The plot begins

[Jin]

"After all my searching, everything points to this place." Jin said to himself.
Looking around he marveled at the beauty of the place.
Unfurling his parasol, he strode forward, confident that he would finally get the answers he had been looking for. Darkness soon enveloped him as he entered the Lerual Mite. Sounds that couldn't exist played tricks with his ears and shadows that weren't there flickered in the corners of his eyes.

From what he had been able to piece together, another clue, or an answer lay hidden here. Guarded by only the gods know what.
"Well... no adventure, no glory." Jin muttered to himself and boldly continued forward and an even brisker pace.

[Azure]

As Azure was continuing his quest, the winds seemed to guide him to a strange location, one that took him off the chronicler's pass and into a forest almost white as snow. No sooner than he'd entered did he too begin to feel the darkness surrounding him. As it began to envelop him, he realized that he could not use his wind magic, as the darkness would cancel out anything he tried to do. "The winds have gone silent... lord of the north wind, I beseech you! Please lend me your aid!" He called out, his own voice seeming to fade into the darkness around him.

As soon as his pleas finished echoing around him, a familiar voice whispered in his ear, it was that of his beloved wife Maki, a voice that was long since dead. "My beloved... why..." the voice trailed off momentarily before screaming at him, "WHY DID YOU LET ME DIE!!!"

Azure shook his head and silently prayed. "No... this is not real... god of air... please banish these figments of my imagination..." he pleaded as he fell to his knees.

The shadows took the form of the crotyre woman whom he'd killed and laughed. "God of air? THERE IS NO God of Air. Mortals, even those of the races of undine and dead breather can't even begin to touch the true power of the elemental planes. There is no God of Air, no Lords of the wind, there is only twister after twister blasting around violently, reveling in pure chaos!" She taunted him before kneeling down beside him, using the very darkness that formed her arm and formed a weapon out of it, similar to his own wind blade. "And now, as punishment for killing me and my beloved husband, I shall take your life. Fitting, no?" She asked as she lifted the blade and prepared to strike.

To those whom might look upon him, he simply looks like he's mumbling to himself as a barrier of darkness is suffocating him, chocking the very life out of him.

[Jin]

Jin stopped as he rounded a large boulder. There was a man. Just... standing there. Looked on apprehensively for a moment assessing the situation in front of him. From the looks of it, this man didn't even know he was here. In addition, it seemed this man was of the same race as himself, though... from a quick glance at what he wore, it seemed they diverged in very different directions when it came to abilities and personality.
This man could be a danger to my quest.... Jin thought to himself. But... Life is life and I cannot stand by and watch someone suffer.

Jin's eyes began to glow with a blue light as time slowed to one-tenth of a second per second. He strode forward, the light from his eyes catching the dust in the air and it ever so slowly drifted around him.
Reaching out to the man he gently touched the side of his face and looked him in the eyes and spoke "Be at peace for everything is fine. Come back from your darkness that holds you so tightly. Embrace the serenity that is in this moment and come back to life."

[Azure]

The stranger's voice was like a breath of fresh air in his lungs, and with it, his power slowly returned. Lifting his arm up, he blocked the phantom's blade with his own arm, feeling no pain from it. "Perhaps you are right spirit, perhaps not. But my power is mine alone, and I know where it comes from. Return to my memories, and know that I will be coming for the one you represent soon enough..." He spoke softly as he felt the darkness surrounding him begin to slowly dissolve. Slowly feeling his strength return, he gathered as much air around him as he could, purifying it to the level of fresh mountain air and breathing deep in it's rejuvenating strength.

Standing up, he smiled calmly as he turned to the man who's voice had guided him out of that nightmare. "Wind's grace, thank you sir. The strange energies of this place somehow managed to nullify my power for a moment there. Had you not come sooner, I shudder to think what would have happened to me. Is there anything I can do to aid you in return for your kindness?" he asked as he focused his powers into himself, forcing his eyes to change color from their normal brownish red to a color as bright and shining as the clear blue sky.

[Jin]

"Think nothing of it..." Jin said distantly. Something was nagging at the back of his mind and he couldn't quite figure it out. It was as though the presence in this place was familiar... almost kind, yet malevolent and destructive at the same time.

"There is something in this place.... I fear it may be a phantom from the old world. A spirit perhaps... or just someone who couldn't be killed. Despite all the knowledge that could be gained from this... I have a feeling that this presence means the entire world harm. You feel it too... don't you?" Jin commented solemnly. "As a fellow Undine... I don't see how you couldn't feel this in the air."

[Azure]

Azure shrugged lightly as he closed his eyes. "The spirits of the wind guided me here, but I felt something odd about this area the minute I landed here. The darkness cut my ties with the eight lords of the air. The sudden disconnection caught me off guard. Your involvement allowed me to tap into my own inner reserves of wind magic long enough to re-establish my ties to at least the lord of the north wind. His voice whispers to me of things similar to what you just mentioned. While I'm not blessed with all the gifts other undine like yourself have, I do understand what you mean..." He said as he opened his eyes once more, arms open the winds whipped around him lightly, blowing his hair around with them. "The air here is foul and toxic. Even if there isn't anything here besides darkness and death, we should find the source of this foul energy and cleanse it before it's influence spreads like a plague."

[Jin]

Jin nodded silently, his thoughts collecting inward. He knew that the evil in the air was not always that way but perhaps it had been twisted.... shaped by anger or.... sorrow? Was that sorrow that he felt around him? Disregarding the air about him he gave a flashing smile and strode forward. He didn't bother to see if the man would follow because for some reason.. he just knew that the man would. "Try to keep up! I don't know how far we have to go and what we may face!"