The face of darkness

'Oh boy,' Raven thought with a humored look as he watched the completely one sided beat down that Jasper was doling out to the group of Sovrumano that had decided to try and interfere in he and Nestor's fight, without realizing who Jasper was or that the fight was now over. 'Should I go help them, or should I just let them figure out how bad of an idea that was?'

His humor was shared by the boys, who had gone from standing in silent awe at the display of strength from Jasper, to rolling around in laughter as Jasper single-handedly took care of the dozen or so Sovrumano with the greatest of ease, needing only a single well placed shot to incapacitate each of them. "Who would try to fight dad now?" Taji asked as he caught his breath, opting to sit at the very edge of the crater to watch the ensuing comedic fight. "I mean really? After doing something like that just seconds ago?"

"People are retarded," Roman answered with a smirk. "Or maybe these guys are just suicidal."

"Nah," Quinton said as he watched the proceedings with a more critical eye than the other two. "It looks like they thought Uncle Jazz was trying to actually hurt Nestor; I don't think they knew that this was just a spar."

"Well then," Raven said with a shrug of his shoulders as he signaled to the boys with a look. "Why don't we go save these guys from their misery." With mirroring nods of affirmation, the four Draco made their way into the crater to try and rectify the other Sovrumano's opinions of Jasper: no sense in making more enemies out of potential allies.

***

 Julian let out an appraising hum of approval as he eyed the new force that Hezekiah had brought with him to Rhodes. The Swiss Guard leader wasn't messing around: inside Julian's base of operations in the countryside of the isle, Hezekiah had brought a force that numbered nearly five thousand. Three fifths of them were normal corpsmen, an additional fifteen hundred were Swiss Guardians, mostly Wachtmeisters and below in rank, and another three hundred were Feldwebels and Hauptmanns in equal parts. "Impressive Hezekiah," Julian said with a tone of true honesty. "But is this all going to be enough?"

Hezekiah glanced at Julian with an eyebrow raised in curiosity. Seeing the Daeva manslayer this shaken up over someone's strength was a true first. For almost anyone else affiliated with Ut Puri, it was understandable, as no Justicar wanted any parts with the Edges, but Julian was one of the very few that knew no fear. It seemed that the thought of matching up with someone who stood a good chance at finally defeating him was too much for the man. "It's enough for what I have planned," Hezekiah said.

"And what is that plan exactly?" Julian asked, mildly interested. "You said that Andrea hasn't been the most forthcoming; is that a part of all of this?"

Hezekiah wordlessly nodded as he watched the massive contingent ready themselves to mobilize from the balcony in the hideout. "The mission that Andrea gave you was a sham in itself Draven," Hezekiah said, already holding a hand up to stop whatever Julian was about to say so he could fully explain. "Don't get me wrong; your mission does have relevance, which is what all these warriors are for. Rhodes will fly the flag of the Vatican by this days' end."

Julian narrowed his eyes at Hezekiah as he did his best to read between the lines. "So we can handle those dragons, am I right?"

"No," Hezekiah said, truly shocking Julian with that response, as well as allowing the Daeva to breath a major sigh of relief. "Our target is that old man you first encountered, this so-called 'Protector of Rhodes'. He is the true objective here."

Julian chuckled as he remembered the man who had first defied him here on Rhodes. "What makes him so special anyway?" Julian asked. Truthfully, he really didn't care, as he felt he owed Nestor a fight anyway from the way their last meeting had ended: no one made Julian turn tail without paying for it somehow. "Last time I checked, Exemplar Raven and his pothead of a brother are priority targets to the organization."

Hezekiah shook his head at Julian's response. Granted, Julian was right when it came to the two Draco in a normal situation, but in his mind, even those two took a backseat to the real objective. "They still are," Hezekiah said. "You can go ahead and tackle that if you want to, by all means. I, however, am interested in taking Soulbreaker back to the Vatican."

The Swiss Guard leader's only reason for not laughing out loud at the expression of bewilderment on Julian's face was his own discipline. Even still, he had to admit that he had never seen the Daeva look so lost and confused at the same time in his life. "Excuse me?" Julian said after a full minute of shocked silence. "Did you just say what I think you just said?"

"The one and only," Hezekiah answered with another nod. "Apparently our friend Nestor is the caretaker of the weapon. You should know how important Soulbreaker is to our kind and organization." Julian nodded dumbly as he listened to Hezekiah, still halfway stuck in disbelief. Julian knew what Soulbreaker was alright; aside from being a top prize in the age old war between the rivaling factions, Soulbreaker was his personal dream weapon. Seeing that Julian was starting to readily accept the reality of the real mission, Hezekiah continued. "That Nestor is our way to Soulbreaker; once we have it in our possession, Raven and Jasper become a non-issue."

"No kidding," Julian said. With the Soulbreaker in the possession of Ut Puri, their organization would be nigh-unstoppable. Julian's mind ran rampant with the kinds of things he could do with that kind of weapon in his possession, rubbing his hands together in anxious anticipation as he continued to daydream.

"I see I have your attention," Hezekiah said, watching Julian's mannerisms as he had a pretty good idea of what was going on in the Daeva manslayer's mind. "Now, here's how we're going to play this angle..." The two guardsmen wore matching looks of success as they started to go over the plans that Hezekiah had written out. Whatever they were, it didn't look good for Rhodes or the warriors that still walked its shores.

***

In a large contrast to the last half hour or so, the acropolis' grounds were filled with the sounds  of childlike laughter, as Roman and Taji were currently running from one of Sovrumano that had tried, and horribly failed, to subdue Jasper. The boys had done what their father had said, bringing the dozen or so Sovrumano back to the world of consciousness, but the older two boys' chosen method had done more harm than good, bringing the collective wrath of said group on them. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea for the boys to douse the unconscious Sovrumano in water seconds after being made to look like fools from Jasper.

 Speaking of such, Jasper and Raven were busy conversing with Nestor, who had been freed from his half burial after his loss to Jasper. Nestor had explained to the group of Sovrumano that tried to confront Jasper that their fight was a mutual spar, which further made them feel like idiots. The group of Sovrumano happened to be younger acquaintances of Nestor, looking up to the man as a sort of mentor, and had first thought that Ut Puri forces had finally tried to take the acropolis. Once the truth had came out, their earlier feelings toward Jasper had changed to mutual respect and envy. That said nothing for their reaction when they had realized Raven was also present; Like Julian had already noticed, their eyes were filled with the light of hope at the presence of one of the Sovrumano's most respected leaders.

"Are you sure you and these guys can handle the reconstruction by yourselves?" Raven asked for what seemed like the thousandth time. He was genuinely worried about the acropolis, both due to its archeological and historical value, and because he didn't want the local government turning their spar into the next worldwide news event.

"I told you already," Nestor said before coughing a few times, with a fair amount of dark blood coming out of his mouth. "This isn't the first time something like this has happened. Us islanders know how to rebuild and survive Exemplar." Jasper nodded in respect of the attitude that Nestor and the natives had, but Raven held off stoically, unnoticeably narrowing his eyes at Nestor, more so the blood that the man was hurriedly wiping from his lip.

"Good on ya," Jasper said as he put his joint in his lip for safekeeping. "Rave I'm gonna get these kids to stop antagonizing everyone and run them through a few more exercises. After seeing a fight like that I'm pretty sure they're motivated to learn more about what they can do."

"Will do," Raven said, waving Jasper off as the man looked to find and calm down the younger Draco youths. After he was sure Jasper was well out of earshot, Raven turned an accusing gaze at Nestor, having picked up on a glaring inconsistency with the man. "How long have you been like this?" Raven asked, not really needing to verbalize what he had already figured out.

Nestor chuckled a bit before gingerly making his way to his feet. "Three years," Nestor said with a faraway look. "Three long years. You know Exemplar, that's the first time since I found out I was sick that I truly cut loose." Nestor turned to gaze at Raven with a longing sort of expression. "Do you know how good that felt? I could care less about the pain that I'm feeling right now; it's like a reminder of what I used to be. It might sound like I'm a masochist, but I truly enjoyed that experience."

Raven nodded in respectful understanding; he could see that Nestor was one of the few people that truly enjoyed the thrill of the fight, regardless of his condition. "That's why you didn't quit. You knew you were outclassed, yet you still fought on; you're a true warrior Nestor."

"Thank you Exemplar," Nestor said reverently. The two men watched in silence for a moment as Jasper finally got the kids to settle down to go through a bit more training. To the surprise of both men, the Sovrumano that had as first tried to oppose Jasper were now side by side with their kids, rapt with attention as the elder Edge Draco started an explanation on k theory. "Tonight," Nestor suddenly said, making up his mind on the situation that had originally brought the famed brothers halfway across the world. "Meet me here at midnight, and I'll have the Soulbreaker freed from its protection to hand over."

Raven gave Nestor a questioning look, unsure of the man's thought process. "You said you have it sealed behind ten feet of adamantium Nestor; you think you can unseal it with the injuries you have?"

Nestor balked; obviously Raven had forgotten who he was talking to. Nestor might not have been an Exemplar or a Judge Magister, but he was still a force to be reckoned with, even with terminal stage cancer. "These injuries?" he asked, taking an appraising look of himself. The man had the gall to chuckle as if he were mocking the sheer number of superficial injuries that he had sustained. "Superficial compared to what I deal with every day Raven. I'll have Soulbreaker ready for you tonight; bet on it."

"Well if you're that adamant," Raven said before turning towards the man to shake his hand. "Jazz and I will be here. Lord knows that I need this mission finished sooner rather than later." That would probably be best for his mental health; he just knew his wife was going to keep giving him flack until this Rhodes mess was taken care of. "Just know this Nestor; Once I get back to the Pharos and Soulbreaker is safe, the Illuminati will come with a counter assault. Also," he said with a pointed look. "I'm going to make it a priority that Justinian comes to check you out. Cancer might be an enigma even to modern medicine, but the healing powers of an Angeli Exemplar makes that disease turn tail and run from the person."

Nestor grasped Raven's hands, shaking them fervently in thanks for the Exemplar's thoughts of both him and the isle. "Thank you Exemplar Raven," Nestor said, so emotional that tears started to freely flow down his cheeks. "You're truly deserving of the respect you have gained through these years."

"No thanks required," Raven said with a humble smile. "It's only the job we all are supposed to do as people; look out for your fellow man and woman. Once the rest of this world figures that out, then we can expand and grow as one planet, one total organization, and truly thrive."

That sounded good, yes, but could that vision truly be attained, especially with Ut Puri's finest warrior waiting in the wings?

***

 "Stupid phone!" Saraya yelled as she angrily chucked said device into the wall. For the past hour, she had been trying to get in contact with Raven and Jasper by every means that she could; calls, texts, everything. She even dared to call Sharon (which was a fail at the start due to the curse out she received from the woman upon answering), but for the love of all that was good and holy, she couldn't contact either man. "Why is it that when you need to get in contact with someone, you can't?"

"Tch," Siobhan said, seated behind her newly constructed desk, herself and Victoria still going over paperwork. "That's one of those age old questions that will never be answered."

Victoria watched Saraya go through a mini temper tantrum with an impassive look on her face. This was the reason Victoria was such at odds with the younger Exemplar; there were times when Saraya would impress her with her focus, but they were too far spread out for her liking. "Stop acting like a kid Saraya," Victoria said with a stern tone of voice. "If you're that worried then just go."

"I'm really not in the mood for- wait a second?" Saraya said, effectively stunned into silence once she ran Victoria's words through her mind. "Did you just say 'go'?"

"Did I stutter?" Victoria asked rhetorically. "You're a Lamia with an extra dose of empathy. Obviously you're not going to be much use here if you're constantly worried about Raven. You can go to Rhodes yourself if you think that will help the situation; Siobhan and myself will get this church back up to speed, and then I'll go to the Pharos and alert the others."

Saraya was all smiles after that, completely throwing out the animosity the two women had for each other to wrap the Daeva Exemplar in a crushing hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Saraya said, not noticing the immediate ticked off expression that had come upon Victoria's face.

"Hands off," Victoria said unemotionally, her eyebrow twitching in mirth as she picked Saraya up by the seat of her pants with a shadow tendril to toss her across the room. "Just go before I change my mind."

Either Saraya was unfazed by the throw, or she was just too excited to care, as the Lamia Exemplar flashed the peace sign to the two female occupants of the room before exiting the room with haste. Siobhan just tilted her head in confusion at the antics of her best friend before turning to grace Victoria with a similar look. "Exemplar Victoria," Siobhan said. "Aren't you both Exemplars? Neither one of you can truly order around the other."

"I know," Victoria said with a deadpan tone as she busied herself with some more paperwork. "You really need to have a conversation with your friend about maturity in the future; it'll save me money on migraine medication."

'Okay?' Siobhan thought before shaking her head to clear her mind. She had way too many things to worry about to put Saraya's mentality as a priority. Besides, it wasn't like Victoria was perfect when it came to personal demeanor issues.

***

"Oh God!" Jasper yelled, a bit to extravagantly for the tastes of his and Raven's wife as he stretched out, leaning his chair back on its back legs as the group of adults waited on their meal to come. After calling Jericho, the men and boys finally met back up with their women in Lindos once Jericho sailed down to the city's port. It took quite a bit explaining, and a pair of swollen cheeks for the older Edge duo, but the women had finally calmed down once they popped their surprise. They had decided to take them out to Mavrikos, a very high quality seafood restaurant in the city itself, well known for both its service and hospitality. A nice dinner at a place like that at sundown was the local recipe to a romantic outing... and a ticket for Raven and Jasper to get out of the doghouse.

"Jazz!" LaShonda yelled out as she physically straightened her husband out. "Stop stretching like that!"

"Honey I'm old," Jasper said with a smile before wrapping his wife in a side hug. "Besides, I'm just getting the knots out so I'll be limber later."

LaShonda narrowed her eyes at her husband, only being unfazed at his comment due to being married to him for so long. "You're still chained to the tree you know that right?" LaShonda asked with a stern expression, which lasted for all of five seconds before laughing and giving Jasper a kiss on his cheek. "You're a mess babe."

"And that's why you love me!" Jasper said, returning his wife's kiss with one of his own.

Sharon smirked at the display of affection from her seat, having decided to forego an actual chair to sit on Raven's lap. "Lucky for me my man's not a mess." She held a demure smile on her face as she busied herself by playing with Raven's long locks, absent-mindedly running her hands through them as she gave him a loving look. "Not the brightest at times, but at least he's respectable in public."

"That's what I'm talking about," Raven said with a thumbs up as he leaned toward Sharon's face for a kiss.

"Nope," Sharon said with a mischievous smirk, pulling away just before Raven's lips could touch hers. "You guys told Jericho to hold us back; you know how much it sucks to be dragged like a sack of potatoes?"

"I'm sorry?" Raven said with a hopeful look, praying to any god that would listen to hold his wife's anger off, even for today.

Sharon just laughed at the expression of fear on Raven's face before finally leaning forward to kiss him. "Forgiven," she said as she withdrew her face, noticing that their entrees were coming from the smell. "Jericho, however, I'm beating him over the head with a bat when we get back to the ship."

"Jericho about to get hurt," Jasper said with a humored grin as he immediately dug into his meal with gusto, a lover of seafood since childhood.

"He deserves it," LaShonda said, having her own plans at revenge for Jericho as she playfully swiped one of Jasper's crab legs. "Didn't anyone ever tell him to never get in between a couple's personal issues."

"Cut him some slack," Raven said with a smirk of his own. "He might be even more traumatized of relationships if you guys get your hands on him." The four shared a laugh; Jericho didn't have the best luck when it came to actually being in a relationship, hence his playboy-like mentality. "Besides, he's babysitting."

The two women laughed even more at that; of all people, they knew first hand what kind of terror it was to look after the three Edge boys, even for a couple of hours. "Well that's punishment enough," LaShonda said with a pleased smile. "Wonder what they're doing right now?"

"Probably tormenting the poor b*****d," Jasper said jokingly. The couples laughed again before fully turning their attention to their meals; right now at least, it sucked to be Jericho.

***

In the cover of the night, Julian and Hezekiah were standing on the same outcropping from earlier as the looked over the Acropolis of Lindos. They had gone over Hezekiah's plan of action three times, just to  make sure everything went off without a hitch. Right now, they had a team of corpsmen tailing the duo, so they knew that at least for now, they weren't on the Exemplar's radar. They had another team stalking Jericho, as well as three more strike teams positioned at various points around the Acropolis. Never let it be said that Hezekiah wasn't a master tactician.

"Is everything ready to go?" Julian asked over a walkie-talkie, communicating with one of the leading Hauptmanns of the easternmost strike team.

"Si, signore," the Hauptmann said before cutting the connection.

Julian and Hezekiah gave each other a quick look: unlike the others, Julian and Hezekiah were moving alone as a two man team, not really needing the entourage for themselves. The two warriors were in full Ut Puri battle regalia: a sturdy chain mail bodysuit underneath black pants and a red, yellow, and blue shirt with no sleeves, having their personal insignias on the backs of said shirts. In addition to this, Hezekiah had an earpiece, used to communicate with his troops, as well as a broadsword strapped to his back. The sword itself looked to be a fine piece of craftsmanship, with a large opal set in the guard and a polished silver blade, gleaming in the moonlight from being well taken care of.

"Are you ready to claim an artifact of the Scions?" Hezekiah asked with a smirk as he rolled his neck, the adrenaline already running through his veins before the execution of their mission.

"But of course," Julian said with a pointed look toward the sword on Hezekiah's back. "It's not fair that you get to wield that mighty weapon while I have none."

Hezekiah chuckled, seeing Julian's jealousy as if it was painted on his face. "In due time Draven," he said before hastily turning, finally seeing some movement on the already restored grounds of the acropolis. After a few seconds of feeling out the distinct ki signatures of the group that seemed to be making haste to get across the large clearing, Hezekiah smirked as he readied himself to move. "All units move in closer, but do not engage until I give the signal." Hezekiah nodded to Julian as they disappeared into Julian's shadows.

Hezekiah had found his target; now it was time to strike.

***

Nestor sighed as he looked at the large, ancient stoa that lied at the very back of the acropolis, at the top of the equally ancient staircase. 'After so may years of rest, you finally see the light of the world once again.' Nestor lifted his arms as he focused his ki on unlocking the secret of the acropolis: underneath this stoa was an even more ancient chamber, which is where Soulbreaker itself rested. Nestor grunted as he felt the exertion his actions had on his body; though he had a few hours of rest, as well as a competent healer in one of the Sovrumano that had earlier come to interfere in he and Jasper's fight, he still wasn't at 100 percent. Even this simple act was taking a toll on him; such was the price of contending with a warrior the strength of Jasper at this stage in his life.

"No one gets past you, unless it is Exemplar Raven himself," Nestor ordered as a small, metal chamber finally erupted through the stone flooring in front of the stoa. "And his brother; and please, for the love of the almighty, don't try and get some revenge on him. He's the Nycest, ever for a reason."

"At your order," one of the males said with a respectful salute.

"Good," Nestor said before stepping into the metal chamber, where there were a set of equally metal steps to take him to his destination. "I'll only be a few minutes."

Not even a minute after Nestor had descended down the set of secret stairs, A dark shadow suddenly made itself visible to the group of Sovrumano as it erupted from the ground in the manner of an iconic geyser. The Sovrumano warriors instantly took up a defensive posture in front of the second staircase, steeling themselves for whoever might emerge from the shadow. Needless to say, they were in for the shock of their lives as the shadows receded, leaving behind the chilling visage of Julian the Manslayer himself, flanked by arguably an even more dangerous foe.

"Th-thats-" one of the Sovrumano said, too shocked to even get his words out of his mouth as he pointed at Julian and Hezekiah with a finger quivering in fear. His fear was mirrored by the rest of the group, knowing just what kind of chance they really stood against these level of warriors.

"Yes, yes," Julian said as a sinister smirk came to his face. Oh, how he loved that face of fear in his victims. "What do we have here?"