Archive of Our Own ^beta

BEFORE CONTINUE, MAKE SURE YOU ALREADY READ THE PREVIOUS FOUR PART

Part 1 "ESGOO Got sent to The City" (The beginning of the Anomalies Journey)

-How the whole journey started between two individuals

Part 2 "Tsunul Got sent to The City" (The Sequel of the Anomalies Journey)

-How Tsunul survived, being bounded inside J corp's casino

Part 3 "Journey To K corp" (The First intervallo of the Anomalies Journey)

-How their struggles to reached K corp's nest with many problems and self issue along the way

Part 4 "Frey Cheqama Got sent to The City" (The next Entry of the Anomalies Journey)

-How The anomalies helped frey from their own mind, while learning about their horrible past in N corp's custody.

Awoken

The eyes that had closed. Frey's eyes were closed. Resting almost peacefully after that breakdown, both Tsunul, Esgoo, and the gray nightmare had witnessed firsthand. Mission complete but that doesn't mean it has truly been completed 

“They slept more peacefully…” Tsunul commented, It's been two hours since they've waited for Frey cheqama to wake up after both he and Esgoo went on a crazy nightmare trip in their mind to help Frey. “They really had it worse… huh? More than mine perhaps?”

“Each of us had it bad, Tsunul” Esgoo answered “Whoever had it worse or less doesn't devalue what we had to get through ourselves. In the end… the city made us suffer in their own ways.”

“Yeah… you had it a point” Tsunul brushes his hair. “It broke us too…”

“I was wondering…” The gray nightmare stared outside the half shattered glass “Were N corp really that discriminate against prosthetics?” Noticing the remnants of rusted limbs, and also the hanging few. “Did they have reasons to hate to begin with? Like A lifetime grudge? A revenge that went down generations perhaps? 

“They had to have a reason but… as far as we know…” Tsunul paused, “We didn't know exactly why. All we know is they really really despise and hated the Prosthetics to the fact that they really wanted to ‘eradicate’ and ‘cleanse’ the city from them”

“So it's no different from my world” her voice speaks flat but the words… spoke differently. “What a joke…”

Both Tsunul and Esgoo looked at each other, Esgoo gave a shrug, not knowing about the last sentence their leader gave. 

They had to wait until Frey woke up, and the silence in waiting was loud. Tsunul and Esgoo were still mentally tired from the things they had to get through, and the gray nightmare wasn't much of a chatter. 

Esgoo had volunteered himself to check around moments ago but… they didn't want to take any risk or further headaches. With Frey here, means that N corp is also here…. Definitely Somewhere not on the remnants of calw, the whole place is deafeningly quiet like a ghost town. 

After quite a wait, Frey's body began to move, and a groan escaped from their lips. Their eyes opened and their body began to move

“Tsunul wait” Esgoo immediately catches his collar, pulling him back “We gotta make sure”

Tsunul could only click his mouth “tch… this is ridiculous, they remembered themselves, they won't attack us again. Right, miss nightmare?”

“I agree” though she went to the two, joining to take distance from frey “But a little check won't hurt”

Frey sat down, holding their head. “u-ughhh… where?” They blinked a few times, looking around the room, noticing the three figures standing. “Wait… Tsunul, Esgoo? That's… really you two?” Frey blinked a few times, wanting to make sure that they're not hallucinating. 

“Uhh yeah” Esgoo awkwardly answer, still holding Tsunul on his back “That's… we are”

“Hmm? Why are you two- oh…” Frey suddenly realized something. They changed their attention to the gray nightmare, the one they stabbed before “I… I'm not going to attack if you three were worried about that.. and I'm sorry too for that”

Tsunul sighed in relief “off” he said as he made Esgoo let him go, going to Frey. “You're alright Frey?”

Frey nodded “other than a massive hangover… I'm good. Ughh” they held their head “a hangover and small headache”

Esgoo and the gray nightmare watched nearby. He elbowed her as he asked “Wait so… Frey remembered everything? What about the… ‘thing’”

“With their memories back, Frey obviously remembers everything.” she explained, Esgoo just huffed and stared at Frey again. “As for the nightmare tether….”

“So it’s called nightmare tether” Esgoo mumbled to himself. “Neat”

“So uhh” Tsunul wanted to ask Frey many questions, but he didn't want Frey to get overwhelmed, especially since they just woke up. “Did you remember anything after we… well knocked you out?”

“There is something but… It doesn't feel like a dream” Frey says, holding their forehead, clutching it “it felt so real… there's you two and ummm… her” 

The color approached Frey, extending her hands to him “You can just call me the gray nightmare”

“Ah… you…” Frey shook her hands back “What.. exactly was that? I felt… like a hopeless beast chasing both you and Esgoo around. It wasn't.. a dream, gray nightmare?”

“That…” she paused for a bit “Would need an extensive explanation. We won't have time for that now”

“Ah… alright… wait!” Frey suddenly realized something. “Where's the walkie-talkie, and my stuff?”

“We uhh… put it away, in case you were… ya know-” Tsunul tried to explain but Frey immediately stands up and went to the pile of their stuff 

“Where… where…” They looked around. Their spear is there, their glasses are there, both of their shock gloves still there, their silver medal pin with the N corp logo is still there, and even their skull mask but… where was it? 

“You mean this?” Frey snapped their head to the left, not realizing Esgoo leaning on the wall holding the walkie talkie he's been searching “Been listening to some chatters, mostly just patrols”

“T-thanks” Frey immediately took it to themselves, turning it on. Then a mid conversation began to come out from the speaker. Causing everyone to huddle up.

“....They must've turned it off. I want the three of you to find them… just say that they were needed by me” a voice of an old man, a voice all four of them knew. 

“Affirmative, sir, one who guides! We're on our way” the other part of the walkie talkie spoke out. 

“S-sir-” Frey was about to press the transmitter but a hand quickly stopped them. Esgoo shook his head, telling them to shut up. 

“Oh and one more thing, be more on the lookout. I heard reports of some unidentified bio-human around the area. Report them if they were within your vicinity. Out!” then the whole walkie talkie quieted down. 

“The one who guides….” Frey's hand shakes from holding the walkie talkie… they remembered everything, from how they were turned into a heartless monster by him, how he almost broke their mind aparts… and how he ruined their life. “That's.. t-that's him….” with their memories returned, it felt more painful.

“Frey…” Tsunul touches their shoulders.

“N-no no… I'm fine… I'm fine…” Frey shook their head, trying to snap out from the fear. “Esgoo, what is it that you planned?”

“Oh uhhh… I was wondering how we could get in, considering that the whole place must be crawled by N corp. I had an idea but…” Esgoo paused, feeling a hint of worry with Frey's condition.

“I… I'll be fine… I can do this, I promise” Frey said back, coating their fear away. “Just a bit sore but I can stand up. So… what's the plan?”

Esgoo sighed. Well, no used in hiding it anymore “We're going to disguise our way in”

Infiltrate

Three inquisitors, all kleinhammers, approached the ruined calw for obviously searching for the one who shall guide, donning in their full armor. 

And it didn't take long until they noticed the caped figure wearing a skull mask with a spear on their back, a smoke coming from their lips. “One who shall guide!” The kleinhammer called out. 

“Hmm?” Frey stopped from their walk, finishing the left from their cig with a puff of smoke before casually throwing it away “what's up?”

The three of them approached Frey, as they gave a small bow “You were summoned by the one who guides.” The kleinhammer told them “Said to be about the mission”

Frey nodded “And?”

“That's… that's it” the kleinhammer replied “we were sent to relay the message due to the…”

“Ah… of course” Frey took out their walkie talkie before putting it back “I forgot I shut this off moments ago… alright, I'll go there”

The kleinhammer nodded, they all were about to return to their patrol before Frey shut them off “wait… kleinhammer”

“Yes, the chosen one?”

“Report your name and your squad name” Frey said firmly

“Brion, we're the fifth order of the recon squad. Our duty is to give extensive details of the area before the purging commence” 

“Thanks… Brion” Frey… sighed again, they walked up to the Kleinhammer, roughly holding their wrist “And… sorry” 

Before the kleinhammer could say something, their bodies were suddenly struck by an intense bolt of lightning, intensified by the metal armor they wore. The other two kleinhammers are about to react until one of them is put into a chokehold while the other suddenly feels a smoke cloud entering their nostril. 

Tsunul then twisted his arm, snapping the neck of the kleinhammer while the other fell down, with the smokes turning back to the gray nightmare. Frey just sighed again as he let go of the kleinhammer, they fell down to the ground too, motionless, almost fried to death.

Esgoo approached the zapped kleinhammer, carefully checking for volts before taking off their topfhelm, still but barely breathing. “Welp” he raised his claw sword and stabbed it on their neck, ending them. 

Quite a plan Esgoo had. Killing the three inquisitors so they could take the armor for themselves. They had to be careful too not to break or tear any of the pieces. 

“So…” Tsunul said as he slowly took off the kleinhammer’s armor. “What should we do with the bodies?” 

“Oh yeah…” Esgoo then scratches his head “Almost forgot about it… maybe-”

“We'll bring them” Frey cut them off, their distraught looks were hidden by the mask “We can't leave them here, or stake their bodies, they'll find out. There's a foundry furnaces we could use. It'll reduce the body into nothingness”

“Foundry furnaces?” The gray nightmare asked, poking at the dead body with her staff to make sure. 

“something to melt metals…” Frey closed their eyes as they explained “We stake the heretics… but sometimes we salvage parts of them that we could use. It weren't reserved for organic flesh, but my authorities would let it be”

“Yeah that's…” Tsunul nodded “That's a great plan. We'll decapitate the head and bury it somewhere… it would surely made the body unrecognizable” 

Frey… shouldn't be surprised at them but they did… They just saw how normal Esgoo and Tsunul are about murder and how carefree that they did it. Almost felt like they were seeing a different version of their friend that they knew. 

Frey… looked down at their gloved arm. So did they… so did Frey. They shouldn't be surprised that they're all no longer the same person playing games on their pc, no longer the same person having voice chat on discord, but it's still hard for them to accept it, even now. 

“Frey?” 

“I'm fine…” Frey replied from under their mask. “I just wanna ask something…” they instinctively took out their spear. “Maybe I should've asked this earlier…. Maybe I was too foolish to ask before we start killing them. But what are you three planning? Why should I agree to essentially betray them? What are all of your goals going to calw? I'm not going without an answer, not anymore. And I'll have my answer NOW please”

The area went… tense when Frey took out their spear. No… they weren't controlled anymore, that was Frey cheqama themselves… wanting to find their answers in a tone so vindictive and cold hearted. They already remembered who Esgoo and Tsunul are but… that doesn't mean they'll just sit around. 

Both Esgoo and Tsunul were immediately on alert, seeing the sudden hostile nature from frey. “Home..” but thankfully… the gray nightmare answered “We're going home… Frey” 

“H-home?” Frey scoffed, tightening their hold on their spear “what home? Our home? This is our home now… gray nightmare, and there's only one way to escape, that is death..”

“No.” Gray nightmare shook her head “Frey. We're a group called ‘The anomalies’ reserved for those unfortunate enough to get sent here and were looking to get back home” 

“And what is….” Frey titled their head “What is the plan to escape here?”

“Well you might not believe us” Esgoo answered this time, taking a step towards Frey “i won't blame you though… We know what you must've gone through to be a part of a lunatics zealot. But listen…” he began walking to Frey “You remember the game? Where the entire canto is about finding golden boughs?”

“Yes…. I still do” 

Esgoo snickered, walking closer to Frey “And that's our goal… going back to where they found the golden boughs. From canto one in district 4, and canto two from that casino, and now here in calw, there's a small navette glass, and we believed that it'll be our tickets out.”

“.....” Frey contemplated for a moment “Then how are all of you three so sure that this is truly going to be a way home then?”

“Heh… truthfully we don't.” Esgoo stopped in front of Frey, raising the tip of their spear and pointing the sharp point on his neck. “That's right… we believed in something that we weren't sure of, we trusted on a blind mission without a clear answer, we did all of this without a guarantee that we will get what we wanted, but we wanted to at least try, to try to have hope that going home would be possible, that every navette glasses we collected would mean one step closer of going away from this place. So make that to your will you fuck! Yeah it wasn't a satisfying answer, one that would ease a heart, what are you going to do about it?... Stab me?” 

Frey paused… seeing Esgoo being so bold and frontal in front of them. He was right… one small thrust and the spear would kill him. 

“Woah woah, Esgoo wait-” 

“No… Tsunul” the gray nightmare stopped him “Let him do the talk…”

Frey sighed “So what if… it was a dupe in the end? What will all of your effort mean? Will it be worth it?”

“You kidding? You really think that doing so much bullshit here and there would be worth it? Hell no! Our effort would just be a laughing stock, But that won't mean we'll give up. We. Will. Find. A. Way.” Esgoo sounded determined. “What? Not satisfied?”

“.....” Frey closed their eyes and lowered their spear “Fine. I'll help” they opened their eyes again “What a timing that we're all heading to the same place”

“Phew..” Tsunul huffed in relief, finally the tense was lowered “Is that why N corp was here again?”

“Yes… I'll explain later. Right now, let's just wear the armor” 

The three of them strip off the dead kleinhammer's armor from top to bottom. Don't forget to also decapitate their head and bury the head in a discreet area, Frey's instructions made it easier to separate the neck from the head with a technique they gave…. Not surprising. 

“You'll be okay, miss nightmare?” Tsunul asked as he helped her put the armor on. 

“Obviously it's going to stings” she said as she put on the arm plate. “But I don't have enough smoke to stay in the cloud form forever and we'll probably need it for something urgent later on.”

“Just don't forget to take some breaks when we get there” he handed her the topfhelm “We can't have your wounds opening again”

“I will” she put it on, and wearing full armor made her look like just another kleinhammer. 

Tsunul sighed, worried about her condition. He can see that she was in obvious pain, they barely had any time to break other than the few hours waiting for Frey. She needed rest to recover, not just breaks, but with the situation they were at, it's not sufficient enough. 

Then both of their attention shifted as Esgoo pulled out his topfhelm and started coughing “Holy shit… why did it smell like shit in this? How many times did you guys clean it anyway?”

“It's once a month, but rarely so with how torn it could get with many slashes it endures.” Frey explained “it's not that bad of a smell, Esgoo. It's just blood, sweat, and robotic fluids”

“Yeah…” Esgoo huffed as he put the topfhelm again “That's what made it smell bad.”

“Whatever, let's go everyone” Frey told them, they were about to lift one of the bodies. 

“Wait” the gray nightmare stopped them “We… should have a way to mark ourselves in case we get lost among the sea of inquisitors. Can't afford to have some inquisitors getting mixed in” 

“Hmmm…” Tsunul thinks, he takes the medium sized nail and stares at his own chestplate “Oh! I know” he went in front of the gray nightmare's armor and made a scratch on the hammer, a visible white line. “In case we got split up, look for the white scratch on the armor”

They all nodded. And after marking everyone's armor, except for the obvious of course. Frey, Tsunul, and Esgoo carry the body onto their next location, which is towards what used to be Sinclair's mansion. There's no going back now. Whatever happens….

Happens…

Mission briefing

“Open up! It's the one who shall guide” yelled a Mittelhammer as the makeshift gate was opened wide for them. 

The group watches as many kleinhammers and mittelhammers were stationed here, turning what used to be fiery ruins into a base of some sort. The garden now felt like a camp ground with the inquisitors hanging around with shelves and boxes full of nails and hammers, small tents used for some inquitors to lay rest, some casually chatting on top of some rubbles, and don't forget the Nagel und hammer banner standing firmly with little to none sway, proudly showing the crossed nail and hammer. 

“you three!” Frey suddenly barked at some kleinhammers. They immediately jolted up to them “Take these bodies to the foundry furnaces”

“But… one who shall guide..” one of the kleinhammer respectfully ask “The foundry furnaces is only for metals-”

Frey dropped the body down, and the kleinhammer went quiet. The other kleinhammer of the three hit their friend's shoulder as they said “we'll take the bodies there, come on!” 

Then without any words, the three headless bodies were carried away to be melted, not knowing that they were holding their friend's bodies. 

“Idiots….” Frey sighed “I’ll go to talk with the one who guides first, you guys can wait in the meantime-”

“Frey….” Tsunul quietly walked behind Frey, not wanting attention coming to them standing in the middle there “Listen… I know you got your memories returned, I know you remember everything now, memories that you used to forget. So please… for your sake, and for our own sake… don't do anything rash. I begged you to put some restraint, okay?”

“.....” Frey didn't answer, instead they just walked inside the now temporary base, previously Sinclair's family mansion. 

“Well… off they go” Esgoo commented “They… won't do what i thought, would they?”

“Frey knew better… we knew them very well, like when we all met-up that day before all this shit happened” Tsunul answered “That's what I hoped for them to be…”

“yeah…” Esgoo nodded, reminiscing “good times for a distant past” 

Their moments of silence were stopped as the gray nightmare groaned “U-ughh” her body in that armor hunched slightly forward, she touched a part of her stomach on the armor. “I need to sit down… We'll regroup later, you two. And please, never… never ever take off the helm”

“You need help, miss nightmare?” Esgoo offered himself

But she shook as she walked away “I can walk still” 

They both could only stare as she went to a nearby place to sit down, resting her wounds. 

“Welp, buddy.” Tsunul patted Esgoo's shoulder “I’m off to go somewhere, experiencing a first seat tour of an actual N corp.” 

“Geez… quite the change of mood you were having” Esgoo commented with Tsunul walking off. He doesn't know what to do so… he just took a light stroll around. 

Obsession 

Seeing and experiencing firsthand of N corp felt so weird to Esgoo. Sure they've already gone to meet the bug veteran, J corp’s casino, he even has a short exchange with still alive aida, but N corp is… different, in a way that he ‘became’ a part of them. Like high quality cosplay events 

“Hey! You there!” he heard someone yelling so he froze instantly. He doesn't know if the voices were talking to him or not so he slowly scans his surroundings. “Yeah you, the one looking around!” To which Esgoo turned around and saw some kleinhammers sitting on the ground with a Mittelhammer. Welp, he's doomed. “Come here!” and the stench of dirty armor only made it worse. 

Thankfully, his tense look was hidden by the topfhelm, as he went to the sitting group “hey… guys, what's up? Something the matter?”

“No no, come sit with us,” The mittelhammer patted the ground. “You're a freshly recruited Kleinhammer, yes? No red seals on ya”

“Oh uh… yeah I am” Esgoo cleared his throat “Just got sent here with my uhh squad” he was sure that the inquisitors they've killed had their red seals, it must've fallen off. 

“Must’ve been a heck of an experience, eh?” the Mittelhammer grasped his shoulder, Esgoo could feel the force of the palm that lifted that big hammer nearby. “Now, what do you think of the chosen one? We've noticed your squad walking behind them. You feel the experience too, don't you?” 

“W-what kind of experience, exactly?” Esgoo asked “I mean I’ve staked many people before with a nail, nothing new-”

“No no” a kleinhammer of the sitting group cut him off “How do you feel when the one who shall guide, order you or when you saw them fight?”

That was… oddly specific, Esgoo thought. Well he didn't exactly know what it felt to be ordered by Frey, but he knows how it feels to be Frey ordering someone. It was… firm and rough. He could feel Frey's assertive voices, with their eyes sharp. And every word they spoke carried weight, measured, direct, and without hesitation. Sometimes they didn't need to yell to let their order be heard. It almost brought him chills, remembering that they were the same Frey back then. 

“Very…. Assertive ordering us” Esgoo tried to make up a good lie “very scary at times with their umm… mask and cape and everything, they're… something”  even though he felt slightly sick saying all of that. 

“Haha! Don't be fret” another kleinhammer commenter “The chosen one is to be feared but not scared of. You see, they were the product of the one who guides. And all product of the one who guides turned into diamonds”

“Really? I… didn't know” Esgoo tried to pretend that he didn't know. “Were… every one who guide's apprentices like that?”

“You see, new recruits, there's a reason why the one who guides title is seen with high regard, often birthint new great potential. With his guidance, he unlocked their full potential, and in return, benefits Nagel und hammer” the Mittelhammer said to him in awe. 

“Like the one who stakes, the one who purges, or the one who grips” a kleinhammer named some title he doesn't know… except for the last. 

“Didn't she die in this place? The one who grips I mean..” Esgoo had to ask. 

“Yeah, the previous apprentice before them. She was fanatic, she was insane, and he was very impressed he let her have one of his großhammer. Though….” 

“Not his type” the other continues for them “Don’t know the details but from what we've heard, she was too obsessed with someone that it became her downfall”

“But who though?” 

“I don't know but might be someone important in her hometown” 

Esgoo stared as he just watched them talking, well… he knew the exact who but he'll prefer to stay quiet and keep it to himself. 

“So… that's what ‘The guide’ title represents?” Esgoo titled his head to the side, this is… some lore that no one ever knew. He was sure that PM never addressed or hinted at this, and he couldn't hide his intrigue. 

“He guides… simple as that. No need for canned memories, just pure natural teaching” and plenty of emotional manipulation, Esgoo rolled his eyes “He wishes to abolish the system entirely” 

Well… now Esgoo was just watching the debate between the sitting group about the canned memories, leaving him like a statue. He could leave but he was afraid to raise any suspicion. He only looked down on the dirt. 

They all talked about Frey like they were some ungodly leader. He doesn't know if it's respect or it's the hope they could cling into after being brainwashed, well he wasn't. None of them  pain and the suffering they get from being in that position. It was… terrifying, knowing that they were like this because of whispers to their ears. The old man abused their self doubt and anxiety, molding them with just his words, that Frey would casually murder…

Esgoo clenched his armored fist, feeling more distraught in his heart. 

He always hates assholes like that. 

Recovering 

The gray nightmare sighed, letting her back rest on the ground nearby a tent. She would gladly wish she could take the whole armor off but they're not going to risk their identity being known. 

Her stomach still hurts like hell, though this is the least worse she ended up with. Yeah she had even worse than a stab, but that doesn't make it any less annoying. 

She was lucky… or… way too lucky that the spear didn't hit any of her vital organs.

“Hey… you're asleep?” A stranger voice called her out on the tent she was at.

Even so, being lucky like that was… ridiculous to her own liking. She believes in luck, that many fate decided to bless people, but there's been some times when she felt that their luck is just odd, way too odd, like something isn't right. 

“Hello? You there?” She felt something poking her. 

She wanted to stay quiet, but she'll obviously going to be bothered by this inquisitor until she gave them what they wanted. 

“What?” She flatly said, turning her head to the side to see… a Mittelhammer leaning on the tent through the topfhelm. 

“Ah… glad you're awake, this silence is killing me” the Mittelhammer voice came muffled. “What are you here for? You were clenching your stomach, wounded?”

“..... Broke a rib” she shortly said to the Mittelhammer 

“Wow… you had it better… almost  my limb down there…” the Mittelhammer continued to speak “... And most of my squad ended up dead. Poor them ya know? Handling heretics is much better than some monstrous creatures. At least they'll die fighting for the purity of this city, and not for… some vague reason.”,

“My condolences….” She can feel their nightmare seeping out from them. A weak one…

“Thank you, but I'll be fine… things always happened, it always happened in the end.” It was clear to the gray nightmare that the Mittelhammer had experienced quite so many losses already that they've almost… numb to it. It almost reminds her about herself….

Well… not that she lost someone, not as in another person in her life. She had seen death but a stranger’s death doesn’t count towards it. 

No, that someone she lost… was herself. As if the reflection she saw were nothing but a fake, an imitation. But who is to blame other than herself? She accepted the risks that harnessing the nightmare powers will drain what made her human, accepted the risks that she could become a heartless villainess thanks to her feeling no sense of anything. 

But…. She's still here, assisting three other ‘anomalies’ like her towards the same goal. Why… though? she pondered. Someone like her with so many titles and nicknames worked with three anomalies? Was it fate? Or was it because she lost most of what made her have that many titles? 

maybe it’s either…

maybe it’s both… That woman had many secrets of herself, everyone in the whole anomalies group was like that, i might have two stacks of books just compiling it. 

In the end however…. she was thankful that she could find allies to help her in this journey, without them…. She can’t do very much.

And of course, she was thankful for…. Him. Without him, she would just brush it off after noticing Esgoo in danger, and leave him alone to his fate. She would surely not be here without them. 

“I'll return… I promise…” she whispered to herself. She'll get her powers back, she'll find all the missing navette glasses, and she'll go back, that's what she believed in. 

She sighed again. Using her old nightmare tether, and having to watch Frey's journey almost made her nostalgic back to her own world. Of course she won't be saying that He was similar to the one who guides, no… he was better than that old guy. He taught her how to pretend. 

“Well who do we have here…” she remembered he approached her. 

“Drawing… like you ask” and she remembered speaking in the same flat voice, sitting on a small chair with a canvas. 

“I uhh… I see” she remembered his nervous chuckled “Why it's uhh… all black?”

“You asked to draw my feelings…. I draw my feelings” she said so casually to him back then. 

He could only sigh “come on now… my little nightmare-”

“I'm not little… I'm teenager”

“Well you're still the little nightmare to me” he chuckled… and he was brushing her hair that started to get long “Come on now… you could be like your peers, learning emotions won't be that bad”  

“They're pretending… pretending is waste of time”

“Well I won't deny that they're pretending. But in this current time… you need a little feelings” he took her brush and swipe it on the canvas, a white string appears to fill the void “see? This pure color can fill your black void. Sure, it may not be real, it may be a color pretending to be something, but you wanna know something? It'll be real, eventually” 

She stared at his pleading eyes with a dead look “Will I feel if I pretend?”

“You will, I promise… I could set up a class for you, with the help of everyone” 

“.... You'll waste time for me”

He gave her back the brush “Gladly to…” he put hands on his hips “you're my most promising students, can't let the fragile egg be broken”

“Won't it be tasty?” She innocently asks, not understanding everything. “If you let it cook, it'll be tasty to let it break”

“Uhh… ah damn, I'm still trying to make words” he had a small laugh before pausing to look at her 

“What?”

“It's your cue to laugh too”

“....how? Like ha ha ha ha ha ha?” That was quite the flat laugh, don't think it could even be called a laugh anyway. “Like that?”

“Yeah… we're going to need to teach you how to laugh properly, but you could start small with a small curve” he puts both hands on her cheek, pulling it on her lips so a small smile could show up “see? That's the smile I've been missing”

Obviously… it's not a smile she was having, more like her lips been curved to a bend. He looks at her like he was waiting for her to do anything but… she doesn't exactly know what to do back then. 

“I'm waiting…” he abruptly said 

“For what?”

“I pulled your mouth to form a smile, you got uncomfortable and slapped my hands away…” ah.. it was a sudden training he gave her. 

“Is it uncomfortable?” 

“Yes… don't you remember how uncomfortable it felt? A feeling of discomfort? You must've at least remembered when you had emotions before….” 

Did she? The gray nightmare had already forgotten how to remember how to feel, her past actions based on her emotions felt like a puzzle… “My cheek felt aching the longer you forced me to smile”

“See… that's discomfort… continue”

Her eyebrows furrowed and she swiped his hands away from her. She brushes her ached jaw. 

“Well it's a start but a start nonetheless… now listen” he put a hand on both of her shoulder “I know you think that learning emotions is a waste of time but I'm telling you that you should. Imagine if you're in … ahem, worse situation than what we have, you're alone and have no one, not even me… you had to act”

“.....” 

“You wield the power of nightmares now… you should've known how people saw you and your peers. The possibilities you had, the amount of things you can do, without emotions or knowing anything about it will only turn you into a heartless monster-”

“Like her?”

He sighed… “yes, like her. That's why I won't repeat the same mistake again. You… will have to learn to feelz whether you like it or not, okay?”

“Alright…” she nodded 

“Good… I'll see you tomorrow morning.” he patted her shoulder and stands up “and don't forget to clean the painting tools”

…. She stared at his back as he was about to leave the room. “And you….”

“Hmm?” He paused 

“Do you now actually feel emotions or pretend to feel because you had the obligation to?” 

“..... That's a hard question to answer, little nightmare… I never asked myself for it… oh well” and he just walked out… leaving her to stare.

Quite the memories she remembered. Almost eight years ago… 

She stared at the Mittelhammer and she noticed them sleeping. She made sure no one saw her or looked at her as she took off the topfhelm, letting her face and hair free. She put it down, leaning her body to the side and staring at it. A faint reflection on her face can be seen. She pulled her muscle to make a curve on her lips… a smile. A forceful smile. She used her index fingers to keep it apart before letting it fall flat again, back to her real emotions, nothing. 

In the end however…. She is just pretending to feel like how he had taught her. And she can't say that she regretted it, for she cannot feel regret anyway. So what should she feel? For now, she can only pretend to know what to feel. It has truly helped her like he said it to be. 

She put back the topfhelm before anyone noticed it any further, she needs to converse her energy while she still can.

Tsunul's understanding 

Tsunul walked around the place, looking at the inquisitors having their day like usual. It was also odd to him that he actually experienced and saw what it is to be an N corp Inquisitor and even being one of them… kinda. What he experienced, both at the casino and here were beyond the scope of the game itself and he had a tint of worries at what might happen in the future, when their knowledge of the game itself won't be useful at all.

But… he doesn't want to think about it, right now, he doesn't know what to do. Sure he could find Esgoo and the gray nightmare but with these amounts, it'll be quite a while to find both marked kleinhammers. So he just looked around the used-to-be garden in Sinclair's mansion, it was quite the size that a small gathering like this could even happen. 

Either way… he took a short break to just stand still, he won't lie that the armor was quite weighing him down but he felt… like the weight won't overshadow the true weight he is carrying. 

Then after a short break, he noticed… a kleinhammer sitting alone near a patch of bushes, unlike  others who either group up or do something, an outlier. And Tsunul felt… something, an urge to approach and ask. 

Well, a small chat won't suddenly give him the stage light to everybody, so he just walked up to them. 

“Hey…” Tsunul called out as he approached the peculiar kleinhammer. 

Quiet… not even a single breath of voice. Alright… Tsunul tried again “hello… you there? Can you hear me-”

“Leave me alone…” and that's a fairly low and quiet answer he finally got, a word of dismissal. 

“Ah… so you can hear me, good to know” Tsunul nodded from under his topfhelm. He then noticed something… peculiar and interesting from the kleinhammer, they were… holding a helm, the topfhelm of a klein, not the one they wore currently.

Something must've happened. 

“Something happened?” And Tsunul just had to ask in, even though he could just walk away, even if he could ignore some unknown kleinhammer.

“......What do you want?” And obviously the kleinhammer doesn’t want to be bothered by tsunul. 

“I was wondering if I could help… I don’t know much, but I could piece a thing or two from what I've seen.” 

“Tch… I don't need anyone's help… so leave me alone”

“Let me try to help” Tsunul just huffed under his topfhelm. Why should he care? Why would he care about some kleinhammer sitting alone? “How about this… you tell me what's on your mind, then I'll leave you after? I understand that… ahem, losses isn't easy” 

“So you do know… hah who am I kidding?” The kleinhammer shook their head, hugging the topfhelm tighter “it doesn't take a detective to know what's up” 

“You're the only one left?” Tsunul slowly asked. He believed that it must have something to do about the basement they're going to revisit, this time… in person. 

The kleinhammer's wall finally broke down, they sighed and began retelling their story “Two… The Mittelhammer, my superior. Down there, from what we thought to be the basement turned into some… long, complex tunnel of caves, we were supposed to hold out some area from those creatures. It was fine, everything was fine… but…”

“But?” Tsunul asked, the kleinhammer had pause, their body suddenly shuddered as they stopped.

“That loud screeching, screaming.. sounded like hundreds of souls were yelling in agony and pain, reverberating in the entire cave as if to send a distress signal. What on earth do N corp want inside there?”

An Abno… Tsunul thought, and that made him gulp. He just hoped they didn't have to face an Abno in here, even thinking such encounters made him scared. “And what happened next?”

“It happened so fast… we were swarmed, too many of them, we couldn’t hold on…” The kleinhammer sighed “And yet, I lived… while they died. Why should i?”

It made tsunul paused. He felt like he was staring at himself right now, he lived while his friend…. didn’t. It felt like yesterday when he died, it felt like last night sometimes, and that nightmare kept haunting tsunul to the fact that he and the gray nightmare needed to have some damn therapy session for him to vent his feelings in private sometimes. “You should live… because they gave their life to you, you know?” 

“I could've give the same to them-”

“And they did.” Tsunul cut them off “I’m not telling you to end it right away, but I'm telling you to cherish what they could've been. At least…” he felt his throat empty for a second, his breath hitched “At least live… so you could proudly show yourself to them when the times arrived”

“.... You're right” the kleinhammer picked up the topfhelm and held it in front of them “Thank you, fellow kleinhammer, whoever you are. I really needed that.”

Tsunul nodded, and he just walked away. Deep inside, he wished he could continue the conversation like that, but turns out the other kleinhammer was easier to console and convince than he had hoped for. He should've not even cared a bit, it's a kleinhammer he wouldn't even remember at all, but who is he kidding? Tsunul did that for himself. Maybe out of guilt that he could just talk someone out before he and haeng-un had to find them already lifeless, or maybe he just wished that he could cry… remembering a future that could've happened, a fight of passion, two clashing dreams and visions with fists. 

But all he got was the truth, a truth that should've made him sob, but all he felt… was a throbbing ache on his heart and it's killing him off. 

He sighed under his topfhelm, maybe walking around the place would help him better. 

Frey's moral conflict 

With a flat yet clear warning from them, I left inside the mansion, to a walk that felt… that felt so slow and far. Did she know what I was about to do? Or she has a keen gaze under that flat and lifeless look of her eyes? It could've been a perfect plan, an old man against a furious chosen one. He died… and I could die too. But that warning of hers, felt like zhēn was talking to me. Death is not my purpose in life, death is a purpose I should avoid until… until I know what is my reason to live anymore. 

I walked through the foundry, peeking at the bodies being thrown there, bodies that will be melting away in burning lava in just a few minutes. They never asked questions, they just did what I ordered them to do, even if unbeknownst to them that the body was one of theirs.  That was their purpose, to listen to what their superiors told them, to never dare to question or object what they have been told, a nothing more but puppet on a string. 

I stopped… looking at my gloved hands. I am… the one also holding the string, and I am the one being stringed by… him. 

“You..” I called a Mittelhammer that was about to walk by “Where's the one who guides? 

“Chosen one!” They bowed at me, typical. “He is currently on the second floor and the end of the west side of the mansion. I will esc-”

“No” I said shortly at them, but with how the way they slightly flinched, i might accidentally barked at them “I can go there myself, back with the others”

“As the one shall guide' ordered” my cape swayed as I walked away, leaving them sighing in fear. 

But that's not what my purpose is. I don't want to be his puppet, I don't want to be anyone's puppet, not even theirs, people that used to be my friends before we got sent to this… purgatory. 

And yet… I can't not care about it. I remembered that ache returning again when I had to zap that kleinhammer, and when their lives were taken away just so those three could have a disguise. With my memories returned, Fidelia's words also returned. Her promise lodged in my mind too, stopping me from blindly doing anything to reach my reason. 

I stopped in front of the door, I could hear… hear that old man inside. It's ironic, how both of my promises to them are a perfect balance that keeps me just right between, just as they had… help me stand up. I could've just gone all hell loose after regaining my memories, but zhēn… stopped me, I could've just gone all hell to find my purposes, but Fidelia… stopped me. 

If it weren't for them, maybe distorting would be a better choice, and yet her voice hasn't reached me just yet. 

I sighed, preparing myself mentally. I stood here, between mercy and ruthless, between sane and insanity, between distortion and ego, between a monster and a weak prey, and between two promises that kept me balanced in the middle, as a being of no more and no less. 

With that, I opened the door. 

“Ah, Frey!” That voice… still the same raspy old voice, and that face… still the same oh so innocent look.

And.. gosh that temptation, that temptation to stick out my spear and nail it to his brain is just…

But I didn't, other than a hitched breath, I stepped inside the small room with a desk and two chairs and two visible großhammers on each edge, cramping the already little space it has. 

“You two…” he gave the usual signal and the two large statues left the room, closing the door. “Took you a while to get back” 

“Forgive me, sir. I would… love to enjoy every silence that I could have” it took miracles to me to speak so normally.

“I supposed the screaming of heretics is too much to bear sometimes” He chuckled “but try to keep the walkie talkie on next time” 

I sighed, taking a seat in front of him, it was… so close. We're alone, and with a reach of hand, I could just snap his fragile throat apart!

But I can't… I just can't… and I felt hopeless just sitting there, pretending that I'm fine!!

“You know where we are today, kid?” He asked me, hands on the desk.

“Town of Calw, kromer was also here before ” I didn't just know this purely out of the game, a paper or two of Intel was always sent to my hand before every mission. 

He nodded “The one who grips and my… previous apprentice” as if I would be surprised. She's a psychopath, and he fueled it up “And also… her grave. I always told her that her obsession with her past and a… certain someone could be the ruin of her and look at what she brought?”

But unlike kromer, I had no past… I had no obsession to someone other than his death in my eyes 

“Ah… whatever, past is the past, not the first time I would hear of one of my apprentices dead. At least I'm proud that they did something for N corp.” He said, tapping the desk “You know the mission, right Frey?”

“It didn't tell me much” I said back under my mask who… hides most of my emotions from him “The bough no longer here, and there's no reason to go back other than seeing old ruins”

“Ah but you see, kid, we're taking what this place has left for us. Don't you hear what the recon squad had said?”

I closed my eyes… I did hear some “A creature… loud screeching, voices that echoes throughout the cave, giving a sense of dread”

“Mmhhmm” he hummed “You can guess what we're taking from here”

I snarked at his words “When did YOU out of all care about monster hunting, sir?” I sounded harsh, mocking him even. “Am I even talking to you at all?”

“Oh you still talked to someone whose place you'll take one day, Frey” But he just smiled, uncaring “But even I couldn't deny the request from the director”

I leaned back on my chair, crossing my arm “So that's our mission? Going there, killing those peccatulum blocking our way, and then take whatever causing that loud voices?”

“Precisely” he shot his index finger at me “That is our goal. The info I got, is that our target make loud noises”

I sighed… It felt ridiculous. Even him, even that old bastard, still stringed by someone higher, ironic. 

“Don't fret, Frey.” He leaned forward to pat on my shoulder “It may not be the same as staking a prosthetic, but staking we still” 

“Still… sir-” 

“How about this…” he proposed an idea to me “Since I know how dangerous it is. I'll let you pick your own squad”

“W-what? What do you mean by that?” I sounded baffled. Ever since they… passed, I would prefer to be left by my own accord. I thought I already made it clear to him by then. 

“Now listen… I know you wanted to be alone, doing your own way, but I would rather have one, two, or three inquisitors joining, to keep you alive that is” Alive… as in meat shields or sacrifices. “I'll let you pick anyone, even my two großhammers”

“....” I slowly put my hands on the desk, another temptation to slam my fists to it “That worry about me, sir?”

“You're my successor Frey, of course I would be worried” There was nothing hidden in his look. It was genuine worry, nothing less, nothing more. As if I was a precious golden egg to him.. though I am. 

I paused again… I can't exactly think of what he was planning. His idea, his plan, his thought of me and everything is just so complex… and so manipulative that I feel like every word and decision had its ulterior motives behind it, that no detective could even figure out his way of thinking. 

And all I can do… is just be his puppet, and it hurts so bad. “Alright… I'll go pick them”

After a while… I stepped out of the room, closing it. Good timing since a punch immediately made a hole on a nearby wall, albeit Sinclair's mansion could perish away at any moment already. 

I panted, gritting my teeth…. Holding that need, that lust, and that urge to kill him was difficult, adding with… them being here. I just can't trust anyone anymore, not even to those I knew, not even to trust my old friends again, but that hope of theirs…. To go home, to go back to the true earth we're living.

As stupid as they are, as clueless, naive, and blinded they are to their causes. Inside me, a small spark of hope erupts.

First floor 

The anomalies plus Frey entered the large area down the basement, still donning full of their armor, keeping with the disguise 

“I'm surprised that you chose us, Frey.” Esgoo said to them. “I've seen the großhammers. You could have an actual walking tank like guido, ya know? And it's two of them”

“They’re all nobody, all of them” Frey told him as they all kept walking “Besides, you three knew this place more like I do.”

“But does that mean just four of us alone?” the gray nightmare asked. “Sounds irresponsible, and dangerous like this”

If it weren't for the fact that she's a part of their friends… a spear might’ve gone through her neck already “It is how it is, gray nightmare. With it being a cave, there's nothing more to be planned about than going forward, and it's… cramped. Too many would be a nuisance and headaches to manage as a squad. The lesser the easier to take care of”

“They kinda had a point” Tsunul added “Look around us, it's… not like the casino, not much space for us to go around freely. Besides, miss, if anything goes wrong, you could pull us away in no time”

She huffed under her topfhelm “Still… an extra two or three would be better” her voice may be flat but there is a hint of objections in her words. “I don't have that much smokes left”

“And don't forget…” Esgoo turned his head back “We're intruders here, can't exactly talk freely like this when there's some listening” 

“Numbers doesn't always equal strength, but-” Frey about to add more 

Until she raised a hand to stop them “...but in unity, and teamworks, I understand, fair points.” 

It wasn't hard to find the three, Frey just ordered a Mittelhammer to line everyone up, and find those with the line mark. And don't forget the whispers of confusion, surprise, and shock as the esteemed one who shall guide walked with some random kleinhammers.

They continue walking with ease. Compared to the branch in D corp, this place was closer in similarities to the branch in J corp, without the danger of the employees chasing them, and the cold ice piercing their skin. 

“The first floor is safe, but I can't say the same for the second and third, it's filled with peccatulum left and right” Frey said as they passed the remnants of… things that the previous N corp group had left. Chains hanging, nails on the wall, broken hammers, destroyed wheels, it has to be kromer. “And they're…” Frey paused in their walk… hearing distant fights “Dammit, they're trying to get through the first floor, come on!” 

Frey took off first with their cape swaying from behind, and the three followed after. At this moment, the gray nightmare isn't the leader, but Frey themselves. 

They all ran to the end of the first floor where waves of class one and two were trying to break in from the floor below, halted by dozen squads of Mittelhammers and kleinhammers holding them off. 

Frey took out their spear “DUCK!!” and with a warning, they throw their weapon, hitting a sloth peccatula right in the eye. “Hold this position!” Frey didn't stop running as they took their spear and just ran into the upcoming waves. 

“Holy shit!” Esgoo cursed, as they three stopped “They're crazy! Is that even Frey?!” 

“I thought we'd already seen what happened to Frey?!” Tsunul asked back at him “What to be surprised about?”

“I don't know, other than seeing with my own eyes, in my own body more than theirs?!” Esgoo pointed out.

“You two!” The gray nightmare ended up being slower, at least with the short break they all had, it wasn't as ache as it was previously. “Stop talking… and help Frey” she still can't do anything but watch. 

The two immediately turned their heads at Frey, seeing the said person attacking the peccatulum, their spear zapping everything around as the squads morale got boosted after seeing their leader fought. 

“Right right… so uhh” 

“Yeah… the fight, almost forgot”

Both Tsunul and Esgoo ended up stumbling on themselves, taking out each of their weapons.. well, the inquisitor’s weapon. Where's their own weapon you may ask? Tucked safely on their body, just inside the armor, meaning if they wanted to use their weapon, they had to take off the chest plate. 

“uhh Tsunul, you can have this” Esgoo ended up getting a small medium hammer with small nails. “looks like this is your thing 

“Yeah you.. I think you're better using this” and Tsunul gave Esgoo the medium sized nail. “I mean, it's like swords, right?”

“Get to it, now!” the gray nightmare urged them, forcing them to join the fight. “There’s a field test just right there! Come on”

Both of them eventually joined, slashing and bludgeoning the upcoming peccatulum army. it was clear that neither of them had any prior experience in using the inquisitor's weaponry.

 Esgoo mainly uses his sword, and nails are piercing weapons. He would sometimes hit the peccatula rather than slicing it. Tsunul on the other hand, despite ‘adapting with any weird weapon that came from his gambler's edge's is his speciality, that doesn't make him not free from any mistake. 

But as the gray nightmare watches from nearby, they slowly get used to it… very very slowly, but progress is progress. 

Frey catched a pride peccatula as it was about to jump on them, it tried to squeeze free but a shock from their gloves instantly killed them. “Tsunul, look out!” Frey yelled as they slightly pulled back their arm before throwing the corpse of the peccatula, hitting a sloth rock peccatula that was about to run over at Tsunul, sending it crashing down with the others. 

“Thanks!” Tsunul yelled back, trying his hardest to use the hammer to attack any nearby peccatulum. He's trying his hardest. 

And without warning, someone shoved them down on the ground, just as a claw of a wrath peccatula were about to wound Frey.

“Tch! Come on, focus” it has to be Esgoo, who managed to push them away from getting slashed, a few seconds error from Frey themselves

“Okay…” Frey stood up from the harsh push, and began stabbing away at the upcoming waves. There's no  feeling pissed now, not when you got creatures attacking you. 

Eventually, their assault stopped, their numbers thinned out and the peccatulum were mostly corpses on the ground. Both Esgoo and Tsunul were a panting mess, holding their knees as they leaned on the wall. 

Frey just glanced at the two before changing their attention to the rest, the squads who defended the area “Report!” 

Some were dragging away the peccatulum corpses, some leaning on the wall, and some were badly injured. A battered armored Mittelhammer approaches Frey “Report! Almost everyone is in stable condition, save for a few injured” they stated firmly, as if speaking to a military officer. 

“No death?” Frey asked.

“No death, o one who shall guide” they nodded, body stood firm and tall under that armor. Even the bent and bump on their armor, and the visible tiredness doesn't stop them “The injured sustain no fatal wounds.”

Frey sighed “Alright… tell them, the injured can walk back to the camp, if they couldn't, have someone to carry them.” They then paused a bit… thinking “After that, you go ahead first and prepare a small dose of ampule to them. Make sure not to get it mixed up” 

“As you ordered, zwischenhammer!” They nodded and went to relay Frey's order to the rest. 

Frey shook their head, brushing away their spear clean before letting it rest on their back again. “I've heard…” a kleinhammer approached them “...that K corp ampules can heal a wound very quickly… They've told me” it was the gray nightmare, who could only watch everything from a distance. 

“Unfortunately… it's not that simple” Frey said back to her “I could… prepare ampules for you three, but not all ampules can be  freely used. Simply, you needed someone to take your DNA sample for someone to create an ampule compatible for you” 

“Personalized… How odd.” She muttered “Why so?”

“The ampules forced our bodies to regenerate the missing part of our bodies in a rapid state, it needs to be specific, otherwise… it'll do the opposite than regeneration”

“Melt…” she had seen it during the K corp checkpoint infiltration… it melts everything like a corroded acid “Unfortunate, but alright. Maybe next time when we had the chance”

“Next time…” Frey turned their attention to the remaining two “Come on, let's go, we don't have much time” 

Both of them gave a thumbs up, although still somewhat exhausted from the fight. It's not just the weapon, but fighting in full armor is already an extra weight for them to carry on. But no matter what, they had to push on

Join us

The group descended to the second floor, this time on territory that wasn't held by N corp, evident by the lack of inquisitors, and some peccatulum that they easily take care of. 

Frey was walking in front, with the anomalies behind them. With their stiff posture, walk, look, and the capes flailing around, the anomalies understand why Frey were feared. But Frey is still their friend, friends they've known a lot, friends that unfortunately became another victim of the city. 

“Frey, may I ask something?” The gray nightmare destroys the peaceful and quiet walk. 

Frey grumbled, kinda annoyed that their moment of silence were taken away “Spit it out”

“I forgot to ask you, but after everything is done here… will you join us?” 

And that question made Frey stop in their walk, and so does everyone else. Only a few steps separate them, a small step that distance. 

“Shit… never thought about it” Esgoo crossed his arms “Frey is also an anomaly”

“Yeah… and I don't think N corp will go to the same place as us” Tsunul too “Then we’ll have to separate…”

Frey looked down, that thought had already come ever since Frey met them. They thought that they were truly alone in this world, in this… hell, but with them being here, it changes everything, and their perspective. As in… who else of their friends got sent here than just them? 

Frey sighed “I don't know, I haven't decided just yet.” They mumbled, staring at the ground. 

“You still wanna stay here, Frey? With them?” Tsunul asked, taking a small step forward “After everything they've done to you? After what HE has done to you?” He was clearly worried, with how different Frey had become. Then again, they all knew what happened to them, no secrets at all. “I… no, we… we could find a way, maybe plan something so you could escape wit-”

“ENOUGH!” To which… Frey snapped. It was very quick, in a split second, they turned around, closing in on their distance and grabbed his chestplate. They were staring at his eyes, through the topfhelm he wore. A sharp look that could kill.

Esgoo was immediately on alert, especially since Frey's gloves began to spark. “Holy shit! Frey, what the fuck are you-” 

“N-no.. wait…” Tsunul began to stutter, but still managed to raise his hand to stop Esgoo from taking things too far “Frey, I trust that you have no intention to kill us, because if you did… you would’ve already done so, many times before… so please listen-”

“Are you testing me, Tsunul?” Frey groaned, pulling him closer, almost raising his body even more. “Not only… Did you three learn about my entire past that I don't want anyone to know anymore… But you still dare to use THEIR words at me? Even when all of you got first row seats to my suffering?! I could snap your neck off this instant if I didn't try to hold myself”

“I… I’m sorry, I didn't mean to” Tsunul tried to reason, feeling his breath slowly taken away , the gray nightmare held Esgoo down believing Tsunul could deal with the situation “Look… I'm sorry I said those words, it just… it just came out of me, okay? We're all worried about you… you're our friend, Frey. After what you had to go through, I just don't want you to be… alone…” he said the last word slowly and almost quietly

“I'm alone…. Because I failed to save both of them. Because I failed to realize what that old corpse was trying to do with me. Being an N corp Inquisitor killed me, being the chosen one destroyed me, and being his successor makes me wanna tear my chest apart…. But… but…” Frey's anger subsided, he let go of Tsunul, letting him take the air that was taken. “Just… give me time, okay?” Frey took two steps back. “I just don't want to hear about getting myself out. I begged you, Tsunul. I need to think, I don't want to be pressured, and you already knew better why”

“That's… ughh” he patted his own chestplate “that's perfectly fine, frey…” 

Frey huffed, putting a hand on their head. “Sorry, let's just… continue” Frey turned around and walked on ahead. 

Tsunul could notice the stare from the two. The gray nightmare finally let Esgoo be “Tsunul…” she sounded flat, but he knew she was disappointed “that's just reckless”

“I.. I didn't mean to-”

“I know you're worried, man. But… you're talking to a fucking time bomb. Just because you trust them doesn't mean you could tread on the bear..” Esgoo added the weight. “Just… ugh, just let them be for now. Whether they'll join us or not is up to them later”

“Yeah…” Tsunul huffed “alright” that was a close call. 

Bugs assault 

After the… event, the whole walk had gone more awkward than ever, still with the same distance as they were before. Since many of the peccatulum were already taken care of during their attack on the first floor, their walk had been a breeze. Though soon they realized, there is something more important than just peccatulum. 

“Ah… this place” Frey sped up for a moment before they were all greeted to a sight of bodies all scattered on the ground. Some with limbs missing, and some with a gaping hole. “Squad 21 of the silver nail… what an unfortunate end most of you had”  

Frey knelt and took off one of their topfhelm, setting it down “Fulfilling that first promise?” Then the gray nightmare asked, walking up to them. 

“Yes… will you three assist me to collect all these topfhelm?” After his short outburst, Frey asked nicely this time. They're in a bad mood but don't want it to ruin what they have to do. “It won't be long”

The gray nightmare turned at the two ‘kleinhammers’ and they nodded. 

“Yeah… I think we should” Tsunul said awkwardly, kneeling and taking off one of the topfhelm. It must've been what that kleinhammer Tsunul talked with.

“Guess we had no choice” and Esgoo reluctantly follows.

Fortunately, it's not really a big deal. Just some collecting topfhelm, and also what remains of them and lined them up on the nearby cave wall. 

Frey clasped their hands together “May what came out of them will be useful for the future” referring to the fallen’s topfhelm being melted and recycled. “Thanks for the trouble… you three” they stood up from their kneeling position “We could go now”

“About damn time…” Esgoo muttered. 

But just as they left the premise of the area with Frey, as usual, being feet few in front of them, they suddenly stopped. “Huh… weird” they commented, seeing something small went past them in a blink. 

“Uhh what is it, Frey?” 

“It’s nothing. A rat just crawled by… not expecting for a-” 

“Everyone!” Esgoo immediately got on alert hearing that singular word “Back huddle, now!!” 

Immediately everyone put their back together, even Frey who instinctively followed just by the sudden panicked voice from Esgoo. 

“It's them…” “Perfect bait…” “Payback…” suddenly there are cries coming around the crevices and holes around the cave. Sounds that resemble humans. “Get them…” “They'll pay…” the echoes made it more menacing. 

“Seriously?! Right now?! They're so fucking persistent” Tsunul groaned on his hammer. 

“Ahem!” Frey forcefully clears their throat while looking around vigilantly “Is it about time I get to know what’s going on?”

“Don’t ask me” Tsunul nudge at esgoo “Ask them both instead”

“Our enemies aren't just the CCE” The gray nightmare answered “Or the contract hunters from the casino…”

Frey suddenly exclaimed, hearing a loud crawl very close, as if something were scraping on the wall. In a split second, they raise their fist, turning their bodies to the side as something comes out of the holes and about to jump on esgoo. “Got you!” Then a hard punch landed on the assailant’s face, throwing them away. 

“Holy shit!” Esgoo cursed, surprised in that short moment through his topfhelm. “That was close”

“What in the…” Frey suddenly get confused, the figure attacking them had claws for their arms, and horns growing from their head. “G corp soldiers? even those vermin?”

“It’s a long story” The gray nightmare continued “involving pissing off the wrong general who doesn’t take too keenly on us destroying his image”

“EVERYONE!” the punched Soldier shouted in his dazed state “ATTACK!”

“Get ready!” esgoo warned as G corp’s soldiers came out of the holes and crevices with the intention to kill.

The fight went hectic, as the soldiers charged at them. The formation they kept unfortunately broke apart as they got separated from each other. Esgoo with frey while tsunul is with the gray nightmare. 

Esgoo slightly dodge one of their claws before nailing one directly on their neck, he pulled it out as he kicked them away

“Careful” Frey said, as they managed to stabbed away a soldier that about to stab Esgoo from behind. “Keep our backs on each other, don't leave a Blindspot” 

“I will, I will, geez…” Esgoo huffed, both him and Frey were being surrounded by quite the number of them. Usually, it's a time for them to make a daring escape just like the two previous attempts. But now… with Frey on their side, looks like they have to face the soldiers sooner or later. “You should worried more about Tsunul, he's in deeper shit” 

While on the other side… Tsunul was technically alone during the whole ordeal. “Tsunul I'm so sorry I couldn't-” 

The gray nightmare tried to tell him something but eventually quieted down as he dodged a slashing arm before smacking one directly on the back of the head with the hammer “Oh trust me, ma'am… you don't need to sorry, just-”

“Look out” she flatly said to him, he felt her hands touching his shoulder as a soldier phased through him. It's a weird sensation, like… his vessel body is a hologram. He blinked twice before raising his hammer, hitting it straight on the head with the vibration ringing on his hammer. “That was close..”

He blinked again “Miss, that was your smoke thing, right?” 

“Yes, why?” She asked, transformed back to her physical form, standing behind him with her back against him. 

“You had enough smoke?” 

“The bodies of the kleinhammers we saw… gave me enough surpluses of smoke, you had ideas, Tsunul?” 

“Simply just… hold on” he paused, a soldier went attacking but he kicked them away as they stumbled down. “Just cover my back, okay? Turn me to a smoke when one gets too close, and turn me back immediately. Simple” 

“Huh… that's actually a great plan” 

He just shrugged himself off “See? You're helping. Let’s do this!” 

Safe to say… his condition is at least fine. He was attacking and holding the Soldier’s attack while occasionally, the gray nightmare turned him as a soldier phased through him again before getting a hard bonk on the back. It was a flow that remains intact with them standing their ground together. 

“What a…” Frey groaned, zapping a soldier before throwing them at their buddy “... nuisance. Just what on earth did you two cause?”

“As she said…” Esgoo huffed, panting through his topfhelm. “We fooled the general and his army, annddd he’s still mad about it that he’s willing to chase us down till the end of the earth.” 

“I don’t have time for this” frey catched one of the soldier’s claws, and snapped it in half with a yell of pain. Frey didn't care, they picked up the soldier and rammed themselves to the nearby cave wall, using the soldier as a shield. 

“Frey! what the hell are you doing?!!” Esgoo yelled out, a cry that went unheard by the zwischenhammer.

What frey did… is hit the wall with all their strength using the soldier, and since the soldier was half bug… their bio body made them a hardshell, and that caused the caves to go into tremor, not helping with how dilapidated the cave is. They let go of the close-to-dying soldier and take a few steps back before lunging for a hard kick, then another, then another. 

“Take cover!” one of them yelled, as the ceilings fell down on them, making them scrambled away into the crevices and holes as they could, some got unfortunate and got crushed by the falling ceilings. 

Using that, the gray nightmare saw a chance and tugged on Tsunul “Let's go” 

He nodded. Both of them quickly make a run for it, “You two, come on!” Tsunul yelled. 

Esgoo put his hands on his head as he followed, with Frey running nearby. The tremor stopped once  they managed to get enough distance. The cave surprisingly hasn't collapsed on them, though cracks were here and there. 

“Frey. That… was the stupidest fucking idea! Are you trying to get us killed?” Esgoo exclaimed, panting with his hands on his knees. “We could've get crushed”

“I apologize but we’re not going to deal with each of those… vermin, Esgoo. We're here for something important…” Frey explained, voices sounded cold and uncaring 

“At the very least…” Tsunul grumbled. He also hates that Frey did that stunt, bringing him too many memories of that casino. But then again, the soldiers will not stop until their ego is satisfied by their blood. “... We survived… And the whole cave didn't fall apart on us” 

“Still Tsunul-” 

“Alright alright, I get it… I'm sorry, okay?” Frey was slightly infuriated. They’re almost about to yell at the three for causing the G corp’s soldiers to chase them here, but getting mad isn’t the solution, they’re already mad from the beginning anyway. Instead, their words about to escape from their throat just… stopped. 

“.....Frey” The gray nightmare spoke up, taking off her topfhelm “We should take a break before moving on” 

“....” They nodded “Sure… sure” Frey then walked away from them, taking a spot just a few meters away. 

The anomalies took off their topfhelm as they let their bodies stretched on the rocky ground, not that flat but not too rough at the very least. A visible exhaustion is visible from both of them, not just because of the fight but the armor that they were forced to wear. None of them didn’t exactly needed to use it once getting down the ‘node dungeon of canto 3’, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. They are in the ‘enemy’ line, one wrong move and not even frey would dare to back them up.

“Just… What exactly is their problem?” Esgoo huffed “We all did everything to save their asses from literally themselves”

“As i said before, esgoo, Nightmare Tether won’t magically make them okay, frey is still unstable as it is” The gray nightmare carefully explained to him. “The frey you two remembered had been changed by the city, just as it did to both of you”

“Then again….” Tsunul added, fanning with the helm “As much annoyed I am at their… aggression, I thought you knew why… we literally saw it first hand of what they were facing. Fuck… the loss, the pain, the suffering”

“....” Esgoo huffed, brushing his face and his sweat away “What about us? I get what you two are saying but what about us? This isn’t frey’s canto where everybody suddenly casted away for some reason. There’s us playing a part in this story, this is our lives too. We won’t be here without frey and frey won’t be here without us. We also matters, you two”

Then there’s silence between the three of them. Honestly… to them it’s confusing, with two sides dangling at them like a piece of candy, like a scale that really wanted to be weighted on one side and never balanced on the middle. It is unfortunately just a part of the whole plenty of morally grey sides that they could never take, where the city made them neither heroes nor beast, but a being that could do evil and kindness in a blink, making them dispassionate and make it hard to answer. 

Am I a bad person?

They decided to keep their rumination away before headaches started to form and just focus to gather their energy. Mostly laying there, not asleep with all the armor off except the chestplate. It is very much deserved. But as tsunul looked to still see frey sitting alone in the distance, he can’t help but to feel bad about them. 

He wholeheartedly agrees with esgoo about frey. Yes, he was worried and anxious with how little hesitation frey at putting their arms on, even at their own longtime friends. But at the same time, he understands that Frey wouldn't be like that if it weren’t for that old guy. They were used, forced to do unspeakable things, to which it would be a miracle if Frey still hadn't changed a bit by then. 

He sneaks away from the rest of the group and walks up to them “Hey frey…” This time however, he had to be careful otherwise… He doesn’t want to think about it.

Frey noticed Tsunul with a small glare, as he continues talking “So uhh-”

Frey huffed “Am I a bad person, tsunul?” suddenly said to him, not even turning their head around to look at him. 

“Eh? Uhhh” and that took Tsunul but surprise “..... Sheesh… that's a… uhh, that's a tough question” Tsunul nervously said, deciding to take a seat next to them. 

Frey's eyes looked tired as their gaze just went nowhere at the front. Without the skull mask and the gloves, Frey just looked like a… an exhausted person. With scars, line wounds all over their face, and their slightly long yellow hair that loosened its natural color, and the glasses that just stayed there. No chest plate, the spear sat nearby, the N corp's pin just barely staying on them, and the earrings that were just there as an accessory. 

“I don't… I don't think you're a bad person, Frey.” Tsunul carefully answered. 

Frey was holding an unlit cigarette as they kept twirling it on their fingers “heh… really?” they had a weak chuckle “After what you saw inside my head? All those genocides, atrocities, innocents I've taken? You turned a blind eye to them like I did?” 

“Can't tell… I won't lie that I'm horrified at what you've done, but…” Tsunul paused, brushing his head. “It's not your fault that it happened… hell you don't have any motivation at all! You're just following him” 

“Justification… excuses… rationalization…. You're there but you're NOT there when it all happens. Do you think they would be fine, that I murdered their families in a brutal way? Using excuses that I was being manipulated by that asshole? Trying to excuse is just… saddening, it'll never change the truth that I'm now the chosen one.” Frey twirled their cigarette again “Then how about this… Tsunul, I won't hesitate if I had to kill you now… you know that?”

“U-ughhh..” Tsunul already knew that fact after… uhh, so many examples he got forced to see “Yeah… you won't think twice at all” 

“Then how do you feel about that? Your friend that you knew so much, friend that you talked a lot, suddenly says that they won't hesitate to stab you?” Frey pressed their questions more, still twirling their cigarette in gloves. 

“Obviously, I would be frightened. But given our… circumstances, and uhh yours, I'm just sad…” Tsunul said slowly to them, with his tone lowered “Like come on now, the city changed us Frey… you could say it as justification, or excuses, but this Purgatory is what turned us like this. That's why Esgoo could stabbed a person on the neck, that's why I could smashed someone's skull… it changed us, as it did to you” 

“So did that not make me a bad person?” Frey raised an eyebrow at him. “Is that what you're saying?”

“Yes…” Tsunul paused for a bit “But that doesn't mean I'm saying that you're a good person” 

“H-huh?” It took Frey quite the surprise, seeing Tsunul so frontal like that. 

“You’re not a bad person, Frey, but you're also not a good person… you're just, I don't know… neither” Tsunul said, looking at his own open palm “And just you've dirtied your own hands with blood just like us. Blood that deserved death, that also deserved not”

“You've… killed innocent, before?” Frey asked him. 

“An incident back then in the casino of J corp. And it's…” he clenched his fist “... Painful, as if the city was trying to mold us into… something worse than monsters” 

“I'm… neither…” Frey muttered to themselves. Was that a response they had expected? Was that a response that they had hoped to get? The many images of the purge flashing on their heads. The wailing death, the broken voices, and the endless suffering of those prosthetics who had to wait after being staked on a nail, dying a painful and agony. And yet… they felt nothing about it. Not just about them closing their minds and hearts, but just none. A feeling of indifference, neither love nor hate. 

“Hey Frey… will you uhh light that on? You've been playing with it for a while” Tsunul pointed at the unlit cigarette. 

“Want to, just not feeling like putting my gloves on just for a spark…”  

Tsunul had an idea “I could try something” 

“Really? Alright” Frey handed him the cig. 

It was as simple as how spark can be created by using two rocks grazed each other and the friction created enough spark to make fire. Sure, using two rocks he just found laying on the ground to light a smoke may be a bit overkill, but it did the job well. “phew, there” he handed Frey the now lit cigarette, throwing the rocks away and wiping his hands together. 

“Huh…” Frey inhaled and puffed smoke out of their lips “..... All of that just for this…”

“Still worth it, hehe…” Tsunul lightly chuckled before stopping, seeing Frey has that blank stare at the smoke. “You okay, Frey?”

“Yeah…” Frey took another smoke “You want some?” offering Tsunul. 

“Not a smoker” 

“Hmm… same” Frey went to have another one, puffing to the air of the cave “Not usually the type to smoke, but it helps to savor the silence and quietness that I could have. When everything's so… loud, a moment of nothingness can feel heavenly.”

“So you smoke when you feel like it?” 

“Perhaps” Frey shrugged “Mostly… it's for them. What you did reminds me of those old days”

Tsunul looked at Frey, a look of sadness on their face “Oh…” 

“Yeah” Frey nodded “When my gloves had to be repaired, and we didn't bring a lighter during a smoke session. I remember…” Frey can't bring themselves to continue… their heart still aches, and they just don't want to cry now “You did the same. A core memory of that day…”

Frey smoked for a bit with Tsunul still watching beside them. “Hey… Tsunul”

“Hmm? What's up?” 

“With you and Esgoo here, does that mean all of our friends….” 

Tsunul nodded “I'm here, Esgoo here, and you're here. You know what that means.. right?”

“So…” Frey sighed “Welvader, Rie, Emi… They-” paused for a moment to process that possibility 

“Yeah, they're there… somewhere” Tsunul affirmed his suspicion “And just like how I met Esgoo, and now we met you… we'll find them and hopefully helped them too” 

Frey looked down as they puffed another smoke “We…” they muttered quietly 

That made Tsunul suddenly tense for a bit “N-no, I mean ‘We’ as in me, Esgoo, and the gray nightmare. You don't have to go with us if you don't want to..” he weakly and awkwardly chuckled “It's… up to you, Frey. Don't pressure yourself”

“.......” Frey just took another smoke “I just hope, wherever they ended up in, whoever they ended with, and whatever they ended up against, I wished the best of fate for them in this god forsaken city” 

“Thanks Frey” Tsunul patted their shoulder, even though Frey barely had a small curved line of smile at him, perhaps none. 

But seeing Frey being optimistic for once, to him that's good, that the Frey he once knew were still there… fragments but alive, beating a faint heart. 

How far we had been 

“Esgoo… are you asleep?” The gray nightmare asked the man beside her. 

“Not really” Esgoo opened his eyes, blinking a bit “I know, Tsunul went to them. Just make sure he doesn't say any stupid shit and get himself killed”

“I think… he'll be fine, I had a smoke nearby in case it got sours” she straightened herself in her sitting position. 

“How's your wounds?” He asked her.

“Getting better, not as painful as it was before though it'll still need a bit more time”

He sighed “You were lucky that spear didn't hit any vitals, ya know? I don't know what to imagine if the anomalies lost you” 

“Like a body without a head” she blankly told him “But against all odds, I'm here. Still, at least we learned to keep ourselves up. The more places we explored, the tougher its foe and we will have to face them head on” 

“But that means you'll get more powerful, right miss?” 

“I suppose …” She then took a peek at Frey and Tsunul. Their conversation went fine, with Frey holding a lit cigarette on their hand “I just hoped that Frey would joined us”

Esgoo rolled his eyes “Tch… oh come on now, not you too” 

“It's not like that, Esgoo.” She explained herself “While more members would be great, Frey’s title and connections would greatly benefits our group”

“.....” Esgoo can’t refute that. 

“With the one who shall guide on our group, meaning that ‘the anomalies’ finally had, not just any backing and support from someone, but the entire corp. We won’t have to worry about checkpoints anymore”

Esgoo’s eyes flickered a little as he heard that “Is that how you saw them, miss? A tool, like how that guy saw them?” 

“no…” she shook her head “I feel nothing towards them, Esgoo. I desire no ill intention. But maybe you could enlighten me on what I should feel. A tool? Or someone important?” then the gray nightmare smiles… it might look like a creepy smile to others, but to him… it is artificial, not a genuine emotion rose from it.

“I’m not going to dictate what you SHOULD feel about someone. I don't know how but it's up to you, miss, if you want to know” 

Her smile dropped to nothing but flat emotions “Then how about you, Esgoo? Is there a reason you despise them?” 

“W-who said that-” 

She raised her hands “I may not be able to feel, but I know what emotion is. Your overall tone before and after the nightmare tether showed significant changes” 

“Tch…” he clicked his mouth 

“I'm not going to judge you, Esgoo. As I said, I can't feel anything” 

Esgoo paused “........” unable to say anything. 

“You don't have to tell me everything, just tell me what you wanted to say. We've been on this journey for almost a month now” 

He groaned and huffed in defeat “All I can say is for now. I don't hate Frey, I am just gravely disappointed at what they did. I don't blame Frey for what they did, but still… I HATE it” 

“..... Esgoo” she shortly said his name, realizing something. 

“What?” 

“I never got to know your life before I met you. Frey was already a clean mirror, and Tsunul had a comprehensible past, but you-” 

“Is that. A problem. Gray nightmare?” He cuts her off, voice sounded cold like a piercing ice as if the gray nightmare about to trigger an alarm.

“Hmm… No. I respect your privacy, Esgoo, that's why I haven't probe your mind ever since that one time” she shrugged casually 

“Damn…” Esgoo then takes a long breath before exhaling, calming his mind. “Can't believe that we've come so far, and here we are. Yet I got a feeling that the RV will keep using the smoke as fuel, am I wrong, miss?” He asked another lighter question. 

“That…” she closed her eyes for a moment “...Will be unchanging” pulling down her hoodie and letting her long silver hair roam free on her back, some strains covering her face.  

“.......” 

“You're staring” she said to him. 

“W-well, you rarely ever let your hairs out, always keeping it down your hoodie” he rubbed the back of his head 

“Hmm…” she brushes a few on her fingers “It's much easier to move without it blocking my view. Why? Did I look different with my hair out?” 

“Uhhh that-”

“Maybe… it looks beautiful to you with my hair free?” she tilted her head to the side. “Do you like my hair tucked in or out, Esgoo?”

He had to process his answer for a few seconds before he could answer “You, uhh, look fine either way, miss” He crossed his arms, looking away “So just do whatever you preferred, tucked in or not I don't care that much ”

“Alright” She nodded. “Hmm? Wait..” She focused on her smoke cloud, suddenly feeling presences getting closer to them, even the ground began lowly grumbling from them “Break’s time over, the peccatulum is approaching”

He sighed, brushing his face as he stood up “Well… so much for a break, better than nothing i guess” He put his armor back on, but kept his claw sword outside. He preferred using his go-to trusted sword. 

“Hey Frey! Tsunul!” He shouted at the two “Get ready, the peccatulum is closing in!” He looked at the gray nightmare, who was tucking her hair back on her hoodie. 

Well…. he can’t lie that she looks really nice with her hair free. Oh well, maybe one day.

The goal of the mission

Frey saw something climbing the wall as it tried to pounce on them, they promptly dodge it away before staring at the four legged enemy…. enemy that they recognized. More of them, some even standing on two legs making gurgling sounds. “So they're still alive”

N corp’s corroded inquisitors, or what's left of their numbers. Unlike from the game, they looked absolutely horrendous, their armor rusted and destroyed, and their body and skin are left of what it was. “I'll free every single one of you from your suffering!!” Frey exclaimed, as they welcomed the corroded inquisitor.

Fighting through the hordes of peccatulum, and the corroded, this time with Esgoo and Tsunul using their own weapon, they finally reached the middle of the third underground floor as they cleared the remaining waves. 

“Ughhh” Esgoo slightly gagged on his topfhelm, not expecting a sudden scent hitting him “Something smells even more rotten here” 

Frey looked unaffected, why shouldn’t they? “So we’re here…” They murmured to themselves “The report says that many N corp’s crusader’s bodies were left rotten here after the whole canto three, and that attracts… ‘unwanted’ presences” 

“What kind of-” 

Suddenly… they all heard a familiar loud screech, and more of the peccatulum start running at them from the distance. The group then readied themselves for another battle, but the waves of peccatulum didn't attack them. No, it ran past them, as if the thing that they ran away from is more dangerous than the group. 

“That… scream…” Tsunul muttered. It was something they've heard before, not much during limbus day but… it was something they've known too well. 

“Come on” but Frey just casually said, as they went forward towards the foreboding source of those hellish screams. 

“Tsunul!” Esgoo exclaimed besides him “You don't think…”

Both of them still followed Frey. “Let's… let's just make sure, Kay?”, and without the peccatulum on their back, it was a simple run.

“Make sure of what?” the gray nightmare joined in her smoke cloud form. 

“Just… uhh something that may be familiar” Esgoo nervously answered. 

After they got closer, the screaming screech became clear. The sound of a thousand weeping souls, crying and screaming in agony and pain.

“Wait!” Frey raised their arm, hiding behind some rocks. “Yeah…. It was that alright” 

“What kind of…” Tsunul's word suddenly gone as he took a peek, and the color of his body suddenly melted down. “.....”

Esgoo took a few steps back to process everything “W-w-what the fuck?!! Hell no! Oh hell no we're not facing that!! We can't win!”

“Hmm?” And the oblivious gray nightmare pondered as she liked it too, it was just from a distance but it's noticeable from afar “That's a…. Very monstrous creature. What is that? a peccatula?” 

“No” Frey answered her question “In the city, they called it…. Abnormality”

Their foe, their mission all along, and their journey… It was about time that they'll face Abno head on, just by the four of them alone. 

To defeat the Abno

“Frey! don’t tell me that your mission is to kill THAT?!" Esgoo asked in pure shock. 

“It is the purpose, Esgoo.” Frey said, unsurprised by the whole thing. They have read enough in the files to conclude that an Abno is their target. Plus, it was the director that made them go here in the first place, and which director was interested in some ‘random’ places if it was not for her? 

“Frey” Esgoo held their shoulder, trying not to be too loud while tsunul and the gray nightmare watched over the abnormality “That's a mountain of smiling bodies, not some average zayin abnormality. It's ALEPH for fuck sake”

“Hmmm hey, Esgoo?” Tsunul called out. 

“What?!”

“That… didn't look like the average mountain of smiling bodies, actually.” He pointed out “Look at the colors, the size, face, and that…  screaming it's been doing.” 

Esgoo let go of Frey's shoulder as he took a deeper look at the abnormality “thinking about it… yeah, it looks… different” his voice had calmed down. “But it kinda looks like mountain of smiling bodies so… so that means”

“Abberation of an abberation” Frey answered “And not only that, it's also in the very early stage of growth. ‘valley of weeping husk’ is the name” 

“Valley… of weeping husk” both Tsunul and Esgoo recited it on their head. “Well, Esgoo. You do understand it's going to be time before our inevitable faceoff against an abnormality”

“Well I wouldn't wish for it to happen anytime soon” Esgoo murmured “Still, while we're lucky that thing isn't an ALEPH, it's still an Abno nonetheless”

“Hmm… so that's an abnormality” the gray nightmare commented to herself “Interesting… Has anyone ever killed an Abno?” 

“There’s even an office specialized for that” Tsunul answered “It's ranked from the weakest to the strongest, zayin, teth, he, waw, and aleph respectably.”

“But even the strongest of aleph have their own weaknesses. A gimmick if you will”

“Yeah, and Esgoo” Frey spoke up “You could back if-”

“Nah, I changed my mind” Esgoo cuts them off “I had to admit it but yeah, we gotta face an abnormality anytime soon, even right now”

“Good” Frey nodded at him 

Haah… their first battle against an abnormality, looking at it today, it's like rewatching the beginning of a tale when you are already at the end of it. Or like seeing a child take their first step, realizing that the child is already grown up and in college. Looking back at the past, and comparing it to today, it felt surprising sometimes that many had changed, not just in terms of numbers but also… strength. awesome don’t you think?

Now let's focus on the back then, which is currently happening in the story I'm telling. The plan was obviously simple, that there is no plan at all. They all knew the gimmick of the abno, so they only had to do it correctly, or else they poof and die forever. 

They ran to the creature, and began attacking at the various heads on its body. Being up close, the valley of weeping husk's body has a faint white color coating it, and the heads on its body. It does look like a crying head doll, and the size wasn't as large as they thought it would be. 

Frey stabbed one of the head dolls as it shattered away, followed by Esgoo, and Tsunul. The monster roared, it attempted to smack them away but the gray nightmare managed to smoke the three back. 

“And… here it is” frey mumbled to themselves “Get ready everyone!”

the abno roared, their body slithered and shaken, then parts of their body flung out of them, landing nearby like a pile of goo, all around the cave. It was one of the gimmicks that they all recognized too well, with one minor difference, as the corpses began to take form, slithering into each small pile of fleshes of amalgamation, the head of the melting corpses began to frown, instead of weeping husk attacking the corpses, they had to prevent the corpses from attacking the husk. 

“Here it is, huh…” Frey commented, seeing the melting corpses began to take shape all over the area. 

“Yep” esgoo nodded in affirmation, “Our first fight against an abnormality. I’ll deal with the corpses! you two, tried to kill the creatures quickly.”

tsunul and frey nodded as they add “And gray nightmare, please watch our backs”

“Just be careful…” She said, turning into a smoke cloud “My smoke isn’t unlimited just yet”

then the fight started, frey and tsunul went attacking the main target, while esgoo tried his best to stop the melting corpses from vomiting acid at the valley of weeping husk. 

It was a perfectly simple plan, if not for some issue. The melted corpses are quite scattered around the area, and Esgoo alone won't be able to take care of every single one of them, but hey, he did his best. 

“S-shit” Esgoo panted “So instead of stopping the big guy from killing the smaller guy, we prevent the small guy from attacking the big guy, oh how… how original” 

“Is that how an aberration is supposed to be?” The smoke cloud gray nightmare asked “A derived gimmick?”

“Yeah…” he straightened himself and managed to stab one of the crying melting corpses. 

On the other side, the abnormality roared with its gaping maw. “Ugh…” Tsunul grumbled facing the abnormality “First fight against an abnormality and it’s… this”

The monster tried to swipe down at them, but they both managed to move out of the way. Frey managed to give the monster a stab before having to pull out. “Can't expect luxury, Tsunul” Frey commented “On the bright side, we're not fighting a fire abnormality”

“Still…” Tsunul then saw as a vomit spit hit the monster as it roared, growing slightly bigger by the inches “Yeah… that” 

“I'm trying my best here!” Esgoo yelled at the distance “If any one of you would help me!”

“Tsunul! You go and help” Frey ordered him. 

“But-” 

“I can handle myself, we won't go anywhere if they keep ‘healing’ this thing” 

“Ugh! Fine, don't be rash” Tsunul warned them, turning around and speeding off to help Esgoo.

“Woah!” And when Frey turned their head back to the abnormality, a hand swiped at them to which they ducked before it hit them. Frey uses this chance to thrust their spear again at the abnormality. It grabbed onto their spear before Frey could pull out, and it distracted them enough for them to get smacked on just when the spear was finally let go. 

Frey landed on their side after getting thrown quite the distance. They groaned, clutching their spear as the abno tried to ram over the chosen one. But in a split second, Frey felt the abnormality phasing through them before they finally made it back to their feet. 

“That was close…” said an echoey voice, they saw a black smoke cloud near them 

“Thanks for the help, gray nightmare. But I feel like they need your help even more-” 

“No… I don't think they did” the smoked gray nightmare cut them off flatly “They can handle themselves with the melting corpses, you however… I'll assist you as I can, but be careful”

Frey sighed, clutching his spear with both of his hands “I will…” With the gray nightmare's help, it made it easier for Frey to stab the abnormality. 

It was going well at first, being an aberration of an aberration of an abnormality, plus being very early in development made the fight easier to handle for them. But the longer it goes, something feels different. Esgoo, with the help of tsunul, pretty much handled the melting corpses before they could spit their vomit at the larger Abno whose size has shrunk with every attack, and that's when the issue came. 

“Holy!” Frey cursed as they barely dodged the attack. Another hand was about to slam them down but the gray nightmare pulled them back.

“Is it just me or does the abno get faster?” The smoke cloud mumbled near them. 

“I think-” Frey jumped to the side as the abno dashed at a quick speed, almost ramming Frey in the process. “Yeah… it get faster, not good” 

Frey panted as they gripped their spear. The fight had been drawn out for quite a while, but even though their body began to ache… as if they would care at all.

“Frey!” Tsunul and Esgoo approached them. 

“You two dealt with the corpses?” 

Esgoo was about to answer but the abno began vomiting acid to them, so they all had to make a run for it to avoid getting melted. “Yeah, but you look troubled so…” 

“The hell happened with the abno? Did it get injected with steroids or something?” Tsunul asked, trying to make a light-hearted joke. 

Frey didn't respond to the joke at all “My best guess is, the smaller it gets, the faster it becomes… I've been trying to get a hit but with how fast the weeping husk been, it's getting really hard” 

The said weeping husk roared a mournful cry, it has shrunk to a reasonable size and yet ironically the threat only grew with it. 

The three of them attacked the abnormality, which… didn't go so well. It's not just about the creature's speed, but the size of it too. Imagine giant robots you see on TV, now imagine instead of slow looking movement that symbolizes their tall figure, they move at the same speed as regular humans do. 

That's what made the fight hard, even if they landed a sneak hit, that just made the Abno shoot out more melting corpses. The abno still has quite the size, and that didn't help them at all.

Esgoo got a bit reckless, he managed to get behind the weeping husk as it tries to deal with tsunul and Frey, he raised his claw sword above his shoulder and ready to thrust and stab the creature. But amidst the shattered heads, one stared at Esgoo, and their ‘eyes’ opened. 

Suddenly, the abnormality turned around and grabbed Esgoo by his waist “Esgoo! Oh shi-” Tsunul was about to exclaim but the clawed swordsman was thrown in his direction. A perfect hit as both of them crashed to the ground. 

“You two!” Frey was about to run up to them, but they were stopped as the abno was about to slam down on Frey, they swayed immediately as the slam made the ground crack, Frey gripped their spear and channeled the shock gloves to the spear, thrusting to the abnormality. 

They noticed that the abnormality was stunned for a small fraction of seconds as it roared in pain. “I see…” Frey jumped back from getting squished, back to them “You two okay?” 

Tsunul was panting with hands on his knees while Esgoo was holding his stomach “Yep… we'll… we'll be fine, it's not like one of us got thrown and crashed at the others… hehe, oww”

“... Shut up” Tsunul huffed “Your ass hit me like a damn Isekai truck!”

Frey took a deep breath “At any case… I got a plan to deal with this thing once and for all, but you two gotta trust me. If I'm right, and that is IF I'm right, we could end once and for all”

Both tsunul and Esgoo stared at each other, looking at each other, as if speaking wordlessly. “Well… I don't have any idea, you Tsunul?” Esgoo stretched his body. 

“I got ideas, the not so bright and stupid ones…. Let’s heard what frey had to say” 

Frey nodded at both of them through his skull mask. “Thanks… You two try to distract the abno. I believe that i could land a fatal hit, i just need an opening… just one small opening for a strike

“Well, better than nothing i guess”

“Let's do this!” 

The anomalies immediately did their job. Tsunul's gambler edge managed deal with one of the weeping husk's hand despite it being a shovel for some reason, and Esgoo carefully moved his body from getting smashed flat to the ground. 

Frey just stood there, analyzing, observing like they always did, hoping for a slight opening, a slight flaw, a chance for them to make a frontal hit.

Then… they saw it, as their maw opened, trying to swallow Esgoo. Immediately, Frey dashed towards the abno, their cape swayed as they speed towards it, distracted at attempting to eat Esgoo. 

No, they didn't immediately stabbed the abnormality, they hopped onto the creature's body, quickly scaling its size until Frey reached aboved their head in just a matter of seconds, way before the smaller doll heads on its body could react. 

And when it did… Frey gripped both of their spear and stabbed it down, and not just that… they focused and channeled their gloves as volts upon volts of electricity courses through the abnormality. 

The valley of weeping husk then roared in pain, thrashing around as they were electrocuted. Unexpected by the sudden yank, Frey almost slipped and fall from the abnormality but the clouded smoke gray nightmare came to help, bringing Frey back to their spear as they hold on to their spear. 

The abnormality ran itself to the nearby cave wall, crashing into it and almost made Frey splat the wall. But they kept holding on, sending more and more volts of shocks as they thrust and plunge their spear deeper into the monster. 

They gritted their teeth, if they falter, if they doze out, if their shock weakened… then they would lose their chance to kill this creature. So they gritted their teeth “AHHH!!!!” And yelled, slamming the spear more and more, not caring for their arms buzzing in pain for sending shocks or their entire body felt like in fire. 

The sheer amount of force made the creature roared in pain, as the ceiling of the caves began falling down onto the valley of the weeping husk. Dusts were thrown everywhere, making tsunul and Esgoo to cover their eyes as they felt winds were blown to them. 

Then… everything went quiet. Amidst the dusts, there is nothing… no more. They did, they actually did it. They managed to beat an abnormality, their first big achievement in their entire life. 

Aftermath of a break 

“Frey!” Both tsunul and Esgoo ran up to Frey cheqama. Who were sitting on the ground, their body shakes and flinched, but also tired… panting heavily. 

The gray nightmare also materialized from her smoke form. Still leaning on her staff to use support herself. 

“I'm…. I'm fine… the egg” Frey breathed heavily, pointing at the rubbles. “Check… the egg”

Tsunul and Esgoo looked at each other before doing what Frey asked. They both carefully move the rubbles out of the way, while the chosen one rested after delivering a fatal blow. 

Esgoo moved a rock away, his eyes then caught something. “Light colored with horribly crying faces everywhere… yeah this is the egg” 

“Let me see…” Tsunul walked to him “oh wow… quite the size there. Help me with this” Both of them lifted the egg, and carefully put it away from the rubbles, setting it down as they brushed away the remaining dust that may remain. 

“So this is… an abnormality egg, almost as tall as my feet” the gray nightmare approached, knocking on it with her fist “And also felt like an egg. Is this their regressed state?”

“Yeah…” Tsunul said, sitting down and straightening his legs “For now, there is no actual way to permanently kill an abnormality.”

“And eventually…” Esgoo chimed in “The egg will ‘hatch’ and they'll be back being abnormality again. So, yeah, they lived in a perpetual cycle of pretty much immortality”

“Immortality…” she mumbled “Even with that they're still being exploited, and used by someone for their own gain, nothing screams gift at all, more like a forever damnation”

“It is what it is, miss, at the very least… many abnormalities didn't have minds to perceive sanity. And Frey…” Esgoo decided to speak out about this.

“Hmmm?”

“Why are we… no… why are YOU suddenly being tasked with dealing an abnormality?” 

“.....” Frey closed their eyes, huffing a breath as their trembling body finally managed to calm down “I won't hide anything from you three. My…‘superior’, that old man was tasked by the director. That's why we're here in the first place, why I get to be here, and that's how we all accidentally met each other” 

“Hold on” Tsunul put his hands forward “the director? Like THE director? THAT director?” he shouldn't be surprised, but it has been bugging his mind ever since knowing Frey was here in calw. 

Why would Frey and N corp go to the same abandoned purged village? Why would they waste resources being down here? Well they all got their answers. 

“Who else?” Frey shrugged at them “Who else could've been interested in abnormality? And why so surprised? I'm an N corp for god's sake!” 

“Can't deny that, but do we… really have to help her out of all people, Frey?” 

“What are you worrying about Esgoo-” 

“Sooner or later, we're going to unfortunately meet them, the bus sinners. I don't know when, maybe next month? Next year? But I don't want one day to be on their bad side more than what we already have now by going here. So if-”

“Ahem! Esgoo, calm yourself” the gray nightmare stepped in, she's not having another Tsunul incident like moments ago. “That's enough… from you”

“I….” He sighed, brushing his face “Fine… you're not going to listen anyway, so whatever just… haah.” Thankfully he gave up. “I won't force you to do anything you don't want. So do what you will”

“...... Much obliged” Frey nodded, speaking casually. It's weird…. Usually, they care a lot when people harbor horrible feelings towards them. Esgoo's spite, tsunul's slight discomfort at their presence ever since they gripped him, it bound to make them reflect upon themselves. 

But after so-on and so-on numbers of heretics they've murdered, and their spiteful last words of curses and threats, Frey didn't bother to care anymore. They've lost that feeling ever since their world fell apart. It's annoying, it's hypocritical, but they can't deny that they've become numb to what people felt about them, they've lost their sense, and always indifferent to what it felt like. It felt like words… words that are meant to harm, yet dulls as a knife. 

Awkward silence pervades between the group. The gray nightmare noticed the neutral yet almost hostile nature between them all, and everything was held on within a single thread of line. It's… worrying at times, when small disagreements could turn fatal in an instant. But they need Frey, the anomalies need someone like Frey, someone who has the authorities and powers to help them. 

She knew she can't keep pushing the boundaries at what they could do. Ever since the K corp checkpoint, the more they cause trouble, and hassle to a district than it needs to, the more enemies they created, and the more altercations could happen. Plus it would have dragged the attention of the CCE even more, which they wanted to ignore. 

None of the two choices has safer benefits of return, all with each of their risks. And she wished whatever happened next could still help the anomalies.

“So uhhh” Tsunul breaks the silence with his words “We should… get the navette glass now, right?” 

“Right… almost forgot about that” Esgoo stood up, stretching his body a bit with a light groan. 

“I think you should come too, Frey.” Tsunul said. 

“Alright then.” Frey just nodded, using their spear to help them stand up “I’m still wondering what you three planned about anyway” 

Then… far behind and at the end of the cave system, was a small floating navette shaped glass, emitting a transparent aura light. The gray nightmare walked up to the glass and poke it with her staff, activating it as it spun horizontally like a disk. 

“Hey… Tsunul” Esgoo nudges him “Brace yourself” 

Tsunul just nodded with an even more uncomfortable look “I don't want to suffer that pain again, Esgoo. Do we really really need to endure that much pain?” 

Something then clicked in Frey. “What are you two talking about?” Did they have some important information that Frey wasn't aware of. 

“Oh shit!” Tsunul then facepalms himself, realizing his mistake… one that turned almost fatal. “I forgot to tell you this, Frey.” He sounded rushed, almost panicked “The navette glass, when activated it-”

Then… they felt a sharp pain on their chest, like their heart had been stabbed repeatedly, as if something pierced through their heart, lodging itself deep inside their body. In a split second, they felt tremendous pain, pain so unbearable they felt worse than dying itself. Their body felt weak and numb, their eyes began to close as their body fell to the ground. 

Temptation of death 

Then… I woke up, jolted awake. Was I dying? Did I die? I checked on my chest, nothing… no wounds, and even my chest felt lighter, as if I haven't got stabbed right there. And not just my chest… but even my entire body. 

Every breath I took, every thought of mine, it felt… light, as if the burden were taken away from me. It has been… so, so damn long ever since this peace in my heart, which is before I got sent to this place. 

My lips waver as my hands gripped on the clothed skin of my chest, I felt so light, almost like I could fly, I felt so free and thoughtless, I wanna fall into a deep slumber. Every breath I took felt so… fresh, like my body has been cleansed from… everything. 

The mess of the city, the pain I had to go through, the horrible act I committed to others, no longer the smell of oil, fire, wood, the sight of staked prosthetics moaning in pain, or the sound of their painful scream as their bodies were turned to flames. Now it felt…. Empty. 

Was this death? I was pondering that, until I noticed that there was a navette glass floating in front of me. Was it the glass that they mentioned? It looks divine with its look actually. 

I was about to touch it, and that's when it flew away. I immediately stood on my feet, chasing after it. My surroundings felt like I was in a different plane, or a different dimension. White is all I see beyond the scenery, like someone had painted the wall and the floor with pure colors, and I was chasing the glass on some sort of a corridor. 

The chase ends when the floating glass stops, it twirled for a while before a small blinding light appeared. From there, is a door sized mirror frame. It was void, empty of anything except for two shards of the mirror, maybe it's from their previous venture? 

The glass then sticks itself into the frame, but still has a large gap there. I stare at the mirror frame, was this what they meant by going home? That by filling the entire frame with those navette glasses, can we truly go back? 

I looked down at my arm. Do I truly want to go back? After everything that has happened to me? I sighed… then from my open palm, and the ground below was a ray of jade. I looked forward immediately, seeing a jade circle that had been shining green sunshine like a sun, will I… ever truly reach that Jade light? 

Then my eyes… immediately widened, I tried to reach my hands there but I stopped. I began to hesitate all of the sudden. No… no no no no… I can't…. Can I? I can't be… but everything in this domain felt like an eternal euphoria that I could live off, like it was alluring me to stay, to always be without thoughts, without worry anymore. 

“I…” then it hurts, everything feels hurts, like every word I spoke sends a needle to stab me “I… I want… to stay here”

“I… want… to be here..” I mumbled out once again, swayed by the temptation.

Then… my eyes shot open as I woke, and the inevitable true reality returned back to me. Everything, even the bliss of peace… faded away, the illusions gone, changing it back to the truth, one… I wished to go away and fade from

Forever… never to be awakened again.

***

“Ugh yep….” Tsunul groaned as he sat down, clutching his chest “Still not used to that. Does it.. really have to be that fucking painful?” 

“Trust me…” Esgoo said, sitting down “If there was a better way, I would gladly chose that”

The gray nightmare also sat down, holding her head on her hood “Three down, and many more to go…. So get comfortable, Tsunul”

Tsunul sighed.. then they all heard whining “Oh shit, Frey!” Frey's eyes were still closed, and they looked like they had a bad dream. And just as Tsunul touched Frey's shoulder, they were jolted awake.

“AHHH!!” and Tsunul felt Frey's hard shove as they screamed. Hidden by their skull mask, but it was clear that they were having a panic attack, hyperventilating and in a breathing mess. “No! No!” 

“Shit!” Tsunul immediately went back to Frey. 

Frey's condition was terrible, they were trying to gasp for air, their arms were trembling and were pulling their own hairs, and their shock gloves were in worrying conditions, as Sparks were buzzing, as if it could be activated at any time. 

Tsunul doesn't care, he grasps both of their shoulders “Frey… frey! Listen… hey ssshhh hey…”

“I don't… no! No!” They shook their heads, barely gasping for air as they trembled even more “I can't… I can't be dying…”

“No no… Frey, listen to my voice… you're not dying” Tsunul put his hands on their cheek, forcing them to look at him through their mask “Sshhh it's okay…. You're… not dying, you're alive…”

“.... YOU SHOULD'VE TOLD ME EARLIER YOU FUCK!!!” Frey snapped, their body slumped as their breathing was getting harder. They yelled with their voice broken even more. “You… should've told me .. Tsunul! I'm dying… I'm fucking dying….” They were wheezing, their arms gone pale. 

“Ssshhh I know I know… I'm sorry we didn't tell you earlier, just please… “ he leaned to whisper in their ear “Look, just focus on my voice… take a deep breath, and let it go… you can feel that you're still breathing, it means you're still alive”

“I… I can't… no no no!” Frey still couldn't think straight, even if their body had turned pale. “I don't… know, I do-” 

“I know I know… I'm here to help, okay?” Tsunul spoke softly, even though Frey's grip on his shoulder began to zap him. “Close your eyes, and focus on my voice, okay? Just imagine yourself… blowing a bubble, can you do it?” 

Frey nodded. 

“Good, now… if you want to make a bubble, you need to take a deep breath and blow it from your mouth, can you do it?” 

Frey nodded again. 

Esgoo sighed as he watched it all happen, and so did the gray nightmare. He really wanted to go there and try to help, but Frey needed space, and for them to focus on one voice, which is tsunul's. 

“Fuck… we messed up, didn't we?” Esgoo crossed his arms. 

“We did.” The gray nightmare responded “We were so occupied everything else that we had forgotten to tell them about it”

Esgoo huffed a heavy air. In that moment, his annoyance at Frey was washed away, only staring at them with pity. Another reminder that Frey is a victim of the city. 

Frey's painful grip on Tsunul slowly weakened, as they followed his soothing instructions to blow a bubble. Deep breathe in, deep breathe out, inhale, and exhale. Slowly, their lungs were filled again with oxygen. 

“You're doing great, may I… take off your mask?” Tsunul asked them. 

“Please…” they whispered slowly at him. 

With one hand on the edge of the skull mask, he took it off and immediately sighted their even paler face. “It- it hurts…. I feel… I feel like I was dying” their voice cracked away. 

“Oh Frey… I'm really sorry not to tell you. I'm really really sorry”

“Tsunul…” Tears began dropping from their eyes, falling down like a river “I want to die… I want to die Tsunul…”

“Frey…” 

“It felt so good… it felt so peaceful, I feel like I was free from my hell” Their tears dropped even more as they continued speaking, their grip on his shoulder tightened with each word “I want to end it all… I don't want to endure this pain anymore. I want to die… I want someone to kill me, I don't want to stay in the city anymore”

“....” Tsunul doesn't know what to say. Seeing frey wished for themselves to be killed in their memory is already horrifying, and seeing it head on was just… heartbreaking 

“But I can't die… Tsunul” Frey's voice broke up even more with each tear getting more tense “I want to die… but I can't. I've promised to them, u want to keep that promise and it hurts… I want to die and yet I couldn't… but the taste of death is so tempting I can't… I can't hold it anymore. Everything hurts… everything just… just hurts….” 

And Frey just lost it, they cried “zhēn… Fidelia…. I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… please forgive me” they sob, and they sobbed harder. Tsunul pulled them to his embrace as he had this pain in his chest. He wanted to say something to calm Frey, but he didn't know anything. 

Esgoo decided to join in, embracing Frey around his arms too as their tears were dropping like heavy rains. All while mumbling zhēn, and Fidelia. 

The thing is. None of them are immortal unlike the sinners. They have no timepiece to revive them after each death, they have no powers to use IDs from mirror worlds, and they were unlucky to be hunted by quite the factions. They're just humans, humans who can feel pain, who can randomly die at any moment and there won't be a retry. They're fragile, and they've been only lucky to make it this far alive. So many IF moments that could take everything to the wrong path, if not death. 

And all of them were scared, because with each trip, with each place they will explore in the future, more harsh, more dangerous, and more hazardous things and foes will be thrown their way. And that's what made it scary, they couldn't back away, but the more they pushed, the more boundaries were faced upon them. They were lucky that the abnormality was still pretty weak and early on its stage, but none of them were sure if they could even survive a WAW somewhere in the future. 

And the only hope they cling to each other, the navette glasses were based on nothing but baseless hope. They weren't sure if the navette glasses could take them home, or if collecting them would yield something, but better to have hope than succumb themselves to the city's will. So they pressed on, even with groups chasing after them, going on their tail, they kept pressing on. It's better to have hope, no matter if it's a hopeless or a baseless one, instead of giving up on the city. 

…..or so they believed anyway. Haha, but it'll be later when things start going haywire for the truth to fall on them. Not that it really changes anything anyway. Gotta say, I loved their optimism ya know? It's always rare to stay hopeful in the city with the many messes it has. Although it was handed to them in a silver- no, golden platter, that doesn't change the effort the anomalies had done… or this version anyway. 

Nonetheless, supposed their hope won't just become worthless with how unique they were, it is what made them, this version, happy. 

Whoops! Guess I was rambling too much didn't I? No no no, there won't be a spoil to what happened to them, that'll be a not-so-fun show to enjoy. So let's focus with what happened next 

Frey's decision

After…. Everything that has happened, and I finally calmed down from… that, we went back from the dungeon. We left the egg there, not my problem anymore if it means they'll have to take it themselves. 

The walk went extremely quiet, gloomy, and I just hugged myself during the entire walk. At least they're sensitive enough to let me by myself. 

Esgoo and Tsunul tell me everything, turns out it's not actually death, but the process is really that painful it almost felt like one. If they had warned me earlier… I wouldn't, I… I won't be that freaked out. I almost had the urge to just murder them right here, right now, but… without Tsunul comforting and calming me down with that bubble analogy, I… I don't know, I don't want to think about it again. 

Before we parted ways, because I have to report to… him, the gray nightmare told me to reconsider their offer now that I've seen everything about those navette glasses. 

I didn't say anything and just left. I'm just… really tired from everything, really. I had my memories probed, and everything I experienced turns out wasn't a bad dream, then they sometimes spoke… so loud that I threatened Tsunul, then tirelessly fighting waves upon waves of peccatulum and the corroded inquisitors, then having to deal with the valley of weeping husk abnormality with me dealing the final blow, then… that incident, and in the end, walking back to the same room and met the asshole who ruined my entire life, and the whole reason why my emotions is so… unstable at times. 

It's normal that I have to push myself over the limit. Not all purges and cleansing missions ever go well. Things like sudden ambush, or having to deal with their fortified defense. 

But in these… few hours, not only was I physically drained but also mentally drained to a sharp degree. But I just have to keep going on, don't i? Even if I lost an arm, even if a sword impaled me, I have to go on… I don't want to fail them again, I can't. 

And so, after taking a long breath, I opened the door “Ah! Frey!” He greeted me like usual, and as if on cue, the two großhammers immediately left the room. “Mission success, I presumed?”

“Yes…” I briefly answered him. 

“Great great…” He chuckled, he was writing something on a paper “So how was your first experience in fighting abnormality? I was surprised to hear that you only brought three kleinhammers with you” 

“Is that a problem for you, sir?” I snarled at him, taking a seat. 

He just smiled “Of course not, kid. I was impressed instead. I'm glad you took my advice, bringing crusaders instead of being alone, and even after what happened to your precious friends, you still have that leadership in you, keeping them alive” 

“.... And where will the egg be?” I decided to ask him. 

“Ah that was for the director to decide, I'm sure she'll be happy to know about your feat, Frey.” He pointed at me with his pen. “I've heard that a few directors of the board have heard of your achievements, this surely would boost you even more in their eyes”

“...Whatever” I rolled my eyes. I care less of what the board of directors think, but I knew I would be sent nigh impossible missions in the future, that’s just inevitable.

“Just… need to finish… this… paper. Is Frey with a Y or an I?” And he… randomly checked my name. 

To which I got skeptical. “With a Y, what for?” Every time it had something to do with my name, he always had something to surprise me, like these shock gloves he gave. Turns out, he needed to send a request notice to hyperfissure workshop for them first, a standard to keep record of any spending for report within N corp’s inquisition. “What did you write, sir?”

“Oh it’s just nothing frey. I’ll show it to you later back in the base, right now we should prepare to- Hmm.. nevermind” he chuckled. “At least i got the essential done”

I snatched it from him just like that. He is the type to never care for any insubordinate acts, and he still is even right now. That’s just how it works, and many would surely be surprised and shocked if they ever knew every single time I talked back to him, cutting him off, and acting like a juvenile brat, yet that’s what made him scary. That’s what made him ‘the one who guides’. He guides with his ulterior intentions and goal at hand, never by his emotions. He knew how to string people up while looking relaxed and laid back, as I never saw his emotions beyond just that. I could never understand him, yet he knew so much about me and how to strike a cord to make me his puppet. 

“Temporary leave?!” and what i saw in that notice paper, it was the most baffling thing i’ve seen “Indefinite leave of absence?!!”

“As it was stated” and he just leaned his chin on his knuckled, unbothered, as if he just saw a rehearsal of a script he already memorized. 

“W-what… What is the meaning of this?!” i slammed the paper down, the table cracked but didn’t break in half “What do you mean temporary leave, sir?!!” 

“I said it before, as it was stated”

“No! i mean, WHY?! What are you planning, sir?! why suddenly gave me a temporary leave?!” i stand up, with my hands still on the table. I just… confused, I didn't know what idea he had for me and that made me scared. I shook my head “No no no no, Why did you even make this notice in the first place?!! What are your intentions, sir?!! Tell ME THIS INSTANT!!”

“Frey, we could talk after we-”

“TELL ME, NOW!!” And I slammed my fists again at the table, this time it broke in half for real. It was never about this notice, but his confusing plan for me is just so uncomfortable. I felt… i felt so naked, i felt so helpless, I felt like I was blindfolded, like a hand was about to drag me to the abyss. That’s just who he is, and his antics that I have to deal with.

He just blinked twice, not even bothered by the broken table. He chuckled, standing “Alright alright, kid. Geez, you youngsters never get patient, hmm?” He walked up to me, and put both of his gloved hands on my shoulders “yes, i made you a temporary leave notice. One that will be official when it reaches the administration desk, right now it’s just a paper so relax… okay?”

I huffed through my mask, calming my sudden fury down. “Please…. elaborate, sir. Don’t keep your plans for me in the dark”

“Frey… listen. When I got words from the crusaders that you managed to kill that abnormality with just three kleinhammers and no casualties, I knew that it was time…” he spoke so grand of me. 

“For… what?” 

“For your journey, Frey” He reached for my skull mask, and just took it off. Now he can see my terrified looks from seeing the notice. “For a journey that all One who shall guide will eventually take, journey that i too also take back then”

“W-what?” 

“For one to guide others, one must guide themselves first. That’s what my mentor, the one who guides me, told me. I was like you, frey. Under his teaching, I became great, I became a symbol fitting to take his title. Yet… i was incomplete” he said to me with that old glimmering eyes of hope. 

I didn’t know what to say, and I never realized that I had taken steps upon steps backward with his hands still on my shoulder until I felt my back on the wall

“Just like you, I was young, I had doubts, I had desires, I had wishes, I had neglected curiosity, and unkept dreams that bothered my mind. And so just like what I did, he sent me away to fulfill my own desires, to guide myself on an everlasting journey across The City, so I may reach enlightenment, and unburdened, so I have nothing weighing my mind, so I could fully devote myself to guide others.” He then smiles, a smile of nostalgia upon that old wrinkle face. 

“It was… it was a long journey of self realization, of self discovery, frey. Exploring many districts, seeing many different kinds of nests and backstreets, many different kinds of people and how they act, learning about their beliefs, learning of their desire.” He laughed, with my back still pressed against the wall, and his grip on my shoulder tightened. “Oh, I met so many colorful people, frey. Friends, foes, from various districts, from various wings. It’s an experience, and a journey I will never forget.”

He sighed “And finally… I was blessed to have an audience with an arbiter. It was a dream come true, and it took my entire strength to keep my composure. Frey… she was beautiful, elegant, adorned with that black feathered garb, and her mind, her thoughts… It was like no other, it was better than what the library offered, and her tea tasted so wonderful. We… We talked a lot about things, frey. The city, the people, the cycles, the will of people, about perpetual life and infinite gears of death. And how she explained it, how her words swayed upon another, how she formed that answers for me, with that ethereal, calming, and gentle voice from her lips, i had to remind myself every minute that i was talking to an arbiter, one snap and i could be gone, hehe”

I stared as I watched his entire story, my legs shaking, I don't know why… but I had to keep myself from falling to my knees. But it is so… suffocating, like he took my breath away, like all i could do is submit. I hate it every time, I hate how this type of atmosphere shows up. 

“And after hours and hours of philosophical talk with her, I was… I was satisfied. It didn’t end because she had work, or duty, no… Because I was satisfied and had nothing else to ask. After she left… I returned back, with no more weight in me, just in times when my mentor was on his deathbed, when he counted his remaining days. I never saw him that happy in his entire life when I knelt beside him in his bed. He passed away few days later, and i took his place”

I gulped, I was…. given a chance for freedom? To be away? To get away from purge duty? To run away from him and N corp? W-what? “Is… is that your idea for me, sir? but i… i haven’t been the one who shall guide for more than two years” and speaking like that… took me so many breaths.

“And that’s… what made you special, frey!” He exclaimed, he leaned his face close. “What you did all this time is the same as what I did for five years being you. And I know… I know it was the right time for you to search for yourself. You always want that, don't you?”

“I… I did… But i… I don't… i don’t know” I was stuttering, i just don’t know what to think anymore. “I… i never expected… it’s so sudden, sir”

“Well, I'm not saying you should take my offer now, but….” He leaned to my ear, his voice was so… cold, I wanted to scream so loudly “I know you want it… the earlier the better, frey. You got a lot on your mind…” His head pulled back. “So come on, reconsider… i’m sure there’s many things in your mind right now, well… as for transport though…”

“U-Ummm” I suddenly speak out “When i… i was in calw… uhhh… There was uhh, there was some people that i take care of coming here with an rv, so.. umm”

“Ah! That’s great to hear” He finally let me go, and just as he turned around to get the fallen paper from the split table, I grasped my own chest as I breathed. “So is that a yes, frey?”

“......” I stared at his back, I shook my head to clear my mind, I was still overwhelmed by everything. “Do you… really trust me to go run away from N corp? What if I just never came back? What if I escape?”

“Simply enough…” He brushes the paper from the wooden scraps of the table “I trust you, Frey, just as he trusts me to be free, I believe in you, kid, I believe you would find many great things in your journey. Besides” He turned around and walked to me, handing the skull mask to my hand “Distance doesn't always mean escape. I mean… No matter how far you’ll go, or how much you hide from me, you’re still my apprentice, MY one who shall guide, my frey.” 

I closed my eyes, basking in the silence I needed. It was a lot for me to take in, but I slowly processed everything through, that I wasn't hallucinating, that HE really offered me to go away from N corp and everything. 

I looked down, staring at the mask. It reminds me again of their offer, oh how it was perfect timing… That I could not only be away from him, or join them on their quest for the navette glasses, but also find my reason to stay alive, wish that finally rekindles and blooms from my heart. I sighed, it was all too perfect to deny. ”Alright… if you really want me to discover myself, then i’ll do it”

He sighed, putting a hand on his white beard, slightly brushing it with his eyes closed. “So that’s how mentor felt… i see it now” He mumbled something to himself. “Großhammers!” then call them out standing outside.

The door opened, and one of them showed their head in “Yes, one shall guide?”

“Prepare the parting ceremony! It is time for them to make their journey”

“As one who guides wished” then the door closed again. 

And just like that…. I'm free, with a hard sting to my chest. It is what zhēn wanted, it is what she prepared herself for, it is what she risked and died for, and it’s just… handed to me like a silver platter. It doesn’t even feel like I'm being free, it’s just felt like I had one less chain on me, one out of many that still binds me. It doesn’t even feel like a celebration, more like an insult to what she sacrificed for me.

If only…. if only I had asked, if only I HAD asked before she went through with her plan, she… she might live to see me like this, she might live for us to be free, to get away from him and the inquisition. 

In the end, it doesn’t feel like freedom. Maybe I was always destined to suffer with my weight. 

A beginning new journey 

And so, Frey joined the anomalies. The parting ceremony was as well as it did, with the one who guides announcing to everyone about what Frey will go through, and for them to announce who is the lucky few to join them. Obviously… it was them, the anomalies. 

As the ceremony came to a close, and a lot of farewell from every single crusader, Frey walked away from Calw, as the abandoned ruined village began to slowly disappear with the RV's driving away. 

“Where to next?” The gray nightmare asked, still driving at a medium speed. 

“A part of the city in K corp’s nest, that’s where the next canto is” tsunul said, leaning. 

“Though i’m not sure which part” Esgoo continued “One thing is clear that it’s a Branch building in K corp. Maybe we could find information about their manager, i’m sure there has to be information or news about dongrang-”

“There’s an information center not far from here” And frey, sitting near the opened window said with them looking outside and feeling the wind swaying their barely long golden hair “It’s an associate of N corp, we could just ask them about the place, they won’t care” their right hand is holding a smoke, puffing the air outside. 

“Alright then…” She said on the driver seat 

Frey sighed, feeling the cool air of the wind as they took another sip, and blew the smoke outside, flicking the ashes too. They looked at their left hand, now holding their medal pin, except that it’s golden colored, not silver anymore. They remembered his words in front of everyone. 

“Show this to any of our associates, or any officials that tried to block your path, and they’ll do as you wished, or even make path for you to use”

Frey didn’t say anything, they put it down again, continue to smoke, all while esgoo and tsunul tried not to say anything to them, knowing their sour, and gloomy mood. 

Mission complete! and the anomalies got a new member, oh and not just any member but a valuable member! Frey cheqama, a friend of theirs, and an important figure in N corp. Of course, with frey on their side meaning they finally got the backing of a wing, sort of. And it’s a huge win for the anomalies. It removed a lot of headaches from their mind, all while reaping the benefits it might give. 

But! Despite that, it doesn’t mean that their journey will go easy. Oh no, they’ll realize that not everything will be easy as pie just because frey showed their golden medal pin, it’s going to go hard, and it will be. 

This is still the beginning of their journey, not just frey’s but everyone else. But it is a start that they could hope for, a wish or a bright sky that would shine upon them. They knew it’s still very far from over, but they’ll overcome whatever adversaries it might bring. No matter how hard it is, they’ll face it head on, with one more navette glasses will be one step closer to home. 

And with new navette glasses, meaning new possible members joining them, an anomaly just like them, a friend of theirs that got the unfortunate end to be sent here in the city. It filled frey, esgoo, and tsunul with a little bit of anxiety, wondering just who it might be. Emi? Welvader? Rie? All they can do is prepare… and hope for the best of fate to happen with their friend who might be waiting for their savior, just like frey. 

THE END…. For now.