”

“Deal,” Sirius said.

I've got a hero (I've got a hero)
Livin' in me

I'm gonna fight for what's right
Today I'm speaking my mind
And if it kills me tonight
(I will be ready to die)

A hero's not afraid to give his life
A hero's gonna save me just in time

The music faded into the background as Sirius and Vale entered the ice tower.

- - -

“Hello?” Sirius said as they walked through the first part of the tower. It was ice on the inside as well. The first floor seemed to just be a garden of plants sculpted from ice. It was incredibly beautiful and enchanting. “This would be a great place for a photoshoot,” he commented.

“Yeah, if the owner doesn’t shoo us off for trespassing,” Vale commented and sniffed at the ice trees and flowers. “This is just normal ice,” he commented.

“See? Not spooky. Just…art,” Sirius. That was mildly disappointing but he still had to wonder what the tower was doing there in the middle of nowhere. It hadn’t been there before. He knew that. “Hello!” he called again. “Anyone home?”

Nothing. There was not a sound in the whole of the tower. Nothing to be heard at all other than the sound of their own footsteps. Sirius did a trick with his light but everything looked normal. One of the flowers turned vaguely yellowish in color but that was all.

“Maybe the owner froze to death here.”

“Wow,” Vale said. “That was incredibly morbid of you.”

“I’m just saying,” Sirius said and continued onward. There wasn’t much but the ice plants so he found the stairs and ascended up the tower.

- - -

Each floor they reached had different ice sculptures in different themes. The second floor was furniture. The third floor was accessories. The fourth floor was technology. The fifth floor was books.

“Everything in this room smells normal too,” Vale commented as they looked over the books. Most of them were just plain ice carvings of books. But three of them had different symbols on the covers: A chain, a dream symbol, and the last one looked as if it had been clawed out. Sirius couldn’t tell what was meant to have been there.

“Hm,” he said as he put the three books down. Curious, he continued to look at the books. He found a few others that had words on the covers.

The Betrayed.

Eternal Rest.

Endless Captivity.

Sin.

“This mean anything to you?” Sirius asked Vale.

The ninetails looked at the ice books. “Nope,” he said. “But neither of us are the brains,” he reminded his friend.

“True that,” Sirius said and put the books down.

“Can we leave now?” Vale asked. He wasn’t as nervous now as he’d been when he first entered the ice tower but he still felt that something was wrong in the air. He could sense magic but it seemed to be coming from above and he wasn’t massively interested in discovering the source of it.

“No, there’s only two floors left,” Sirius said. “We came this far. We should check them out. Besides, something feels wrong. I know all this is normal so far but…It’s not right.”

Vale shifted uncomfortable where he stood.

“You sense it too, don’t you?” Sirius asked.

“Yes,” Vale admitted reluctantly.” There is magic in this room but it isn’t very strong. More…warding magic,” he said.

“What’s that?” Sirius asked.

“Everything here is pretty ice based but there’s containment magic mixed in with it from the smell. And the magic in here smells like…release magic,” he said. “It’s hard to explain.” Vale wasn’t sure how to put it into the words for the human that correctly described what he was getting.

“Hm…” Sirius said. “Might we well go up then and see what that’s all about.”

- - -

The sixth floor was the emptiest of them all so far. There were only three ice sculptures and they weren’t very large. They were located in the very middle of the room and appeared to be some kind of cat type fiend.

Sirius knelt down in front of them. They were almost identical except for markings in the patterns etched into the “fur” for the ice. “They almost look real…” he said as he touched the nose of one of them.

“They’re not,” Vale said as he sniffed all three of them. “Ice. Enchanted ice, yes. But still ice.”

“I bet these mean something,” Sirius said, looking at the symbols carved into the ice cats.

“Drake and Hikari would probably know what,” Vale commented. “Or Eden.”

Sirius frowned and made a sound that wasn’t quite a grrr but was close. He stood up quickly, his hands back in his pockets. “One more floor and then we’re out,” he said, suddenly not as keen to be in this tower as before. The troubles from earlier had returned and he lost part of his curiosity. But he was stubborn and determined to see the tower exploration through even if nothing came of it.

- - -

The seventh and final floor was not nearly as empty as the last. Although there were only three main ice sculptures, they were not of fiends but of men. Young men, appearing to be around Eden’s age. They were similar enough in face to be identified as family. There were chains attached to various parts of each of the men’s bodies. The chains extended from the ice walls and seemed to be anchored there.

Sirius could tell right away that the chains were magic. He didn’t know what kind specifically but he recognized the feel of them from similar chains in the Hunters’ prep room back at the manor.

“This seems a bit excessive for sculptures,” Sirius said, hoping beyond hope that this was just some weird art display.

Vale sniffed the air. “No…These are real.”

“Those are humans?” Sirius asked.

“No…” Vale shook his head. One of his tails briefly brushed against one of the many chains in the room. It sent a shock through his body that caused him to jump. While his main reflex was to flee, he wouldn’t actually leave Sirius. His claws dug down into the ice floor and he made a sound of pure anxiety and unhappiness.

“I know, I know,” Sirius said, petting his head and checking that he was uninjured while also avoiding the chains. “These people are alive. Fiends. Whatever they are. We can’t just leave now knowing they’re trapped here.”

“They might be trapped for a good reason,” Vale hissed.

“Or a nefarious one,” Sirius said. He stood up straighter and took in the room. He didn’t know the first thing about how to free this people. There was nothing around to signify who they were or what had done this to them.

But the longer he stared the more he realized something. “Hey…the chains don’t originate from the wall,” Sirius said. “Look. They’re coming from his bracelet.” He pointed to a bracelet on the wrist of the middle sculpture. “These aren’t what trapped them. I think they were meant to but now…now they’re just…protecting them, I think.”

“So their attackers tried to bind them and had the chains turned on them?” Vale asked. “Okay…How about we don’t mess with that. Come on, we should get the Hunters or somebody.”

“No,” Sirius said. “I can figure this out on my own. I can do this. Just give me a minute, okay?”

“Okay,” Vale agreed and started to lick the tail that had been shocked.

Sirius suddenly left the room and went back to the sixth floor to look at the sculptures of the fiends. He was sure that these fiends were the three men in the room above. And if the chains weren’t what was keeping them bound then something else was. Something else that had to be tied to the tower somehow.

“Here,” he said to Vale as he pointed to the symbols etched on the fiend sculptures. “Maybe these are related to the books with those symbols on them. See how their paws are? They’re meant to be holding something. I bet it’s those books.”

“How do we know which symbol here corresponds to which book symbol?” Vale asked.

“I don’t know,” Sirius admitted. “I’ll just have to figure it out.” They both quickly descended the stairs once more. Sirius was quick to grab the three books he’d been looking at earlier and rushed back up the stairs with them. He made it halfway before he noticed the change in the ice. It was starting to crack and turn an ominous red color.

“Uh….” He looked at Vale, the ice fox, for an explanation.

“Keep going,” Vale said and nudged Sirius up the stairs with his head.

Once at the top of the stairs, Sirius could sense magic materializing below as the ice became even redder in color. “Vale…there aren’t any doors,” he said, starting to actually feel a bit panicked for the first time.

“I got this,” the ice fox and planted himself firmly at the top of the stairway. “You just figure out the riddle.”

Sirius hesitated a moment but then he turned around and quickly went over to the ice cats. He spread the books out in front of him. The last one was useless because of the claw marks obscuring the symbol. He’d had to ignore that one until he figure out the other two.

It took more time than he wanted to think about to solve the riddle. He was really starting to feel the cold. It was making it harder to move and was causing him to feel a little sleeping. But he finally put the last book in the paw of the last ice cat.

Nothing happened.

He waited.

Still nothing happened.

The sounds below did not get any better either.

Sirius felt panic beginning to take over. He dug his nails into his almost numb hands, using the pain to force himself to focus and concentrate. And suddenly he remembered how the flower in one of the previous rooms had changed colors with his light.

Immediately he lit up the room with his special light. It turned each cat and book a different color. Thinking of each of the symbols, he adjusted the colors until finally he felt something click.

Below him the magic raged.

Above him, the sound of heavy, metal chains hitting the floor.

The ice of the tower turned as red as fresh spilled blood. And then the tower vanished completely. Sirius and Vale were once more standing in the snow outside. Sirius was still on his knees, Vale still behind him, paused in whatever ice magic he’d been working to keep Sirius safe from whatever had been in the tower.

Sirius stood up slowly. Only when he looked up did he see that the three men were standing there. But they weren’t ice any longer. Their eyes were a pale gold. Their clothes were darkest black.

The first one with the obscured book was slightly taller than the other two. He had long, pale blonde hair and the tanned skin of the people of Alola. The one at the end who had had the dream symbol had hair that was shorter in the back and longer in the front. His hair was a brassy copper that faded to black at the ends. His skin was pale. And the one in the middle, who stood slightly in front of the other two, had the shorted hair of all. It was completely black. His skin was somewhere in between the other two’s in color. There was something regal about him.

Sirius exhaled quietly, both in relief and slight awe. They were all three incredibly beautiful, more so than any normal human could be. They reminded him of the way Jiyong and Taeyang appeared as humans, almost too perfect to fully belong in the mortal world.

“Are you the one who freed us?” the middle one asked. His voice had a commanding tone to it.

“Yes,” Sirius said and put his hand down on Vale’s head as the fox came to stand beside him.

“Hm,” the middle one said and looked him over. “Do you know who we are?” he asked, curious.

Sirius shook his head.

“What’s your name?” the freed man asked.

“Sirius,” he answered. “And this is Vale.”

All three men looked at Vale for a moment and then back up to Sirius. It was obvious that the middle one was their leader of their little group. “Are you a Hunter?” he asked.

Sirius made a face. “No,” he admitted.

The man smiled, as if pleased. There was something a little unsettling about that smile. Sirius suddenly felt nervous. But then the moment passed. “It seems we are in your debt. A gift for you then, from each of us.”

The taller one came forward first. He ran his finger down Sirius’s palm. Sirius shivered, unsure if it was from the cold or whatever magic he’d suddenly been blessed with. When he was finished, the taller man walked away to the side.

The one at the end came next. He ran a finger down Sirius’s forehead. Then he too walked away to the side.

The middle one, the leader, came last. He ran a finger along Sirius’s chest. “Goodbye, Light Master. And thank you,” he whispered, his voice causing Sirius to shiver once more. Then he too walked away. Once he joined the other two, they all three vanished in a crackle of electricity.

- - -

With the departure of the fiend brothers, it was once more silent. Sirius just stood there with Vale and stared at the spot where they’d once been. “Fuck yes!” he suddenly exclaimed, startling the fox. “Take that, Hunters! I can be a hero too!”

“You know karma is going to get you for that comment,” Vale said.

“Vale, come on. Let me have this,” Sirius said. He was much too pumped to care about how karma may or may not bite him later. He was going to enjoy the smug feeling for as long as he could.

“I think your music player is lost,” Vale said he bent down and sniffed the snow.

“I don’t even care,” Sirius said. “I owned that!”

“Does that mean we’re going back now?” Vale asked, lifting his head. “To the drama?”

“Hell no,” Sirius said. “We’re going to the library to figure out just what in the hell all of that was. With my luck I just unleashed some great evil or something. I gotta check before I rub it in their faces that I’m not complete fail with these sort of things.”

“Smart,” Vale commented. “It’s a good plan.”

[Cedahlia]

At the library, Vale put a book down in front of Sirius. "So apparently you did a pretty wicked thing," he said.

"Suh-weet," Sirius said and looked down at the book.

"Yeah. But also no," Vale said and looked awkward.

"Oh...Did I unleash great evil upon the world and thousands of people shall soon be cursing my name?" Sirius asked.

"Minor evil," Vale said.

"Awesome," Sirius replied with sarcasm. "Welp..." He actually started to read up on the story of the three brothers he'd just released. Their whole story. And then their capture. "Oh for fuck's sake," he said and put his head in his hands. "I will agree that I fucked up but you know, I think their dad is like epic worse. They did not deserve eternal imprisonment for being pissed at him and acting out."

"Gods are a bit harder to bind, I'd think," Vale commented. "So they went with what they could get, I guess." He shrugged.

"Huh...This kind of looks like the name of Drake and Hikari's dad," Sirius said, amused. And then he suddenly wasn't. "Oh no, it is him isn't it? Oh they're going to be so pissed..."

"Awww, you are such a fuck up," Vale said. "I mean, you didn't just unleash evil, you unleashed evil person to your daddies master and his sister. Way to go, Sirius." He pat him on the back.

Sirius dropped his head onto the book. "Awwww, man. They're going to kill me. This is going to be like my fourth brush with death."

"Fourth?" Vale asked.

"Oh...You don't want to know," Sirius said and lifted his head. He dragged his hand over his face. So....Let's discuss options here."

[Athy]

Drake was pacing up and down, his phone pressed to his ear and a lot of 'uh huh's' and 'okay's' happened from his lips as he paced up and down the room, making Taeyang, Jiyong and Hikari watch him as he went. They could feel his anger increasing the longer he was on the phone.

Suddenly he hung up and whirled to face the dragon twins. His glare was accusing and his body language was rageful. "Who was it?" Hikari asked then, trying to break the tension up a bit by forcing her brother to speak.

"Dad." Drake said then, as he continued to glare at the twins. "You remember how we were working on that one mission? The ice tower with the cheetah fiend triplets who were bound and shit because of dad?"

"Oh you mean the one we wanted to bring Sirius in on so he could learn hunting if he liked it?!" Hikari said, her excitement slightly piqued then, as it wasn't often they got to include their friends and she felt like they resented them for it a lot.

"Oh yeah. That one. Sirius went without us. He let the triplets free and we weren't there to try and smooth over the entire fucking thing about how our dad SCREWED THEM OVER AND NOW THEY ARE LIKELY COMING FOR US." Drake said, towards this end his voice turned into a yell and his body was vibrating from how very angry he was.

"Ah." The twins said then and looked at each other. "We will tell him to be home immediately," they said and both sent Sirius a text. Just a two worded text; Home. Now. But they felt it would do the job. "We will fix this."

"You had better, because I don't care if he's your son, if he gets Hikari killed, I will kill him back." Drake said then, his usually relaxed and calm aura suddenly becoming large, suffocating and a little bit scary.

"Can I just say that he gets this from you guys?" Hikari said, because they'd seen both Jiyong and Taeyang lose their temper and it was basically identical. "So you only have yourselves to blame for teaching him this kind of behaviour."

"Hm. Yes. He is the true Master of Dragons." They murmured unhappily.

[Cedahlia]

Sirius looked down at his phone. "Oh snap. Parentals want me home like right now. Do you think they know?"

"Well...I mean they're gods..." Vale said.

"So yes," Sirius said and ran his hand over his face again.

"So you're probably dead," Vale commented.

"Yeah... but it won't be the first time parents of tried to kill me," he said. "Or the second..." He shook his head. "Let's get this over with."

"I could hide you," Vale offered." Fairy glamour over dragons all day every day," he said. "Oh that sounds exhausting. I might not love you that much."

"Thanks, Vale," Sirius said, trying to laugh but failing. "All righty. Time for home."

He'd had a pretty dramatic exit when he'd left. His entrance was equally as awkward. "So I'm home..." he said, already expecting the yelling he knew he was going to get.

[Athy]

It wasn't the twins who said anything, or did anything. It was Drake, very suddenly Sirius was pressed up against the wall, with Drake's arm pushing into his throat. "Are you seriously that fucking stupid? Seriously?" He practically yelled at Sirius.

"Drake, Drake. No." Hikari said then, putting herself between her brother and Sirius and gently guiding his arm away from Sirius' poor throat. "We don't attack our friends."

"Friends?!" Drake screamed then, because he was beyond pissed. "Friends don't set their friends up to get killed Hikari! Do you understand what he did? We are both in danger now."

"I know that. For the record," Hikari said then, still stood between Sirius and Drake, her eyes moved to Sirius, "that was a really dumb fucking move but that doesn't mean you get to beat him up. Okay?"

Taeyang stood up then and straightened out his clothes. "I think I do not need to say all that much, but I do want to say that you have never been this stupid. All you have done is put Drake and Hikari at serious risk, as well as likely angering the thunder God that birthed those three into the world. Their time out was not yet over."

"I also would like to say that this is why we did not let you go on missions before," Jiyong said joining them and moving Drake out of the way, because while they didn't want to get in the middle of their master and their son, he would of course protect his son. "Hopefully, you will soon understand it and realise your mistake and not repeat it. Oh and you're grounded. For at least six months."

"And you're going to have to train with Drake. Every day. Until he thinks you're ready." Tae added.

"Oh, is it?" Drake said then, his eyes going dark. He opened his phone screen and looked through his texts. "I have a mission for us right now," he said and barged past the dragons and his sister, he grabbed Sirius' shirt. "You want to play the hero, kid? Let's fucking play." He said and started back towards the door.

"I mean, we didn't even get to really tell what he did wrong." Jiyong pointed out as the door slammed behind them.

"I mean, I am sure Drake will drive it home." Taeyang said, not concerned as he knew Drake wouldn't let anything hurt Sirius on purpose.

"Really?! HE DID NOT EVEN GET TO TALK OTHER THAN TO TELL YOU HE IS HOME." Hikari said then and facepalmed.

[Cedahlia]

Sirius hadn't had a chance to talk at all. He'd been immediately accosted and they were all talking and freaking out. Well, just Drake was freaking out. But he was doing it a lot. Enough for the rest of them.

He couldn't do anything but stare at them all. And when he finally had a chance to speak, he knew it wouldn't be much of a chance. He couldn't really say anything. Sorry? Nah. What was I supposed to do, just ignore the tower and not go inside to see what was up? Also no. He just looked at Vale. "I might have preferred the murder," he whispered quietly to him.

"No, but really, what's going on?" Sirius asked. "I'm good. No missions. Really. I don't need training. I'm going to stick to fashion shows. They're emotionally damaging but physically safe."

[Athy]

"Too late," Drake said and shoved Sirius into his car. He turned to Vale, "go back to the twins and wait for us there. He's going to need you after this." He said as he shut the door behind Vale. "This is spooky shit, you don't want to join us."

Hikari had dashed out of the house. "Do you want me to come?" She asked then, but Drake ignored her and squealed off in his car with Sirius. "Welp, sorry about him." She said honestly to Vale.

[Cedahlia]

"So....you're mad," Sirius commented even though, hello, captain obvious moment? "I mean...I guess I don't get why they would come after you and your sister instead of your dad since, I mean, it's not your fault your dad's a dick. And like, they seem to be the type to, you know, relate to shitty dads."

"I am exhausted," Vale announced, seriously happy not to have to go to some creepy ass shit but not very pleased that Sirius had been stolen. "Do you know how hard it was to deal with that enchanted evil ice crap?" he asked Hikari. "Your dad is fucked up. In the head. A lot. No. I'm out." He immediately started to clean his fur.

[Athy]

"I'm fucking furious Sirius," Drake said with a dark laugh as he drove like a fucking bat out of hell down the streets, if the car journey didn't scare the shit out of Sirius, the job would. "My dad is unreachable right now, that's why. No one can find him, Gods cannot scry for him. Best way to get a guy who you can't reach? That's right, fuck up his kids and make him come to you." He looked at Sirius for a really, really long moment and then braked rather suddenly for a red light. "Training you is going to take a very long time if you can't even figure something like that out."

"I'm adopted, if that helps you. Not really my dad." Hikari said then and knelt down to look at Vale. "I do know how hard it is to do jobs like those and to be fair, Vale, you got an easy one. Okay? I know the mission that Sirius is on right now and it was one I didn't even want to take on because it makes even me, who has been doing this since she was a kid, uncomfortable. So I get it, I do. It's hard, it's scary and it's not fun. But we won't make you do these things again, not unless it was absolutely necessary to have an ice fox of such caliber at our side."

[Cedahlia]

"I don't really think in very nefarious ways," Sirius admitted. "Didn't much take after my parents...Either sets. Oh wait...Nope, didn't take much after the dragons either. Sorry?" He didn't know how to handle Drake when he was like this. "So...has anyone ever told you that you're like...really scary when you're mad."

"I don't think you really want a coward like me on your side," Vale said as he looked up at Hikari. "If you need someone to make you fabulous, girl, I got you. But spooky, creepy and downright scary? Nah. I can face dragons. I can't do ghosts."

[Athy]

"I get that a lot yes," Drake said as he pulled away as the light turned green. They had a fair drive, somewhere out in the country. "But I mean, it's not all that often that I get this angry. Usually, I would give you the information on the case and tell you what the deal is so that you go in prepared. But you showed me today that's not how you need to roll and that worked out so great for you, let's see if it works so well again."

"Well, not for ghosts. You can't really help with ghosts." Hikari laughed, but she rubbed her hand against Vale's ears, they were so soft and fluffy. "You're not a coward, you have a bravery defect."

[Cedahlia]

Sirius just laughed in a sort of nervous way. "Right...So when I die, my business goes to Vale and..." He thought about that for a moment. "And...I totally love Glitch. I may or may not haunt him. Just cuz."

Vale laughed. "A bravery defect? I like that. That's good. I'm going to use that." He tilted his head for more pets. "Your brother isn't going to get my best friend killed, right?"

[Athy]

"You're not going to die, I mean I know you don't run in hunter circles but I'm kind of a legend among them," Drake said, he didn't get people killed often. "All I am going to warn you about is that it's going to be messy, stinky and probably a whole lot gross."

"Nah, he will keep him safe while giving him a huge dose of dread that he ever played in a game he wasn't prepared for, I am pretty sure you tried to tell him that he was being dumb too," Hikari laughed as she fussed on Vale some more. But then pat his head. "We might as well be comfortable, they're going to be awhile."

[Cedahlia]

"Yeah, I know, everyone talks about you alllll the time. Even the dragons. I am so bored of your name. Not of you as a person. Just...your name." Sirius grinned. "So...you're describing my life before the twins. Cool. Always wanted to go back to that. No biggie."

"Hm...I mean I did but...He's not really scared of things that people should be scared because...I don't know. I think he was dropped on his head as a child," Vale said. "A lot....Like way too much."

[Athy]

Drake snorted, "oh Sirius. You're so cute, I love your naivety." He almost couldn't with this guy, he just couldn't. "Is this why you went off, felt you had something to prove?" He said and looked at Sirius and then shook his head. Idiot.

"Well no I mean, I get it. I think it's a lot to do with parenting that, if your parent is not ever there to be all 'no, don't do that, don't touch it,' etc then you naturally do what you want and realise it's not as scary as people make it out to be. So you lack fear. I have the same problem." Hikari said with a shrug, "but I had a big brother to teach me that even if I am not scared, I should be careful."

[Cedahlia]

"Nah...Not really. It does come off that way. I don't know. I have issues. I think that's a requirement now, to be in our group of friends. Like you have to be fucked up somehow. Right?" Sirius said.

"I mean, I get that with Sirius...but that's not how it worked with me at all," Vale said. "But he's different. That humans for you, maybe?"

[Athy]

"We do, I don't think any one in our group has had it easy." Drake said, as he turned off onto a slightly bumpier road, he slowed down as well. "So know that I am probably giving you a harsh lesson here, but it's not because I don't get it. It's because I do get it and the twins would kill me if you ran off and died because you wanted to be part of something you're not ready for."

"Probably," Hikari laughed, humans were so odd. She wished she had always been a fiend. That would have been nice. "We're fucked up." She agreed then and opened the door for Vale. "We're going to hang here until the boys return."

"We're good with this, Sirius would be mad if we kicked either of you out and onto the street." The Twins said from the sofa, as Hikari shut the door and they walked into the living room to join the dragons. "Plus we both find your company pleasant. So please make yourself at home."

Speaking of, Glitch walked through the door then. "I'm back, sorry I am late. Work ran on." He said, he'd been recording all day long and he was beat. He grabbed a soda and then went to the living room. He stared at the scene before him, dragon-dad's check, Vale check, Hikari check, but a serious lack of their counterparts. "Why is Drake with Sirius?"

"Oh you're a clever one aren't you." The twins said, clearly proud of it.

[Cedahlia]

"It's not that," Sirius said and looked down at his hands. "I'm not a Hunter. Not everyone can be, right? I just...the twins are the first people to take me in that make me want to be something special. But I'm not. And when I see how everyone looks up to you and your sister and how great you two are I just...I want my dads to feel that way about me. But that's kind of stupid. I am clearly not you."

"Uh...So...." Vale said and then just shut up. "Yeah no. I'm not telling him." He went off and sat down on a cushion and got comfortable.

[Athy]

"Not everyone can be a hunter no, but I am still going to train you and see how it goes. If nothing else, you are going to be aware and prepared." Drake said, but he stopped the car then, "we go the rest of the way on foot." He said as he got out, walked around the back of the car and waited for Sirius. "You're right that it's stupid. Not for the reason you're saying, but because you are special and I have never seen the dragons love something as much as they have you. I get that it's harder for you to see it from the inside, but also, you're the Master Of Prisms, Sirius. That mission you did? We couldn't have done it without you and we are both well aware of that fact, we were happy to include you."

The twins chuckled as Vale bailed on explaining. "So Vale and Sirius had a bit of an adventure this morning. They set free the cheetah trio." He said, knowing that Glitch knew a little of hunting. Not a lot.

"Wait, the guys your dad bound like years ago?" Glitch said then and looked at Hikari.

Who went and sat with Vale so she could fuss on his fluffiness. "Yes. Those. We were working on a plan to free them regardless, but we needed to do it in a way that meant we weren't running around with cross hairs on our back from them. Sirius kind of spoiled that."

"Sirius was going to be invited along for the mission anyway as Hikari and Drake had asked us permission a while ago about it. They were just figuring out the minor details before talking to Sirius. However, Drake is mad. Understandably so. He has taken Sirius on one of his nastiest missions to date. I am fairly sure it is nightmare fuel for most." Jiyong said softly, looking at his hands. He felt bad that they had let Drake take him but...

"Well that's fine, Sirius has a fear issue. Well the lack there of." Glitch said, he wasn't really upset that Drake had taken his boyfriend off. Everyone knew Drake was really good at his job. He'd bring his love back safe.

[Cedahlia]

"Seriously?" Sirius asked. "Dude, you could have given me a heads up. That thing ambushed me! Like full on possessed player which I totally abandoned because no thank you and then it was just there and just...calling to me. Like Moana and the ocean. Dude, I had to. It's like...destiny....Or some shit." He face palmed.

"Oh really? Because he already has nightmares. Like...ugh. I am going to never sleep again..." Vale said and just put his paws over his face. He didn't mind Hikari being there right now. But he knew, just knew, he was going to have to be up with Sirius when they'd scarred him for life. Again.

[Athy]

"We were figuring out the details and talking with your dad's, they told me we couldn't talk to you until we had the plan, because you're so gun ho!" Drake laughed as he popped the boot and lifted it up, he pulled a sawed off shotgun up and used it to prop the thing open otherwise it would fall down again. He got some guns and the salt ammo he needed to use and then handed Sirius a poker, one you would use for a fire. "It's made out of iron, so you can't hurt yourself unless you're really stupid. But it will also keep the little fuckers away from you if you swing it."

"Good job you have your own place and you don't have to sleep in his bed." Glitch said then, sounding a little bit more jealous than he had meant too. But he cleared his throat and took a sip of his soda like he hadn't said that at all.

"Glitch has a point," The twins chuckled. But they were aware of the nightmares, as they had been of Glitch's night terrors. "You two make a very odd, but seemingly perfect couple. You can handle each others baggage."

"Hmm." Glitch said thoughtfully.

[Cedahlia]

"And these little fuckers are...what? I'm assuming they're not ghosts because this would be pointless for me as they literally can't touch me without shit happening," he said. "I mean, except for Glitch, who is just immune for...reasons."

"Hey, I was comforting him at night long before you were even a thing," Vale said to Glitch. He didn't actually dislike his bestie's boyfriend but he had a super huge thing against ghosts. For reasons. Deeply personal reasons. So they didn't get on perfectly.

[Athy]

"Dark fae," Drake said with a grin, "I mean I would prepare you like I said, but you don't like to roll that way." He said and shut the trunk as he was all geared up. Massively so and then there was Sirius with his little iron poker. Oh Drake wanted to laugh so hard. "Come on." He said with a grin.

Then he started to walk towards the nearby hills, they were not massive. But they weren't going over them, they were going under them. He walked around some trees and then found the rocks that hid the passage way in. He put a finger to his lips as he looked at Sirius, motioning for utter silence before heading inside.

The smell hit him almost immediately, he could smell rotting flesh. If the smell had reached this far, he knew it was going to be bad in there. Really, really bad. He felt the urge to throw up already burning his throat, but he swallowed it. He'd done this before. Many times. Many, many times. He pushed forward, until the floor started to get slick, he held his gun up and the torch resting on the arm holding it and switched it on as he surveyed the floor, it was bright red in small streaks as bodies had been dragged this way. He paused for a second, guilt tugging at him.

For Sirius' second mission, he was throwing him in the deep end. Seriously so. He turned back to look at the guy, gauging his face and his reaction to just the blood. He didn't expect a lot, but...he moved closer and put his lips to Sirius' ear. "Heads up, many dead bodies in here. Children." He said in a tiny whisper. He couldn't not prepare him for that. "I'd say deep breath, but the smell is going to choke you if you do that. So just...get your shit together in your head the best way you can."

Glitch went to open his mouth, but Jiyong casually covered it. "Perhaps you should not poke the green monster, Vale?" The god suggested sweetly, with a very cute smile. Just because he was massively amused.

"I should get popcorn," Taeyang said and got up to go and get some. He felt that Glitch and Vale were going to fight and if they were, he was going to scoff popcorn with his brother and Hikari to see who won.

"I think you both need to calm the jealousy. At the end of the day, if you and Sirius wanted to be together, Vale, you would be. So Glitch needs to remember that and you also need to remember that he's in a relationship now and that means not everything can stay the same." Hikari said and fussed on Vale some more. "It's hard though, especially when your best friend is like family."

[Cedahlia]

"Wait, hold on," Sirius said. "You thought the way to scare me into having common sense or whatever is to bring me to creatures that murder children? What is wrong with you? Seriously? Why would anyone want to see that? Why do you even do this....no wait. I get it. The whole, hero thing. Right." He sighed. "It smells so bad. I better be allowed to hit these things with this...crowbar." He looked at it with a frown on his face. "I feel like I should be an underground lab fending off aliens. Not...this."

"Ew," Vale said. "No offense to you, Hikari, but humans are not....ew," he repeated and made a face. He shuddered. He wanted no part of kissing on humans. No. Nuh uh. "He's not a green. What are you even-Oh. Oh, you mean jealousy. I get it. I was so doing that on purpose. Like I think that was obvious. But fine. I will play nice with...you."

[Athy]

"Aliens? What?" Drake said and looked at Sirius like he was a mad man. He clearly did not believe in aliens, which was you know, hilarious. Seeing as he had to deal with all sorts of weirdness on a daily basis.

Suddenly a scream pierced the darkness that surrounded them and sent Drake running towards the sound, he slipped and just barely stopped himself from falling over into the blood. He almost tripped on the bodies as they entered the main cave area that the fairies had been using. He paused, his torch taking the time to go over the room. Though it didn't linger anywhere for long because small children. He did not like to see them that way. No.

Whoever had screamed before, was no longer with the living. Drake's eye began to twitch a little as he moved his torch and gun around, trying to find the little fuckers that had done this. "You should feel lucky that you are immune to anything ghost..." He said to Sirius then, because he was not. He could hear all the children crying and asking for their mummies. It was a lot.

"Yeah but this one will go off. He has some issues." Jiyong said then, he was really just saving Vale the beat up that would happen. Then the argument with Sirius. "I mean, I could just tell Sirius you were insinuating that you were with him first in a sexual manner." He said, without taking his hand away from Glitch's mouth, who growled. "I am sure he would find that very amusing."

"Well if you're not into humans, why hint as to being into a human?" Hikari said then, completely confused by Vale's complete 180 on that. She couldn't keep up with him. Little spaz. "You shouldn't deliberately make your best friends boyfriend jealous either. That's going to cause friction. Wow." She said, completely surprised in how boys did things in their friendships. "I don't understand guys."

"I don't either." Taeyang said then as he returned with popcorn.

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