Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Falling. He was falling. Had it been a few minutes, hours? It didn't matter, not anymore.

Pain. His head was flooded with pain beyond anything he'd imagined possible. His skin was ripped apart as his very skeleton was maimed in a way that could only be described as sadistic and hellish. His blood was flooded with ether crystals, slashing and destroying his veins as his blood flowed. Agony was the only word that could describe the experience. His skull on the left side felt like it had exploded from the inside, crystals had torn through head from his brain, his left eye was destroyed as well making him blind on his left side.

He knew why this was happening and he knew that this was in fact his fault, but he didn't care. No, it's not that he didn't care. It's just, he knew what the consequence would be if he hadn't chosen what he did. And he just accepted it because the alternative was worse than death.

If there was one regret in his mind, it was that he would be leaving her alone after so many years of being together, of being the only thing the other could cling on when no one else was there and he willingly left her alone. He hated it. He hated it more than anything he ever hated in his life. But it had to be this way for there was no other alternative. He could feel the end coming, the dark, the permanent end.

He thought back to what brought him to this moment. Every choice that led up to this last day. “That day” he thought "that was the day everything went wrong.”

4 Weeks ago

Ding Ding

Wise:?

Wise had pretty much been dead asleep for about 4 or 5 hours. He and Belle had been running the store, doing multiple commissions basically all day, just to make ends meet due to the increased power bill for a certain A.I. He and Belle were essentially so sleep-deprived. They were willing to sleep in the clothes they were working in all day. Wise barely had enough energy to get his butt into the shower so by the time he got into bed, he was essentially out like a light instantly. So when he was immediately woken up by a message on his phone, he was all sorts of ticked off. However, what caught his attention was not only that, he got a message but the fact that it was a message from Lycaon. He checked his clock. It read 2:01 in the morning normally he would have probably just waited until he was way, way more awake. But knowing what kind of person Lycaon was and the fact that he was messaging him this early in the morning, got his attention quite quickly.

Wise: I don't want to be mean, but it's 2:01 in the morning, Lycaon. What possible reason could you have for texting us so early in the morning?

Lycaon: Deepest apologies Master proxy, normally I would've waited until both you and Master Belle were more awake but the message I have to deliver is of great importance, our master has even told us to get it to you as soon as possible, so please forgive us.

With this explanation Wise almost immediately became more awake and aware. Because he knew for a fact Lycaon wasn't the type of person to mess around with information. Especially when his orders came from his boss and the fact that he mentioned that it was to be delivered to them immediately almost concerned him. What were they trying to tell them that was so important that they were willing to wake them up at this time of the morning.

Wise: Alright…. You have our attention well ‘MY’ attention, Belle is still absolutely knocked out and want to let her rest.

Lycaon: To be completely honest, I think it would be best if both of you were awake to hear this message. Normally you would have been more than enough. But to be honest, both of you must see this.

Wise:.....Okay, can this wait until morning when both Belle and I are much more awake. Normally I would have liked to take your message, but today was particularly rough on us. And we're not exactly recharged, so to speak.

Lycaon: I do not know I would have to ask our master for confirmation as to whether or not the information can wait. Please excuse the wait.

Wise, still looking up at the ceiling, set his phone down. He had been very, very confused and concerned about the fact that Lycaon had to even ask as to whether or not they could wait to receive the message , further increasing his already heightened stress and concern. 

Wise's brain was running at a rapid but tired capacity, trying to understand what could potentially be this important. He then began to think it out. 

Lycaon isn't normally the type of person to have this many checks as to whether or not they could reveal some information. We know that both him and his group of Victoria housekeeping are quite secretive, but ever since they started working with us, there haven't been any secrets between us. So the fact that he had to even ask as to whether or not this message could wait, what was the message and why was it that important that they couldn't possibly wait until morning.

Ding Ding 

“Speak of the devil” Wise thought.

Lycaon: Alright, a compromise has been made. Our master (The Mayor) [A/N gonna start calling him this from this point forward] has agreed to wait until both you and the other master proxy are fully awake. But the second both of you are fully awakened you are to inform me at your earliest convenience, these are his words and we both know. That I would not be putting this much pressure on you if it was not utterly important.

Wise: Is there any sort of information you could give me that wouldn't be damaging just so I can get an idea as to what the message pertains to.

Lycaon: The message involves your teacher.

Silence. The air conditioner, his breathing, the noises outside of birds, insects and the wind all ceased, to him at least. The last they had heard of any information about their teacher was during their time with Yunkui Summit, and all they received was a photo that, while real, was taken within a hollow. A photo of her somewhere within that dark labyrinth. It had been weeks since that particular event, and now they have more information.

If Wise wasn't awake before he was certainly awake now.

Wise: I'll inform Belle as soon as I can.

Lycaon: Of course Master Proxy, we shall await both you and your sister's reply.

With that, the wise finally set his phone down.

If it wasn't for the fact that it was so early in the morning. He would have probably gotten up and prepared Belle as well, but due to how dark it was at night and the fact that they were still pretty much dead tired, Wise decided to wait until she was awake.

"The morning's barely started. And I can already tell it's gonna be a long day"

5 hours later

Both Belle and Wise were staring at the phone. Essentially, both were putting it off. As much as they wanted to get the information as soon as possible. They were also wary of it. Since the last time they got information, it was something good, but it inevitably led to a dead end with nothing but circumstantial evidence at best that she was inside the Lemian Hollow, so chances were they were most likely not going to find anything else that they didn't already know. So while they were excited, both knew to not get their hopes up.

Belle asked with impatience “Bro, you've been staring at that phone for over 3 hours. Am I going to have to make a call for us or are we just gonna wait until the sun explodes?”

Wise said nothing for a few seconds before responding in a slightly shaky tone “I'm just…nervous. I mean more information on Teacher and from Lycaon no less it sounds good, too good to be true. I know they wouldn't lie to us and I know they wouldn't be doing this for any malicious reason. But can we really trust that there's something else that just appeared out of nowhere. I don't know about you but I feel really suspicious about this.”

“Yeah, I get what you mean. As far as we know, this could be fake or maybe it's somebody spreading rumors but what if by some off chance it isn't fake and it turns out to be real. Are we really willing to risk that chance of it being real and losing our only chance at an actual lead as to what happened to our teacher?” Belle agreed with her brother but also gave her opinion on it.

Both sat there and contemplated the choice. They either answer the call and take a very big risk on what could potentially be either a trap or just nothing. Or they sit there and just ignore it, but possibly lose out on a chance of it being actual information.

They were desperate. But they weren't idiots. They knew that every time they tried to look for their teacher, the people who took her, The Exaltist, were not far behind and then from both personal experience and from what they've read and seen that they were nothing to play with. They had been the people to kidnap their teacher, framing her for what had happened with the old capital and leaving about so much as a trace of their existence. There were too many variables to really consider this a good idea, but desperation often outweighed the bad.

With a loud, sharp, inhale, Wise took a breath, briefed out and spoke in a firm but determined voice, “let's take the chance.”

And with that the choice had been made

The proxies had the message delivered to them after both agreeing. To take the chance on this possible lead.

The message was quite simple but at the same time very loose, essentially, there were rumors that their teacher Carole Arna had been sighted within a hollow once again. But I made it different this time instead of just being a picture, it was word-of-mouth. People who went inside the hollow physically saw her, everyone who tried to get close to her would be met with dozens upon dozens of ethereals, those that were fortunate enough to escape with their lives stated that the ethereals attacked in a terrifying formation. Almost as if they had sentience and intelligence, they wouldn't chase the investigators for but if any of them try to approach where Carole was going or near, they would attack and lash out violently, almost as if they were protecting her. 

The proxies were confused by this, earlier in their career, when Ray had first offered them a chance to work inside Hollow Zero. They were introduced to Geppetto, an ethereal that could control other ethereals like puppets. Essentially giving them intelligence and tactics. But every report stated that Carole was by herself. No one was with her and these Ethereals who normally would have ripped her up without even giving it a second thought, just left her alone and even defended her. But what was said next in the message had concerned them even more. Everywhere she went, miasma would follow. The proxies knew that there were people amongst the exaltist ranks that could use the miasma in ways that they couldn't begin to explain, such as empowering ethereals summoning them out of thin air with nothing more than the ether. Surrounding them and even causing hallucinations. Even with a ton of people working on this new phenomenon, there was barely any true information on it besides the bare minimum. And the fact that it was following their teacher wherever they went was not a coincidence, they knew that for certain.

“What are the chances of this being a trap? I must sound like a broken record at this point, but I mean, you've been thinking about it too, right?” Wise asked. He knew from experience that when dealing with people this dangerous, especially with rumors this tangible, there was a good chance that it was made to be like that. In order to lure, people like them in people looking into where they shouldn't be.

“Honestly, the chances are very high so much so that, despite how much I really do wanna find Teacher, the chance of this being nothing more than just a hoax at best and a trap at worse I mean, you said it, it's almost as if it was meant to drag us out of our hiding. Like somebody wants this to look into it”

 Belle offered her thoughts to wise. “...but

?

and I think this a really bad decision, but I believe we should take the chance and look into the rumors. Yeah, this very well might be a trap, but I wanna see it to the end, if it's nothing more than a ruse, we drop it if not, we ride it all the way and see where it takes us, cool?”

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“…alright exhale~ let's do it.”

Two days later

The day was hot, disgustingly so, to be fair, they both knew it was summer and as expected, heat was pretty much gonna be there whether they liked it or not. It was only a few weeks after their trip to Waifei Peninsula so getting adjusted to the heat of New Eridu was going to be a struggle. They were currently at the Scott Outpost waiting for both Ray to give the go ahead and for the agents they asked help from to arrive. The agents they had chosen had to be quite small since they wanted to bring as many as they could for a mission as dangerous as this, but they knew that their secret wasn't exactly something that many would find acceptable. Due to the reputation as the students of the guilty, they would pretty much be either arrested or attacked on sight by most people, if they knew who they were, so the proxies only entrusted this mission to those that knew their secret. Lycaon was a given since he knew before any of the other agents really knew. Another was Hoshimi Miyabi, she was a void hunter and as part of Section 6 of H.A.N.D, she would normally have her schedule pretty much eaten up for not just the day, but the entire week, but due to the fact that she was one of the few they not just told, but entrusted their secret to they had to call her up. The last one was Yiuxan Shifu since due to her mending Wise when he was affected by miasma and then later on, Wise, telling her, she also knew about the proxies’ secret. Well, not so much who it was, but what their teacher meant to them plus as their Shifu she wouldn't abandon her disciples during their time of need. 

The proxies due to their job of mostly staying inside guiding people through the hollow as Eous currently, more closely resembled melted ice than people, but they had to endure it until the agents arrived. Belle, who was the more impatient of the two, had to voice out “WHERE THE HECK ARE THEY?!” Her voice sounded like a dying shrill bird and her clothes stuck to her skin in an extremely gross manner. Wise, the more patient of the two but still equally annoyed told Belle “It's just a matter of time before they arrive….but I'll admit this is starting to get a bit annoying just sitting here while we could be in there looking for…her” He said the last part more quietly as to not attract attention to their mission since due the secretive nature of the mission, basically nobody knew what they were truly doing today. To most of the of the investigators there the reason they were both here was just for another routine voyage into Hollow Zero. It hurt the proxies knowing that they had to lie this much. Sure, they had lied before in the past, and the lives they told everyone they lived were basically lies as well. But these were people they knew. People they trusted, people who trusted them and they were lying to them straight to their face. Just to basically use them obviously the proxies knew that they wouldn't mind this. Since it wasn't them using them, it was them asking for help. But to the siblings, it felt just like using them and then discarding them. click clack click The siblings’ train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a pair of heels hitting the floor in a calm steady rhythm, they looked up and were met by a pair of ears flicking and twitching. Wise looked at her ruby red eyes with a happy (and slightly loving) smile, greeting her with joy and relief at her finally being there. “Miyabi! Thanks for arriving on such short notice for us.” The fox thiren merely gave him a small smile “It's nothing… but I do apologize for making you wait. Yanagi made me go to the meeting today and made me miss my ‘skipping the meeting training’.” As it turns out the second they had messaged her to come she basically bolted to the door but was stopped by a certain pink haired lady with glasses who, although was much weaker than Miyabi, still had more than enough strength to grab her, pull her back into the meeting room, and quite literally tie her to the chair with chains, Harumasa and Soukaku were basically witnesses to what they could only describe as a caged animal rapidly and viciously scratching at its already weakened cage. The entire time Miyabi was there in the meeting room she was using as much strength as she could to break the chains. Only after 3 hours later did she finally manage to break through them and the second she was free she didn't even bother using the door. She merely grabbed her sword and swung it with precision and strength, shattering the freaking window! She then before anyone could do anything bolted out the shattered windows and leaped across the city, heading straight to the Scott Outpost at max speed. 

“Whoa!” Belle had thought

Belle was shocked with wide eyes and an open maw, she stared with a bit of guilt after finding out just how hard Miyabi fought to get to reach them, and yet here was Belle being mad at her being late. Wise on the other hand was also shocked by her commitment to reach them and had a strange, fuzzy feeling building in his chest… but he was a bit too dense to notice it as anything else besides joy and appreciation for his friendship with Miyabi. As they start to get through briefing Miyabi on the reason why they had called for her assistance, they are suddenly interrupted by a small black creature landing on Wise's head. It looked like a small round ball nesting on Wise's head before opening its small bright yellow eyes. The siblings and Miyabi immediately recognized it as the Qingming Bird, for Belle and Wise, this was the pet of their master or rather Shifu that never seemed to leave her side, wherever it went, she was not far behind. Miyabi however recognized it as the very powerful albeit extremely cute bird of her newest friend and training partner Yiuxan Shifu who she'd met when she mistakenly thought that she had a combat training session inside the VR training simulator of the H.I.A with her. After their combat, she then went out on a little lunch break with her to get to know her as her new friend. 

Yiuxan had arrived with her charming smile on full display and with an air of absolute safety and tranquility exuding off her with every step. “Oh? It seems that not only my beloved disciples are here waiting for me but also my friend. I apologize for my tardiness and inability to get here faster.” As it turned out she had arrived on New Eridu about 2 hours ago but consistently stopped along the way to help people whether it be as difficult as stopping a robbery, preventing a few accidents and saving lives, to the absolute benign task of helping cats off of trees and catching adrift balloons for children. Tasks that shouldn't have even concerned her but yet she did them anyway because that was just the kind of person she was. Both siblings had the connected thought of “Yeah that's her alright!” 

As the reunions were being made the group had been alerted to a certain wolf thiren and eccentric scientist. They both walked towards the small group of friends with purpose and a small folder that seemed to be quite stuffed to the brim with many research notes, papers, and bookmarks out the ass. 

“HAS HE BEEN HERE THE ENTIRE TIME?!” Was the collective thought of everyone there, especially Wise and Belle who both had VERY visible veins bulging from their foreheads and an immense hate and anger for the head of Victoria Housekeeping.

“Remind me to stick chewing gum in his hair later” Belle whispers into Wise's ear with malicious intent.

“Don't ruin our friendship with them over something so petty” Although also rightfully pissed, Wise didn't believe that they should react in such a petty and childish way over this mess, however the intense heat and wait time was waning his already weakened patience so he to some extent he'd also wanted get back at him but decided to just let it go since to him it wasn't wise ( A/N yes pun intended hehehe) to antagonize the guy that the reason behind their renewed hope….didn't stop a small part of him from feeling extra petty.

Lycaon had arrived to deliver both the plans and the necessary carrot to reach to place where the sightings but he with his keen senses, as both a Wolf thiren and a member of Victoria Housekeeping, he could see the animosity towards him and he knew for certain that he was to blame due to his inadequate ability to inform the proxies of both his arrival and his being there. “I offer my sincerest apologies Master pr- Belle and Wise, it is my most grievous mistake for not informing either of you of my arrival and my stay here while I and Ms. Ray worked on the plans for today. I would now wish for you to request anything from me as compensation for my utter foolishness.” He'd said all of this with his head bowed down, completely parallel to the floor, even his ears had been bowing with regret and shame. “Well that was the fanciest way of saying ‘I'm sorry for not telling you I got here, sorry for making you wait , I owe you know’ I've ever heard in my life.” Belle had said with a hint of salt and surprise mixed in her voice “Buuuuuut if you are being serious about that favor then I'll use it for my…..personal…….stuff.” 

Wise gave her the most suspicious side-eye he could muster along with a look that screamed ‘I know exactly what you're gonna use that favor for’, he could already place his guesses on what she'd most probably choose but for the meantime chose to simply stay silent. Wise on the other hand wasn't keen on using his friend's favor so willie nilly so in response simply asked “can I keep mine for later?” To which Lycaon responded with a resounding “Of course Master Wise, simply say the word and your wish is my command.” He had that same refined yet soft smile as he truly did believe that at some point he must repay wise for his failure and when the time came he would achieve the task with the utmost effort. 

“Weeeeeelll now with that out of the way let's get down to business” Belle had now tried to get the conversation back to the point at ha-“ TO DEFEAT THE HUNS!” Until surprisingly of all people Wise decided to troll her a little bit by referencing one of his favorite films “Shut!” Belle however quickly shut him down but was still annoyed by Wise's shit-eating grin and the agents who were respectfully but horribly failing to keep their amused laughter in. 

“Hehehe…ahem sorry about that” Yiuxan admitted shyly as she was still laughing at Wise's joke “Alright let's actually get straight to it” but she had to regain the focus of the room towards their goal. “Alright, Ray, Lycaon, what's the game plan?” Belle asked with curiosity.

“Well from what we've gathered from both rumors and encounters, along with the scouting runs we've been doing here at Hollow Zero, we can conclude that the target person has been all but confirmed, ‘they’ are in there.” Ray had laid it out for the team and it had got their attention quite high, especially the siblings. “ However…. The problem of the constant assault from highly dangerous ethereals and the overwhelming miasma that both surrounds her and further enhances the already dangerous ethereals…. You can see why we've only been able to get very bare-bones information on the target….well apart from the picture your thiren friend gave us…..Well we should be more equipped to handle the threat thanks to our Void Hunter and Yunkui Summit's High Preceptor, but I still can't overlook the danger that you two would be placed into.” Wise had also thought about weighted the risks, him traversing Hollow Zero was already a major test of both his resistance against ether corruption and his agents’ ability to keep him safe. He thanks to his new resistance, had already gone through Hollow Zero a few times, especially around the Withering Garden, but the miasma, while manageable thanks to his training with Yunkui Summit, was still a variable that they hadn't encountered in a place as dangerous as Hollow Zero. The risk went from high to suicidal and both parties knew this, but Wise had to see it for himself.

Not as Eous 

Not through reports 

But with his own two eyes.

Belle had been against it as she was afraid of losing her brother, she had vehemently tried to get Wise to not go in person, but Wise had been adamant on going in person since he felt like he could do more as himself compared to Eous’ small body. Plus both staying behind while the others risked their lives in the most dangerous environment in all of New Eridu for something they asked help for, was not something Wise was willing to do.

“There is one last confirmation that I need from the both of you before we head out” Ray asked the siblings with both staring at her with ready expressions.

“Are you two………familiar with this area before Hollow Zero happened?” Ray pointed to a section of the Hollow Zero map… and both Wise and Belle froze. It was their home, their old home before Helios Academy, before Carole.

“W-why do you ask?” Both asked at the same time as both had been caught off-guard by the question.

“So you are familiar with it….. scouts have spotted the target frequenting this place, almost a concerning amount and when had a chance to breach the area all we found was a destroyed house, inside was pretty much either corrupted to hell and back or destroyed by ethereals. However we found a picture that was left behind … a bit ripped and faded from age, but still visible, tell me… do they look familiar?”

Ray set the picture on the table with a stern look on her face. It was them, Wise and Belle on it. Why was that photo there? They both remembered the day that picture was taken, it was the day they had first entered Helios Academy, the day they met their teacher. It had been over 11 years since that day. That photo shouldn't have survived, not the chaos that was Hollow Zero. So the fact that they were both staring at the very same photo right now on the table, both were in shock…. and sweating bullets.

“Carole Arna, the perpetrator behind Hollow Zero…. That's who you're looking for…. you are not part of public security or the H.I.A, or the Defense Force, or any section of H.A.N.D…. So I will give you one chance to explain to me why you are looking for her if you in relation to her are nobodies.”

The air in the room became static, Yiuxan, Miyabi and Lycaon all tensed up. They knew this was the ordinary reaction to hearing that type of news and they were willing to risk everything just to defend the proxies, but the fact that Ray had pretty much had the figured out from the start had shocked all of them. There were no major movements from any of them. However, their tensed muscles, sharp eyes and held breath told everything, anyone in that room made any sudden movements whether it was to run or to attack the proxies, they'd be ready.

“Ms Ray, I highly recommend you disengage any notion of what I believe you are suggesting.” Lycaon said with a bit of venom in his tone as did NOT tolerate how lightly his friends were being threatened.

“Lycaon…. It's fi-” 

“NO IT ISN'T.” Lycaon cut the proxies off with his tone having even more venom than before.

“You shouldn't have to-”

“IT'S ALRIGHT!” Everyone was shocked, even Belle by the intense shout from the usually introverted Wise.

“Ahem…sorry” he blushed with slight embarrassment but continued “Ray…it's exactly what you're probably thinking.” 

Ray whispered under her breath with shock as her eyes went slightly wide “the students of the guilty…… why?

Why did it have to be you?” She was in disbelief and hurt, they had been working with her and her people for little over a year, she'd guessed long ago that they had skeletons in the closet…but this? It threw her for a loop and a half.

“Are you aware how many people are out there, people who are highly dangerous and who are scarred by the fall of the old capital and blame Carole Arna for it? If they knew… they'd kill you without so much as a second thought.” 

Ray had been slightly shaking but with rage or fear and worry? 

Neither proxy knew but they knew why she was freaking out since… Yeah, had anyone known who they truly were they would have been found either dead or tortured to near death. Well, both of them had been more or less optimistic that nobody there would truly wish them harm. They also knew that people, more specifically soldiers who were part of the fall of the old capital were to put it lightly, not exactly the most understanding when it came to people who were responsible for the event that it cost them everything. Their friends, their family, their home, and for some even their lives, Carole was blamed for everything and by proxy, so were they. Back then, it was simply just questioning since they were some of the closest people to her. But back then, they were just children, hurting, scared and terrified by the amount of people who wanted answers but who couldn't get anything. It did cross their mind that there probably were a few people who wanted to hurt them, who wanted to essentially break them as painfully as possible just to make them talk. But they also knew that wouldn't change anything or make them feel any better, but as the saying scars don't heal they simply fade. They had to even hide for years just for people to forget about them and when they returned to normal life, nobody knew who they were.

So if the fact that they were these people or to be revealed to the public to these people all outside….well they weren't children anymore.

“Ray, the reason we worked for you, worked “with” you is because we were looking for her, that was our only goal, no other reason. Yes, along the way we did help achieve your goals, goals that would benefit every one in New Eridu but from the moment you brought us here to the moment you gave us that offer…. this was the only reason we even resigned ourselves to entering that hellhole… for her. I promise… we didn't want to lie to you or anyone,but… well.. you can understand our position.” Belle had explained it very clearly to her this was simply for them not for New Eridu, not for the people, for them.

Siiiiiiigh~

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“okay… I… can understand why you're here now and why you jumped so quickly to this opportunity. But I want you to know…….. I am still willing to work with you, but I can't do that if you've been hiding a secret this massive from me…. So here's my ultimatum. I will help you and I will spend my valuable resources and time, along with sending some of my best troops to you for assistance on your mission but…..on one condition 

You tell me everything….. now. 

 Not what you want to tell me

Not what you can legally tell me 

EVERYTHING. 

Otherwise I WILL turn you in here and now.” 

Ray had given her ultimatum, the room that they were in, It felt as if the air had gone still. The proxies were given, one of the greatest opportunities they've ever gotten in over ten years and yet it came at the cost of essentially being at the mercy of her and whether or not she would sell them out, and on top of that, they would have to reveal everything about themselves. They were quite literally gambling with their lives.

So now it was a matter of seeing just how much they actually trusted each other. How much they mattered to the other.

“.....inhale~ exhale~ Ray…. Here is the truth… no more lies.” Wise said with sincerity while finished with “... the truth is …..yeah, we are the students of the guilty… our teacher was Carole Arna… but before you say anything...can we explain how things went down from our perspective? I know it'll sound biased since we are her students, but you need to know how it went down for us.” 

Ray pushed up her classes that stared at them. It was unreadable. Was she angry? Was she studying? Her stare seemed like it was waiting for them to go and for her to react.

The siblings went on to explain what happened the day Hollow Zero expanded from the moment it happened to the moment they were able to get out of the lives, although their explanation was fairly loose since for both of them, the memories of the event was quite blurry, they could remember bits and chunks very clearly but the process of getting to said chunks was blurry. In fact, how they actually escaped with their lives, neither one of them could fully remember they just chalked it up to somebody finding them before they died. After that, it was just questioning after questioning after questioning with no rest in between. By the time everyone was done with them it was far too late. Both of them had been marked, labeled as “The Students of the Guilty”, they were outcasted from general public, feared, and in some extreme cases, damn near even killed for it. They went into hiding, hiding their identities from everyone and trusting nobody. It was years of them alone with nobody they could lean on but themselves and by the time they finally managed to turn. Despite the fact that their personalities never changed, the scars they held were still there, buried deep inside but burning nonetheless. When they first arrived on 6th street, they were able to slowly rebuild their lives at first, seeming like just normal people running a video store, just a sister and brother trying to make a life for themselves. The neighbors of 6th street, even though they never said it, could always sense that they were hiding something deeper. Sure, they knew about the proxies secret, but not a real reason why they were so guarded and why they trusted only those they knew they could trust. Neither one expected them to become Phatheon, they only became proxies with one purpose in mind to find Carole and prove her innocence; both becoming legendary amongst proxies was not part of the plan but something both of them wore with pride. 

“.........”

Ray took in everything they said with calculating if understanding look. Both of them could see behind her glasses, behind her eyes, her brain was trying to process everything that was told to her, that apparently not only was the greatest criminal in all of New Eridu innocent, but she had actually been framed and these two that were in front of her were those students who were desperately trying to prove that she was without showing people that they were related to her. It was like trying to wrap her head around everything she knew was wrong. It was basically asking the impossible of somebody from New Eridu. On the one hand she knew that she definitely had to turn them in, I mean, they were quite literally illegal proxies and not just any proxies, but the legendary Phatheon, and on top of all of that, they were The Students of The Guilty.

On the other hand however, they were some of her best agents. The reason why some of her most outlandish and dangerous expeditions at the Hollow Zero so successful and here they were for the first time in the entire time that she knew them, basically on their hands and knees begging for her help for something that would probably get them all arrested if anyone knew. It was a high ask, basically asking her to commit treason against humanity's last bastion of hope all in the hope that they would find her, Carole Arna.

“................ One.”

Everyone in the room shot up in confusion.

“If you find her, manage to return her to here in one piece, and she can vouch for what you state. You have one chance to prove her innocence to not just me but everyone here.”

“Y-you'll help us?” Both siblings said absolute disbelief.

“ Yes… you have quite the compelling argument but do know that I expect you to not only prove to me that what you're saying is true, but I need evidence as well.

Do you understand what I'm saying? I can only trust you as far as I can throw you. So I'm gonna help you this far, but if this turns out to be nothing more than a ruse and what you say is false, expect a jail cell, understood?” 

Ray had said with finality she set her terms on the table…

“Yes!”

And the siblings agreed.

End of chapter 1

Chapter Text

Prologue: The Last Calm Moment Before Hell. - Part 2 The Search for Evidence and Hope

Hollow Zero.

The Lost Void.

Limbo.

The place where everyone lost everything. A testament that the Hollows were a threat to humanity and regardless of where they might settle, the Hollows would follow. Exploring, it was one of the most dangerous jobs in the world since it was basically inviting danger to you by entering the most dangerous place left on earth. 

Many had entered it for a myriad of reasons, wealth, knowledge of the Hollows, study of the Ethereals and their properties, but today a small team would enter for a much more different reason, to prove the innocence of someone both held dear.

Shudders~ 

Despite the fact, this wasn't his first time within the Lost Void, it still felt awful upon Wise's skin. It felt as if the air itself was attacking him scratching, scraping, and burning his skin all at the same time, all the while corrupting him slowly. They had barely just arrived. So the sensation of corruption wasn't even felt, Wise had no clue just how long he could survive in Hollow Zero, but he wasn't exactly keen on finding out, so this first outing was just going to be scouting the area where the carrot led to and surveying it as quickly as possible, as to avoid any unnecessary risk to Wise, since he was there in person.

“ How deep in the Hollow are we going, because if the carrot data is correct and we are going a considerably deep distance inside.” Wise asked with a bit of worry in his voice as he had been inside Hollow Zero's depths before, but the location that the carrot was saying they were going to was considerably deeper than any distance he had gone before.

“ There are a few fissures up ahead, that will be our shortcut to cut down on time but yeah, the distance is much further than you've previously gone. Fortunately, we have traversed this area before so we should know the ins and outs, unfortunately, the carrot data we have is a bit old since the data piles here due to the high level of ether only last about a week at best.” Ray explained to Wise via Eous’ speakers.

“ Well, if I wasn't sweating before I am now!” 

Ether levels so high that machinery specifically designed to last a long while inside of a hollow, only lasted a week at best?! Wise was now a bit terrified since he had dealt with high levels of ether, but this sounded a bit absurd, he wasn't entirely sure if even Eous could take it.

Eous turn his head to Wise and stated in a firm, yet informative voice 

“ Worry not, we brought enough anti-corruption serum to keep you going for about a week and half… assuming you were stuck here for that long so if you or your friends start experiencing symptoms, we will be able to save you guaranteed.”

“ That really doesn't make me feel better if you need that much of it just for an expedition and not the actual search and rescue mission!”

“Bro you volunteered for this. You're the one who fought this viciously to be inside that hellhole you can't be complaining now.” Belle chastised him as she had been the one trying to get him to stay here, but nooooo he just had to go see it for himself, he can't be complaining if he asked for it… literally.

“ Worry not Master Wise, I assure you on Victoria Housekeeping's good name, no harm shall befall you while you are under my protection.” Lycaon reassured Wise as he was noticing his panicked expression and accelerated heartbeat.

“Exactly we will protect you from all dangers so don't worry Junior Wise should things get out of hand or should the mission go south, we'll evacuate with you as quickly as possible.” Yiuxan Shifu further calmed Wise's worries as they entered the first fissure, the first of many. It swirled with ether particles and the promise of a new location, the group stared at it gulping down their fear and with fearlessness, walked through the fissure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The other side left them in a crumbling part of the city deep inside Hollow Zero. Chunks of the earth and machines were levitating off the ground, no longer following the standard rules and laws of the world. The air was peppered with ether everywhere they walked, strangely though, there weren't any signs of ethereals nearby.

“Belle, can you see if there are any ethereals or people around us, it's quiet…. Way too quiet.” Wise asked with suspicion of the seemingly lack of ethereal presence anywhere near them.

“......Apart from you guys and a couple ether crystals here and there?..... yeah I see nothing, no ethereals or people anywhere near or far from you, it's just you guys.” 

The entire group didn't buy it, all scans and surveillance show that there was basically nothing there? They called bullshit. 

It was just them? 

Inside the single most ether dense area in the world where ethereals are more plentiful than ants?

Yeah, right.

What was even a more stranger?

This pattern followed 

By the second fissure they entered with the same result. 

Third, the same 

The fourth is the same, so on and so forth.

“ Where the heck is anyone? How many fissures have we passed at this point?”

Wise asked with increasing paranoia due to the lack of anyone or anything.

“Aproximately six in succession, hmmm….. perhaps they are practicing ‘hide from everyone and prepare for ambush’ training?”

Miyabi had asked innocently, garnering a small chuckle from Wise and Belle.

“ It's strange, but the good news is we only have about 2 more fissures left and we should be at the location, but the ether concentration there is much higher than anything we've passed so far, so please be careful. Wise. If you start to feel bad, check yourself and if needed use the serum.” Belle had warned both Wise and the group.

“ That is quite concerning; the ether concentration here is already extremely high, and that's from even encountering any miasma.” Yiuxan admitted with great worry.

Wise could feel it as well.

The first area felt as if the ether was slashing his skin 

By this point?

It felt like walking through molasses that was burning and breaking him apart, it felt disgusting. Wise had only experienced this a couple of times since they were essentially at the threshold of what he had seen of Hollow Zero, so this next fissure, that was gonna take them even deeper……that was uncharted territory for both him and Belle. To be honest, neither the siblings even knew if Eous, with his impressively ether aptitude and impressive resistance to physical damage and ether corruption, would survive a trek this deep inside. Even the agents, Lycaon, Miyabi and Yiuxan were starting to get concerned by the immense amount of ether in the air, mainly for Wise's sake since his limits were still unknown.

The ground was cracked and riddled with ether crystals and even some flowers that had evolved to use ether to survive. Wise had seen them while he was working with Orchidea at her flower shop, Ninevah, called the same name as the monster that hailed from this Hollow. The sky, which originally was like blue, had become a deep spread and purple with a large amount of what seemed to be clouds all circulating point going deeper into the hollow. He and Belle remember seeing this during their excursions, when they encountered Geppetto.

The team came across the second to last fissure, and entered it like all the other fissures. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They managed to make their way through the fissure preparing to see just emptiness, the same remnants and destroyed sections of the city they once called home. At this point, despite how sad it was seeing their home like this, they were slowly starting to become a bit more desensitized by it. And a bit more annoyed by just the lack of anything happening.

However…..

On the other side of the fissure, the shift in tone was felt instantly.

Miasma….. Everywhere

Wise and Yiuxan immediately got to work trying to fend off as much of the miasma as they could, they had encountered miasma before inside the Lemnian Hollow over by Waifei Peninsula…. but the amount they were feeling you here, put the Lemnian Hollow to shame. Yiuxan was doing most of the heavy lifting due to her experience and strength while Wise struggled to even push back even a bit of the miasma surrounding them. He had become acquainted with the ability to learn how to sense it. Track it and even in some cases, destroy nodes holding it, but this?

If what they experienced back then were to be compared to a lake, what they were inside of right now, the only way to describe it would be an ocean. 

“WARNING MIASMA LEVELS ARE AT CRITICAL LEVELS. MASTER, EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY TO THE PREVIOUS FISSURE!” Fairy's voice run with surprisingly high volume through Eous, though for wise, due to his connection, he had heard it within his own eardrums and head. Normally he would have been slightly stubborn to try to stay back. But even he could feel it in the air. It was way way too much for any one of them to handle. 

Evacuation was a necessity.

“Gasp~ COUGH COUGH!” 

Before Wise could even turn back, he could feel his lungs in pain. It felt as if all the air inside of them was released. His chest felt like it was being crushed. He fell to the floor gasping and coughing for air as if his body had been underwater drowning for a while. 

“‘WISE!'” 

Everyone shouted in fear as they saw him collapse to the floor coughing violently. Belle tried to reach him but her connection with Eous was barely stable so she could barely even get him to move.

“WISE! LOOK AT ME, STEADY YOURSELF! I KNOW YOU ARE IN DISTRESS AND PAIN BUT YOU MUST CALM YOURSELF AND CATCH YOUR BREATH!” Lycaon held him steady, screaming instructions at him in an attempt to reel him in from his pain. Simultaneously Yiuxan Shifu placed a talisman on his back and her hand on his head, both in efforts to relieve him of his ether and to calm down the flow of miasma and ether going into him. Miyabi held his and rested her head on his shoulder, she knew she wasn't the best at hand in situations like this, but she also knew that this much despite how little it actually helped the situation would still help because she refused to stay there and be helpless while her friend suffered. He needed to be assured that he wasn't alone and that they were there for him and that they were going to help him get through this.

Wise's condition was very bad. He had markings and small little roads of ether and miasma going up and down his skin. From his face to his eyes, all the way down to even his arms and his chest. It had become a tapestry of corruption.

MY HEAD….. IT FEELS LIKE SPLITTING! WHY DO MY EYES HURT SO BAD?!

 MY SKIN FEELS LIKE IT'S RIPPING APART!

IT FEELS……OH GOD….. CAN'T….. THINK….. STRAIGHT

Make it stop

Make It Stop

MAKE IT STOP!

SHINE~

Immediately everyone was caught off guard, Wise's eyes had started glowing. At first, everyone's blood ran cold as they believed he was starting to corrupt almost immediately from the immense and sudden influx of ether. But then all of the miasma and the ether in the air began to fade. No, it was more as if it was being forced back. Lycaon , who had been staring into Wise's eyes, noticed that they had a strange symbol on as they began to glow. That same glow started permeating from his body, a strange white blue and purplish glow emanating from his body that seemed to just erase the ether around them.

Familiar why does this feel……familiar?

Wooooosh~ 

The ether that had been surrounding them was gone and Wise, who had been coughing violently, stopped and managed to finally take a deep breath in. The air felt cleaner as if breathing and moving had felt much more simpler. Wise then realized what had happened. He remembered a similar sensation back when Vivian had injected herself with the serum the Exaltists had created, which would corrupt people within seconds, if not minutes. He remembered holding her and watching her basically die. However, he in a moment of pure desperation held her and felt a similar sensation to the one he had moments ago. He remembered waking up in his home with Vivian being completely free of the corruption afterwards though he had no idea how he even managed to make that happen. That new ability was the main reason why they had even contacted Yiuxan Shifu in the first place and since she knew more about this than they probably did.

Ray back on the Scott outpost was in utter disbelief at what she had just witnessed letting out a very soft but noticeable “ what the fuck?” Funnily enough it was picked up by Eous so everyone heard it.

“Master proxy……w-what was that?” Lycaon had seen many things throughout his lifetime but this was insane! He had no idea where he had just witnessed all he could understand was the fact that it felt easy to breathe.

“Cough cough T-that…. again? What triggered it? Was it my life being in danger?” Wise's brain was starting to run a billion miles an hour, trying to make heads and tails of what just happened. 

No, now isn't the time to be worried about that? I gotta make sure everyone else is okay!

“ Is everyone okay?!” Wise asked with worry

…

…

…

Only to be met with stares from everyone there, including Miyabi whose face was normally just a blank slate, now wide-eyed. All three of them had the same look on their faces, one that screamed one simple request… WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!

“Again…. You said again, what do you mean by again? This has happened before?!” 

Ray, regaining her bearings, grabbed the microphone and screamed at the top of her lungs, demanding Wise explain what he meant by “again”.

“ Yes…. I believe you owe us an explanation.” Miyabi stated with a calm icy tone.

“……. i don't know what that was”

“‘HUH?!’” 

“ I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT WAS!.....

They all gave a look, the new without a shadow of a doubt that he was lying sense one everyone there heard him whisper under his breath and two he was suspiciously calm for someone who shouldn't have even known what the heck that was. They didn't say anything. They simply just kept looking at him until eventually, he knew for certain that they were gonna keep doing this until he told them the truth.

“Sigh~ okay yes, I do know kind of what that was. I know it was the same ability that I used to help save my friend from corruption. Besides that, I have no clue what caused it to activate before and what caused it to activate now and I have no clue how to control it. What happened just now? That was an accident. That was not me doing it on purpose!” Wise head scrambled to explain himself since he knew to some degree what it was, but nothing more beyond that. To anyone looking in, what they had just witnessed was nothing short of magic.

He wanted to be transparent with them to make sure that there weren't any secrets.

“ Is that what you used to save, Miss Vivian?” 

Wise responded to Lycaon with a simple nod

“ I remember being stressed, scared… angry. I didn't want to lose her so I just held her tight. I didn't want to let it go, after that it's blurry. I remember that same light that shines off my body, beyond that, all I remember is waking me up at home. I know, this seems really sketchy, but I promise it's not dangerous as far as I know.”

Yiuxan looked around and responded “ Regardless of what caused it, it's the main reason that miasma is gone and why the path forward is much clearer. That along with the fact that it is the reason that you are still breathing assures me that it's not dangerous. 

Besides… that was the reason we met, wasn't it? You became my disciple and I you Shifu. Don't worry, what you see as a terrifying power, is just something you haven't been able to fully control yet. When we get out of here I promise I'll be helping you to learn and conquer your power.”

Wise, finally, being able to catch his breath simply stared at her with wide eyes before responding with a wide grateful smile (and a slight blush across his cheeks). 

Eous had been still for a while, a telltale sign that Belle had been trying to troubleshoot him, ensuring that their connection was stable before continuing any further.

En-nah En-nah En En Nah En-En Nah Nah ( That felt weird. I don't like that. Can we please not do that again? Also are you okay? You're not sick are you?) Eous said while patting wise on the back with his little hands. He had never seen Wise drop that quickly before so he was very afraid for his master's wellbeing. 

Pat

Wise simply put his hand on his little partner's head while we're playing with a big cheeky smile “ Don't worry, I'm not sick, I was just caught off guard. You don't have to worry that much, but thank you for the concern. Also what's the connection situation with Belle?” 

En-nah? nah nah en en nah! (Belle? She's been trying to connect me, but all this gross icky stuff's been making it really hard. I think we will hear from her again in a bit!) Eous said while moving his little hands in an adorable display.

“Incoming!” The fox thiren said total seriousness, her hand already on her blade and her body ready for the threats. The other agents immediately followed her example as Yiuxan summoned the Qingming Bird in its much larger and vicious battle form, and Lycaon positioned himself to cover Wise from any oncoming threats. 

“Wise, stay behind us we'll handle the threat, focus on regaining connection with Belle and finding the last fissure.” Miyabi stated as she looked at the horizon and noticed the threats…. A Dullahan, a group of hitchspikers, a pack of Hati, and two Thanatos. She was particularly worried by Thanatos and the Dullahan as both were Ionized, an expected result from being this deep inside Hollow Zero, a dangerous foe combination for most, but for Miyabi? Easy and even a bit underwhelming…..but with Wise here with them, it made things a bit more stressful as they knew he'd most likely die in a single hit. 

Yiuxan wasn't far behind Miyabi, she kept her battle stance ready to fight, but when she blinked.

!

One of the Thanatos was gone…. She didn't need to guess where it would strike, she knew how they would act… attacking the weakest first. She turned to face Wise and as she'd correctly guessed, Thanatos was already mid-swing, its blade arms mere feet from Wise. 

GRRRAAAH

Lycaon reacted first, kicking the arm upwards with full force, followed up by a second kick empowered by the frost engines in his legs that launched Thanatos away. Yiuxan rushed it ready to use her Auric Ink to split it, falling towards it from above with her hand in a chopping motion … 

CRUUUSSSSH

But it dodged, moving its body in an unnatural way, the attack shattering the earth underneath where it once stood. 

“You're too slow.” Miyabi in the blink of an eye leapt from her original position and was behind Thanatos. 

SHIIIING

With one swift motion it slashed the ethereal with Tailless, decapitating it before it even had time to react to the frost from the blade coming and disappearing as she in the same motion sheathed her blade. As its body fell and dissipated into ether the other Ethereals rushed in seeing it as their chance to ambush them. 

That was way too close!

Was the collective thought of everyone there.

Wise on the other hand was more understandable and terrified.

 I think I just crapped my pants…

He was still crouched in front of Eous using his ether tuning technique to get the corruption done by the miasma removed in order to reconnect and re-establish the connection with Belle and Ray back at the Scott Outpost, however, his thought process was interrupted by you know almost getting decapitated. However he quickly reset his mind and got back to fixing Eous, he's a proxy and until they left the hollow they were under his protection and guidance, he hadn't failed his agents before and wasn't going to start now. 

HHHHIIIISSS  

The hitchspikers hissed with predatory stances and began jumping towards Lycaon in an attempt to take him down with their stingers but as they tried, they learned that this wolf knew how to dance with unruly crowds. 

He danced with grace around their attacks. “How sloppy, you're as graceful as a wild boar.” He stated as one tried to stab his head, to which he ducked under and using his legs swept one on his right launching into forward causing it to crash into the one that he ducked. They were dazed and as both hitchspikers tried to get up they were met with a third and before any one could counter

STOMP 

CRRRUUUNCH

Lycaon crushed them all with a stomp that froze their blood as it coated his legs, he then simply with a second stomp shattered the frozen blood. “How disappointing, I had expected better, but that simply was the shortest dance I've ever been a part of. I do suppose I should get back to helping my comrades, but I highly doubt they need help.” He turned to see if his other dance partners needed help and saw the two void hunters in their fights.… well calling it a fight would be an insult to both their skill and an overestimation of the enemy who were currently struggling to even survive against the two. The pack of Hati didn't even get a chance as they were coated in Auric Ink and forcefully dragged in by Yiuxan who launched the Qingming Bird at them, who proceeded to rain hell upon the poor ethereals as she in a storm of talisman and ink crashed down onto them, tearing them apart in literally seconds. She stood in the center of the destruction with a bored expression as her bird as in its much smaller state, pecking their fading remains like an angry chicken, which caused her to smile and break into a chuckle.. 

Miyabi on the other hand was in her fight for a bit longer than the other two, not that she was struggling. It was just her opponents who were surprisingly putting up a pretty decent fight. The Dullahan had been blocking like its life depended on it, which you know it did, it had tried getting a swing in anytime it could but had been relentlessly parried by Miyabi as she simultaneously dodged the ether blasts that the Thanatos had fired. Both were surprisingly coordinated for mindless creatures, each time Miyabi tried to slash the Dullahan it blocked and aimed its blade to her spots that she left open, she ducked and weaved in-between its swings and every time she tried to get a good hit in when it was open, she'd hear the Thanatos ready to counter with either its blade or blasts. But what neither of the ethereals had noticed was that she was slowly causing the Dullahan to move towards her as she moved towards the Thanatos intending on closing the distance to make this battle end quickly.

WHOOSH

CRRRUSSSH

Thanatos and the Dullahan tried to tag the young Void Hunter as the Thanatos swung at Miyabi, merely resulting in the air being her ears flowing with a strong gust as she ducked and kicked the ethereal back with immense force, the Dullahan not giving her a chance to react tried to bring its shield down on her to which she simply used her sword to redirect the shield's trajectory to slam down mere inches in front of her face causing the ground to turn into rubble. The Thanatos, recovering from being kicked away, used its teleportation to instantly close the distance and tried once more to slash Miyabi.

CLLAANG

Its arm was met with her blade as it had still been out of its sheath, Miyabi deciding that this had gone on long enough, simply slashed six times in an instant, removing both of the Thanatos’ arms with her first two swings and obliterating the Dullahan's shield and sword with her next two. Her last two swings strangely enough went into the ground, creating an enormous plume of smoke and rubble, both ethereals not wasting a single second immediately charged into the smoke, despite both being armless, they were still willing to use any method they could to bring her down they charged 

Bump

Only to run into each other

The Void Hunter had long since left the smoke.

“Thank you for the assistance, you've saved me the effort of swinging more than needed.” 

Both stared at Miyabi who had her blade back in its sheath and Tailless who had been floating by her side, in one motion, entered her blade signifying that they were both ready to end it. She simply closed her eyes and took a breath

WHOOOSH

Chilling air blew past both ethereals faster than either could react, they could only stare at her, who now resided on the other side from where she'd started. Her blade was half way in its sheath as she with a cold glare from her red eyes said with finality.

“Weaklings, return to dust.”

CLIK

She closed her blade, pushing it back into its sheath fully.

SHKK

SHKK

SHKK

They were vanquished, their heads being removed with one slash as two more removed both the legs, they simply fell to the floor defeated and faded into ether.

“It is done, proxy, how's the progress?”

Miyabi said in a much calm and lighter tone.

“...Almoooooosst…. Got it! Alright let's try this again, go for it Eous.”

Eh-nah!(Right!) 

“………..MASTER, THE CONNECTION TO THE SECOND ASSISTANT HAS BEEN RE-ESTABLISHED, PATCHING YOU THROUGH NOW.”

“Seriously Fairy?! I'm finally able to reach you after who knows how long and that's the first thing I hear?! I thought you and I were on good terms, ‘Second Assistant’ I thought we were past that!” Belle shouted angrily as she in a very cute manner, waved Eous’ arms with rage, eliciting laughter from the whole group.

“Sigh~ Well, regardless, it's still nice to see that you all are okay, especially you Wise, how is your ether aptitude holding?” Wise turn to the side with a guilty look.

“It's….holding well…”

“Wiiiiiiissse.”

“..... OK, I'll tell you what happened. Just don't freak out, okay?”

He then proceeded to tell her exactly what happened which then coincided with her trying to very fruitlessly pound his chest with Eous' tiny arms all the while she was constantly screaming ‘idiot idiot idiot’. 

“I KNEW THIS WAS A BAD IDEA! WHAT IF YOU DIED?!” 

“ I know, I know. It's just we weren't expecting ‘that’ and besides I feel fine.”

Wise was trying to reassure her sister to which he failed to do very fucking poorly. 

“ LYCAON SAID YOU WERE COUGHING, SO VIOLENTLY YOU DROPPED TO THE FLOOR AND YOU ALMOST SUFFOCATED FROM HOW MUCH YOU WERE COUGHING! YOUR SKIN WAS OVERRUN WITH MIASMA AND CORRUPTION, AND THEN YOU WERE ATTACKED BY ETHEREALS WHO WERE IONIZED! YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THIS IS STILL A GOOD IDEA?!”

Bell wasn't so much angry as she was in very protective sister mode because well, I mean, you lose connection from your family and then find out oh, you know, they almost suffocated, nearly got corrupted and then were jumped by a group of high ranking ethereals, all in the short time that you were gone.

“ Belle, we both knew the risk that we'd be taking during this mission. I knew the risk I'd be taking when I came in here, but I have to see this with my own eyes. I know we just had a very dangerous encounter, but I can't give up now, especially especially not since we're so close, there's only one more fissure and then we are at the location. You really wanna cut loose right when we're at the finish line?” Wise wanted to finish this to get some semblance of closure, despite the very scary experience they had a few minutes ago he still wanted to go through with this. They were only one last jump away from something that could lead them to their teacher. He didn't want to say it out loud but everyone there could sense it, he was desperate.

“...”

“Belle?”

“Fairy, how far away is the fissure?”

“ ESTIMATING APPROXIMATE LOCATION……. LOCATION FOUND NEAREST FISSURE TO THE AREA IS ABOUT FIVE HUNDRED FEET NORTH. SECOND ASSISTANT, AS MUCH AS IT PAINS ME TO AGREE WITH YOU, I TOO BELIEVE THAT STOPPING NOW WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA. WE ALREADY HAD 2 LETHAL ENCOUNTERS BACK-TO-BACK. WHAT IF YOU ENCOUNTER ONE MORE MASTER? ARE YOU CERTAIN THIS IS WORTH THE RISK?”

Wise, look down he had a very guilty look on his face, everyone, there was essentially waiting for his decision and for the most part they were of the same mind, they were frightened by the fact that he basically almost died, twice! 

But…. He just couldn't stop, not when he was this close.

Inhale~

“ One last push, it's not that far, I'm not going halfway for nothing.” 

Wise said with absolute certainty.

Everyone there had realized regardless of what they said now it didn't matter he wasn't going to be deterred.

The two Void Hunters helped Wise get back on his feet while Lycaon stood Eous back on his feet and, with slight reluctance, they proceeded to walk towards the location of the last fissure.

They looked around and saw more and more of their home, now an absolute ruin. Wise couldn't help the pain, he felt his chest. This was his home, sure hadn't lived here for long as he and Belle were one of the many victims of the fall of the old capital, they had only been children when it happened and they had to rebuild their lives all in a place that was alien to them. Belle was one of the lucky few who didn't remember the day clearly but Wise? He remembered almost every detail, from the moment the alarms went off, to the moment strange people stormed their home Helios Academy, to the moment their teacher was taken by a giant white hand, the last time either one of them saw her. He remembered almost all the places there and Belle also remembered all of her and Wise's favorite places, antique shops Wise loved to frequent much to Belle's boredom, the libraries where they both argued over which genre of book was better, music stores where their different tastes music pretty much put the on the opposite side of the stores, clothing shops that Carole and Belle absolutely loved while Wise simply just had to endure, to all restaurants galore. Belle, despite not being there in person, also felt her eyes tear up at the sight of her destroyed home, like opening an old wound that she had never fully been able to heal. 

Ray, seeing her start to tear up, put a hand on her shoulder and asked in a soft comforting tone. “ Do you… require a moment? No one would blame you if you did.”  

Belle sniffled and wiped her tears with her sleeve before replying very quickly in a tone that sounded like she was almost about to cry. “ I…. I just can't believe it's all gone, all the places we made our memories in, gone. I know I was there the day it all happened….. but seeing it now after so long….It's just… awful. This was our home the place we were born and now it's just…it's just-”  

Before Belle could finish, Ray simply pulled her into a hug. She had been harsh with them earlier in the day, not out of maliciousness, but rather just being hurt by the lies but she wasn't heartless. Despite the fact of who they actually were and just how much they lied to her, this was still something that clearly haunted them, something that they had the unfortunate fate of experiencing as children. Deep down there was a part of her that she wished she could just silence, a part that caused her to be so conflicted about this. I mean, these were the Students of The Guilty so naturally she would have some disposition to them, but there was also another part of her that just couldn't bring herself to hate them, they had, despite the fact that it was for selfish reasons unknown to her, helped her with every request she asked of them regardless of how outlandish for how dangerous it was….they were there. 

In this moment despite the reputation, despite everything they lied to her about, she couldn't bring herself to hate them. Not fully. They were trying this hard just to prove both their and their Teacher's innocence, to some of the public, they were seen as followers of the ‘devil’ people who needed to be incarcerated and left to rot, to others that may have seemed as just people desperate to prove everyone wrong for they had nothing left to lose. 

But regardless of how you saw them, she understood one thing.

They were still human.

So, despite the betrayal, these people, they were still her comrades, her friends and she wasn't just gonna sit there and let one of them experience this awful sight alone. 

Belle very softly began to cry and Ray in an almost motherly fashion began to simply run her fingers through her hair just to comfort her. 

She didn't say anything. 

She didn't need to. 

Being there, holding her, that was more than enough. Belle just needed someone to hold her as she fell apart.

Wise wasn't doing that well either. Lycaon, who had been by his side as they were walking, saw his eyes starting to tear up and Wise trying his hardest not to cry. 

Wise was hurting, badly but he couldn't show it, he had developed a very unhealthy habit of not showing his emotions or more accurately not showing his pain because when they arrived at New Eridu he pretty much had to be the main provider until Belle was old enough and being the older sibling came with all the responsibilities, he couldn't look weak, not in front of her. This had been one of the main reasons for one of his deepest insecurities, people thinking that he was emotionless and boring. It hurt more than people probably thought, although he wasn't as extroverted as his sister, he still wanted friends and stability and to be called emotionless? It felt like being stabbed over and over. Every time it was brought up, he tried to show people that he wasn't, but with his tone of voice, his taste in media, along with his general demeanor… he eventually stopped trying to convince them that he wasn't boring seeming to just accepted with reluctance but, it didn't stop it from hurting.

“ Master Proxy, if I may, would you allow me to be a bit forward?”

Wise was confused, he had been deep inside of his own head so he didn't even notice Lycaon calling him, but decided to respond with a simple nod of his head.

“If you wish we may stop here, just to catch our breaths and for you to process everything, you needn't force yourself to push forward if you can't, believe me, we are willing to wait as long as you wish, Master Proxy.” 

Lycaon had been worried for him. This was awful and he had just been trying to tough it out, but all he was doing was just making it worse he needed time to just take it all in. 

“I-i'm fine L-lycaon you don't-” and just like Ray had done for Belle, Lycaon simply brought him into a hug and held them. It was tight, not overbearing or suffocating, it felt secure, like he didn't have to be the pillar of stability he had been his entire life he didn't have to be their proxy. 

He didn't have to be the man who was supposed to get them out of there

He didn't have to be Phatheon

Just him, Wise the boy who had come back to his destroyed home.

… and just like his sister on the outside 

He fell to his knees

Wrapped his arms around the big wolf

And fell apart.

Miyabi and Yiuxan joined in as they held him. It was an almost alien experience to them. Seeing the person who they had put their faith in who they had seen a thing more than steadfast, calm and ready, and the face of absolute danger..

Drip drip

Sob 

sniff 

Crying

Vulnerable 

Human.

Seven minutes later

“T-thank you, all of you f-for that. I'm sorry for embarrassing myself in front of all of you.” Wise had kept his head down, he was embarrassed he didn't like people seeing that side of him, but he just couldn't hold it in anymore. 

“Proxy, don't be, it doesn't matter who you are or what you do. We care for you just as much as you care for us, so if you need to fall apart, we'll be there for you like any friend would be.” Miyabi said with a lovely smile.

What caught her off guard however, was when Wise, completely unprompted, ran up and hugged her while whispering in her ear ‘Thank you’, causing the poor girl to go very, very red in the face. The other 2 merely laughed at this moment finally breathing some joy back into this depressing setting and mood. Belle on the outside, was a similar shade of red, though not of embarrassment, more so from crying her entire face directly into Ray's chest all the while Ray had a very understanding look on her face, albeit one that was a bit ticked at having her clothes wet from tears, but well, she'll give them shit about it later.

“MASTER, DETECTING FISSURE OPENING APPROXIMATELY 50 FEET AHEAD. SUGGESTION, APPROACH IT IF YOU ARE TO FINISH THIS.” 

“ Thank you Fairy, alright exhale~ time for the moment of truth, everyone ready?” Wise, turned back to see all of his agents, his friends along with Eous all nodding their heads, they were ready and so was he.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They reached the finish line and what was on the other side wasn't what they expected. It was the street where their house once was, it seemed untouched. Sure, there was damage and corruption, but with their house, in particular, compared to when Wise last saw it, it seemed almost pristine. “ Belle,how far away was Helios Academy from our house?” He asked his sister who quickly pulled up a map of where they were in comparison to where Helios Academy was. 

It was far, not the other side of the city far, but close enough to where there should have been damage of some kind, any kind and yet it wasn't almost as if it was purposely avoided. 

“ Proxy, I don't wish to alarm you but I have had a small group of my most trusted investigators ghosting you for the entirety of the trip, you might want to take a look at the picture they just took. They're only one fissure behind you.” Ray then sent a picture to him, which he was able to see via his connection with Eous and Fairy. His blood went cold, it was the mark of the Exaltists painted in what seemed to be ether and blood. They were there mere moments before and that was just there?

Wise then turned his face and saw Yiuxan who also had an equally concerned look on her face. 

“ You don't think…”

“ I've dealt with miasma inside Lemian Hollow, it shouldn't even exist here, but there are some amongst the ranks who can summon it at will. They ambushed us.” She came to the conclusion with a wide-eyed look on her face.

“ Ray, tell your men to be on guard. We're not alone

There's a good chance that we've been followed this entire time by Exaltists and that chaos was their attempt to kill us.”

“Understood proxy informing everyone on my squad to go on full red alert, as for you, do not get separated. We still don't fully understand what they are all capable of but if they're willing and capable of doing something like that here, just to stop us?” Ray was concerned she had encountered them a few times before but to have them full out ambush them out of nowhere with such an impressive assault, if those two Void Hunters weren't there, there was a good chance those two would have been dead, and nobody would have known until it was too late.

“Yiuxan, can you sense if there's anyone near you or anything out of the ordinary?” Belle's voice came out concerned. I mean, she had dealt with them along with Wise inside of the hollows so they're trickery wasn't new to her. But she also knew, give them enough time and they were a vicious threat. 

“Hmmmm. Nothing, there's nobody around us and if they are there, I can't sense them, but you said this house, the one right in front of us, is the one where you two originally lived right?” 

Wise nodded, there's no way you could ever forget his home.

“ There's a cluster of miasma inside there, the range is small, but the amount it's exuding is immense. Wise when we get inside, you are gonna help me find all the nodes we need to destroy. That way, we won't be worried about that while we're there.” 

“Of course Shifu.”

Wise went over to open the door and as you expected, it was rusted shut damn near impossible to even move the door, he looked over to Lycaon and simply tilted his head towards the door.

“ Are you certain about this master proxy? I wouldn't dare wish to offend you by destroying your childhood home.”

Lycaon was genuinely worried about breaking into their home. I mean, these people trusted him with their lives and he felt all sorts of guilty and wrong at the thought of breaking the door down especially considering the fact that he had worked in Victoria Housekeeping, where the principles of being a gentleman and a butler were drilled into him, the idea breaking the door down in a brutish manner, well, it went against everything had learned.

“ It's alright, you're not going to offend us by breaking down a door. Besides, we need to get in and this is the easiest way.”

“ If that is what you wish, Master Proxy, please, everyone stand back while I knock on the door.” He then in a surprisingly fluid motion, kicked the door down in a singular kick of his robotic legs. It didn't fly off the hinges, it just simply broke the lock which had been rusted in place.

“ That was… a surprisingly smooth kick. Do you know how to break a door down?” 

“ Yeah, like Wise said, we're not mad, but that was smooth. Like way too smooth for that to have been your first time doing that. Lyyycaon, is there something you haven't told us?” Belle said in a teasing manner, regaining her spark and teasing mood.

“ Apologies Master Proxy, I wish you didn't have to see this side of me while I was still within Mockingbird, I learned a thing or two about ‘entering uninvited’. I promise that my days as a thief are far, far behind me.

“Hehehe~

Relax, we're just pulling your leg. We know that you did some pretty unsavory stuff back then but we know you're not that person anymore so you don't have to apologize for anything.” Belle reassured the wolf thiren as she could see him starting to turn red even through his white fur.

With the door down they walked inside, Lycaon taking a bit longer than the others as he went out of his way to wipe his feet/shoes on the mat before he went inside. The inside was even stranger, nothing was moved, there was dust and a bit of cobwebs here and there, but nothing seemed to be moved despite the fact this place was inside of a war zone, literally. It was exactly as Wise remembered it being down to the positioning of the couch, the pictures both hung on the walls and lay down on the coffee table, even the state of their kitchen was exactly how he remembered it. He could also sense the miasma in the air. It wasn't as thick as it was when they were ambushed but it wasn't exactly light either. 

“Basement, center of the room.” 

Wise followed Yiuxan's guidance, activating his ability and, sure enough there it was, a large cluster in the middle of the room inside the basement. He also decided to look around and saw the three nodes holding it together, one in his room, one in Belle's room, and the last one in their parents room. 

“Shifu, you take the ones in both my room and Belle's room, they're on the 2nd floor, I'll take care of this one, here in our parents' room.”

“Understood. Lycaon, Belle, you're with me, Miyabi guard him with your life.” It made sense to bring the weaker of the two with her since Miyabi could respond to threats quicker and more efficiently.

Miyabi simply followed Wise as he went to the door and, with some effort, forced the door open. Exactly how it was from all those years ago, for Wise it felt like a strange nostalgia trip, he hadn't been in here since he was barely able to walk and now, after over two decades, he is finally back.

He went to see if any of his parents' pictures had survived, unfortunately, as he had guessed, he wasn't that lucky. Almost every single picture that was there was faded, far too corrupted and old to really make out any details, the color even seemed to just melt away into grey. The node laid on the wall pulsing in a sickening rhythm, Wise simply held his hand out and after closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, destroyed it causing the room to breathe a sigh of relief as if she had been under the effects of the miasma as well. 

“ Proxy, are you alright?”

Wise didn't turn around almost as if he had been in his own head, taking it all in.

“ Not really, I mean, I kinda wanted a picture of them. It's been a little over 20 years since they died, I can't even remember their faces, so I was kind of hopeful that I could see their faces again.”

Miyabi hugged him from behind and asked in a strangely timid voice for the Void Hunter.

“ If you don't mind me asking, how did they die?”

“.... I don't know…. All I remember was the police knocking on our door telling us that our parents were dead, I remember asking over and over again ‘what happened?’ ‘How did it happen?’ ‘Why?’ they wouldn't give us a straight answer just that they were dead, and that somebody was coming to pick us up, Carole Arna had apparently been entrusted with keeping us safe, raising us. I don't understand fully what kind of relationship Carole and our parents had, nonsense, before that day we never even met her, so the fact that she was option one, says a lot to me. After that Carole essentially became our mom and teacher, she was the reason we didn't end up homeless, dead on the streets. Belle what's way too young to remember any of this, her life there, even our parents, but I do. Although I still miss them, along with my old life, so much, I can't just sit there and pretend that Carole didn't step up and raise us.” His tone throughout the entire explanation was sad and distant, he missed this missed them. 

Miyabi hugged him tighter as she could sympathize with him, she too lost her mother on a day that was like any other. Although her mother was lost due to the expansion of Hollow Zero, the similarities of both wanting to live normal lives and then being immediately uprooted by something out of their control, those similarities were not lost to her.

“ Don't worry, my proxy. Even if you can't find your teacher, I know you will be able to find closure.”

“ Are you sure?” 

Closure. 

A word that he knew but one that he never believed he experienced. Could he really just…no i couldn't because walking away would mean leaving behind the entire reason they even became proxies. As nice as it could have been. He and his sister were set on their goal, they were going to prove their teacher's innocence and clear her name or they would die trying. 

“ I know you will. Besides, even if you can't find closure, you are my proxy so regardless of what path you follow, I will be by your side.” She said finally letting go, turning him so she could look him in the eyes, their faces mere inches apart. She was serious, they put their faith in her and she would do the same. She wasn't going to abandon that not now, not ever.

Wise smiled softly, grateful for her friendship and trust… before immediately realizing just how close his face actually was to Miyabi's, and in a very unceremonious way pulling his face back, he was red completely, from his face all the way to his ears.

Miyabi was slightly confused before she herself immediately realized why he pulled back so quickly, as she too immediately turned a shade so red her eyes would have been put to shame. A very small awkward silence was now between the two of them as both turned away from each other, both contemplating what the heck they just did. 

________

Yiuxan made her way upstairs which had been creaking under the weight of somebody being on them after a decade, thankfully they didn't break under her.

Lycaon however,

CRACK

Was unfortunately not so lucky.

“ Forgive me, Master Belle, I promise you it was not my intention to damage your home any further than necessary. Please forgive this foolish butler for his incompetence.” He said as he then went to bow down, full of both shame and embarrassment. 

“ It's alright, I know you didn't do it on purpose plus I'm surprised those stairs even survived Shifu walking up them…no offense.”

“None taken.”

“If I may ask you, what exactly are these ‘clusters’ and why exactly do we need to separate in order to destroy them.” Ray asked, confused as she had taken a backfoot on their conversation and was now very much out of the loop. 

“ These clusters, are essentially large formations of miasma that appear when a large amount populate a small area and if there's enough ether, they essentially coagulate all into one form, able to spread both miasma and ether much more efficiently, all the while empowering ethereals and weakening humans. These shouldn't be here, but it seems the Exaltists have taken their madness outside of Waifei Peninsula.” Yiuxan explained to Ray as best she could all the while Ray was writing down notes, ensuring that her people would be much better prepared when encountering these new threats.

Lycaon with much more care, walked up the stairs while carrying Eous, and thankfully they didn't break this time. The upstairs was a tiny, bit more rotted. Then downstairs, there was a bathroom immediately in front of the stairs, to the left, were two more rooms and to the right was one room. All three of them had signs in front of them, but they were far too faded to read. 

“Left or right? Hmmmm… I'll let my disciple decide.” Yiuxan could see both nodes one on the left and one on the right, Wise had said that they were inside of both of their rooms but as to which room was whose, that she did not know. 

“Hmmmm. Iiii saaaaay… Left!” What neither party saw, apart from Ray who was there with her, was that Belle quite literally played Eeny, meeny, miny, moe to decide what direction they would go. Ray was face palming and giving Belle the stare of a disapproving, disappointed mother, but she did trust her judgment which so far, hadn't let them astray soooo…

“Then we shall go left, after you, Lady Yiuxan Shifu.” Lycaon stepped aside and held the door open for both her and Belle.

“My, what kind gentleman, come Junior Belle, let us not waste this. Gentleman's kind offer.” Yiuxan managed to get a chuckle from Belle and a slight snort from Lycaon as they entered. The room was…. Well, for lack of a better term unimpressive. All I was with was a simple bed, one window peeking into the outside, a closet to the side with a bunch of clothes in it they were so old they were essentially dust, and a small shelf, full of books and what seemed to be a couple music discs. The room screamed ‘Wise’. Belle had lived long enough with him to know exactly what its tastes were and this room basically had everything young him would have absolutely adored. She looked around the room and then pointed to a small little ceiling fan. “ Up there, there's some sort of disturbance coming from there.” Yiuxan carefully pulled the ceiling fan down revealing the node in all of its very, very gross glory. “Gross. But I suppose this isn't that far off from finding a spider on the wall. Either way, we should get rid of it, Shifu if you could?” Belle said to Yiuxan who just like Wise did on the 1st floor simply held her hand out, took a breath and destroyed the node in a single go. “ Masterfully done Lady Shifu, and I'm quite certain that Master Wise has taken care of the one below. Now I believe the last one is over there, past the bathroom is it not?” Lycaon asked the proxy who had yet to answer as she seemed… hesitant.

“ Is something the matter, Master Belle?”

“...... Wise said that the last two nodes were going to be in our rooms. This one is definitely his, which means the last one is mine.” 

“Is there a problem with that? If you don't want to go, you can stay out here with him, I'll take care of it.”

“ It's nothing bad. It's just, this is from before I was even old enough to remember…anything. Maybe I'll see something I don't like. Or maybe I don't know, it seems silly in retrospect but it's just a bit nerve racking walking into a place where I lived as a kid but I don't remember any of it.” Belle was conflicted, on the one hand realistically she should have no reason to be afraid to walk into there. I mean, she didn't even remember living here, but on the other hand this would essentially, to be insight to who she once was before she met Carole, would she see something she would like, would you see something that would disturb her.

Pat 

Belle looked up to see Lycaon place his hand on her head with a look that calmed her nerves. They weren't going to abandon her, who she was didn't matter to them, who she is now, the Belle they knew, was more than enough. They walk out of Wise's old room and made their way to Belle's old room, as they stood in front of the door Belle had sensed something strange inside of there through Eous’ sensors, whatever was in there was emitting a signal that was unique completely different from the node that was in there.

“ Guys, I'm picking up something in there, that's not the node. I can't get an exact reading of what it is. But it's unique enough to where it's differentiated from the miasma.”

Both said “Understood” as they opened the door and were met with…. A normal room, sure, they hadn't really expected much, but for this much, buildup only to be blue balled kind of bum to Belle out.

“Well that was a load of stress for nothing.” 

The room itself was about what you would expect from somebody who was barely even a toddler. There were a couple toys here and there, a few plushes, some old blankets and a small bed for her. The node was found on the wall just above the small bed, but what had caught her attention was a small object that was very different from everything else in the room. 

“ Hey what's that on the floor?” 

Lycaon went over to investigate and found a strange white and orange object, it was impossible to make out what it once was or what it was part of, but what could be noted was the ether signature that was coming off it. For something so small it was emitting ether on par with a freaking Dullahan! It looks like a spike of some sort. It was hard to tell if it was metallic, man-made or something naturally occurring within here. Ray, who had been on Standby, had also noticed the large ether signature coming off it, she had seen some strange things inside of here but this was new.

“ SCANNING FOR FURTHER ANALYSIS……. SCAN COMPLETE. DATA SHOWS THAT THIS OBJECT IS REMARKABLY NEW, ALMOST AS IF IT HASN'T BEEN HERE FOR THAT LONG IN COMPARISON TO EVERYTHING ELSE. HYPOTHESIS: SOMEONE BROUGHT IT HERE AFTER THE FALL OF THE OLD CAPITAL. REASON:UNKNOWN.”

Fairy's commentary also just further increased the confusion. Someone brought it here after the fall of the old capital? Why? Belle decided to stuff it into her little pouch the Eous had, and decided that both of them, what's simply scan it and see what they can get from it once they got out of here. Yiuxan like before simply removed the node, and felt the air get lighter as there was now just one thing left to take care of.

___________

Both groups reconvened back on the first floor and discussed what both had found, Wise and Miyabi finding a whole load of nothing. While Yiuxan, Lycaon and Belle found a strange ether spike, that was emitting enough ether to be confused for a Dullahan. 

“Hmmm… that's strange.”

“What is Wise?”

“ It's…not exactly producing ether, it's more like it's absorbing it from the air. If it had been here for as long as this room is old, it would have been way more stronger. Yeah in comparison to everything in this house, this is fresh.”

“ How strange, for what possible reason could they need for something like… this and more importantly, what is this thing's purpose and why would it be placed in your childhood home?” Lycaon was also trying and failing to figure out exactly what this thing was. Yiuxan didn't have a better answer either, the most she could give the siblings was that it was emitting a strange signal almost as if it was calling something but never receiving any signal in return, other than that, nothing. 

The group turned to the door that was in front of them, the basement where the cluster resided. Most likely this is where they get some answers. If not, well, at least they wouldn't leave empty handed.

Wise stepped up to the door and like all the others tried to open it.

Click click

Unlike the other doors that were rusted and old or creaking, this one was purposely locked. If this house is decaying old and basically abandoned in no man's land, why go out of your way to lock one area out of the entire house.

“ Someone locked it, okay there's definitely something big going on here.” Wise. Then without warning decided to take a few steps back, touched the wall opposite of the door and ran into it, full force shoulder bashing it down.

SLAM

CRRREEEEAK

CRACK

Well, there was good news, and there was bad news. The good news he got the door down, the bad news he wasn't expecting the door to straight up cave in and for him still going full force, plummet straight downstairs straight on to the cement floor.

“‘WISE!’”

Everyone had rushed down past the broken door to see Wise flat on his ass as you very slowly lifted his thumb and said in a strained voice. “i’m okay.” 

“ Good because I'm gonna beat the crap out of you when you get home. That was so freaking, stupid. What the hell were you thinking?!”

“ Would you believe me if I told you the intrusive thoughts won?”

“No.”

“Fair.”

After once again picking him back up, they decided to look around in the basement. It was strangely the biggest room in the entire house, like way bigger than Wise remembered. It was completely freaking empty, apart from two bookshelves and a coffee table that were just sitting in the corner. But as they were looking around, Wise noticed something. Underneath where the bookshelf was were, scrape marks, as if something had been moved back and forth repeatedly over and over. “Guys there's scrapes on the floor here. I think there might be something behind this bookshelf.” They all joined wise at the bookshelf, which was covered in books that were pretty old. Apart from one that was a tadbit younger than the others.

Belle grabbed the book and said with absolute glee and joy in her heart.

“Please be a secret door, please be a secret door, please be a secret door.” Low and behold, as she pulled the book, they heard a soft click and the bookshelf began to move on its own.

“Yay!” Belle said the largest grin on her face, while next to her Ray had an equally amused face seeing her get this much joy out of something so simple.

As the bookshelf moved, it revealed a pathway that led even deeper the air down there, seeming colder like physically colder. The group made their way downstairs with Wise using one of the flashlights that came alongside the anti-corruption meds. Said bag of meds was about a quarter of the way down, not that much, but still not exactly a comforting amount for what had been a ten hour trip at this point. As they made their way down Wise used the flashlight to look around. There were scratch marks everywhere, what seemed to be cracks and even indents could be seen all on the walls like something was desperately trying to get out, and when they got down to the last step, what they were mapped with was….unnerving.

There were multiple desks and cabinets, chairs and upturned tables, a large pile of files and a voice recorder, that seemed to still be in working order. But that was not what got their attention first. 

What got their attention was on the other side.

Three enormous crystal cocoons, cocoons that belonged to one type of ethereal they knew about….Sacrifices. To say that their hearts fell to their ass would be an understatement, they knew just how dangerous these things could be ranging from very dangerous to nearly unstoppable. So to see 3 of them, it was as if they were staring death in the face, but what frightened them even more was two out of the three were opened, empty of what they had originally contained.

Wise was shaking with fear and a bit of anger. 

This has been under here. How? How long has it been here? This is what they did to my home to the place me and my sister grew up?

He shook with thoughts as he then proceeded to get closer with the others very closely staying behind him. The third crystal cocoon was stranger than the other two, it was still closed and seemed untouched, apart from a small hole that was in the center of it. Wise got close with Miyabi behind him, her hand on the blade, ready to strike. If it's so much as even twitched, she would immediately shove Wise out of the way and put it down. Wise was finally able to get a good look at the hole, from his point of view, it looked like a gunshot wound. His best hypothesis? Somebody managed to get to this thing before they did and put it down permanently.

Lycaon grabbed the files and began to sort them, reading off three names, Atlas, Juggernaut, and Gigantic. The files were on the creatures that they were staring at, or rather where they once slept. The group was terrified. When do they have time to set this up? Has this really been what they have been doing in their free time?

Wise then grabbed the voice recorder and blew the dust off of it before pressing the rewind button and then play, to which the entire group went silent intending on hearing what it actually happened.

Audio log #57

The sacrifices to the almighty Creator awoke this week, the first two Atlas and Juggernaut awoke and attacked everyone in sight. They left no survivors. I'm currently bleeding out to death so I'm simply making this last recording as one final log before I die. These two that we have created are far too dangerous to be left alive, I understand these are for Our creator but something that's dangerous should not be allowed to live. I managed to, if I am correct, lobotomize Gigantic, but it is not dead and the other two are far too deadly to take care of with the puny weaponry we have on hand.

Atlas is far, far too strong, and too fast for anyone to keep up by my calculations, it would make someone like Hoshimi Miyabi sweat from how fast it's moving, along with its unbelievable strength, there is no guarantee there is anyone alive or dead that could truly match it. 

Juggernaut on the other hand is a much more different threat. Its armor is nearly impenetrable, I've seen it shrug off entire missiles barrages, and be completely fine. It looks like a regular Dullahan but do not be fooled. It is much stronger and faster than any Dullahan on record. The telltale sign that it is. This particular sacrifice is simple, red crystals growing out of its back rather than purple, green or chromatic. 

I'm almost out of blood and I'm starting to see black around the corner of my eyes…. My last message is this…. If you find this recording please run…. These monsters should they find you, they will not show you mercy and you ……will not…..……survive.

The news was immediately frightening.

Two sacrifices that were apparently that powerful, just roaming around and they have no clue where they were?

They immediately knew what they had to do. They left quicker than anything that ever left in their life. Unfortunately they didn't get any information on Carole Arna but thankfully, this was only the most common location of sightings, not the only location. But right now that goal seemed almost secondary, this threat that they had just learned about needed to be taken care of as quickly as possible. 

As they left, however, none of them noticed far far off in the distance, someone watching them. Somebody cloaked in a long purple-into-blue coat, that reached all the way to just above their ankles. They had long white hair and a mask covering their face. Next to them what's another person but they were more recognizable, an Exaltist.

“ Inform the overseer, location 5A has been compromised, and tell her…..

Phatheon has been located.”

End of Chapter 2

Chapter Text

Prologue: The Last Calm Moment Before Hell - Part 3 Hunters

“ Well, this isn't exactly how I thought my day would go.” Wise said as he was looking at his and Belle's workbench. What was on top of it? Oh you know just a spike made from ether, that was currently sending out a signal, and producing a concerning amount of ether, hence why it was inside of a specialized container. Wise had thought back to their expedition 3 days earlier.

Three days ago

The group had long since high tailed it from the location and returned to the Scott Outpost in record time, they weren't afraid, as they were concerned by the fact that they were inside of an area were three well, technically two sacrifices were just roaming and they had no idea where they were. On top of that, they also found a strange crystal spike that was producing signals and emitting an enormous amount of ether. So while yes, technically this expedition was a failure, this did not come without some major revelations.

Wise was staring down as he sat down on his chair. His face was painted in pain and from an outside perspective, anger. And he had every right to be. These people were just doing this level of atrocity underneath their house for God knows how long and now they just created three monsters that were apparently so dangerous that nobody alive or dead could handle them. He knew that there wasn't anything he could have done to change the outcome, but it didn't exactly stop him from being dumb and somehow finding a way to blame himself. 

I should have known.

 I had to have known.

 How long have they been there? 

Why our home? 

Why always us? 

You took away our mom, took away our lives, our home, is that not enough for you now you've come to desecrate, what remains of what little we have left?!

When will you just leave us alone?!

Belle was also very concerned, since well, that object could have been anywhere in the house, but it was specifically in her old room. She couldn't put the pieces together yet, but the knowledge that that was just in there, unnerved her. 

As she sat down, she saw Wise, who was currently gripping his arms so tightly that he was leaving fingernail marks on it. She had tried nudging him a few times but he had been way too inside of his own head. His eyes glaring down like he was ready to burn a hole through the floor, she could tell that he was pissed, frankly, she was too, but she showed it more than him usually. But now it was strange seeing him in this position, she couldn't remember the last time she ever saw him this mad, the only time she could think of where she saw him. That mad was when they were trying to question Bringer about their teacher. He had always been calm, cool , collected, getting angry just never seemed like him.

Nudge 

She nudged him again only this time, she did it much harder, way too hard for him to just straight up ignore. To be honest, it wasn't so much a nudge as it was just a straight up elbow to the gut. 

“Belle?! What the heck was that for?” Wise finally being pulled back asked in pain.

“ I understand what happened was very stressful, but dude, you're straight up leaving fingernail marks in your arm. Are you sure you're okay? I mean, don't get me wrong, what we found out was pretty messed up, but I've never seen you this worked up over, well, anything.” She was very concerned for her brother and hoped that her words would reach his very, very thick skull. 

Wise became more aware of his surroundings as he realized. It wasn't just her who's staring at him, it was Lycaon, Miyabi and Yiuxan all staring at him with very concerned looks. Finally realizing just what he was doing, he decided to take a step back, mentally and reassure everyone that he was fine. 

As they all sat there discussing what they had just found and deciding what they would do, with this information they stared up at the door of the room. They were in to see Ray walking in with a strange looking box in her arms. 

“Ms Ray, it's good to see you again. Might I ask, what is that device you have in your arms?”

Ray in response simply turned a small dial of the box, the box that seemed like just a large cube of titanium or some metal, then proceeded to open showing its more delicate insides. The outer layer of the box was very strong, they didn't know exactly what it was, but just at a first glance, it looked like it was meant to take punishment after punishment without failing. The inner layer seemed to be a glass like layer allowing them to see straight through it and to the content that was inside, the strange ether spike they found within Hollow Zero.

“ Well, my team did multiple various tests on it, along with some God knows how many scans on it, trying to figure out what exactly is it, how does it works, and what it even is, the best I can give you is we have no fucking clue what it does, what it is or where it came from.” Ray said with genuine frustration at not being able to solve this very enticing mystery, she had always been the type of person to enjoy a good mystery and solving them on her own, so to have one be blatantly in her face and very easily stumping her well, it was very much ticking her off.

“ Wow, there is something that can stump you the more you know. But wait, if you can't figure it out and it's way too dangerous to keep anywhere else, why'd you bring it here and not where it was supposed to be contained?” Belle was confused, since as far as they told them, this thing was supposed to be under lock and chain and 24/7 surveillance, since it's very clearly dangerous and the Exaltists wanted it for whatever reason, most likely not a good one, and for Ray to just have this here, made no sense. But that's when it clicked for Belle. This is Ray that we're talking about, the same girl who broke protocol so many times for her own ambitions and goals so, she had an idea of what just happened.

“.... they have no idea you took it, do they.”

“Nope… nor will they because I have a proposition and no you can't refuse either.”

Present day 

“ Why the hell did we agree to this?” Wise said, running his hand up his face with frustration and contemplation.

“ Bro I believe her exact words were ‘you figure this out for me Phatheon or you are arrested’ I don't exactly think she gave us much of an option I mean, I don't think she'll turn us in or that she'll tell anyone, but she knows that, we know that, she has that option and, at any point she can just decide to say hey, it's these guys so she has as much leverage as she wants over us, put it all together with the fact that we're her best agents on record and it makes sense why she gave us…this.” Belle finished her rant pointing at the metal box. 

Apparently this box was made from Pure Porcelume along with various other very ether resistant materials, the crystal inside of it was constantly producing it or more accurately, exuding what it had absorbed from Hollow Zero. This box wasn't even something that the Defense Force had. This particular strong box had to be specially ordered to be custom made and cost a disgusting amount. The siblings at first didn't really know how much it cost until Ray gave them the price tag, just in case they decide to break it by accident….to say that both of them nearly shit themselves would be an understatement. Both of them internally were very, very grateful that they knew extremely rich people as friends, because if they broke it, they could probably sell everything they have earned along with their H.D.D and Fairy, and they would still be short. So, you know, it's not that hard of a task, just figure out the ins and outs of something that you've never seen before that's inside a device that costs more than your fucking worth. What could possibly go wrong?

“ So far, I've been trying to figure out where the signal is going and what type of signal it's trying to receive along with what's causing it to absorb ether. So far, neither has been answered and I have lost three days of my sleep, so I am slowly starting to go mad.” Wise voiced his current situation and cause of frustration to his sister, who responded with. “ Yeah, honestly I'm starting to get worried about you. I mean I know, we're kinda forced to do this, but you do know I can take the shift, right? You've been awake for 3 days straight at this point, to be honest, I'm surprised you haven't collapsed! You are not gonna get any by staying awake all night like a workaholic. Today I want you to leave this to me and just either rest or go hang out with one of our friends, dude, please just don't be in here with this fricking box.” 

Wise, who already had some pretty big eye bags, looked at a sister with even deeper ones. She was right and he knew it but he didn't want to leave it just yet he felt like he was this close to getting it…but as she stated he wasn't gonna get anywhere driving himself mad with lack of sleep, so…

“Sigh~ okay, okay i'll leave this to you. Try to figure it out for me, please while I go take a break. This has been annoying as hell, and so far we've gotten nowhere. Fairy help her out with this, please, no arguing. Well with that taken care of I guess I should go, there are so many more mysteries that I need to be unsolved, much more than I think either of us anticipated. What happened to mom? Why are they targeting us? What are the sacrifices that they created? I feel that with enough time. We can understand them and we'll figure them out. But there is one thing that I still don't understand–”

Wise pushed the rolling chair he was using back and turned it around to face their couch and the lone resident lazing on it.

“ –Why are you here?”

“What? Can't gal hang out with her friends, Proxy?” Ellen. The entire time, from before they even started a conversation to the moment that they turned around and saw her, she had been laying there and neither proxy knew why. 

“ As much as I do like hanging out with you Ellen, we both know you're not here for that. I mean it's you who I've seen fall asleep, standing up, mind you, and you have been awake for over 6 hours straight. You wouldn't do that naturally, so there is a reason, what is it?” Belle said as she too was confused and honestly surprised by the fact that this normally sleepy girl was still awake.

“Tch I hate how fricking smart you are. Yeah yeah I'm here because the boss wants me to watch you and no, he didn't tell me exactly what I'm supposed to be looking out for you. Just that you guys are supposed to be guarded.”

“‘Why?’” Both siblings asked at the same time since well they appreciated it, they didn't see the reason for it.

“Dude, they were doing whatever the heck they were doing in your house. There is a chance that they did this on purpose and the boss doesn't want you guys to die doing something that's freaking crazy. So I'm here just to make sure you guys, you know, don't conk it out of nowhere mysteriously.” Ellen explained her reason for being there while munching down her, by their count, 8th lollipop and had a 9th ready on standby. She was taking this way more seriously than she would with her normal jobs, since most of the time, she would just fall asleep or just get it done and quite literally just walk away, so the fact she was basically forcing herself to stay awake, it genuinely shocked them and also made them feel fuzzy inside to see just how much the shark thiren cared about them.

“ By the way, what exactly is the problem with this… thing? Apparently you've been trying to find signals and trying to receive signals and so many other words that I can't even understand. I know I shouldn't be asking, but well can you blame a gal for being curious.” 

Lycaon head basically only told her the bare minimum about what was happening with them, and what the situation was. She knew the Exaltists were involved and the proxies were possibly being targeted… beyond that? She knew basically nothing about what was actually happening. 

“ To be honest, I'm not sure if we're even allowed to tell you anything, since they kind of forced us to sign an NDA. But I can tell you why they're losing sleep for 3 days straight.” Wise then grabbed Ellen by the hand and led her to their workbench, completely oblivious to the poor girl's red face and Belle's smirk, and then sat the shark thiren next to him. 

Aaaaaaahh what do I do? I wasn't expecting to just grab me out of nowhere. And now I'm just here next to him, what the fuck do I do?! Belle, I can see you smirking, you bitch! Help me!

Heh

All according to cake.

Now we'll see if there will be any action between these two…. Besides embarrassment, tsundere responses, and density greater than stars

Okay i'll try to explain this in a way that won't confuse her. 

Why is she red?...... oh fuck

I just grabbed her hand without thinking! Of course she's gonna be embarrassed and I just did it in the moment!

Belle I know that smirk. You better wipe it off your face before I make you clean and stock the store by yourself.

The 3 of them were stuck in a mental three way struggle with neither side getting anywhere. They were basically stuck there, soft locked for about three minutes.

.

.

.

*AHEM

Wise coughing, getting his, Belle's and Ellen's brains back in working order, decided to explain the way the crystal was functioning.

“So basically the crystal is emitting signals and it's been doing that without rest. The thing we've been trying to do is figure out where the signal is heading and what is trying to receive its specific signal and the more obvious question is how this thing is emitting it.”

Ellen so far was following along, she wasn't the most versed in the specifics behind stuff like this but she understood enough to follow along with what Wise was explaining.

“ The problem that we've been having is the fact that it's been hopping signal lines repeatedly over and over every time, we keep trying to interject with it and the frequency also changes at random intervals with no warning at the same time not knowing if it'll stay of the fm, am, or even be at a level perceivable by the human ear. And even if we can match the frequency, there's no guarantee that we would be able to follow it down to its receiver and if the receiver is still intact enough for us to figure out who was receiving it for what reason and why.”

Aaaand he lost her

“Proxy….what kind of language are you fucking speaking?! I was understanding it up until the second half … fucking are you even human and not a computer with legs?!” 

To say she was absolutely lost would be an understatement and Belle, knowing how much Wise often forgot that not everyone was as smart as them, decided to help explain to the poor girl, in human language.

“ Okay because this idiot can't explain stuff properly, allow me to tell you, what exactly is our problem, in language, people are meant to understand.” She then grabbed an eraser and a bunch of pencils from the pencil cup that was there on the work bench.

“Say this eraser is this crystal and these pencils are the frequency lines.” As she said this she set the pencils in a parallel line that was five pencils across with the eraser being at the eraser point of the middle pencil. 

“The ‘crystal’ is on this line and it keeps going to the other side but it can't come back. And we” she grabs her hairpin and places it behind the eraser “are trying to follow it but everytime we try to” she moved the eraser to the leftmost pencil “ it moves over here and now we have to follow it over there and then it does the same every time we try to follow it to the next line and the next and the next.”

“ I appreciate the simpler explanation Belle but did you really have to explain it to me like I'm a child?”

Belle simply responded with “ The option was this or rocket science. We both know you are much smarter than you look, but you are not nerd levels of smart, which is what he and I are soooo.”

“Ooookay. Wait, so you've been trying to fix this for you, say three days now, do you guys have a plan or is it just throwing shit against the wall and hoping it sticks?”

Wise who was basically at the very edge of falling asleep turned to her and said yawning. “Yyyyaaaaaawn well, I tried to write code for it, but it's not easy considering it's a system that while familiar is completely different from anything we've done sense, you know, it's a signal coming from something organic and it's only sending not receiving, so that makes it a lot more difficult. Yaaaaawn The only other option is brute forcing it and while technically easier, it's not exactly simple since we have to have multiple radios or Fairy on those frequency lines all at the same and considering the fact that Fairy has already informed us, that's going to take a lot of power, and considering the fact that our power bill looks like somebody mashed a calculator…Yeah that's a hell no. As for the radio option we only have like 3 in the house, and it's been consistently swapping in between 13 separate lines so yeah, hence why I have been at this for three days straight” Wise looked like death decided to choose him to fuck up with eyebags that made his regular eyebags look normal, his hair, despite it naturally being very messy, looked genuinely disheveled like he had been in the middle of a fight and lost badly, and to top it of his skin was slightly paler than before signifying his lack of going out, put all of it together and well, it wasn't hard to understand why Belle wanted him to rest and relax so that she could take the next load with her mind being much more refreshed and of equal intelligence to his own.

Belle grabbed Ellen by the shoulders and asked her for assistance with helping her brother sleep and relax. Ellen, reluctant at first, decided to help since he did seem like he desperately needed sleep and Belle was basically on her knees asking her help. As Wise was taken away from the backroom to go relax with Ellen, Belle got to work with the crystal.

The rest of the week and the next after that were very uneventful. It was essentially just the siblings interchanging shifts, both of them trying to make some semblance of progress with this admittedly, very annoying piece of crystal. To be honest, both of the siblings were genuinely surprised that 3 weeks had passed since that original message. They hoped they would have received anything, any sort of signal, any sort of update from the Scott Outpost, from Ray, from Lycaon, from really anyone but no. Both of them besides, taking turns trying to solve the crystal, spent days within those, three weeks essentially, just doing what they normally did. The second week after the message they had gone to the Outer Ring, to help the Sons of Calydon with a couple of disputes both in and out of the hollows. Within that same week, they also managed to help Yuzuha and Alice revive the Fantasy Resort, and become well known amongst the people of Waifei Peninsula. 

Beyond that at the beginning of the third week, they helped Belobog Industries and Section 6 who both were a part of a group project, of studying/reinforcing the Shiyu Pillars. The reason behind this was that the pillars were acting strange. Some were generating and absorbing more energy, while others were at such weak levels, that if nobody managed to catch it in time, they would have genuinely failed, and Hollow Zero would have expanded. This had frightened a lot of people within, the higher ups of both the Defense Force and the H.I.A. because ever since they were first implemented, they had stood there sturdy, strong, figurative and literal pillars of support, that safeguarded humanity from the terrors that lay beyond that black sphere. So for them to fail, they knew something was wrong. Those things were never meant to fail, and if they were, it was not for at least a couple decades. They had spent almost all of their time. They're just trying to monitor and figure out what was wrong with them. To the point that they actually had to call in a good chunk of their agents because of the fact that the ones they were using were starting to get tired from how much they were patrolling within Hollow Zero. By the end of the week, every single agent and faction that they knew had gone into that place at least once and had helped the siblings figure out what was going on with the pillars. The result? 

Nothing.

Eventually, they all had to go away and go on with their lives, since while this was a very pressing matter, they couldn't waste away in here over something that had no discernible trace as to what caused the interference.

That was until before they left the siblings, managed to catch something painted on the side of one of the pillars. 

A symbol.

Their symbol

Exaltists

To say everyone there was immediately on high alert would be an understatement. First they were targeting the siblings and now they were targeting the pillars? This was not going to blow over. The agents had essentially given themselves the task, unbeknownst to either Belle or Wise, of protecting the proxies no matter what. The reason for that was it wasn't until this very moment, that all of them had learned that the proxies were being targeted. Well, except for the three who went with them, the very first day they traveled into Hollow Zero and found the crystal. 

But the problem was, everyone had their own lives as much as they wanted to help. There was only so much they could do for they had to go back to their original lives doing what they did.

Leaving the proxies with their own questions as to what was going to be the Exaltists next move. 

But by the fourth week…..

Their plan became clear.

_______________

Day One of the Fourth Week

The air was crisp, Autumn was now here in New Eridu. Most people were celebrating it the way you wouldn't think, kicking it back at home, relaxing with friends or just enjoying the nice weather and the relaxing day…….

But for PubSec, specifically the one in Janus Quarter…. The week could not have started any worse.

“ When did this occur?” Zhu Yuan asked as she stared at the horrifying sight. It was a mass graveyard, what appeared to be dozens of bodies all piled up and in the center of them painted in their blood on the ceiling, was a symbol, The Exaltist symbol. 

“ According to the person who found it, this seems to have been there for about a day as for the exact time of when this occurred…. That is unknown.” Qingyi responded to her partner as she too, despite the fact she was an automaton and had no real emotion in her voice, was genuinely unnerved by it. She had seen many things throughout her extremely long life….but this? This was one of the worst things she had seen in a good while.

Hrrrrrgggh Brrrleeeg

To the side was a familiar lynx thiren Seth, who was currently vomiting their guts out violently. He was only a rookie, he had seen a couple of things that were pretty bad, but for somebody who is as pure as him this was……there was no words for it. Next to him was his partner, Jane Doe who was rubbing his back as she too looked down with a face that said. “What did I just walk into?” She was currently just comforting him because deep down, she knew he was still pretty young, so for him to stumble across something this horrific…she could only imagine what was going through his head. She herself,  thanks to her senses as a thiren, had a very immense nausea building inside of her. She had seen very horrible crime scenes and very horrible aftermath of fights so she was used to it, but she would be lying if she said she wasn't holding in her own vomit. 

Zhu Yuan couldn't make sense of it. Why? There was no reason for it. It served no purpose. There was nothing to gain or lose from doing this, so why? 

The Exaltists.

She had dealt with them before when she had the unfortunate displeasure of uncovering the truth behind her personal hero's real identity as one of their members. When she found out about this, to say she was shaken to her core would be an understatement. To her it felt as if everything she fought for, everything her precinct ever stood for, everything she ever did….was nothing more than a lie… a lie used by somebody to commit heinous acts. She also knew that there was always a reason behind everything they did, they never did things at random, everything had to have some purpose behind it or some reason as to why they were doing it but this was just murder.

Random, brutal, senseless,murder.

She witnessed their bodies, guts strewn about everywhere, crushed heads exploded torsos, pieces of bodies mutilated beyond recognition, viscera and organs laying on the floor in a tapestry of red. 

She was mainly just keeping her head straight and trying to appear strong….but to be honest, she genuinely just wanted to go over and join her partner in vomiting everything she ate both today and yesterday just to do something to drown out the absolute horrid sight she was witnessing. 

She couldn't even make sense of what to do first 

…..count the bodies?

…..identify who was who among the dead?

…..cry?

…..scream?

As she stood there, she didn't even notice as crime scene investigation units came to observe the scene and make sense of what had happened, she stood there completely unmoving, like a statue upon this graveyard.

This event was such a massive unbelievable tragedy, that mere minutes after they had arrived, Section 6 was there as well. Yanagi was doing her best to remain the pillar of strength for Section 6, she had been consoling Soukaku who wasn't used to seeing this kind of carnage. Yes, she had grown up in a war, but back then she was far too young to truly understand what was happening. Now? She understood perfectly what she was looking at and had made her uncontrollably cry, the loss of life for no apparent reason was just unbearable.

Harumasa was at the front staring at the bodies with a strangely blank expression. His face was unusually serious, which was extremely out of place for the archer, considering his go to face was one of either laziness or absolute joy masking pain. But here it was almost as if his brain was trying to process what the hell he was looking at. Despite the fact he had been the one in their group closest to death, he still wasn't used to seeing this much of it all at once.

Miyabi stood with the face of rage. Dozens dead, all people she could have possibly protected and yet she couldn't. She knew these people well. The monsters who took her mother, turned from someone who wanted a normal life into a living weapon in the figurative sense and now they created this art piece of gore for what…. She couldn't make heads or tails. All she knew was she wasn't mad and someone was going to pay.

______________

Day Two of the Fourth Week

“What….the…..fuck?” 

In a different part of the city deep within a hollow was a similar scene. Dozens of bodies piled up in the middle of a room and on the ceiling of it? The symbol of the Exaltists, painted in blood this time, accompanied by people hanging from the roof. The unfortunate people who stumbled across this site was Obol Squad, who originally had come here on a simple reconnaissance mission, only to find their targets were dead, along with anyone who was in the vicinity. 

The first who entered and saw was 11 who in an uncharacteristic moment simply let the curse slip out as she couldn't make heads or tails of what she was seeing.

“W-w-why?” Orphie who had come in behind her simply looked at the carnage with absolute fear in her eyes. “ What the heck?! Everyone, stay on guard. We may not be alone in here.” Magus the leader who was attached to her tail warned everyone of what they had just stumbled across, she didn't trust that this was left here and the culprit wasn't close by and she wasn't going to jeopardize the lives of her teammates.

“Trigger, what do you make of this?......Trigger?” Magus looked back along with Orphie to see Trigger with a handkerchief to her mouth and nose as her visor started glowing a deep blue. “S-sorry, gag the smell is overwhelming but as f– gag as for what the reason behind this could be…. I don't know.” 

They had heard rumors of the next move of the Exaltists being soon, but this had no pattern or purpose. 

It honestly reminded her of the Grim Vulture. Someone else who too murdered people and played with the lives of others just to get back at those who had wronged her. She couldn't help but think back to it, for as much of a horrible person as the Grim Vulture was, Trigger could at least understand why she did what she did. 

Here? 

Was this message? 

A statement?

A warning?

As Magus tried to make sense of the situation, she received a message from the commander….they had found another pile of corpses and their symbols once again painted in blood. But what the commander said next was extremely concerning.

“ HOLD ON YOU SAID HOW MANY?!”

“ To our confirmation….. At least seventeen other sites, all exactly the same… we can't wait any longer. We have to make our move NOW!” 

The Exaltists were making their moves, ensuring that nobody would be ready, but once again, the end goal wasn't clear.

“ If we tackle all of the sites and everything else at once, we are going to be spread too thin. Contact all Public Security agencies near and around those areas, we need all hands on deck.”

“Roger that, Commander. Seed prepare for evac, Obol Squad rendezvous with Seed, we need all hands on deck.”

When they returned, they were met with the rest of the Defense Force who were essentially giving them a game plan of what was going to happen. Every squad member, along with every PubSec officer, they could spare would be investigating these sites and trying to figure out where they would strike next. Along with that, they also needed new weapons, as it turned out, the number of ethereals they were encountering had skyrocketed and they had already lost two different squads to overwhelming forces. 

Something was happening they knew the Exaltists were behind all of it but the angle? The reason? they just couldn't figure out what it was.

__________________

Day Three of the Fourth Week 

Koleda was currently having an argument with Ben over the recent commission they had received. The Defense Force specifically called out them wanting to create weaponry for them. 

Koleda was for the most part on board since for her, any sort of progress and damage she could make against the bastards who used her father, framed him, ruined his reputation, and then killed them when he wasn't useful and learning too much, was music to her.

Ben on the other hand was a lot more apprehensive about this. They had created many things throughout their years, most of which could be considered weapons, like the three boring machines, but they were mainly just for construction. But to be specifically asked to make weapons?

To Ben, that was a step too far. 

“President, I understand why you want to do this, but please understand. This? I don't feel comfortable making what they're asking us to make. We've created a bunch of dangerous things, most of it being from Grace, but they're asking for stuff that I can only describe as unethical. Are you sure you aren't gonna change your mind?”

“No…. I can understand why you're apprehensive about this but….. a chance to get back at these guys after everything they've done to us? I'm not wasting it. I've been wanting to get back at these guys ever since I learned what they did to my dad, and now I have an actual valid reason to get involved with these guys and make them hurt.”

Anton, who had been standing to the side watching the argument, decided to step forward and say his peace.

“President…. I know this might sound strange coming from me, but are you sure this is….the correct choice. They are asking us, not telling us we can refuse and honestly I want to refuse. I mean using our creations, our sweat blood and tears to make something designed to kill? Doesn't that seem wrong to you?” 

“Anton, Ben….. I'm…. with Sweet Pea on this.” Both immediately open their mouths in shock at what they just heard. Grace was many things, ditzy, cheerful, and a tad bit crazy. But somebody who would willingly create weapons for murder? That wasn't her.

“Are…are you serious right now?!”

“Yes,Anton, I am. My mentor and uncle are gone because of them and now I'm given a chance to bring justice to his murderers? I'm going to take that chance and don't think like I haven't thought this through. My babies are going to help us bring justice for both Khors and everyone lost to them, but I'm going to make sure that they do not grow up to be murderers. These children are my creations, my pride and joy, and if they want weapons, they will have to go to someone else. I will only give them children who can fight and defeat them, not kill.” 

Everyone was shocked by Grace's speech. She really did think this through and was absolutely ready to ensure that her creations, once they were in their hands, would only be used to defeat their enemies, not kill them since to her, that was not their purpose, nor will it ever be. Now that they finally understood what their plan was Belobog Industries made the unanimous vote to join the fight. 

__________________

Day Four of the Fourth Week 

Somewhere inside of a hollow, there was a meeting. The meeting was to discuss the plan moving forward. Standing atop of the altar was their leader, the Overseer, Mevorakh. 

“ Phatheon.

The perpetual thorn in our side.

For far too long, we've been simply ignoring these two. Letting them live as they ruin plan after plan surviving every encounter. Walking away with victory while we scurry in defeat. But now, three weeks ago a benefactor of ours managed to locate them and trace them back to their hideout. Now we must act, for too long have they acted unimpeded they must fall…. But they mustn't die, they harbor secrets that you have implanted in them.” Mevorakh pointed to a woman who was held by two Exaltist Summoners, Carole Arna. She looked visibly wounded, she had a couple cuts and bruises on her face. Her hair was disheveled and her eyes remained the same hateful glare towards the Overseer.

She then in a low, hateful tone said with absolute determination “ STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM MY CHILDREN, OR SO HELP ME I WILL MAKE SURE YOUR DEATH IS SLOW AND PAINFUL.” 

The summoners responded with a punch to her stomach that put her to her knees. 

“Heh~ Ha

HAHAHAAAHAHAHA!

Was that supposed to be a threat? You are in no position to make any threats or deals.

Your ‘children’ serve more use to us alive than dead so at least know that they will have a place next to you….

but

Heh

You only need one if both have your secrets in them. 

HEAR ME MY FOLLOWERS IN THREE DAYS TIME, WE WILL FIND AND CAPTURE PHATHEON, THE SECRETS OF CAROLE ARNA, ALONG WITH THE PATH, TO OUR ENLIGHTENMENT SHALL BE MADE. MAY THE CREATOR, REFINE US!” 

A war had just been declared, small, secret but made, the Exaltists had just declared war against Carole Arna and her children 

Mevorakh turned to face the one who had found Phatheon. He wore a cloak that covered almost his entire body from his shoulders, all the way down to his ankles, it was purple into blue, seeming to flow with no wind. His hair was long and wicked, its color a bleached white that seemed to strike in contrast to the dark, that was his body and he wore a strange mask, one that covered his entire face except for his eyes, the mask seemed like a strange fusion between a fox and a dragon. It seemed old, much older than even him, his eyes were the only things visible through the darkness his mask seemed to exude. His face was nothing more than a dark void with his eyes being two orange eyes that seemed to stare through anyone's soul and pupils that seemed as black as the abyss. This strange man had appeared out of nowhere and had given her and her followers not only the greatest advantage they had received in recent time, but also a piece of information that would stir great excitement amongst them.

There would be a Herald….. One who would appear out of nowhere from within Hollow Zero and who would lead the corrupted of Hollow Zero as his army against their enemies.

“ Overseer….. If I may be able to ask?” 

His voice was old and deep. It sounded like somebody who was a hundred thousand years old, like a wizard from a fantasy story who had lived multiple lifetimes and had learned so much within their extraordinary experience and wisdom. The Overseer, humoring him, nodded their head.

“ I wish to witness the capture of Phatheon…. While I am of the belief that our current plan and our current team shall be able to capture them… I wish to simply witness it for if it does go wrong, I wish to bring you them myself.” 

“ Quite a presumptuous order to ask of our Overseer, mister—?” Both the strange man and Mevorakh turn to face the woman who was speaking to him, Sarah. The woman who had been there face for the outside, who had recently been forced to take a back foot as she was now a target for PubSec and H.A.N.D.

“......... I do not have a name, at least not a normal one….. anonymity is the reason I still live because there is nothing to come back to….nothing to trace….nothing to find……But for you and everyone else who meets me?..... I am simply Judgment….. sent by our Creator as a test and a warning to those who defy him……I've also noticed that one of my creations has escaped…. One that your people have called ‘Juggernaut’..... I wish to inform you. Its name is like mine…….Judgement.”

Sarah, not missing a beat, responded with “Sigh~ Yes, that one. So far, our people have been trying to find it, but everyone we've sent comes back to us in pieces. I must say for a stranger who came out of nowhere, your creations are some of the most terrifying you've seen.” 

The man, Judgement, simply responded with “ It's purpose it's evolution…. Constant, rapid and evergrowing….. It was never meant to cease or die….. It only looks like…what you people call a Dullahan…. Because of its base…. With enough time it's true form will be revealed to the world…… and when it does….. then prepare……. Because God can't help you.” 

__________________

The next two days were complete insanity. Reports of Exaltists, appearing left and right, causing chaos, carnage and massacres appeared all over. However, thanks to the efforts of the many factions who are all over New Eridu, along with Public Security and the Defense Force, these incidents were taken care of with only very minimal casualties. But once again the people of New Eridu, couldn't figure out why they were doing this? Why were they going so insane and vicious for no reason? Later that same day, however, that answer would be found.

__________________

Day Six of the Fourth Week 

In another part of the city, there was an exhibition for selling very, very priceless relics, stuff from the old capital. In the rafters above the auction room were two figures watching from above. 

“ What exactly is here that we are currently after?” Asked the voice softly as she was confused as to why they were here.

“My dear Vivian, don't tell me you've already forgotten what we have come for.” The second voice, Hugo, asks his partner/sister in a mocking tone.

“Hmmph… Allow me to rephrase my earlier question.. ‘why’ are we even here? As far as I can tell, there is nothing here worth stealing and nothing that we can give to others so unless you have grown a golden heart, I highly doubt we're doing this for altruistic means.” Vivian had been confused as to why they had even come. All she knew was that Hugo wanted to go here but refused to elaborate any further. He seemed very guarded about him, normally that wouldn't be too strange, but they were partners. So there were no secrets between them, especially not after the fiasco with the Ravenlocks.

Hugo realizing that he had basically just dragged her along without telling her anything, simply sighed and responded

“Sigh~ I owed that pompous fool a favor. He was the one who helped me expose the Ravenlocks for the monsters they were and he was also the one who helped me orchestrate my fake death so that I could accomplish that task so I did owe him. I just wasn't expecting him to use it this quickly, especially not for something like this.” He gestured to the floor that had all the items set to be auctioned off but to Vivian, there wasn't anything that stuck out as important or valuable.

“What was the favor?”

“To figure out if one of the items up for grabs……is a sacrifice core.”

The minute she heard that her eyes went wide. She couldn't believe it.

Again?! 

For what purpose?

They were on the back foot in terms of plans and this wasn't the first time they tried this. Why would they do something so risky? It made no sense but then again it would have made sense as to why Lycaon asked them specifically since breaking into places and stealing stuff undetected was their specialty and if this was actually true then it would make sense why they need to get it out of here as soon as possible.

“.....I see…. Any idea where it could be?”

“Not a clue I'm afraid. I've tried seeing all the obvious and least obvious spots for the places where it could be but… either, they are very good at hiding this or…. It's not here.” Hugo had always been one about trusting his instincts, even when they seemed wrong, he always trusted them. They never let him astray, but here he couldn't really understand why it felt like he was being misled. He didn't exactly trust his old friend, not after everything they've been through and everything that happened. But if there was one thing he knew about Lycaon, he wasn't a liar, partly because of the fact he was a very bad one, but mainly because that just wasn't him so when Lycaon gave him disinformation, despite the fact, he didn't really like what it was and what it insinuated, he still trusted it, but for whatever reason, it felt as if he was being led in a circle. But then he saw something, a box that was significantly more reinforced than anything else in the building.

“There… let's do this quietly.” 

Both with relative ease walked across the rafters and when they were above it simply dropped down with silence. Hugo landed in a way that seemed to dampen all sound despite the fact that the floor beneath him was hardwood. Vivian chose the easier option of simply floating down with her umbrella. As both were standing in front of the box, Vivian became a lookout as Hugo picked the lock. The lock itself was easy…too easy. He knew he was good, but this took no effort, not even a hint of resistance. It didn't make sense, why have something this reinforced with a lock that could be picked by an amateur with a toothpick. As he got through the final lock, he was face to face with….. 

The core…..

He grabbed it and immediately realized 

Something was wrong

Shatter!

With very little effort, he simply destroyed it with nothing more than his bare hands, to which Vivian gave him a look that asked ‘What the hell was he doing?!’ 

As he brought the chunks off the core to his nose, he simply sniffed it, and then put a piece in his mouth, chewing without a care in the world.

Candy? 

What?

How the hell were they fooled by this obvious fake!

Did… did he lie to me?

No

He is many things, but he is no liar. Which means we have both been duped.

drip

drip

His thought process was immediately halted by the sight of water droplets falling onto the floor he looked up…..but saw nothing leaking, nobody above him then he looked to his side and saw his sister and her eyes were crying. He didn't know why it worked or how it even functioned. He just knew what it looked like and that it was rarely ever wrong, her ability to see tragedy before it happens.

“Vivian!” He whispered harshly not out of anger but out of concern. “ What's wrong, what is it you see?”

“.....thon…”

He couldn't understand her, she was mumbling almost as if she couldn't believe what she was looking at. He grabbed her by the shoulder softly and pulled her close so that they were face to face and asked her in a serious tone, one that was rare for him.

“What is wrong, Vivian?!” 

She was in her own world completely cut off from the rest of the world. She….she couldn't believe what she was witnessing. But when she was pulled back into the world by Hugo grabbing her. Then she finally could pull herself back together and whispered to him something that frightened him to his core.

.

.

.

“ We've been set up……..Lord Phatheon…. They're both in danger!”

______________________

Day Seven

Belle had basically been sitting at home. The entire day experienced first-hand what was causing Wise so much hell and headache. She basically had no customers in the store and was running it pretty safely just by herself. 

And anytime she could, she went back to that workbench trying to figure out a way to track the signal, but every time she could get even close, it immediately kicked her in the shins and basically ran away. And even with Fairy helping her without any strings attached, she made absolutely no progress and at this point was starting to get very, very pissed off.

“ ASSISTANT MANAGER BELLE, YOU HAVE BEEN AT THIS FOR NINE AND HALF HOURS, ARE YOU CERTAIN YOU WOULD NOT WISH TO TAKE A BREAK?” Despite the fact she didn't really care much for her, Fairy was genuinely starting to get a bit concerned by just how much this was irritating Belle and the fact that just like her master, she was absolutely not taking the necessary time to have some breaks or ask for help other than her own.

Belle didn't know who to call everyone who knew about….this thing, didn't have the necessary expertise nor knowledge to figure this out and the only other person who did was currently sleeping because he had done seven different commissions all in the same day. She was basically at her wit's end and was almost ready to throw in the towel, however something immediately caught her eye. The signal, while it jumped rapidly between different frequencies, it frequented a few lines the most, about 8 in total. Still an absolutely horrid number, but much much smaller, than what it was originally jumping around. So Belle came up with a very ingenious idea.

“Hey Fairy, think you can set up a bunch of our racing signals on these eight frequency lines?” 

“ CERTAINLY BUT IF I MIGHT ASK WHY?”

“ If it's jumping around here the most in comparison to all the others, then we're most likely to follow it the entire way through if we have a bunch of them following it on these 8 frequencies and whenever it jumps, they simply trace off of each other and continue the path forward, kinda like a relay race.”

“ IMPRESSIVE. YOU'VE ACTUALLY MANAGED TO CATCH ME BY SURPRISE. VERY WELL, SETTING UP THOSE FREQUENCY TRACING LINES NOW. PROCESS SHOULD ONLY TAKE ABOUT TWENTY TO TWENTY FIVE MINUTES. WARNING: ENERGY USAGE WILL INCREASE BY TWELVE PERCENT WOULD YOU STILL LIKE TO PROCEED?” 

" As much as it sucks, we can worry about that later for now, go for it."

The wait period was very long, but in comparison to the multiple weeks of nothing this was an absolute leap in progress. As it was loading, she heard the door of the back room open and turned her chair to see her brother walk in, yawning and scratching his head as he did.

“Hey Belle, any progress or is it just the same of it being a butt?”

Belle chuckled a bit, as she needed this laugh after the bullcrap she had gone through.

“ Definitely option two bro. Sigh~ The good news is I think I found a way to where we will be able to track it down in a bit. The bad news is it's gonna take a long while soooo.”

“ Hey, honestly. At this point, some progress is better than none. The question is, why did you just think of this just now?”

Belle, a bit irritated, said “ It's very hard to think of the simple solution when you're running on low sleep and irritated by a chunk of crystal…. Huh, so this is what you felt.”

“Yep…. Hey, I've been meaning to ask you, has your phone been acting weird this morning?” Wise asked his sister since when he woke up, it showed that he got multiple notifications from the group chat with all of his friends. But when he tried to view it, it just wouldn't open and whenever he tried to see what notifications they were, it would only show that he had them, not the actual contents.

Belle who was listening to what he asked, replied surprised as she too was dealing with this in the morning. 

“ Yeah I have, I've asked Fairy to check for any sort of viruses or any signals. But she can't sense anything either so either something's happening that's out of our control or our phones are just being dumb and in my experience, 99% of the time, it's usually option two.” 

“Well, I'm mainly asking because I got a bunch of notifications from my group chat and every time I keep trying to open it or look at what they sent I can't read it or even open the app so I'm wondering if something happened, because this is a lot of notifications all at once and I'm kinda worried that this is something very important.”

Belle didn't even open her notifications yet but when she did, yup, over 52 messages sent through the group chat. But just like her brother, she couldn't read them or even open the app.

“ Well, I think we should start setting up before today. Also, did you read about that safety seminar that was happening today?” Belle then pulled out a pamphlet showing that there was gonna be a gathering at Lumina Square for another safety seminar. Originally when Bringer was still around, nobody wanted to go since they saw this as nothing more than just a publicity stunt and an ego boost. But this one that was happening seemed to be centered around the captain of the precinct in Janus Quarter, Zhu Yuan, who unlike Bringer was a lot more liked and respected amongst the community.

“ They made another one? Didn't we have one earlier this year? I mean not that? I mind going over there and seeing our friends again, but doesn't this seem a bit, I don't know, sudden?” Wise was confused as he didn't even know about the safety seminar until Belle brought it up. 

“Yeah bro don't know why but that's them not us but, apparently everyone in sixth street already went so everyone besides us is closed, feels weird, right? We have the entire street to ourselves, I can't remember the last time that happened, if ever.” 

“ Yeah, I do suppose that is a bit strange, but I would still like to set up for today. Just in case we do get the occasional person and don't get caught with our pants down.”

“Alright, bro you do yo–” 

Before Belle could finish her sentence, a bunch of things simultaneously happened all at once. First the lights went out then the air conditioning then H.D.D and finally the remaining small lights from the T.Vs and the radios.

“A blackout? Fairy, are you still there?”

“....”

Silence

To be fair the last time they had something like this happen Fairy had gone offline for a good while and considering that she was during the moment of the occurrence connected to the H.D.D, Wise didn't find it too far-fetched that she went down with the computer. All they needed to do was find their breaker and see if they could fix the lights along with everything else.

“Belle think you can grab th—”

BOOOOOM

Before either one could react, they heard an enormous explosion tore through the front of the building and both were sent into the wall knocking both of them out……

End of chapter 3

Chapter Text

Prologue: The Last Calm Moment Before Hell - Part 4 Hell and the Fall of Phaethon.

Act 1 - Attack

Smoke.

Black plumes of smoke screeched across the sky as harbingers of destruction, evidence that hell had rained upon the innocent, upon the weak.

The plan made no sense to anyone, that was its purpose, the reason for its randomness and incongruity, to throw everyone off guard, to move their eyes away from their true goal.

Phaethon.

But of course there were defenders.

How could these people ignore the murders? 

The destruction with no apparent reason. 

They couldn't, and they knew it, that was their greatest weakness. 

Defenders protect the weak, hunters close in on their prey, all while no one is the wiser of the wounded animal bleeding to death.

The murders?

Sacrifices of the unworthy to their Creator, a statement with no substance as they were unworthy nobodies….but they didn't know that.

Senseless violence and vandalism? 

Colorful bright lights that the moths of Public Security and the Defense Force could not ignore, chasing the flames while the real work was done in the dark.

The rumors of the sacrifice core? 

A lure, a shiny lure… one that caught its fish,hook line, and sinker.

They had witnessed all of the allies Phaethon over the years. From random nobody's like The Cunning Hares, to dangerous threats like, Hoshimi Miyabi, the descendant of the woman who had killed their previous Overseer, and Yiuxan Shifu, the High Preceptor of Yunkui Summit, and the one who almost put their current Overseer down. 

They were numerous.

Weak when separated, but when the siblings were threatened, when it was found out that they were their targets, they became a force that would not move, and one that would slaughter anyone who dared to touch them.

Reaching them was impossible….

no.

Not impossible.

It just needed…. Calculations, strategy. Like moving pieces on a board, all had varying strengths and powers, all united for one reason. 

Defending the king.

But….

While the king was a dangerous force with many by his side….

Alone?

It could not survive…. Merely human, hiding behind the giants…. The next step was obvious.

Isolation was necessary.

The Cunning Hares were well known for two things, accepting the single most strangest jobs, and struggling all the time so…. When an offer for an extremely high paying job appeared out of nowhere like someone, leaving it out for anyone to grab, they leapt into the job and received their payment, despite the fact the job had taken them far from home…..The Cunning Hares were removed from the equation.

The massacres and destruction they left behind were not concentrated but spread everywhere ensuring that no one location could be focused on. Along with where they struck, everyone needed to be on guard and called to duty, blocking out distractions focused solely on the mission of stopping them. This was imperative towards their goal, as they learned the hard way following Phatheon home was NOT an option.

Every member they sent would be found later…. With a bullet in their head….. courtesy of a certain sniper who made it her personal mission to ensure their safety…. And if they try to pursue them when she wasn't there, they would be met with a white haired woman who would burn them with nothing more than a blade and sheer strength and will, both were loyal to a fault to not only their people but to their squad and to the proxies…..But if duty called them back into action away from the siblings. Well it certainly made things easier..….. but they was not the only one they had to deter. 

Public Security, to be specific the one set in the Janus Quarter of New Eridu, had actually been very adamant, on the siblings, getting protection from them whether it be body guards, a safe house or hell going into straight up witness protection programs. But every time they would ask the proxies simply stated they didn't want to that it felt like it was “too much” for just them. They had even tried messaging them at one point to try to get one last attempt before finally giving up, they were met with a text that was essentially the proxies just trying to calm them down and reassure them that they would be okay…. But the proxies never received any message, nor did they send any…. But Zhu Yuan couldn't argue with the answer she received so she simply decided to just keep a close eye on Sixth Street in specific, despite the fact, it was well outside her jurisdiction. Her group also followed, all but Jane Doe who felt like there was something wrong about the message and when she asked the proxies in person… She was met with nothing, every time she tried to meet up with them or find them. She would either be too late or would find the place empty, completely void of them as if they were specifically avoiding her. She knew they wouldn't do that, it just felt not like them. Eventually, after two and a half weeks of trying and failing to find them, she eventually just gave up and decided to just stake out the video store….. that was until she was called into action like the rest of the Janus Quarter PubSec officers, much to her displeasure. She was a fighter, sure, but she wasn't a soldier and it was only a matter of time before it would be very uncomfortable witnessing bloodbath after bloodbath, but when face-to-face with actual military personnel… her opinions didn't matter.

But when it came to finishing this plan, there was one last piece that was part of the military that was the hardest to overcome.

H.A.N.D., or to be more specific Section 6 were an outlier that wasn't anticipated, to see them devote themselves to defending Phatheon and for Hoshimi Miyabi herself, to accept them as her proxies…. It complicated the task of isolating them…. But it didn't make it impossible. Who would have guessed that a high ranking ethereal would be found somewhere in a hollow that had recently expanded despite said hollow being stable mere minutes ago.…. And said ethereal, no matter what they threw, it wouldn't die. She was called in along with the rest of her squad, they were not going to let innocent people die, the curse of being heroes would not let them stand by and watch innocent people die.

The members of the Defense Force, Obol Squad, and Public Security were removed from the equation.

This was his city, a city he promised to protect. Mayor Mayflower would not stand back and let his home, his people die for nothing. He requested all of his forces be focused on stopping this threat… including his personal guard dogs, Victoria Housekeeping. They were a particular thorn in the side of the Exaltists, most of their members were found wounded or near dead any time that would encounter one of their members. But if they were called, they had to answer it, their master's call to action, away from those they swore to protect.…. But it could not be ignored…..Victoria Housekeeping was removed from the equation.

The Outer Ring was a strange place, it held no true leadership or monarchy. A bunch of groups merely kneeling before an Overlord, not out of duty, but loyalty and respect. The current Overlord and her group were all dead set on defending their friends, they had the weapons and determination necessary to defend them… but their home was just as lawless and without its leader, there was only a matter of time for those who would want the throne, would act, endangering innocents. So why not merely just give them… a small push… just give the right information to some, and the necessary weapons to others? 

They were going to eat each other alive….

And the Overlord and her crew couldn't let it come to pass…..The Sons of Calydon were removed from the equation.

Other loose ends such as Yunkui Summit and the “Spook Shack” were much easier to take care of, since both factions were set in Waifei Peninsula, so even if they caught wind, they would not be able to get there in time. Normally the problem would have arisen from the fact that they were here on the mainland of New Eridu, but the members of Spook Shack had their shop and place of living in Waifei Peninsula so they couldn't exactly stay here for long.  As for Yixuan, she wanted to stay next to the siblings as much as she could since they were her disciples and she was their teacher, their Shifu, but there was only so long she could ignore her duties as the High Preceptor of Yunkui Summit before she was forced to return. As for the other members of both factions, they were basically negligible, the problem was her, Yixuan Shifu. But thanks to their patience, she had returned back to Waifei Peninsula and was gone, so long as she was out of the picture, they had nothing to worry about but to say that they were more confident knowing that she wasn't there anymore, was an understatement. Yunkui Summit and Spook Shack were removed from the equation.

Belobog Industries had wanted to create some semblance of defense for the siblings, for the proxies that they call friends and possibly family. But when they receive the letter informing them that the Defense Force was asking them specifically to make a weaponry for them that threw a wrench into their plans.  They were apprehensive at first, but eventually caved in and joined in the effort…. What they were not expecting was just how much of their time would truly be taken by this endeavor. Koleda led the projects with speed and efficiency, at the evident cost of her sleep and state of mind. Grace was essentially stapled to her workshop and was almost never seen outside of it unless it was to bathe or eat, the eye bags she carried were very, very deep, signs of her many sleepless nights. She had gone through making weaponry/new children for the military. But even in her state of mind, she ensured that there were failsafes and methods to take control of them, should they be used for other methods she deemed too far. Socially she wasn't one of the brightest people, but when I came to making sure that her machinery was used to its pinnacle, while also ensuring that they weren't used incorrectly, in that field, she was a genius and she made sure everyone knew not through words but through her actions. Anton was essentially stuck, helping people escape the destruction that the Exaltists had left behind rubble and destroyed chunks of the city, all moved aside by a man who seemed almost superhuman to him. If he lost a couple hours of sleep, just help people so be it, they needed his help and he was not going to let them die. 

Ben as Belobog Industries’ financer and budget maker, he was obviously put in charge of ensuring that the military got all the necessary supplies and weaponry to undertake this challenge imposed by the Exaltists, without egregiously going over the budget, he also helped with moving machinery and fixing parts on to other mechs thanks to his very powerful strength. It was all hands on deck….. as was expected. Belobog Industries was removed from the equation 

The Stars of Lyra

A name that meant a lot to the people of New Eridu, a bright light in the dark for many, a beacon that all could see and follow from within humanity's last bastion. Though no one would admit it out loud, the knowledge that they were the last of humanity…was frightening, oppressive, and melancholic. But people like Astra Yao, she was an angel, a goddess sent from above to give the people of New Eridu hope for a tomorrow without sorrow and strife. She despite the fact that she was very much allied with Phatheon, wasn't the threat, but rather her bodyguard and manager, Evelyn. That woman was known throughout their ranks, her hands were absolutely drenched in red, with a past hidden to all, all that was certain was that anyone who approached her or her loved ones, would be found with slit throats, snapped necks, and burns from the heated garrot wire. She was merciless, ruthless and very thorough, if she caught wind of their actions, there would be no stopping her at least not without many casualties….but if they had orders from those above them, from TOPS, then they'd be forced into a position where they couldn't walk away for any reason….to the public, Astra Yao had a new suprise record coming out and she would be able to perform it in two weeks….The Stars of Lyra were removed from the equation.

The message they had intercepted was one they could use to their advantage and it worked perfectly. The rumors they had started were working perfectly and had caused Lycaon to reach out to Hugo with the urgent request to investigate their rumors due to the possibility of a Sacrifice core being involved…but the claims?

They were just that. 

Just rumors of something that never happened or was going to happen.

had tried to pass the Sacrifice core in an auction once before, but they were delayed by the two rejects. 

Hugo Vlad, the bastard of the Ravenlocks who made it his personal mission to ruin them and he succeeded with the end result being the reputation smeared with mud and their alignment to the Exaltists revealed….. an annoying setback, but ultimately negligible. What wasn't negligible?

His constant involvement in stopping their operations and constantly interfering with their plans. Any time any plan was set? He would be there and he would thwart it. And before anyone could stop him, he'd vanish into the night, leaving nothing but a card with their name, Mockingbird.

A fitting name for someone who had been mocking them, walking, no, running circles around them with very little effort. It didn't help that he had the little traitor that used to work with them back when Landon was still alive, Vivian Banshee. Her ability of foresight made her a very annoying target and obstacle, since every attempt at removing her was basically moot since she saw them coming long before they met. Trying to pin them down was impossible, a task that many would consider foolish.

As the saying goes “ the man who chases two rabbits catches neither” trying to find and destroy one of them was already impossible, both of them at the same time? 

Suicidal.

But why chase something? 

Why hunt it down?

When you can just wait for it to come to you.

All they had to do was place the lure…. And they came crawling.

Mockingbird was removed from the equation.

The members of sixth street were a bit trickier than they should have been.

They knew that the siblings were proxies. But beyond that, nothing, removing them would only make them more suspicious. So a simple solution was made, a fake safety seminar. Originally the members here only came due to the assistance of Phatheon, now that the person who would be hosting it would be Zhu Yuan, someone who was much more liked amongst the group. They were more willing to come of their own volition this time, leaving the entire street empty. Sixth Street was removed from the equation.

It was perfect.

Absolutely perfect.

Every shield, every lifeline, every hide out, every route, every possible method of escape and assistance….gone.

The king had been isolated….now was the time to strike. A simple surgical strike one so quick and concise that even if there were some loose ends…. They would be too late.

Set up on a building high above. A few blocks away from the video store, were a few Exaltists all armed to the teeth with weaponry and explosives, and the one shadowing the operation, Judgement. 

His gaze in particular was more analytical.

Almost as if he was waiting, not for actions but rather reactions…. He knew there was only a matter of time before the enemies would be located and all of the allies of Phatheon would come barreling down upon them. He would see what this organization could do with a little bit of help…. 

After all…. 

He was the one who set up the plan. 

Why shouldn't he see it the whole way through.

______________________

Phatheon….was in danger.

Her vision, her ability that had damned her to a life of solitude and despair, had shown her that Wise and Belle were in danger.

The method was unknown to Vivian, but just the knowledge that her friends, her idols, her….everything was being threatened?! She had to act, she had to save him, save them!

Tink Tink

A sound rang out, metal hitting metal.

They saw movement, a small round object had landed in between them and it had smoke coming off it, as if it had been fired from something…..

GRENADE!

Both had time to come to a stand still mentally as they, with what seemed to be mere milliseconds to react, had racked their brains on what to do. Vivian had the thought of running, deflecting it, anything, but….Hugo reacted first. 

GRAB

He grabbed her and pulled her into his chest, using his body to block as much of the explosion as he could. He knew if this thing was fired there was a good chance it only had moments before it exploded, so if he was going to die, he at least wanted to give his sister the best chance he could to live. His life had flashed before his eyes as he witnessed his upbringing, his horrid adolescent, and his current life with Vivian…… it was horrible at first but…..from his perspective….. with everything he had witnessed, done, and experienced……his life wasn't that bad after all. 

BANG!

The explosion came but instead of it being fire, heat and then the end, it was simply an extremely bright light and noise so deafening, it made their ears bleed. 

A flashbang 

It was clear…. They wanted them alive.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnng

Vivian had tried to process what just happened but was far too disoriented and discombobulated to truly function. It felt as if she had been staring at the sun for hours, her ears felt like they were clapped with hammers, all she could really process was something happened and her body was not handling the effects well she had noticed Hugo….lying down? 

She tried to reach for him but fell to the floor. She moved, tried to at least, but no matter what she did, her body wouldn't function the way she wanted it to eventually, it became less a fight of standing up and more a war to just stay conscious, one she was losing and badly. Hugo on the other hand was less messed up by the explosion, but still disoriented, and from his blurry vision he witnessed a small group approach his sister who was on the floor, defenseless and wounded. 

He immediately recognized their clothes as that of Exaltists.

NO! 

VIVIAN!

DON'T YOU DARE!

He, through sheer will, stood up from the floor and faced the threat with determination. He tried to grab his scythe but noticed his hands shaking.

Concussed. 

Not good, my swings will be inaccurate, could hit Vivian.

Knives it is then.

He dropped his scythe as it returned to its hidden form of a briefcase, and pulled two knives from his back pockets, his hand still trembling, he couldn't really hold them straight and there was a good chance that he probably couldn't even walk straight, but he didn't care. They were threatening his sister, so he would either protect or die trying. 

The first to try their luck, rushed Hugo with a baton of some kind, the Exaltist swung at Hugo's mid section

SWING

Hugo, with considerably more effort thanks to his concussion, ducked it and he in the same fluid motion turned to face the Exaltist's back. He moved the knife in his right hand into a reverse grip and with force.

Stab 

Rrrrriiiiip

Jammed the knife into the man's jugular, and dragged the knife across his neck violently, tearing his throat apart with a bloody chunk landing on the floor. He before anyone else could act charged the second Exaltist and punctured his throat with his left knife and his heart with the right. He dropped him right then and there with ease. He saw the third approaching and decided to finish it quickly. He tried to slit the thirds throat.

Slit

Tch

He cut but it was shallow, he misjudged the distance and in his hazy state failed to put them down. The third Exaltist, taking the advantage, swung her baton at the man who was still mid-swing

ZRRRRRTKRACK

In a hail of lightning the baton struck true and ragdolled the man into nearby display cases of the auction room. Glass rained on Hugo as he was cut up by the shards he had fallen on an antique armor set from the Old Civilization and had hit his head hard on the helmet of the armor which further fucked him up. The Exaltist had more strength than Hugo had originally anticipated as he held his chest and stomach, which were both definitely bruised and probably broken. As he spat up blood he tried to get up but was met with a vicious kick into his stomach that launched him into the wall and before he could act, the Exaltist ran up to him with a second baton she removed from one of her fellow Exaltist's corpses. Hugo went to parry her but a fourth Exaltist came out of nowhere and slammed his arms against the wall, with so much force that the poor man was being forced into the concrete with terrifying power. The female Exaltist took advantage of the opening and went to try “removing him.”

“YOU FUCKING LOWLIFE!”

KRRRAK

“YOU DARE TO INTERFERE IN OUR HOLY WORK WITH YOUR TAINTED SOUL ONCE MORE?!”

KRRRAAKOOOM

“YOU FUCKING MISTAKE! YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED AT BIRTH AND YOU KNOW IT.”

KRRRRACCKKKLE

Hugo was pummeled relentlessly with each hit meeting flesh and cracking bone, his body screaming with absolute agony and his nerves being fried from the electricity. He couldn't move, his brain was far too concussed and his muscles spasming out of his control, his knives long since dropping out of his hands, clattering as they hit the floor that was now painted in his blood. 

But to him so long as Vivian was okay he didn't care, he could take it he had taken worse before as a child, so as a man who had traveled the hollows without care, this was nothing. 

Still, he needed a plan and currently as he was being pummeled that plan needed to come in fast! Unfortunately, the physical damage and the electric shocks were not helping. But then you thought about somebody who was probably in the same situation as him and as much as he loathed him, you can always count on him to be there and ready for anything….

He was betting on that someone to get him out of this…… he was just wondering what the hell was taking them so long!

Vivian who had finally managed to stand on her feet, was witness to the horrifying sight of her brother being brutally attacked and him not having the strength to fight back. She in a burst of strength rushed them, umbrella in hand, ready to destroy them…

SLAM

From above?!

She was pinned by an Exaltist who came from above, to which she desperately tried to free herself from their grasp only to be met with a stomp to the head.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnng 

Her head was a broken mess of signals and noise, and she was certain that some brain damage would occur, but as long as could save those she loved, she didn't care. The Exaltist however didn't care and lifted his foot once more to finish the job…..

KRAK

Cold

Cold wind rushed over her body

What happened?

Why is it dark?

Why is it cold?

Is this death?

Am I dead?

I'm sorry…

I'm sorry for always being a person who brings despair wherever they roam.

You're the reason so many lost their lives, why don't you see it?!

Sorry Dina

I'm sorry everyone for not being enough… 

I'm sorry for my incompetence, Hugo.

You're my sister, I could never see you that way, not now, not ever.

You're too kind on someone who shouldn't deserve any love from anyone, but thank you, Hugo.

I'm sorry for not being strong enough to save anyone.

Goodbye, Lord Phatheon…. I love you.

I love you too, Vivian. You're a wonderful woman who I've had the greatest pleasure meeting.

Thank you for always being there for me at my darkest, my darling Lord Phatheon.

“Excuse me, Miss Vivian, it appears that I have dirtied your dress, my apologies.”

Thank you for worrying about me, Sir Ly–

“Are you alright Miss Vivian?”

.

.

.

.

Wut

Vivian had her eyes closed the entire time as she was certain that she would die by that monster's hand…..buuuut when she heard a voice that she recognized that didn't seem to come from inside her head she finally decided to open her eyes and saw the hand of a Wolf thiren her brother oh so hated, yet cared for.

“I'm…. not dead am I?”

“No Miss Vivian, I managed to save you just in time. Did you believe you were dead?”

Her face became as red as her eyes as she simply took his hand as he helped her up, not meeting his gaze out of embarrassment.

“I'm sorry if I have offended you in any way, Miss Vivian.”

“Don'tworryitwasn'tyouandpleasedon'tmentionittoanyonepleasepleaseplease.” Lycaon barely understood her as she spoke with the speed of a car and said everything all in the same breath, so he simply nodded his head as to not embarrass her any further.

“Wait, HUGO! IS HE OKAY?!” Vivian finally regaining her bearings and remembering the state Hugo was last in, asked in a frenzy about her brother, as she couldn't bear the thought of losing anyone else.

“See for yourself Miss Vivian.” He pointed in his and Vivian turned….. and sighed with relief as she saw her brother being treated by Ellen and Corin. She also saw/heard the sound of the two Exaltists that attacked her brother, currently screaming for their lives as the head maid Rina was currently shocking the everloving shit out of them with a wide smile that screamed sadistic glee. 

She stared with half satisfaction at the sight of these people being punished for hurting her and her brother, and half fear at the sight of the kind, calm maiden, doing this with no remorse and even enjoying it.

Note to self: DON'T FUCK WITH HER.

“Koff koff  What the hell took you? I know, we don't like each other, but I thought we at least had enough of a relationship that you wouldn't leave me here to die.” Hugo said as he coughed up blood and was genuinely confused as to why Lycaon had taken that long.

“My apologies Hugo, we had an encounter with…uninvited guests.” Lycaon explained to Hugo but he said the last part with surprisingly high venom. 

Hugo then took a good look at them and noticed how they were surprisingly beaten up. Lycaon had a scuffed suit with a bloody bandage wrapped around his left arm, his legs had their black paint, chipped and mixed with red, most likely blood. Ellen was covered in dust and her maid uniform was stained in sweat and blood, some being hers as evident by the wrapping on both her thighs, one on her left shoulder and even a few here and there on her tail. Rina had her dress full of rips and tears, her headpiece being particularly damaged and barely still on her head, her hands were also slightly bandaged with her legs as bandaged and red from blood. Then there was Corin… who had a single bandage on her arm and had her eyes red and puffy.

“Who could do this much to Victoria Housekeeping's finest?” Hugo had an idea of who they'd encountered, but still asked with curiosity, because to him, as much as he hated to admit, they were some of the best in terms of service and fighting…..so the hell could fuck them up this much?

“‘Exaltists'” All members of Victoria Housekeeping said simultaneously as they finished the check up on the phantom thieves.

Lycaon started first “Our Master had set us about to help deal with the Exaltists but had managed to intercept an attempt of a false message, from you to us. I never sent you any message, Hugo. They simply wanted to lure this out to eliminate us as efficiently as possible.”

Rina continued the story as she finished wrapping up Hugo's mid section “ When we discovered their ploy, they saw it fit to attack us immediately to not give us a single chance at retaliation. And they very nearly got the best of us, I must admit that was the first time I've ever had to go all out in oh so long. I see for you they only sent the bare minimum, but for us, it was waves of hundreds of uninvited guests all wanting in until the party.

Ellen getting up and adjusting herself to lean on the wall, followed up with “ They fricking stabbed me, Corin and the old hag. Boss over here was fighting for his goddamn life while I had an asshole stabbing my tail. I'm pretty the guy I smacked away, ain't getting back up.”

Corin was the last to speak but was visibly scared and for good reason “T-t-they stabbed me….I got s-so scared i-i sob hck sob” Immediately everyone wrapped Corin in the tightest hug, reassurance that her pain was over, and no one would touch her again.

Lycaon, in a deep venomous voice that was extremely unlike him, finished the retelling “They committed the grave sin of harming Corin, they laughed as we heard a scream that will NEVER leave my memory….they are no longer with us….I say that was too much mercy.” 

Hugo was shocked by the hate and vengeance that laced every word that left his mouth, but when he thought about it and put himself in Lycaon's shoes……. He couldn't exactly blame the guy, in fact he probably would've chosen the same actions as well.

As they became more stable from the previous attack, both realized that they needed to act, NOW!

“LORD PHAETHON! HE'S IN DANGER! WE HAVE TO GO NOW!” Vivian screamed as she tried and failed to get up due to her head injury. The members of Victoria Housekeeping all became alert at the mention of their proxy friends being in danger.

“What?! Are you certain Miss Vivian?” 

“Yes. I'm certain. But I don't know who or how long we have to save them but we need to act while we can!” Vivian had never once doubted her visions, she always knew they came true and were always fated to come true…..the only one who ever broke that cycle was her darling Lord Phaethon, Wise…but he was in danger, in the way of fate. 

Is…..is this the vision I saw coming true?

Back then…. I thought it wasn't for much longer, why now?!

Lycaon was a bit skeptical. I mean, as far as he knew Wise and Belle were still okay albeit very frustrated at their current task, which Ray had given them. So the claim that they were in danger, and the Exaltists were the ones behind it, it felt a little hard to believe, not impossible, but a little hard to accept. He turned to face Hugo and asked him “Can I trust this Hugo?”

“ I understand your lack of trust in me in this claim, but know that I have never once doubted Vivian and her foresight. So even if you don't believe it, trust that I do and that we will act on it with or without you.”

That was all he needed to hear. He and Hugo hated each other, despised each other but he knew when the cards were down and the bet was high? Hugo wouldn't lie to him because they had something more powerful than hate.

Understanding. 

Understanding that after everything they had been through, they could trust each other….. Even if the trust was mostly shaky.

“Very well then, if that is the case we must act immediately, as for the perpetrators could be” Lycaon turned to face the two remaining Exaltists that weren't killed by Hugo, he would ask the one that he knocked off Vivian, but he was currently knocked out and embedded into the adjacent wall. “I may have an idea of who they could be….”

What followed was 36 minutes of “interrogation” (kofftorturekoff) and the revelation of just how well planned this assault had been. The proxies were isolated from every lifeline and assistance they could call for and because of just how events had played out no one had questioned why this was happening. With that knowledge, they proceeded to inform everyone they could right after they destroyed the communications jammer that had been preventing them from communicating accurately.

To say the reaction was immediate would not do justice just how quickly everyone dropped what they were doing and immediately ran towards the proxies home. The Exaltists attacks had also lessened, a sign that it wasn't an insurrection or war…. It was merely a distraction, one that worked perfectly. The Exaltist were also alerted that their plan had been found out and in retaliation, they all rapidly started to convene back at Sixth street, ensuring that their plan would not be stopped. 

The first to act was Section 6 with Miyabi bolting to the elevator as she mashed the buttons in fear and hurry. They had returned from the mission to the hollow, all of them dejected and very much saddened by the experience. They expected to find a monster to help people, but by the time they got there all they found was yet another graveyard. Hundreds of innocent civilians, dead and no sign of any Ethereal ever being there. All they had the power to do was simply help whoever they could escape and notify people of the expanded hollow. 

Miyabi was unlike her teammates. She was saddened, even dejected by the sight of so many she could have saved just gone. But more so than that, she was angry, furious. There was only one group you could truly blame, the same people who caused her home to be destroyed, causing her mother to lose her life at her daughter's hands. She needed to relax. It felt like her blood was boiling from her rage as she desperately wanted to go and hit something as hard as she could. 

So imagine her state of mind when out of nowhere she got a message from one of the proxies most trusted allies, saying that the same people behind the massacres and bloodbath of innocent civilians, had not only attacked them but had also used all of these lives, all of these innocent people, as a distraction.

They had managed to fool them, and they had somehow found the proxies.

Did someone say something?

Were they followed?

She didn't care how it happened. She just knew where to go and what to destroy.

If my proxies are even slightly injured they'll suffer…… I SWEAR IT!

“CHIEF WAIT!”

Miyabi turned around, asking why Yanagi was stopping her from saving their friends… only to be met with the sight of her opening the window or more accurately, shattering it. Yanagi knew it was pointless to even attempt to stop her, but she too knew that she wanted to make these people pay as well. She knew the elevator took too long and also knew that they had more than enough funds to replace one shattered window even if it was bulletproof and blastproof. There were so many things she wanted to say to her, but she could see the look in her eyes, one that screamed murder and vengeance for the only things in her head now. She wasn't going to stop her; she knew she couldn't, so this was the next best thing.

“GO! SAVE WISE AND BELLE WE'LL CATCH UP!” 

Miyabi hugged Yanagi, showing her gratitude for the fact she was allowed to do this and that they were okay with it. She sliced the jagged edges of the glass into a thin straight line and placed herself on it. Looking back at her team all while gave her reassuring looks. She then gave one signal that she would be off now.

She launched out like a missile with one target in mind, her proxies, she would reach them, she WOULD save them. The Exaltists realized that Miyabi was a dangerous threat that, if left to roam, would foil their plans…..

BOOM

For that reason, she was anticipated…. A nearby building had exploded, one that had hundreds of innocent civilians, both in and around it. They knew she couldn't ignore those in danger. So they had that just in case she had learned the truth.

NO! NO! NO! WHAT DO I CHOOSE?

The world had become standstill. She had a choice to go after her proxies or save the lives of everyone there. She could do it and she could do it easily, but the guarantee that they would still be there by the time she was done, was none. Her mind was working at 1000 miles an hour, trying to think of who to go for. The people she protected, she swore to protect or, the people the siblings who had trusted her with everything and she in turn trusted them with everything. Her enraged state didn't help the fact her calm small sense of duty told her to disregard the proxies and save these people, who are currently in danger and probably either dying or dead. A deeper part of her, however, screamed out the command “THEY ARE OUR PROXIES, WE PROMISED TO PROTECT THEM AND NOW YOU'LL BREAK THAT PROMISE?!” she felt disgusted with herself. Then again this was the position they wanted her in, to be unable to choose and having to make a choice. Her train of thought, however, were silenced by someone screaming.

“GO! They're just trying to slow you down! We can handle this, GO!” 

Harumasa yelled into the earpiece they had, as he and the rest of Section 6 ran behind her and went towards the explosion, Miyabi, grateful, took the opportunity and bolted towards Sixth Street.

Every thought possible was running through her head.

What was the situation?

Were they okay?

Were they still even there?

WERE THEY STILL ALIVE?!

Hundreds of possibilities each equally possible considering who these people were and what they weren't willing to do. She was afraid, afraid of losing everything she had built up with siblings, afraid of what she would find when she got there, afraid of what she would do if she saw the worst possible option. She wanted them dead for even attempting this. She knew would sleep soundly after killing all of them. That was what frightened her, the idea of losing her humanity in a bloodlusted slaughter. The looks she would receive from the people she loved and cared for looking at her like she was a monster. She could feel it scratching at the walls, the same sensation she felt when Tailless wanted to break free and she nearly attacked innocent people. That same feeling was there, wanting to be let out, to just let loose saying it would be for protection, knowing damn well, it wouldn't be. 

She had to hold back. 

She had to.

She had to.

She had—

Her heart dropped at the sight of black smoke rising in the sky…. Rising from the same place where the video store was.

She wouldn't hold back.

She couldn't anymore.

This was a risky gamble that what seem like straight up suicide or even self sabotage in the eyes of others.

An attack this loud, this public would have been completely the opposite of the approach necessary to deal with a threat such as Phaethon and this plan was risky even if they did it going quiet.

But an extremely fast assault on a target that didn't suspect anything with all of its available backup being either unaware or already busy with something else what's the most effective way to get in and out as quickly as possible.

Risky, but effective, and it worked like a charm.

The rest of the Exaltists that were sent to capture Phatheon had been simply overlooking their damage and moving in quickly. They knew most likely this would not go unnoticed, not for long, and if they weren't quick about it, they ran the risk of being in the middle of a pincer maneuver by PubSec and H.A.N.D, who given the recent circumstances and the recent attacks, absolutely the first to react and respond to what was very clearly terrorism would be the military and the police force both of which were much more numerous and harder to deal with due to their scale. 

Amongst the Exaltist grunts was one who stuck out like a very sore thumb. 

One, who as the rest moved, simply waited, didn't attack, didn't help, just waited….. While everyone else was pretty much aware that they needed to find Phaethon and return to Hollow Zero, the observer, Judgement, knew, for a fact, there was no running. They pissed off a fox, one that could kill everyone there, without even trying. 

So running? 

That was nothing more than a laughable notion!

So he, with his three weapons hidden under his cloak, he simply crouched down, staring in the direction where H.A.N.D's headquarters was just preparing for her to arrive. He knew how fast she could run. It was only a matter of time now, the more important question was, were the siblings even alive?

Those idiots…..our mission is extraction……that is pointless if all we retrieve…….is bloody and burnt chunks……but I suppose this was our instruction…..Miyabi……are you as fearless and ruthless as I remember……or has time dulled your edge

Inside was an absolute wreck

The 2nd floor had collapsed down onto the first, the countless tapes they had collected for years, all reduced to useless ashes and trash. Their rooms were burning and left in crumbling rubble, with everything else they owned, clothes, pictures, W-Engines, memories of their lives as proxies……just gone in an instant. The first floor was flooded with smoke and ash, the lights and glass of the bottom floors all shattered and peppering the floor as sparks rained from where the lights once were. The explosion had even ruined the backroom where the siblings were, everything in there was immediately blasted into the wall and even cracking it in some areas, the poor bangboo were launched with enough force to mess up their internal circuitry and even leave some of them with damage so severe they wouldn't be able to operate.  Eous was the least damaged of the three, having only minor damage to his scarf and left arm, all repairable damage. The other two were not as lucky as Eous.

18 had his face plate cracked, almost of his clothing was burnt of revealing the bangboo default body underneath, his right ear was completely gone with sparks flying in all directions from the missing ear, and to top it all off, there was a large gash across his small body, the result of a large sharp chunk of debris, being launched at it with high force. 

6 got the worst of it, he was on fire and had been ripped in half, the housing unit for his logic core was exposed and leaking oil, like its very lifeblood was seeping out as the lights of its eyes went out. Bangboo were designed to navigate the hollows and even fight alongside their proxies, so their bodies were designed to take an absolute hellish amount of punishment before needing any maintenance of any kind…… but they were machines……. So what would happen to people who were caught in this same explosion?

Wise and Belle were not spared the damage from the explosion, they like their bangboo, were launched at high speed into the wall of the employee backroom, smashing the screens and even damaging the H.D.D with their bodies. Wise and Belle had been knocked out and buried under burning rubble, both had been cut and burnt by the initial explosion but the damage was mainly surface level…..mainly

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnng

Ugh

Mmmh

Wha-

Wise had regained consciousness from the explosion, his head was in absolute agony, trying to figure out what the hell just happened, unbeknownst to him when he got up he failed to notice the blood puddle from where his head once was. His jacket was stained red with blood on the sleeves, collar and back, his pants were ripped and full of holes, like if someone had shot them with an automatic gun, his shoes were scuffed and stained black and red by the explosion and his blood that was flowing from his cut up legs. 

He stood confused, dazed, and with blurry vision, his body then all at once, had finally registered the pain he was in dropping him to his knees as he tried to scream at the top of his lungs.

.

.

.

.

But he couldn't, every effort he tried was met with nothing more than a squeak, all of the wind had been knocked out of his lungs. 

There wasn't anything for him to scream out. He desperately needed air and tried to breathe in as much as he could…. 

HAACK HAK KOFF KOFF GASP HACCK HAK

But was met with the black smoke that had filled the entire store, the smell and particles filled his airways in lungfulls, his already blurry vision had faded even further as he desperately tried and failed to remove the smoke from his body. He didn't understand what had happened for this to happen, he wasn't able to understand. 

Why?

Why did this happen?

What was happening?

His vision was returning slowly along with his alertness, he finally saw what happened, and he was speechless….his home, the home he had lived in ever since they lost Carole, was destroyed and burning to the ground all around them. His eyes were tearing up, a combination of the smoke and the sheer despair he felt in his heart and soul from the sight. 

Who would do this and why?

Why attack their home?

Why threaten him and Belle?

belle 

Belle 

BELLE 

BELLE

“BELLLLLLE!” Wise, remembering that his only family left, was also hit by the explosion, roared her name with all he could.

I CAN'T LOSE YOU TOO!

“BELLLLLE….WHERE ARE YOU?! KOFF HAACK KOFF GASP HELLLLLP! ANYONE! PLEASE HELP US!” He was shouting hard enough that everyone on Sixth Street could hear him….at least that would have been the case had anyone in there, but nobody was there.

He looked around wildly, trying to find his sister anywhere amongst the rubble and debris, hoping something would show. 

Then he saw it.

Hair.

Blue hair…..buried under a chunk from the ceiling…..with blood pooling beneath it.

no……

NOOOOOOOOOOO!

He saw his world turn grey as all sound simply vanished, he ran, completely ignoring the pain he was previously in and rushing to help her by any means.

The rubble was massive, larger than even their car, he knew deep inside there was no hope in hell of moving this thing. Even with the training he had with 11 and the further training with Yunkui Summit, there was no good chance he would be able to even make it budge…..but right now, he didn't care.

On the outside, with the group of Exaltists who were overseeing the entire operation, they had become aware of their consciousness when they heard the male proxy scream for his sister, for anyone to save them. They weren't just gonna sit around and wait. 

After all that was their signal.

A group of at least 10 all jumped from their perch points and dropped right in front of the burning building and walked in slowly, gas masks adorning their faces as they walked in with weapons in hand. They were sticks, scepters more accurately, that they used in order to summon and call other ethereals to their aid, but against humans the damage wasn't much. Against people who had never been in the hollows before it would work effectively enough, however, they were still cautious. They have been made of wear of all the little tricks these little proxies could use and that even when weakened they were a very dangerous threat.

Then again they were just human. Intelligent, capable and very well guarded, but only human, and they were against them and their flawless plan.

It was perfect, too perfect to fail.

Wise had grabbed the rubble and with every last ounce of strength his body could muster,

“HRRRRGGH!”

Attempted to lift it, to no avail, it was just too heavy.

But he didn't care.

“HRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAGH!”

The rubble barely moved, not even enough to see the damage done to his sister. 

But he didn't care.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHGGGGGGHH, MOVE YOU PIECE OF SHIT!”

Hysterical strength.

A phenomenon that occurs in times of great stress or fear. The purpose is simple, to push the human body beyond its natural limit for a burst of strength that is needed for the crisis at hand, Wise had tapped into this strength and with his strength, moved the rubble of his sister.

His muscles were screaming, firing on all cylinders. He hadn't expected this level of strength to appear out of nowhere, so his unprepared body had taken the brunt of the strain and was running on fumes. But he didn't care, he finally managed to get it off his sister and could see her……….it was bad.

Her body was cut and riddled with burns, her hair was stained red with her blood, just like his, her arms were bruised purple and her left leg looked like it was stabbing repeatedly with a knife, pouring blood everywhere. Her clothes were burnt and ripped, showing her left arm and right leg while her shirt was torn in the stomach and chest. 

Wise saw the blood leaking from her leg and without even thinking about it, scanned the room for anything he could use to stop the bleeding. He then saw the spare medkit they kept, just for emergencies. It was slightly banged up and a bit singed but other than that it seemed fine, he went for it and found some disinfectant wipes and gauze.

Sorry if this burns Belle!

He wiped her leg as well as he could through the smoke and chaos, taking care not to injure her any further. Belle was twitching and moving in discomfort from the alcohol from the wipes getting in her wounds, but she was still unconscious from the explosion and Wise highly doubted that she'd wake up anytime soon. As he finished wrapping her leg and wrapping a second layer around her head, he heard something that sounded strange. 

Voices.

But they weren't like anyone he had ever heard.

He turned and despite the wall separating the front and back of the store being gone, the smoke still obscured any real visibility, he could see the outlines of some of the shelves and a few pieces of scattered debris. However what caught his attention were the light beams that were cleaving their way through the smoke and dust.

He thought about yelling for help, but something in his gut was stirring, an instinct that was deep inside of him, one that screamed a simple command.

DON'T FUCKING MAKE A SOUND!

He was close to the floor, completely and utterly still as he watched these people walk through the remains of Random Play. He couldn't fully make out what they look like. But he could see a few things, they had gas masks probably to stop them from breathing in the smoke and dust. They also appear to have some sort of scepter or staff on their sides that was glowing a strange purple light.

Then he got a good look at their outfits.

Exaltists…. Equipped with weapons they used within the hollows.

This wasn't a rescue crew.

It was an executioner squad, ensuring that their targets remained dead.

He didn't hesitate further, he grabbed Belle who was unconscious and made his way to the front, hiding behind the debris and staying as quiet as possible. He looked back to the place where they were, and saw their three bangboo, his heart felt like it died inside. These little guys work given to them by their teacher, they were a piece of their family and to see them basically destroyed, it killed him inside. 

Right now he had made his choice, as much as it painted him the choice between them, who could be repaired and his sister who was probably in need of a hospital desperately, the choice was obvious…..painful, but obvious.

As he walked slowly through the store, he could slowly feel Belle start to stir.

Not good NOT GOOD!

If she woke up like he did there would be no way to keep her quiet, and they'd most likely be dead if they were to be caught. It was only a few more steps before they could get to an opening and then they could make a break for it. But the front door was guarded like crazy by at least seven different guys, either near or at the front door. The back entrance, however, was way less guarded, only 2 guys were there and for the most part, the smoke was covering them quite well. The hard part was moving while holding his breath because he knew if he took a deep breath, he'd be coughing like a madman again.

He waited as he held his sister who was starting to stir even further, the second before, a second after and he'd be dead, the timing was tight, but not impossible.

Wait

They had their gazes pointed near the entrance.

Waaaait

Their heads were slowly turning around, trying to see and find anything they could.

Waaaaaaaaaait

They have turned their backs on the door.

NOW!

He crouchwalked as fast as he could past everyone ducking and diving beneath their beams of light hiding beneath the debris until he was at the door. Well, to call it a door would be inaccurate since the door itself was blasted in half horizontally with the top half hanging off of its hinges and the bottom half just gone. It was a tight fit, but he managed to squeeze on through.

On the outside it was complete night and day. It had been early in the morning when they had been attacked and by the time Wise had managed to make it outside with Belle, midday was already upon them. 

GAAAAASSSP KOFF KOFF GASP KOFF KOFF

Violent coughing erupted from Belle as she had regained consciousness. Her eyes were darting everywhere all in the attempt to try to figure out what the hell had happened. She was suddenly embraced by someone she couldn't quite see or hear yet, so she was immediately afraid of who the hell was grabbing her.

“NO! GET OFF OF ME! NO!” She yelled in fear and defiance of her wouldbe captors swinging her arms in every direction she could, just to escape. From her perspective, her brother and she were just having a normal conversation, then the lights went out everything went dark for God knows how long and then she woke up in absolute agony, unable to breathe trying to figure out what the fuck happened. As if all of that wasn't confusing enough, now there was some random person who was hugging her?! What the hell was going on?!

“Shhhhh it's okay it's okay, it's just me, Belle. Just me.” Wise reassured her as best as he could given the situation they were in. He held her face to face with himself so that she could see him.

Belle was freaking out by the person who was bringing her to them face to face. She was ready to clock this guy in the face and make a run for it, despite the fact that her body was in absolute pain. But then she noticed something: his face, his hair, his eyes, she recognized him, it was Wise. The minute she recognized him, she began to calm down, only to immediately start freaking out again at the side of her brother who looked just as fucked up as she did.

“W-wise? W-what the fuck happened?!” She was a bit more stable, but still absolutely terrified about their situation. Seeing as Wise had most likely been awake longer than she had, it was fair to believe that he had more knowledge of the situation than she did.

“No idea, I woke up to the entire store being destroyed, everything was on fire and you are bleeding badly. I don't know what the hell happened, but for right now. I just think we have t–”

“THEY'RE OUT HERE!”

The siblings were interrupted by the sounds of somebody nearby screeching to their group. They turned to face their attackers who were now pouring out of the back door with their weapons drawn and the siblings with their eyes finally being adjusted to the natural light and not the dark burning hellscape, that was their home, Belle, who was previously gonna aware of who could have been attacking them, could now see who they were, Exaltists.

“BELLE RUN!” Wise stood and put himself in front of his sister, ensuring that if they started charging, he wanted to give her as much of a chance as she could to get away. Belle had tried to stand up to protest, but couldn't. Her leg was still very injured and despite being bandaged and no longer bleeding, it was still very much in dire need of medical care.

Wise felt like a piece of shit. Asking his sister to run while he sacrificed himself, heartless, but for him he couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like. Living in a world without her? It sounded worse than hell. What made him feel even worse, is the fact that he, in a desperate scramble to save his sister, had seemingly forgotten that his sister couldn't even physically run if she wanted to. Her leg was in absolute shambles and both of her arms were bruised purple. There was a good chance she couldn't fight back even if she wanted to.

The biggest and tallest one of the group began to walk out, a Flame Cantor. He'd simply walk out of the group and face the siblings. In a commanding tone, he gave his ultimatum.

“PHATHEON! I GIVE YOU ONE CHOICE. YOU CAN EITHER COME WITH US PEACEFULLY OR WE CAN DRAG YOU BACK, THE CHOICE IS YOURS.” Normally they both would have shouted a ‘hell no’ at the top of their lungs, but bravado often fizzled out when you were by yourself with none of your agents at your side, in front of a large group of dangerous cultists.

Wise didn't move an inch, determined to keep his family safe, Belle on the other hand was desperate to help her brother, to keep him from doing something stupid, but was continuously stopped by the absolute shooting pain in her leg, and the absolute agony she felt in her arms.

“.......fine. Aim to incapacitated. We want them alive, not dead.” The Flame Cantor raised his hand into the air as the rest of the Exaltists lifted their weapons intending on knocking Phatheon out and whisking them away.

Wise went to cover his sister, if they were going to get attacked then he would rather fight all he could before they could get to his sister. He assumed a very poor boxer's stance, a telltale sign of his lack of knowledge of how to fight.

The Exaltists all laughed, when they saw him, he had no clue what he was doing, but he was desperate.

So why not entertain his small little…desire to protect what remains.

Wise ran to swing at the first Exaltist who got close

Swing

The Exaltist, seeing the predictable, pathetic, swing from a mile away smply moved without any effort and returned the favor…

KRRUNCH

The sound of the scepter colliding with his chest was horrible. His body was already weakened from the explosion, along with the fact that he himself was very frail to begin with. That one simple swing had cracked his ribs and put him on the floor gasping for air and coughing up blood.

“ Did you really believe you could stop what is coming? Even your precious Void Hunter couldn't hope to stop our wheel from turning.” He swung again this time at the back of Wise's head. The attack was brutal, reopening the wound he had on the back of his head. The same wound that caused his hair to be stained red.

HACK KOFF KOFF

His body forced up more blood that it didn't even know it had inside of him. His brain was already a scattered mess.

Now?

He was genuinely surprised he was even still conscious. He simply just chalked it up to him being hopped up on the adrenaline and cortisol. As he tried to piece together a plan, he was met with a second hit right to the temple which I caused his ears to start ringing again, further fucking him up. As the discombobulated Wise tried to fight back, he was then met with a knee to the nose that caused it to pour out blood. He was seeing double and barely even standing up, but he still tried to fight as he went to swing at one of the smaller Exaltists. Unfortunately in his dazed stated he was seeing double and had swung at the fake, while the real Exaltist had barely moved out the way as he brought down his hands in a hammerfist down on Wise's arm, causing him to stumble onto the floor.

One of the smarter Exaltists, seeing that they were wasting time on him, went to end the fight quickly with a choke hold.

“AHHH, YOU STUPID LITTLE!”

He was then met with the teeth of the proxy who was still determined to stall as long as he could. He honestly was surprised by the fact that he had bitten him with enough force to make him bleed. But it wasn't enough as was then smacked full force in the head and then kicked into the arms of another who held Wise in place as the cultists took turns swinging at his head and chest.

Belle was tearing up at the sight of her brother being brutally beaten. She wanted to help but her arms were probably broken considering just how much pain she felt even trying to move them along with her leg being cut up bleeding mere moments ago, made it almost impossible for her to even try anything. But she refused to sit there and let her brother die.

“HEY!”

Some of the Exaltists that weren't beating her brother turned to face her. They looked amused by the broken girl who was desperate for them to stop. One of them was even surprised by the defiance and went to her, meeting her gaze through his visor and asked.

“ What could you possibly do? A dying lamb trying to save its own? Pathetic. We are in control, child and you can't fight or run.” 

Belle however still had some fire in her and roared out.

“FUCK YOU!!! WE JUST WANTED A NORMAL LIFE AND YOU WON'T LEAVE US ALONE! YOU ALREADY TOOK OUR TEACHER AND OUR HOME AND YOU WON'T LEAVE US ALONE. STOP HURTING MY BROTHER. JUST TAKE ME AND LEAVE WISE ALONE! TAKE ME PLEASE, JUST STOP HURTING HIM!” 

Whether through rage or fear Belle's eyes were crying as she had been desperate to save her last family member left by any means, even if it meant being their tool. The Exaltist however didn't care and stared back with a calm expression 

“No. Both of you are required.”

Belle was enraged.

“I WILL BREAK YO–”

Her threats were silenced by the grip that immediately wrapped around her throat with intense force. Belle, desperate for air, began to kick him with her only good leg, but had her leg held down by the Exaltist as he glared into her terrified eyes and said in a deep, haunting voice.

“The only reason you're still alive is because your usefulness to our Creator outweighed the want to kill you here and now. Be grateful that you're wanted by the Creator.” 

The Exaltist then slammed her head back onto the concrete which caused it to crack with force he slammed her with. He then raised his scepter and smacked her head repeatedly, intending to knock her out. As he bashed her face he stared back at the male proxy who had long since been knocked out and was now being carried off by the others. Belle was fighting to stay conscious but couldn't fight any longer.

KRAK

KRAK

KRAK

KRAK

KRAK

KRAK

KRAK

KRAK

Judgment as he observed the events, was confused by something that nobody understood. He then questioned to himself, what was the time? as he pulled out a small pocket watch and saw the time, 11:59. 

Okay….still on schedule.

Tick

Tick

Tick

Tick

Tick

Tick

Tick

Tick

12:00 

Noon

A cold wind has rushed in with an immense, bloodthirsty hatred that seems to lace the breeze……about time Hoshimi Miyabi.

2 seconds.

In 2 seconds the Exaltist that was on top of Belle lost their arm mid-swing and before they could even register the pain, they were butchered into chunks of meat and skin that were flash frozen with the muscle, blood, and organs stopping midfall from the frost and then immediately shattering. The Exaltists that were attacking Wise had ceased when they bore witness to a sight that many would fear to even begin to imagine.

Hoshimi Miyabi. 

Bloodlusted.

With a glare that could frighten even the strongest of Gods.

“you DARE….lay your hands….. UPON MY PROXIES?!” Her voice sounded possessed, as if every rational thought that ever saved any of her opponents was just thrown out. Not needed anymore. Her red eyes seemed to bleed into a deeper shade of red. One that can only be described as hell personified in a glare.

To say that these feeble, tiny cultists felt fear would not do justice to the amount of terror coursing through their veins and souls, they had seen many terrifying things in their lives, but this? It puts everything to shame.

“ I give you ONE SECOND to consider your choices. You can either drop the proxy and I will make it quick….. Or you refuse and I promise you. You will feel EVERY. SINGLE. CUT. all the way to hell."

Her voice gave way to a fury that didn't scream, didn't roar, didn't burn, it didn't need to. It was the type of fury that was calm, collected, focused. Like an ocean before a tidal wave, a sunny day before a typhoon, or the silence for a massacre.

They were shaking, they're clothes were audibly fluttering in the wind from how badly they were shaking. What could they do? How could they fight back? What could they even do? She was a Void Hunter, one that was known for destroying a hollow in 5 minutes. What the hell could they do to her?

Out of fear,  the Flame Cantor stepped up in an attempt to try to satiate the bloodless radiating off of her.

“ M-maybe we co–”

SLASH

He didn't even finish before. 

He was cut clean in half and before his body had even hit the ground.

SKKRRRRT

His body too, was made into absolute mincemeat. Chunks and guts landed on the floor refer standing on top of what remained of him and in a cold empty, dead voice, simply asked

“ So you have chosen death…. Then you die PAINFULLY.” 

It was a massacre.

To call it a fight would be a joke.

It didn't even take a minute before every single one of them was made into nothing more than the stains and red mist. 

Normally she would have been absolutely horrified at the thought of taking the life of another human being. But these were not people, they were monsters. Monsters, who had made a lie to drag her away from her friends, from the proxies SHE swore to protect, they killed hundreds of innocents, endangered hundreds more and then lured her away into a graveyard, all so that her proxies could be caught alone.

Mercy was a luxury, one that had just run out.

When she was done her usual clothes that she always wore with her, were stained red. Even her hair had been stained red and her soulless, empty eyes focused on her targets had now redirected themselves to Wise and Belle. Her rage deepened as she saw the state they were left in, bloody bruised, battered, left at the brink of death. Anger, frustration,hatred, those words could not even begin to explain what flowed through her body and veins. The sensation felt like molten steel desperately crying, begging to be let out and burn everything around her. Right now however she had different priorities.

She was going to get her friends to safety and then she was going to find whoever made this call to hurt her friends and she was going to make them suffer slowly and painfully.

“ I am surprised……..you arrived here as scheduled …but….by my account, your ……..early……..did something change I wonder?”

Miyabi then turned and saw somebody on top of telephone wire, staring down at her with eyes that seemed to be more calculating than any should ever have met. She could tell just by looking at him he was strong, much MUCH stronger than these weaklings who had just fought her. 

He seemed to be confident?

No, not just that almost as if…. He knew what was going to happen.

Wait. He's been standing there the entire time. How could I not sense him?! That doesn't make sense. Everyone else I saw them, felt their power but I've only just now noticed him?!

Despite being in an enraged state, she was smart enough not to immediately attack. A target unknown to her was just a recipe for disaster, if she jumped in without any idea of what she was fighting.

“ Who are you and more importantly ARE YOU THE ONE WHO MADE THIS PLAN?”

“......yes…..I needed them alone. I recognize their power unlike everyone else……you like everyone else are a roadblock, one that I cut off.”

Miyabi felt her blood boil as she then realized what he meant by that.

“ So it was you. You were the one behind that disaster, you caused that hollow to expand.”

“ Indeed, that was me…..not my preferred method, but effective enough. However, I knew for a fact you would not stay there long…..in fact….I waited for you to come.”

Miyabi was confused and surprised everyone knew her for her legendary strength and skill. So the fact that someone willingly chose to draw her out.  That was not something she was going to ignore.

“ How many people did you kill with that explosion? YOU knew that I would stop and choose who'd to save. Is that what all those people's lives were to you? DISTRACTIONS?!”

He simply looked at her and tilted his head slightly almost as if confused.

“ Do you not realize….. I knew you had to choose but I also knew……your comrades of Section 6 would pick up the slack for you. Dealing with dead corpses and burning people all the while you dealt with this…..Even if you did choose them you still would have wasted time…..But that wasn't the reason why you're here….I simply separated you from your back up so whether you came here or not, you would have either been too late or alone….had it been my decision……the method of separation would have been different……….but the results are still the same. You're here……..Alone.”

She had heard enough.

THOOOOM

CRAACK

In a burst of speed that cracked the earth under her feet, she closed the distance between them. Her sword aimed at his head ready to destroy it.

CLAAAAANG

!

When was the last time this happened?

That was the thought that was running through Miyabi's head as she tried to process what she was looking at.

“ I look frail, talk like an old man, move slowly, but let me ask you.…..” He then raised his head to face her dead in the eyes. “Do I seem weak to you?” Judgement had blocked her attack with a single kunai. 

The shock from that one singular moment was enough for Judgment to then, with all of his might, run his blade across her sword, causing sparks to fly which had the intended effect of temporarily blinding her eyes.

BAM

SKKKKKKIDD

Taking advantage of this one small distraction, he simply punched into her stomach. A blow that surprisingly threw her back so violently her feet skated against the concrete as she tried to bring herself to a complete stop.

She, however, regained her focus and decided to switch up her tactics. From what she could tell in terms of strength. They were almost equal in terms of speed, he was slightly faster than her. She then came up with a new plan and decided to overwhelm him with dozens of attacks from all over, could he parry all of them? Only one way to find out. 

From an outside perspective, Miyabi simply charged him and arrived on the other side in a blink of an eye simply sheathing her blade. But their eyes told a different story. She in the span of a second unleashes 67 swings, each aiming at different vital parts all of which however were met with cold steel. Judgment had merely turned around to stare at the fox, who seemed unscaved from their scuffle as well. Both of them however noticed the blood on the other's blade.

SHKK 

SKRRT

A small cut appeared on Judgment’s cloak, a small patch of hair came loose from his head, and a chunk of his mask was removed. It wasn't anything too dangerous, simply a small shard, not even enough to reveal even a fragment of his face. His eyes widened a bit in surprise, but then returned back to their neutral glaze as he stared at the fox thiren noticing that he only managed to hit her once.  

Miyabi had one cut on her body, a large gash on her right cheek. One that was now gushing blood in response she very simply ripped off a piece of her uniform, packed it into the wound as deep as she could, and returned her hands to her blade. It was sloppy, but it would do for now, because she now understood this was a fight between 2 equals with no backup on either side. Either she walked away where he did. 

They rushed each other again with their eyes never straying from their targets.

Miyabi slashed at his left arm with rapid pace, and met the kunai with a rain of sparks. Not losing momentum she then in an instant swung 7 times at his neck, shoulders, knees and heels, with every single one being met or dodged. Meanwhile, she in the same flurry, managed to dodge a stab that was aimed at her left eye, and parry 6 slashes that targeted her arms and ears. The ground beneath them was coated in ice and rubble as they fought with absolute concentration, neither one letting the other take a single inch.

Miyabi was frustrated by the fact that there was someone who she needed to stop, someone who was threatening her friends, who was part of the same group who took her mother, but she couldn't due to their skill and power. What concerned her more however, was the fact she could feel the weight behind the strikes…. He was holding back.

But at the same time, so was she, she didn't because of the fact that she knew if you were to go out there'd be no mercy for anyone around her. This opponent, if her opponent was as strong and as fast as she was, there was no chance of her getting the proxies out of here without being stopped or slowed down.

Judgement was deep inside of his own head, attempting to find different strategies or methods to get the targets out of here without being chased down by the fox. There was a good chance that she recognized that he needed to be removed from the equation in order for that to happen. However, he would not die that simply. He still had a mission one he would accomplish no matter what.

He kicked her away as he jumped back, this however cost him a large gash on his right leg. Miyabi then ran around him in a large circle as she ran her sword across the pavement, causing dust and rubble and earth to get kicked up. Judgement, unaffected by the smokescreen, launched to where he knew the male half of Phaethon was, intending on using his life as a bargaining chip. As he cleared the smokestream, however, he saw that his body was gone and Belle's was there, with Miyabi there mid grabbing her. Judgement, recognizing her plan, ran and closed the distance with his blade in his right hand aimed at the neck of the proxy. Miyabi saw this and went to counter with a stab at his hand with her blade raised up as it came down with the force of a cannon.

GRAB

However, a miscalculation was made. It wasn't his kunai, but rather, his hand which was empty and he with no regard for what might happen to his hand grabbed her blade. In the small micro instant his left hand went up to her ear and crushed something that was inside of his hand…...an explosive that was ultimately non lethal, but very, very loud.

BANG

“AAAAAHHHHH!” Miyabi was very powerful, an unstoppable force. But she was still just a mortal with weaknesses that could be exploited. Her biggest and most obvious being the two ears that sat up on her head. They were perfect for hearing everything that dared to get close to her, but they were also still very sensitive and she, while used to the constant fighting that always occurred within the hollows, she still had to be careful with very loud noises, as they could disorienter for a bit. 

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHAAAAAAA!” She, with her hearing damaged and barely functioning, still had enough strength to finish what she started. With a swift motion grabbed her blade and swung it upwards, slicing his right hand in half horizontally. In that same motion, she planted her blade back onto the ground and used it as leverage to leap off of his face, creating distance while shoving him backwards.

“Irritating…..but ultimately negligible.” Judgement, having recovered from being pushed back, simply stared at his hand, his tone being more annoyed than concerned at the fact that half of his hand was gone. His left wasn't doing that much better as it was charred black from the explosion, it wasn't bleeding but it was shaking violently showing signs of trauma from the explosion it took.

“Surrender! You can't fight any further!” Miyabi wanted him dead, but was smart enough to realize that he was better off alive so that they could figure out what the true overall goal was for all of this and why they wanted the siblings in the first place. Her eyes, however, caught a faint glimmer of something very thin, something that seemed to be attached to his left pointer finger. 

Judgment simply twitched his finger and that faint glimmer she saw became a steady white line that moved towards him. 

SLIT

She was immediately caught off guard as the kunai that had been behind her flew back towards him while grazing her right shoulder. He was sneaky, for him to set that up in the middle of the fight, and have it ready for just this moment? That was impressive.

“I…..suppose…..we should take each other seriously then.” Judgment seemingly disregarding the bleeding coming from his hand simply put the kunai back into his cloak as a new weapon came out.

CLANG

RATTLE

RATTLE

It was kusarigama.

( if you have no clue what it looks like, just search it up so that you can have an idea as to what it looks like)

She had seen something like that once before in her childhood, she tried fighting with it once, but found it way too unwieldy. It was like trying to control another living being that refused to be used by anyone, it deemed unworthy. After having it wrap around her multiple times and even at one point almost cutting her ear off by accident, she eventually put it down, deciding that it wasn't worth learning how to fight with it.

But now that she was once again face to face with it, she had no idea all the intricacies and fluid motions one could pull off with that weapon, so her only method of attack was reaction. As she was deep in thought however, her eyes caught the glint of sharp steel heading directly for her face.

CLLAAAANG

RIIIIIIIIIIIING

Tick

She blocked the kama that was thrown at her with enough force to knock her back a couple of feet but then she heard the sounds of something ringing towards her. The other side was thrown in a wide arc with it appearing on her left side. She noticed what was on the end of the other side of the chains, a claw hook. She was surprised since normally what was on the end of the other side was a blunt heavy metal weight, designed to knock out any target instantly. As it collided with her blade the chain immediately wrapped around it, with the claw hook clamping shut around the blade, he tugged it back with full force, damned near ripping the sword out of her hands. 

Miyabi however, seeing an opportunity instead of fighting against the pull, simply tightened her grip on the sword and rushed forward in a stabbing motion to see how he would react.  He seemed a bit shocked that she would employ such a reckless tactic, but nevertheless responded by pulling the kama first, grabbing it in his left hand and swinging it in a wide arc on her left side. 

?

Miyabi was confused.

How is he pulling me back and swinging at the same time? I cut his hand in half!

She mid charge managed to get a good look at his right hand and as she had expected from the fingers she saw on the floor and the blood on her blade, it was……completely fine? She then checked his left hand and it was……unmarked?

What?

As she remembered where she was she immediately ducked barely dodging the kama which then flew and stuck itself into the wall to her right side. Still crouched down she then pushed with all of her sword upwards with all of her might, intending on driving it into his chin and out the top of his head. Judgement had seen this, but unfortunately as he was still mid-motion did not have enough time to completely dodge it. 

KKRRRAK

Her blade had missed his chin by an inch but still in motion, found a new target as it had collided with his mask, cracking a piece off that fell to the floor. She then in a very risky play, let go of her blade, grabbing his shoulder to pull him in and with her right hand delivered a devastating blow right to his mask cracking it even further. The blow had sent him staggering back and as he was stunned she proceeded to regain the advantage as she ran to immediately pin him onto the floor with her on top of his back. Using the chains that he had dropped on the floor to wrap his arms to his side ensuring that the man can no longer fight back.

“ ENOUGH! You have lost, admit defeat and I'll bring you in quietly.” To be honest she wanted this fight to end immediately.

Not because she didn't find it entertaining, but because she could understand the damage he could cause if she wasn't here. She had been genuinely surprised by this warrior's ability to keep up with her since the only one who had been able to even challenge her in an even playing field were ethereals of equal level and Yiuxan who's she stalemated.

“ Do you really believe you've stopped anything? The sequence is already in motion, I refuse to let the schedule be interrupted, even by you.” He then began to fade away, as if he was never even there. Miyabi, desperate to keep him there, grabbed his kama and tried to ram it into his shoulder intending on incapacitating him and also pinning them even further to the floor.

CLUNK

Tick

But the blade simply hit the ground beneath passing through his body. The chains as well seem to simply fall on the floor still wrapped up around him but merely acting as if he was never even there. 

She didn't understand what was happening. Here he was right in front of her and now he was just fading? 

What was this? 

She couldn't understand it and before she knew it, he was gone.

But if he was gone then she knew what her priority immediately was she went to turn and faced Belle with a plan in mind, to get the proxies and—

Her thought process stopped when she was met with her face full of purple gas. As the man she had previously had on the floor was merely standing completely unharmed, breathing this gas from beneath his mask.

The once strong Void Hunter was now on the floor riving in pain, choking gasping and coughing up blood. Her brain was flooded with thoughts and memories of a past, both good and bad. Her head was pounding, trying to think, act, fight, flee. Every possible thought and action all at the same time was flooding her mind. It felt like her skin was melting off the bone. It felt like her muscles were being ripped apart by monsters. She couldn't think, speak, or act. All she could do was simply acknowledge the amount of pain she was in and the man who was standing over her staring with a calm, cold stare.

“ Don't worry, you're not dying. Just feels like you are. Though I am uncertain if you can even hear me anymore, know this. It wouldn't have mattered whether or not your team was here or even if you had every one of Phaethon's allies. The result wouldn't have changed, because I can't fail. You can fail again and again, but my failure cannot come to pass.  My plan must succeed and neither you nor anyone else will stop me.”

Without even giving her a chance, he grabbed her head and slammed into the floor HARD, finally knocking her out. 

It was a risky play. 

He had a small pellet of poison gas in his teeth, one that cracked open and used to breathe on his enemies, but he needed the perfect moment to use it because if he waited too early they would notice something's wrong and if he waited too late, he'd be choking on his own poison. 

But that wasn't an issue. 

Because everything he did was always perfect and according to plan.

He then turned to face Belle who was unconscious from the amount of blood she lost and then faced the van that the proxies used. He in a simple motion, simply dug his hands into the side of the van and ripped it open, revealing Wise, who was also unconscious from the previous beat down.

You manage to stuff him in here in the middle of that smokescreen. Not bad, that was pretty fast of you to do all of that and come back in the same motion. But speed becomes useless when someone knows where you're going and can keep up with you. Besides, I highly doubt you could have made much distance without injuring the proxy along the way. This was a bad fight for you and I know I cheated, but fighting you fairly would've taken too long. I'm sorry for that Miyabi, even after everything I still care about you.

He then grabbed Wise, turned to Belle and grabbed her as well. He then hoisted both of them over his left shoulder and with his right hand pressed his little ear piece and said.

“This is Judgement

.

.

.

.

……….Phaethon has been acquired.”

Act 2 - Defend

Horrible

That's how everyone felt at this moment. They stared at the ruins of their friend's home with wide eyes. It was in flames brought to the ground and they had scoured every inch of the place, hoping that they would find something, anything!

But no… they were too late and they knew it.

They were an absolute shock. 

They should have done something! 

They should have been there for them!

Should have been ready for anything that could have happened but…. They planned around them, waited for everyone to be far too busy to do anything and then they just….

they knew.

THEY FUCKING KNEW!

They knew this entire time that their friends were being targeted and yet they did nothing!

“How long?” The first voice to say anything was the now shaken, frightened police captain, Zhu Yuan.

“ This all happened twenty minutes ago. They were smart about it. Nobody was here when they attacked and the only person who arrived in time was the void hunter, Hoshimi Miyabi. As for where they went, they left no footprints, no trails, no true pathway back to them. We have no clue what direction they took.” Qingyi responded with a slightly more quiet tone than usual.

There was a firefighter squad who were on your way, but it would be about twenty to twenty five minutes before they arrived. There was nothing anyone there could really do about the raging inferno. In front of them, besides, simply stare at it and try not to choke on the smoke.

As she was speaking to Zhu Yuan, she then saw three people rush into the fire completely disregarding everyone who tried and failed to stop them. 

“HEY WAIT, DON'T BE IDIOTS!”

But they didn't care, all that mattered was seeing the damage. The 3 who ran were people who were extremely close to the siblings, people who were despite everything willing to dive into the fire. To see, to help, to do anything.

The first to immediately start running was the woman they first met back when they were starting out as “Phatheon”, Trigger. She was away helping her team with the Exaltists threats, but in the back of her mind, the threat that the siblings had looming over them never left her subconscious. She had watched them many times ever since they first met, call it creepy, call it stalking. She didn't care, all she wanted was to make sure that they made it in the world because they had helped her when she was still alone.

Her mind was racing. 

She should have been here, but she couldn't, her duty to protect the people of New Eridu had forced her away from them, causing this moment where they were alone to be when they would be attacked. Without any regard for her well-being, she immediately rushed into the still burning building, trying to find any trace of them inside. They're once carefully built and well maintained home was now nothing more than just rubble and ash and even though her eyes no longer truly worked, she still cried at the sight of it. She rushed through every room she could even through the collapsing floors and falling ceilings that threatened to pin her down and burn her. 

She didn't care.

She scrambled up the stairs only to be met with a hole where the second floor should have been along with the doorways leading to the rooms also caving inwards, letting more of the building fall apart slowly. On the bottom floor the other 2 who bolted behind Trigger, started their search on the first floor. They saw the door to the back room was blasted off and in the main area where most customers usually roamed, there was nothing more than fire, the smell of melted plastic and piles of burnt rubble the remains of what used to be the shelves were their videotapes used to be on display. 

“I HAVE THIS AREA UP FRONT. YOU SEARCH THE BACK FOR LORD PHAETHON!”

“Understood!”

Vivian had been running on fear and despair. Her vision had shown this happening, but she could never imagine the scale of the attack. As she made her way through the front, the last one behind her, Lycaon rushed to the back. Vivian was very scared and fearful of what she might find. She moved large chunks of rubble without regard for her hands that were being burnt and her lungs filled with smoke, but she needed to find her precious Lord Phaethon. She promised herself she wouldn't be the one to bring despair on to others anymore, but here she was in the rubble of her idol begging, praying that both were okay all the while she was wondering if this was her fault. As she searched fruitlessly for Wise and Belle, in the back there was a cold presence that ran throughout the small backroom.

Lycaon was genuinely terrified by the sight of the destruction that was caused in a mere 20 minutes and had been made aware of how impressive their plan was for isolating the siblings. What made his fur stand on end was the even more horrific sight of their bangboo being heavily damaged, the H.D.D completely gone from where it usually was, and the two enormous blood puddles with trails that led out of the room. The smoke and ash had hid both the sight and the smell of the blood so the fact that he barely noticed it now frightened him even more. He ran out of the backroom grabbing the three bangboo on the way out and calling his two search partners to return to him. He relayed what he saw in the back, both of them could feel the blood go cold as Trigger's visor went a deep blue from her fear and sorrow. Upon realizing what they were looking for they turned their eyes towards the floor trying to find the blood trail that they had left behind. As they searched they came across a heavy metal box, Lycaon immediately recognized as the container that housed the ether crystal the siblings were told to study and understand. Vivian had seen about it before from her many visits to Random Play and had also known about what was inside. She in a rush, grabbed the box and turned the dials on the sides, revealing that the crystal…….was still inside completely untouched?

It didn't make sense. 

Why would they leave something like this behind? 

Weren't they the ones who left it in their house in the first place?

More confusingly, why was it in the front?

The siblings never took it out from the back for fear of the obvious and direction of the explosion wouldn't have made it possible for it to end up here.

It was placed there after the attack.

Why?

As they were questioning the possible reason behind it they had become aware of a few droplets of blood that's zigzagged in between pieces of rubble and then made a beeline for the back door. They knew where to go now but decided for now to head back out the way they came to. Both inform the rest and escape the choking grasp of the smoke.

When they made it outside they were at first met with looks of what the hell were you thinking?! Their thought process, however, was immediately put on halt when they saw the half destroyed bangboo and their frightened faces. The fire to run up was Rina, Hugo, and strangely Grace. 

Rina immediately recognized the look on his face, one that was of him finding something that he didn't want to talk about but had to anyway. She very carefully asked him “What did you find back there?” He looked at her, opened his mouth and closed it as if he wanted to say something, but didn't know how to word it. Rina had her worries grow more by the sight of him being at a loss of words, even in situations where they were met with horrific sights, he was always the one to keep his head on straight and knew what to do in these stressful situations. So for him to not be able to fully word what he saw it grew a deep fear inside of her. 

“Lycaon…. D-don't tell me t-they're….”

“NO! ahem apologies for the outburst Rina my nerves are running high, but no, I couldn't find them. However their H.D.D it's completely gone and….. there were two large blood puddles.”

Rina's face went pale as her expression became fearful, a rarity for the usually stoic maid. Her mind was split in between wanting to freak out over the revelation and staying calm ensuring that the others around her freak out either. 

“Rina, I also saw a trail of blood leading towards the back door. I think they might have escaped that way.” 

“ I see, I will gather everyone up so we can all head to the back.”

On the other side of their conversation was a brother who was currently chewing out her sister for doing something very freaking stupid.

“ What the hell were you thinking Vivian?!”

“I had to do something!”

“You ran into a burning building!! What would you have possibly done if you were dead?!”

Vivian was silent. She couldn't argue because yeah, it was something pretty stupid and he had every right to be as angry and concerned as he was. As she went to say something else, she was met with a crushing hug from Hugo. 

“ Promise me you won't do something that dumb again.”

Vivian couldn't argue with her brother so she simply reciprocated the hug and responded with a “I promise I won't.”

Trigger stood there while she was being reprimanded by Soldier 11 for her reckless behavior. She had her visor turn an even deeper blue, not just from being reprimanded, but by the weight she held in her arms. The three bangboo she had grown to love and adore were now in her arms, broken and burnt, clinging to their artificial lives with all they could. It was enough to make anyone who loved machines and bangboo cry, hence the mechanic of Belobog Industries, rushing Trigger with tears of sorrow flowing out like a dam had been busted in her soul. As the group who went in explained what they saw inside to everyone else there, amongst them there was one group who was half paying attention. Section 6 were mostly listening but were preoccupied by a more scary thought. Miyabi was sent here 20 minutes before anybody else made it, and yet after they sent her to defend the proxies they never heard from her again. They had even managed to save a good majority of the people from the exploding building. Unfortunately, those that they couldn't get to were numerous but a very small amount in comparison to those that could have been lost. They had immediately made their way to Random Play to help back up Miyabi, but they were instead met with fire, a destroyed building, and a group of most of their friends outside looking at the destroyed building that the siblings once called home.  

They were confused. 

Did she not respond? 

Not unlikely, but also at the same time didn't sound like her.

The only other option was…..no.

It was a crazy thought to even imagine it, the strongest of the void hunters, losing? It seemed impossible.

“ Are you guys listening or have you guys been zoning out?” The 3 were pulled out of their deep thoughts by the words of the pink haired lady who they recognized as Nicole. Yanagi realized that while preoccupied and scared for the chief's safety, they had managed to completely not hear what the plan was or what they were talking about.

Yanagi stepped forward and asked them to repeat their previous statement and plans. Well it wasn't so much a plan as it was just a goal of what they were going to do now. To put it bluntly, they were in the shit and they had no clue what to do.

They had no idea where the proxies were taken. 

They had no idea the state of their will being.

They had no idea what the next step of this plan cooked up by the Exaltists would entail.

Their best plan was just to go into the parking lot i.e. the place where the blood trail led to and then see what they could get from there. As they maneuvered their way towards there everyone had their weapons drawn and their senses heightened due to the fact that considering who these people were and what they had been doing over the past few weeks, they were going to take no chances. 

What they found was blood chilling.

A massacre.

Corpses that were made into chunks of gore and viscera, bones with muscle and tissue that were riddled with ice and perfect cuts. Some corpses look old, but others were definitely new and much fresher than the rest, implying that even after they sent Miyabi, they had more people ready to act just to ensure their victory. Dismembered, destroyed, and annihilated. All of these words could describe the state of them. Those of weaker stomachs had to run to the side and vomit at the carnage they witnessed. What made it more terrifying was who they witnessed was in the center of this graveyard.

Hoshimi Miyabi.

With Tailless unsheathed and stained red with blood and covered in guts.

Both, however, were on the floor and not moving a fearful sight to those who knew her strength. Before anybody else could say anything about the Void Hunter, everyone heard four people cry their friend's name and saw them dash at full speed towards her.

“‘MIYABI!’”

Section 6 and Zhu Yuan all rushed to see what happened to their friend. From within Miyabi's mind there was a conflict, one generated by the poison she inhaled and from her own consciousness. Her brain was still firing on all circuits still in fight mode, so when she heard people walking towards her, she didn't assume anything all she did was ready herself

They reached her and Harumasa went to grab her shoulder and see what happened to their friend.

SWING

CLAAAAANG 

What they weren't expecting, however was for Miyabi to swing at them, full force. Yanagi and Harumasa both went to block her attack and they were barely holding her back.

“HEYHEYHEY! SAMESIDESAMESIDESAMESIDE!”

Harumasa scrambled to speak with speed in order to get Miyabi back into her senses. Miyabi, however with a tired, yet steady gaze kept applying pressure. As Soukaku went to help in blocking her strike, Yanagi spoke in a stern yet compassionate tone. “CHIEF! MIYABI! It's us, please just take a second to look!” 

She was confused. These voices didn't sound like they were coming from her head, they didn't sound like the ones who were mocking her for being weak for not being able to defend those around her. So in a gamble, she decided to listen to the voice blinking and opening her eyes.

Blink

Her glazed eyes became alive as she came back to her senses, horrified by the blade that was inches from killing her friends as said friends were barely succeeding at stopping her strength.

Clatter

Her blade left her hand as she remembered everything that occurred, where she was, and currently what she was doing. Her eyes began to tremble as tears leaked out.

“I-i'm sorry….I'm sorry for attacking you. There is no excuse for my actions.”

Zhu Yuan hugged her from the side as Section 6 went to wrap themselves around her.

“Don't worry you didn't hurt us. Even if you did, we wouldn't hold it against you. You're our friend, we are here for you, no matter what.” Zhu Yuan rubbed her back in circles as she reassured her that nobody was hurt. 

“ But I…..killed them….. They weren't innocent, nor were they redeemable. But they were still human and I claimed their lives without a second thought…. Are you not disgusted with me?”

“Miss Hoshimi, I can assure you that we understand where your fear comes from. The fear that taking a life would become easier and easier until it becomes a habit, trust me after working in the seedy underworld my hands are no longer clean, nor will they ever be. Nobody here can be the one to judge you for what you did. I believe given the situation we probably would've reacted in a similar way, they hurt our friends and killed so many innocent people I highly doubt mercy would have been on our mind. I can assure you. There is more than 1 person here who has taken the life of another. And we are not proud of it, but I can assure you. This will not change our opinion of you. Nor will it make us fear you that I promise you.” 

Evelyn's speech lifted the poor girl's heart as she realized just how much everyone cared for her. They were all friends of the proxies and by association, they were friends with each other. They could understand the amount of stress, anger and fear that was coursing through her. This wasn't the best solution, nor was it the correct one, but it was something they understood and something that wouldn't change their opinion of her.

The rest chimed in, ensuring that the poor fox wouldn't be dejected nor saddened by her actions, all of it, ending with Section 6 and a few others, all wrapping their arms around her, ensuring that their love would be with her.

(You know as they are in the middle of a corpse pile, but whatever)

“ Sheesh, chief, you really have one hell of a freaking arm, I was putting everything into holding you back and even then I was barely holding you back! I think after today I'm gonna take a nice, very acceptable break, after all, don't you think I've deserved it, Tsukishiro?”

He was met with a very annoyed glare that immediately put him in his place, as he looked down, too afraid to look her in the eyes.

“ Disregarding what officer Asaba said, you needn't worry, chief. We're strong enough to handle the hollows by ourselves, you don't have to worry about us being hurt by you.”

“Yeah! It wouldn't be your fault if we got hurt. You don't have to worry, Soukaku is the strongest of all!” The blue oni said with a smile that was like sunshine, melting her hurting heart and eliciting a slight chuckle from everyone, there the tension began to cease.

Yanagi, remembering why they even came here in the first place grabbed Miyabi by the shoulders and asked the question that everyone was wondering

“Chief, what happened to the proxies? Are they okay?”

Miyabi, having her small moment of reprieve immediately evaporate, looked down as her hair covered her eyes. She responded in a meek voice “They're….gone. The Exaltists took them away and I…. Failed…” 

Drip

Drip

Shame radiated from her being as tears leaked more from her eyes. She couldn't even begin to describe the shame, the hurt, the feeling of utterly failing those she swore to protect, those she promised would remain untouched under her protection. Everyone realizing their worst fears had been confirmed true, reacted in different ways. 

Crying, begging, hate, rage, stoic pain, swearing, screaming, disbelief, fear, and so many more. Their friends were taken and they were too late to stop it.

“Do you know where they were taken?” Zhu Yuan maintained her composure despite wanting to freak out like the rest, her job as captain of the criminal investigation unit had prepared her to be ready to handle the situation no matter what. 

Miyabi, however, said in a dejected tone. “No. I was out cold when they were taken and when I awoke they sent more that attacked me multiple times, it should have been easy but they dosed me with some poison. It makes every action I do much harder than needed and has yet to wear off.”

“So we really are screwed, aren't we? Fox, I know there was nothing you could have done so i'm sorry for what you had to go through, but fuck, we are in the shit aren't we?” Nicole had realized just how bad this situation was. They were trying to find two people who were taken by a bunch of cultists, they could be god knows where and we have no leads as to where they could've been taken besides the fact that they've attacked everywhere in New Eridu.

“ Is there any idea as to where we should look first? I mean we know that they have a bunch of bases inside of hollows, but it would be days of searching and by that point, who knows what could have happened to them.” Trigger was worried. Trying to think of a plan and trying to think of where to look first to find them as quickly as possible.

“I-I KNOW W-WHERE THEY ARE.”

Everyone jumped at the sound of Fairy's voice. Everyone here had heard her voice at least once so they knew this was an ally the question was with the H.D.D gone, where the heck was she speaking from.

“O-OVER HERE!”

They turned to face Grace who had Eous in her arms. She had been trying to patch up his wounds, but was startled by the sound of Fairy speaking through his damaged speakers. Fairy now controlling Eous’ body made her way to the center of the group to explain to everyone the plan of action and more importantly, how she knew where they were.

“Ah! I was wondering where you were. I could sense you somewhere, but as to where I had suspicions, it appears that my question been solved.” Qingyi responded to the sound of her (kinda) friend's voice. 

“IT IS ALSO NICE TO SEE YOU TOO, OFFICER QINGYI.”

“ Save the pleasantries for later. You said you knew where they took them.”

Zhu Yuan needed to know where they were going in order to keep a plan in order.

“INDEED, I DO CAPTAIN ZHU YUAN. THE TRACKING THEM WAS THE EASY PART.”

“So where are they?”

“ PINPOINTING LOCATION BASED ON LOCATION OF MASTER…

….LOCATION IDENTIFIED.

HOLLOW ZERO.”

“‘HOLLOW ZERO?!’’ Everyone shouted with absolute fear and dread filling their heads. These siblings, who were known for not being able to handle much time within the hollows were just dropped into the single most ether dense and most dangerous location in the world.

“Y-you must be joking?! Wisey and Belle in there?” Astra had her eyes shrink in fear of what could happen to her two friends outside of Eve. She deeply loved both of them and to see them get hurt would be something her heart couldn't handle.

“ This must be a crazy joke right?! Hollow Zero, that Hollow Zero?!” Billy said, freaking out while holding his head trying to figure out how and why the proxies were taken there.

“ If what you say is correct, then it does not bode well for our chances that were already extremely slim. Even with a plan traversing, a place such as Hollow Zero is no easy feat.” 11 was analytical about the situation, realizing that from an objective point of view, they were pretty much screwed.

“UNFORTUNATELY, YES THAT IS THE HARD PART. THE MINUTE THEY SHUT ME DOWN I TRANSFERRED MY CONSCIOUSNESS TO THIS LITTLE ONE. I WAS ONLY ABLE TO TRACK AS MUCH AS I COULD THANKS TO THEM SPEAKING THEIR PLANS OUT LOUD IN FRONT OF WHAT THEY BELIEVE TO BE JUST A BUNCH OF DEAD BANGBOO. I CAN PROMISE 2 THINGS. THE LOCATION OF MY MASTER AND THE SECOND ASSISTANT, ALONG WITH ENSURING THAT THESE MONSTERS WILL PAY FOR CUTTING MY CONNECTION FROM MY MASTER DURING HIS TIME OF NEED.” 

“ What are we waiting for? We have a location, let's go!” The small redhead, Koleda said with reignited fire in her eyes.

“ I second that decision, if we act, now we can catch them off guard. I highly doubt they would expect us this quickly.” Anby chimed in as well, wanting to retrieve for friends as quickly as possible.

“ If you do that, I can guarantee you're going to die.” Of every one who could have said that nobody was expecting that it would come out of Harumasa's mouth.

“Eeh? Listen here, pretty boy, our friends are in danger and if you want to sit here on your ass doing nothing, then be our guest but we're not going to stay while they're in danger!”

“Yeah President's right, our bro is out there alone with those freaks, doing who knows what to them.  I don't wanna waste any more time.” Anton, who was behind Koleda and wanted to like her, went in there and save them.

“ Hold on now! I believe what Asaba is saying does have some merit. I mean, we are basically walking into a trap aren't we? They know to some degree that we are going to retaliate and they know for a fact that we can't and won't sit still. Walking in if no plan at all would be suicide.”

It really was a bad situation. 

They had a location but not an exact point.

They knew the enemy, but not the size nor their ferocity in a fight. 

They had the conviction necessary but lacked resources and time to set up a true retaliation.

“ What exactly is your plan?”

“ We go in there, we get them out, simple.” Nekomata said with certainty.

“ Whelp, then I guess they can die on their own.”

To say, everyone was mad at him would be an understatement since everyone there wanted to beat him up and give him a piece of their mind, except for those who knew exactly what he was doing and why he was doing it.

“ I can see where your minds are at and your hearts are definitely in the right place, but what exactly are you going to do when you're face to face with a bunch of people who probably saw you coming a mile away and have a shut ton of defenses all ready to mow you down.

Along with that, we know the location, do you know the exact coordinates and how to get there? Do we even know if these coordinates will remain the same by the time we get there? Thirdly, once we do, are you certain we can get them out before the corruption can get either them or us? How exactly are we gonna get our hands on that much anti-corruption serum? Finally, as if that wasn't bad enough, your plan is so simple I think even a toddler could figure it out. We're fighting people who have fucking ran circles around us for 4 weeks with little to no effort. I understand I want to help them as well but if we just go in there without a plan of attack or any idea of what the hell we're doing, all we are going to accomplish is getting both them and us killed.”

Harumasa's sound and logical argument quelled everyone's anger and just put into mind that they really didn't have a plan.

“ If that is the case, then what do you propose our plan should be?” Anby asked with her head tilted in confusion.

“ It's simple, well, not simple but to be honest, is the only thing we have. I believe you guys are familiar with that. Ray person right?” 

Many nodded their heads as he continued. 

“I mean, from what I can tell the proxies are very important to those who are trying to study Hollow Zero. So if they were to find out that two of their best researchers were kidnapped by Exaltists and that you managed to track them down to one of their main bases, then not only do we have permission to go in there. But we wouldn't be questioned or more importantly, definitely fired for doing something as fucking idiotic as barreling into the single most dangerous place on earth for two people who are illegal proxies.”

His plan was pretty sound. Not only would they have permission, but they would probably have both support and the resources necessary to make a trek into and out without any sort of delay or trouble. 

“ Well, if our plan is ready, then there's no point in wasting time here anymore. We must move quickly.” Miyabi said as she slowly returned to her feet.

“Chief?” Yanagi was worried by Miyabi who clearly wasn't all fine and was still very much weaker than usual. She knew the amount of power Miyabi had inside of her and how much pain she could endure, but at some point she was going to hit a limit and who knows how close she was to already.

“ They've already killed so many. Using their lives as nothing more than distractions, then they ruined the lives of so many others for their own personal gain, and finally they took the two people that connected all of us. It doesn't matter what needs to be done, it must happen today. 

I made a promise to defend them and I failed, but now I have a chance and I refuse to let it go by me.  I'm going after them, I'm going to bring justice to those who lost their lives to them, and I'm going to make sure they no longer hurt anyone else ever again. I will save them then I am going now, if you wish to join me then you may follow, if not, then you can stay here. I can't understand not wanting to risk your lives in a place like that, but know that if you follow me, you will be under my protection until we retrieve our friends.” She stood and walked towards her goal with a slight limp. Even in this weakened state, she would not fail them, not again. 

 “Sigh~ Looks like more overtime for us. Then again, when has that ever stopped us? We're with you to the end chief.”

“Yeah! Let's go save the proxies!”

“ Say the word Chief, we are ready to follow you into hell.”

As she walked, the first to follow was Eous and Fairy, followed by Soukaku, Harumasa, and Yanagi. They were ready to wage war for the proxies and if their chief said “go” then they would follow her command to the end. 

“ Come along Vivian, I do believe we have a fate to change do we not?”

“ Indeed Hugo, Lord Phaethon proved that fate, the fate I foresee is not set in stone, it can be changed so I will change the future just like he did!”

The next to follow was Vivian and Hugo both had determination painted on their faces, both ready to defend their idols. 

“ It appears our previous dance with our unrefined and unwanted guests was far from over, but I suppose we shall finish that here and now.”

“ Right, you are Sir Lycaon, they must be punished for their actions against us and Master Proxies.”

“ Tell me whose ass I have to kick boss, they'll be on the floor quicker than you can blink.”

“Alright, l-let's do it!”

Victoria Housekeeping followed with the same look of prepared soldiers who were on their way to war. 

“ This will be a glorious battle, one that will cement us open the history books! Sons of Calydon, with me!”

“‘Right!’”

The Sons of Calydon were moving with weapons ready and sharpened. The single command of their leader was enough for everyone to start towards the march.

“ I have yet to pay back those proxies and I refuse to let them die until I do. Come on you guys I promise as leader of the Cunning Hares, we will get them out of there in one piece.”

“ You got a boss! We'll be in and out faster than they can blink. Just in time to get back home for supper!”

“ This will make for a great plot for a movie, where the conclusion will always be a happy ending.”

“Yeah, let's get him out of there before they get any more frizzled and when they get back home I'll ensure they get a real big fat cat nap.”

 The Cunning Hares had a gaze of people who weren't the same people that had failed many jobs, but rather people who were ready for anything as they followed the march towards hell.

“ Alright, time to repay them for last time, right Qingyi?”

“Ha! The irony that they helped us out before when we were stuck and now it appears our positions have swapped. It truly seems like fate does have strange ways of working out.”

“ Yeah, let's get those proxies out of there…… wait, EVERYONE KNEW THEY WERE PROXIES BUT ME?!”

“Hehe. Hate to break it to you Seth, but you can be a bit of a blabbermouth so if you knew there was a good chance that everyone in that building would have known. So it was honestly for the best that you didn't know, we'll apologize to you later. Right now we have a job to do.”

“ Are you ready, 11?”

“ Always, Observant Binoculars.”

Those of Public Security and the Defense Force nodded to each other as they joined the larger group, ready for anything.

“Heh. Alright, listen up, the proxies have been able to help us every time we asked for them and now we have a chance to pay them back for everything. I say we go in there and give them the best rescue they've ever had!”

“ YEAH! Now I'm fired up and my bro is as well! Say the word prez, let's teach those bad guys a lesson!”

“ Those monsters stare to touch my little babies…… they will suffer a thousand deaths.”

“Uhh, Grace, maybe you should have some restraint, but I agree, they will pay for all the damage they've caused.”

Belobog Industries made their way to the group, all of them fired up and ready for anything.

“ Don't even think about trying to talk me out of the Eve. I'm going in there to help them and you can either stay out here and not get in my way or follow me.”

“Sigh~ You should know by now, I don't intend on going anywhere that you are not, let us do this then miss Yao.”

Astra Yao knew she could fight and knew for a fact that she could be helpful and unfortunately for Evelyn, she knew for a fact there was no stopping her. So instead she decided, much to her begrudging acceptance, allowed her to join them as she followed closely behind.

If you were to ask the people of New Eridu what the hell was going on when they saw a large group of people all convening towards a similar direction, they would both likely respond with confusion and concerns as pretty much everyone did not know what the hell was going on their fear was already pretty stoked by those cultists, and now there was this large group that was just marching towards a location unknown to them. Most were terrified all they wanted was to live their lives. And yet it seemed like every day. It became harder and harder to just live. They wouldn't know how come the day would bring all they knew is that something happened and it wasn't good…..but to those who knew of the outcome and its consequences, could feel it in the air. A subtle but monumental change, one that would shake the city to its core.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Within the confines of a building, they're laid two people, both of them injured, hurt and yet resting as if this floor was the most comfortable bed in the world.

Their minds were filled with something so wondrous, yet terrifying.

Dreams.

…..

Beautiful dreams.

…..

Horrible dreams.

….

Dreams of the present, dreams of the past.

….

All coalescing into one singular point.

“..ke …. p”

Dreams that belong to two children that were hated yet loved. 

Dreams of going home. 

Dreams of reuniting the loved ones they lost. 

Dreams of their recent beat down.

Nightmares of their home being destroyed.

Horrible nightmares of what could befall the other in the hands of their enemies.

The two siblings were deep inside of a very horrid dream and beautiful nightmare.

The previous attacks that have wounded them,  left them in a deep trance, one that seemingly never ended. Both had their dreams melt together with horrid nightmares that were just like Miyabi's. The past and present melting together as multiple memories were shown both good and bad.

Despite that they continue to dream.

Dreams of their original home seemed taken over.

Dreams of their friends being slaughtered in front of them.

Nightmares of their teacher being taken away by a giant white hand and them being helpless to stop it.

Dreams of the vision he foresaw when he first connected with his little Fairy.

It all seemed like a fever dream, one that didn't want to end.

But their dreams, like all things, had to come to an end.

“ Wake them up.”

KRRRRRRRRRRZZZZZZT

“‘AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!’”

They were woken up violently. Electricity was set coursing through their veins through their body ensuring that neither one would fall asleep again. 

“ Are you two finally awake?” A calm yet venomous voice echo through the darkness. Both tried to readjust themselves, trying to make sense of what the hell happened? What was going on and who was speaking?

“ I said, are you awake?” The voice was familiar, too familiar to forget. One that belonged to somebody who shared the mutual hatred that siblings had for her.

“Sarah” Wise growled out in contained rage and hatred for this woman. Belle who was still waking up, saw the woman and immediately her face went into a deep hateful scowl. Realizing who was behind both their kidnapping and attack she proceeded to ask the simple question that both were wanting to know.

“ Why the hell are we here?” 

“Sigh~ Are you really this dense and naive, Phaethon? You are here because you are required by the Creator. That is the only reason you two non-believers are still breathing air and not currently dismembered in a ditch.” Sarah was genuinely annoyed by the fact that these two, who were the largest thorn in their side, were not only still alive but were apparently required for the upcoming plan.

Both were confused. What the hell could their supposed Creator want with them? They were smart enough to realize that they were major players in this war, but had no clue as to what their purpose could possibly be in their scheme. Wise decided to test the waters and see what exactly was the purpose for destroying their home, beating them up and then bringing them in.

“ I could think of a lot of people who would probably be more useful to you than us. But considering who the hell you guys are, nothing is ever as simple. So what the hell was the reason for you destroying our home.” 

“ That wasn't necessarily required. Their objective was to bring you in so them destroying your home was simply their decision, not ours. Though to be fair, if they weren't already dead. I would have already had their heads for almost destroying one of the most important pieces of this chessboard of ours.”

She then moved out of the way revealing their H.D.D, now within their hands.

Their blood immediately went cold as both completely disregarding whatever danger could possibly befall them, rushed her only to be immediately stopped a mere foot after they started running.

YANK

RATTLE

RATTLE 

Both turned around and saw wrapped around their legs and arms were sets of very heavy duty shackles that were further chained into the wall and ceiling.

“ Did you seriously believe we wouldn't have you chained down?” Sarah asked in a soft yet condescending tone.

“FUCK YOU!” Belle roared with rejuvenated energy from her hatred for this bitch. The response was an irritated look from Sarah and an immense amount of electricity that rushed through her veins and muscles.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!” Belle had her one good leg scrape against the floor involuntarily, as the rest of her body twitched, spasming like madness while her brain was flooded with pain. As she writhed in agony Wise tried to break his chains, desperate to save his sister, but found his muscles barely moving due to the hysterical strength he used earlier to save Belle had basically torn his muscles leaving him unable to anything besides moving very slowly.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

“ ALRIGHT STOP!! STOP!! PLEASE! STOP HURTING MY SISTER!!!”

The electricity, the course through her vase finally ceased as she slumped against the wall to try to calm her body that was currently smoking from how much electricity was put through it. Wise held her trying to see if there was anything else wrong with her, as he soon realized just how badly he was doing in comparison to him. Wise had tears in the corner of his eyes that were threatening to leak out, he turned to face the monster that had done this to them and asked one simple question.

“What the hell do you want with us?” His voice was weaker than before, the slight tremble coming forward from his throat. He wasn't scared for himself, even though he knew he had no chance of fighting back he had no fear of what would happen to him. His fear was for his sister, who was in a worse state than who even if she wanted to couldn't fight back and as the older sibling he felt that it was his duty to defend her from anything even if it came at the cost of him. Sarah, still holding an annoyed look, simply gave her response to their questions and fear, one that only stoked their fear of even more.

“ What you hold inside of you is more valuable than you could imagine. You have the power to alter ether in a way that no one else here has been capable of doing. Sure most of us can do it and it is quite impressive for our goals, but your ability does not come from skill rather from technology, one that also allows you to traverse these labyrinths with pinpoint accuracy, one hundred percent of the time. I have never seen anyone who does despell ether in such an effective way and yet have no idea what they did. Carole Arna truly did put her faith into you, didn't she?”

Their ocular implants and the H.D.D.

That was their goal.

But for what reason?

“ You have us here. Why haven't you done any experiments on a few want what's inside of a so badly? There's nothing stopping you, we couldn't find back even if you wanted to, so what the hell is stopping you.” Belle regaining some consciousness began to ask in confusion as to why they hadn't done anything. 

Sarah had an annoyed look on her face. One that seemed we'd never wanted to leave and responded in a very tired tone.

“Siiigh~ As much as I would enjoy doing that given how much you two irritate me to no end, unfortunately, we were made aware that there is a system implemented with your ocular implants, one that completely shuts them down should you die. Harming you however is not out of the question, we can leave you with broken arms, bruised legs, destroyed tissue and muscle, all of it very painful, but so long as you're still breathing then we can do whatever we want.” 

Before they could ask anything, somebody who was behind Sarah entered the room and the siblings were immediately frightened. 

His energy, his presence, it felt bone chilling.

As he walked in, the siblings immediately felt the change in the air, not just from their fear, but from something being placed into the air.

Something they knew all too well, Miasma.

His mask was an empty black void and from it two piercing hazel eyes stared at them with cold calculation. His cloak stretched all the way down to his ankles making it seem like he wasn't even walking towards them, but rather just levitating towards them.

“ Forgive me where are my manners? Dear Phaethon, meet our new beneficiary, Judgement.” Sarah said while she moved her hand to show him off.

“...... Hello I hope you too are well. Please know whatever happens today, and I know what will happen today, I hope that none of it changes your perspective of me. This is for purely selfish reasons of mine, sure, but do know however that anything that happens towards you, it is not personal, not towards you or anyone you love…. just ……necessary.” 

His voice sounded like gravel. He talked like an old man, one who was wiser than everyone in the room. The air he gave off was one of authority that was barely below the surface almost as if wanted to be let out. Their minds were more, however, clung onto one fact, the fact that Miasma seemed to be just leaking from his body as if a faucet was snapped open and allowed to just let loose.

It made sense now the reason as to why they were experiencing memories of the past, both good and bad, their minds were exposed to a large amount of Miasma.

With the pleasantries out of the way Sarah decided to chime in and inform everyone, what was about to happen.

“ Your device does not allow us inside no matter what we try, almost as if it was programmed that way. We know for a fact that you and your sister are experts in technology able to not only synchronize with it, but also be able to unlock it as if it were as easy as opening a door. This last piece was given to you by her, wasn't it? It makes sense that I would only listen to you, but unfortunately we need it for our goals. So it's simple. You will unlock it and use it for our goals or one of you dies.” A gamble laid in stone one that was immediately rejected.

“No.”

“Sigh~”

BANG

A gunshot rang throughout the room.

Wise then looked all over him and realized he was clean…. Belle however. 

“GASP KOFF KOFF GASP!”

“BELLE!!”

A bullet wound in her lower abdomen. One that was now gushing out blood and she couldn't even put pressure on it. 

Sarah held the gun in her hand and had a calm calculating look in her eyes.

“ You will listen to us or the next shot will kill her.”

Wise was stuck, a decision that needed to be made. But he didn't know what to do. 

Defy these monsters or rescue Belle.

Bravado, bravery, fearlessness, all of it became pointless when your sister was at the barrel end of a gun with one bullet in her stomach and a second one ready to be placed in her head. 

At some point you just have to accept defeat, no matter how much it hurts.

“OKAY! okay……. I'll do what you ask. Just don't hurt her anymore…..please she's all I have left.” Tears fell from his eyes, he felt horrible but to him the action of losing all that he had left was worse.

“ Hmph, and like that, the most powerful and influential man in all of New Eridu is under my command and control. Come, you will work for us immediately. Judgment, unshackle him, but insure he does not run.”

Without another word, he went over to Wise's shackles and removed them from the wall. But he held all of them in his hand with a knife ready in his other hand. Wise went to walk but was stopped with a small grip on his pant leg.

“w-wise…..don't. please…”

With what little strength she had left. She tried desperately, wanting to do something so that her brother wouldn't be put into more dangerous situations.

“Shh….don't force yourself…. If they want someone to blame for whatever happens next, tell them it was me, okay?” He turned to her and gave her a pained smile, one that was trying to reassure her, but at the same time, showing just how much conflict was inside of him. She tried to reach out for him. But her arms wouldn't respond, she hated it, feeling weak, feeling helpless. Always having to put all of this on her brother, she wanted to help, she was Phaethon too damn it! She was tired of watching from the sidelines as her brother put herself into dangerous situations, almost dying multiple times if it wasn't for their friends, all the while she watched from the comfort of their home. There were so many times where he risked his life for the mission for everyone and she did nothing but watched. Every time he went inside the hollows. She had to worry about whether or not he would come back home. She wanted to be there for him, with him, but couldn't. Now here they were both inside the hollows, both of them were here, she was with him…...and yet nothing changed at all, she still was useless, and her brother still did everything by himself while she did nothing.

Sob hch sob

All she could do was cry at her incompetence.

The walk for Wise was long, like a death row inmate being walked toward this execution. He was in shackles you feeling heavy upon his arms and legs, walking each step feeling like him signing his death warrant, eyes all on him. He felt like a prisoner, but he needed to do what they wanted, otherwise his family would die, and that was worse than death.

Sarah was in front guiding him to where they needed him while Judgement walked from behind, insurance that he wouldn't dare to run. They passed many Exaltists who were doing god knows what, but they stopped to stare at him as he walked as if assessing him, only to return to what they were doing mere moments ago like nothing happened.

They walked for what seemed like hours when in reality it was only about a couple of minutes, but to him these were the longest minutes of his life. Eventually they arrived at a door that was heavily fortified. There were at least 6 different people guarding it. All of her seemed like they could take down at least a few of his and Belle's friends before going down themselves. Sarah nodded her head and the guards opened the doors for them, the door was at least 7 inches thick and reached from the floor to the roof.

GRRRRRRRROOOOOAAAAN

The noise it made as it opened sounded like a vault being opened for the first time in decades ready to take in the prize jewel that it has been waiting for. Inside was three things, a small cot that barely made room for him, the H.D.D, and a device that he'd seen with Lemian Hollow, one that removed Miasma from both the surrounding area and anyone in it.

“ Your mission for us is simple, we found an object, something similar to a sacrifice core, it is able to absorb ether out of the air at an immense rate, we had it in our possession, but it was lost about four weeks ago, then a few days ago we encountered a second one that generates ether so quickly that you can mistake it for a hoard of ethereals. You are to find both of them and once you do you are free.”

Sacrifice Cores?! They really were crazy for even wanting their hands on those things!

But then he thought about why something like that would be very useful to them: one generated ether that was already bad enough, with that they could corrupt and destroy anyone who opposed them and on top of that they could influence the surrounding ether to form into a hollow whenever the hell they want. Then there was the other one  that they could use to command ether to appear and disappear wherever they wanted and the fact that there was one that could just absorb ether and……wait…..it………. can absorb…. …..ether……

.

.

.

.

THE FUCKING ETHER CRYSTAL!

HOLY SHIT! I HAD THAT IN MY HOUSE?! WHAT THE FUCK?!

But then he thought about something strange, if they attacked their home and he had that inside of their home, regardless of whether or not it was in the crate, they should have seen it and they just left it there?

Moreover, it makes sense that they have us. I mean, we're able to traverse it. Fine locations and then leave quicker and more accurately than anyone.

Finding something inside of a hollow is what we do best, the problem being she wants me to look for this and we have one of them. I don't know where the other one is inside of this place, but apparently she wants me to look for it. Fuck fuck fuck.

Wait.

There's no way in hell that during the attack on our house they didn't see it.wouldn't have been noticed she doesn't know where it is, meaning, they never found it.

Alright.

Okay, now I have a plan.

“ Fine. I'll find it, but after that you let us go. Wise now had a plan in mind for how to escape, but he still needed to confirm one last thing.

“ Hey.”  

Sarah turned to face the proxy with an angry look, obviously not wanting to continue the conversation with him.

“What is it this time Phaethon? You're already wasting my very thin patience.”

Wise then with caution asked the question that would help him plan escape right under their noses.

“ We're inside Hollow Zero….aren't we.”

Sarah had her face shift into one of genuine surprise as she hadn't expected Phaethon had figured out where they were that quickly and with little to no information about their current location.

“ Oh? I thought that you'd need more time and information to figure it out. How can you tell with such little information?”

Wise, regaining his calm and steady composure that he had created from his years as a proxy, stared at the dangerous woman and said with confidence.

“ The ether in the air feels like molasses and it's burning my skin and lungs just being here. You're pushing the Miasma away, but ether always remains no matter how much you try. I'm assuming you have serums because otherwise I highly doubt two corrupted individuals will be helpful to your cause, right?”

“....tch” She then took out a small vial, one that housed a dose of anti-corruption serum.

“This formula is much stronger than what those fools of Porcelumex offer. This dosage is special in that it can keep our faithful inside the hollows for days on end, with no adverse effects.” She then stuffed it back into her pocket as she made her way to the door. Wise realized what was happening and tried to rush to the door.

He didn't even make it halfway before, in a blinding display of sheer speed, Judgement immediately shackled him to the H.D.D and walls, returning to the same spot he was in mere moments ago. His speed was frightening, off of just a pure first glance, he appeared to be even faster than Miyabi and he made it seem effortless. 

Who the hell is this guy?

Sarah turned to face him and stated as if it were his sentence. “ We need you to locate the core with speed so for your convenience there is a box on that desk, inside is the frequency recorded that said core emits, you have until midnight to show results or your sister will lose a limb. Do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal.”

“Good now we will be back in about 6 hours. I best hope you have something otherwise. Who knows? Maybe we'll speed up the process of your sister's pain.”

He wanted to rip her face off to make her suffer for even daring to hurt his family again. He knew he couldn't do anything. Not with all these people, not with him in the room. However, he did have a plan, he just hoped he had enough time for somebody to notice it.

His thought process was interrupted by the heavy slam of the door and the various clicks of the locks. There was no leaving now, not like he could make it far anyway with the ethereals and that speed demon. He did notice, however, that there was one piece of surveillance. A singular camera in the corner of the room. Mind you the room had no blind spots, but the camera was the only way besides going in there that they could keep track of him, they were confident and he was going to use that against them. All he needed to do was set a few signals here and there that to them seem like just him fucking around when in actuality he was doing something that only a few people would understand. On the outside said, people were working towards finding them and they were the ones who would receive that signal.

Today was not a normal day in the slightest. Most of the researchers there had come into work, gotten ready, steady themselves for the day and just got prepared. So you can imagine they weren't exactly ready for a small group that had made themselves known within the Scott Outpost. The looks on the faces of the researchers could be best described as one of sheer confusion has the collective thought that was shared through most of them was “who the fuck are these guys and what the hell are they doing here?”

Thankfully due to a certain wolf's connection to the mayor it certainly made things a lot easier, not simpler to explain, but easier to get situated.

Ray hadn't really known what had been going on with the proxies. As far as she knew, they were still hard at work with the strange ether crystal they found within Hollow Zero. Even if she wanted to check up on them she was far too busy with both her work and having to deal with constant attacks from the Exaltists, along with the increased number of expeditions necessary to keep the much more aggressive ethereals at bay. So imagine her confusion/surprise when she saw a very large group of people who she recognized almost immediately as the agents that the proxies would bring with them when they ventured into hollow zero on their routine expeditions. She had met pretty much everyone there at least once, so she was familiar with them, but what she wasn't familiar with was them appearing all at once and without the proxies. She was about to ask what the hell they were doing there until they beat her to the punch and explained all that had transpired within just that morning alone.

Her response was very calm and reasonable.

“THOSE FUCKING BASTARDS DID WHAT?!!”

Truly, the mark of somebody who was a calm and reasonable person.

“ It is exactly as we stated, Miss Ray. They have captured the proxies, and all of their equipment has been seized by them. We wish to request your–”

“ WHAT DO YOU REQUIRE?”

Everyone was a bit frightened by just how mad this normally very calm and collected lady could get if you knew what buttons to press and how. 

Miyabi, however, not missing a beat immediately stated everything they would need.

“ A large supply of anti-corruption medication, any and all available carrots and hollow data maps, various amounts of weaponry, and absolute confirmation that we will not be interrupted, nor stopped.

“Done.”

“T-that was a bit too fast to trust us, right?”

Harumasa was genuinely caught off guard by just how quickly she had given them everything they needed to, to which Ray responded with a very simple, yet concise answer.

“ They dared to touch my best researchers, my friends, and they have consistently made my life a living hell for the past 4 weeks. Yeah, you can say I want them gone too.”

“ Yeah, thanks for the help. We will root these guys out before they hurt anyone else, but that does bring up a good question. We know they're in Hollow Zero, do we know where exactly they are?” Caesar asked in a very confused manner. Well, they knew where they were going, but not where they were going and as far as she knew nobody here really had any experience as a proxy, so the best most of them would probably get would probably just be wandering in a direction that wasn't even close to them.

“ I HAVE FAITH THAT MASTER WILL BE ABLE TO LEAD US TOWARDS THEM. 

ALERT! SIGNAL DETECTED DEEP WITHIN HOLLOW ZERO

IDENTIFYING…….. CONFIRMATION, THERE ARE MULTIPLE SIGNALS APPEARING FROM HOLLOW ZERO 

FIRST SIGNAL IS MUCH MORE WIDESPREAD, SHOWING SIMILARITIES TO MIASMA

CONCLUSION: SOMEONE INSIDE IS ARTIFICIALLY INTRODUCING MIASMA INTO THE SYSTEM AND INCREASING IT RAPIDLY.”

That immediately put everyone on guard, most of them had never even heard what the hell that term was. But to those who knew they were concerned as well, it was something that shouldn't have existed inside of Hollow Zero and yet not only was it in there, but it was increasing at a rapid rate while the siblings were still in there.

“ As I suspected, Exaltists from Waifei Peninsula made their way over here.”

Everyone jumped at the sound of a new voice and turned around to see not only had Yixuan Shifu arrived but the entirety of Yunkui Summit was there….well, at least the three major players plus her.

“Yixuan Shifu, thank you for gracing us with your presence on such short notice.”

“Of course Ray, the minute I was informed that they attacked my students is the minute we started to come here, they will pay, dearly.”

As she finished she then turned her head towards Eous/Fairy and asked 

“ You said you found 2 competing signals inside, right? The first one is definitely the Miasma but what is the second signal you detected?”

“ AFFIRMATIVE.

SECOND SIGNAL OR RATHER SIGNALS APPEAR TO BE SOMETHING SIMILAR THAT WE HAVE EXPERIENCED BEFORE. IT APPEARS THAT SOMEBODY IS MARKING DOWN THE LOCATIONS OF MULTIPLE FISSURES THAT LEAD TO A POINT NEAR THE CENTER OF HOLLOW ZERO AND THEN SENDING THEM VIA SIGNALS TO DIRECTLY ME AND NO ONE ELSE. THESE SIGNALS ARE UNIQUE TO THE PROXIES SPECIAL DEVICE.

CONCLUSION: MASTER IS GIVING US A BREAD TRAIL TO FOLLOW.”

“Wow! Junior Wise and Belle are so smart, so now we have a way to get to them, right?” The small tiger thiren asked with stars in her eyes.

“ ALONG WITH THAT, THE CRYSTAL THAT THE SIBLINGS WERE WORKING ON I WAS FINALLY BEEN ABLE TO THANKS TO THE ASSISTANCE OF THE SECOND ASSISTANT, TO TRACK IT TO ITS INTENDED LOCATION. THESE FOOLS BELIEVE THAT REMOVING MY POWER WOULD STOP ME ALL I NEEDED WAS TIME AND NOW I HAVE THE SIGNAL.

MEANING EVEN IF THE TRAIL IS LOST, THIS CRYSTAL WILL LEAD US STRAIGHT TO THEM.”

“ Gotcha, who the heck do we want to carry this then?” Harumasa asked

“I will.” Miyabi stated leaving no room for argument and everyone not wanting to get on her bad side, simply gave it to her and she simply attached it to her back via some straps that were conveniently there. 

“ Well, now that we have everything in order, let's do this right?” Lighter asked as he then ready to see what else was stopping them.

Fairy, however, gave them one last piece of information.

“ AFFIRMATIVE, HOWEVER, I MUST GIVE YOU A WARNING.

DUE TO THE INCREASED ETHER ACTIVITY AND THE MIASMA, WE ARE GOING TO REQUIRE WELL ABOVE THE RECOMMENDED LIMIT OF ANTI-CORRUPTION SERUM JUST TO COMBAT THE CORRUPTION.

SECONDLY, ALTHOUGH I AM ABLE TO DO WHAT MASTER CAN DO, MY ABILITY TO LEAD YOU THROUGH THE HOLLOWS IS NOT AS IMPRESSIVE AS EITHER HIM OR HIS SISTER.

LASTLY, WE ARE GOING TO MOST LIKELY ENCOUNTER HIGHLY DANGEROUS ETHEREALS AND HOARDS OF EXALTISTS, YOU COULD POSSIBLY DIE. THERE IS NO GUARANTEE WE ARE WALKING OUT OF THERE UNSCATHED SO THIS IS THE FINAL TIME I WILL ASK THIS.

ARE YOU PREPARED TO DIE FOR THEM?”

“ Heck yeah we are!” Everyone jumped and turned to face three people who should not have been there. Alice, Manato, and Yuzuha.

Yixuan sighed as she saw the people who were pestering her to join her when she left.

“Sigh~ I told you not to get involved in this. You may be powerful, but you are still young, younger than most of the people here.” 

“ Yeah, we know, but we also know that our friends could possibly be dead and if we have a chance to save them, you bet your butt, we are going to save them! Besides, this isn't our first time inside of a hollow. We had to deal with a bunch of monsters and I think one of them was called a sacrifice? So you don't have to worry about anything as long as I have Kama, Alice and Manato with me we'll be ready for anything!”

Everyone there immediately was shocked by the fact that these fucking kids manage to beat a sacrifice by themselves! Yixuan did know about it, thanks to the proxies telling her afterwards, but it still was a bit of a shock that they were so willing to risk their lives in what could best be described as hell on earth just for their friends. Then again that was the reason all of them were there so….

“ How did you even get here? There is no way you could have made that trek by yourselves.”

Alice then responded with a meek

“W-we snuck onto y-your airship.”

“ Huh well, that would explain why the entire ride here I was feeling that strange presence that I couldn't explain, and I did divine that I would be leading people across the sea. I didn't exactly expect it to be this but well, who am I to argue with it.”

“ Damn it, alright, well, it's too late to turn back now and I'm not exactly opposed to people helping us, so just don't slow us down and that'll be enough.” 

Lucy was frustrated not just by the fact that her friend had shown up, but the fact that she was out here about to risk her life. To be fair, she was doing the same thing. But it was different when it was one of her closest friends doing the same.

“Don't worry Luciana, I will make sure we will make this journey as quick as possible so you don't have to worry about us slowing you down.”

“ ON THE TOPIC OF SPEED, I WOULD LIKE TO INFORM ALL OF YOU THAT EVEN WITH THE FISSURE DATA IN HAND THE AMOUNT OF RESISTANCE WE WILL ENCOUNTER WILL SLOW US DOWN SIGNIFICANTLY.

THE ENTIRE DAY WILL BE GONE IN A MATTER OF MOMENTS SO UNLESS YOU WISH TO MEET THEM AS ETHEREALS, I SUGGEST WE SKIP THE PLEASANTRIES AND MOVE NOW!”

Everyone immediately got what they needed, some of them grabbing some new weaponry, others supplies necessary but the most important one was a large bag of around one hundred times the recommended number of anti-corruption serum. Pretty overkill, but considering where they were going and the current conditions of said location, it truly said a lot that they needed that much.

Before they went on their descent they got one last ask from Ray.

“ No matter what happens, please bring them back home. I can't bear to imagine what could happen to them.”

“‘We will!’” Everyone shouted at the same time.

With that they plunged into the hollow ready for the unknown.

To say that Wise was stressed would be an understatement. What was wrong? Oh you know it was just one small problem of him being too good at his job.

The good news: he was too damn good at his job, he left a bread trail for his friends and received an encoded but understandable response from Fairy mere minutes after placing the first signal he accomplished all of this right under Sarah's nose. Every singular hour he would place a new location to a fissure that would lead them to him and Belle, he normally wouldn't have wanted to take this long in between locations but Fairy hadn't been responding on a regular basis like always. It has been one hour in between every time she would respond to his call, implying they were meeting a lot of resistance.  

It made sense that they were much more guarded than they were before they had their targets, they don't want to lose them now.

The bad news: he was too damn good at his job. That one crystal that Sarah had been pulling her hair out trying to find? Yeah, he found it within the first fifteen minutes by accident! Oh, that wasn't even the worst part. Because in about a couple minutes, the Exaltists are gonna make good on their promise and check it on him to see his progress!

So now he had to somehow hide a signal he found by accident without making it seem like he deleted it, so you know not stressed at all!

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!

Deleting it wasn't an option. They were definitely smart enough to figure out that he had done that and would of immediately questioned him as to why. Even if they didn't question him, deleting the data would mean leaving his team inside of a hollow with no new data, they would be stranded without him, left to die.

You couldn't mask it as another signal due to the unique signature it released, nothing else in the surrounding area even matched it, so that wasn't an option and even if he did, he would most likely confuse Fairy and cause him to go in the wrong direction.

There was however, one last option, but he didn't want to do it.

Telling them the truth.

They already showed they were willing to hurt his sister and that was proven with a gunshot in her stomach. He had no hope of even pretending that he could fight back, at this point there was

one choice, the worst option but the only one.

No…… There's one last thing I can do.

They said they can't use it without us.

Despite hurting us, they can't kill me or Belle.

I already spent hours just finding a pathway to us, I will have one more hour before they come check on me

Okay…..

Time to play a stalling game and hope I don't get shot.

They made good on their promise as they reached the door that reason was behind. They opened it and expected to see the man on his knees begging for more time, but instead they found a calm expression on his face and his chair facing them. He said with absolute clarity and fearlessness.

“Found it.”

They were shocked by the speed at which this man had found the object of their obsession. They were ready to relay the news to the Overseer and Sarah, before the proxy gave one command.

“Bring me Sarah, Now.”

In a matter of mere moments, the woman had appeared before him visibly irritated. She had expected him to resist but still found it incredibly annoying and said in a tone that left no room for unnecessary discussion.

“What. Is. It. Now. You're pushing your luck with me and I am already at my limit thanks to your infuriating sister. We guaranteed her safety from the others as a courtesy, it can be taken away.”

Wise, still stone-faced, gave his simple demand.

“ I found it, you want it? 

2 hours. 

You will have to wait 2 hours. Not a second before, not a second after. 

If you ask for it.

If you threaten me or dare to hurt my sister again, I promise you with or without us the machine will not respond to you.”

He knew how long it took both ways for any help to reach them. He just gave them the shortest path. All he had to do now was buy as much time as he could. They had already had enough time to make it a good way, the rescue team just needed one last bit, and that would be enough.

Sarah, enraged, grabbed him by the collar and pulled him to meet her hate-filled gaze.

“YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE IN ANY POSITION TO MAKE THREATS YOU LITTLE–”

The second she grabbed him the H.D.D came to life and replied with a concerning statement.

“WARNING! DATA DELETION AND SUBSEQUENT LOCKOUT WILL INITIATE IN 32-”

“Stop. Authority clearance 7, do not repeat unless Admin one or two are threatened again.”

“ORDER CONFIRMED.”

Sarah immediately backed off as she realized what he just did.

“ By the way, just so you know, that was your first and only warning. Two hours or else.”

“.....Fine. Two hours, but I expect you to show me where you found the core.”

With a huff the woman left the room, not wanting to be in the same room as him any longer. As the door slammed shut, Wise collapsed onto the chair with adrenaline coursing through his veins, that felt as if it shouldn't have worked in the slightest but he wasn't arguing with the result. It was very little time and concept, but for what he needed and more importantly, for what the rescue team needed, it was more than enough.

I've done everything I can do now. I now place my faith in you guys.

As his plan was set in place on the other side of the compound was the other half of Phaethon who was also enchained and guarded. Difference being the only one guarding her was well, Judgement, who based on what the others were saying having him here by himself was just overkill. Horrific statement following someone equally scary, and she the pleasure of being in the same room as him. 

He had been locked in the same room as she was so even if you wanted to run, she had highlighted. She couldn't have even made it to the door before her throat was slit. So there was no chance  of her even attempting anything. The first 4 hours were stressful, and then 6 hours went by as her concern weakened, then 8 hours passed and she had her fear grew into sheer, absolute boredom.

The pattern was simple, he would sit in front of the door, meditating for upwards to 30 minutes, every so often opening his eyes for about 3 minutes then returning to the same position. After the 4 hour mark, he repositioned himself and sat up leaning against the door. He then made a point of grabbing his pocket watch and began to check it a couple times, flicking it open and shut, or just fidgeting with it in his fingers. 

It didn't take long for Belle to realize that this guy, like her, was bored of his mind being inside this room for hours on end. Belle could feel her head throb with annoyance as she was very quickly getting frustrated by the sound of him opening and closing his pocket watch. She wasn't going to say anything, for fear of the obvious, she immensely wanted to punch him in the face or tell him to do literally anything else.

This was the pattern that followed for 7. straight. hours. If this was meant to be psychological torture, it was working!

There was one change.

One that caused her to be conflicted.

On the one hand these guys broke her arms, her leg, along with bruising and cutting her up so viciously, she nearly passed out and died from blood loss.

Voooom

And yet this guy in the mask, who terrified the absolute shit out of her was here, performing some technique she'd never seen before and was repairing her body. He didn't even tell her anything or ask for anything, he simply just did it.

Is he trying to butter me up? Well, it won't work. I may be naive and optimistic to a fault, but I'm not an idiot. I won't fall for any of your tricks.

“ Why the hell are you doing this?”

He didn't acknowledge her question and instead simply looked at her and asked in a caring tone. “ Are you still in pain? If you need me to heal you more I will,  just say the word.”

Now she was definitely sure. This guy was just trying to butter her up. But curiosity did win over her rational thinking as she had to ask. “ Why do you care? You're working with these guys? I bet you're just as depraved as they are.”

“ We may be adversaries right now, but please refrain from comparing me to those animals. I only work for them because they have what I require. Had I not needed them to achieve my goal, the outcome of our first meeting would have been much more different.” He sounded almost a bit venomous towards them as if he truly despised the notion of even working for them.  It was strange considering Sarah had literally called him their benefactor and for him to just not like working for them, and for this partnership to be nothing more than transactional was the surprise for her.

Belle had her questions grow by second originally simply starting as who was this guy and why was he working with them? Which then quickly devolved into so many questions that she was beginning to feel her brain start to expand from just how much she wanted to know. She also in the meantime, wanted to think of a way out, but there was no guarantee that this guy would let her go even if he's clearly for whatever reason held some liking to her.

Flick

Tick 

Tick 

Tick

Tick

Flick

Keeps checking his pocketwatch, like concerningly so is he waiting waiting for something? At this point, I’m starting to become very tired of hearing that damn noise. What in this world it's more important than keeping an eye on a prisoner?

One of the most important people in this war was right in front of him, able to escape. Sure he probably didn't need to try hard to catch her if she tried to run but the point remained. He was waiting for something and by his looks, he was either getting nervous or confused as to why it was taking so long. 

Wait…. Is that?

She finally got a good look at his pocket watch, he had constantly been flicking it open and closed repeatedly on loop, but she never really paid attention to it until this moment. And that's when something frightening came to her realization.

That pocket watch…… it's the same as…

no

Please, God no…

Now she had to know, her heartbeat was so fast she could hear it thumping against her chest. Her blood was ice cold and her brain felt light headed as if what she saw wasn't real and her mind didn't want it to be real.

“h-hey….that pocket watch…… it's his isn't….” Judgment being caught off guard by her question froze only to face her as his brain began to process what she asked. 

“ What do you mean?”

She, with more fear inside of her than ever asked with a scared tone.

“L-lycaon. That's his pocket watch!” Judgement looked at her as he flicked the watch closed, he inhaled and then exhaled a sigh. “ Yes and no. Technically the base is his, but all alterations were–”

He was cut off by Belle in an angry tone asking “ What did you do to him?”

“ If you're asking as to whether or not he's alive, he is. Any sort of interaction that is done to him at this current moment, is outside of my knowledge so you don't have to worry about me doing anything to him.”

This didn't really calm her down, as she was still fearful for both her friends' lives and Wise's. It had been 7 hours since they saw each other so she was wondering what the hell was happening to him. She can only imagine her head started to feel light, as her mind cooked up so many different images and scenarios.

Brutal torture for information.

Breaking him down mentally and emotionally.

Threats of violence against her.

Poisons, Miasma, ether.

Electricity, fire, knives.

“ If you keep doing that, you're going to hyperventilate.”

She snapped back to reality as she realized she was, in fact, breathing very, very quickly. The one to pull her out looking at her with concern in his eyes and open hands gesturing to her to relax.

“Thanks for th–”

No, no, don't fall for a Belle. He doesn't care about you, he just wants you to think he does so you can lower your guard and tell him what he wants to know.

Nice try asshole, but you're gonna have to try harder than that!

She recomposed herself as she went back to a face of indifference and she looked at him with uncaring eyes. Judgment seemingly looked surprisingly, sad almost as if he didn't want to be looked at like that. A few more minutes went by when he yet again opened his pocket watch, but this time his eyes went wide as if finally realizing something. 

The time read 7:48.

Still on schedule. Time for the convergence to nearly begin.

He then snapped his pocket. Watch shut and proceeded to stand up out of nowhere, frightening Belle as hadn't seen him move so quickly. She honestly braced herself to be either killed or ruthlessly tortured, but what happened next, was absolutely mind boggling to her.

SHATTER

He in a single motion shattered, her shackles leaving only the bracelets on her arms and ankles with the chains themselves being destroyed. He then grabbed her head and used the same technique he'd used on her mere moments ago, to rejuvenate her so much it felt like she wasn't even injured as if all of her pain just vanished.

Before she could even ask or say anything, he responded first.

“ I have healed your body enough for you to run. Any force that over exerts you, will cause your body to return to its original state.” She was trying to process what the fuck was going on asks her brain was firing at a million miles an hour trying to figure out one simple question. What the hell was he doing?

“ What the fuck are you doing?” He disregarded her questions as he continued “ It's 7:59, in 1 minute the compound we're in will get attacked by my creations and all available Exaltists will be too preoccupied with survival to worry about you or Wise.”

WAIT WHAT?!

She was terrified by the news that something was about to attack this place, but what confused her more was the fact that he was essentially betraying the Exaltists for her and Wise's sake….why?

She needed to know.

“ Why are you doing this?”

His response was confusing.

“ It is my last courtesy to you and your brother. The minute you leave this compound, we will be at odds, we may even kill each other, but do know I have no wish to harm you. When we see each other things will be vastly different for you and everyone you love. Your brother will get in my way and I will see how far he lasts in comparison to the others. This means nothing to you, and it most likely will never make sense even with all the pieces together. I hope you survive again, proxy.”

Flick

Tick

He closed his pocket watch and in an instant, vanished. There was no puff of smoke, no vanishing in a portal, or phasing; he just disappeared instantly.

8:00

BANG

BOOM 

BEEP

BEEP

BEEEP

BEEEEP

As he said, at 8:00 exactly the compound would be attacked and she had to complete one last thing before leaving, find Wise.

BEEEP

BEEEP

BEEEEP

BEEEEEP

Alarms blaring at max volume, the sounds of explosion and screams echoed through the walls, the roars of ethereals rang out like bells of death. Screams and There was one word for the event that was happening in that compound.

Chaos 

Wise was terrified as he heard the noises outside the heavy door that ironically was the only thing keeping him safe from the ethereal swarms outside. He knew for a fact he had no hope of surviving if he went outside but at the same time, the sounds were driving him mad and he had no option but waiting. He then heard a sound that frightened him.

CRRRREEEEEEAAK

SKKKRRRAP

Metal being pulled apart and slashed into chunks. He knew for a fact that while ethereals were powerful none of the little guys had that level of power meaning that a high risk ethereal was outside, but then a new sensation flooded his body. All of his hair stood on end, his pupils dilated in fear and he began to sweat nervously at the presence he had grown to know and recognize instantly.

A SACRIFICE IS HERE?!

He didn't know what to do besides pray.

On the outside, however, there was one sliver of hope, keyword being sliver.

“What the hell?” Nicole was the first to make it over the heavily fortified wall that surrounded the compound, the rescue team had arrived, but what they were expecting was heavy fortification and extreme resistance like they had experienced when they made their way through the fissures, but when they made it to the other side, what they saw was chaos. Exaltists were fighting against the ethereals with all they could, some were running, others desperately praying, but through it, all one thing was certain. They had no control in the situation.

“ Unexpected. I believed they could influence ethereals to fight alongside them, was I wrong?” Miyabi was confused by what she was witnessing, she remembered that they could command ethereals to fight and yet they were attacking all of the Exaltists with reckless abandon.  Yiuxan also, feeling perplexed by the sight, decided to use her insight technique, and chimed in with a discovery. “ There are multiple lines of ether and Miasma emanating from the ethereals and all of those lines are leading towards one center point. Whatever it is commanding them, it is powerful and terrifyingly intelligent.” 

Lycaon asked with a concerned tone “Are you able to locate the proxies? Neither one of them is a fighter and if they are to be caught in the middle of this? I can't bear to imagine.”

Yiuxan what's also very much afraid for her disciples' well-being. She knew they had potential and a lot of power ready to be unleashed, but at their current level, they were no stronger than a civilian, and even a basic ethereal could rip them apart. Using her insight, she tried to find them and found one of them that was moving throughout the compound very quickly. The other one was completely still, not moving even an inch. Her heart dropped at the sight of it, she didn't want to assume the worst, but given the situation, all that could fill her mind was the worst possible situation.

“ I found them. One of them's in the compound moving about near the center, another is on the opposite side…..and they're completely still. I think they are still alive but….. I can't confirm or deny their state of being from here.” After being told that everyone started sweating at the idea that 1 of them could be dead, but they had to hope for the best right? That's all they could do at this moment.

Miyabi took a deep breath to compose herself before exhaling and then preparing a plan. “ Alright, the moving target will be under my protection. Anyone else who can keep up with me you will follow. Yiuxan, take whoever can keep up with you as well to the still target. The minute we have both of them we reconvene in the center and break for the fissures that we came through, under no circumstances, are we to allow them anywhere near the serums. If we lose those, there's a good chance we'd be facing much higher risk of corruption than we already do now. Finally I can sense him, the man who managed to defeat me, he is here. He wears a fox-like mask and has a cloak that goes all the way down to his ankles. If you encounter him, DO. NOT. ENGAGE. Are we all clear on our objectives?!”

Everyone, like soldiers preparing for war, nodded their heads, their weapons were sharpened and ready, their minds steeled for the upcoming conflict and their bodies despite the ether in the air, were ready. Everyone there was ready and understood the risk of being here so they weren't afraid of losing their lives, what they were mainly concerned about the serums they had with them. The ether in the air was extremely excessive. Getting here they had managed to go through, almost a quarter of the bag just getting here and getting out was not gonna be a simple task, add on top of that, that, they're trying to make sure that these serums do not shatter and it all spells a recipe for disaster. Frankly, retreating right now was a good decision, given the current situation,but fate often did not give them good hands so they just played what they had and hoped for the best.

Miyabi, Yanagi, Harumasa, Soukaku, Lycaon, Rina, Nicole, Billy and Anby were tasked with finding the moving target since they had been most adept at tracking down targets that were very hard to find and very slippery.

Yiuxan Shifu, Pan Yinhu, Ye Shiyuan, Ju Fufu, Soldier 11, and Trigger went after the still target since on a second look, that location had a much denser concentration of Miasma and ethereals, so the best suited for the job will be those who have handled Miasma before, plus a few veterans wouldn't exactly hurt.

The rest had one job that was absolutely paramount. 

Defend the bangboo with everything they had, no matter what.

The little guy was housing the only thing that was giving them away home if they lost Eous in the middle of the fight, it wouldn't have mattered how hard they fought, they would have been lost with no way out.

Fairy had managed to rewire a few pieces of technology she came across during their fights with the Exaltists. Managing to craft from the scraps earpieces for all the agents, that way she could give them real-time battlefield changes at any given moment. What was really stressful about this mission was the fact that it was truly a battle against time, by their count the proxies had already been there for 8 consecutive hours inside of one of the most ether dense locations they'd ever come across. Even with their increased ether aptitude, they could only take so much before like anyone else. They would start to fall to corruption, along with the Miasma creating more monsters and increasing the process to be even faster than usual. You can imagine the stress they were under knowing even a second could mean the difference between life and death.

Miyabi and her group rushed into the building or more accurately exploded the roof with one immense slash. When they made it inside, they were met with hundreds of ethereals, most of them were not that powerful, but there were a few notable threats, that being the numerous Hati and Dullahans that seemed to be the leaders of this large group. For anyone else, this would have been a death sentence and a half. 

But for Section 6?

This was barely a warm up.

Some of the ethereals try to attack, but they're immediately frozen figuratively and literally when they feel Miyabi rushed through all of them and destroying an enormous amount in a singular moment. Those that were lucky enough to barely survive, tried to attack her only to feel the static in the air before being met with arrows and a Naginata piercing their skulls. Some even tried to run away, but we're met with bullets and an ether blackhole that absorbs them all into one point, allowing them to be destroyed by the cold wind produced by the blue oni’s war fan. It was a slaughter.

“Hmph! I was expecting more of a fight but I suppose right now that wouldn't be beneficial to us.” Miyabi said as she ran throughout the corridors trying to keep up with the oncoming onslaught. To her left, and right were walls of ethereals. A horrific sight to most but right now they were nothing more than just distractions, meant to be destroyed. Harumasa fired arrows like a machine gun as he pulled apart his bow into its blade form and slashed any that survived his first volley of arrows, his movements are rapid. Any time an ethereal was slashed and tried to retaliate, he wouldn't be there anymore and was in fact, attacking another, he swapped targets faster than they could react, eventually leaving nothing more than chunks that were scarred with electricity. Yanagi moved at the speed of a freaking lightning bolt, striking down anyone that was unfortunate enough to not be put down instantly by the chief or her lazy co-worker. As she destroyed another, she was almost attacked from behind by a hoplite, but it had been destroyed by Anby who was, to the surprise of almost everyone there, keeping up with Section 6 as if it were the easiest thing in the world. Nicole and Billy were in charge of taking care of the stragglers and we're mostly doing a good job, destroying any that the main group didn't immediately eradicate. 

They made their way through one hallway, then another, then another, then another, eventually, after God knows how long they realized that while they were getting closer to the target, there was a good chance that they were in the middle of this, causing them to in a sense become bulldozers and just tore down anything they got in their way to the point that, Miyabi said screw it and started ripping down the walls with her sword strikes just so that it would be a straight shot to the proxy. She was honestly surprised that anyone besides her group was managing to keep up with her as she was not playing around and was moving wickedly fast.

Eventually after destroying one more wall, they came into one room that when compared to the others was enormous. The walls looked like they went on for miles in every direction, the ceiling itself was elevated to what could be best estimated upwards of forty seven feet and the pillars holding up the room were enormous as if they were meant specifically to never break.

“ From what I can gather. This is the place where they should be, so where are they?” Yanagi asked while scanning the room like a hawk, not wanting to miss even a single detail. Eventually she saw something that made her heart go cold, blood and a lot of it. “OVER THERE!” She immediately started running and everyone without question started to follow her. When they came across the blood trail, they saw it led to a pillar that appeared to be destroyed. There was one small hole in the middle of the floor where the pillar used to stand. Inside, was somebody unconscious, who was bleeding badly from her legs, it was Belle. 

Nicole was the first to act, dropping her briefcase to the floor as she grabbed her holding her and pulling her up as gently as she could. They had half of the supplies they came with and some of the supplies happened to be first aid and medical supplies, so Nicole removed the bloody bandages that she had from before and wrapped her up with new ones. Everyone was on guard as they had no clue what the hell was in here with them and more importantly, what had caused Belle to go into that hole. Yanagi seeing that she was unconscious moved Nicole out of the way and began CPR on Belle, despite the fearful situation she managed to maintain her cool not wanting to give Belle an insufficient amount of air due to her slightly freaking out. A solid minute of her trying to resuscitate Belle went by and now she was starting to become very fearful for her friend's state. They swore they would protect them and that they would get them out and she was not about to fail here, as she went for another thirty chest compressions.

“GAAAASSSSP HACK HACK GASP KOFF!” 

Belle woke up in a violent coughing fit, she sat up very quickly grabbing onto her chest as if it was in absolute pain. Everyone simultaneously reacted to the sight of her waking up with relief but also fear as they had yet to figure out what had caused this.

Lycaon stepped up and began to ask in a very concerned voice. 

“Master Belle, are you alright?”

Belle didn't respond however she simply looked at him with wide eyes as if her mind was trying to process what it was seeing. Lycaon, concerned even further by her utter silence and unresponsive behavior, tried once more to get her attention. 

“Belle are you alr–”

Hug

He was immediately stopped by her wrapping her arms around him tightly, she held on as if she was making sure they were real.

sniff 

hck

sob

“.....you came for us….”

“For you my lady, always.”

Everyone piled onto the hugs, making sure that bell wasn't alone and more importantly, making sure that this was real, she was being saved. However, their nice moment was cut off by something they heard in the distance.

R̷̠̬ͫͨͫͩ̆̍ͭ̾ͭ̐ͦͯ̚͞O̮͊ͦ̏͋͟͜͜͠͡͝͞͠O͎̩̲̿ͬͯ̓̓̾ͪ̆̓ͅ͏̷̶̶̴̢̢̧́̀҉̸̢̨̛͟͜͡͠O̳̤͇̰̮̝̦̗̳͎̬̺͍͕̊͌ͪ̽̊̉ͮ̎͑̇̒ͩ̍ͅ͏̶̸̶̴̧̨̛͘͏͏̛͝͏̷͏̨̡͠O̤ͫ̎͋̔ͭ͝҉̶̴̷̷̶̧́́̕̕͘Ö̸̟͉̠̬̫̖̦̲̲̩̞̩͚̖͈́͆̿͛̐̎̆ͪ̑̋̕҉̶̶̸̵̢̀́͘͜͠Ơ̜̖̱͇̻͙̻̼̩̜̣̭ͫ͆ͫ͌ͪ̊͋ͯͥ̃ͬͫ̇̃́͘Ơ̧̢̥̪͎̜̲̗̔́̀͘͢͢ͅ҉O̴̷̧ͣ͛̾̒ͬ͑ͭ͌́̓̇͋̽͊̀͗̅͘̕͜͡͏̡̢́͘͞Ą̸̶̴̵̵̧̧̢̛̲̮͎͎̯̍ͫ̄͋͒̋ͦ͑͘͘͢͢͞A̶̵̢̱͎̭̼̦̤̘̣͎̠͎͍̖͖̠̪̹͈͚̓̍̅̕͢͞A̶̡̞̘̪͚͙̗͓̩͉͒͋̎̿̄ͤ́ͨ̅̉ͨ̅̊ͤͭ̅̂͘̕̕͜͝͏̶̶̸̨̛́̕͠͝͡Ȃ̧̛̛͈̟̥̠̦͙̥͙͚̘̳͉͔̥͔̞͎̏̍͐́̽ͤͯ̈́̒ͧ̿ͥ̄́ͧ͆̌̚͘ͅŖ̷̛̰̰̘͚͎͖͖̰͖̩̞͈̳̥͙̲̱̜͌̃̔͊ͅ҉̸̨̛̀͘͢͠

A demonic inhuman roar that was heard from a distance. Belle immediately started shaking again more violently than before, she was afraid of whatever that thing was.

Miyabi asked her point blank one simple question.

“ Belle, do you know what that was?” Belle was shaking like a leaf as she gathered the courage and said in a fearful voice. “S-sacrifice….it's a sacrifice…. I was running when I got the chance and…. Some of their people cornered me, I saw it rip them apart…..there was so much blood and….It called others and left…. The others ate the corpses and left nothing. One of them knocked me in here and I thought I died….” Rina held her along with Lycaon in an attempt to calm her heart, but there was a more pressing matter. The reveal of a Sacrifice being here was a frightening thought, the battle was already very tedious and now with something that powerful being here, it complicated things even further. However their priority was getting Belle out as quickly as possible, so they just kept that reveal in the back of their heads and proceeded to the rendezvous point.

Yiuxan and her group had made a large headway towards the still target. The resistance they faced was much weaker than expected, as most of the defending force was either dead or dying, with any ethereals being so weak that they were ignored unless they were in the way of their mission. They followed Yiuxan's guidance as she barreled through the red coated hallways, the air stinking of iron and Miasma all throughout the path. She felt slightly nauseous from the sights and smells that polluted her eyes and nose, but she ignored them as the target was just around the corner and she wasn't going to let her students down again.

They made it a few more feet before being met with an extremely large and heavy door, along with a disgusting amount of Miasma that was just surrounding the door. The surprising part, however, was the fact that there was no node or Miasma cluster anywhere. Yiuxan was slightly concerned that there was no major concentration that would explain the amount of Miasma in the air, there had to have been because this amount was just absurd for it to be naturally occurring. 

Deciding that this would have to wait for later,  she dissipated the Miasma in the air with ease and made her way to the door.

CLUUUUUUNK

Without any warning, she immediately struck the door with all of her might causing it to bend inward but not immediately fly off the hinges. She was genuinely surprised by the strength of the door but that didn't really matter in the face of somebody who could fight a Void Hunter on even footing, so with very little fanfare, the door was destroyed with everyone who witnessed it being very terrified, yet grateful to have her on their side. 

On the inside it was a strange sight, a small cot that seemed to be extremely old, a device that Lemian Hollow had in droves due to its ability to disperse and even guard against Miasma, and then a device that she and everyone else recognized. The H.D.D, and chained to it was a very frightened proxy, who probably shitting himself at the sight of the extremely heavy door being forced inward with nothing more than brute force. The fear painted on his face was immediate he had no idea what the hell was going on and probably heard the massacre that happened outside having no option other than to cover his ears and pray. The minute he saw his friends, however, his fear turned into deep gratitude.

“Wise!” In an instant Soldier 11 sliced his chains apart with her superheated blade with Trigger catching him in her arms as her visor went to pink in an instant. 

“Wise! Are you okay? Does anything feel strange?” Trigger bombarded him with questions as she needed to know if something was wrong with him at the moment. Wise seemed to be out of it, but ultimately responded with. “ Apart from a killer headache and general fatigue thanks to today, I'm doing quite well…… thank you for coming for us.” Trigger hugged him as she lifted him up onto his feet, everyone else proceeded to surround the proxy intending on protecting him since again, he was defenseless.

ZTTTTZ

A sound came over their earpiece as they immediately got quiet and listened to the voice. “This is Hoshimi Miyabi, Belle has been found and we are now going to the rendezvous point to meet up with the rest of you. Be aware we have just been informed that there is a sacrifice somewhere in this facility, we do not size or what it can do all we know is that it's in here and that it is extremely dangerous. Be on guard. I repeat, there is a dangerous ethereal in this facility be aware at all times. Everyone, slowly start to make your way to the rendezvous point once team b has located Wise.” Upon hearing the announcement that his sister had been found, Wise felt immense relief in his chest. He hadn't seen her in 8 hours and had no clue what had happened to her so he was afraid of what they could have done to her. That relief, however, was immediately taken away at the announcement that they had encountered the sacrifice. He felt it and it was immensely powerful much stronger than any ethereal he had ever encountered, so the fact they encountered it next to a sister, almost immediately placed a significant increase of fear inside of him. 

Yiuxan then, through her earpiece, relayed the message that Wise had also been located and that they were now heading towards the rendezvous point with him in tow. They started to make their way when a sound rang out.

BANG

A gunshot, everyone immediately on instinct checked themselves to find the gunshot wound and found nothing, but when Wise doubled over they immediately realized who got shot.

“‘WISE!!” Everyone reacted the best they could, 11 grabbed her blade and readied herself in front of Wise, Fufu and Pan went to examine his wounds with Ye Shiyuan covering them. Trigger saw the wound and with a red glare went to see where the bullet came from, but was immediately met with smoke. It was an ambush. They were met with two large Exaltists that appeared from the smoke, they charged forward with Yiuxan meeting them head on.

She fired her Auric Ink at them but they somehow dodged it and got in her face with fists ready.

KRAK 

PAP

KRAK 

The first of the left had their chest caved in by a forceful strike as the second swung with all they had. Only to be met with their wrist in a grab so vicious that destroyed it with little effort, and before any scream could be heard, his chest was as well caved in of a single violent strike.

As they fell to the ground dead, Trigger saw movement from the ether in the air and grabbed her pistol and fired into the smoke with the shots being deflected with ease. From the smoke a figure exploded in a burst of speed so fast that even Yiuxan barely saw them. The figure rushed into the group smacking them all the way as it grabbed Wise by the throat and ran away.

“AFTER HIM!!!”

Everyone bolted after him at full speed as they radioed in “WISE HAS BEEN TAKEN BY AN UNKNOWN COMBATANT! ANY AVAILABLE PEOPLE RENDEZVOUS AT MY POSITION NOW!!!”

Wise was in absolute pain from the gunshot, and now was being moved extremely fast to God knows where, he tried to fight but couldn't fight against the grip around his throat. He still tried all he could with clawing, biting, kicking, but nothing fazed the assailant even a bit, he wasn't escaping this.

Eventually the assailant came to a stop as he slammed Wise onto his back so hard the metal floor cratered from the force. Wise tried to scream but his lungs lacked air, he felt like his body was on fire and he needed it to stop. As his brain was trying to process. What the hell to do, he heard a voice that he knew and one he hated with all his soul.

“ I thought you said you had this under control, what has happened?”

“ There is a sacrifice here. None of the ethereals will listen to you or me and I know exactly which sacrifice it is. It is one of mine that is currently wreaking havoc. I've also confirmed that there is a second one approaching and an extremely large etheric swarm that will be here in less than 10 minutes, so if I were you, I'd start running.”

“ I won't run, not yet. I still have one last thing to ask our friend here and you are the best on interrogation so–”

“ I will not be assisting in this.”

“ And why is that?”

“Unless you want two Void Hunters ripping you apart then I suggest you let me do what I do best. Oh, and here, thanks for letting me borrow your gun. I didn't have anything weak enough to use on him.”

With speed he left to confront the forces convening towards Wise, who was currently looking up at the sky and realized that he was outside. He heard footsteps approaching him and tilted. His head to meet the case of the one who was still here, Sarah.

Wise realizing the position he was in did the best he could at this moment, stall.

“Gasp You're still alive? I saw and heard what they did, I'm surprised it didn't come for you.”

Sarah, however, wasn't having it.

“Where was the Sacrifice core.”

“......no.”

“Sigh~”

STAB

“AAAAAAAAAHHHH”

With no hesitation Sarah stabbed him in the stomach where his gunshot wound was, subsequently reopening it and causing his blood to leak out. He screamed violently, as he tried to kick her away to punch her anything to make her stop, but she didn't, simply driving the knife deeper and even starting to twist it. 

“ Tell me where it is and the pain stops. It's simple.”

Through gritted teeth and a pained voice, he said “N-no. You'll have to kill me and even then I won't say anything.”

“ You're wasting your time and more importantly, wasting what little purpose you have left in this world. The only reason I'm keeping you alive is because of the fact I am unaware of your sister's status and you are the only one I managed to get my hands on thanks him”

She used the bloodied knife to point in the direction of where Judgement was.

It was an absolute brawl.

Miyabi had reconvened with Yiuxan's team and they started to make their way towards Wise but were stopped by Judgment. Miyabi slashed at him relentlessly as Yixuan fired talisman at him at the rate of a machine gun. He was dodging them and anything that he didn't dodge he immediately blocked or destroyed with his blades. It was like an intricate dance that only they knew and he was the one leading while they were the ones barely keeping up. Others joined in the brawl where they could, drones created by Grace surrounded him and fired on all sides with electricity bullets and ether, Trigger took a sniper position and began to take rapid fire shots at him, Yanagi got strikes in where she could in between the two Void Hunters,  Zhu Yuan and Nicole fired heavy ether artillery towards him from both their cannon and pistol respectively, Billy, Pulchra, Burnice and Rina all fired bullets, lightning and fire at him. The rest all tried to get hits in or land elemental attacks where they could, but were just barely missing or being met with his kama which he used to launch them back. 

Wise was shocked by the sheer combat prowess of a singular man who was against a small army of people, he tried to move but had a foot come down on his wound that immediately stopped him dead.

“ Last time I asked this. Where. Is. It.”

“...f….f”

“huh?” 

Wise looked her in the eyes as he spat blood on her face

Ptoo

“fuck off.”

His face was of pain and suffering that overcome by his sheer commitment to not say anything.

“YOU…FUCKING….INGRATE!!!”

SHHKK

RIIIPPP

“AAAHHAHAAHAAHH!!! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

She stabbed him in his left eye and ripped it out.

As he screamed in agony, Sarah then called for whoever was left alive and made her way towards the helipad that was a few feet away. Wise even as he was suffering, stood on his two feet and charged her to the floor.

THUD

He got on top of her and started to hold her down with what little strength he had, however he was met with more gut stabs. He with adrenaline pumping punched her relentlessly and made for the coat she was wearing, but he was then met with a kick to the face. 

“Lady Sarah, are you okay?”

She stood as her cheek was bruised from the punches and said in a rage. “ DO I LOOK OKAY?! THAT'S FILTHY MORTAL DARE TO TOUCH ME, BUT HE FAILED TO OFFER ANY SEMBLANCE OF KNOWLEDGE AS TO THE LOCATION OF THE CORE!INHALE EXHALE With the other half of Phaethon unknown and the destruction of this compound almost certain, there is nothing else we can do here. Let us leave this place.” She started to walk away, as Wise tried to get up but he then heard something terrifying. “Oh before I forget, remove him from this building.”

The large Exaltist walked up to Wise as he picked him up and with no fanfare

TOSS

Threw him off the roof.

He fell at a rapid pace towards the ground he tried to stop his fall but failed to do so as he fell. However, he then saw something out of the corner of his eye, purple light that was approaching him very quickly. 

An ethereal blast?

Assuming the worst, he simply closed his eyes and braced for whatever came next.

CATCH

What he wasn't expecting was to be caught in the arms of somebody who was currently flying.

“LORD PHAETHON!!”

He was saved by Vivian who had tears in her eyes at the sight of his bloody and beaten body, she floated them down slowly so as to not agitate his wounds further. He looked up at her eyes with his one good eye and cupped her face as he asked weakly “...v-vivian?.....you guys came…” 

“Of course we came to Lord Phaethon's aid. W-we couldn't bear the thought of losing you or Belle, that sounded worse than death.” 

“ How'd you know I'd be here?”

“ I saw a vision, one that…… i saw you die falling….. All I needed was to follow my vision and it led me to you. If I was any slower….” She tried not to cry her heart out at the thought, but it was a hard pill to swallow for her due to her believing she could've prevented this if she was faster or better. Wise seeing her starting to cry used the same that was still on her face to wipe her tears as she blushed with love at his actions. Vivian recomposed herself as she began to apply first aid, behind her was the chaos of fight that ravaged the already ruined compound. Chunks of buildings and earth flew and exploded with immense force. Even this far away, the sensation of ice, heat, static, and ether danced over skin, they were attacking as hard as they could and judgment was not giving them a single second to breathe. As he was trying to keep himself awake, he then heard the sound of Vivian gasping, he then looked at her seeing if anything was wrong but there was nothing on or in her that was damaging.

So why was she freaking out?

“L–lord Phaethon….you eye is glowing.”

At the revelation of what was happening he then used his hands to feel around his skin…… he felt crystals.

No….nonononono.

Vivian then picked him up quickly and started to run towards the group as she knew that they had the anti-corruption serum necessary to save him.

“ Please bear with the pain we have to get you out of here now!”

As she ran, her brain starts to be flooded with everything that could possibly happen in this moment. Every vision, every thought, every moment was the same it all like to the same outcome….despair.

The battle that had been raging was starting to slow down.

CLANG 

CLANG

CLANG

SLIT

RIP

TEAR

SKKRT

While everyone was starting to feel the fatigue, they could see that Judgment had also been starting to feel the effects of this prolonged battle with this many combatants. While most of his strikes still had the intended strength and force, his hands were starting to shake from how many times he'd blocked and retaliated, with his movements noticeably becoming much more sluggish almost as if his body was starting to fail to respond in time. As a result, he was covered in multiple wounds from attacks that finally started to land, but he was not alone in terms of being wounded. Miyabi and Yixuan had cuts and gashes on the arms, signs of Miasma infesting their bodies, Yanagi had one of her lenses cracked with Naginata starting to become more dull from the constant fighting, Soukaku and Harumasa were the worst off as Soukaku was bleeding profusely from one arm and both her legs, but she wasn't focused on that as she was trying and failing to help Harumasa. He was showing signs of corruption, his skin looked cracked with ether and Miasma burning throughout his body, he was barely conscious and was being given a lot of anti-corruption serum. The Sons of Calydon were holding on to the weapons as most were on the floor gasping and coughing up blood from their injuries and from sheer exhaustion. Victoria Housekeeping were battered and bruised but nothing that would cause them to slow down. PubSec were starting to falter as they had cuts on the arms and legs with the most noticeable injuries being Qingyi's broken and smoking parts. The Cunning Hares were mostly untouched by the attacks, merely tired from the constant fighting. Everyone else was either untouched or extremely tired.

Then there was Belle.

She was unconscious on the back line where anyone who wasn't attacking Judgement, was fighting to defend her with everything.

Judgement was already at a loss of words by the surprising amount of resistance he was met with. He knew he could handle his own for hours on end with no problem, but this many people at once, difficult but it was possible. Unfortunately, he was on a time schedule and right then as he saw Wise, he realized that his time was up.

Damn it! Well, I did all I could, time for fate to do the rest.

As Miyabi went to slash his head off she heard a familiar noise.

Tick

He vanished instantly, causing everyone to cease their attacks. They weren't buying it for a second that this guy just ran away, but unfortunately, once they took a look at Belle and Wise they realized they had no choice but to run.

However, just before they ran, Judgment     appeared one last time, and in a singular motion destroyed any and all serums they had left before anyone could react. Their souls dropped as everyone tried to rush him to both stop him and save any serum they could, but again in the same motion.

Tick

Instantly vanished.

The bag was destroyed and any serum that was in there was gone. This was extremely alarming, as both of the proxies were now suffering from extreme levels of ether corruption, despite their enhanced aptitude, it was clear they wouldn't last much longer.

With help from Fairy, they started their journey out of Hollow Zero. Some of the people who were carrying the proxies notice just how badly they were injured and more importantly, the fact that both of them were showing signs of corruption. Wise in particular, was it looked at with sheer pity and fear at the sight of him having multiple stab wounds and a missing eye with him giving them the same excuse of him being fine when it was clear as day he was holding on to whatever consciousness he had left. They made it through the first fissure, then the second, then the third and the fourth. Unlike before, they had traveled much deeper than last time, in total 8 fissures were used just to reach them and the distance between them was not short. So despite no one saying it, everyone knew exactly what was happening, this was a battle against time and they were losing.

They made it to the 6th fissure and came across an old rickety bridge. They had crossed that bridge before just to reach the proxies, but looking at the state of it, it looked nearly destroyed. What caught the attention of the proxies was just the sheer size of it, it looked like an entire army's worth of people could fit on that bridge and there would still be enough room. 

“ wow that is one hell of a bridge. You gotta cross this for us?” Despite talking much more quietly due to his weakened state, Wise still held a small childlike wonder at the sight of it. The others, despite the extremely tense and terrifying situation, couldn't help but laugh a little bit at the sight of him being so entertained by something so simple. The sound they created even managed to wake up Belle who was confused as to what happened, but was very quickly brought up to speed. She was, however, very much terrified and more importantly, saddened at the sight of her brother's wounded state.

“Bro…your eye…it's gone.”

“ Don't worry, I'll live even with one eye so don't worry about your brother being a part pirate now.”

“Heheh shut up you moron.”

Warm this entire small tiny moment felt just warm.

However,

Wherever there is warmth.

Cold will follow.

To drown out what remains of the warmth.

Leaving nothing but despair.

R̷̠̬ͫͨͫͩ̆̍ͭ̾ͭ̐ͦͯ̚͞O̮͊ͦ̏͋͟͜͜͠͡͝͞͠O͎̩̲̿ͬͯ̓̓̾ͪ̆̓ͅ͏̷̶̶̴̢̢̧́̀҉̸̢̨̛͟͜͡͠O̳̤͇̰̮̝̦̗̳͎̬̺͍͕̊͌ͪ̽̊̉ͮ̎͑̇̒ͩ̍ͅ͏̶̸̶̴̧̨̛͘͏͏̛͝͏̷͏̨̡͠O̤ͫ̎͋̔ͭ͝҉̶̴̷̷̶̧́́̕̕͘Ö̸̟͉̠̬̫̖̦̲̲̩̞̩͚̖͈́͆̿͛̐̎̆ͪ̑̋̕҉̶̶̸̵̢̀́͘͜͠Ơ̜̖̱͇̻͙̻̼̩̜̣̭ͫ͆ͫ͌ͪ̊͋ͯͥ̃ͬͫ̇̃́͘Ơ̧̢̥̪͎̜̲̗̔́̀͘͢͢ͅ҉O̴̷̧ͣ͛̾̒ͬ͑ͭ͌́̓̇͋̽͊̀͗̅͘̕͜͡͏̡̢́͘͞Ą̸̶̴̵̵̧̧̢̛̲̮͎͎̯̍ͫ̄͋͒̋ͦ͑͘͘͢͢͞A̶̵̢̱͎̭̼̦̤̘̣͎̠͎͍̖͖̠̪̹͈͚̓̍̅̕͢͞A̶̡̞̘̪͚͙̗͓̩͉͒͋̎̿̄ͤ́ͨ̅̉ͨ̅̊ͤͭ̅̂͘̕̕͜͝͏̶̶̸̨̛́̕͠͝͡Ȃ̧̛̛͈̟̥̠̦͙̥͙͚̘̳͉͔̥͔̞͎̏̍͐́̽ͤͯ̈́̒ͧ̿ͥ̄́ͧ͆̌̚͘ͅŖ̷̛̰̰̘͚͎͖͖̰͖̩̞͈̳̥͙̲̱̜͌̃̔͊ͅ҉̸̨̛̀͘͢͠

They heard it, they all heard it.

They turned around and faced something absolutely horrifying.

A Sacrifice.

Its body was massive in height, standing at a mind numbing 8’9 and having extremely thick armor. It's head was where it's core was and the core what's at the center of myriad of spikes that rested on its neck and shoulders, its arms were heavily clad in armor with its right hand wielding a sword that was jagged and painted red with the blood of the Exaltists it slaughtered, on its left was an extremely large shield, appearing a little over half its height and wide enough that it could guard any part of its body was ease. From its waist grew a cloth, made of etheric material that was black like the rest of its body, but the underside was a deep scarlet.

Wise and Belle both had their eyes grow wide when they remembered something. 

Juggernaut on the other hand is a much more different threat. Its armor is nearly impenetrable, I've seen it shrug off entire missiles barrages, and be completely fine. It looks like a regular Dullahan but do not be fooled. It is much stronger and faster than any Dullahan on record. The telltale sign that it is. This particular sacrifice is simple, red crystals growing out of its back rather than purple, green or chromatic. 

The characteristics of a Dullahan, red crystals, and heavy armor.

Both immediately realized it at the same time.

“‘Juggernaut.’”

The Sacrifice turned its head to face them and then in a horrifying display, spoke.

“MY….. NAME….. IS NOT JUGGERNAUT.”

At the sight of something that demonic looking speaking, everyone drew their weapons, regardless of how tired their bodies were they had no clue what they could do against something this powerful went all of them were extremely tired.

The sacrifice, however, completely ignoring the weapons being pointed at it simply continued.

“ MY NAME….IS LIKE MY CREATORS NAME……. I……AM

JUDGEMENT”

VOOOOM

In the blink of an eye, it dashed right towards the strongest target, Miyabi. She had her weapon at the ready, but was completely off guard by the sheer speed that this thing moved at as it instantly closed the distance and brought its shield down on her. 

KRRRAAKOOOM 

Miyabi blocked the attack but barely managed to stay standing, the ground under her feet reduced to rubble as ethereal began to push the shield downward further, destroying the ground under her feet. She was struggling just to push herself up and felt she had no hope against it. No one had attacked yet, not because of the fact that they were terrified, but because everything was happening so quickly nobody had time to even move. Yixuan however, being able to react quickly managed to place herself behind it and with every last bit of strength struck its spine. 

THHHHOOOOOOOM

The impact sounded like an explosion had gone off with everyone being blasted away. The smoke that came from the shattered gravel under their feet began to dissipate as both of them hoped for anything.

Nothing.

Its armor wasn't even scuffed.

Miyabi then realizing that neither one of their attacks were effective, decided on a tactic that would insure their safety. She summoned strength similar to the power that she used against Bringer and with all she could muster, launched herself underneath its legs, causing the shield to crash down right behind her. Judgement immediately swung its shield behind it in an attempt to crack her head open.

WHOOSH

It missed but the gale created from the sheer force of its swing was horrifying.

Miyabi then with sword in sheath and fully ready swung with all she could.

CLICK

She pressed down on the button, releasing the sword from its sheath and in one solid motion.

THATHOOOOOOOOOM

Unleash a slash that destroyed miles upon miles of buildings.

But her eyes grew wide in horror as she realized the Sacrifice wasn't there anymore, she didn't even hit it.

But she could feel its bloodlust.

She turned around and felt the world slow down. 

Wise and Belle were thrown together from the first attack it launched against Miyabi. They were barely able to get up due to their multiple wounds but still managed to get to their feet and saw that Eous was malfunctioning, both knew that if he went down they would have no hope of escaping he needed to survive.

Belle began to repair him but felt her body start to fail from blood loss and the corruption in the air. She felt her hands tremble, her eyes vibrate, and her vision beginning to blur. She didn't stop however because she knew if they lost because of her then she would never be able to look at herself in the mirror again, but she was very quickly starting to understand just how badly she needed to escape this place. Wise had his mind start to go numb and cold from the corruption that was surely ripping through his body at a much quicker rate due to his wounds. The Miasma that was in the air also made even standing a difficult task for him. He saw the crystals on his body and could feel them inside of his head, cutting through his brain and skull. He knew that even if he made it out alive, he wasn't going to live for much longer and was probably going to live his life with severe brain damage. 

THATHOOOOOOOOOM

His thought process was stopped by the sound and force from the attack that Miyabi used against the Sacrifice and then he saw his sister that held onto Eous with all she could.

And the Sacrifice with its sword raised above her.

He didn't think.

He acted.

SHOVE

He thought about what his Teacher would say about him.

He thought what Belle would think.

He thought about his life…… what he had done with it…..was it enough?

What would you do, Belle?

Am I choosing correctly?

Was I a good enough brother?

KRRRRRRRRKKKK

I'm sorry, Belle.

Belle felt her body go numb.

Belle saw her world go grey.

Belle saw her world die.

She screamed.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSEEEEEE!!!!!!!”

The Sacrifice threw him full force into a building.

KRAKOOM

He flew lifeless through the wall.

It.    Burns.

What is happening? 

He heard screams.

He heard agony.

He heard rage.

He heard despair.

He tried to get up.

Slip

He couldn't.

He saw why.

His right arm was gone, mere feet away and buried in rubble.

Blood gushed out of his shoulder with no remorse. 

He looked down and saw the stab wound, it was massive, he knew for a fact his fate was sealed.

He was going to die.

“hrrrrrrh”

Despite the pain he was in, despite the agony he was in, he still pushed himself up. He should have died so many times now, but he refused. He refused to die, not until he was certain of one thing.

With what little energy remained, he started walking towards the sounds.

His breathing was slow and calm, he didn't want to make his wounds hurt anymore. The stab left by the Sacrifice was burning like hell, he could feel it spreading. His only saving grace from the pain was the fact that his brain was already dying and couldn't even process the pain. He saw the world in red as could see the blood pooling beneath his eye, his eardrums had burst inside making the world sound quiet, peaceful even.

He marched slowly back to where everyone was,everyone had sadness and rage burnt into their faces as they attacked the Sacrifice with everything they had. They didn't care if their bodies broke, they didn't care if they died, they didn't care if they lost, all they wanted was to make sure that this one died. slowly.

He then saw something on the horizon and it was approaching quickly.

A ….second…..Sacrifice?

He then saw what it was chasing

Nineveh

Both of which were heading this direction.

As it got closer, Judgement immediately ceased its assault on the agents and rushed the ethereal swarm.

He had no idea why but he thought of something.

Nineveh wants ether….. and these two want to kill it…… I know what I must do.

Everyone was on edge. They had 3 extremely dangerous ethereals all in one location and they were all on the brink of collapsing from fatigue and they weren't in the right mental state. This was an awful situation that they were in, mere ants on the battlefield with three giants that destroyed all in their path. As they watch the battle they witnessed spores and hornets that Nineveh brought with it, fall and head towards them with murderous intentions.

But nobody had the strength to fight anymore, the had been fighting for hours and saw their friend get skewered and tossed into a building with enough force to bring it down.

Miyabi and Yixuan were the last two left standing. With empty eyes and bloody hands, they charged into battle to defend the rest.

Wise almost made it to the rest of the group and then saw exactly what he needed, the Sacrifice core that Miyabi was carrying. Ironic that this seemingly useless object would save their lives not once but twice.

The container that housed it was shattered with the core absorbing ether from the air with reckless abandon, he had some hope that it could drain his corruption from him but it didn't work like that.

His plan was simple.

This thing was draining ether at an immense rate and making itself a large concentration of ether, Nineveh was attracted to high levels of ether, and these two were chasing her in turn. So given all that, all he had to do was make a dying man the bait and everyone would get to go home.

He grabbed the core and stuffed it inside what remained of his jacket and then went to do one last thing before he accomplishes his task.

He walked to the only other thing his bleeding mind could focus on, Belle. His eyes were glowing and shining the same symbol they had when he saved Vivian and they shined a bright light that pushed the corruption back…..but not enough.

His body was far too broken to cleanse the ether out of his body and could only push it back. 

Thud

He stumbled and fell to the floor as the corruption claimed his legs and chest, coating them with crystals as ether literally bled through the cracks on his skin. As he was on the floor he threw up blood that was stained pink and purple with corruption, his body shaking violently from the action.

Step

Step

But yet again he stood, refusing to die yet.

As he marched he held onto hope that everyone would survive this and live their lives to the fullest.

He stumbled and finally reached her, Belle who was as fighting against the corruption with all her might. She was crying as she held Eous like a lifeline and was not expecting to feel a hand land on her head and calm her down.

“belle…”

She look up and saw her brother who was half dead, corruption claiming his body, and him being down one arm.

“w-wise….….your dying.”

“I….haven't died yet. I don't want….to lose you……”

“I can take it……you don't have to….fight for my sake…..”

He used his remaining arm to hold her close as he placed head against hers.

“I…..can't be alone…….I can't lose you……please don't leave me, please!”

Tears leaked out as she saw his equally tearful eye, both couldn't bare the thought of losing the other and both desperately wanted the other to stay…..but both knew that wasn't possible.

“Fairy……I wish to ask one last thing of you.”

Eous and Fairy looked up at Wise.

“........WHAT DO YOU ASK MASTER?”

“Transfer all authority and permissions to Belle.”

“ACTION DENIED.”

“Fairy….. I know you can do it.”

“I………CAN'T LOSE YOU……PLEASE MASTER…….DON'T LEAVE ME…..ASK ANYTHING ELSE AND I'LL DO IT WITHOUT QUESTIONS……..PLEASE….. ANYTHING BUT THAT.”

“Please Fairy…..for me.”

“...

….

….

TRANSFERRING ALL DATA AND AUTHORITY TO BELLE.”

Belle hadn't heard the conversation happening due to the sound of her palpitating heart, but she heard that last message in time to realize what was happening.

“W-wise…what are doing?!”

He held her close as he reached into his pocket and pulled something out. He looked at her with remorse and stated.

“Tell Carole– tell mom hi for me.”

“No…NO! I won't lose you too, I can't be alone in this world. I–”

He silenced her with a hug and whispered to her.

“I can't live knowing you died…..it's selfish for me to ask you to live while I….die. But I need…..you to do something for me.”

“what?”

“Live….”

“I can't without you….”

“I know……”

He kissed her forehead, a gesture he used to do while they were kids, something he did whenever he left her alone. 

It was him showing he'd be back.

A promise.

“I know…….. that's why…… I'm sorry.”

Broken.

She felt a needle stick into her neck and felt something flowing in her.

Unknown to everyone, when Wise attacked Sarah after losing his eye, he reach for her coat and was kick away he was trying to grab her gun but failed.

But he managed to grab one thing.

The Anti-corruption serum she so boldy taunted him with. He grabbed it and saw that it never broke or cracked, even when he was stabbed and launched through a building, like fate stopping it from breaking.

He wanted to use it a few times but didn't….something stopped him from using it….and now he knew why.

Relief flowed through Belle's body….but she didn't feel any relief…… just cold realization of what he'd done.

He just killed himself.

The corruption that was taking her body ceased and was undone, she saw in horror as Wise stood up and ran away at full speed towards the only thing he could think of….. the bridge.

She screamed in refusal and tried to stand, but her body was at its limit as she fell to the ground, crying out for him.

“WIIIIIISSSE!! Hch sob DON'T LEAVE ME, PLEASE!!!!”

As he ran he felt his chest and heart burning with agony, he fell and saw that his heart was becoming his core. His eyes shined again as it forced the corruption back once more, but once again failed to remove it. He heard his sister crying for him to stop, but he didn't.

He made it to the edge of the bridge and fell to his knees once more. He heard desperate cries and shouts, but couldn't face them.

I can't.

You have to.

I won't be able to do it.

They deserve a goodbye.

…..right.

He stood once more as his body trembled with resistance of the corruption and forming core in his chest.

He turned to face them…..he couldn't help but cry at the sight of his friends trying to stop him.

“‘WIIIISSSSE!!!”

“STAY BACK!!”

With what little energy remained he roared back causing them to stop dead in their tracks.

Everyone couldn't believe what they were seeing…..Wise was dying in front of them, and they knew there was nothing they could do to stop it.

He took a step back.

“Lycaon!”

The shout immediately got his attention.

“Remember tHe FaVOr you OWe Me it Was aND cOuLd be AnyThIng I WaNTed Right?”

His voice was corrupted and forcefully pushing words out of his destroyed throat.

“I-i do… Wise.”

Wise then with all he could asked him one last thing.

“Please….keEP Belle sAfe, Promise me LYcaon!”

Drip 

Drip

Lycaon was crying…..for the first time in years…….he was crying….asked one last task from Wise……he knew what had to be done.

“Y-your wish…..is my command, Wise…..I w-won't f-fail you.”

“Thank you, for everything.”

He took another step back.

He faced everyone.

His friends.

His loved ones.

His everything.

He said one last thing…..

“Thank you……for being our family……” He broke a large tearful smile through his corrupted face. “I LOVE YOU ALL!”

He took a step back.

And fell.

Belle roared one last time 

“WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSE!!!!!!!”

as she fell unconscious from everything.

Falling. 

He was falling. 

Had it been a few minutes, hours? 

It didn't matter, not anymore.

Pain. 

His head was flooded with pain beyond anything he'd imagined possible. His skin was ripped apart as his very skeleton was maimed in a way that could only be described as sadistic and hellish. His blood was flooded with ether crystals, slashing and destroying his veins as his blood flowed. Agony was the only word that could describe the experience. His skull on the left side felt like it had exploded from the inside, crystals had torn through head from his brain, his left eye was destroyed as well making him blind on his left side. The shoulder were his right arm once was bled on the way down as his left was claimed by the corruption.

He knew why this was happening and he knew that this was in fact his fault, but he didn't care. No, it's not that he didn't care. It's just, he knew what the consequence would be if he hadn't chosen what he did. And he just accepted it because the alternative was worse than death.

If there was one regret in his mind, it was that he would be leaving her alone after so many years of being together, of being the only thing the other could cling on when no one else was there and he willingly left her alone. He hated it. He hated it more than anything he ever hated in his life. But it had to be this way for there was no other alternative. He could feel the end coming, the dark, the permanent end.

He thought back to what brought him to this moment. Every choice that led up to this last day.

My choice…..

This is my choice….

Why does it hurt so much?

Did I choose wrong?

He fell further and further into the abyss, hoping for a quick death knowing that it wasn't going to be. Unknown to him, he fell through a fissure that dropped somewhere deeper within Hollow Zero. 

He landed like a meteor, with the ground below him being destroyed.

He felt his body screaming out in pain and his mind suffocating in the ether and Miasma as it tried to fight for his consciousness. The ether around him crystallized, forming spikes around him that grew from the earth and his skin with no apparent pattern. He felt his ocular implants push the corruption back more with all it could…..but it just wasn't enough.

IF I'M DYING. I'M FIGHTING TO STAY HUMAN FOR AS LONG AS I CAN!!

His body twitched and moved violently.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!! HRRRRRRNNNNHH!!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

His bones were broken into forms and positions that weren't human. His muscles were ripped apart without mercy as his brain exploded from the inside with ether crystals grew inside. His blood felt like acid as his tears turned red and purple from both blood and ether corruption.

Yet he resisted.

His vision was gone as he saw nothing but darkness. His skin was all but claimed by the corruption and his one good eye was leaking out blood. 

He didn't resist anymore.

STAB

But something happened.

Something stabbed his shoulder, and from the pain something flowed into his body…..Agony.

It felt like magma was being pumped into his veins and he through sheer instinct, grabbed whatever stabbed him and ripped it out, feeling it crack in his grasp.

He roared out into the dark sky as light emanated from his eye and mouth……..and then nothing. 

He fell to his knees.

The lights ceased.

He stopped moving.

The corruption claimed him as crystals bloomed out and encased his body in a tomb…..

His last thought was of his family.

belle…….I should have spent more with you……..I'm sorry for leaving you alone….

mom……sorry for failing you…

I'm sorry everyone for—

Wise had died.

His sacrifice worked.

The ethereals followed him.

The rescue team saved Belle.

But the cost was too high.

Phaethon had fallen.

End of Prologue 

Chapter Text

Chapter: 1

After the Fall, Comes the Cold

The city of New Eridu was in the last moments of fall as winter slowly crept in with its cold hands. The skies were painted grey with snow and what little leaves were left fell to the floor, leaving their trees barren and dead. People began to start placing little decorations here and there as they prepared for the holidays.

However, there was a strange air about the entire city. It felt cold, and not the regular kind of cold that came with winter, no it was a cold that came with funerals, deaths, mourning. The city felt like it was mourning someone or something, but nobody knew what.

No.

That's a lie.

There were those who knew why it felt so cold despite the temperature not matching it. There was a cold presence that came from Lumina Square which ironically was burning and smoking from the war that was waged there.

The streets and the square were lined with bodies, civilians and Exaltists alike.

There would have been more had it not been for an anonymous tip to both the Defense Force and Obol Squad, who arrived on the scene at the same time that the attacks happened. Nobody could prove it but the appearance of both the attackers and the defenders at the same time? 

It felt more than just a strange coincidence, so much so that people who survived the attack began to question if this was staged, if they knew of the attack but only waited until the last second just to appear as the heroes of the story, some even began to speculate if there were moles who worked for these Exaltists, inside of the Defense Force. Despite warning answers and explanations as to what the hell happened and why this had to even occur, the civilians and citizens of New Eridu just wanted to go home and rest. 

For some, it was as simple as just walking home and just preparing for the next day, wanting nothing else than to just forget what happened today.

But for the residents of Sixth Street, forgetting what they saw was impossible.

When they arrived home back to their small little chunk of home, they were met with a horrifying sight. Bodies of Exaltists were everywhere and they were not murdered quickly. It seemed to be an absolute brutal slaughter of the extremely sadistic variety.

But that wasn't what caught their attention first.

That would have to be the burnt and destroyed home of one of their oldest neighbors.

Belle and Wise.

Despite the flame being doused hours ago, the burnt chunks of the building once known as Random Play still remained a cold dead reminder of what had happened that day.

As you would expect, those who were much more physically fit and willing to go into that burnt husk of the house immediately went to check it top to bottom but found no sign of either of the siblings. A small spark of hope ignited in the hearts, the hope that the siblings had managed to escape and that they were still alive. 

Ding

You could imagine their confusion/immediate relief at the site of a message from Belle, relief from the fact that they had received a message from her showing that she was still okay, but confusion from the fact that the message wasn't any words or explanation, just an address.

A hospital.

_____________

Inside said hospital there was a patient, one who had been administered the second they were taken out of Hollow Zero.

Belle.

She had been horribly and brutally beaten up along with ruthlessly tortured by these monsters, adding on top of all that her prolonged exposure to both the extremely dense ether and Miasma?

You can only imagine the amount of pain her body had succumbed to.

11:45 p.m.

She was in and out of consciousness.

“....SIN…..BLO…!”

Every couple minutes? 

Seconds? 

She would awake only to pass out instantly getting merely snippets of what appeared to be a very large conversation.

“ADMI…..UIDS!”

Her brain was trying to process so much at the same time while desperately trying to push her body to fight back against everything that had been done to her.

“TRA…..NEE…..DON…!”

A slurry of words had rushed through her head, but despite it all one thing, perpetuated itself inside her head.

what happened?

She tried to think of everything she could remember.

She remembered flames and remembered her home being destroyed.

Remember being taken, being shocked? 

And then something so hard to see her brain, it just shut down.

No matter how hard or how many times she went back to that moment her brain immediately shut down, putting her into another state of unconsciousness.

From an outside perspective it was awful.

She had lost so much blood in a singular day that the doctors were genuinely amazed that she wasn't dead yet, the bones in her arms and legs seem to be mostly healed but appear to be strained and cracked, as if they had been broken and healed repeatedly. Her organs and more importantly, her brain were the things they were mostly worried about. Prolonged exposure to ether always leads to corruption and the fact that she had been inside the single most ether dense place in the world for hours on end? They were surprised that none of her body parts or even her brain was affected by the ether.

Despite not showing any signs of corruption, they still took no chances, ensuring that they would find and locate any source of corruption, no matter how small or minuscule. What had gotten their attention was the people who were with them. There were a myriad of different people from different backgrounds ranging from nobodies, they had seen a couple of times two people that they knew by fame like Hoshimi Miyabi. What was surprising wasn't so much the fact that they were here, although that in itself was incredibly confusing and warranted its own separate set of questions.

No, what caught their attention was the state everyone was in, every single one of them had injuries ranging from extremely minor scratches, cuts and a bit of corruption, to injuries that if they were not taken care of immediately would lead to lifelong altercations to their lives or even death! However, despite how many times they asked, in some cases even begged these people to let them help them, they all refused to receive any sort of medical help until they knew for certain that this one girl would make it.

Well there was one who didn't refuse, and that was because he couldn't.

Beep

Beep

Beep

In the room directly across from hers lay one man, next to him was his broken bow, empty quiver, bloody bandages and his signature yellow headband.

Harumasa.

Of all the fighters who were inside that hell, he was the first one to fall. Not to ethereals, not to exhaustion, but rather to his own decaying body that simply just couldn't handle the ether in the air anymore. When he arrived, he was immediately put on Life Support and injected with as much anti-corruption serums they could get their hands on along with as much clean blood as possible to ensure that all of his corrupted blood would be removed.

On the opposite side of the class looking into his room, were his teammates, his family, Section 6. The sight of the lone archer being broken and hooked up to god knows how many machines, that sight was permanently burnt into their memory and souls, never to leave no matter how much time passed. Miyabi had a bandaged left arm and her right in a cast, her legs were also in casts hence her being in a wheelchair. They said that with enough time she would be back up on her feet with very little to no pain, but that did nothing to quell the pain in her heart. Next to her was Yanagi who had a stitch on her forehead and had her left eye wrapped up, stated to make a full recovery, but still nonetheless in pain. Soukaku was leaning her head onto her big sis as she wept with all her might, the only real damage she had was a wounded left arm that would heal within a week due to her genetics, and a very large scar that lined her entire back, the cost of defending Yanagi from a fatal blow. They felt weak not from their injuries or from the fact that they failed, but rather from the knowledge that came next.

“......what?” Miyabi said with wide eyes that started to tear up.

“ I promise you. We are doing the best we can but……….there is a chance that you might have to say goodbye.”

“you're joking……right?” Yanagi felt her heart grow cold as her blood cooled significantly at the words.

“ We have been at this for hours now there is not much else we can do by this point. It's out of our hands now, whether he makes it back or not, will be up to him…… I don't have much hope to be honest, if he were a regular patient, maybe……. But given his condition…. it doesn't give much hope.”

“.......what can we do?” Miyabi hugged Yanagi with left arm as she asked the doctor for something that could be done. 

“Pray…. That is the best advice I can give you…..pray for his safe return.”

“......alright.” Miyabi said quietly with head and ears both facing down. The doctor then excused himself in the room, as he left them to be with him. Miyabi and the rest of Section 6 were left to mourn.

After what seemed like hours, but was more accurately a few minutes the three members of Section 6 reconvene with the rest of the agents outside Belle's room as they were all feeling so many emotions all at once.

Shame for their failure, losing Wise to Hollow Zero was a deep wound that wouldn't heal nor be forgotten.

Anger for the ones who caused this tragedy to occur, Exaltists and their benefactor, Judgement.

Fear for the thought of losing Belle to these monsters so shortly after Wise.

They were, for lack of a better term, terrified. Their enemies had killed one of their proxies, destroyed the only place they had to call home, and utterly embarrassed the agents by having it all done by the hand of one person.

That person.

Judgement.

He was an unknown variable that none of the agents had ever encountered or even heard of. His fighting prowess was unholy, matching 2 Void Hunters, multiple veterans from the fall of the old capital, and dozens of seasoned fighters, all at the same time with little to no effort. During the encounter he had shown his capacity for on the fly thinking by incapacitating and weakening the support units first like Nicole, who had her arms cut up and Astra Yao who had her throat poisoned with a toxic dust that had her on the floor coughing violently.

His next targets were those who were known for their speed and accuracy in a fight, Trigger had her sniper broken and her visor nearly shattered, Anby and 11 were knocked out with repeated explosive charges that launched them into and out of buildings, Harumasa was one of the unluckiest people on that battle field. With a single kunai, his right hand was stabbed all the way through, his bow was broken across his face, and then in a ruthless display, had his windpipe crushed and his entire body flooded with a near lethal amount of ether and Miasma that caused him to start seizing and nearly becoming an ethereal had it not been for Yanagi's quick thinking of immediately jamming an anti-corruption serum in his neck as quickly as she could.

Every movement.

Every block.

Every dodge.

Every counter attack.

Every. 

Single. 

Decision.

It was fluid, thought out like a dance that had been choreographed and practiced hundreds of thousands of times with him as the instructor that knew all the steps before they did and them, the dancers, who had no clue what the hell the next step was.

“ …..Does anyone know who the hell that guy was?” A small cold voice came from the group that stood outside Belle's room. It was Lucy who had her eyes covered by her hair as she looked down, her grip becoming ironclad with rage and hatred. A response came from the two Void Hunters first.

“... He acted and spoke like we knew each other….. Until that moment I had never met him before.” Miyabi held her hand tightly in frustration and contemplation. Yixuan followed up by stating. “ I have lived a long life…. And I have seen things from both a good and bad perspective, I've met many people from different backgrounds all with different goals and different wants and needs…… I have never seen him before until today.”

“ I'm gonna come out and say it…..What we are all thinking….. he was way too fucking good at that.” Billy, who had been completely silent the entire trip back and the entire time they were at the hospital, finally spoke in a voice that seemed way too dead to be him. Zhu Yuan asked in a confused tone. “ What do you mean?”

“ The way he kicked our asses. He knew everything. 

None of us have ever teamed up to this large of an extent outside of Bringer…. He shouldn't have known how we would have acted and reacted…. But he did.

It was like he knew every move we'd make before we made it and he countered with techniques and movements specifically designed for us.

How in the fuck could he have possibly done that for what was very clearly for all of us a first encounter?”

Everyone began to ponder, his fighting style wicked and wild, but above all other things it was strangely enough, very controlled. The control over the chains he swung around was absolute and his timing was so tight that counteractions were basically impossible with any attempt to do so being met with either a slice or an explosive.

He was good.

Too fucking good.

Yixuan followed up by saying. “He knew everything we'd try, but still nonetheless was injured by us.”

Nicole butted in with a vindictive tone. “Like it fucking mattered. I saw the fox nearly cut his head off and he didn't even give a shit.”

They all remembered the moment it happened. Yixuan held him down with the Auric Ink that hardened around, the others all attacked and deflected every counter he threw out. Miyabi with no remorse went to cut his head off and nearly successfully got it off.

However.

His head was still attached by a singular thread of muscle and skin, he dodged last second. He in an instant regenerated the rest of his neck and stared at Miyabi with a bored expression as said with no enthusiasm. “ Did you really believe that would be enough? I've been waiting for you to show me something worth mentioning.”

Tick

He vanished from the ink prison and appeared mere inches from her face and asked in a demonic voice. “Will you show me your resolve? Or will you break like the others?!”

STAB 

She drove the blade through his heart. 

Skrrrrt skrrt

!

He walked towards her, driving the blade even deeper. 

STAB 

SHIK

SHK

Yanagi stabbed him through the head, Harumasa used both of his swords to go through his kidneys, Caesar stabbed through his lungs, Anby and 11 took out his knees from behind, Hugo drove his knives and scythe through his feet and pelvis, Yixuan stabbed him with 17 Auric Ink swords that exploded inside his body with ruthless hate, Alice stabbed his throat and stomach, Manato sliced his ankles apart, and yet…

“....pathetic.”

Tick

He vanished and all the blades inside his body were now just hitting the air where he was and before they could process that he was gone.

SKRRRRR

KRAK

Slashes appeared from nowhere.

The earth shattered and all of them had their bodies lined with cuts and gashes. Miyabi had realized something.

“That sound.”

The memories of earlier today were stopped as they faced her in confusion.

“What sound? All I heard was him laughing at us.” Lucy said in a bitter tone.

Miyabi elaborated. “A subtle sound, I heard it before during my first encounter with him at the video store, a small sound that happens whenever he vanishes and appears in a different location with no possibility of him achieving that distance or movement. It sounded like a clock ticking.”

The others then remembered and soon realized that they heard it too.

“Yeah. Yeah you're right! I thought I was going nuts because I heard it a few times but didn't know where it came from.” Burnice said as she remembered lighting him ablaze and she heard a clock from out of nowhere. He then vanished and appeared next to Lighter and Piper, both of them a good 70 meters away from her. Crossing that distance that quickly with no discernible path was impossible.

Yet he did it.

In an instant.

Yanagi's face went from a dead, empty expression to a surprised expression as she thought.

Is he doing something similar to me?

For Yanagi this was concerning, she could increase her speed and reactions so severely that she essentially slowed time to a crawl. This guy was appearing and disappearing with no tell as to how or why.

Can he?!…..no. 

heh no that's ridiculous!

Must be my tired brain coming up with these dumb conclusions!

“ There's all that strange fixation Section 6, especially for Asaba Harumasa. He was particularly ruthless with him wasn't he.” Seth pointed out as the others remembered that moment.

Mere moments after the attack that launched those who stabbed him away he once again simply vanished and everyone that could fight immediately stood back up, waiting for him to show his face.

Tick

Miyabi heard the tick noise again and this time honed her senses to locate him by ether flow.

!

Behind me!

She spun around with her blade aimed for his neck. She wasn't going to stop until his head was off his shoulders, and put more strength than necessary to make sure he wouldn't survive.

But.

There was a trick.

!

Her blade stopped mere centimeters from the neck of the one behind her, Asaba Harumasa. This was impossible, she knew he was with the others that were injured and that he was getting treatment for his condition which had been acting up. Her hands were shaking, yet again she almost killed him and this time she didn't have time to react to what came next.

Shkt

“AAAAAAHHH!!”

A blade from above had been embedded into her collarbone with ruthless hate.

“Did you think that I'd be that easy to kill?” The hate in his voice was evident.

Tick

Before she could do anything he and Harumasa vanished and appeared too far away to stop him.

KRRRAK 

He with his bare strength had crushed his windpipe. He then took his bow and broke across his face as blood stained his mask, he noticed those rushing him.

Yanagi….

He let go of Harumasa and waited for her to close the gap between them. She with tears in her eyes lunged at him from every angle possible with electricity running wild in a dance of death. He simply blocked the onslaught with the intact part of Harumasa's bow, his presence was that of hardened steel and absolute precision. He felt cold run up from behind him, expecting the fox to be behind him, he threw a handful of small explosives that were immediately launched back at him by an enormous war fan.

Soukaku…

He was blasted by his bombs, losing an arm and a large chunk of his head. Yet again however.

Tick

He vanished and appeared behind Yanagi with all of his previous injuries just gone as if they never happened. He then showed his hand to Yanagi who began to face him, on his finger was a ring. 

No.

Not a ring

A pin.

BOOOOM!

Soukaku and Yanagi were blasted away by an ether grenade. Judgement then faced the fallen archer and with no remorse stabbed him through his hand and then stomped on his chest so hard the floor cracked. His mask then in a terrifying display, opened its mouth showing a dark abyss and from the abyss came a torrent of ether and miasma that poisoned the archer, bringing him to near death in seconds.

Judgment then grabbed his head and slammed it to the floor, Harumasa was in absolute agony as his body showed the crystals associated with corruption. Judgement then went up to his ear and said with such venom and hate that it put every previous display of anger to shame.

“ You are the second highest person I HATE with all my being. The fact that you, of all people, are managing to tie with HER surprises me, yet again what I've done to you right now is a mercy from what you deserve, YOU WORTHLESS INSIGNIFICANT FUCK! Hearing you scream and cry, heh heh you can't IMAGINE how satisfying it is.”

He wrapped his chains around his and launched him into a building with immense strength and then brought him down to the floor, mere inches from him. He then walked up to him and whispered, very quietly.

“ If you survive this…. Just know I'm going to kill everyone and everything you love.

See you later, Asaba Harumasa.”

He then went to handle Yunkui Summit and left him for dead.

Back in the hospital they saw the deputy chief of Section 6 shake with rage and fear for her coworker.

“ I held him in my arms..... His blood was everywhere and.....and..…..why did he feel so small? Was he…..was he always that small? He entered the hollows with us constantly and had been in many fights where he didn't leave unscathed…..why did he feel so fragile in my hands? Was he always that skinny?” Yanagi had tears in her eyes as she tried to stop her hands from their constant shaking.

She thought back to the moment she injected the serum in his neck and desperately prayed for him to live.

As they began to think about what their next move could be, they then all remembered the moment that was burned into their brains. 

The arrival of….that thing.

The Sacrifice Judgement.

The way the man, Judgement, simply just left the battlefield the minute Wise arrived and then they were ambushed just as they were about to make their escape, by one the strongest ethereals that they had ever encountered. It felt as if that was planned as well and when they tried to fight it….they learned the hard way it was pointless.

“ Did anyone manage to…..even leave a dent on that thing?” Caesar asked in a professional voice that masked the unholy amount of hurt in her heart. Nobody said anything, but they all knew the answer to that. 

No

“ We have to do something! Anything! I can't sit here after all of this knowing damn well there's something I can do!” Anton was furious, his arm was broken and despite that he knew he could do something. He knew what these people look like and that he still had some fire left, something could–

“ So you plan to kill yourself.” Miyabi's statement cut the silence like a knife. Anton looked at her enraged and yelled out. “THE HELL?! YOU THINK I'M SO DUMB AND WEAK THAT I'D DIE THAT EASILY?!”

“If you believe that you alone could do something that none of us could do together, then yes you will fail.”

Her logic was sound with her voice despite her injuries, still holding a firm authority. She then continued as she explained. “That thing. It was attacked by all of us and its armor wasn't even scuffed. On top of that, it handled all of us with precision and speed that surpassed my own, its strength was beyond that of any opponent I've ever faced. I could feel my grip loosening against its swings and its shield was able to meet all projectiles with no effort required. And I don't think any of us want to consider losing more people, especially after it…..killed him…… My conclusion is simple……..the best option we have at this moment is defending Belle.” 

Anyone who had that spark of wanting to immediately get vengeance for Wise had their flame extinguished. It was true they were the only ones who were capable of defending her considering the fact that her only home was destroyed and that she by herself was defenseless. They made a promise to defend both of the proxies and they already failed once. Why the hell would they risk their lives avenging one while sacrificing the other? They reached a point of wanting to help but had disregarded their own lives in the process. Which would have gone against everything that the proxies stood for.

Ding

The sound of an elevator arriving on the floor they were on dragged their attention away from their thoughts as they saw some familiar faces. The small family of Sixth Street had arrived and they all looked stressed, their faces riddled with anxiety from the fear of what they feared had already happened. The first to ask was the red oni, General Chop.

He asked in a calm and steady voice that expertly hid his anxiety “Where is Belle and Wise?”

“Y-yeah w-w-we saw what happened to their home and when we didn't see them, we thought…….. are they okay?” Susie, the owner of the little W-Engine store near the metro station, asked with a scared voice. She had known them to frequent her store often and she in turn frequented their video store, so to see it in ruins after nearly dying in Lumina Square with everyone else……..today was long, far too long, and it only seemed to be getting longer.

Zhu Yuan, who was the most experienced at giving hard news to grieving families, stepped up to face the residents, wiping her tears from her face as to maintain her steel face of professionalism. 

“Belle is currently in the room to the right and is receiving treatment as we speak. If you want, we can allow you to visit but I must warn you. The sight is not for the faint of heart and if you need to step out and recompose yourself, no one won't blame or judge you.”

The residents of Sixth Street had the same collective thought.

Belle……please remain strong and fight through this.

Zhu Yuan then continued.

“ I trust that none of you require any medical attention? I was aware that most of you made it to the false safety seminar and that you were ambushed by Exaltists.”

Everyone responded with an either. A variation of “we're ok" or “we'll walk it off”

“Wait, no. Disregard that for a second! Belle is getting treatment for the fire, right? Then why did we see corpses at their home and with signs of an explosion?”

Enzo spoke as he was quite skeptical of that being the only reason they were here. He sorta recognized their clothes from somewhere, but couldn't tell from the dismembered parts what the original outfit was. It took them a while off them just wandering about trying to see what body parts went where for them to ultimately realize what they were.

Exaltists.

There is also something strange about the fire that both him and General Chop noticed at a first glance, there were scorch marks on the ground and the floor had been reduced to gravel. They came to the same conclusion.

Explosion…. They attacked them and more importantly, took them away rather than just killing them then and there. 

Zhu Yuan then clenched her fist as she responded. “Yes. You're right I'm sorry for lying to you. It wasn't a fire, officially that's what the story is, but they were attacked by a group that I'm sure you are familiar with, the Exaltists. As for still unknown reasons to us, they attacked the managers in their own home, kidnapped them into Hollow Zero, and proceeded to God knows what to them. We, along with a small rescue team, were able to retrieve Belle who was unconscious and suffering from both corruption and major injuries.”

Belle….. But not him.  

Why are they refusing to talk about him?

As she spoke she was interrupted by one of the residents who raised their hand, Elfy.

“ I know you must be trying to shield us from the truth of what truly happened to them, but please, I ask you to stop beating around the bush and tell us…….where is Wise and what happened to him?”

Silence.

Nobody said anything.

But the silence said enough to freeze their hearts in ice cold dread.

“Y-you're not saying………no……no! This has to be a bad joke right?!” Susie was the first to ask and had tears leaking down her face. The others then began to have reactions ranging from sadness and despair, to stoicism trying to mask agony.

Zhu Yuan then had tears rolling down her face as she tried and failed to stop them. She then, in as professional a voice as she could muster, faced them and confirmed their fears.

“ As we were escaping from the Hollow Zero we were ambushed by Exaltists and an ethereal that resulted in major injuries…..gasp….. That same ethereal attack and mortality wounded Wise and….. and……. Wise……..he gave his life for us to escape………hch I'm sorry for………I'm sorry…..sob…I'm sorry!”

She fell to her knees sobbing, unable to maintain her steel composure and hardened voice. Nobody there could hold their tears any longer as the dam broke free.

It was a chorus of sorrow, one that finally snuffed out the small hope that had been brewing.

The residents of Sixth Street all felt time cease existing and be replaced by the immovable hand of fate, that hand tightly grasped and crushed their hearts with ease. The youngest of the bunch, Susie simply collapsed to the floor as the light in her eyes vanished and were replaced by tears. She curled up into a ball as she wept, not caring that they were in a hospital. Asha joined her in a strong hold as she too cried in agony at the revelation that one of her oldest friends and neighbors had died. Elfy, despite being an intelligent construct with no organs or body heat, felt her body grow cold and simply held her head down as she placed her hand on Susie's shoulder. 

Enzo held his prosthetic in a tight grip as he removed his glasses, so as to not fog them up or wet them with his tears. He knew them for their willingness to help him out at his repair shop and the three cute bangboo that they periodically brought in for him to look at and modify/interact with. He desperately held back his tears from rolling down his eyes and tried to not shake with rage and sorrow for his now dead friend.

General Chop held his hand against the whimpering head of Howl, who had been completely silent and scared for his friends. General Chop simply held a face of stoicism being the pillar for the others, he having lived much longer than most of them had the unfortunate fate of watching and experiencing the death of his close friends and loved ones. So to him this pain, while familiar, still hurt like no other and sought to both cheer others up along with being the one to keep them up during the worst times.

Howl had their ears down with their usually happy and cheerful demeanor gone from their being. He had seen them come out of their store, greet him for scratch tickets, and then prepare for the day ahead. Seeing the first building that saw everyday just be reduced to rubble and ash, awakened a long dormant fear of losing those he cherished with all his heart. To Howl's side was Tin Master who had his usual demeanor snuffed out and replaced by a sorrow that he didn't even know he could feel. Seeing the siblings come in for coffee and chat with that green haired lady or the blonde in the purple suit then going out into the world, that was always the highlight of his day. Hearing that Wise had died and Belle was hospitalized and that this happened in a span of a day? He wasn't sure if this was real or a joke in bad taste…..now he knew the truth.

The agents felt their souls die even further as they saw the sorrow that they had caused.

They went to console them.

But they were stopped by a horrifying noise.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

Belle……screaming.

4 minutes ago…

A slurry of memories that tried to make sense. 

That was her brain as it tried to remember why it was in such pain, in such agony.

It felt like walking in the dark while the dark constantly forced you back, endless struggles towards a broken path that lead to nowhere.

She then saw something in the dark.

A light.

She then pushed towards the light with all her might as the dark burned her bones and ripped her muscles and skin off with rage….and desperation.

She disregarded the pain and pushed forth with no care for herself; all that mattered was the truth of what happened. She thought it funny how it was always “that” that pushed her forward, the fruitless pursuit towards a truth that would most likely not change anything or even make it worse. 

But by this point, after years of searching, it was all she could do for it was the only thing they had left.

They?

I've been by myself.

Who is them?

She continued to the light as she could faintly hear voices that belonged to somebody she knew, her mother and teacher, Carole Arna.

Mom?

Who are you talking to?

“.......ake care of each oth….”

Take care of each other?

Who else was there?

“.....ove you my children. With……heart and soul. My lovely Belle and W….”

W?

She sliced the darkness apart with her arms, essentially swimming to the light and sounds. She reached out and felt the ground beneath her feet take form as she was finally released from the darkness and saw the people.

Sound’s gone.

Who's that next to me?

She walked to the little boy with grey hair and saw his face, she remembered him.

Wise….

She remembered this conversation…

She remembered the last day with her…

She remembered the accusations…

She remembered the cold and hate…

She remembered his warm love and care…

She remembered moving into their new home…

She remembered their friends…

She remembered their lives…

She remembered today…

She remembered today…

She remembered him…

She remembered his pain…

She remembered his…..

Death.

She remembered.

She screamed.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

She woke violently, screaming her lungs out as the doctors who were tending to her were immediately frightened by the sudden blood-curdling screaming that seemed to be caused by nothing. Belle continued screaming in pain but not from her injuries, no her screaming was caused by her remembering the pain she and brother went through. 

Their home was destroyed.

Their bodies were battered.

Their lives were uprooted.

He lost his life.

She was alone.

Her throat ached as she screamed while her body roared in pain from the earlier events, her brain finally able to process everything that brought her to this moment. As she screamed bloody murder the door to her room was damn nearly blasted off its hinges by the swarm of people who had their faces steeled for battle.

“WHERE?! WHERE ARE THEY?!” Lycaon growled out with a rage bubbling inside of him, he had already lost one master; he was not about to lose another while he still drew breath. The others also asked similar questions while Trigger and Asha raced to Belle's side to both check on her and calm her down from her evident fear.

“BELLE! WHAT'S WRONG! WHO HURT YOU!” Trigger was scared at the prospect of losing Belle so quickly after Wise and she could feel her heart pounding against her ribcage while her lungs desperately took in and let go of air at a rapid pace. Asha, who was currently still distraught by the news of what had happened, shut her suffering out as she told herself that all that mattered was saving and caring for Belle.

“Belle. Look at me and take deep breaths.” Asha held her face so that they would face each other and spoke in a calm and soft voice that attempted to calm the poor girl.

INHALE 

EXHALE 

INHALE 

EXHALE 

INHALE 

EXHALE 

INHALE 

EXHALE 

Belle slowly calmed her breathing as she responded to the chaos that transpired around her. She held Asha's arms as a lifeline while she tried to recompose herself.

“There you go, nice and easy breaths…Belle, why'd you scream?”

“....e's gone…”

She spoke softly, and everyone who entered immediately stopped what they were doing to hear what she was saying.

“What did you say Belle?”

“hch w-wise……w-wise……he's…gone.

I'm…..

Alone.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” 

Hug

Belle roared out in agony, tears flowing out like a broken fountain. She wailed loudly, a sound that broke the hearts of everyone there.

The others didn't even say or ask anything, all of them rushed to hug her and hold her together.

A loving gesture that didn't matter to her.

She was alone.

Truly alone.

Her brother was dead.

Her mother was taken.

Her home was burned to the ground.

She was truly

Alone.

_____________________

Deep inside Hollow Zero 

12:05 a.m.

Sarah stood in annoyance for what had transpired here hours ago. 

“ We failed in such a way that cannot be ignored. You said you had a plan and yet it fell apart within seconds.”

Judgement then faced her and explained to her in a professional voice. “ I had a plan. Keyword: Had. It is not my fault that your soldiers failed where I needed them. Sigh~ Regardless however, I still managed to get something out of this and we are not off schedule, we are simply delayed, and I can still work with that, can you?”

“ Oh? And pray, tell, how exactly are we going to salvage this situation? Last I saw you, you ran away like a coward when the male proxy was brought to the battlefield heavily injured and near dead.”

Judgment dug in his pocket and took out a strange looking crystal. Sarah looked at it for a few minutes before realizing what it was, the Sacrifice core they were looking for.

“You found it?!” 

“ I could have done it by myself but Wise found it easily with no issues. Once my Sacrifice entered the battlefield it was only a matter of finding the H.D.D and seeing where the last location was. After that I merely tracked it down and found it within a matter of minutes.” 

Sarah however then stopped for a moment and stared at him with a narrow gaze. “ That mortal… he placed a lock on the device that would delete all the data and all of its history, if it was ever touched or if he was harmed…. How did you access it after he was injured or more accurately, how did you access it at all?”

This was going too well for them. It didn't make sense. How the hell would he access it? But more importantly, how would the machine still be working?

Judgement then simply told her. 

“ Access to the device was open, whatever locks you spoke of were not in place. All I needed to do was find the coordinates of where he found it, then I simply went there and retrieved it with all of them occupied by my Sacrifice. There was no chance of any of them even thinking about me at the moment.” 

“ That doesn't explain how you got past those locks and security…. What are you hiding from me?” She got in his face and began to stare him down with extreme suspicion. Judgment, not faltering for even a second, glared at her back with an equally aggressive stare.

“ Are you questioning me about my loyalty to this plan? The only reason you insects are still afloat is because of my plans, so if you want to question and remove me from your plans then go ahead! See how well you do without me!”

“Wait….sigh~ I'll admit that….your inclusion in our goals has been unbelievably amazing. You're the reason that we're still on the road to the Creator's grand design and that the location of Final Domain is nearly in our grasp. Fine, I'll overlook this, but pull something like this again and I will be questioning it more than I am now.” Sarah moved back and Judgement, similarly backed off from her face and turned to face the destroyed city and ruined compound. Sarah then asked for the core but he pulled his hand back and asked in a professional tone.

 “ Remember nothing I do comes without a price. I have what you require, did you hold up your end of the bargain?”

 His hazel eyes started glowing, a small subtle threat to her, almost as if he was daring her to try something. Sarah then pulled a small object from her coat's inner pocket, the object was well for lack of better words, not what she expected.

“ You're giving us one of the most important pieces to our goal, something that fundamentally would change the world and tilt the scales permanently in our favor. That is what you are handing me and in return you asked us……………………..for a snow globe?” 

She held a small snow globe in her hand and it was a tad bit larger than a standard snow globe, slight scratches and some corruption were lightly peppered on the glass. The base of the snow globe was a very faded purple with some chips and chunks gone, likely from the age and decay. The snow globe was old and slightly decayed, but other than that it was just a standard snow globe.

“ You wouldn't get why I require that.”

Sarah asked with genuine interest. “No, I can't say I do understand. What's the story behind this thing, what makes this thing so special that you are going to give us that core in exchange for this?”

Judgement looked to the side and said with a small voice. “ It's…..important to me. It belonged to my grandfather. It was the only thing I had left after the fall of the old capital and when I lost it…… all I can think about is getting it back. Somebody as heartless as you couldn't possibly understand the attachment one can have to something so simple and despite knowing what could possibly happen if I give you this….what you have in your hand is more important to me.”

Sarah felt disappointed by the answer and sighed in a slightly let down tone, simply handing him the snow globe and he in return handed her the Sacrifice Core.

“ I would have preferred to have both the cores, but having even one of them is an advantage in itself. Thank you for your support Judgement, and do be ready for when we find the Final Domain. Your assistance will be required and I wouldn't exactly want you out and about without our supervision.” She said with a smug smile plastered on her face and turned to face her exit, a fissure with two powerful Exaltist soldiers guarding it. She walked away and was halfway through the fissure when she turned to face him and said in a professional tone. 

“ In approximately 1 month, our great Overseer is going to proceed with her plan to find the Final Domain. When I receive the results I expect you to be ready.”

“Always.”

Sarah, satisfied by the response, finally walked through the fissure, followed closely by her guards.

.

.

.

.

Idiot, you can't even see what I'm doing even when I'm right in front of you.

Judgement stared at the snow globe for a few moments then looked up to the city with a bored look.

.

.

.

.

“ ………..Report Argus.” 

From out of nowhere came a figure one, that seemed to kneel before him. It was a middle-aged man with fairly dark skin, standing at a frightening 6’7, he was wearing a black business suit with a white undershirt, he had reddish-black hair which was fairly long with a soft looking texture and that was done into a ponytail with enough hair to slightly cover his eyes, his eyes were greenish-red with no wrinkles or eyebags, just stare of a professional. His hands were gloved with simple crimson gloves with a strange symbol carved into the glove, his shoes were a simple black, stainless and perfectly maintained with equally dark laces. On his side was a longsword that was sheathed but ready to be used, emanating a strange etheric presence as if it was alive and waiting.

He, still kneeling, responded with a professional voice. “ We found it. It was right where you said it would be and from our observations it is still in perfect condition and waiting. With your command I will lead you back.”

“ Where is Lyla? She was to be guarded by you and you and I both know she cannot defend herself anymore.”

“ She is behind me. She will only take a few more moments to arrive, sire.”

Judgement then walked to him and stated with a scolding tone. “ Your job was to guard her. I do not care if she is behind you or not, you do not lose sight of her for any reason at any point. Do you understand me, Argus?”

“ Yes, sire, forgive me for my complete negligence of your commands.”

“ I expect it will not happen again.”

“ You have my word sire.”

From a fissure came a woman who had an annoyed look on her face.

“ Nice to see that you met up with him and left me for dead, you jackass!”

Lyla was a relatively tall woman, 6 '5 and with a beautiful face that seemed that of any actress. She had long black hair that was done in a braid that reached to her waist, her eyes were red with green pupils with a beauty mark under her left eye, she looked to be in her early thirties and still had a gorgeous hourglass figure that had a generously large chest and waist. She was clothed in what seemed to be a modified soldier uniform, its color was black with red accents on the wrists and collar, the arms and legs had been armored with special bracers that were, like Argus’ gloves, marked with a strange symbol that was carved in all of them. Her waist was wrapped in a ripped long skirt that was black with a purple inside, her left hand was gloved in a modified glove that was white with slight blue accents. Her pants had a holster for a knife and two on each leg for her pistols, she had a collapsible shield wrapped around her left arm and a mask on her right hip.

“ Lyla, can you confirm that you indeed found it?”

Lyla calmed down with a deep breath and said with absolute certainty. “ Yeah it's real all right. Exactly where you said it would be and strangely enough intact, that seemed a bit strange to me since from what you told us you expected it to be in pieces.”

Judgement walked to her and lightly tapped Argus’ shoulder, causing him to rise to his feet and stand at the ready. “ Exactly like Argus said… I want you to lead me to it. I need to confirm for myself.”

“‘As you wish sire'”

They then led Judgement through one fissure after another, plunging deeper and deeper into Hollow Zero. When they reached the final fissure, they came face to face with the most corrupted part of the hollow they had ever seen. Gardens of crystals and ether, taller than skyscrapers and more vast than any canyon. Ethereals stood in the fields of crystals all of them completely still, statues frozen in time that still were alive. 

At the center of the field was the core, the heart from where all of the corruption and crystals came from. The crystals were a deep blue and glowing dimly in a slow rhythmic pattern. 

Judgement started walking towards the core and simply placed his head against the center, closing his eyes as he did.

He then began to say something but it was far too faint for either of his allies to understand what he said. They didn't care, however, they trusted their leader with everything they had, so whatever he did, whatever the point of this was; they didn't need to know all they knew was that he would lead them to their goal.

Judgement then finished and returned to his allies and pulled the snow globe out from his cloak.

Argus spoke out first. “ Not that I don't trust you sire, but you surrendered such a valuable artifact for..….this? Forgive me if I'm being too forward, but doesn't that seem extremely idiotic?”

Lyla joined in with her also asking.

 “ Yeah, I have to agree with him. I mean a fucking Sacrifice core…..and you gave it up for a snow globe? Is there something special about it or is it a weapon, what about it is so special that you gave up a core for it?”

Judgement then began to chuckle lightly.

“Heh heh heh heh If even you two can't see it then it means it works perfectly.”

Both held a surprised look on their faces as Judgement continued.

“ Ether, it's a very delicate, yet extremely unstable resource. It manipulates and alters space, time, and the very fabric of reality, it can even alter matter down to the subatomic level. Why do you think normal weaponry doesn't work on ethereals? If you're lucky, it just phases through it, if you're unlucky the ethereal will use whatever you try to attack it with and incorporate into its body. I spent many years of my life wondering, if ether could do all of that then what could you accomplish if you could command ether?” He took the globe and held it out for them to see.

“ I mean the hollows could do it, that wall is fake, the floor beneath you, it's merely thin air and everything is around could be just nothing more than a lie……and you wouldn't know that until it was too late. And so I began to study its properties and how I myself can alter that which alters our reality. It took years and cost me hundreds of thousands of attempts to perfect it, but eventually I learned a skill, one that I only show you now for you are my most trusted.”

Snow Globe then began to….melt? It was as if the solid image they were seeing had been melted into a thick purple ink that seemed to be glitching in and out of existence.

“ Both you and Sarah are seemingly unaware of one of the most basic rules of magic.”

They saw his display of absolute command over ether, it was like watching an artist paint existence onto the blank canvas that was the very air they breathed. They were for lack of a better word, completely speechless.

“ If I'm flaunting something shiny right in front of your face, it's because there's something I don't want you to see. Neither you nor her seemed to realize that and that cost her dearly, then again, why would she question something that was so obviously real that questioning it would make you seem like a madman. Yet with nothing more than a flick of my wrist that certain reality simply melts down into ink and reveals its true form.”

The ether that was the snow globe had reconvened into a small point that landed in his hand.

THUMP

THUMP

THUMP

It was never a snow globe.

It was a heart.

“ Sire… is that what I think it is?”

Judgement held the heart in his hand and absolute joy in his eyes said with a smile.

“The Miasmic Heart. 

My Miasmic Heart.

I spent the entire decades without it, and now it's finally in my hands once more.”

CRUSH

He crushed the heart in his hand, causing it to become tendrils of ether and miasma that shot into his chest and coiled deep inside of his chest where his heart should have been. He took a deep breath, the first real deep breath. He had taken it with his heart beating in his chest once more.

You tried so hard to take my heart away heh Hehehe….. how does it feel knowing that your attempts, your efforts, your sacrifices were fruitless. You couldn't stop me even if you tried, traitor.

Lyla said with a warm smile and a voice that slinked into his head. “So what now?”

“ Awaken the others, they must be ready to test him, to prepare him for what comes next. You will then wait for my orders. The minute I get what I require….. Begin Operation: Scorched Earth.”

“‘ It shall be done Sire.’”

They took off to awaken the others like instructed as Judgement stared into the sky and began to laugh. 

I really do hope you believe in something more than your false god.

Because believe me, Sarah.

You and your people are not ready for what comes next.

End of Chapter 1