Dagan Zephyr - POV;
"You all have been working exceedingly hard for the past four months, following each and every one of my instructions to the tee," Lady Catherine told us as we stood around her, all of us battered and bruised.
After my incident with the Devil, Lady Catherine made a shocking revelation. She would take us under her own wing not just as our caretaker but we would be her disciples, studying the arts of Elemental Manipulation under her. You would never think it seeing her soft skin and femanine features but the last sixteen weeks we spent training under her cemented the fact that she was a master of the craft. In fact, it may have been no stretch to say that she was one of the strongest Vessels in all of Zephyr. Some of our practical training saw her pitting all of us against her alone.
On the very first day she challanged us saying that we would be unable to even touch her. We took this up personally and struck in unison yet she somehow managed to subdue us all even more quickly than Xyder had back then without letting us even come within ten feet of her. Put in our places, all of us, Fira included, submitted to Lady Catherine's relentless training. We placed our bodies under tremendous strain, pushing ourselves to the edge and then far beyond it every single day even long after the sun had set. With only four hours of sleep, if that much, each day became harder than the one before it; our tiredness slowing our brain and our injuries compounding without the time to fully heal. Some of us broke down emotionally while others exploded occasionally in fits of anger and frustration but even so, we dragged our way over every hurdle because of the promise Lady Catherine had made when she offered to guide us.
"I may not have been the best choice to advance your powers, after all I do not possess the elements that all of you do... even so Kristæl Zephyr was still my husband. Regarded as one of the greatest geniuses in the realm of Elemental Vessels and it's research, he passed on much of his discoveries and the keys to achieving a higher level to me. I am grateful that you all believed in the knowledge I gained from him and agreed to advance under me. I promised at the beginning that if you all gave me the opportunity to instruct you and you followed through, you would gain the power to stand up to Xyder and to save all of them," Catherine continued, pausing for a second as she wiped the blood leaking out of the single scratch on her cheek, "You managed to hit me. I can say without doubt that you are all finally ready. Satella, Storm... you have both fine-tuned your abilities with your weapons to an incomparable degree. Not only that, your own abilities in Elemental Manipulation have reached some of the highest levels amongst all of Zephyr's current basic Elemental Vessels. Fira, Rydia, Alva... to stand against a Deity Vessel one must become a Deity Vessel and that you did. You have achieved the next level of a Vessel's power and now rank amongst the few in Zephyr who can say the same. Dagan... there is nothing I can say that you don't already know. Not only have you mastered your powers as a Deity Vessel, you have somehow managed to perfect your ability to lead and coordinate a team even further. Not many can claim to have confronted the Devil and lived. You are destined to be on top. Today, you have left your old selves long in the past. Now you stand as some of the most formidable warriors of Zephyr. You all were always the ones who would lead this Clan into the next era but now you hold the power to achieve this duty. This is your Ascension!"
We stood upright, lowering our battle stances as wide grins crept up on our faces. We were finally here. We finally had the strength we needed!
****
*Three Weeks Later*
"Here comes the train Caity," Satella sung as she placed the food-filled spoon into Caitlynn's mouth.
"Hey! I'm not a baby!" Caitlynn huffed angrily.
"Of course you aren't," Satella teased, pinching the little girl's cheeks.
"I'm not!!!" Caitlynn pouted.
"Ohhhhh! You're so cuuute!" Satella squealed grabbing Evie's sister and hugging her tightly.
"No! I hate this!" the young girl cried out, smacking the older one on her head but Satella wouldn't give.
Lady Catherine looked at them and smiled. We all did. For the first time in so long, we could take things a bit more slowly however we still couldn't afford to relax... not while we counted the days until Xyder attacked. He had made his intentions quite clear and we knew that it was only a matter of time before he made his move.
"My Lady!" a male called put as he burst through the door, "I have terrible news!"
"Jay?! What's the matter?" Catherine pressed as she shot up from her seat.
"Xyder has made his move! Ten people were found slaughtered in the City earlier today. On the wall, written in their blood, were the words 'I am coming to end this'. He left this watch at the scene and if you look at the timer..." Jay trailed off.
"Two days," Catherine muttered as she took the item from him.
"Lord Zephyr just received the news as well and I believe he has begun to mobilize units for evacuation. I and the others will stand by you to fight against the main threat," Jay explained.
"No, go and aid in evacuating the city and every member of the Clan who cannot fight," she told him, "These children will face off against Xyder."
"But my Lady-"
"Trust me Jay. This is the best course of action. This is their fight!"
****
??? - POV;
"Do you feel it? That wretched power that is quickly approaching?"
"Indeed. How many millenia has it been since we last felt his presence this strongly. It is almost nostalgic."
"I began to see the signs around a year ago but it seems that it is now finally official."
"Aye. He has broken the holds created from mortals and has returned to this earth once more."
"Whom exactly are you talking about? Something tells me that your son weighs more heavily on your mind."
"Yes, his return has also not gone unnoticed. It would be impossible to ignore that but he is still not actually free. That is an imposter."
"Indeed the other is far more urgent. As we speak, he is on his way here. He no doubt wishes to destroy us in order to even the score from all that time ago."
"Come my siblings, let us prepare. Perhaps it is time that we finally welcomed our long lost brother back home. The time has come for us to confront Tenebrae once more!"