Kito tried to avoid the next attack, but it came much faster and stronger than he possibly could have expected. Seiko sent a gust of air at him with a punch, smashing into Kito’s shoulder and spinning him, only to be fired off of his feet with a grunt by a blast of fire. Kito rolled up to his feet and widened his stance, ready to dodge or block in any direction. He wasn’t going to be able to use any more fancy magic techniques, that was for sure, his stamina was completely shot. Seiko left the ground with a spin, his leg coming round and trails of fire swirling around him then blasting at Kito as the kick lashed out - Kito barely dodging the assault. He found himself handling the attacks better now, however. Columns of wind and fire blasted at Kito faster and faster as Seiko flipped and whirled with arcing kicks and quick jabs, Kito dodging and weaving around. It was becoming easier and easier, Kito’s mind going back to all the times he and Seiko had sparred in the past. Another spin and Kito dodged a wave of air, deciding to go on the attack and bringing his blade around. Fire exploded, the flames licking the air around Kito as he started a dash at his opponent, dodging another gust of displaced air and kicking off the ground, blade arcing towards Seiko. Barely dodging the glinting blade, Seiko grunted and fell back, recovering from the stumble with a back handspring. Kito swiped aside another fireball and ducked under an incredibly fast roundhouse, bringing his sword up and drawing blood once again. Seiko cried out and spun away, Kito noting that the slice on his back had already fully healed. Kito was about to go in for another slash, but Seiko stamped quickly on the ground, concrete and earth splintering and shooting up, deflecting Kito’s swing and sending him staggering back with a grunt. Adjusting his grip on his sword, Kito settled back into a stance when he realised how far apart the two were. Fire, air and water were building up around Seiko as he took a couple of steps, and it only took a second for Kito to see what was coming. He tried to raise his guard as Seiko stepped and left the ground, both legs coming up and striking out with a massive boom as the elemental barrage ripped up the ground around them, Kito’s guard instantly breaking and the assault taking him clean of his feet with a cry of shock and pain.

The wall that Kito smashed into had broken inwards and he was now lying in the dust of an abandoned living room. Groaning with the pain, he moved a piece of debris from the broken wall off of him, shifting over onto his side and propping himself on his elbows. Blood dripped onto the wooden floorboards as Kito slowly got his feet under him and managed to get to his knees. Seiko seemed to be a lot different to any undead Kito had ever encountered. He could still use his magic, the exact same as when he was alive. The only undead type Kito knew of that could do this was a wight, though generally wights also didn’t maintain any degree of sanity or reason, becoming completely feral when brought back. Seiko was showing the complete opposite here, strategising and adapting to a fluid combat scenario. Kito used a broken coffee table to get to his feet, stumbling and falling back against the far wall with a grunt. The pain was lancing its way through his chest, from his right side up and through his sternum, and shooting across his left shoulder. His ribs and collar bone, he was thinking, if not broken then definitely cracked. Managing to stand up straight, Kito staggered to the middle of the floor, looking at the hole in the wall. He still had his sword in his hand, blood dripping from his arm down onto the guard. The wounds he’d given Seiko had healed in moments, so it was clear he could take a lot of punishment, that was good. It meant Kito didn’t need to worry about killing him. It was time to finish this.

Seiko started a cautious walk towards the ruined wall at the end of the street. The ground and the walls around him were cracked, concrete and earth ripped up and charred. The ‘elemental dropkick’ he had developed before his death had a lot of force behind it, but he usually could only use it once or twice in a battle before his stamina was completely burnt out. Clearly his magical stamina was a hell of a lot higher since coming back. The slices he’d gotten throughout the fight were already closing over, too. They were very accurate and deep slices, though, not sloppily aimed in the slightest. Whoever his opponent was, he was experienced and skilled. He recognised two of this guy’s Disciplines for certain, aura and mirage. He was incredibly proficient with them as well, able to blink using mirage and back up his sword swings with aura. There was an odd air of familiarity with how he fought. Thinking deeper, he started to realise that this guy had adjusted to how Seiko fought way too quickly. Every time Seiko had brought the intensity up, his opponent had adapted and countered with a flow most combatants couldn’t muster. It was making him think of someone he used to know, though just as his thoughts were starting to solidify, something came from the dust cloud incredibly quickly. Seiko reacted on instinct, punching a large fireball at what he realised at the last minute was a helmet, with something inside it, some kind of black powder. Seiko’s eyes widened as the fireball struck the steel, the explosion forcing him to shield his eyes with his arm. Gunpowder. Before he could drop his arm, Seiko barely noticed something shooting through the black smoke cloud even faster than the helmet, jarring against Seiko’s chest and making him stagger back with a grunt of pain. The katana the guy had been using had run him through perfectly, blood splattered against the blade. It was almost silly the amount of pause it gave him, looking at the sword sticking out of his body. Once again, before he could react there was a bright light, and his opponent appeared in a flash of blue energy, gripping the hilt of the sword and pushing Seiko with a grunt of exertion, pinning him against one of the side walls with the sword sliding nicely and jamming in one of the cracks Seiko had made. He was about to keep fighting when he caught sight of his opponent’s hair, and when Kito raised his eyes to meet Seiko’s, he froze.

“Kito..?” Seiko said softly, his muscles relaxing slightly.

Kito blinked a few times, his determined expression becoming more and more confused, “You can… Talk?”

“How did you,” Seiko had hundreds of questions running through his mind at a million miles an hour, “Why are you… What’s going on?!”

“I-I thought…” Kito swallowed as he gripped his sword with slightly shaking hands and tried to pull it free. The blade jarred against the crack and Seiko hissed in pain, Kito mumbling apologies and pulling a little harder. He was too stunned to really say anything, wrenching the sword free with a spray of blood and cry of pain from Seiko as he fell to his knees.

Looking up, Seiko leaned back against the wall and looked at Kito like he’d just posed a particularly difficult maths problem, “You’re part of the Rebellia now?” He said, voice strained with pain.

“I, ah…” Kito looked down at his coat, backing away slightly, “No, I’m just…” He couldn’t find the words, looking back down at Seiko. He looked almost exactly the same as he had the day he had died. His hair was oddly clean, swept-back off of his face like it usually was, his cheekbones were deep and his skin may have been a little paler than it had been, but it was definitely Seiko. His voice was just as Kito remembered it, the only thing that really stood out as odd were those glowing red eyes.

“You look…” Seiko trailed off slightly, his wounds clearly healing well, “Different.”

Kito smiled slightly, falling back against the opposite wall of the alley with a puff of exasperation, “It’s been a while…”

“I thought you looked older. The scar’s new too.”

“Ardor gave me that,” Kito’s brows furrowed, “You’ve missed a lot. What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Demon,” Seiko looked up at the sky, “Revenants… I took a serious hit, figure I didn’t make it, huh?”

“That about sums it up, I suppose. For the battle here.” Kito sighed heavily, rolling his neck.

“Did Katy make it?” Seiko said a little quiet as if he didn’t want to hear the answer.

“She did. She played a vital role in ending the war,” Kito suddenly straightened, his smile genuine, “You wouldn’t know! We won!”

“We…” Seiko blinked, then blinked again, “We won?”

“It took another decade or so after we lost you but, yeah. We met Xan’s forces head-on at Yhor’Dheel and barely scraped out a win.”

“Whoa…” Seiko blinked again, looking down with a small smile, “I can’t believe we actually won… It looked like we were going to lose…”

“For a while, we all thought so. After losing you, the team kinda…” Kito scratched his chin, looking to the side, “Well, let’s just say it wasn’t quite the same. We fought to the end though, it was our Red Mask that pushed back Xan’s lieutenants during the final battle.”

“I see…” Seiko was still blinking, most likely trying to work through all of this in his head, “Xan was actually beaten. I’m amazed. When he saw him at the Dreadspire I thought for sure he was unbeatable.”

“He bloody seemed like it!” Kito knelt down, then fell back into a sitting position, “He beat Allohallimelle and the empress at the same time. Insane.”

“Who beat him in the end? Sara? Draedroman? Zaxallimat, or Kaius?”

Kito shook his head slowly with a small smile at first, “My mum never met Xan, although he did come across all of the warriors he and Allohallimelle had trained alongside. He beat them all. Killed three of them.”

“Then… He’s not dead?” Seiko was frowning deeply.

“He’s dead,” Kito leaned back, gaze dropping to the ground, “I beat him in the end.”

Seiko stared at Kito blankly.

“What?” Kito blinked.

“I mean,” Seiko shrugged, suddenly smiling slightly, “No offence, Kito, but you beat Xan?”

Kito chuckled, “I know, unbelievable. He was pretty weak. He beat all of the alliance leaders one after another, decimated the soldiers in that part of the city and barely had a scratch on him. Though I’m pretty sure he would have killed me on the spot if he’d been at full power.”

“You brought the war to an end huh?”

“Not exactly,” Kito shrugged, “The war ended four years after the battle of Yhor’Dheel. One of Xan’s lieutenants took up the reigns of his army. What was left if it anyway.”

“Which one?” Seiko leaned forward, his interest building, “Ardor?”

“Ardor was Xan’s second,” Kito tilted his head slightly, “But I killed him as well. It was one of the undead heroes Xan had a habit of raising. He was a particularly tough one. We eventually finished him off and it was over.”

Seiko dropped his eyes ever so slightly, “I guess I’ve been dodging around the real question, huh?” Seiko’s gaze rose slowly and met Kito’s almost hesitantly.

“Yeah,” Kito returned the look, “I can’t imagine what this must be like. I’m sure you want to know how long it’s been.”

“Just roughly.”

Kito sighed deeply, “It’s been almost twenty years. Nine since the war ended.”