Chapter Text
"C'mon, Ifa, keep up!"
The coach's voice entered his brain, and he listened before he even knew he was moving again. How long's he been awake? 3 days by now, probably. This isn't abnormal for him, he tends to lose sleep due to work and nightmares anyways, but these recently recurring nightmares have felt like they're assaulting the very essence of his life. It was clear he was reaching his limit, even to the coach who had been guiding his exercise to keep him in shape.
"Everyone, stop. Go get something to eat and drink. Ifa, can we talk for a second?" Iansan asked. "Hm? Yeah, sure, coach, what's up?" Ifa responded, the exhaustion in his voice evident. "Are you trying to be awake at the same time as Ororon or something? You look exhausted, when's the last time you got a good night's sleep? You know as well as I do that just exercise isn't enough to stay fit, you need to make sure to get decent sleep, too," she stated, her voice reminding Ifa of the fact that this isn't her first time telling him this.
"Yeah, I know. It's no big deal, coach." The air of carefreeness was grating on Iansan's nerves, and Ifa knew this well. "Do I need to get Ororon involved in getting you to sleep again?" she scolded. "Nah, nah, it's cool, I'll go rest," he responded, knowing better than to provoke Ororon's "wrath", if it could be called that. "Good. See you later, Ifa, and remember, no taking patients, just go right to bed!"
And so, that was how a grown man was sentenced to bedtime by his young coach. The journey from the Collective of Plenty to the Flower-Feather Clan would be a longer one, but luckily, Ifa was not Wingless, and possessed a Vision of his own, so aerial travel would make his journey much smoother. But he should stop by to visit Ororon, just to say hi and to check on him following that war against the Abyss... a shame he didn't meet that blonde Traveler who everyone had been fawning over. Maybe next ti- what the fuck? Why did his head suddenly start spinning? Good thing he had just landed to allow his inner phlogiston to recover, because shortly after the unbearable dizzy spell, he collapsed, hearing a voice to accompany his blurred vision.
"I did not expect to find you all the way in this nation, Segment Gamma," a deep male voice stated. Before Ifa could process what was going on or who this man even was, he was harshly yanked up by his arms, a gloved hand roughly grabbed his face, forcing him to look at them. Ifa felt a pit in his stomach but had no recollection as to why. "Segment Gamma? The heck are you on about?" Ifa snarked, trying not to let this man detect his fear. "It seems Natlan's leylines have taken you in as one of them and erased your identity and memory. A pity. I had originally come here to locate Il Capitano, however, running into you here is a pleasant surprise," the man responded, releasing Ifa's face. A chill went down Ifa's spine, but even in his sleep-deprived state, he could tell this man had no good intentions.
"You're actin' like I know you. Clearly, you've got the wrong dude," Ifa responded, "Now, if you could get your li'l' buddies to let me go, I'll be on my way." he had no idea how brave that might have sounded to anyone other than him, but Ifa himself did think that sounded pretty badass. The blue-haired man in front of him hummed in thought for a moment, before giving a silent gesture, apparently an order for Ifa to be released. Without the stability that being forced to his feet offered, Ifa struggled to stay standing, but managed it. "I do hope you recall who you truly are one of these days, Segment Gamma," the man commented, departing with his lackeys.
Ifa could only stand there in a sleep-deprived stupor. Did that really happen?... Maybe he should go check on Ororon, ask him more about who that guy was. If anyone in Natlan knew, it'd probably be the former 10th.