~ Ion awoke in a dark room still a bit groggy, the side of his face was stinging a bit in pain as a slight breeze rustled through his exposed fur as he realized he had been stripped of all his belongings, including his clothing and left mechanical arm. His right arm was pulled above his head, shackled to chains hanging from the ceiling as well as the stub just above the arm connector on his left as his feet dangled above the ground, thinking back the last things he remembered was one of the town's guards harassing him about some stolen item which he had no idea about and then when he shrugged them off, continuing to walk away, the guard tried to forcefully place a hand on him from behind but Ion sensed that coming violently deflected it away, possibly causing a small break hearing the cry from that guard as more soon swooped in to pick a fight. Wanting to just end this quickly Ion engaged but held back from his full force, though still probably causing some broken bones and bloody noses, but that was still better then killing them, as annoying as they were, they didn't deserve such punishment, even from a Hunter. As soon as he cleared them out though, another came from above to pick a fight though they were no guard but what looked like a Hunter... and that Hunter was someone he recognized from long ago only though older and a lot more toned, somehow in this Plane, his old mate Flint was still alive. "He's got quite a punch now" Ion said wincing a bit from the slight pain in his cheek, "going to my first Other Plane as a Planar Psynergist and I already broke a rule" Ion continued with a sigh as he jostled the chain holding his right hand as he got a feel for it's strength as the door to the room he was in slammed open with powerful force and the very person who sent him here walked through the doorway as their eyes met one another. "Though maybe not... he has no Aether strings binding him... where you also a Kyuubi all this time?" Ion thought as their eyes continued to meet, their expressions unchanged as each was on guard from each other, maybe not knowing how to react to the whole situation. "Ok Florian, he's all yours for now, just let us know when you are done" a guard that was accompanying him said as they closed the door to the room, leaving only Ion and Florian in there. "So going by Florian now?" Ion said breaking the silence a she tried to get a feel for the deposition of this Flint, "I always thought you said you hated that name" Ion continued but Florian didn't respond, never breaking his gaze from Ion.
"Well that didn't work" Ion thought as Florian came closer and started circling around him as Ion could feel his eyes inspecting different parts of his exposed body, it was a little bit of an uncomfortable feeling but something he didn't mind too much as it was a Flint after all seeing him this vulnerable, arching back to some more pleasant past experiences. "So enjoying what you see? If you want we could get a room and..." Ion started saying in a sarcastic tone but Florian suddenly and forcefully placed a hand on Ion's chest, using two fingers to slightly squeeze his throat as he looked at him with cold eyes, "who are you? Why do you look like that and why do you have his Hunter's Insignia?" Florian forcefully asked. "What... do... you... mean? Ion struggled to say though Florian did release his grip just a little bit, "I am Ion, Ion-Yggdrasil, if you are referring to my Hunter's Insignia, I have that one because I am me, can't you see that Flint?" Ion said in a plea but Florian looked at him in anger. "Ion's dead!" Florian snarled back as Ion gritted his teeth, "well so are you where I am from, but that doesn't mean you are not Flint and that I am not Ion" Ion snarled back as Florian gave him a look, "what do you mean where you are from?" he asked as Ion made a grin, "now we are getting somewhere, I am an Ion from across the Aether, another Plane of Existence, as a Kyuubi, I have no strings to bind me to any Plane, even my own and can travel freely between then if I choose to do so" Ion replied. 'Then why did you come here?" Florian asked still in an interrogating voice, "well it is not that I choose to come here, it sort of just happened, you see this is the first time I was able to test out my Planar Kyuubi ability and when I did so, I was just sort of sent here without any choice, so in essence I wound up here by accident as I can't really control this power yet" Ion answered as Florian burst out in laughter, "what's so funny?" "Oh just that Ion not being able to control a Psynergy, basically pulling a me" Florian responded still chuckling, "well at least you have clamed down a bit, I was wondering when you would drop the act" Ion said making a grin of his own as Florian stopped laughing, "you knew?" he asked, "yes, you have always been a terrible liar, you also have these certain 'ticks' when you act out of character" Ion answered with another chuckle as the two shared another laugh. "So..." Florian started saying as he took a seat on a nearby stool, "how did... how did I meet my end in your Plane, if you don't mind me asking... if that is something you are ok telling me that is" Florian said a bit nervously as Ion nodded. "When you were fourteen, you passed away from what we thought was a sickness, the heart condition you were born with but latter came to realize it was more then that, without getting into too much detail, you sacrificed yourself for my sake, to protect me then and for something that would happen four years latter, though that one was unknowing at the time" Ion answered in a serious tone as Florian took in the information, "so I wasn't around for all those teenage years, those early days of us learning how to and becoming Hunters" Florian said with a sigh.
"What about me? Again if you don't mind sharing that story" Ion asked, Florian then got up from the stool and went back over to Ion, he placed his fingers over some of the scars on Ion's body as he looked to zone out for a moment, "it is ok if you don't want to tell' Ion said but Florian shook his head. "It was my eighteenth birthday..." Florian started saying as the date rang through Ion's head as he knew where this was going, a link between the two Planes began forming in his head, "we, Ion, myself and Zephyr got our first 'S' class contract to go after a notorious bandit group lead by a wolf named Virgil, when we engaged, it became clear that we were no match for him, let alone the group itself, in the fight, Ion got his arm severed off but before Virgil was able to land a killing blow, I was able to pull him away..." Florian continued. "Ion was bleeding badly but he was able to cauterize his wound mostly with his lightning as we planned to make an escape, Virgil then taunted us though Ion went back in to engage, I tried to pull him away but he just said he was going to decoy for a moment so we could slip away and he would follow shortly after, since he could use lightning on his legs, he would stand the best chance of being the decoy and escaping and there was a part of him that wanted to get his severed arm back as Virgil was kind of standing on it proudly" Florian carried on with the story as Ion listened intently. "But the re-engagement was all a ploy for Virgil, as Ion came in to decoy, he signaled the others in his group to rain arrows down upon him, not being able to get away, I just remember Ion turning to me and making a smile before he was pelted from multiple directions with arrows. My mind went blank as I ran to his side, catching him before he fell, taking a couple of arrows to the back myself but I held onto him, he just smiled back, placing a bloodied hand on my cheek and told me to stay strong like the Geo should before passing away in my arms" Florian continued on with a tear running down the side of his face. "After that I kind of blacked out for a bit, Zephyr said I went crazy and started just taking swings at Virgil, but the next thing I knew I was slammed to the ground with my right arm missing, as Virgil stabbed his sword right into my chest, I could feel my heard struggling to beat as I felt blood pool around me, I blacked out once more thinking it was the end but I then heard your voice once more saying I had to continue on and the next thing I knew I woke up in a hospital bed with Zephyr and Meeka by my side, they told me that I was lucky to be alive and I should thank Ion for it as my heart gave out as it was too damaged from Virgil's stabbing but Ion's was in ok shape having been missed somehow by all the arrows. His was transplanted into me and it still beats within me even after all these years, in fact it is a medical miracle that it has not rejected me yet even after all this time, though I believe there is another reason for that..." Florian finished saying as he trailed off.
"So that's the story" Florian said after a moment of silence, "after that I recovered the best I could, Matias hooked me up with a mechanical arm to replace the one I lost, though I have customized it over the years to kind of make it my own and I continued forwards as Ion asked me to do so." "I see, a similar event happen in my Plane, it is how I lost my arm and got my scars..." Ion said in response, "I figured as much which is why I took much interest in them, just that your story has a bit of a happier ending to it as you survived" Florian cut in. "Depends on how you look at it I guess, but I do have you to thank for that as I believe you acted as a guardian angle, also helps that Virgil stabbed me in the gut and not the heart" Ion said trying to lighten the mood as the last part did make Florian chuckle. "As you were mine in a way I guess" Florian added, "alright, now there is another thing, you see when I cam here to this Plane, I traveled with another, I thought he would be safe doing so if he held onto me but the Aether strings had other intensions since he is still connected" Ion started saying. 'Who did you travel with?" Florian asked, "why Zephyr of course" Ion replied, "I don't see why you would think it anyone else" Ion continued as Florian tensed up a bit, "I think he got connected with the Zephyr of this Plane since it seams he is still alive, so where is he?" Ion asked. "Well about that, I do know where his is would would be but..." Florian started saying but trailed off, "but what?" Ion asked, "well you see, we had a falling out in a few years after your passing..." Florian admitted, "oh... sorry to hear that, what was it over?" Ion asked. "Something about me not taking my duties of the Geo seriously now that the true Yggdrasil was gone, I told him now Krola was appointed but he said he is not a true Yggdrasil..." Florian explained, "wait, Krola is now the Yggdrasil? I mean I guess it makes sense as he is my little brother but he is suppose to be the Dratchkin, I can see where Zephyr is coming from but no need to blow up over something like this" Ion cut in. "That is what I was saying but anyways, he was saying that with the true Yggdrasil gone, it would cause problems of centuries past to resurface, saying we should seal away our Domains until a true Yggdrasil would return. When I countered this he then said I was not taking my duty as the Geo properly and sailed off to the Skylends, destroying any and all airships that were not tied to the lands above the skies and not letting anymore from the ground world take off to the skies" Florian continued explaining. "So you see even if you wanted to get to him, there is no way to as he is up there and there are no more airships down here anymore to get there, not that I haven't tried to make one but I haven't had any luck even with my skills" Florian finished feeling a bit frazzled, though Ion pondered for a moment before making a smile. "Well there is still one, well maybe" he said as Florian gave him a look, "how should I explain, the Zephyrs did gift an airship to the Yggdrasils which we did store on our grounds in the Void, at least in my Plane we did as I found it and used it back home, still continue to do so with Zephyr as my pilot on most days if not myself" Ion continued. "The Void? you mean the demon world? How do you expect us to get there, unless..." Florian countered but then remembered the specialty of the city of Eios' location and the Yggdrasil manor within.
"So are you ready to help me steal an airship Flint?" Ion asked with a coy smile, "or should I call you Florian as you seam to prefer now?" "No, just call me Flint, it feels more natural coming from you" Florian/Flint said with a big smile. "Ok then lets get going Flint" Ion said as he broke the chains holding onto his right arm, he then shattered the other ones on his left shortly after, "you could of gotten out of that any time?" Flint asked, "yep but was just having fun hanging around and conversing with you, also you looked like you didn't mind seeing the view" Ion continued as Flint got stunned with a little red in the face, "but now I think I would like clothing and equipment back, so do you mind letting the guards know and fetching it for me? Though I could do it myself if you like but you seam to have a good repertoire with them and I would rather avoid the fight if necessary." Flint then left the room and explained to the guards that Ion was in fact a Hunter as was suspected from the items he carried and he was able to confirm it with the interrogation. Upon this confirmation all charged the guards placed against Ion were dropped and an apology was issued along with the return of his belongings, Flint then helped Ion get quickly dressed as him and Flint exited out the jailhouse. "Ahh fresh air at last" Ion said making a stretch, "you know my offer still stands if you want to take me up on it, I know you enjoyed yourself in there" Ion continued coyly as Flint got red again but quickly snapped out of it. "You sure you still want to go through with this? It is stealing from your family, not to mention the family that Oversees all of Norland, it is quite a risk even for you" Flint said as Ion placed a hand on Flint's shoulder, "but in a way it is also my property, so it is not fully stealing, more so borrowing" Ion replied, "if you say so" Flint added. "Well I need to locate your Zephyr as I need to retrieve mine before I can leave this Plane otherwise he would be stuck here, that is the only place I can see him being as it is the only way it makes sense, so I need to get to the Skylends one way or the other" Ion interjected as Flint made a sigh. "Ok well if we are doing this, then I need to make sure you are fit for anything that will come our way, we will stop by my workshop in Eios before we try stealing... borrowing the airship, I am going to upgrade your mechanical arm with some devices I think you will like" Flint said all excitedly as Ion gave him a look, "what don't you trust me to work on your arm, trust me you are going to love what I have planned for it, I was coming up with ideas as we were talking while you where chained up." "I like to keep my arm a certain way and in a certain condition" Ion started saying, "looking at your, while it might be functionally upgraded, it has a more... unique look to it and it is not the style I am going for" Ion continued as Flint made a sigh. "Yes I know how you like your equipment to be, trust me I have made things for you before, or at least my Ion and I made them flawless looking, mine looks the way it does because I always tinker with it but yours would be the more complete product, all finish and shine" Flint retorted, "and I am doing this free of charge and front of the line so count yourself lucky as there are those who would jump at the bit for that at the Talon's Fang en Claw Workshop." "I see you kept the name" Ion said as Flint gave him a look, "well don't worry, when I inherited the building from you I did as well mostly, even made it into the pub/bar we always talked about for select nights, otherwise it is know as Talon's Fangenclaw Guildhouse" Ion added which made Flint smile, "glad you were able to live out our dream with it" he said which made Ion smile, "yes, I just wish you were also there to enjoy that dream with us."
The two boys continued out of the desert oasis and across the sandsea into a forest grove that followed along the Corre river, leading to the city it's named after just outside the Eios mountain range, "sorry about the punch earlier" Flint started to say placing a hand around Ion's shoulder once they entered the forest, "I mistaken you for my puppet, it is actually it's fault you got caught up in this mess with those guards..." Flint continued as Ion looked a bit confused, "puppet?" he asked. "Oh sorry, I created a construct that was mean to look as similar to you as I could, looking at you now I actually got the clothing down very similar to you are wearing as well, after all I did follow some sketches that were left behind in the workshop and I did have some help from..." Flint started to answer as Ion gave him a look, "you created a puppet of me?" "Well yes, but I do have a reason for doing so if you would just hear me out" Flint started to say in a nervous voice, "well, I don't know how it came to be, or if you will believe this part as it is kind of out there, Zephyr really didn't before we grew apart, but, remember how I said you, well our Ion died? Well his soul somehow melded itself with mine when I got stabbed in the heart by Virgil, I also believe this is the reason why my Ion's heart that was transplanted into me still functions all this time after the transplant since it is also feeding off the presence of his soul within mine, but anyways I can summon him as..." Flint continued on as Ion made a laugh, "I see you also think I am kind of farfetched." "Oh, no not at all, I fully believe what you say, I am just surprised you didn't realize" Ion replied continuing to chuckle as Flint looked at him in a bit of confusion, "you can't tell? I guess I will have to show you" Ion continued as Azure Aura emanated from him, off to the side, the Aura formed a shape of a fox that had outlines similar to Ion but with bigger ears looking identical in size to Flint's, fur and clothing then formed as Ion made a being that looked identical to him, though when the familiar opened it's eyes, they were a pure blue hue, the same hue as Flint who stood before, "I believe you as you can see I can do the same as the you from my Plane, is merged with my soul, I would actually not be alive today if that were not the case." "But how? How are you able to do that so easily?" Flint asked though Ion looked confused, "can't you? You said you can summon him can't you not?" Ion asked. "Well yes... no... kind of, maybe?" Flint said as he looked a bit flustered, "I can do the same thing as you just did, but it seams to work only in certain circumstances and sometimes or mostly out of my control, I have tried to do it on my own but I can never get it to work, I mean I am not as adept as you with things as Alchemy or Psynergy as you call it" Flint continued. "Even so, you are a Kyuubi so it should come naturally eventually, just give it more time" Ion said as Flint gave him a look, "a Kyuubi? I don't think so, maybe my Ion's soul kind of is as I know you were born one but I know I wasn't, a demon yes but not a Kyuubi" Flint responded as Ion shook his head, "no you are a Kyuubi, trust me on this, I can see it." "How so" Flint asked, "from what I know of Kyuubis, my skillset and attributes are no where near the kind a Kyuubi has and it is not in my lineage, how do you know for sure?" "It would be hard to explain at the moment, but you yourself are the Kyuubi, your Ion's soul has no trace of it, just yours" Ion replied hoping Flint will take him at his word for the time being.
"Ok, well in any case, since I can't create a familiar like the one standing there, I used my skillset the only way I knew how, by building a construct and infusing into it, only instead of infusing my Aura, I infuse the part of my soul that is my Ion's" Flint started to say, "at first there was some trial and error, Alchemy created constructs from my Gaia could not withstand the presence of a full soul or that those types just out right rejected it, so I had to create something from the ground up, and if I were to give you a body even temporarily, might as well make it look as close as it could be to how you were to hopefully make the soul more comfortable while within it" Flint continued on, "I guess a demonstration would be best, though just got to be careful as I already used this ability today." Flint then slammed his palm on the ground as golden yellow Aura surrounded it, as he lifted his hand up, cracks began forming around the place his hand touched as the earth gave way, with a fox looking figure, resembling Ion rising up from the ground, Flint though looked a little exhausted after summoning the puppet. "whoo, I am not use to doing this twice in one day, takes a lot of energy to move it around through the Gaia flow" Flint said as Ion look like he was about to ask a question, but Flint seamed to know what Ion was going to ask about "you see the puppet is a physical construct, a being made from steel, gears and springs with an outer shell overtop, face is mostly made from a unique porcelain material as faux fur kind of got caught in the gears and springs so I was only able to use that on certain accents, like the ears, tail and of course hair but I crafted this whole heartly by hand with you... er my Ion supervising my work, helping me get the details just right to make him feel comfortable in a device he was going to use, I try to make any creation I make for others as fine tuned as they want, it is an artificer's way" Flint said as the puppet fully formed and fell to like a kneeling position. "As it is a physical construct and not made with Gaia, I have to actually carry it with me when not in use, or actually, bring it to my side when I need, you see there are Aura flows all around the world, basically the worlds own energy flows and it is in these conduits a Alchemic Geomancer like myself, even with limited mystical ability can tap into and send things through these flows, which includes my puppet, I store him in a special place in my workshop and when I need him, I call upon the energy flow and move the puppet within in and pull it through that flow to me. Takes a lot of energy to do so since I am not as attune with mystical arts as someone as yourself, especially if the distance is great but at least sending it back to storage is easy as reversing the unnatural flow of bringing the puppet to me works kind of like a spring flinging it back to a starting position, if you catch my drift" Flint finished explaining as he was still catching his breath. Ion then looked over the puppet resembling him, taking notice of some of the more shocking similarities,
"I knew you loved to build and tinker with machines and the like once you discovered your Gaia, but I never realized just how skilled you would become in some aspects, never though you would create anything like this, heck I am surprised how much similarity you got the attire I am wearing on the puppet without ever actually seeing what I would end up creating from my old sketches" Ion said as Flint took position behind his creation. "I did have a lot of help in that aspect, yes I had the sketches but as I said, I also had you, or my Ion directing me from my mind on how things should look and I did the best I could with what I had and my own skills" Flint started saying, "after all this puppet is meant for him to use, speaking as such I should let him in, though I don't know how long he will be able to hold on as we already did this today, so just keep your guard up, you will eventually see why" Flint continued, placing a hand on his creation as golden yellow Aura flowed into the puppet, a moment latter, the puppet's eyes shot open, making a slight orangey glow as it stood up and turned to face it's Ion counterpart, "I guess Ion, meet Ion" Flint said with a small chuckle. Ion looked over the now activated puppet, feeling a force almost as his own presence emanating from it, maybe the same feeling Flint had when he summoned his familiar as you are almost looking into a mirror, looking through a looking glass. The puppet held out it's hand towards Ion as he took it, hands clasping in a bond of trust and understanding of just how unusual a moment like this would be as two counterparts from different Planes meeting, though Ion could not make out any full reaction the puppet was making if any as it's mouth and nose were covered up with a shinobi mask, one similar to his own. "He has full control over the movements of the body while his soul is bonded in there, though a bit restricted to the movements of the gears and springs, can't fully replicate one hundred precent of natural limb movement, heck our mechanical arms can't do that either but it is a bit more so with a full construct or puppet body" Flint started saying as the Ions hand's parted, "there is also limitations on facial expressions and mouth movement, it is quite unnatural so we though it would be best to cover the mouth part mostly with his old shinobi mask, the puppet also has no vocal capacity so adding that didn't really affect anything, seams you also still use it so it is another thing we got right about your presence" Flint continued speaking. "Not normally something I really wear a lot, just got lucky or unlucky in this case in the incident with you and the guards" Ion replied, "as I cannot see the strings the would bind me to other like me as I now have none, I needed to try my best to make sure I was not confused for this Plane's Ion if one existed here, so I just defaulted to it to hide my identity while I explored around, not know I actually had a doppelganger here doing some suspicions things in my vicinity" Ion continued as Flint looked a bit confused about some of the word's Ion said.
But before he could ask anything the puppet Ion suddenly jerked as the orangey glow left it's eyes as Ion's soul jolted back into Flint who felt it reattach, the puppet's eyes then glowed an emerald green as Ion looked at it a bit stunned at it's peculiar change. "Ion watch out" Flint called out as the canister on his back charged up, a moment latter the puppet unsheathed the sword on it's back and took a swing at Ion, though his familiar quickly got in the way of the strike and took the full blow, disintegrating it back into Azure Aura specks as Flint's soul within it, jolted back into Ion as their souls also remerged. The puppet motioned for another swing as Ion drew his weapons to meet it but Flint cast out his left hand as strings of blue lightning, the same ones Flint used in their fight earlier emerged from the small rings around his fingers and dug into the puppet as it violently jostled before seizing up pully and falling to the ground, the green eyes vanished into blank states as the ground quickly absorbed the puppet's body back into itself. "Sorry, that was what I was afraid of and why I said be on your guard" Flint said as the lightning strings from his hand quickly vanished, "you see, Ion's soul can only be away from me and bonded to the puppet for time before it gets rejected and sent back to me, since we already did this today, the recharge time was small so we didn't have long before this was bound to happen" Flint continued. "But why did it start attacking?" Ion asked as Flint put a hand behind his head, "that is the part I don't really know, once your or my Ion's soul get rejected from the puppet and gets forcefully returned, the puppet has a tendency to go what I call 'haywire' and gets very murderous, which is why I like pulling Ion's soul back myself as it doesn't do that if I manually do it, only when time's up and the soul gets rejected" Flint answered. "You put a bit of your Aura into the puppet to when you place his soul in correct?" Ion asked as Flint nodded, "yes as it activates the gears, springs and such" Flint responded, "then that is why, your inner demon self is, how should I say this, quite the bloodthirsty one, while it and your mortal self are now combined being an awakened demon, that inherit personality is still within your Aura now that it is demonic, which transfers over to the puppet and is the only thing left in control once your Ion's soul is gone" Ion concluded. "Fascinating, I never thought of something like that, as I never really had any run ins with my inner demon to know something like that" Flint said which perked something in Ion's mind, like his own Flint was responding to that statement, "but how do you know how mine was?" Flint then asked. "Without getting into too much, we had some run ins" Ion said keeping some details back, though this could explain why the Flint of this Plane was still alive and well compared to his own but it would still need some investigating. "Apparently mine was cold and calculating, my Flint's soul and him actually had quite the conversations while playing chess in the mindscape before I fully awakened, knowing how his inner demon was, he tried to stop mine from merging with my mortal self to awaken me thinking he was the same way as his but mine would never flinch saying we would merge when the time came and Flint would not have a reason to stop it, though actually have a reason to let it happen if he truly values me as he said, which in the end he was correct about" Ion said changing the subject a bit. "I see" Flint responded feeling that Ion didn't want to dwell on those details, "well in any case, as long as I have lighting quiver charged up, I can use my strings of lightning of overload the puppet and subdue it when haywire, which is why I tried it on you in our fight" Flint started saying fully changing the subject back to his own ability, "though if I use it when your... my Ion's soul is inside the puppet, it actually acts as a powerup since his soul can directly handle the extra electricity the lightning provides, I like to call that 'Marionette Mode' as he has actual strings attached during that phase" Flint continued with a chuckle as Ion made a small laugh himself.
"Well then, shall we continue on? We still got a ways to go before we reach Eios" Ion asked, "Sure thing, though I still want to know how you plan on getting that airship you say is buried in the Void beneath the Yggdrasil Estate" Flint started saying, "well first we need to check to see it is actually there before we venture that deep below, if not then it is not worth the trip and we would have to refocus on how to get to the Skylends" Ion replied. "So how do you want to go about that then? We could just ask Ivan and Ionia directly seeing how it is you that needs it" Flint said but Ion shook his head, "no, they can't know of my existence here, I need to keep incognito from anyone who knows me or the me of this Plane directly, besides you at the moment and Zephyr eventually which is when I will have to break the rule" Ion answered. "Maybe I could get Krola to ask about it, him now being the Yggdrasil heir as our Ion has passed it theoretically would be something he could ask about" Flint countered. "no, as the airship is kind of hidden, in fact I don't even think my dad even knew it was there or if he did he never mentioned anything about that, and if we get my brother to ask it might cause some suspicion but as much as I don't like it, we could use my brother in another way to figure that out" Ion started saying, "all I need is access to the manor, I am connected with the Void being born within it as the manor sits on the gateway, using my Aura inside I should be able to feel it out if it is there since I know where to look" Ion continued. "Alright, but you said you want to keep your presence hidden from those that would know you or Ion, isn't this kind of counterproductive to this, unless you want Krola to feel it out for you, maybe not letting him know exactly what he is looking for but see if he can sense something there" Flint asked but Ion shook his head once more. "No, he was not born in the Void so he doesn't have the same connection to it and I don't know how attune his abilities are for him to even try, I need to do it myself and this is how I plan to do it" Ion answered as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Azure Aura flowed around him as Flint looked in awe as Ion's form changed into that of a floof dragon, dressed in what was a combination of the dragon's Bushi and Shadow attire, though accented with Ion's colours but bearing a symbol the Flint recognized, the mark of the Kinsgādo. "You can become a dragon?" Flint asked, "yes, as well as a few other species, it is part of the pacts we make as Kyuubis with others" Ion responded, "using this form, my family in the Plane will not recognize me and I can give the allure that I am with the Kinsgādo especially looking like a dragon, I can say I am one of the new recruits tasked to look over Krola from the shadows and I wanted to show my presence of duty to the current Overseer, I would bring you along as you have a connection to the Overseer family and could give me an introduction" Ion continued saying. "While I am playing this charade I can use my Aura through the Void to see if the airship exists and if it does, we can sneak back in latter and head to the depths of the Void to retrieve it" Ion finished saying as he took back his arctic fox form, "ok we have a plan and I am on board with it but what do we do if the airship is not there" Flint asked, "we will cross that bridge when we get there but for now lets just focus on the task at hand" Ion said as they continued walking, another though ran through Ion's head after showing this Flint his dragon form as the one who he pacted with to get it would have been affected by his demise should he fall, it was a pact made around that time where they were first introduced with Flint's inner demon or at least his Flint was so this could hold another answer.
"How's your Lazar doing?" Ion asked breaking a few moments of silence as Flint came to a sudden stop, "I don't know, we all kind of lost contact with him after you... our Ion was killed, as hard as anyone took the loss he looked to take it the most greatly, like he was missing a part of himself" Flint as Ion looked at him with a bit of sadness, "yes I guess that makes sense, we were pacted after all, he was no longer just a member of my Kinsgādo, buy my dragon pacted to my Kyuubi being, one of my tails" Ion replied as Flint made a little nod. "I do miss the days when we would all interact, seeing you... uh..." Flint started saying as Ion made a small chuckle, "it is ok, we both know who you are referring to, no need to make things overly complicated" Ion said as Flint gave another nod. "As I was saying, seeing you ride on him into a fight from the skies, combining your lightning with his fire was a powerful combo and the two of you seamed to b e having a lot of fun when you did so, I just loved seeing you happy like that" Flint continued as Ion made a small smile, "though now, no one has seen him in years, even the other Kinsgādo, Kroloa or I assume Zephyr..." Flint finished trailed off saying the last name, "sorry, it is just I don't know if he is even alive or not." Ion then placed a hand over his chest, closing his eyes Azure Aura flowed around him for a moment before vanishing, with his eyes opening, "he's alive" Ion said as Flint looked a little confused, 'how do you know? You yourself are not pacted with our Lazar" Flint asked, "yes that is true, but I am connected to mine and he is connected to all others 'Lazars' throughout the Aether in the other Planes including this one, since I am standing in this Plane I should be able to sense two Aether Stings crossing back to my own Lazar through the Aether, mine and your Lazar's, providing that he is alive or that string wouldn't exist" Ion explained, "I see, didn't realize all the different us's in each of the Planes were connected physically like that" Flint said as Ion made a reaction that almost looked like a wince. "Well, not always the case" Ion started saying as Flint looked at him in confusion, 'I should explain, yes from the moment we are born, a Aether String is connected to each version of us and stays there until the moment we die, though there are those, although rare, that can break the string attached to themselves and become fully disjointed, an example is well, me, the moment I awakened the Kyuubi within, all my Strings snapped and I became disconnected from all the other Ions. This though allowed me to become 'Planar' which is why I am able to travel the different Planes of Existence, as I am not tied in place through the Aether" Ion continued explaining. "This though has an effect across the Aether, as only one instance of a person can unlock themselves from the Strings, the Aether counters and locks down all the other strings of those who are still connected, as there is now a gap in the void for it to do so, sealing off any other instance of that person, in this case Ions, from breaking free themselves, no other Ion throughout the Planes now can awaken their Kyuubi within as it is now locked for all time by the Aether."
"I see, that is why my Ion couldn't awaken when he was killed, you already took the slot, probably just a moment before preventing him from doing so" Flint said with a bit of sadness, though quickly went to clarify his feelings, "not to say I wish you were dead so I have my Ion back or anything, I do accept things happen for a reason and that cannot change." "No offense taken, I understand the feelings" Ion replied placing a hand on Flint's shoulder, "though it could also be the decision of your Ion to save you instead of awakening that gave me that moment with my Flint to awaken myself, allowing me to cut the strings instead of him, I should be the one grateful to him for letting that be possible and for making sure you stayed alive, which is something I was never able to do on my own end" Ion continued saying, cheering Flint up. "But as my Flint lives on within my soul, your Ion does within yours, even giving you the gift of his inheritance in doing so, allowing you to become a Kyuubi yourself even though you were not born one, you asked how I knew you were one, abet with no other tails yet, well now you have your answer, you have no Strings attached just like I do, you are a 'Planar' being as well even if you don't fully realize it yet" Ion finished saying as he lifted his hand from Flint's shoulder. "And in doing so I am not connected to any other Flint, Florian or whatever they may call themselves... truly alone throughout the universe" Flint said with a bit of sadness as Ion gave him a little punch, "you are never alone, you have all the others, like me who can travel the Planes with you, should you desire, you also have the pacts that you will create along the way being a Kyuubi, which now reminds me" Ion started saying giving a small smile, "we shouldn't let the work your Ion did for you go to waist" Ion continued as Flint looked confused again, "what do you mean by that?" "Lazar" Ion answered, "you should find him and re-establish that pact, your Ion is now within you, so you hold that key now and it should bring purpose back to Lazar's life from what you were telling me about his condition." "But even so I don't know where to find him, you said he is alive but he has been missing for decades, it would be an unfounded search" Flint responded back but Ion made a coy smile, "when I checked for his existence, in doing so I sent out a small calling, even though it was just a small short pulse, since I am standing in this Plane, it should of rebounded off mt Lazar and back to yours, I am sure he picked it up and will try to locate it's source in time." "Ok, but from what you said, he will come to us so we don't have to change the course of our plans, fist back to my workshop, then steal the airship and head out for Zephyr, Lazar can fly so if necessary he could finds us up in the lands of the sky if he does as you say and tried to locate your calling's source" Flint asked as Ion gave a nod, "good, well lets hurry, I can't wait to get your arm outfitted and upgraded with my tech, don't worry I am sure you will love the ideas I have for it, after all, my Ion loves the way his works on the puppet and from what I learned in our fight, you are one in the same even with your differences." ~
