The people of Omar had been up on their feet setting up booths, decorating and carrying items from one step to another. Edgar had heard the festival was mostly going to be on the third step and a small area of the fourth. Before disappearing, Reina had warned that they should all be on their guard but still enjoy the festival. Even though she had said it rather lightly, Edgar could still sense the worry coming from her.

     It had gone dark earlier than Edgar had expected. He had taken a light nap after Silas had told him about the training. Taking a quick shower, Edgar enjoyed the solitude as he rested his forehead on the bathroom wall. His body felt heavy for some reason, and he tried not to look at the wall he had bashed in.

     Things were changing around him. Benji's need for blood, the odd power fusing inside him, this whole fucking world. They were freaking him out, and he didn't know how to react to them. The only thing keeping him from losing his cool was Silas. He liked how he was still normal, and no beast had tried to influence him.

     Edgar took a deep breath and closed his eyes, humming quietly to himself so his mind would slip to that place he hated. The next time he released his breath, he found himself exactly in the rune's new home. His dad's prison for two years before he died. The walls were as white as he had seen them that day. Edgar wasn't one to dwell on the past; mostly because it slowed him down. He hated it and always wanted the past to remain the past. However, just because he ignored it, didn't mean that it was gone.

Now, he was forced to look at it every day.

"Are you going to keep standing there or are you going to approach me? Ridiculous humans. Always stealing from people."

Edgar was knocked out of his thoughts when he heard a gruff voice coming from one of the metal doors in his father's ward. He approached it hesitantly, reaching to pull the small slot open.

"You can be quicker than that boy." The voice teased. Could it be the bloodboar? How come it didn't sound like him?

Edgar pulled the plate open and his brows bumped into a scowl when he saw the person inside. Just like Benji's Fang, the beast had taken Edgar's form, even his new hairstyle, though its eyes still glowed yellow. When the creature grinned, Edgar could easily make out long canines.

"Like what you see?" The monster snarled. It walked closer to the door, and Edgar swallowed, hoping the beast wouldn't find a way to attack him. "If you grow a beard, you'll look a proper man."

"Excuse me?"

The beast huffed then crossed his arms over his chest. "Call me Kais. Many beasts that communicate have names."

That explained why he talked like that and why he had a name. Benji's fang probably didn't need to communicate.

"Do you have your own form?" Edgar already knew the answer to that, but he had to be sure.

Kais shrugged. "Yes. If you want to see it, all you have to do is touch me. I can show you our true power."

As tempting as that sounded, Edgar knew the beast was tricking him. Reina had warned them not to get in contact with the monsters until they had full control of them. At this point, control over the bloodboar was pretty much none existent and keeping the door locked was the best way to keep him in check.

Taking a deep breath, Edgar willed the nervousness and fear he felt for the beast to go away then copied the bloodboar's expression. "I know if I let you out, you'll just run rampant. There's already a slight problem in town so I don't wanna add to that cup of tea. Why don't you tell me what you are good at so I can see what I can do with you?"

The bloodboar stared at him for a while before laughing loudly. It echoed in his little prison, and Edgar stiffened when the beast slammed against the door.

"If you even think we are going to get along, you are wrong. I'm not like any average beast. I've been here far too long to want to be used by you. You should have just killed me. Humans are the worst kind of monsters ever created."

The beast's eyes glinted with anger, and he slammed against the door again, making Edgar gasp when it shook. The boy took a cautious step back and watched as the beast retreated into the shadows. But no matter where he hid, his yellow eyes glared in the dark.

Edgar was suddenly pulled out of his subconscious by a voice that kept calling his name. It took him a while to get his bearings, and he slowly realized it was Silas calling for him.

"Yes?" he called back as he pushed away from the wall. He got his towel from where he hung it and repeated himself.

"How long are you going to be showering? Akane is back, and she wants you in the training room. My sis said it's a couple of flights up so I don't know exactly where it is."

"Thanks, Silas."

"Yeah. And Benji is back. He looks better than how we last saw him. Wyatt actually took care of him."

"Where is he?"

"In his room. He said he needs some alone time. If he wants to talk, he'll be out before dinner."

"Okay."

"Yeah. I think that's about it. Do tell Akane about your broken mirror. See you at practice."

Edgar waited for Silas to be gone before he came out and got into more combat-like attire. The combat clothing and shoes were from Ava's suggestions while all other clothing was from Reina. She suggested the weirdest combinations of colors.

     Finding the training room wasn't so hard though he did miss the correct floor a few times. It was when Edgar heard rigorous movement coming from behind a door that he decided to stop and check it out.

Elizabeth's tower was indeed bigger than it looked on the outside. The training room was large and had the space of both his room and Benji's combined. The ceiling was even a bit higher. One side of the chamber had a wrestling ring surrounded by punching bags, a small corner was filled with gym equipment, and the other end of the hall was pretty empty except some weapons hung on the wall.

"Took you long enough." Akane came into the room with Ava, who brushed against him hard, causing Edgar to frown as his eyes followed them.

     The three of them wore almost identical clothing but instead of the black light singlet, Akane wore a white one. She crossed her arms over her small chest and said to Edgar, "Until you are sore or I am no longer in the mood, we are going to train."

"I'll be with the punching bag if you need me." Ava told Akane, who didn't bother giving her a glance, and she waved at Edgar before leaving them both.

Akane eyed Edgar from head to toe before shifting her weight to one leg. "Do you fight with a weapon or do you like hand-to-hand combat?"

His lips fell into a thin line, feeling anxious from her blank stare. "Either will do, but I'm no master of swordsmanship. I dropped fencing a long time ago."

"Fencing, huh?"

Her nose wrinkled as if she wanted to sneeze and then she looked away at the side of the training room where the weapons lay. She continued, "I am more into archery, but if a sword fight is what you like then, by all means, let's train."

She took a step back, letting him walk in front of her to the side of the room. When they got to where the weapons hung, she glanced at Edgar and asked, "Do you deal with long or short?"

"Long. It's all I've ever trained with."

From the other side of the room, Edgar could hear Ava's grunt as she hit a bag. She went a couple rounds before jumping around to get the adrenaline flowing. Edgar didn't understand the basics of her powers yet, he only knew she could hit really hard and jump quite high.

Edgar turned back to the Asian girl just as she said, "For now, you will get used to this sword until they make yours. Once you get the hang of it, you can fuse your power with it. Just for your information, I am a Steel so I tend to hit really hard."

She handed Edgar a long silver sword with a black handle, and he swung it around to see if it was okay with him. The sword wasn't too thick and had a light feel to it. When he gave it a nod, Akane picked one for herself and went to the middle of the floor.

Silas entered the room just as Edgar joined her and the short haired boy watched him climb into the ring with his sister. Edgar stared hard at him, praying the slim boy would look his way. Luckily, he did, and Edgar held back a smiled when he grinned.

"Go get your butt kicked." Silas snickered at him.

"That's something Benji would say."

He shrugged. "He told me to tell you that."

He smirked at that then winked at Silas before Akane got his attention by clearing her throat. She raised a sassy brow at him, and he gave an apologetic smile.

"Sorry?"

Akane didn't say a word and instead took her stance. She had one leg a few inches in front of the other and raised her sword up to her chin with the end of the sword resting on the elbow of the hand that was holding it. Edgar had seen that stance before, however, he was familiar with the legs far apart and the sword in between, ready to defend.

They both stayed quiet, and Edgar watched her, contemplating what move she was going to do and how to block it. A couple scenarios ran through his head, but he never had enough time to think of a block when she swung the sword around clashing against his. She had used a move he hadn't anticipated. Before he could think of how to attack since she had her back to him, she had already moved, twirling around and kicking him high in the gut. 

She was fast. Very fast. And she didn't even give Edgar time to get himself together before she attacked again, her feet moving swiftly and using not only the sword but other body parts. Her hits were hard, and they probably would have knocked him out if he were normal. Akane wasn't holding back.

Dodging her strike and clashing his sword with hers, he pushed against her, surprised when he had to use a lot of strength to do it. Akane took a step back, staring right back at him as if she was reading his mind to get his next move.

Edgar only prayed that was just his assumption as he pretended to draw his sword back, causing her to look at it. In that split second of distraction, he squared her right in the jaw with his elbow making her lose her footing, and he swung his sword at her neck. Akane blocked it instantly and pushed his sword away.

Before Edgar could think of attacking, she took a couple steps back and rubbed the part of the jaw that had been hit. "You are not bad."

He grinned. "Not so bad yourself."

     There was a sudden loud thud and Edgar and Akane turned to see Silas pinned to the ground with Ava on top of him. He thrashed around helplessly before his sister let go, and he jumped back on his feet.

"Easy Ava. You are too fast. Remember, I'm still just human, and you've got four people worth of power in you."

"Forgot," she said sheepishly.

"Well, remember now. And it fucking hurts." He cursed, rolling his shoulders before cracking his neck.

Even though he was getting beat by his sister, he still wanted to go again with her. Silas was a crazy one.

"Want to take a break?" Akane raised a brow at Edgar and his eyes widened.

"I can?"

She gave him a hard stare, and he nodded awkwardly before dropping his sword on the floor and heading to the wrestling side of the training room. Silas smiled when he noticed him but quickly looked back at his sister who looked like she hadn't broken a sweat, unlike Silas.

"You sure you're good back there?" Edgar asked as he approached the ring. Silas only nodded.

Akane came around the ring too and smiled which made her look surprisingly pretty since all Edgar had seen was her blank stern face and her cocky smirk.

"Mind taking me up on my offer now? You have had your fun with your brother so it should be okay."

Ava glanced at her then at Silas. She gave her brother a cheeky smile and said, "We've got the rest of the day."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. And tend to your sore back."

"It doesn't hurt anymore," He lied swiftly.

"Yeah, I can see that. We can do this later Silas," she added, cutting him off before he could say anything.

Pissed, Silas got out of the ring and went to fetch his water bottle. He took a gulp from it before Edgar approached him and he frowned. His boyish smile had disappeared.

Edgar quirked a brow at him. "Who are you mad at? Me or her?"

Silas rolled his eyes then started to untie the bandages around his hands. He clenched and unclenched his hand before looking back at Edgar, but then those brown eyes of his suddenly dipped to Edgar's lips.

"There is something else I'd rather do than train right now."

Edgar smirked, knowing just what he meant and he led the boy out of the training room to the bathroom a few doors down. The minute Edgar closed the door and turned, Silas instantly launched himself at him, and he gasped when the boy kissed him smack on his lips.

Edgar didn't mind at all when the curly haired boy slipped his tongue into his mouth to taste him, though, he was surprised at the aggressiveness.

The slightly taller boy sucked on Silas' tongue as he cupped the nape of his neck, burying his hand in the thick locks of hair. Silas moaned deep in his throat as he pushed Edgar to the door to press their hard-ons together. Edgar let Silas slip his leg between his as they both pulled away to breathe.

Silas' breath was hot against his face, and it made a lower part of him tremble in delight. The curly haired boy nuzzled his cheek before their foreheads met and Silas gazed into his emerald eyes.

"I've wanted to do that since you came out of the bathroom shirtless. And you are sexy with a sword."

Edgar couldn't believe he said that. Silas had always been so shy. Was there something wrong with him?

"Wow, you're bold! Where has this Silas been before?"

"Taking a back seat. It only comes out when I train or fight." He chuckled awkwardly, his cheeks tinting slightly.

"You are one of a kind Silas," Edgar smiled at him then placed a light kiss on his lips.

"I don't-"

"Open this damn door! We need to talk." Benji's crudely loud voice caught them off guard, and they jumped away from each other. "Oh, and I know that both of you are in there so don't think about running."

Edgar glanced at Silas, who just ran a hand through his hair. He met Edgar's gaze and chuckled.

"I'm sure he already knew about us."

"I've known since Alve. And that was a long time ago. Now open the door before I break it. Jeez."

Silas heaved his shoulders, and Edgar rolled his eyes. So much for having some alone time.