Michael fell silent after hearing Irene's words. It was difficult to say anything after being hit with a bombshell such as this one. His face ran through a series of expressions, while his hands mimicked a series of gestures, but none of which were able to replicate the amount of insanity in his mind.
Irene, The Great Irene, The Dancing Dragon, The Azure Flame. Never once in Michael's entire life had he heard of her being married to anyone. Never once in Michael's in entire life had he heard about her being in a relationship with anyone aside from casual flings.
Michael shook his head lightly almost not believing it, partially expecting Irene to spring on him moments from now that she was joking. Or that she was merely pulling his leg to get some sort of reaction. But the longer he waited, the longer the silence lasted and the sooner Michael realized Irene was only speaking the truth.
"A husband?" Michael repeated, saying the title as if it were foreign to him. "I never knew-" Michael tip toed around the subject, second guessing whether or not it was his place to say anything. There were heroes in the world that preferred to keep their personal lives secret from the public. Either by not having their real names revealed to the public and strictly going by their heroic names or epithets. Or by hiding their faces with the costumes they chose to adopt, never revealing their face as well as never revealing the faces of those they are intimate with.
But Irene never seemed to do either. From Michael's recollection the list of titles given to her were just titles and not real names she went by. Like when people would call her the Azure Dragon, Irene would normally respond by requesting they call her by her actual name.
Irene Wolfe.
Irene never hid her face from the public with a mask or even an elaborate costume.
Michael gave Irene and Zhu Li a soft look quickly looking over their matching costumes. A low cut shirt with fishnet stockings and sleeves. If it weren't for Irene's sword, and Zhu Li's gauntlets you'd think they were in their casual clothes.
"I didn't realize you were married." Michael finally muttered choosing to break the awkward silence. "I guess I just assumed since you never abandoned your family name you were just..." Michael trailed on his words once again. He tried his best to shoo away the awkward tension, but no matter how much he tried it always managed to find ways to slip back in.
"What single?" Irene quickly discarded her somber smile quickly choosing to adopt a more gleeful one. "Do you really think a woman as beautiful as I wouldn't have a ring on her finger?" Irene's question quickly sparked her own aura, causing a red veil to overwhelm her and radiate like a miniature sun.
"It's not that, I think he didn't expect a woman with a ring on her finger to be sleazy enough to sleep with other men."
Zhu Li's words crackled like lightning, shattering Irene's confidence in a flash. Zhu Li couldn't help but smirk at this, while Irene's face was as cold as night.
"Sleazy..?" Irene frowned at the word "No I definitely wouldn't call it that..."
"Then what would you call it?" Michael asked now raising his head. He seemed to had discarded his awkward shell, now adopting a harsh stare similar to before. "Being unfaithful, disloyal, fucking around?" Michael's insults grew worse with each passing word. Of course it wasn't his place to judge, but simply hearing of a wife being openly disloyal set his heart on fire.
It was cruel, it was messed up, and it was flat out wrong. How could someone be so carefree about smashing another man behind their husband's back.
Irene's stare grew flat. From the corner of her eye she noticed Zhu Li's face cursed by her a frown, while she wore a calm stare. "No I wouldn't call it those things either. All of those terms are simply names created to chain down those who wish to roam free." Irene briefly closed her eyes reopening them to produce a light glow. "I'd call it freedom."
"Freedom?" Michael scoffed shaking his head before slicking back his feather like hair. "What the hell are you going on about?" Michael lowered one of his hands placing it onto his hip while staring at Irene dumbfounded waiting for an answer.
"Michael let me ask you what would you consider freedom?" Irene tilted her head, while Michael looked up letting his thoughts run wild. At first glance it seemed like a fairly simple question, but the longer he thought about it the more complex the answer seemed to be.
"Freedom is the ability to act at your own leisure." Michael put it simply "To do what you want whenever you want, and to have no repercussions while doing so."
Irene softly smiled and quickly nodded "You're right, so is sleeping with someone or even falling in love with someone of my choosing not the purist form of that?" Irene's glassy stare once again fell over Michael, peering over him like an immaculate blue veil. "Besides isn't the Hero Associations entire purpose to reach the point where we can be considered free?"
Michael fell silent, there was little he could say to that. Not necessarily because Irene was right, but because she twisted the Hero Association's main objective into a lecherous pursuit of her own desires.
"No don't twist it." Michael's face didn't budge in the slightest "Don't use the Hero Association as an excuse for your carnal desires." Michael's eyes narrowed producing a red glow in contrast to Irene's blue ones. "The freedom the Association seeks for is just and pure, not something to be manipulated by those with sin in their heart." Michael's burning glare intensified causing his aura to crank up coating his wings in a veil of light. "If we did then anyone would be able to justify their actions claiming it to fall under the freedom that we heroes have fought for so long."
Irene reacted similarly, her glass like stare deepening like a void while a fiery aura streamed from the rest of her body. "But if we place limiters on people's freedom then it would make everything we are fighting for completely pointless wouldn't it?" Irene's blue aura shimmered radiating from her body like a growing inferno. "Those people wouldn't truly be free, and the freedom we strive for wouldn't actually exist."
Both Michael and Irene's eyes sharpened like blades before continuing their verbal sword fight. With Michael striking once, while Irene quickly counters with much stronger blows of her own.
"If the hero association chose to go down the path you wish...the path believes in this lawless interpretation of freedom then the stability built by the association would no longer exist." Michael's words hardened like diamonds bracing the impact of Irene's dangerous blows. "It would be chaos, only chaos and a world like that would be far scarier than this one."
Irene's smirk faded soon being replaced by a narrow snake like frown. Irene stayed silent for a moment only allowing the crackling of her flames to fight the silence. Zhu Li looked from right to left briefly observing the two argue. Although she had her own opinions on the matter and didn't fully agree with either it wasn't her place to step in. Further involvement would only add more fuel to the already burning wildfire.
Zhu Li took a deep breath. She could sense the Reiki flooding the air from both sides. Even though it hadn't taken a physical form the anger building between the two heroes was dense enough to make anyone get the impression that they were ready to trade serious blows.
"Chaos..." Irene's flaming blue eyes quickly shifted to gold at the activation of her ability. "If you truly believe freedom would bring forth chaos then you really are a fool." Irene slowly paused looking to Michael reading his face only to get no major reaction. "It's our job as heroes to believe in the people we've chosen to protect." Irene once again lowered her eyes on Michael, sharpening her gaze. "To believe that allowing these people...the people of this city to have a little freedom would cause chaos only shows how ignorant you are to the rest of the world."
Michael's red eyes narrowed, but before he could say a thing Irene's gaze pierced him like a spear. "But I'll show it to you, a world where people are free." Michael's eyes grew he was bracing himself from an attack but was too late to realize the strike wasn't physical. The golden glow conjured by Irene's eyes shimmered like the radiant sun. Becoming so bright that Michael wasn't even able to stare at her for long, without his own eyes feeling like they would turn to ash.
Michael raised his hands defending himself from the chaotic blast created by Irene's visual spectacle. "Ugh it's so bright..." Michael tried his hardest to see Irene but saw nothing, only a sea of light and a blue silhouette. Michael didn't think it was possible for someone to shine so brightly, someone guided by so much sin was shining even brighter than himself.
"Amazing..."
Irene's eyes flashed while looking forward, she saw many things in that moment. She saw the present with Michael and how he was defending against her rays of light. She saw a future where she was sitting in a bed holding her second child, and finally the past where her future was stripped from her.
All instances in time brought a stern frown to Irene's face. The present where she was standing before a man who at one time seemed brilliant but had only shown his true colors to be duller than shades of gray. The future where she'd have another child, one with hair similar to her own but with a man she hated more than anything. She had already spent years pushing him away, but thinking of the possibility he was able to have his way with her the same way he did those years ago pissed Irene off to high hell.
Then she saw the past, a day that began beautifully and ended far different than she expected. But it was that day that Irene needed to show Michael, and the day she chose to focus on more than any other memory or future event that crossed her vision.
"Show me the origin!" Irene shouted singing the words as if it were a chant. Within that instance Michael was finally able to see Irene's eyes once again and felt himself be thrown into a deep daze. Causing his wine colored eyes to quickly mirror hers.
***
When Michael opened his eyes, he was welcomed by the vast world around him. A sky as blue as the see and as clear as glass. There were no clouds in the sky, only the sun burning over him like a god of fire.
Michael's long white angel wings were out, still shimmering it's gold aura as if mimicking the rays of the Sun. Michael noticed this yet said nothing, instead simply looked down now noticing how his clothing had changed. He was no longer wearing his aerial suit, his compact watch was no longer on his wrist, and his heavy combat boots and gloves were nowhere to be seen.
Now his body felt much lighter, even lighter than how he felt while soaring through the skies. He was wearing a fancy Kimono, dressed in white and yellow. He had ceremonial beads hanging over his neck and wrist, and golden jewelry decorating his body.
Seeing himself in such clothes left Michael a bit baffled. Of course he had seen some of the other heroes wear these from time to time, like Fujin. But Michael himself never thought or ever desired to be decorated in such clothing. Michael looked down slowly noticing the open design of the kimono, allowing it to reveal his chiseled chest to the rest of the world. Normally he'd wear heavier clothes, his hero costume or the suits provided to him by James from time to time.
But now his upper body was open to the world.
Michael looked around observing his soundings, and resonating with the area around him. He could see mountains in the distance, most of which were covered in lush green meadows that extended forever. While some had thick white clouds shielding the peaks.
"I am guessing it is your first time seeing this place?"
Michael soon turned to see Irene approaching him from behind. Her face was dripping with its usual confidence while she walked up with her hands behind her back. Michael's face reddened slightly at her appearance, even in this memory her lecherous clothing would still manifest.
Irene's hair was styled a bit differently to what Michael remembered. She wore her bangs long and the rest of her hair in a high ponytail held together with a black band. Unlike before she was wearing makeup and lavishing golden jewelry ranging from a pair of large hoop earrings, several golden bracelets on her wrist and ankles, and other metallic decorations on her extended skirt. She wore a blue top with similar jewelry to her skirt, allowing her midsection to be open for the world to see similar to Michael's chest. However this wasn't the only thing open for the world to view.
Michael tried to pull his eyes away but found himself having difficulty in doing so. Irene's breast were far to large to ignore, even by a saintly man like himself. She had golden necklaces laying right on top of them so the glinting glow from before was even more apparent on her massive melons. Michael guided his eyes downwards noticing her bare stomach, it was fairly toned for a women lacking the usual softness you'd expect. In fact she seemed more toned than even himself, causing Michael's confidence to lower a bit.
The final thing Michael noticed was a gash like scar near her hip, it matched the one on her cheek in color, although it didn't have the same shape. The one on Irene's cheek extended down to her neck looking like a burn, most likely one from her youth. While the scar on her side looked like it was created by something massive.
Michael winced slightly at the sight of it. With a scar like that it is a miracle that Irene would even be alive, considering whatever did that to her would surely leave a normal person split in two.
Irene noticed Michael's soft gaze tracking it down to the scar on her hip. Irene gently placed her hand over the scar before giving him a lesser stare "It's rude to stare and not say anything you know."
"Hm..." Michael remained silent quickly raising his eyes to look into hers once more "My apologies, I didn't realize that you had gotten injured."
"I suppose even the Azure Dragon has tasted defeat."
Irene smiled at Michael's smug grin and looked down at her waist "Ah I have, I got this beauty mark a few years after my darling Natsumi was born." Michael's eyes widened, it was the first time he had even heard of Irene having a child let alone being defeated.
Irene looked away fondly as if living the moment in her head. It was the first time in a while Michael had noticed a look in Irene's eye that confused him. A look filled with so much life it even scared him.
Irene relived it seeing herself in the situation as clear as day. When she was confronted by a man that better yet would've been considered a beast. He had a massive body standing over her like a mountain while swinging his axe-sword like a beast out of Hell. Irene could still feel the tingles from her skin from that dangerous night bringing thick goosebumps to protrude from her skin.
"Alexander Patera." Irene said lightly remembering the look of that bearded man. The eight foot Goliath that nearly killed her. Irene's face twisted somewhat as if being filled with a strange euphoria. "He was the man who did this to me. The only person aside from Zhu Li who was able to leave a scar on my body."
Michael's eyes grew as large as planets. Never had he seen such an evil expression built on a person emitting so much light. In that moment all of Michael's senses burned, feeling his mind resist the urge of his body screaming to strike.
It only lasted for a second, but the was long enough for Michael to sense it. The immaculate blood lust that Irene possessed. The true person Irene was, it didn't matter if she was the symbol of peace. It didn't matter if she was the number one hero. Irene was a woman corrupted by sin...
In that moment Michael's eyes narrowed, he could feel his mind firing bullets into his skull screaming at him to do it. To cut her down like anyone else, to prevent any more corruption from entering his society.
But after a few seconds Irene quickly smiled gaining the pure look she had before. "But thankfully because of my comrades I was able to make it out safely." Irene stepped forward gently rubbing Michael's shoulder "We should get going, look are beginning to look a bit tense."
The blood lust washed out the air as if it had never existed. Michael watched Irene pass by him silently, while the rest of his skin shriveled up in chills. Despite Irene being so close, he found himself unable to do a thing, and stay quiet while she passed by.
"Come, there are some things I'd like to show you."
Michael nodded and quickly followed Irene only to see the world around him begin to morph once more. After seeing it happen once seeing it again for Michael wasn't all that shocking. In fact each time it happened he could feel his body, as well as his mind gradually adjust to the effects.
As the world changed the deeper Michael and Irene sank into the memory, where certain events began to play out before their eyes.
Michael looked around now noticing groups of people both men and women wearing outfits similar to both Irene and himself. Women would wear clothing similar to that of belly dancers, while many of the men roamed wearing roams and had their heads shaven like monks.
Michael noticed crowds of people filling the streets all wearing the ceremonial beads. It was clear some sort of event had just taken place, but Michael was a bit unsure what it was.
Irene continued walking forward allowing people to run through them as if they were ghost. Although calling themselves ghost wouldn't be too far off considering they were only reliving an event that happened. They wouldn't be able to alter the past in any conceivable way.
Irene led them to a massive arena. There were stone steps around the arena acting as seats for people to watch in enjoyment. Irene gazed softly at the arena seeing it was partially destroyed, there were stone pillars sticking from the arena, magma flowing from the edges and several tiles shattered while Zhu Li was laying face down in the center.
Michael immediately noticed blue flames resonating throughout the arena while a young woman danced around them directing the flames elsewhere to prevent the fire from spreading. Michael watched in awe, completely taken a back by the fluidity of her movements the amount of elegance she had with each step.
"What is this?" Michael asked turning to Irene. Irene stayed silent the flames reflecting its blue onto her eyes, while she watched as if looking at a distant memory. "It's the day I was recruited into the hero association. This was the test I had to complete to convince the higher ups that I was ready."
Michael watched the younger Irene finish her dance causing all the flames to disperse. While ending her movements with a fiery smile. Even though it had been a decade since then Irene hadn't changed in the slightest. She was just as beautiful now as she was back then, although her eyes still carried a lively glow that Michael didn't recognize in Irene now. In addition to the scar on her face still being a fresh and bloody wound.
The younger Irene quickly jumped into the air with a burst of fire before landing onto the ground near them. She turned to the side to look at a small group of people waving to her with smiles on their faces.
"Oh my gosh that was so amazing!" A young girl shouted before approaching Irene. The girl's hair was messy and grass like immediately reminding Michael of the meadows on the top of the mountains. "You were like Whoosh, and Thwack, and then you hit Zhu Li with the BAM BAM!" Irene lightly giggled at the little girl's comments watching her move her fist in a striking motion trying to mimic her.
"You think so?" Irene gently scratched her chin while an uneasy sweat trickled down her chin "I thought I got a bit sloppy when Zhu Li managed to hit me."
"Yeah you did get pretty sloppy." Itsuki added looking up at Irene noticing the bloody mess that was her chin. Her flesh had completely melted, still oozing off her face like a creamy paste, while the blood had fried onto the muscle beneath. "If you weren't so focused on putting on a show then some slow sparks from Zhu Li wouldn't have hit you."
"Oh shut up Itsuki, you wouldn't have done any better!" Erica snapped back pouting her cheeks "Zhu Li only got a hit on Sissy because she was playing dirty!"
Itsuki stared at her dumbfounded, even as a child this boy never smiled. "What are you talking about Erica. Sissy already knew from the get go that it was going to be a 3 on 1, she just to careless to see an attack like that was coming."
Erica glared at Itsuki before pouncing on him like a cat. Causing them to grab each other's hair and yell in a small struggle match. "Take that back!"
"Ugh get off of me Erica, you are acting like a child!"
Irene softly laughed at the two argue before separating them "That's enough." Erica was still fuming, while Itsuki looked mildly annoyed and patted his already messy hair. "You shouldn't fight, at the end of the day we are family. We need to be there for each other, no matter what..." Irene lowered herself so she can look at them both eye to eye "We already have enough enemies in the world...the last thing we need is to become enemies among ourselves."
Irene looked to both Itsuki and Erica noticing their differing expressions. Erica's eyes were sparkling the same way they always had, while Itsuki seemed a bit indifferent to it. "So can I trust you that you won't fight while I am away?"
Erica looked to Itsuki only to get a glare back. Erica looked up at Irene softly before looking away holding a childish frown "I'll try."
"What about you Itsuki? Will you-"
"Not a chance, if you think I won't argue with this dumb tub of lard then you got another thing coming." Itsuki said bluntly. Erica's face turned beat red, and glared at Itsuki as if ready to rip him in half. But Irene quickly stopped her patting her head as well as his. "I believe in you." Irene told him seeing through his walls of bullshit.
Michael watched this a bit surprised. The longer he spent with Irene the more things about her seemed to be unveiled. Her family, her younger siblings and even daughter. None of these things Michael knew until now, and even now Michael wasn't entirely sure why Irene was showing this to him.
"That was magnificent, I should expect nothing less from the Prodigy of the Dragon Temple." Everyone turned to see two men approaching. The first was a middle aged gentleman, he had feather like brown hair tan skin and dark eyes. He had a fairly large build, fitting into his suit quite nicely.
Michael immediately recognized him as James Summers, the current chairman of the Hero Association.
"Mr. Summers, I am glad you enjoyed the show." Irene said thankfully quickly bowing to him "I hope I was able to meet your expectations."
James kindly smiled at her gently placing his hand on her chin to raise her up "You did even better than I could have hoped." James looked over to the side noticing the trio behind Irene. "Now who may they be?"
Irene jumped nervously and moved over to the side directing him "Oh this is my family!" He first pointed to Itsuki and Erica "These are my younger brother and sister. Erica Hale, and Itsuki Masahiro." Irene then pointed over to a tall man with a shaven head and soft red eyes, he was a bit old and looked like he was dozing in and out of sleep "This is my Sen- Master Issho Masahiro." Irene said correcting herself.
Michael looked to the current Irene strangely, noticing her expression hadn't changed in the slightest. The younger Irene was freaking out constantly like someone who was attending their very first interview.
"Oh I see, this is a very nice family you have." James said a bit stiffly. He looked down at Itsuki and Erica "I hope to see you two preform like this in the future whenever you decide to become heroes."
Itsuki rolled his eyes at the comment "Fat chance."
Erica simply smiled "I'll do it! I'll make sure I look even more amazing than Sissy!"
James smiled softly "Good I cannot wait." James quickly redirected his attention to Irene, who was locking eyes with the man standing behind James. He was fairly young, perhaps in his early twenties and has piercing blue eyes sharp enough to pin her heart.
James noticed this and scoffed a bit. Clearing his throat "Irene, if possible could the three of us talk alone?"
Irene turned quickly shaking away her daze only to recollect herself. "Oh yes of course?"
Irene briefly waved to her family before continuing on outside of the stadium.
"What did they want to talk to you about?" Michael asked looking to Irene. Irene's face darkened somewhat before turning her head to face Michael "Follow me." Irene quickly walked after them while Michael struggled to follow. The entire time Irene had been silent, simply observing and allowing the scene to play out with minimal interruptions. While Michael watched, and listened in a daze.
Irene followed her past self slowly as if stalking her like some sort of prey. Michael felt a bit uneasy following them, because the further they walked the more he felt Irene's anger beginning to grow.
However, eventually the group stopped. Finding a place to speak near one of the smaller temples where no one else would be able to hear them. Irene looked around a bit strangely still having difficulties in shaking of her apparent anxiety. While James and the blue eyed man wore smiles of absolute glee.
"So what was it that you wanted to speak in private about?" Irene asked a bit cautiously "Is it about the hero course?"
James bounced his head from right to left "Sort of, I wanted to discuss our agreement if possible." Irene raised a brow before oddly smiling "Oh okay? Sure, what about it?"
James directed his hand to a small crate behind Irene "Take a seat." Irene kept her weary stare and slowly stepped back sitting down. "As I am sure you are aware, the Hero Association is in a strange predicament at the moment. Not only are we in an age where less people want to become heroes, but the amount of people capable of becoming good heroes are becoming slimmer and slimmer as each year goes by." James explained "So right now we are in desperate need of people to become heroes, but very good ones that can one day become the symbol of peace this world truly needs."
Irene tilted her head listening "I see, so are you saying that you need for me to become this symbol of peace?"
James bit his lip wincing "Not necessarily, although your assistance would definitely be helpful. What we need is to create a generation of heroes capable of one day holding that title." James briefly took off his glasses cleaning them off before looking at the young man at his side "Originally this wasn't much of a problem, with the founding families at our side normally each generation of heroes would have a Vermillion, a Fumiko, and a Wolfe somewhere in the top ranks."
"But now..." James sighed looking down at Irene who was staring up at him with innocent eyes, eyes of absolute wonder "Our cooperation with the founding families has become very minimal." James further explained "The Vermilion haven't produced a strong heir for over 40 years now, while the Fumiko's prefer not to associate with us and occasionally send a representative whenever Vermillion City desperately calls for it."
James' face then darkened "Although in this instance I don't know if something like that will even be possible." James' mind cleared remembering the sight as if he saw it yesterday. A brutal blood bath that painted the walls of the Fumiko household.
"Did something happen?" Irene asked, her voice now filled with worry with the darkening stare of James.
"You could say that..." James muttered adjusting his glasses "The elder sons of the Fumiko household Sousuke and Souji, were brutally killed..." Irene grit her teeth, while living at the temple rarely ever did she hear about someone being killed. Normally if it happened it was some sort of freak accident like a bear attacking them on a walk, or a great snake swallowing them whole while sleeping.
But rarely ever a brutal killing.
"What did it?"
"A demon." There wasn't any other word James could use to describe it. He remembered speaking to the young Sayuri about it after it happened, all she could do was call him a red eyed demon. A beast with hair as black as night, and eyes as red as blood. "Only a demon could be capable of killing people in such away." James mumbled.
"The only Fumiko's still alive is the current Fumiko head Hizashi, who is far past his prime and his youngest daughter Sayuri who is merely eight years old as of now."
"With the Fumiko bloodline near extinction, The Vermillion Family unable to give us a suitable heir, and the Fujiwaran bloodline nothing more than an ancient tale. That would leave you as the only person with founding blood still able to fight." James explained.
Irene frowned a bit at the thought, she didn't realize how widdled down the families had become since she had lived up at the temple. She didn't know much about her parents in fact, her Master Issho had told her that she was only adopted into the temple because the Wolfe Bloodline was overcome with an incurable disease that wiped most of them out. Apparently her parents sent her away to prevent herself from being infected by it.
"I see, so you need me to be that representation that the founding blood still exist then? To become the new face of the hero association?" Irene questioned. Once again James tilted his head "Somewhat, I have that and another job for you."
"Another job?"
James looked to the man beside himself and nudged him "As I mentioned before, the founding families are dying out. Without them we won't have anyone capable of harnessing the power of the four sacred weapons. So we need the remaining members to..."
"To ensure the blood won't end up lost." The man beside James said finally deciding to break his silence. He gently adjust his glasses and smiled at Irene offering her his hand "It's nice to meet you Irene, although I really wish it was under better circumstances." Irene accepted his hand a bit awkwardly before smiling and looking away "And you are?"
"This is Kazuto Tachibana, the man who will one day become your husband."
Irene's face dropped before looking to James and then Kazuto "Wait...what..."
Chapter End.