End of all Hope

It was tricky work stripping only part of such an extensive kekkai down without weakening the entire thing. However thanks to the advanced warning he'd gotten, he was able to do a decent job of it in time. So that when the actual gate opened itself in his garden, there was nothing to interfere with its growth and nothing that it would harm in its making.

He waited quietly with the boy beside him until the people had fully exited the glowing portal and it had vanished before he spoke up in greeting. "Welcome to my woods, if you'd like to come on inside with me to my den, I'll see how I can be of help."

Jou glances up when he felt the faint prickle of power when the gate opened up in their back yard, breathing in the new sudden scents of angels, a god and his human, Hisoka and way too much blood to be comforting. Rising slowly, he gently shifted Jun so the dozing boy was leaning against Locke's side rather than his own, smiling reassuringly at his three girls. He knew they could smell the thick scent of blood as good as he could. "They're back. Let me go check, but I'm sure they're all fine."

Unlocking the back door, he slipped outside, wrapping his arms around Hisoka and pulling him back to kiss him fiercely, burying his fingers in his hair for a moment. Once that important matter was taken care off, he glanced at the others. The tall angel looked like he was sleeping upright, leaning heavily on Gabriel. Lelouch didn't look much better, his eyes shut and leaning on Rolo like- woah, that was a lot of blood. And feathers. And that was a liver, wasn't it?

Tightening his arm slightly around Hisoka, he chewed on his bottom lip. "Uhm. Welcome back?"

Elijah's pulse pounded in his throat as he followed Rolo and Hisoka, feeling the heavy weight of power in the air as they got closer and closer to Lelouch and whoever had taken him. He tried not to focus on the nature of it; it felt angelic, but he hoped, he prayed he was wrong. He prayed no angel would be cruel, hard-hearted or just plain foolish enough to do something like this. His breath was harsh and dry in his throat as he gripped Gabriel's hand, slipping through the cracked, pale ruins with him, his face tense and ashen as they drew near, his stomach sick as the breeze blew the thick, sharp scent of pain against his face, swallowing hard, his fingers tightening on Gabriel's.

If ever he had reason to curse human frailty it was now, every nerve screamed exhaustion and agony at him and no manner how much effort he tried to extend toward attacking or escaping the one dragging him toward and then through the damnable gate it only ended in miserable failure and just more pain due to the merciless hold that it had on his hair in this form. His throat was raw from curses among other things thrown at the angel and finally when he did lapse silent it was because it hurt to much to try and produce enough sound to form words from the abused vocal cords.

Finally after what seemed like almost hours, he felt the body he was now bound helpless within lifted and then tossed upward onto something cold and rough like it was nothing more than a rag doll to be discarded, he almost rolled off the other side such was the force behind the throw, but was halted by a pair of hands which pushed him back onto whatever it was he was resting upon now.

Looking up at the new arrival, he let his eyes narrow at the tall imposing figure. 'Metatron...I should have known that your master was behind this..the last time you showed your face to me, you ended up destroying my people and country..'

"You had your chance to let them join us and go to the place offered you.."

'You expect me to really lower myself and serve your master of false and hypocritical love, I can't believe you're still stupid enough to think that deranged lunatic is worth serv--'

In his life, Rolo had never really played cards much; it simply had not been part of his daily activities and to tell the truth, he royally sucked at it. Still, the game was simple and fun enough to keep him entertained until Lelouch returned and spending some time in the presence of a normal family was nice for a change. He might even get used to this kind of thing even if they had made him put away all his knives.

Poking out his tongue a bit, he narrowed his eyes at his cards in thought, reaching for one and froze. A deep ache settled in his chest and a split second later a sharp pain shot through him, hoarse screaming that was not his filling his head until his ears rang and then it was suddenly as gone as quickly as it had come. However, the empty, powerless sensation in his chest ceased not. His cards slid from his suddenly numb fingers, his throat thick. "...Lelouch."

Kamui lifted his head slightly as he came to Keiichi's door, lifting his hand to knock, before he just let it rest against the wood. He was not ready to do this, but he had to. His ticket had already been booked, he had said goodbye to the others, and now this was all that was left to do. Keiichi deserved to know the truth; he deserved to know what had happened in Tokyo the past few months, and more importantly, he deserved to know who exactly was responsible for his parents' deaths.

Ever since Fuuma had woken up little over a week ago, this decision had been fixed in his mind. Tonight, Kamui would leave Tokyo. First he had a short flight to Okinawa to visit his mother's grave, and then the day after, he'd leave Japan. He didn't really care where he was going; he had booked the first ticket he could find (India) and he'd see where he'd go from there. Anywhere was better than Tokyo. But first, he had to tell Keiichi everything.

Kamui raised his hand and knocked lightly.