Author's Note: Revised 5/16/15

Hope you like the new version xp I know I do~

Sun

Today had been a long day, Reborn thought as he keyed open his door. Too long for his liking, at least. How many people had stood in his way? Twenty? Thirty? He lost count… they were all nameless, faceless enemies to him in the end so what did it matter? Just another pin on the board.

But it had still felt like it would never end.

He dropped his keys in the disk specifically placed by the door for that purpose before going into his office. His apartment was two-bedroom, one room being an office and the other being his sleeping quarters. The walls had dark-wood paneling the lower half while the upper half was painted a masculine shade of orange-peach that complimented the wood well. The paneling covered the living room, the hallway and his bedroom but his office had a more modern feel to it with a black-glass topped desk and a bulky looking computer off to the side. Beside Reborn, his lizard Tavi scuffled onto the leaf of his Fichus and he ran a finger along the underside of his chin.

It would seem that his never-ending day was only about to get longer, he mused, because he was not alone.

He drew his gun and aimed it at where he knew the intruder to be. "Show yourself and I will not kill you immediately." He stated calmly, making his intention clear. He was not in the mood to play games tonight.

"Well, well, you are an impressive one, aren't you? To be able to sense me despite my presence not being on this plane..." That voice aggravated him for some reason. Reborn watched as the air rippled and became thick with humidity. Mist Flames. "It would seem that you are worthy, after all..." The masked man in front of him mused.

"Worthy of what?" Reborn asked, shifting his stance.

"Why… worthy of my power, of course."

"Power? What kind of power? Who are you? On who's behalf were you sent?" Reborn demanded, firing question after question. He wanted them all answered. The masked man reached into his suit and Reborn fired off a shot in warning.

"Don't be in such a hurry to shoot me, I'm only showing you what I want to give you." He flicked up a pacifier. "You see? It's so much more important than it looks… and I want you to have one."

"Why?" Reborn asked.

"In due time… but first, you have to meet the others!" The masked man sniggered.

"Others?" Reborn cocked his head.

"Of course. There are six others. You can go here to meet them." He set a map down on Reborn's desk. "I do hope you'll take a liking to them. They are important, after all."

"Important how? What do you want with us?"

The masked man tutted again. "Patience, patience, it will all be revealed in due time… until then… enjoy the missions. I picked them out especially for the seven of you."

And then Reborn was left alone.

Sky

Tsunayoshi's feet were sore.

Putting his caramel macchiato on top of the Styrofoam container full of his dinner, or rather breakfast considering it was his first meal of the day, Tsunayoshi shouldered the door open and kicked it shut behind him. He winced when it closed with a bit too hard and bits of plaster fell from the run down building.

His apartment was far from being the Ritz and kind of clashed with his well done appearance but it was homey and quiet and while it wasn't in the middle of the city, it did have a nice view. His bedroom window did overlook the nighttime skyline and that was all he could ask for. Now, many would be wondering what is a fifteen year old boy doing working at a bar in the middle of Germany when he was supposed to be going to school on a daily basis… the answer is simple.

Tsunayoshi was not a normal teenager.

Sixteen years of age, Tsunayoshi lived a delicate but balanced double life. By day, he lived in the run down part of the city which, at one point, was once full of life and color but was now sagging, the businesses on this side of town sat empty and abandoned, and several open fields lay barren of the once great factories that helped drive the economy. That was alright though. The rent was cheap and no one really bothered him and with his line of work, not being bothered was the best thing there was. In the light, he was an information broker working for the German branch of the Mafia… but by night, after the sun had set, Tsunayoshi had another job—one he preferred if he was honest about it.

He was an assassin.

His body was similar to that of a dancer—flat stomach, long legs that went from here to there, toned arms and an attractively childish face. His hair was springy and copper with a tail that crimped up around the ends and only added to his regal appearance.

The door clicked shut behind him and the brunet sighed. "Just another day in paradise…" He murmured in fluent Italian. He didn't know why he favored that language over the others. He just did. Maybe it was because that was the first language outside of Japanese that he actually learned to speak fluently? Either way…

His most recent hit had been a success. The target was dead. The kill had been quick, efficient, and marked. It was a specialty kill—his signature (which consisted of strangulation via almost invisible wire). Artemis and Solune, his clawed-gloves, had done the job well. He used them to control the wire that he kept in a compartment on the back of the gloves. The claws allowed him to feel the vibrations in the wires when he used them for purposes outside of killing.

But they weren't his only weapons. He had another—a shape-shifting chameleon by the name of Leon. Tsunayoshi had gotten him on a joint mission in Monte Carlo, along with a few pretty little marks that he hid using a generic form of Mist Flames. He had been working with an assassin by the name of Tyr at the time. He was the leader of a shadow organization within the Vongola internally referred to as the Varia. And when the mission was over, Tsunayoshi dropped a building on the man's head. It hadn't killed him but he was fairly certain the man would think twice about double crossing someone who saved his ass from certain death again.

As he walked in, Tsunayoshi felt a prickle at the back of his mind, alerting him to the fact that he wasn't alone despite the fact that his other senses told him nothing. Leon crawled out from under his hair and transformed. Tsunayoshi spun around and pointed his now transformed weapon at the shadows where he knew his guest was. "Reveal yourself." Tsunayoshi said in German, his voice pitching low.

"I do not wish to harm you." The male's voice said pleasantly in Italian. Tsunayoshi blinked and shifted his stance to a defensive one but kept the gun trained on the person who stepped out of the shadows. "I wish to… employ your services."

"Services?" Tsunayoshi murmured, mimicking his language of choice. "What kind of services?"

"Ah," The man stepped out of the shadows, smiling pleasantly despite his intimidating appearance. He was clad in an iron mask and a red coat. He reached into his coat pocket and Tsunayoshi tensed. "Tell me, are you familiar with the I Prescelti Sette?"

The Chosen Seven? "Never heard of them," He stated.

"No… you probably wouldn't have." He said dismissively. "There is a meeting in a week's time in Florence, Italy. I would like very much for you to be there. The pay will be good and the missions even better. I'll send you the details later, should you be interested."

"And why, Mr. Masked Man, would I do such a thing?" Tsunayoshi asked flippantly. He hadn't lowered his weapon but he had dropped his guard, knowing he could get it up again fast enough to defend against any attacks this stranger may have planned.

The man snickered softly sounding more pleased than malicious. "Let me put it this way, my sweet little wildcat," He stepped forward and put a hand on Tsunayoshi's gun, lowering it and reaching up with his cane to tilt Tsunayoshi's face up so he could look into piercing amber eyes. "What have you got to lose?"

Cloud

The crowds were screaming as he plummeted from a thousand feet down into a burning pool of water on a motorcycle. It felt great. The impact of the water only heightened that thought. He held on to the sinking bike long enough to worry the crowd as he always did but when he burst through the surface of the water, he crowed with delight causing those screams to turn into cheers. This was the life!

He loved preforming, Skull the Immortal Man thought. He loved all of this!

"That was freaking awesome!" Derek Sullivan, his manager said with a grin. "You brought in some major bucks with tonight's preformance. Are you going to the races tonight?"

"Damn straight I am," Skull said, drying out his dark locks. "Are you coming with me as my wing-man?"

"Not tonight, buddy, I got the wife breathing down my neck." Derek grinned apologetically before he slid passed Skull. "Get cleaned up, man, and I'll give you a ride to the garage. Oh, and there's someone in your dressing room to see you!" He pointed back at the door before he disappeared into the stadium to finish clean-up.

Skull rolled his shoulders. Strange… he couldn't sense anyone in his dressing room but then maybe they were hiding their presence…

He froze and dropped to the ground just in time for a leg to swipe right where his head had been. That kick would have snapped his neck!

"You are a fast one. I was beginning to have my doubts." Skull turned to see…

A masked man? What the fuck?

"Dude, what's with the get-up? I hate to break it to you but that kind of thing don't fly here." Skull put the towel back on his head and dropped into his chair. "So what is it you wanted? Book a stunt? Book a race? God forbid, book a night in a hotel room?"

"No, no, nothing like that… I just thought that you might like to expand your horizon, so to speak."

"Oh?" Skull spun in his chair to face the freak with the mask.

"There is going to be a meeting of all of the elite—the best of the best. I want you to be there."

"Why?" Skull asked. He wasn't strong physically. He couldn't fight. He could drive and he could withstand an amazing amount of pain before his body collapsed. The closest he could come to fighting was completely deflecting an attack and sustaining no damage. That was it. Other than that, he was pathetically weak. How was that considered elite?

"You have a unique ability to absorb quite a bit of damage without your body breaking down under the pressure. That makes you elite."

"I doubt that." Skull said dryly. "But hey, what the hell? Why not? Where is this meeting?"

"Here," he handed him a small map. "I do hope you'll show. I'm sure you'll have much to gain from it..."

When Skull looked up, he was gone. He looked around the room but didn't find him. He looked back down at the map and licked his lips.

Maybe...

Rain

Lal hated the three-hundred foot trek it took to get to her car in the middle of the night when she was delivering paperwork for Tyr. She hated the night shifts because the parking lot always felt eerie and she always felt like she was never alone. That was why she carried a handgun in the purse she carried for appearances.

It was on nights like this that she was extra thankful for the protection, even if she had other weapons on her.

She froze, scanning her surroundings. "Who's there?" She demanded. "Nocturna, is that you?" Her Mist counterpart liked to scare her in the middle of the night…

She dismissed it as paranoia until she got to her car and felt unease prickle against the back of her neck. She tried to spin around but hands held her face in place so that she was looking up at a masked face. "Who are you?" She demanded, glaring daggers at the man.

"Not an enemy." He released her but she was far from free. Something held her hostage against the leather seats of her sedan. She thrashed wildly, trying to get free. "You need something to relax." There was a puff of smoke blown in her face and her limbs became lethargic.

"What did you do to me?" Lal asked, breathless.

"It's a minor sedative. It won't knock you out. It's only… relaxing you." Whatever was tying her down disappeared. "There's a going to be a gathering of the strongest in all of the Mafia hosted by the Giglio Nero and you have been invited."

Lal froze. The Strongest Seven. She'd heard whispers of the former Chosen Seven but had never paid it any detail. "What's the catch?"

She could feel that cat-caught-the-canary smile even if she couldn't see it. "No catch."

She didn't believe him.

"Come on, now, what's it going to hurt?" The masked man said, slipping a piece of paper in her hand. "That is the location of the meeting, should you choose to show up. I'd be absolutely delighted if you would… in fact, I might be willing to give you more of that sedative I gave you if you showed up."

"Tch… as if I'd show up for that." Lal snarled, whipping around to try and kick the masked man only to find that he was no longer in the back seat of her car and she was left alone.

She looked down at the map and frowned. Florence, huh?

She'd have to see if she could get the time off…

Lightning

Verde didn't venture outside of his labs much anymore. He didn't see the point. The outside world had very little to offer in the means of research and intelligence. Everyone followed a path, followed the law, followed the masses… it was all repetitive. He hated it, hated following things blindly…

So he stayed in his labs and worked on his experiments and research. He dove into his work, invented things that no one thought possible…

Until one day, there was a knock at his door.

It was such a strange sound, something he hadn't heard in a long time, and for one moment, he thought that he made the whole thing up… and then it happened again and a voice followed it. "Doctor Verde, are you in?"

Oh… it was his loudmouth assistant.

Verde dragged his lazy limbs out of bed and stumbled clumsily to the door to unlock it. His assistant walked in. "Doctor Verde, you really need to take better care of yourself." She helped him up and got him dressed. "You have a visitor." She said, wheeling his chair into the central part of his office.

"Hello, Doctor Verde."

Verde pushed his glasses up. "May I help you?"

"You don't know me but I have to say… your research is brilliant. Have you considered applying them to other areas?"

"Areas such as what?" Verde asked.

The masked man chuckled. "Why, Dying Will Flames, of course."

Dying Will…?

"Now see here! I don't have time for fairy tales. Please leave." Verde crossed his arms.

"Dying Will Flames are very much real… if you'd like to learn more about them instead of the theories you seem rather fond of, you can find out more here." The masked man slid a piece of paper that turned out to be a map. "There will be others there… I expect the seven of you to get along just fine but I suppose we'll just have to see, ne?" The masked man tilted his head.

Verde grimaced as he looked at the map. "What is this about?"

"If you're curious, then you'll just have to go see." The masked man said with a wave before he stepped back and vanished like a ghost.

"I wonder who that strange man was." His assistant murmured. "Oh well."

Verde looked back down at the map.

I wonder...

Storm/Mist

Master.

Fon's crimson-black eyes opened a sliver.

"Are you awake?"

He pushed himself into a kneeling position. "What is it you ask of me?" Fon asked.

"You have a visitor. Get dressed." The man he recognized as his master said, looking over Fon's naked body with temptation. There was no time, his grimace said. Fon nodded, accustomed to these kinds of things. He was well acquainted with his Master's Family. The Triads had been kind to him and his younger sister after his family was slaughtered.

When he was dressed, Fon stood to follow. His master raised an eyebrow. "No braid?"

"I will braid it on the way." Fon said, working his fingers through his long hair. True to his word, he braided it on the trek to Viper's quarters. "Viper as well?" Fon asked. The mage had kept to herself these recent months, undergoing some sort of metamorphosis that was forcing her powers out of control. She had come to Fon one night, desperate for some relief. Fon had taught her to separate her mind from her illusions through meditation. She had not spoken to anyone since.

Well, almost.

She had spoken to Fon's sister, Etheria (she loathed her name, always requesting to be called Eri instead but Fon never called her by her given name—only Viper did). The woman looked a lot like Fon, though she lacked his unique eyes. Her eyes were equally as interesting, resembling the sun reflecting off of the clouds. She had no pupils but she could see just fine. Her eyes were magnificent.

"Forgive me for intruding Viper," Master said, kneeling low. He only showed this side to the three of them.

"You are never intruding." Fon watched the outline of her stand and pull on a robe with a hood.

Strange… she never wore a hood before.

Master's eyes widened. "So it is complete."

"Yes… my eyes have been sealed. I am no longer a threat to those around us, master." Viper lowered her head.

"Viper..." Fon felt his throat burn. An illusionist relied heavily on their eyes… for without them, they would not know what they were casting.

"Do not pity me. I do not need my eyes to see. And as long as my mind is strong, I can cast whatever I want. Do not think that I am blind because my eyes have been sewn shut. I can see as though they were open—thus is my new ability."

"But why go to such extremes?" Fangs flashed against purple lips and Fon felt himself sigh. She had a vision then. "The stitches will come off when my eyes are ready to be used for their fullest potential." She stepped forward and put a hand on Fon's cheek. "When that day comes, will you be there with me, Wind Dragon?"

Fon touched the hand on his cheek. "Yes, Basilisk in the Fog. I will." His lips twitched. "Although, do not cast me to my death beforehand, my dear." Viper spun, offended. Fon laughed at her. "Do we not have a visitor?" Fon asked their master.

"You do… please, Lady Snake, make haste. I do not like him in my shop and I would like him gone quickly."

Fon and Viper tensed, both gazing at their master's back as he left. Fon looked at Viper who was already looking beyond the walls. After a moment she bared her teeth in a hiss that displayed her unease. "Viper?"

"There's no one there..." She whispered. "I don't understand. I can hear him, hear his breathing, his heartbeat… I can sense a physical presence… and yet, my eyes… they do not detect that anyone is there."

Fon started.

"How is that possible?" He whispered.

"I know of only one power that can deceive my eyes but… it has not been found for centuries..." Her lips turned into a smile. "Let's go see if my theory is correct, shall we?" She inquired, tilting her head. She returned to her room to change into clothes that would better aid her new handicap. When she came out, Fon frowned at her. "Shall we, Wind Dragon?"

Fon shook his head and smiled. He grabbed her hand and hooked it on his arm. She would need help the fist time.

He guided her to the shop where a masked man was chatting amicably with master. He paused in whatever he was saying and stood to greet them. "Hello, Wind Dragon of the Storm and Basilisk of the Fog. It is a pleasure to officially meet you."

Master drew his blade.

"Now, now," Viper said, releasing Fon. She stepped forward and tapped the tip of master's blade, sending a sharp ringing sound throughout the shop that send the customers to their knees. "There is no need for such hostilities."

The masked man whistled. "An impressive display. Would you mind if I gave it a go?"

Before she could answer, Viper let out a scream of agony. The masked man took a step back, startled. Fon ducked his head to hide his smile. Viper was faking it. "No..." She whimpered, stumbling back and hitting Fon's chest to form a connection.

He's an illusionist and I was right—he has the Hell Ring.

"Ah, forgive me… I… forgot that your ability makes you hyper sensitive to the intentions of those around you…" The masked man sighed, smiling apologetically.

"It is fine." Viper said as though nothing happened. "What have you come here for?" Their master stood emotionless behind the cashier but he was ready to move at any moment.

"There is a meeting that I wish the two of you to attend…" The masked man waved his hand and a paper crane landed in front of Viper. "That has a map of where the meeting will be held. I do hope the two of you will show up. The jobs I wish for you to preform pay very well." He bowed in farewell before he was just gone.

Viper tapped the crane and let it unfold.

"Florence?" Fon asked.

"It would seem… what do you think?"

"I think..." Fon pursed his lips. "That if we are serious about going, we need master's permission first."

Their master sighed. "You were never mine to keep. Go live your life. I will continue caring for Etheria until you return."

Fon grimaced.

"It is only the first meeting." Viper said. "We can ask about housing and whatnot when we get there. Do not be so hasty to turn something like this away."

Fon sighed. "As you wish." He nodded. "We will go to Florence then." He turned to his master and bowed. "Please take care of Etheria until I come back."

Luce felt her throat contract when she stepped into her bedroom and Kawahira was already there. "It has been done—the way you've asked for it to be done, Luce of the Giglio Nero."

She swallowed. She could not condemn people that she hardly knew and she could not get to know them because that would make her a traitor. This is how it had to be done. This was the only way.

When Kawahira was gone, Luce fell to her knees and cried. She cried for the family that she would never get to have—for the friends that she would betray—and most of all for the life she has cast them into because the die have been cast.

Now the only thing she could do was pray.

Tsuzukeru.

Thanks for reading~!