~Ara macao~ 

Just before the dawn, Teasel woke from his slumber. The birds sitting in the tree on top of them cawed to the peeking sun, then flew off into the remainder of clouds. The sky was tashed with a red and blue hue, creating a sort of purple in the middle.

Dew surrounded them once more.

Suddenly, almost frantically, Teasel looked around with wide eyes. Gladiolus, who woke up to a screaming mouse in his ear, got up reluctantly. He warily looked around the sombre property as he shook his body from sleep, the brown hairs across his body swaying with each shake.

Teasel let out a squeak as he slipped off of the large beast, suffering from that massive earthquake. He sat on the ground for a moment, holding his breath as well as his tail, waiting to hear once again the noise that woke him.

Soon enough, the sound of people screaming and crashing resonated across the property, meeting with their sensitive ears. Gladiolus perked up, the two of them keeping their eyes on the road, waiting for people to approach them. But no one came.

Moments later, Delphinium and the rest of them emerged from inside the house. It had seemed that they too, had heard the noise.

Phlox, standing beside Delphinium, had chucked the fur boots and replaced them with a pair of slim black leather boots, covered in zippers and rugged pieces of fabric. His legs caressed in black pants accompanied with a white shirt and favourite jacket. He turned to Delphinium then, his hair moving in the breeze as he told him something. Delphinium nodded his head towards Gladiolus and Teasel under the tree, then slowly made his way towards them.

“We must head to town..” He said, and with a nod of his head he picked Teasel up off of the ground, then mounted onto Gladiolus.

Meanwhile, Phlox led the twins into the small garage in the back of the property. The bricks, as old as the houses’, were a pale grey and the doors were a bright red, recently repainted.

He opened the door and pushed them inside the cool room. There were multiple tools and parts laying here and there. Scraps were placed in a large pile to the far left corner and to the right was a work desk covered in his latest inventions. Small springs and wires peeked out from the drawers and a large sketch pad sat atop of the desk.

The walls, a creamy colour, were plastered with blueprints and multiple pictures of automobiles as well as maps. In the centre of the room however, were objects covered with a white tarp.

Phlox walked over to them and grabbed the tarp by the middle and tossed it off, revealing three motorbikes. Phlox smiled to himself, proud of his recently finished projects. The middle one had a white exterior, whereas the other two were a slick black colour. He motioned the two to step closer.

Phlox swung a leg over one of the bikes, sitting down on the comfy seat. He leaned forward, placing his hands where the handle bars would be, inside an invisible jello. As he did so, the substance glowed a bright blue, the bike roaring to life.

The threesome slowly rolled out of the garage and made their way to the front of the property where the rest had been waiting. Delphinium nodded his head and Gladiolus took off.

Once arrived, they met with chaos. The stands that were placed upright with containers of food and jewelry were now laying on the ground, set ablaze. People ran from one side of the road to the other, carrying their belongings and even their children.

The burly man from the bar and the small group walked down the opposite side of the road, not bothered by any of it. He shoved a lady to the side to look down at what she was collecting from the table. The man picked up a few pieces of jewelry, then proceeded to put them in his jacket pocket, ignoring the woman’s chocked expression. The men then proceeded to laugh as the startled woman ran passed Delphinium and down a small path where houses were situated.

Phlox killed the bike and easily slid off, his hands slipping out of the special handlebars. After dusting his pants, he slowly made his way over to the group of men, ignoring their glares as he approached. He nodded his head toward the small fire beside them. “Oleander won’t be happy to find out his trade has been burned down.”

The fat man looked beside him and laughed along with the others. “You see, kid, you don’t understand..” He said, then roughly grabbed Phlox’s neck. “You don’t know anything.”

Phlox wrapped his hands around the man’s arms, looking up at him with a glare. As he hissed in pain, Delphinium, seemingly unnoticed, stepped off of Gladiolus. With a simple wave of his arm, the large man stopped moving, as if he was being controlled. The man choked, letting go of Phlox, who tumbled to the side trying to catch his breath.

“You will lead us to the cause of this madness.” Delphinium simply stated, looking at the burly man with a killer expression. It had seemed that Delphiniums eyes had gotten darker, even though they were completely black. Those eyes pierced into the men and shook their bones, immense fear coursing through them. Delphinium then let go of the man and looked at them expectantly, waiting. Taking a couple of steps back while turning, they muttered a soft “Follow us”.

They stopped at the end of a path that led them half a mile from town. From what they could see, nothing was out of the ordinary. Grey, rotting tree's aligned themselves on each side of the dirt road. A couple of small black birds sat at the top of one of the largest trees to the right, cawing down at them. Delphinium looked up at them curiously, watching as they continued to make noise. The fat man nodded his head towards the grey mass where the birds sat. He led the group passed a wall of trees, then stopped. Surrounding them was a bright green colour, resembling what had happened when Delphinium had touched the butterfly-like creature. The once dead flowers were now sprouting out of the grass. Small trees grew and sucked in the sun's rays. "A mother and child found it this morning.." one of the men said, pointing to the basket and fruits that were sprawled in the middle of the ground. By now, a couple of insects had started to devour the fruits. "It's just like the prophecy said-" He had continued, but the burly man gave him a sharp glare.

The green around them slowly seemed to be spreading, expanding the circle even further.

Delphinium turned, "What prophecy?" He took a couple of steps forward, standing a few feet from the group. They visibly shrunk, standing in front the tall man.

"Y-You see.." One started, but stopped as he felt the fat mans eyes on him. The group looked amongst themselves before one continued. "Prophecy says that the light will bring a large figure to destroy the darkness forever.. Once the grand clock starts to chime, the game has begun. It has been two days since it started to ring, today will be the third day.. There is only nine days left. You must've brought it with you, the light.. The prophecy is true!" The smallest man amongst him finished, motioning to the lush forest. The other men glanced at him, regretting ever bringing him along. They looked back at Delphinium, unsure if it was the truth. Although he was a tall man and things had changed ever since he arrived, it could just be a coincidence. For now, they would rule Delphinium out as someone they didn't like.

Delphinium swiftly turned to Phlox, grasping onto his sickle. "Get whatever you have, we leave at sundown." Phlox opened his mouth, about to object but quickly decided otherwise. He nodded his head and walked over to the wall, pushing back the green and disappeared. Moments later, Delphinium and the twins followed and soon returned to the house, leaving the group of men to their thoughts.