Sealing the past

For everything that was going from bad to worse in the Illuminati, it was going the same in the opposite context for Ut Puri as far as Andrea was concerned. Due to the cover-up that the United Nations and the Illuminati had successfully forged, it had also removed any eyes that were turned to the church, something that came as a relief to the Camerlengo. It meant that the pope would still be kept in the dark on his true motives. .Andrea saw it as a fear of Ut Puri from the United Nations, as they were stalwart in not being involved on an up front scale with the Sovrumano 'problem'. The best part of the whole deal to him was that Julian had successfully killed two birds with one stone: he had successfully recovered Soulbreaker while simultaneously removing quite possibly the biggest threat he had save Skylar himself from the picture.

"Magnificent!" Andrea said in his office as he marveled at the craftsmanship of the legendary relic, studying every inch of the weapon as if it were more precious than gold. It was, but even Julian was starting to get tired of the Camerlengo's unnaturally giddy attitude, as he was forced to stand at attention for the last ten minutes due to said Camerlengo's actions. "You have done well Draven; you have proven your loyalty to Ut Puri in a way that hasn't been done in ages."

Julian nodded at the praise, enjoying it while his ultimate superior was still in the pleasant mood that he was. For him, the real prize was the glory that came with slaying the man known as Ryu Senko. It was fast spreading in the information outlets of the underground what had really happened at Rhodes, and with it, the name of Raven's true killer. Never before had his name defined dearth so perfectly; in less than a week 'Draven the Manslayer' had become the new nightmare for many within the Sovrumano races.

As good as these facts made him feel though, Julian felt conflicted; no matter how hard he had tried to block it out of his mind, the last vision that he had of Rhodes and the acropolis kept haunting him. 'That boy,' Julian thought, sighing harshly as his side lit up in pain. 'He did this to me.' The pain that he was feeling at the moment was one of the reasons for the constant reminder: none of Ut Puri's healers, Hezekiah included once he had finally been healed from his numerous injuries at the hands of Raven, had been able to fully heal Julian from the damage that he had taken at the hands of Roman.

The full extent of what the kid had even done to him had threw everyone in the Vatican for a loop once he had arrived. Somehow, the kid had damaged him so thoroughly, even his ki system had been affected. Due to that, Julian had to be periodically healed by Hezekiah himself daily in order to reverse the damage, and until that point, the Daeva, for all of his recent status elevations, was relatively helpless. It bothered him that a mere child could do so much to him, and the last vision of Roman's eyes had haunted him in his sleep.

"Draven," Andrea called out, snapping his fingers to catch Julian's attention. Apparently the Justicar was so deep into his thoughts concerning Roman that he had not realized Andrea had completed his inspection of the ancient weapon.

"Si, il Camerlengo," Julian replied with as much respect as he could muster, truthfully or otherwise, just so that Andrea didn't catch an attitude over his zoning out.

"You look like you have something on your mind," Andrea said with a calculating stare. "Mind enlightening your leader?"

Julian raised a questioning eyebrow; finally holding the weapon of legend in his grasp must have done something to change the Camerlengo's psyche. "Raven's heir," he replied, straight and to the point. For all of his pride and cunning, Julian was still one of the most talented warriors on the face of the planet, so if there was one thing he could even admit to have seen in Roman, it was potential. No child that he had even heard of had been that powerful. Hell, he had faced few full fledged warriors with that kind of strength. "That kid is talented, skilled," he said, choosing his words carefully. "And a threat."

Andrea cocked his head to the side, clearly taken for a loop. "Come again?" he asked. "You just killed Raven Edge, not a week ago. What on earth could make you think a child is a threat?"

Julian walked over to the window overlooking St. Peter's square, gazing out of it as he told his thoughts to the Camerlengo. "All the injuries that Jasper inflicted upon me were healed," he said as he put a hand to his injured side, which was still heavily bandaged under his uniform. "Everything that insufferable runt did, however, refuses to accept even Hezekiah's healing energies without prolonged exposure. If he can do that now, imagine the kind of threat he's going to be as an adult."

"Ha," Andrea laughed. "In due time no living person will be a threat to Ut Puri." The Camerlengo sighed himself as a quick flash of remorse came to his face. "It would have been sooner, but the one regret I do have for this whole mission is Miroslav's untimely demise at the hands of that wench Siobhan. Because of that we have no minds in the organization that can truly understand the mechanics of Soulbreaker, much less reverse engineer it." Andrea rubbed a hand over the weapon as he spoke, the regret of losing Jynx clear in his actions. "And then there is the problem of making the actual weapon useable for a human."

"True," Julian agreed. He could tell firsthand that Soulbreaker was a weapon useable only by the mightiest. Unlike Excalibur, which a wielder could consciously charge with ki, Soulbreaker pulled ki, notably an amount that would kill a normal person ten times over. Even he could fire only about ten to twelve shots at full power unless he used anima remissionis and released. "So," he said, using the opportunity to steer the conversation away from his personal thoughts. "What's the next mission for me?"

Andrea gave Julian a stern look for a moment; he wasn't foolish enough to not realize what Julian had done, but he let it slide for the moment. "The Illuminati seeks to find a new Draco Exemplar," Andrea said, passing Julian a manila envelope. "Inside are the names of every Draco known to Ut Puri that would qualify for consideration." With that, a sinister look came over the Camerlengo's face. "Go play with your new weapon, just this one time before we start our own tests on it. Strike fear into the heart of the Illuminati."

Julian had a matching smirk on his face as he picked up the legendary weapon. "It will be my pleasure," Julian said as he placed the bow and quiver of arrows on his back. 'And the start of a beautiful relationship.' With a salute, Julian finally departed via sinking into his own shadow, armed with his next deadly mission from Ut Puri's highest. For Julian Draven, Ut Puri's manslayer, his legacy had only just begun.

***

Jasper and the Exemplars, Skylar included, gazed at Sharon with looks ranging from shock and dismay, to begrudging sympathy and rage. "Excuse the f**k out of me," Jasper said after a moment, clearly taking personal offense to Sharon's highly unusual request. "Tragedy aside, what makes you think you can play God with the memories of your children?" As he thought over Sharon's words once more, the intensity in his voice increased to even more enraged levels. "How can you strip them of their birthright and heritage?"

True to her personality, Sharon didn't so much as bat an eye at the imposing Jasper, resolute in what she had decided to do. "My kids will not suffer anymore due to the Illuminati," Sharon said with conviction. "They have paid the price in blood already! They had to fight for their lives, for my life at Rhodes for one of this organization's conflicts!"

Jasper let a low growl escape his throat; he was so mad that there was the beginnings of steam coming out of his ears. "You seem to pass the buck a lot, but you conveniently forget whose idea it was for you and the kids to go to Rhodes in the first place!" Jasper slashed out towards Sharon in the air for emphasis in his statement. "Raven told you how dangerous it was for you women and children to be there in the first place, but I seem to remember you being so adamant to stay because you wanted him all to yourself!"

"I wanted my husband to be there for his kids and family!" Sharon yelled as the argument seemed to be descending into a more personal issue than the Exemplars had first thought. "I more than anyone had the right to be selfish when it came to Raven! He was always so busy with you all and his teaching that he barely had time for us!" She took a breath before she continued, losing it due to her own anger. "And the times that he did spend with the boys; what was all that for?"

"Hold up," Jasper said, putting a hand directly in the woman's face, disrespect be damned. In that last speech from his sister in law, Jasper has realized where the woman was going with her rant. "Wait a minute: You're blaming Raven's desire and love of teaching your sons about their heritage!?" In some ways Sharon was right; Raven didn't spend as much time as either of them would have liked for him to spend with his family, but when he did, Raven tried to squeeze something Sovrumano related in at any appropriate time. The man was proud of his roots and heritage, and he wanted his sons to wear that same level of pride.

Sharon growled in frustration as her mind went back to Roman's inspiring declaration before facing off with that troop of Ut Puri corpsmen. "You don't understand!" she yelled out. "Do you realize how that has molded my sons? Roman especially?" Sharon glared at every Exemplar in the room as she spoke further. "What kid is okay with dying in the name of a fight, with talk of not going to hell alone? Roman's thirteen! He doesn't need to be worrying about strength, of equality, or anything that has to do with any of this world, and neither does Quinton."

"They're Draco!" Saraya yelled, the Lamia herself taking affront to Sharon's words. "No matter what you think or want, that is what is necessary for them, especially now!" Saraya sighed hard as she thought back to the moment she had put Roman into the comatose state that he was still in as they spoke, being monitored by the Illuminati's finest healers. Julian had not been the only one to notice the almost unnoticeable difference in Roman; she had when she had been connected to Roman's mind. However, unlike the bloodthirsty Daeva, she immediately knew what it meant. It was for that reason more than anything that she didn't agree with Sharon's logic: it was only a matter of time before the Daeva did his homework on the anomaly, and when he did, she knew that Roman would be the Justicar's next priority target.

"Excuse me you mind raping b***h!" Sharon yelled back. "The last thing you had better thing of doing is tell me how to raise and protect my kids. They will grow up separated from all of this. I just want to make it easier for them to do so by removing this all from their minds."

"You want to make it easier for you to separate yourself," Saraya fired back. "You know that those boys love their father too much to forget him. They honor him too true to turn their backs on their heritage, and Raven inspired them too deep for them to act like the world isn't what it is."

Sharon smirked before withdrawing a piece of paper from her pocket, handing to Skylar with a pleased look on her face. "Read it and obey," Sharon said, her voice like ice. "If you all respect my husband in any way, you will obey that piece of paper regardless of any personal feelings."

Skylar quirked his eyebrow at Sharon confused with her statements, up until he took a good look at the paper Sharon had handed him. 'Raven,' he thought as he read the paper's contents. 'The second I see you in the afterlife, I'm going to strangle you for this.' It would take a person with a basic amount of understanding for law to realize why Skylar was so mad at Raven at the moment. Sharon had handed him the one thing that could force even him to do her bidding: Raven's own will, which named Sharon as the sole executor of everything relevant to him. Due to Raven's heritage and position, the document was binding both in the court of law and in the halls of the Pharos, and even the High Exemplar had no choice but to honor it.

Unfortunately for Skylar, and the rest of the Exemplars, that meant temporary, emergency control of the political power Raven had held as Exemplar, and Sharon had done her homework. "I see you understand me now," Sharon said with a look of victory on her face. "And as per your own rules, an Exemplar is not to be impeded by anybody, even yourself, if he makes a decision that concerns the welfare of his immediate family. I have his political power as of now, and I officially make my demands a motion in this place."

Jasper suddenly looked up, clearing his throat to gain the room's occupants attention. "You know what," Jasper said emphatically with a glare at his sister in law. "I'll take that position as Exemplar, if only to save my nephews from that kind of fate. Do you even know what you speak of Sharon? Really, do you?"

Unbelievably, Sharon didn't look the least bit disturbed by Jasper's announcement. As a matter of fact, from the moment she had seen him in the Pharos, she had been anticipating this very action from the man. "That's all well and good," she said with a smirk. "But due to the issue, my motion takes precedence, even before the induction of a new Exemplar. "Sorry Jasper," she said with a victorious wave. "But not even the Illuminati is going to stop a determined mother."

The Exemplars collectively looked at one another as the ramifications of Raven's own will dawned on them. This was the last thing that they wanted to do: taking the memories of a child sounded so barbaric to them, like something that Ut Puri or the former Lamia Exemplar Lucian would have done. It didn't feel right, it wasn't right, but they had no choice in the matter. Skylar floated back up to his pedestal with a saddened look on his face; he hated to be the one to in all rights condemn one of his closest friends' sons. 'I'm sorry,' he mouthed to Jasper, even as the man Spit on the ground in Sharon's direction, absolutely disgusted with her decision and reasoning. "By the will and order of Sharon Edge, widow of the former Draco Exemplar Raven Edge, it is written that the memories of their two sons Roman and Quinton will be sealed away." Sharon nodded at Skylar triumphantly as she alone felt a weight lifted off of her shoulders; she truly felt that this was the best thing for her kids. "Furthermore," Skylar said with a quick, almost hidden look at Jasper and Saraya. "There is to be no contact with Raven's immediate family by our own forces save for their protection from Ut Puri."

"What's that about," Sharon asked, not particularly liking Skylar's last order.

Skylar was un-intimidated by Sharon's daunting look as he explained himself to her. "Raven was one of the best Exemplars in the history of the Illuminati, current or otherwise. For that reason, and because he was my close friend, that will be the concession you have to make: no way will I allow you order to stand without my own safeguard towards Raven's heirs' safety."

The woman rolled her eyes in mirth, but she seemed to accept that Skylar wasn't going to be moved from his stance. "Fine," she said with a huff before glaring at Saraya. "It's ironic isn't it?" she asked. "The main reason I don't like you, for messing with my son's mind, is going to be what saves my sons from all of this mess. Let's get this done and over with."

Saraya was trembling in nearly unrestrained rage as she came to terms with what she was being forced to do. 'Skylar!' she screamed in the Angeli's mind. 'Couldn't you have done something about this!?'

'Yes,' Skylar said, immediately catching Saraya's interest with his calm feeling and tone.

'Then why didn't you?' Saraya asked as she got up, making to leave the Pharos with Sharon to carry out her imposed task.

With that, Skylar's amused laugh rung in her mind. 'If you think hard enough, I already did.' He paused for a moment to gauge the look on Saraya's face before continuing. 'Sharon's determination is legendary in and of itself, but she's a novice in the world of politics compared to her husband.'

'I'm not following,' Saraya said, still confused as she and Sharon glowed a bright red, ready to depart the hallowed structure.

'Remember how I said it,' Skylar said, winking at his fellow Exemplar right as she and Sharon disappeared, before speaking his thoughts to the remaining occupants so everyone but Sharon could know what he had done. "The edict I made was to seal their memory, not erase it."

Skylar felt Saraya's mood lighten through their temporary telepathic connection, as she, along with the rest of the Exemplars picked up on the nearly unnoticed maneuver. "You pulled a fine swerve, if unlawful Skylar," Victoria commented, although relieved due to having a healthy level of pride for her own Sovrumano roots. "You're not intending for the seal to be permanent, are you?"

"Not at all," Skylar said with a smirk of his own. "Once those boys hit the age of majority, I intend to let them decide their own future. I will not let Sharon's personal pain deny those boys of their birthright." Skylar looked to the side with a faraway look on his face as he recalled a conversation he and Raven had a few short months ago. "Raven wanted those boys to become champions for the right cause, to become paragons in their actions and ways, true examples that we can one day live with no secrets amongst the rest of the world. He believed in them so much, and he loved them with everything in him."

Jasper suddenly dropped to a knee as a few stray tears escaped his vision, saluting Skylar out of respect for the man's humble action. 'Thank you for honoring my brother Skylar," Jasper said. "At least I know that I'll only be separated from them for a few short years."

"Then it falls to you to protect them in this time of ignorance," Skylar said as he and Justinian exchanged glances. Jasper narrowed his eye at the sudden display, a little suspicion in his mind from it.

Justinian waved Jasper off, noticing the man's look. "What you said about taking the spot of Exemplar; that was only to try and stop Sharon's proposal, am I right?" Jasper furiously nodded, which brought a smile to Justinian's face. That was a good thing; just the answer he wanted to hear. "Well," he continued. "Since I know how much you desire to be free of political attachments, I have a proposal for you. Expect a visit from me in a week, and expect guests."

Jasper gave Justinian a sideways look, but didn't comment. He could tell that the Exemplars were being genuine in their actions, and anything helped. "Alright," Jasper said, finally disregarding the hallowedness of the Pharos to pull a much needed blunt out of his pocket. "And you better be ready to smoke. I know every time I light up he is too up above, but I like having someone to pass the herb to."

"Noted," Justinian said with a humored shake of his head, waving as Jasper himself disappeared from view. Once Raven's brother was gone, the three remaining Exemplars shared a quick nod before departing themselves: they had much to do, and it started with finding who would become Raven's successor.

***

Saraya wiped a tear from her eye as she removed her glowing hands from Roman's head. She had done just as Skylar had ordered; she had sealed away all memories in their minds that had to do with the Sovrumano, the Illuminati, or even their father's involvement. For all Raven's heirs now knew, their father had died in the way of their fabricated story to the world, with no suspicion that they, or their deceased predecessor, were anything but human.

Saraya and Sharon exchanged a heated glare whose intensity could melt even the most fire resistant steel. "It is done," Saraya said as she tore her eyes away from Sharon. "They will wake up in the next four hours once the false memories take hold. Our attendants will help you with transportation back to your home." Saraya's voice held clear disdain for Raven's widow as she made her way out of the small room in their medical ward. Before she left for good, she turned around to give Sharon a piece of her mind. "You had better make peace with God for your decisions," she said. "I may not be a mother, but I would never think of doing to my seeds what you have demanded of me to your own."

Sharon scoffed at the Exemplar, dismissing the woman's words. "Don't patronize me," she said. "You're not a mother, so therefore you will never understand me until you become one."

"Ok," Saraya said, with a bit of a warning edge that was missed by the jaded widow as she left Sharon with a final word of warning. "For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad." The two woman shared a final glare before Saraya flashed a smile at Sharon. "Luke 8:17, remember the name." With that, Saraya slammed the door, finally separating Sharon from her gaze.

As the Exemplar took an aimless walk around the Church of Illumination, she couldn't help but smile at how true the words of Luke would soon become, and she couldn't help but laugh when she thought of how Sharon would react. 'I know one thing,' she thought as she thought back to her sealing of Roman's mind. 'Once that boy hits eighteen, Sharon's going to have a lot of explaining to do.'

***

A few moments prior, sealing of Roman's mind

The mind is a fickle thing; incredibly powerful, but in the same sense delicate. This is one thing Saraya knew more than anything as a Lamia, the fact being all but drilled into her head by her parents in her youth. That statement was never more true to the Exemplar until her consciousness emerged in Roman's mind.

'Oh my God,' Saraya thought as she covered a surprised gasp. Roman's mind was unlike anything that she had ever seen before, and she had been inside many a mind to do the same thing she was about to do now. She was used to a person's psyche forming itself in a way that reflected the person's mentality the most, and if that was true, her earlier suspicion of what she had first seen at Rhodes was all but confirmed.

The 'sky' of Roman's mind was similar to the Pharos itself, having a cosmic feeling about it with the wisps of multicolored aurora clouds floating around, with the only difference being an actual blue sky and land. The land, however, was blackened, as if an inferno had descended from the heavens the likes of Sodom and Gomorrah. One look at the mental representation of Roman was all that was needed for Saraya to figure out why; the kid was still beating himself up over his father's death. The trauma of watching his own patriarch being slain in front of his face was too much for the preteens' mind, as Roman was stuck in an endless rage, his own ki razing anything it touched.

The ki, however, was what had concerned Saraya the most, as it was a kind of ki seen every so often, in only the most prolific of individuals throughout the passage of time. The only reason Saraya even had a clue to its' significance was Raven's own urging for her to study the all but forgotten subject, one that was in all rights lost to the sands of time. 'Hammurabi, Ramesses, Darius,' Saraya thought, taking a moment to marvel at Roman even in his endless rage and despair, stuck in disbelief at what she alone could bear witness to. 'Xerxes, Achilles. Alexander, Caesar, Akhenaton. To think this kid, the son of one so great, is so much more.'

Saraya gasped in her stupor, unwittingly calling the mentality of Roman out of its rage, if only to see what was also sharing his personal abode. "Saraya!?" Roman asked, confused at the sight for a moment. "What are you doing here?" Suddenly the switch clicked in his head, as he remembered how he had been stopped from inflicting his personal revenge onto Julian. "Why did you stop me from hurting that man!" he yelled, storming over to Saraya as his face twisted into a scowl. "How am I going to face my mom and brother?!" Roman fell to his knees in front of Saraya, crying as the gravity of his feelings finally took over. "They're going to hate me!"

'As if,' Saraya thought mirthfully, thinking back to the reason she was here in the first place. "No, no no baby," Saraya said as she knelt down, pressing her forehead to his in an attempt to calm him down. Inside his mind, she could feel every last one of Roman's emotions: self loathing, anger, rage, regret, loneliness. All those and more, and it hurt her as physically as it did Roman mentally. "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't do anything about it."

Roman growled as he tore himself away from her, turning his back. "That's the problem," Roman said suddenly. "I was helpless. I was so scared, seeing that man fire that arrow at me, knowing what it meant. I didn't expect dad to do that!"

Saraya sighed as she forcefully turned Roman around, making sure he stared her in the face. "Why not?" Saraya asked sternly. "Raven's your dad; that what parents are supposed to do, protect their children, even if it costs them the ultimate price." Saraya pulled Roman into a hug, shocking the youth so much he couldn't stop the wave of emotion that followed. Just as Jasper had done for her, she let Roman get out all his pain by crying it out in her arms. Once he had finally gotten himself to a point where he could control himself, he gave her a questioning look, as if to re-ask the question of her presence.

"Thank you for that," Roman said, surprisingly wise enough even at thirteen to understand the significance of her actions. "But why do I feel like that's not the reason you're in my mind?" Roman gave her a blank stare for a moment before suddenly jumping back with a furiously waving finger pointed at her. "Hell no!" Roman yelled. "You're not messing with my mind again! You ain't catching this guy with the dog barks again!"

Saraya slapped herself in the forehead; it was true that she was here to mess with his mind, far more than he knew, but really, did he have to bring that up. "No Rome," Saraya said, almost wanting to crack her smile at the admittedly humorous moment. "I'm not here to make you act like a dog again, cute thought you were." Roman immediately sighed, but once he looked back up to her, his blood ran cold as he noticed her furiously glowing red eyes. It was just like when she pranked him before, only much more concentrated. "I'm sorry for what I have to do though."

"Excuse me?" Roman asked, giving her a sideways look as he made his best attempt to slide into some kind of guard. He knew just how useless it was; there was no beating Saraya for him, especially in a mental environment. "What's going on?"

Saraya was focused in what she had to do, but for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to hit Roman with the maneuver that would seal away his memories, at least not without him knowing the truth. It was something she didn't do for Quinton, given his age, but in Roman, she saw a true heir, especially with his own ’differences'. "Your mother," she said as if the mere thought was poisonous. "Deemed it necessary for you and your brother's minds to be sealed. Everything is to go; the knowledge of your and your family's super-humanity, Sovrumano in general, and the circumstances in which your father perished."

It only took a second for Roman to make a decision on his mother's opinion. "F**k that!" he yelled emphatically, not caring about his language due to the absence of said mother, and knowing that the Exemplar wasn't one to call him out on it, being as young as she was herself. "There isn't a way in hell that that b*****d gets away from me and this. He killed my father, so he has to answer to me." Roman thumped on his heart with his fist, signifying his resolve. "Blood for blood. this voice will be heard Saraya. My mom certainly not going to stop that." Roman growled in anger as he truly contemplated what his mom wanted to do to them, and he wanted no parts. "Of all people, she should be the one to understand! She lost the love of her life."

I think that's the whole reason why," Saraya said, stopping Roman in his tracks. "She's numb Rome; she thinks that this is going to protect you, when it does nothing but hurt."

"You think?" Roman asked sarcastically. "Everything I've every known is about to be taken from me because my mom wants to mope around and be selfish. Doesn't she realize how much that hurts us, on top of losing a father? We have to lose everything? Really?"

"Unfortunately," Saraya said with a sigh. "Yes, if only for a time."

Roman was just about to lose all hope, up until she said that. Roman stared at Saraya for a second, with the two cracking a smile once he saw what he needed to see in her expression. "You have a way around this don't you?"

"Skylar made it possible," Saraya said with a smile. "The way he phrased the official edict is to seal your memories, not erase them like your mom wanted." Saraya gave Roman a wink as she marveled at the scenery of Roman's mind; to her, it was one of the most pure and beautiful of mindscapes that she had ever been in. "Seals can be broken; erasures can't be replaced."

'Just like something you would do Dad,' Roman thought, thankful for the High Exemplar's foresight. "When can they be restored to me?" Roman asked. "And will I forget everything I learn in the next four years?"

"To the first question, the day you turn eighteen," Saraya said, laughing as Roman fist pumped the air victoriously. It would suck immensely, but he could deal with four short years of a completely new psyche. "And the second, it will meld accordingly; no sense in losing any kinds of knowledge."

Roman nodded as he thought of everything, sorting out what he had learned with a plan already in mind. "I have one request," Roman said, nodding as Saraya's hands took on the reddish glow meant to seal away his memories. "Can you at least make this fake mentality awesome?" he asked with a pleading look. "I still want to be me, regardless of what my mom thinks. Even in these four years, I will make sure my father has a reason to smile down on me in heaven."

Saraya blinked away tears of happiness as she raised her hands to Roman's head, truly proud of her mentor's eldest son. "You are truly your father's son,' she said in a near whisper as she tapped his head to perform the seal. "Protect yourself at all times Roman Kai Edge; you have no idea how special you are to become." Roman nodded wordlessly before giving her a hug in the spreading red light of Saraya's ki, embracing her like he never wanted to let go.

It would be the last thing he would remember of his true self for the next four years.