Once eight arrives, we meet outside of Hilda's house and bid her our farewells, what's left of our belongings gathered in our arms and over our shoulders. Aislinn wordlessly opens a portal to Ashuwahara and we shuffle through. Immediately, the sound of guns and bombs fills the air with loud bangs and debris flies everywhere in the distance. A campsite is stretched out in front of us, just over the snowy hill, and sounds of shouting can be heard.
"Are we at the campsite we need to be in order to meet D?" I ask as I glance around.
"I'm not sure, but we're definitely in Ashuwahara, so be careful either way," Dimitri says as he draws his weapon.
"Oi!" a male shouts from behind us and we all turn to look as he rushes passed, "get a move on! The herd is coming!"
"Wait a minute, we--" Ciana starts, but he's already long gone up the hill.
"The herd?" I furrow my eyebrows.
"The herd," Dimitri and Aislinn say simultaneously as they both hold out their weapons in a defensive stance and the rest of us watch in surprise as at least twenty enemy soldiers come running towards us from the west.
The rest of us summon our weapons and chase after Dimitri and Aislinn, who have already started running towards the enemies. Dimitri leaps to the left as Aislinn takes the right, the two of them flying through the air and they each swing their weapons at an enemy as they're close to landing. Dimitri and Aislinn whirl through enemies as Ciana runs up and holds her fist back, punching one straight in the face before she slides under their legs and kicks them forwards, setting them on fire in the process. Mikasa shoots multiple arrows at enemy soldiers while Renji shields her front and Renee covers her flank. Reine and I tag team against one of the soldiers, me swinging at their front and distracting them as Reine hits them from the back. Nathaniel closes his eyes and gives Ayette directions of who to shield and when while Tsukumi and Shitau guard them as Kaltrina stays a little bit ahead of them and strikes down any oncoming enemies.
More enemies keep coming from the west at almost the same rate we're killing them, totaling of about at least forty new ones now. We manage to hold strong, but if the enemies keep coming rapidly then we might have a bit of a problem.
"Move!" Nathan shouts suddenly, his eyes flying open frantically.
"Who?!" Ayette shouts over the fighting as she turns quickly to look at him.
"Everyone!" Nathan shouts.
Following Nathan's orders, we either leap to the left or the right just as bright green and red energy swirls together almost like a DNA ladder and cuts through the field of enemies, turning them all to ashes instantly. Time seems to move in slow motion as we watch a male and a female not far behind the energy, each of them holding on to the handle of a glowing greatsword almost as large as Zen's as they whirl by. The male, who's standing on the right, locks eyes with me and my breath hitches as my eyes scan his face.
"Tien?" I breathe out, unable to believe the sight in front of me.
They whiz by and up the hill without a word and a few of us watch with raised eyebrows while others stare in shock and some check for any remaining enemies or oncoming ones.
"It seems they have taken out all of the enemies," Reine announces with a hum and stands up from sitting on her haunches due to examining some of the enemy bodies now lying in the snow.
"No kidding," Dimitri says with a snort as he stands up straight, previously leaning down with his hands on his thighs.
"Who were they?" Shitau asks breathlessly, still staring at the campsite.
"Gabriel," Ayette comes up to me and places her hands on my shoulders, her eyes frantic, "did you just say the name I think you said?"
"Tien?" I question breathily and Ayette lowers her gaze.
"That's what I thought..." Ayette breathes out and drops her hands from my shoulders before she meets my gaze once more, "so, you saw it too, then?"
"Yeah..." I trail off and swallow thickly, unwilling to believe that I just saw my step-brother.
"Do you think it's safe to visit the campsite?" Renee asks, sheathing her dagger.
"It seems as though we don't have much of a choice," Reine says as she looks up at the campsite, her gaze unwavering.
Wearily, Ayette and I head up to the campsite with the others, which is buzzing with life as soldiers run back and forth between tents, many of them talking amongst each other near the entrances to the navy green tents held up by wooden posts, snow lightly drifting down from the sky.
"Hey! You can't be here!" a woman shouts, angrily approaching Ciana, who leans back in surprise.
My breath hitches when I turn to see Sion, Tien's twin sister, standing before Ciana, her emerald eyes narrowed in an almost electric manner and her sleek black hair pulled up in a ponytail with a green bow and a green ribbon tied through her hair as she stands there in a pair of dark grey cargo pants with a grey fur jacket over a green shirt and a pair of ankle high black boots that lace up the front with thick heels in the back.
"We--" Ciana starts, but Sion holds up a hand as her eyes drift over to me and Ayette, stopping Ciana in her tracks.
"You're definitely not supposed to be here," Sion frowns, her eyes troubled.
"I think we deserve to know why you're here," Ayette defends, crossing her arms.
"Who is this?" Reine asks, her unwavering gaze landing on Sion.
"My name is Sion Lightsander, originally Sion Maelstrom," Sion says as she raises a brow and places her hands on her hips, "who are you?"
"Sion," Tien sighs as he walks out from the nearest tent and places a hand on her shoulder, his eyes disapproving, "leave them be. I believe that we owe them the explanation."
Sion discards her eyes off to the side and puffs out her cheeks in irritation as she crosses her arms.
"Fine," Sion says, her eyes flickering back to me, "bring them inside the captain's tent. He's gone on a mission anyway, so I'm sure he won't mind."
Tien looks conflicted for a moment before he nods and ushers us into the tent he just left, which is one of the biggest tents on the campsite. Inside the tent, a wooden table rests with a cot on the left and multiple maps and scrolls spread throughout the room, as well as a weapons cache on the right side of the tent.
"So, you're siblings with Gabriel and Ayette?" Dimitri asks, furrowing his eyebrows as he crosses his arms and stands protectively close to Ayette.
"That's right," Sion nods, her emerald eyes studying Dimitri.
"Ayette's father adopted us into his family," Tien explains, "which makes us her adoptive siblings and Gabriel our step-sibling. Sion and I, we're twins, and we're special advisors to the captain at this campsite. You see, we hold the--"
"Tien," Sion hisses, "can we really trust them? We don't even know these people, aside from Ayette and Gabriel."
"That's exactly why we can trust them," Tien smiles sadly and places a hand on his sister's shoulder, "if they're with Gabriel and Ayette, then I know they must be good at heart."
Sion looks troubled for a few moments before she sighs and shakes her head.
"Whatever. If you need me, I'll be outside," Sion says and pushes her way passed us and back out of the tent.
"Sorry about my sister," Tien sighs, "she can be quite...temperamental."
"No worries," Kaltrina and Reine say simultaneously, earning looks from both Shitau and Dimitri.
"As I was saying, my sister and I both hold a piece of the Oblivion Relic," Tien explains.
"You both hold a piece of it?" Ciana furrows her eyebrows, "I didn't know it was even in more than one piece."
"Our weapons are each a piece of the relic," Tien explains with a somewhat impressed smile as he leans back against a wooden post and puts his hands in the pockets of his jeans, "they can merge together to form one super weapon every now and then, which is what you most likely saw earlier down at the field."
"Wait," Dimitri starts as realization dawns across our group, "do you happen to know D?"
"D? Of course I do," Tien furrows his eyebrows, "this is D's regiment. He's who Sion and I are advisors to."
"Who exactly is D?" Reine asks and Tien's eyes flicker over to her before they briefly land on me wearily.
"D is..." Tien clears his throat, "well...D happens to be Gabriel's father..."
...What?
What?
"What?" I breathe out.