The rest of the undead horde took a relatively small amount of time to take care of, in comparison to the first portion they had taken care of. The revelation that Seiko had come back had been enough of a shocker to make the rest of the mission go by in an instant. A few of the crew members on the airship blinked several times at seeing Seiko, unsure of what to make of it. Though some recognised him, shaking his hand and greeting him as he had just been on holiday for a little while. The cabin was quiet for a while as Katy got out of her gear, Kito hanging the jacket he had borrowed back on its hanger. Seiko was leaning against the far wall, surveying the equipment around them.

“So you don’t need to breathe?” Katy asked, perching on a small table.

“Doesn’t seem like it,” Seiko shrugged, “I keep doing it by habit I suppose. But I gave it a try and didn’t need to take another breath when I held it.”

“You realise how good that’ll be in a fight, right?” Kito raised an eyebrow.

“The thought did occur to me.”

“I’m interested to see what else is different. How much stronger are you? Faster?” Katy was grinning widely.

Seiko frowned for a moment, “I think I’m a little stronger… My sense of smell is definitely a lot better.”

“You seem faster and more durable but that might just be the healing thing.” Kito chimed in.

“Healing thing?” Katy blinked, gaze flicking between Seiko and Kito.

“Oh, aye!” Kito clapped his hands, “He can heal almost instantaneously! I sliced him across the back pretty bad, then chucked my sword at him.”

“Ran me through…” Seiko sighed.

“Whoa, cool,” Katy beamed, “Well, not the running you through part. Do you feel pain properly?”

“Sadly.” Seiko rolled his eyes at Kito’s snort of laughter.

“Hey,” Katy smiled, “Don’t be mean. Just because he heals fast doesn’t mean you get to hurt him. However funny that may be.”

“Not even a little bit?” Kito sulked, garnering a deep, resounding sigh from Seiko.

“Not even a little bit,” Katy warned with a chuckle, leaving to get them some food for the remainder of the short trip back to the mansion.

The wind blasted them as they walked down the narrow path through the trees.

“When was the last time I was here?” Seiko idled nostalgically.

“Before the siege of the Dreadspire,” Kito smiled, “We all came here to gear up because the garrison had been taken.”

“That’s right…” Seiko’s smile grew, “Our first mission as the Red Mask.”

“Search and rescue turned search and destroy…” Katy sighed, “That mission was a disaster on so many levels.”

“It never really got any better did it?” Seiko shook his head with a laugh.

“Kito’s plans do have a habit of falling apart, huh?” Katy looked up, in thought.

“Hey!” Kito walked ahead, defensive, “My plans during the attacks on Dreadkeep and the Eye worked out didn’t they?”

“You led an attack on the Eye of Fire?” Seiko’s brow arched in interest.

“He did,” Katy smiled proudly, “The Red Mask was the advance force during the siege too. We managed to force Xan into his first-ever retreat there. This was year what? Ninety-six?”

“About that, aye,” Kito nodded, “We took out a few of his highest-ranking commanders and the second wave managed to overwhelm him just barely.”

“It was impressive. Watching the warriors there go at it. The empress is much stronger up close than she seems in stories.” Katy explained as they walked through the trees, the mansion now becoming visible through the leaves in the distance.

“That was what forced him to move on Sentria I assume.” Seiko looked at Katy for a nod, though she inhaled with a long ‘hmmm’ as she clearly milled over the facts.

“It was actually Magistratia that forced him into Sentria.” Kito rubbed his neck with a sheepish smile.

“The alliance must have loved that.” Seiko chuckled.

“They weren’t too happy, considering they didn’t really have any way into Sentria,” Katy smiled wryly, “Magistratia, Nyxtria and Sylvia fought Xan on three fronts in Sentria, but they lost ground pretty quickly.”

“So I reached out to the leaders of Nyxtria and Sylvia. Magistratia had made it clear they want nothing to do with the alliance, so they were our only hope.” Kito continued.

“How did that go?” Seiko’s brow arched again.

“They were scary,” Laughed Kito, “Two women, who agreed to meet me at the same time if you believe it. We managed to broker a temporary truce as Xan was the larger threat.”

“Never seen Kito as scared as he was when he got back,” Katy smiled nostalgically, “Chalk-white, nervous grin, the works.”

“Well, it worked out,” Kito shook his head as Seiko chuckled, “Magistratia and Xan’s armies fought across Sentria, but they weren’t able to stop him. It became clear what his goal was.”

“Yhor’Dheel…” Seiko nodded, the events falling into place in his head.

“We set up ambush weeks in advance.” Explained Katy, “We knew that’s where he was going, and we knew that would be our last stand. If he succeeded, we’d all die horribly anyway.”

“With the combined forces we had at our disposal,” Kito said as they walked from the trees, “We managed to hold off Xan’s forces for a whole day. The tides turned in his favour as the fight went, of course. He had a knack for doing that. But he didn’t expect a surprise assault from Magistratia to smash into his army from the rear.”

“A battle on two fronts…” Seiko nodded, a look of admiration on his face.

“It was still a rough fight,” Katy finished the story, “But in the end, Xan’s forces were decimated. Around a dozen of his commanders and thousands of his undead warriors escaped but by that point, it was only a fraction of his full force. The rest fell.”

“Then,” Kito’s smile perked up, “After another four years of hunting down the stragglers the war was won. The commander who had taken Xan’s place as the leader disappeared, no-one’s heard anything about him for years. Victory.”

“To think,” Seiko blinked a couple of times, “We’re war heroes from the winning side. Who could’ve thought?”

“Definitely not me.” Kito smiled, the door of the mansion suddenly in front of them. The walk had seemed like only a few seconds, but they must have spent longer than they thought reminiscing. Seiko being back was still far too surreal for Kito, even though he was standing right next to him. Walking into his mansion with him. It was all so strange.

***

Seiko had been spending the better half of the last few hours resting. Thinking, Kito assumed. It must have been a thousand times more difficult for him being back than it was strange for Kito or Katy. He had joined them for dinner, true, and it seemed he hadn’t lost his taste buds or appetite which was a plus. He had then retreated to a training building and they hadn’t seen him since. Kito and Katy had decided he’d come to grips with things on his own terms, and of course, they’d help him. There was no rush, after all.

“So, you fought him?” Katy asked idly as music played softly, the two of them entwined on the couch, reading.

“I did.” Kito closed his book, a study on Demons found in Sentria thousands of years ago, and placed it on the coffee table as Katy dropped her comic book, clearly having wanted to ask this for hours.

“How did it go?” She asked, eyes bright and smile wide.

“Well,” Kito scratched his chin, “I didn’t explode.”

“You didn’t!” Katy beamed, “You fought someone as strong as Seiko and your body didn’t dissolve!”

“He was really tough, too. Wiped me out magically.”

“This was the test we needed,” Katy giggled, “You’re finally getting your groove back!”

“I guess so.” Kito laughed, “If you need more proof, we could go fight him again.”

Katy stared.

“No, no,” Kito laughed, sitting up with a chuckle.

Katy stared, her smile growing.

“We’re not going to go and beat up Seiko when he’s adjusting to being suddenly alive!”

Katy stared a little more, before jumping from the couch and running out the door. Kito laughed and followed, seeing a flash of her bright red ponytail whipping through the air and out the door. Kito shook his head, laughs still coming.