A blazing inferno is what greeted the three. Naren stared off into what was once a lively and peaceful town square. Where stalls should've been were now dancing wisps of flames. Where people should've walked were cindered ruins of life. Where buildings stood was now a circle of hell.
"It wasn't like this before."
Naren had no idea why, but he couldn't help but feel that the settlement wasn't supposed to be burning. It never was. Never had. He hadn't even heard the inferno begin, like it had just cut in with no build up.
Nico fell to his knees, his chest heaving as tears streamed down his face.
"W-what...COUGH...What is this..."
He stood up running into the fires, trying to salvage anything that remained of his previous life, before a hand grabbed him from behind.
"You gon get burned."
Nico slapped Cairo's hand off, an expression of anger replacing his grief. He had an uncanny resemblance to Vera even now. Something that Naren and Cairo both couldn't shake.
"I don't care! It's all gone! Who cares if I burn!"
Just as Nico finished, Cairo kicked his knees, sending him the ground again. Followed by a chop to the back of his head, Nico fell flat on the ground.
Cairo kneeled over subtly slapping his cheeks while muttering.
"Ain't never been burned, so you wouldn't know how much that shit sting."
"So what'd we do now?"
Cairo stood up. Immediately his fist was lodged right into Naren's stomach, exhaling all the air from his lungs.
Naren quelched over, trying to keep his insides from being outsides, glaring at Cairo.
"The...hell..."
"Aight, we smooth now so go find shorty...I got to whoop the weed-head's ass."
Straightening up, Naren shifted in his stance. Wondering if he should just drive his knees into Cairo's nose now or later.
'Later.'
"Fine. But how do you expect me to walk through this cooking pot. You said it stings didn't you."
"Ion care. Sting yourself all day for all I give a damn."
Naren tilted his head. Golden eyes meeting grey.
"What's your problem pal."
"My problem's dis piss-eyed fuck in fronta me."
For a second, silence engulfed the crackling of flames. A tense silence that staggered in between a golden glare and a grey stare.
"...Pfft."
Naren's face took on a mischievous grin. He began patting the top of Cairo's head.
"Look at the cranky candle."
Cairo twitched his head, as his face scrunched.
"Huh?!"
Naren took Cairo's hand slapping it's palm with his own. Cairo staring in confusion the whole time, a side of his cheek raised higher than the other.
"There, now we're locked together."
"Whatcha sayin?"
"No point being on tight ends. Lets relax...I still plan on drilling your nose later though."
"...Pftt."
Cairo let out a light chuckle before slapping Naren's palm in return.
"You're great. Now I feel stupid bein all tight."
Just then a bolt flew right in between Naren and Cairo, lodging itself at their feet. Not from inaccuracy, but to simply get their attention.
"I could kill any one of you with the next one. Leave the boy and back away...If I find out he's injured, I'll rip you're arms off...If I find out he's dead...I'll skin you both."
They both turned towards the sounds, an ancient woman with sagging skin stepping out from the flames, a cloth wrapped around her mouth to keep from inhaling smoke.
A bright shade of green eyes stared at them with stray strands of dark brown hair barely inhibiting their vision.
Cairo stood his ground as Naren immediately raised his hands backing away whispering under his breath.
"Don't do nothing stupid Cairo."
Cairo titled his head, the shadows consuming his face.
"You his ma?"
The woman hesitated for a second before replying.
"...Grandmother."
Cairo flipped over the unconscious boy with his foot.
"He straight. Tried runnin inta the fire so I slept him...Take him we not dealing with him."
The woman lurked closer, her crossbow aimed directly at Cairo's neck the entire time. When she finally reached Nico, all precautions fell in the face of panic.
She checked his pulsed, pulled up his sleeves, traced his body, looking for any form of harm.
"He's straight, like I told ya."
"...You can never be too sure."
After a bout of silence, the old woman spoke again.
"Thank you...For not letting him run off."
When she looked up, golden eyes were staring, kneeling right before her.
"Say, you seen a little girl that looks like him, grandma?"
The old woman looked down at the boy, lingering for a second, before raising her eyes back at Naren. Guilt was written all over her face.
"They took her."
"What?"
"She told me they were coming to kill me...I don't know how she knew, but sure enough they came."
"So you just let her go?"
The grandma couldn't help but be stung by the glare that permeated from Naren's eyes. For whatever reason, he felt really ticked off at the old lady right now.
"With a bunch of randoms? What kinda grandma are you?"
"Like hell I did!"
Naren fell back in the sudden outburst.
"The little girl. She looked just like my Nico! Do you think I'd have the heart to give her away?! She was scared! Shaking, she clung to me telling me she didn't want to go! How could I let those devils take that little girl!"
"So they torched the whole place cuz you ain't stay in line."
"Those wretched devils...They pulled her away as she cried. Taking her by force."
Naren sat back up.
"Just kill them. It's just two isn't it?"
"Do you think fifty warriors are capable of killing two devils? If that weren't bad enough they have a plague backing them from behind sitting in heaven...H-he could wipe us all out."
Her voice trailed off as she mumbled something under her breath that only Naren could hear: "Not even my sweet Leah has come back."
Naren thought back to the girl on the land below, her convulsing head that bled out right before him. Her last words as a doting older sister. Then another thought popped in. A member that shouldn't have existed.
'Tell him to go to heaven'
However, this false memory didn't fade. It lingered.
"Hey grandma. Heaven. What's the city in haven called."
The puzzled old lady looked up as her eyes trailed off to Naren's scarf. A scarf that felt all too familiar...Reminding her of another. A woman who walked the these very streets decades back.
"...Atlas...The Tomb of Atlas lies in Heaven."
An eel flew right at Naren from the fires, sinking right into his arms. Naren fell back shaking it off as a short dark skinned man walked out of the flames.
"I'm sicka how many times you get in the way."
The white robe fluttering behind him, wisping with burn marks.
"Both you and that stain are getting old."
Naren ripped the eel off him arm standing up. Tossing it behind, Cairo touched it with the tip of his shoes, lighting it ablaze.
A smile crept up onto Cairo's face as he picked up the bolt from the ground, it's shaft glowing as the air around him began to ripple.
Naren cracked his neck, yawning.
"Grandma, if we take care of these bozos...Can you tell me how to get to heaven?"