Shin Minako, The finale of the Dichotomy trilogy Rating Options

[MorriganAensland]

FFFFFFFFFFF.

If that's the case I'll have some minor editing to do. I'll have to check it, though.

And no, math even works on Elder Gods. You forget our minds are wired to recalculate non-Euclidean geometry as Euclidean geometry, so the whole "looking at it drives you mad" doesn't even work in real life. Your mind uses math to MAKE it work.

[Asher Omega]

which is true. because a triangle on a sphere its angles add up to 180 degrees PLUS! which is Non-Euclidean Math. time to do the whole Elder god Shuffle.

[LinneaKou]

First off, you probably can't see my smirk, but I'm smirking. I started smirking when I read the word "Avatars".

Oddly enough, they are rather similar to my version. *shifty eyes* This Eastern mythology is really coming in handy (I pulled Avatars from Hindu mysticism).

Second - you claim there is no longer fate... yet everyone's getting drawn together. I'd call that either a hell of a coincidence, or predestined. (Just for the record, I don't believe in coincidences.)

I'm surprised that Hokuko managed to keep her rational human mindset when she transformed (aHA! Another character to add to the sketchdump!). Usually upon encountering demons reverting to their natural state, one has to be very careful because they no longer need to act like a mere mortal. (Not that I'm an expert...)

So for a bunch of beings who exist outside the battle between good and evil (and in between darkness and light) how are those dratted Prisms going to help? And furthermore, how was our sword-wielding assailant killed?

All in all, I really really liked this chapter! Yay for Horoki! She used my greatest weakness (math) to save herself! That takes something. I don't know what it is, but it does.

[MorriganAensland]

Okay, answer time.

Yes, there is no longer fate. But crazy-ass coincidences DO happen in real life anyways, or at least I think so sometimes. It's not such much that everything is predestined according to a master plan, it's that if destiny existed, the future is immutable and alters present-day events so that future is achieved. On the other hand, the future is now determined by the sum of the events in the past. Besides, I needed some way of having Giselle follow Hokuko and that was the simplest way. Any other means would have been just as contrived.

The need for the Hallowed Prisms come fro the fact that they have a leg up over the Profound Shine. Minako's powers are acting weird (not being able to kill Dario, for instance), and if they used Hallowed Prisms against her, it would be even worse. So it's not really a case of the Prisms helping the Hakkeshu, it's them making Minako have that much more trouble to survive.

Hokuko also really doesn't have to worry about being crazy or murderous in her demon form either. She doesn't like changing into it because her body itself changes like losing her sexual characteristics and the large hair, plus it means losing whatever clohes and shoes whe was wearing at the time. Plus, even if Yuki-Onna were indeed murderous, Hokuko still has the mind and soul of a human being so that issue is moot. And lastly, come on. This is me we're talking about. Nearly all the demons in the story so far that weren't just grunted out by the Shiko were fairly upstanding people.

Oh, and Arys, the assailant from the first chapter who came back, was actually killed in a rather basic way. Horoki kicked her backwards, she crashed into Hokuko, and the laws of thermodynamics took care of the rest when Arys's body heat was ripped clean out of her.

[MorriganAensland]

The light

“From one hospital to another,” I muttered as I drank another cup of coffee. It was not even that late into the afternoon and I was already getting stretched too thin by all the craziness going on.

Akane, my sister, and I were all sitting on one side of the table as we stared at the Brazilian girl as she repeatedly went over her story as to how she found us. It sounded crazy, at for a while I wondered if this could really be taken at face value. Giselle Vega-Stroheim looked normal enough; simply a teenage girl with a short, tomboyish haircut.

It... was kinda odd she was carrying around a kendama though, and I really couldn't help but wonder if this was going to turn out to be some very bizarre means of getting attacked again. I already ended up facing a guy in a loincloth, for god's sake. But at least Arys and Dario were dead... maybe things could get back to normal again.

“So why are you here in Japan in the first place then?”

“Winter visit,” Giselle answered as she looked at all of us with a bit of annoyance. “L++ has programs for that, after all. Now look, I'm sorry if I've done something to offend you, but in case you didn't notice, I saved your friend's life. As for other stuff,” she shrugged, “I'd rather not say here. But... I... well, I know about you.” Giselle had seemed to react when she found out my name. Whatever the reason why, I wanted to know.

“And yet you're not willing to tell us how you became familiar with us,” Akane countered. “It can't be that big of a problem, can it?”

“Well, still,” Giselle responded as she focused on the girl with glasses. “You guys have been attacked by two hostiles already... and there could be other people watching.”

“We're more than capable of defending ourselves,” Akane answered. “In a straight up fight we've yet to be defeated. But if someone were to maneuver close then-”

“Fine, then,” Giselle looked like she was going to throw her hands up in frustration. She sure sounded like it anyways. “Don't blame me if someone's listening and things go straight to hell, okay?”
_
The jewel

With the identity of the sneezer unveiled, I wasn't that worried about my little gift box anymore. Inside of it was the Yasakani Magatama, and it was the real deal. With the simple words “Change Yasakani” I was in a violet dress with red streaks which all traveled to my back to form the image of a Tengu. Granted, I would have not done any of this if Mr. Rajoshin was at the shrine, but I was alone and could afford to confirm my suspicions.

Mizuki was still off in New York, and there was no contact from her still. I worried if she was okay, but Mizuki was a big girl and she'd be fine. In the meantime, crazy stuff on top of crazy stuff was unfolding here, and I didn't like it one bit. I'm sure Minako and everyone else didn't either...

Plus, someone had gone out there and attacked Minako twice now, nearly killed Horoki and Akane, and had forced Hokuko to use her demonic powers. We didn't know anything about what was going on and it was really getting on my nerves. After leaving a note on the fridge for Mizuki's grandfather, I headed out to the hospital they were currently all at, magatama in tow. With any luck things could be straightened out soon enou-

“ACHOOO!!!!”

“You know,” I spat as I looked further out to see the man we now knew to be Susanoo leaning against a tree. He was at the absolute edge of the Shrine's property, no doubt waiting for me and glad to see I was in the know about him. “A few introductions would have made things much easier for everyone.”

“Probably,” the god said as he fell in step with me. “But as you can tell, things haven't exactly been normal for us and they probably won't be for a while. My sister especially.”

“Amaterasu?”

The blonde nodded. “Something happened to her... recently. Prior to a few days ago, she was on the frontlines and taking on entire armies single-handedly. A ruler can't expect to have followers if they can't lead, after all.”

“... What could do something like that? Did she ever-”

“I know what you're going to ask,” Susanoo cut me off. “And no, we haven't a clue. Whatever happened, it was something very subtle and she's not talking. Amaterasu's locked herself up in a personal little sanctum.”

“Wouldn't that cause blackouts like in mythology? This has happened before, correct...” I looked at the storm god and narrowed my gaze.

Susanoo realized almost instantly what I was getting at as he tried to clear his throat. Living under the same roof as Mizuki certainly did help getting my points across without having M--'s fashion club at my beck and call anymore. “First of all,” his voice faltered a bit before he recollected himself. “Thats a story dating back thousands of years. Take its events with a grain of salt and remember we were children back then... kids can do stupid, horrible stuff. Just... moving on...

We talked, and he began to fill me in on details on the other side of the planet. Susanoo had been a busy man, fighting battles, uncovering information, and helping ends meet with the sudden departure of Amaterasu from the military effort. The Separatist's sudden interest in Minako did little to make things easier for us as well, and some really powerful woman with the title Tsuki no Kaguya was going to attack on the fifth during the full moon.

… That was, unless Mizuki and a bunch of people I had never heard of before dealt with something that was sounding more and more like a carefully-laid plot.

Crazy stuff was happening. I didn't like it one bit. But for the moment, all we could really do was figure out why now of all times this was happening.

“... Are you familiar with the leader of the Separatists?”

“Unfortunately, nobody is, Asuka,” Susanoo sighed. “Name, identity, even their abilities are unknown to us. A veil of secrecy surrounds them, enough that I doubt many people on their own side even know who they are. Nevertheless, they have a tremendous ability to persuade and play off of certain people's desires that Destiny should be reimposed.”

“You think they need Minako for it? She was the key last time.”

Susanoo grit his teeth slightly, only to succumb again to another disgusting sneezing fit. Guess not all of that was an act. The god still got through it eventually, muttering about needing more tissues before trying to answer me. “It's highly likely. Her diminishing power is also a tremendous problem, and we need to find the cause.”

“Wait. Hold on, you guys... even you don't know why that's happening?!?”

“You sound surprised.” We stopped at a curb, waiting for the signal so we could walk. “Jun, Amaterasu... well, so many of us had everything predetermined for us, including what we would learn, by destiny. Nothing like this has happened before and we're not familiar with how it's going to play out. And I wish I could stay here to make sure Minako's safe, but there's unfortunately battles to be won and plenty of arrogant gods hungry to show I'm just a sniveling coward with a bow.”

“Cause any epidemics in the past?”

“No. And that's not funny.”

“Sure it isn't.”
_
The true

“Coffee?”

“No, but thank you,” Mizuki said as we, Anser, Kerrigan, and Tsukuyomi loitered outside of a small coffee shop outside of a quaint little town. The only thing of value in the entire area was a certain hospital that, nine months ago, Midori Ai had paid a visit to when she “died”. Transit was taken care of by Tsukuyomi, making out lives so much easier.

“It's late, Mizuki,” Kerrigan said as she started walking towards down the street, barely waiting before pressing on, “You need to keep up your strength.”

She checked her watch and shrugged. “Please. I'm a student at M--. I've handled late nighters before. This just more of the same.”

“Fair enough.” Kerrigan paused before continuing. “We'll try to get you home before your parents realize you're missing, okay?” She kept on walking, intent on getting the job done.

In spite of ending up looking like an odd group, we all just stuck together on our trip further into the town. If this Tsuki no Kaguya was there, showing up too close would have tipped her off, or at least run a greater risk of doing so. We also had no idea what we'd be running into a little bit of prep time to size up our surroundings wasn't going to hurt at all.

This town was very quiet, with most of the shops closed up, no cars on the streets, and shining streetlights drowning out the view of the stars in the sky. The moon was a bit luckier and was nearing a Full Moon status. Unfortunately, that was what Kaguya wanted, which would further whatever plan her leader had in mind.

“You're worried about Kerrigan and Mizuki, aren't you Mom?” Anser asked as he walked next to me. Bringing my son along wasn't exactly the smartest idea, I had to admit, but I'd rather have him here than leave him in New York City or back home. Things were getting messed up enough as it was and I wasn't going to risk messing things up more when just keeping him in sight could help avert that crisis. Besides, Anser was a good kid and if things got rough he could get out of trouble.

I had to confess, there was a bit of a nagging feeling in the back of my mind. I quietly told my son that and he didn't seem to mind that much before responding.

“Don't let it eat at you. I mean, there is some distance between the two... but they aren't petty.”

“Of course they're not.” That went without saying. Mizuki was a woman who had sown seeds that let Anser and Keston and so many others decide life for their won. And Kerrigan had stepped in and taken control of the restructured Hachi Satsu after the battles against Midori Ai. “But-”

“The gap between them isn't made form animosity,” Anser continued. “I think they got all of that out of their system before. I think it's just... I don't know... maybe they just are focusing so much on the task at hand that they don't want to fraternize. Or maybe it's something entirely different.”

I chuckled before we dashed across a street. Ahead of us, Tsukuyomi was putting on an extra burst of speed before coming to a dead stop. We all quickly followed suit, and for a moment we all just stood there in the middle of the night.

I... couldn't believe it.

“You guys... didn't see anyone here at all during the run here, did you?” I tried to keep calm, but some times, you just end up facing something so heinously disturbing you forget that you're a grown woman who used to kill people for a living. Nobody looked at me, the sight was disturbing enough that we had to keep looking at it, if only to keep ourselves from denying the fact that we were dealing with a monster of tremendous proportions.

Bones were strewn all through the street in front of us, each type painstakingly placed with similar ones. One hundred and twenty piles, one for each bone in a human body, served as the barrier between us and the hospital... and on the steps of said hospital rested a young woman with flowing white hair and similarly-colored robes as she paid us no mind.

She stirred and then sat up, and we all found ourselves looking into blank, bleach-white eyes as she smiled.

“Jeez. You guys sure took your time getting here. I was afraid that the whole deal with Iginia Gnone would pull you here faster but...” She sounded arrogant enough as the ground outside of the reach of the lampposts began to darken tremendously. I glanced up to see the moon become pitch-black, and almost as if on cue Tsukuyomi started to look anxious. “I had to pass the time somehow... so I thought it might be nice to kill everyone here.”

“You what?!?” Mizuki snapped as she stepped forward. “You... you just-”

“Oh, hush,” the woman in white scolded as she stood up and gave an arrogant bow to us all. “The name is Kaguya of the Moon, known in Japanese as Tsuki no Kaguya. I am the Hakkeshu of all that is of the lunar persuasion, in service to the Separatists movement against those that would deny their Destiny. And this...” she snapped her fingers as the air to her left flickered for a moment before a gigantic claymore suddenly appeared. “This is my weapon. It's what I used to kill this quaint little local's population with. Got me some cheap laughs too as they kept going about their business... not even bothering to scream or call for the police.

“I was hoping arranging for one broken and demoralized author to obtain powers via the Prisms and make a big fuss down south would get you here sooner. Of course you dragged your feet and I had to kill time... and humans,” Kaguya stifled a laugh, “I eventually ran out of people... so I took a page from medical textbook, literally.” She smiled before spreading her hands out before her. “In the time it took you to get ready for this, I examined every skeleton and picked them apart. It was quite fun, honestly.”

“I wasn't aware a Hakkeshu member,” Tsukuyomi said as he stepped towards her, “Would be this callous when it came to human life.”

“Pfft,” Kaguya blew air upwards, slightly catching her hair before continuing on with an annoyed tone. “Please, it was boring. I had to wait here all this time and I'm entitled to at least a little freedom before things get underway again.” Kaguya yawned. “Oh well, time to get to business.”

“You're too confident your plans are going to go off without a hitch,” Kerrigan snapped back.

“Perhaps. You're all going to die in the end, though.”

On cue, the piles of bone stirred and before we all knew it, thin streams of water had been blasted straight at us. My mind recalled fighting a certain water-themed individual in a hospital nine months ago and I was really starting to wonder whey we kept getting dragged back to those places.

I couldn't tell what everyone else was doing, but I had scooped up Anser and dove to the sides, the streams of fluid cutting through the ground and a few buildings with ridiculous ease as Kaguya came charging. Kerrigan was right... she was confident. But she was also prepared. The groupings of bones had been stirred, revealing large containers of water hidden in the center of them...

So she had set a trap for us.

…

“She's going after Tsukuyomi first, Anser,” I said as I called forth my weapon and then made a dash for our goal in the meantime, my son keeping up with me. “And unfortunately, we can't afford to be dragged down if the situation's just as bad as it seems.”

There were a number of shouts behind us, but neither of us payed any attention as we bolted through the doors and slammed them shut behind us.

Anser and I slowly caught our breaths away from any windows, and my son quietly spoke.

“She's right though. Whatever these people have been planning, they could very easily have the jump on us. I mean... this whole scheme seems so confusing... she deliberately gave Iginia Gnone the power of the Prisms just to lure us here and-”

“Well, think about it. If we got all of you here... and then killed you... it would make our lives a whole lot easier, wouldn't it? What's that one concept... that the simplest answer is always the best?”

I looked up and suddenly realized how very, very badly we were all in over our heads as I looked at the figure dressed in black standing in the hallway. “Be invoked... Tartarus.” In her hand, a golden spear appeared, with a magnificent shine made all the greater due to the dull color of her blonde hair.

…

Standing up I just sighed. “Anser... looks like you're going to have to subscribe to the 'run and hide' part of the plan.”

“B-but it's-”

“Your mother's right, Anser,” the woman said as she adjusted the grip of her spear. “I'm not here for anything other than burying the past along with a few familiar faces.”

Anser just stood there for a moment before closing his eyes and running off, leaving me with even more questions than I had before. I just stared at the blonde woman and she back at me before I finally broke the silence.

“... Why are you doing this, Shot?”
_
The preceding

It was, plain and simple, a nightmare out there, with Kaguya's tremendous overriding strength and speed. There was no time for strategy or shouting out to each other. We were struggling together, each and every one of us as Kaguya manipulated the water and at the same time handling that massive blade with such practiced ease.

Tsukuyomi was at the greatest disadvantage, his abilities seeming so weak without the moon receiving the strength of the Sun. And in spite of that, the Lunar Emperor would not back down as he released still-dazzling streams of light that forced Kaguya to redirect her water to refract away from her.

As for Mizuki and I, we were both quite glad that the Dai Makai was considered peerless in terms of defensive power. She fought differently than I did, simply trying to get the drop on Kaguya somehow and beat the crap out of her as dozens of fists, wrecking balls, and masses of Dai Makai without any kind of determined shape clashed in the city with Kaguya's water. On the other hand, I was trying to figure some angle of attack out, at the same time talking with Iris and formulating and revising plans.

A burst of light shot over my shoulders just as the Hakkeshu of the Moon cut a giant Dai Makai fist to nothing, the white-haired woman barely realizing the danger in time and raising her defenses. She was blasted backwards, although she caught and recovered ridiculously quickly.

“Maybe you should count your blessings,” Tsukuyomi called out behind me, “If we hadn't dragged our feet here, you couldn't have blocked as much sunlight from reaching the moon... and that attack would have killed you.”

The god had a point, and it seemed Kaguya was getting frustrated at all of us. Things weren't going as well as she had planned, and for a brief second her face twitched in anger. She had talked a big game, but she was alone and we were familiar enough with fighting to-

“I will overcome.”

The light of the moon returned immediately, and Tsukuyomi was halfways through delivering a rather acidic insult to Kaguya's intelligence before he just stopped. I could see a black mist slowly flow from the broadsword and my mouth went dry.

Kerrigan... Iris slowly said, D-don't tell me that she's-

If she is, things are going to get ugly, very, very fast. And in that case, Iris... I need you to do something very, very important.

I was right. Hundreds of beams of light coursed around us, Kaguya deliberately putting on a little light show for us and at the same time leveling more than half of the town in an instant before we were all just... annihilated. There was no amazing gloating by Kaguya, no dramatic shouts from each of us.

We were... just wiped out. As simple as that.
_
The true

Cocytus and Shot's new weapon, Tartarus, tore through the hospital as neither of us gave the other an inch. I... I just couldn't believe it. What was Shot doing here, working with that kind of murderer?!?

“You won't beat me,” Ichiban told me in a perfect deadpan as she feinted a stab and threw me off balance, giving her the opening to try to grab at my sunglasses. “And if you can't see-”

“DON'T TRY THAT!” I snapped, swinging my leg up and knocking Shot's hand away. “... Shot, seriously! What's happened to you?”

My attack caused her to back away, and Shot held her wrist with her other hand as she tried to take a more defense-oriented posture.

“What happened to me?” she asked as she bowed her head down. “... I found something I had been looking for ever since I met Kei Kimatura. It... has caused me to rethink about a lot of things in this world. I got some help too.” She raised her right hand, and again emblazoned on it was black writing, this time the Japanese character for “Sympathize.”

“So you're being controlled.”

“I've had the truth of the nature of the world shown to me,” Shot corrected. “There's quite a large difference between those two things. I have a lot to thank her for.”

“Her?” I repeated. As tempting as it was to knock some sense into Shot and get this over with, Ichiban was in a talking mood and I wasn't going to risk losing a chance of making some sense of this madness.

“Yeah,” Shot nodded. “Her name is Yui. Mio Yui. She's a good person, and she's helped me a lot.... ever since I left. It's thanks to her that I'm starting to correct mistakes that I've made... plus others that we should have fixed long ago.”

“Us?”

She nodded. “I can see where she's coming from... she's the one leading the Separatists. She's going to make the world a better place. You and everyone I know just happen to be in the way.”

“That's crazytalk, Shot.”

“Oh really?” she responded. “Is it right to let someone live a lie and take someone's power for their own? To be free to use it however they wish, with... without any kind of force keeping them in check?”

“What?”

Shot lunged at me, striking down with her spear. She certainly was becoming more passionate in defending her beliefs now that we were both getting back to the fight. “That's what's going on, Saori! And if we keep doing nothing, tragedy after tragedy is going to unfold! The Hallowed Prisms was just an instance of what will happen if Destiny isn't reimposed! In fact...”

A harsh blow caught me in the side and I crashed through a reception desk, but I got out of the way before Shot could follow up with a mortal blow.

“You... you shouldn't even be alive, you know that? You surviving when your friend went crazy is an aberration from what-”

My right fist planted itself in Shot's face again as I knocked her away.

“Don't... don't remind me of that, Shot. Not in that way.”

My voice was neutral. If I put any emotion into it, then I'd go off the deep end. For her to.. for her to talk like Usagi like that.

“You seem to be having horrible luck when it comes to friends, to tell you the truth,” Shot continued on, rubbing her cheek in annoyance. “That nutjob Sekishiki... and then your friend Eri last year...

“And now me. Doesn't it make you... angry, Saori?”

Shot...

“Doesn't it make you furious on some level that you have such horrible luck with making friends with people that decide to screw you over in so many ways? I mean, look at you right now. You're not even bothering to try to reach out to me. You're so dead to the concept of making peace with me you're just skipping straight to fighting for your life. Heartfelt pleadings for reason are beyond you, Saori Ichimonji. You've done a lot to help out this world, killing Midori Ai... but Destiny has to be reimposed. And you have to pay for your crimes.”

I shook my head once.

“No. We're not doing that. Not at all.”

“Stop being selfish, Saori. What good can come from you living on this world?”

Gritting my teeth, I pointed at her. “Two things. First of all... I am going to beat the crap out of you and figure out what's gotten in your head.”

“Nothing, I assure you.”

“Fine then. We'll just jump to the next one then. Anser... and Keston.”

“K-Keston?!?”

That got her surprised.

“Yeah. Keston. Remember him. He was your Devil. And he's Anser's brother.” Reminding Shot of her Incubus ward was really getting to her, which was a good sign for me. If she was off-balance, I could end this without killing her, if I was lucky. “He'd be heartbroken if he found out what you've become... and that would break Anser's heart too... to see his big brother devastate when his Tower decided to start doing stupid things.

“And besides...” I shot Shot a lethal glare. “Anser is my son. And I will not let someone tear me away from him simply due to 'Destiny'!”

“And that's why, Shot.” I took off running straight at her. “That's why I'm going to drag every answer I can out of you! That's why I'm going to fight against you ideas about Destiny!”

[LinneaKou]

JUST FOR THE RECORD, I never really liked Shot as much as I liked Saori (and Mizuki, Minako, and Asuka. I can't make up my mind). BUT SERIOUSLY. This is the religulous psychobabble that usually makes me kind of ...annoyed. If she spouts any more crap, I might need to send a really scary Avatar of my own after her... and no, it won't be Alice.

*insert scary chuckling here*

AND ladies and gentlemen, this is why Lii mustn't get started on a story in the middle of the class sign-up rush. DO YOU SEE HOW LONG IT TOOK ME TO FINISH THIS? Although I just slammed my hand into a car door, and I think I got the punishment I deserved. *nurses hand*

MOAR PLZ. *scuddles off to read Travels*

[MorriganAensland]

The maiden

It... felt like every part of my body had been entirely annihilated by that flash of light. That... testament to Kaguya's power to “surpass”. That force transcended anything I'd experienced before, and behind it was an overwhelming desire to crush each and every one of us.

I... I couldn't beat it. My own, flawed... pathetic Dai Makai could not hope to ever match Kaguya's power as the Hakkeshu of the Moon. The Great Sea of Evil couldn't protect me or anyone else... and.. and then she'd just go and do the same to Mina-

Yes. Minako would die. We'd all die against this force. I couldn't protect anyone, and now I was left alone with my own pessimistic thoughts to keep me company as I died.

Get up.

A familiar, almost loathing woman's voice snapped at me. It wasn't Kaguya or Kerrigan's. It still brought back memories. I'd been such similar situations before, completely humiliated and on the verge of death. That voice reminded me of the first time I had ever truly, truly grappled with the idea of defeat.

You didn't let yourself lose when you fought me. You thought you had died and you still didn't let yourself lose. You got up and fought to save two girls you absolutely hated. Get up, Mizuki Rajoshin!

Iris's voice was so critically of me, opting to shame rather than encourage me. I found myself using my Dai Makai just to do the work my crippled muscles couldn't and grit my teeth.

You... you're inside of my head.

Remnant Psyches can possess people quite easily, as long as one of two stipulations is met: in the general case, anyone can be possessed but the spirit can be expelled at any time by even the slightest desire of it to be so. And the other one... is that if the possessed ever met the deceased when they were living... they can possess them at will and cannot be exorcised unless the Psyche itself wills it. Iris spared no time forcing my eyes open and forcing my body to push itself out of piles of rubble. My Dai Makai alone made this possible.

This was Kerrigan's idea, Iris continued as I saw Tsukuyomi sprawled out on the ground in front of me. He was bleeding badly, unconscious, and was only giving shallow breaths. I'd have to get him medical attention soon, somehow. And we need to save her.

My head jolted upright, seeing Kaguya, that woman in white, standing above the elder Tiam sister. Kerrigan was pinned to the ground, with all but her bare essentials removed and in a nice neat pile next to her as Kaguya delicately marked incision points with one hand while looking at a book in her other.

“-And woman who's suffered so much skeletal damage,” Kaguya rambled on to the unanswering Kerrigan, “Will no doubt be interesting to take a look at on the inside. I mean-”

“YOU LEAVE MY SISTER ALONE!”

The voice that rang out was mine, but the words weren't as my body acted entirely on its own, sprinting at Kaguya. A slender black pole appeared in my hand as I simply bore witness to Iris's desperate attempt to save her sister. Screaming out and getting Kaguya's attention, however, didn't really help and the Hakkeshu looked up at us for a minute before letting her claymore descend to take away Kerrigan's life. Iris's internal dialogue with me was descending to sheer panic when we both realized we simply weren't going to get there in time.

CALM DOWN! I snapped, frustrated at a great many things right now and deciding to vent at the cause of all these accursed frustrations. If we can't get there in time then-

“MAKAI...!” This time it was my will that made that word echo. “JOINT SALUTE!”

We were on public territory. Kerrigan had come with me. The laws that limited the Dai Makai's manifestation points were non-existent as Tiam's body instantly was covered in an opaque black film and dozens of fists launched upwards at the surprised Kaguya. One caught the claymore with practiced ease and another grasped her hand. Nowhere to run.

… It's been over two years since you made Dai Makai appear on anything other than the person you've possessed, I scolded as I opened up a can of abuse on Tsuki no Kaguya, You forget you're possessing another Candidate all of a sudden, Iris Tiam?

There was a flash of light as my Great Sea of Evil withered away, but I didn't care as a few low-key hands did their job and pulled Kerrigan away. Kaguya was free just in time to raise her sword up and cut through my staff in our exchange, but the two halves quickly reconstituted themselves as modest-sized short swords that stopped the white-haired woman's follow-up attack and we found ourselves in a deadlock.

… And did you forget that unlike you, my Dai Makai can form sharp edges? Did you, Mizuki Rajoshin?

This is why Kerrigan wanted you to possess me, wasn't it? I asked as we clashed blades again. My Dai Makai ones quickly shattered, but the shards made an effective weapon all the same and dragged themselves into Kaguya's right arm. There wasn't any blood from the attack, but it did give her pause a bit.

“... How... how did you get back on your feet?!?” Kaguya snarled as even more black mist flowed from the sword. In some twist, that only caused it to glow brighter and Kaguya tried to distance herself a little from me. I knew what was coming, and so did Iris.

There was another bright flash, but if my enemy just kept trying to use the same tactics, she'd be dead sooner than I had planned.

“... The power of the Dai Makai, that's how,” I responded. With a vague gesture, Kaguya was covered in sheets and sheets of darkness, drowning out her light effortlessly. A black bow and arrow materialized in my hands, and just as the woman was freeing herself from my prison, she had another problem to worry about.

The arrow was split in two by Kaguya as she sidestepped the attack, coming at me again with blinding speed.

“The Dai Makai?!?” Kaguya repeated. “Your miserable imitations of the Great Sea of Evil wielded by Matei Jun?!?”

“A composite Dai Makai!” I corrected as a black cable tugged me away from Kaguya's swing. “The flaws of the Evil Seas of the First and Twelfth Candidates being counterbalanced by the strengths of the other's! Leading to an Evil Sea that is a perfect stand in...” I fired another arrow at Kaguya as Iris took care of the talking. “Leading to the union of the spiritual and the material, each advancing the other's abilities!”

… I recalled once claiming myself to be the person that would do what Matei Jun couldn't: destroy predestination. One with such a goal needed a title that reflected this desire to succeed where another had failed. Now... with this admittedly temporary perfect Dai Makai, if I hadn't been the Usurper Empress before... now the title was entirely one I deserved.

Kaguya snarled as she destroyed the second arrow, droplets of water suddenly condensing together into thin streams. “What do you hope to accomplish with all these futile attacks?!?” More Dai Makai was cut away into nothing as I ran at my enemy, preferring to not let her have the opportunity to focus on Kerrigan or Tsukuyomi. “I keep cutting your attacks down without effor-”

Kaguya's speech was cut off as she was almost completely crushed by a giant fist grabbing her from behind, trapping all but her head.

“You can cut it down, but completely destroy the Dai Makai?” I shook my head once. “We're talking about the ultimate defensive force in existence... just 'striking it down' doesn't mean it can't reconstitute itself.” True, its offensive limitations were becoming abundantly clear as Kaguya released another burst of light and charged at me again, but there was always more Dai Makai to work with.

Claymore blade swung down again, only to meet the opposition of a jet-black scarf that bound the entire weapon and tore it from Kaguya's grasp with a very forceful tug. Kaguya didn't lose focus in spite of that development, tripping me and swinging a foot down to crush my head. More Dai Makai hands caught the attack, letting me knock her away just as Kaguya released another burst of light at where I had been moments before. The attack still missed, but it did give her the opening to flee back to her sword and ready it again.

As we tried to recover at a distance, Iris and I could easily see that Kaguya was growing frustrated as she adjusted the grip of her sword again.

“Damn you... I made a vow and I have in me the power to overcome all that stands in my way!”

“To 'overcome', right?” I clenched my fists, “Well... in that case I think you're not going to get anywhere at all, even with all your phenomenal powers. By all means, trounce me. I mean, really trounce me. Completely and utterly surpass the power of the Dai Makai in every conceivable way.

“Even then, you still won't beat me. I have an impregnable defense, one that will resist and outmaneuver your every attack. I'll protect Kerrigan and Tsukuyomi, and I will get to the bottom of this ridiculously convoluted scheme you have going.”

To prove my point, I focused my attention on one of the streams of water before catching it in a large Dai Makai sphere, neutralizing the thread immediately and letting me throw it over my shoulder. One threat in this fight down.

Kaguya leered at me. “Your time's over and done with, Mizuki Rajoshin. What you've accomplished will be undone by the time of the next full moon!”

What I'd done? What did she mean by that?

Forget about it, Iris advised. She can't beat our combined Evil Sea physically... psychological warfare could end up becoming her focus. Our chief concern should just be stalling until we get an opening.

She was right. I'd just have to stick it out and keep going until Saori came back. Until then... well, the Dai Makai would do what it was best at and keep me alive.
_
The child

My nerves were starting to get the better of me as I stayed hidden in that supply closet. I couldn't understand why all of this was happening, but there wasn't much I could do in this crisis. More than anything, I had to stay alive or else Saori wouldn't be a Tower anymore.

… That's right, but we still have to act.

I blinked and looked around. There wasn't anyone else in my current hiding place, and I was going to chalk it up to stress before the voice spoke again.

I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this. Things have been painful for me and they're probably going to get even worse now. But as much as I want to deny it, I'm needed.

“W-ho are you?”

I'm a Remnant Psyche, just like that dead Candidate.

“Are you a ghost that haunts here? I mean, that Kaguya lady killed a bunch of people and-”

The voice gave a sad laugh before continuing. You aren't too familiar with them, are you? It's okay if you're not. It probably makes my existence easier.

I crossed my fingers. There was a small part of me telling me this voice belonged to someone I shouldn't associate with. I decided to play it safe. “Do you have a name?”

Consider this a one time thing... after this I promise you will never hear from me ever again. All I need... is for you to let me possess you.
_
The true

Shot's new spear ripped through an entire workstation as I dove underneath it, swinging my legs forward and connecting with her gut. The fight had gone nowhere, Shot being driven by some kind of power different from what I was used to. She had made no indication of being another Tower of the Devil, and the greater part of her strength had come from that Darkness that had supposedly been the other half of the Hallowed Prisms.

Oddly, her mark to “Surpass” was gone again, something I was grateful for. It was bad enough how I was stuck fighting someone who was familiar with my style, but there was also the other fact that was eating at me too.

I had killed Usagi by shooting her in the head after my well-intentioned offer to be a surrogate mother set her hopes up too high. Fighting for Anser's sake led to me confronting Eri multiple times, costing me my eyesight if it weren't for my sunglasses, and in the end I had killed her too with the axe I used to this date.

Things just kept conspiring for me to kill people my own age I happened to befriend.

My internal musings cost me badly as Shot swung Tartarus around, tripping me before plunging the golden weapon at my head. I reflexively tried to kick it away and got the timing wrong; the blade piercing through the center of my foot before I forced Shot away from me and tried to get back up. Putting weight on my left side was... not a pleasant experience, and I quickly tried to figure out ways of compensating for the sudden loss in mobility.

In the meantime, Shot was picking herself up without difficulty and leveling her spear at me. “Saori... in all honesty I wished you and the others would have stayed out of all this. It's not our fight anymore, and standing against Mio will do nothing but negate all the victories we fought so hard for nine months ago.”

“And yet you still use them,” I scolded. “Your friend Kaguya brought us here, in case you haven't noticed, deliberately supplying someone with a Prism. Hypocrisy shouldn't become you... not when you have that mark on your hand. How about seeing where we're coming from.”

Shot closed her eyes. “I don't work for Kerrigan Tiam anymore. The Hachi Satsu's been restructured anyways... it has no need for a woman to trick poor dupes at Interpol to look the other way. After Midori Ai took away Kei Kimatura's dying gift to me nine months ago... I had to find my own place in the world.”

“And you've found it by actively trying to kill me while Mizuki Rajoshin, Tsukuyomi, and Kerrigan fight outdoors against a Hakkeshu. Don't act like this, Shot.”

The blonde narrowed her gaze as she charged.

“Would you kill Anser?!?” I snapped. “Kill him and Keston and then just ignore it all?” I swung Cocytus horizontally, gray-silver opposing gold even as Shot abandoned the weapon and strike me in my injured foot. It wasn't as painful as the beating Midori gave me nine months ago, but even as a Tower of the Devil, I still had human limits and my leg strained to keep me up. All but throwing myself on Shot, I used my good foot as an axis and threw Shot away. “Even if the Hachi Satsu did lie to the world, pretend to be assassins when we were the ones who killed assassins, what you and I and all the agents there had was genuine!”

“Like what?” Shot snarled as she resumed her offense. Her focus shifted more and more to my left foot, causing my to slide into a stance where my right side faced Shot. It wasn't exactly fantastic for using a cross between an axe and a cleaver when handicapped, but it would at least minimize my disadvantage.

Tartarus split in two, the bottom half serving as an intimidating metal stake as Shot tried her hardest to finally shut me up. That kind of anxious desire to finish a fight quickly could end in tragedy for the would-be killer, at least robbing her of a bit of focus and making it easier for me to parry everything I could.

“Loyal subordinates, for one! People who stuck by you even when the truth about us was exposed to the world!” I was getting pushed back and knew a wall was coming up soon. When we got to it, I'd probably be in even worse straits, and I knew I had to start turning this around fast. “And everyone else we fought alongside, both in the name of protecting the world from madmen and ridding it of the Hallowed Prisms!”

I misjudged an angle of attack and my right arm got scraped badly, Cocytus falling as Shot moved in for the kill.

“How can anything... ANYTHING good come from something like that?!?”

Now or never.

My left foot crashed into Cocytus, the silver already encasing it in a large metallic casing and then swinging it up. A blade going from the bottom of the knee to the top of my foot nicked Shot's chin. Realizing she'd been cut all too quickly, I could see her look down at my new means of attack.

“... Ichi... Judecca...” I spaced the words out so that Ichiban could have the time to comprehend them She almost chuckled from the irony before I continued. “We did our job and we saved lives. And Shot, even if so much of our little organization was vilified by PR, the ideals behind it were genuine.”

My one-time friend sighed as her spear's two parts rejoined together again.

“I've got ideals just as strong now too.” She held her right hand up to me again.

“That's more seeming like a cheap way of making you side with someone. Rationalizing is a disgusting habit of ours.” It really was. Spending two whole years juggling two equally exhausting personalities around with the flimsiest of justifications can give you a lot of insight on human nature, in retrospect. “Well,” I said as I shifted my left leg forward. Cocytus would keep the pain from getting out of hand and my job required me to know CQC anyways. “If you're going to be stupid like this, I'm just going to have to take hand off and see how you feel once you're separated from your little driving force to 'sympathize'.”

… “You... wouldn't...”

I could tell I had said proverbially shot my other foot as the dark lines began to quickly spread out across more and more of Shot's body, followed by a berserk scream and a mad dash towards me. I almost marveled at the similarities to the automatic defense system of the Prisms.

… Things kept coming back to that. It was getting annoying.

Tartarus tried moving in for the kill again, my left leg doing the hard work of keeping me alive as I planted a fist in Shot's face, knocking her away again. I'd get to the bottom of this. By god I would.
_
The maiden

Black globs of pure evil and magnificent white light dueled constantly against each other around Kaguya and I as continued our stalemate. Things were proving nearly impossible for either of us to get anywhere. Kaguya almost seemed amused by that as her massive sword crashed through a fire hydrant.

Great. Just what I needed, more water being manipulated into cutting blades.

I didn't know exactly how Kaguya was doing it, probably something involving some symbolism relating to the tides changing in according to the moon. But it was getting annoying on top of all her Dai Makai dispelling techniques. Sure, I could make more of it whenever I wanted, but the principle of the thing still ate at me, even this the combined powers of Iris and myself.

She's just trying to attack us psychologically, just like you said, Iris said as I dove to the side, whacking away Kaguya's claymore with an equally massive wrecking ball. It did little to slow down the Hakkeshu as she continued the assault with brilliant flashes of light that tore through noticeable parts of my my defenses with ease and only a chance stumble moved me out of the way of a burst of water I hadn't noticed. And more than anything else, right now we need a better plan than just “wait for an opening.”

What do you suggest? I asked before sorting through and taking care of more of the watery attacks. I was met with silence, and just chalked it up to the dead Candidate trying to think up something and-

“GOT YOU!”

Kaguya roared in victory as I realized she was right on top of me, bringing her hefty broadsword down at me. The Dai Makai still guided my movements away from the danger, but Kaguya knew something was wrong as she looked at me from the side.

“... Heh... heh heh...” Her sword shimmered for a moment in the moonlight before things began to grow even brighter. “I... I can't believe it. One of you realized how hopeless things are for you.”

“I don't follow,” I snarled before jumping back and evading a horizontal swing of the sword before exploiting the weapon's recovery time to go on the offensive. Kaguya took the blow to the face full-force, being knocked away while descending into maddened laughter. She landed gracefully back on her feet, looking back up in the sky again and chuckling.

“... Do you know why I let the moon regain its light prior to killing your-”

“You didn't kill them.”

“Killing your associates?” Kaguya put a tremendous emphasis on those words before looking down at her sword and smiling. “Well, do you?”

“You have a twisted sense when it comes to art, I wouldn't put it past you.”

Tsuki no Kaguya didn't like my condescending tone before she lunged at me again.

“... Do you always have to give a smart answer back?!?” Her attacks came at such ridiculous speed, but even with Iris not offering me any advice I still could pull my own weight.

“Makai...” darkness made itself manifest in my hands as I formed a large black scarf, quickly binding Kaguya's hands with part of it before looping another section around her throat. “Veil!” While keeping a tight grip, I slammed another Dai Makai fist into her back, choking the Hakkeshu as she struggled with it before ridding herself of the problem with more light.

“USELESS!” The woman in white spun around, kicking me in the side and sending me crashing into the side of a building. The force of the blow or the impact could have easily killed me, the combined power should have done it outright. But reflexes and training still let me create more and more Dai Makai to save my life for the umpteenth time that night.

My enemy paid no heed as she continued speaking.

“Anyways...” Kaguya began anew, “I can sense it in you... or more precisely... not anymore.” She pointed at me. “Your friend, the one that brought out the full strength of the Dai Makai... she's left you. For one reason or another, she's gone.

“AND WITH TSUKUYOMI OUT O F THE PICTURE...” the moonlight grew even brighter, almost to the point of daybreak, “I CAN DO THIS!”

Her sword shone brightly, my eyes foolishly not closing themselves fast enough before everything went black.

Oh... crap...

“WITH JUST THE EYES OF THE LIVING... YOU'RE DEAD, MIZUKI RAJOSHIN!”

Kaguya was losing her composure fast, but that wasn't going to do me any good
if I was going to die. And by the looks of it, that was becoming a very probable possibility.
It was too bright, and momentary blindness had the potential to bring about the end of me. With just hearing, I couldn't locate Kaguya well enough, not with that maddened screaming. Even with the Dai Makai instinctively guiding my actions, she could dispel all of it in with enough of her power, if only for a fraction of a second.

And at that point my life would be forfeit.

What are you talking about? The plan of waiting for an opening wasn't working, so I made one.

The urge to chuckle at Iris's ingenuity was quickly suppressed. I could hear laughter and rapid footsteps coming at me and I knew it was now or never.

“Makai... Willows.”

It was just like before. I tuned out the world before just focusing on my Great Sea of Evil, with thin, nearly undetectable lines all filling my surroundings, getting a perfect fix on an unsuspecting Kaguya's location.

“TIME TO DIE!”

“LIKE HELL, KAGUYA!” I bent out of the way of her swing, Dai Makai grabbing her wrists and putting everything the had into crushing them before tripping her with one foot and smashing her head into the ground with the other before I noticed a slight flicker of light. I was not going to keep doing this charade if my eyes were going back to normal, and had hundreds of Dai Makai hands crash into the object. The sound of metal clanging was a nice sound to hear as I sprang backwards.

I'm not sure if I understand what you're about to-

Just follow my lead, Iris.

My hands slammed into the ground. “MAKAI...” There was a brief cry of terror from Kaguya. “KILL THE HOPE!”
_
The true

An entire wall came falling down after getting one too many slashes through the drywall, neither Shot or I giving an inch as we made a regular mess of everything.

“You're throwing away what we fought for!” Shot howled as her weapon raised up again. Her grip had faltered a bit, because I had been making good on my promise of taking her arm off. A quintet of lacerations were plain to see across her forearm, and I considered it a miracle Shot still had all her fingers.

Tragically, she'd been giving just as good as she had received. My clothes were hanging on by threads in a few areas and Shot had landed blows in a number of non-critical areas on my arms and upper right-thigh.

“And same to you!” I shot back. This was going to be it. I wasn't going to keep trying to not kill her. This would end it, once and for-

A small, white jewel flew out of nowhere, clattering to the ground between us. Its pure, unearthly beauty stood out all the easier amidst the rubble around us. It almost reminded me of a Hallowed Prism.

Whatever. I couldn't afford to get distracted when-

“... Oh... oh god no... no... no please... don't... don't remind me of that time! NOT THEN! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T KEEP REMINDING OF THAT! I... DAMMIT MIO! MIO WHAT DID YOU-”

The mere sight of it had reduced Shot to a quivering wreck on her hands and knees, clawing at her right hand and pouring on a waterworks that had probably only been rivaled by myself when at rock bottom.

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME, MIO?!? WHY DID YOU-KEI WOULD-”

The ensuing babble became more and more delusional, Tartarus shriveling up into nothingness as Shot devolved into a sobbing wreck. Out of concern and confusion, I turned in the direction of the crystal's origin...

Seeing Anser there. Looking at me and as utterly confused by this as I was.

[LinneaKou]

As I said before, cliffhanger = good! Write for me when I start bugging Yen+ to publish my stuff!!

Second, I always knew Mizuki was win. I just had it reaffirmed. You make epic characters, I applaud!

[MorriganAensland]

The flawed

“Mio Yui? And you're sure that's not an alias?”

I shook my head. If she had shown me her face, any name she gave would probably be true as well.

My right hand, bandaged as much as it was, still twitched every time my thoughts returned to focus on Mio. I couldn't believe how stupid I'd been, how horridly I had sold out every ideal I had held close in the past as I sat on the floor in the dilapidated hospital where Saori and I had been fighting to the death so brief a time ago.

Kerrigan and Tsukuyomi were horribly wounded, Saori, Iris, and Mizuki having salvaged what materials they could from the building to stabilize them. I had confidence that they'd succeed; Saori had been a field agent in the Hachi Satsu for more than a year... you don't learn how to kill people with efficiency without picking up a thing or two about keeping them alive.

This left me, in my depressed state, in the care of Anser. The most recent turn of events, involving him somehow ending up in the possession of a Hallowed Prism, confused us equally. All I could do was answer what questions I was able to, and we'd deal with the rest when the time came.

“I met her... not long after our battle against Midori Ai,” I told the boy. Hindsight can be a cruel thing, and the memories of that meeting, and so many things afterwards, were eating at me more and more as I talked. But at the same time, I was taking steps that would actively harm that woman and that would give me at least some closure. “She knew Kei Kimatura.”

“Kei?” Anser repeated her name before sighing and leaning up against the wall next to me. “It seems the more and more we do these crazy things, the more her name comes up.”

Sad but true. The girl I had met one day at a coffee shop, someone who seemed so... honest and noble... had more to her than any of us had known. How else could she have marked me with the power of the Gou Kurosou, causing me to “surpass” Saori by inadvertently limiting her? “I wish I could be more help when it comes to her, but I can't. I only met her the one time... and then she let herself get killed in that accident.”

“Right in front of you, no less.”

That was not something I wanted to discuss in any further detail, but it was admittedly true.

It didn't take long for Anser to change the subject. “How much of that... was you talking and how much of it was the Gou Kurosou?”

“Don't know,” I sighed. “I mean, it's like I could see where Mio was coming from and agreed with her but at the same time whatever idea that came to mind that contradicted what she said would just be silenced and exposed for the weak excuse it was. Or at least that I thought it was.” I sighed again. I'd be losing a lot of sleep over all of this, and no matter what, I'd still raised a weapon against Saori and Anser and stood idly by while Kaguya had nearly killed my former boss.

“This plan of hers is stupid,” Anser announced. I looked at him in confusion and the boy continued on. “It's... I don't know... it's complicated to a ridiculous degree. Having Kaguya and you come here and provide Iginia Gnone with a Hallowed Prism just to lure us all to come... why not just attack us right away or something?”

“I wish I could give you an answer.” I really, really did. “This just seems one pointless gambit, and there aren't even any Hallowed Prisms here anymore. We disposed of every last one of them right away save for Gnone's. Well, that and wherever you found yours.”

“No idea on that,” the incubus told me. “It was like I had just... blacked out. The next time I knew where I was, you were on the ground, screaming and crying and stabbing your hand over and over again.” My fingers twitched once in painful memories of that action as Anser went on. “There... was a Remnant Psyche though. She said that she'd help.”

“There's a ghost here?” I asked. That was funny... Kaguya and I hadn't noticed any spirits earlier. It was still a lucky break without a doubt... one of the doctors or nurses here familiar with the jewels must have hidden some away or something.

The boy nodded. “She only talked to me that one time. She probably is just glad it's all over now.”

… Yeah. Me too.
_
The true

Yawning can be contagious. All it takes is one person and then everyone else in the room can end up getting the urge to do it. In my case, I didn't realize how late it was until Mizuki finally gave way to that impulse, and I followed soon afterwards.

My son was keeping Shot company, leaving us to treat our own injuries and those of Kerrigan and Tsukuyomi in one of the most intact patient rooms. We'd get medical pick-up in a few hours, and until then we'd just have to do what we could.

“Your parents are going to kill you, aren't they?” I asked Mizuki after sorting through the worst of my yawn. “I have to apologize for this, seeing as how Kerrigan can't right now.” I offered her a cup of coffee from a thermos, but she turned it down.

“They'll yell at me and be upset,” she scoffed, all of a sudden deciding to take me up on my offer and taking the cup. After one sip she grimaced. “Yuck.”

“Haven't had enough of it at M--?”

“No,” the miko told me. “And I don't see much of an incentive.” Reaching up, she untied her headband and held it in her hand. For a moment I could make out a thin, fleshy scar hiding under her bangs and found myself wondering where she would have gotten something like that. “We've been getting duped. And Minako's probably in danger.”

“You didn't find the remains of that Kaguya woman, did you?”

She shook her head. “A shattered sword, but minimal blood. That Hakkeshu's still out there. And she may very well go after Minako now.” She wiped the sweat from her forehead before refastening the personal effect and looking at me. “... At least she knows, now.”

“It really took you that long to contact her?”

I could make out a slight movement of Mizuki's jaws, possibly gritting her teeth. “Stuff's... conspiring against us. You know that, I know that. I don't want to sound paranoid, but I honestly do think someone was trying to keep us from contacting each other. Be it technical issues or whatever... our opponents are very cunning and it's pissing me off.”

“... And the fact that you finally got in touch is eating at you even more, isn't it?” I asked. The miko nodded. “We can only do so much here. I'll arrange for transport to Japan right away.”

“Isn't your job-”

“Interpol can wait,” I told her. “Crazy stuff's happened in the past, and with Kerrigan in the kind of shape she is, they'll wait. Plus... Shot's back. She can lend a hand.”

“You sure she's on the level?”

“Absolutely.” There was no doubt in my mind about that. You weren't there nine months ago; she might have been in charge of a puppet task force, but her leadership qualities were real. “Questions about why she's come back are minor compared to the fact she's competent enough to fill in for Kerrigan. She's not a match for her level of strategy, but she's straightforward and she's wouldn't steer us wrong.”

“And her current mental status?”

I could feel myself lose a bit of strength as Mizuki asked that. “I'm not as crazy as I once was. Shot and everyone helped me out, first making sure I didn't lose any more ground to insanity, and then help pull me out of it.

“She can do the same. I know she can do the same.”

Mizuki nodded. “Alright then.” She started towards the door. “If you'll excuse me, I'd like to stretch my legs.”

“Okay. If you're tired, just let me know. I'll let you take a rest. You had a hard fight earlier.”

“Same to you as well,” she responded. “But again, I'll be fine.”
_
The knight

I was almost glad that Anser wasn't with me. I was in a sour mood and was afraid I'd take it out on one of my comrades from Point Rubi... and that would probably get me Arcane Frame-cleaning duties for weeks on end. But that being said-

“MEMBERS OF THE DEMON EMPIRE!”

I still couldn't help but smile as I sat in a spectator seat, next to Fudoh. The Oni had his nose all but buried in his ever-present book of Frame designs, but I could notice him peeking out more than usual as we sat amidst the other test handlers for the Frames that had been used at my home for the past nine months.

“I AM PROUD TO PRESENT, THE NEWEST IN DEFENSE FOR OUR PROUD DEFENDERS!”

The tone of the announcer, some horned fellow I presumed had never actually set foot in a battlefield, was meant to drum up anticipation for a lot of people. The Algol was just one of the many Arcane Frames that would be getting showcased here, and after that it would be back to practice matches to test the Algol Mk. II. That was the case of escalation in a war, but for now, I could still be proud.

Even if I wasn't out there in the grassy field, showcasing the Algol in a mock battle, it would still be worth it. A bit further off from there was a barracks, where no doubt the best of the best would show off the Frames they had spent so many days training in, bringing out their full capabilities. Yes, I had not fought in a single battle and I had not killed anyone save for that goddamn Sebastian, but in my own way I had contributed. Design flaws in the Algol, areas to improve upon, even better weight allocation of the plates had been discovered thanks to the efforts of everyone on the project, myself included.

“... How long is that guy going to keep droning on?” Fudoh asked before turning the page again in his book.

“Who knows,” I answered back. “But hey, he's drumming up interest in all the Frames. That counts for something, right?”

“True,” the Oni responded before looking at me. “But I could very easily be discussing with higher-ranking officers about the Farz. And where is Captain Sido, anyways?”

“Probably doing just that.” Most likely that was the case. Fudoh's own plans for a Frame, called the Farz, had been very much a hobby for him. Granted, one everyone at Point Rubi knew about if they so much as talked with him once, but it wasn't until a few trial skirmishes turned out with positive data for it that he started getting encouragement from Atha and the other officers at the base... at which point Fudoh Zanki threw himself into the project even more furiously than ever.

We were amidst a crowed of the Rubi testers, all of us looking on as Frame after Frame was exhibited. I was getting anxious as we neared the official unveiling of the Algol to the actual combat-soldiers. A high-temperature polymer cable and a razor sharp blade attached to the right gauntlet were built into on the armor, and then the HoL runes engraved enabled the Frame to be capable of storing inside of it more than twice its wearer's mass. And when the best of Rubi's testers stepped out into the light, in those red-hued suits of armor, nobody cheered louder or happier than those that had aimed to make this day a reality.
_
The mock battles were not that exciting for me in and of themselves. I'd seen the Algol in action plenty of times, wearing one myself in numerous drills. But people were pretty impressed at its performance and I couldn't help but smile a bit all the same.

Fudoh's book snapped shut as he suddenly put all his attention on the men and woman standing before the bleachers. The Oni seemed confused as he leaned forward to the Point Rubi trainers in front of us and asking a few things. They all shook their head, fast at first before gradually slowing down. Their faces grew grave even as the light in the sky seemed to darken a bit, small shadows appearing above us.

“Keston... please... please tell me I'm wrong about all of this. Right now.” He tried to stand up before pausing, possibly afraid that whatever peace we had would slip away the instant he did so. “That boy...” he vaguely waved his hand towards a certain young man that looked about our age on the field, wearing a brownish Frame, one of the ones that had been tested at Point Rubi, “... Have you ever seen him before? Think hard about this... please.”

…

…

There was... no way. I slowly nodded. I didn't like where this was going and I was starting to scare me quite a lot. “He's supposed to be dead, right? Atha and I did the deed, and then his remains were treated so he wouldn't revive like liches normally do.”

“Then we have someone who styled himself after him. Which can only mean-”

He was cut off as a multitude of flowers came into view, falling from the heavens. As if waiting for a sign, the teenager's Frame burst apart, revealing a very black-heavy outfit along with a sword that seemed more a bent and mangled scrap of metal on a hilt. In spite of its awkward design, its effectiveness was proven immediately as it cleaved through more than five demons as they looked at him in utter confusion. The previously relaxing atmosphere did a complete 180 as the more experienced and powerful individuals present took this threat quite seriously.

There was a flicker of light high above, followed by more beams that streamed down, following the paths of...

The feathers.

Hundreds of people were snuffed out in an instant, each ray using the feathers as relay points, traveling from one to another and cutting holes through anyone unfortunate enough to be in its path.

We dove towards the ground. A girl maybe a year or two older than me, someone at Point Rubi I had maybe even engaged in idle chatting with, got winged by one in the shoulder and for a second she almost looked glad. Better an arm than her life.

That happiness vanished as she suddenly screamed in pain, just one of dozens after the initial attack as Fudoh and I watched her body brighten up into nothing, starting at the point of injury and then travel up the rest of her body. I was right there... close enough to try to hold her hand and close enough to see her head go... first the left side and then the right as she screamed. There was no blood, making the scene all the more horrifying for me as every trace of her body was snuffed out in an instant.

“DAMMIT!” Fudoh snarled as he suddenly threw himself up. It was pure suicide and he was still doing it. “To harm non-combatants like this... who the hell-”

And then suddenly we saw... her.. or... him...

I wasn't really sure. Floating high in the air, with a set of eight pure white wings with cyan blue tips, was an angel. It was the first time I had ever seen one in my entire life, but I had heard stories about them, or at least rumors. The figure there, almost looking down at us all with disinterest, was the source of those horrid feathers. The angel's long brown hair hung down from both sides to its shoulders, perfectly straight and with a part at the absolute top of its head.

“... Carist, that's enough,” the angel spoke. The pitch... it was so maddeningly perfect... I couldn't decide if it was male or female. The young man killing the demons below stopped after pulling his unorthodox blade out of the body of an elemental no older than him and looked up and nodded. “We can't have them all die... then nobody will be around to relay my message.”

Message?

“Pathetic servants of the Demon Empress!” the angel spoke again, its voice louder and yet still at a perfect pitch between that of a man's and a woman's. It put tremendous emphasis on the first word, and I could see its wings twitch ever so slightly as more feathers began raining down around it. “You are no doubt aware of me by my name... the name you have feared for good reason all these many months!

“My name is Nagask Nadesico.”

The name reverberated in my mind. Nagask... a neutral and yet bloodthirsty party in the war... preaching the idea of “do as you please” and at the same time shirking any responsibility for the actions that those ideals brought upon. Someone who, above all else, hated getting judged.

“During this war... a war you are responsible for in... you and all those that deemed it necessary to escape from the bounds of Destiny have brought nothing...” Nagask's voice broke off for a moment as the angel's head bowed down. “Nothing but pain to this world. I've let you stand by for a long enough time... but recent events have finally shown me the truth.”

“Not if I kill you here.”

Nagask's attention shifted back to Fudoh as we all realized the Oni had somehow procured a longbow and a quiver of arrows -I immediately wondered how close to completion the Farz really was and if it uses HoL runes-, one of them already notched and pointing straight at Nagask. Carist looked at Fudoh is pure fury, Nagask barely even noticing him.

“You dare raise a hand against Nagask?!?” Carist snapped as he primed to attack.

Fudoh didn't take his focus off Nagask for an instant as he addressed Carist. “I am a soldier of the Demon Empire. I will uphold my duty and defend the Empire in the event of any attack on its ground!” It was surprising to see Fudoh make this kind of declaration and before Nagask could come up with some kind of detached response, the arrow was launched-

… Only to be blocked by a tremendous stalagmite as it burst from the ground. Before I could tell what was going on, something slammed into me from behind, launching me forward and crashing into Fudoh. We barreled down the stairs painfully before coming to a rest right in front of... Carist.

The man that looked so much like Sebastian lowered his blade right down in front of us.

“You...” he snarled, “You would dare attack Nagask?!?”

“I made myself clear about why, didn't I?” Fudoh snapped. Carist's eyes flashed with anger, but another voice called out to him.

“Now now, Carist. You won't get anywhere in life if you keep losing yourself to your anger. That's not how Nagask does it... right?” Unlike Nagask's, this voice was clearly female, and I could very gradually see a figure step into view from just over the horizon.

She looked about as old as Nagask, wearing a beautiful dress one shade of green darker than her hair. She then looked up in the sky and smiled. “Of course, Nagask's also using an alias.”

“That's correct.”

A third voice rang out behind me. My blood ran cold as I tried to untangle myself from the mess with Fudoh, but Carist was looking at me, just waiting for me to give him an excuse to kill us both. I couldn't even look backwards to try to prove what I didn't want to be true.

“And if you would have used your original name Ten no Seito, I could have found you sooner.”

I could almost feel the tears well up in my eyes as I continually thought of the implications. No. No. Please... just be someone else! Don't sound like her! Don't look like her! Just-

“Boo hoo, Keston. Feeling sad? You should be.”

A swift kick sent Fudoh and I hurtling apart from each other, also giving me the perfect angle to see those four standing together. Carist, the now-descending Nagask, the green-haired woman...

And Atha. The officer from Point Rubi was carrying herself differently from before, looking at the woman and Nagask as if they were all long-standing friends and she smiled. She just bowed down her head and smiled.

“I've been waiting to catch wind of you, Seito,” she said with a smirk before looking up at the other woman. “As well as you, Izu. It's been too long. And there's so few of us left...”

“I'm sorry for dragging my heels,” Izu sighed before she hugged Atha. What was... what was going on here?!? “Kaguya failed in killing Mizuki and the others. This is setting back out plan a bit, but Mio's assigned her to clean up the job with Minako too. If she was here, then all the remaining Hakkeshu would be here and accounted for. Yama no Izu...” she motioned to herself, “Ten no Sei-”

Nagask glared at her for a minute, causing the woman to fall silent. “Do not throw that name around so easily. I'm doing this to establish that, yes, I will help Mio Yui. But use the name I have used for the past twenty-seven months, Nagask Nadesico.”

“Very well then,” Izu responded without missing a beat. “Ten no Nagask,” she put additional emphasis on that. “And then Chi no Shal.”

… Chal? Then-

Atha bowed her head down and chuckled. “I guess the cat's out of the bag then...” turning tback to everyone still alive, transfixed in horror, she spoke loudly and proudly.

“Members of the Demon Empire... I have lied to you for the time that you have known me! My name is not Atha Sido, but Shal! I am Chi no Shal... The Hakkeshu of the Earth!”

I wasn't sure if there was something in the air, but my throat was growing itchy, tightening and robbing me of the ability to breath. Atha looked at me again before stifling a twisted laugh.

Atha, Chal, turned back to the others. “... And this boy here-”

“Carist,” Nagask clarified. “He's a human... but he's smarter than most.”

“Very much so,”Carist added. “I follow the orders of Nagask, and I make the world a better place.”

“So nothing more than a puppet,” Atha's tone was more condescending than I could have possibly imagined as she leaned towards the boy and chuckled. “You must enjoy killing demons, don't you?”

“Indeed I do,” Carist said. “I'm surprised you didn't get in on the act sooner.”

My former teacher... the person that had hand-selected me to help out with testing the Algol patted him on his head. “I needed to find Seito.” She put heavy emphasis on the last word, looking back up at Nagask, “I needed to discuss with him a few things. Of course, since it was Nagask that was preaching his ideals, it was difficult.”

“And so you figured that if you joined up with the very creatures Nagask hates more than even humans, you'd one day meet once again?” Izu offered. “I'm sure you've done plenty of actions to undermine the Empire as well.”

“You know it, Izu.”

With every moment that passed, I was starting to see the Hakkeshu of the Earth as something different than what I had grown to respect for the past nine months. It was becoming quite clear to me that Atha Sido, the captain at Point Rubi, was long gone. There was only Chi no Shal... and you could not find a more blatant traitor than her.

“I can proudly say, Nagask,” Shal looked up at the angel and smiled, “I've wanted to find you again at long last. I mean...” I could see the ground around Shal slowly shifting, minor specks of dirt going towards her hands.

“Do you remember what happened to the others, Seito?” she snapped. “Do you remember what you did to them?”

Nagask's gaze narrowed, and after that the Hakkeshu of the Heavens responded. “Are you still upset about that, Shal? I would have thought it beneath you.”

The air around the three Hakkeshu and Carist suddenly seemed to become very, very cold as Shal began to softly chuckle, the laughter growing and growing as the ground around her began to crack open.

“Beneath me? BENEATH ME?!? SEITO, YOU'RE THE ONE ACTING LIKE YOU'RE ABOVE IT ALL! DIE!”

She moved forward the dust forming a lengthy spear as she lunged straight at Nagask. Carist moved quickly to try to block it, but Shal was already ready for that, kicking a medium-sized rock into the boy's head before taking it clean off with the spear. Nagask and Izu both seemed to panic for a moment as Shal shifted her stance, still softly laughing all the while.

“... This... this is what I've been waiting for, for so very many months, Seito.”

“Stop calling me that!” Nagask howled. The current turn of events had finally shaken up the once calm individaul, the only thing keeping Nagask from lunging straight at Shal being Izu holding the angel back back.

“Now now, Nagask...” she tried to say before turning her attention to Shal. “... So in all this time, you haven't learned anything? You still can't forgive Nagask for the foolishness of the others?”

“Foolishness?” Shal mimicked. “Seito killed them! For his own selfish-”

“THEY WERE DEFENDING A HUMAN!” Nagask screamed. “A pathetic human that-”

“THAT HAD WRONGED ONLY YOUR PATHETIC PRIDE, SEITO!” Shal drowned out his shout with her own as she slowly inched towards the two of them. “I've waited this long to get a chance to face you on the battlefield, a chance to confront those that betrayed the ideals we were supposed to hold dear. For that, I will see to it both of you, and Kaguya, and anyone else you've twisted with your brand of living, are wiped from existence.”

“Even when it's two Hakkeshu against one?” Izu sneered.

“Last I checked,” Shal countered, “There's plenty of survivors left up in the bleachers. Plus a smart Oni that snuck in a bow and arrow somehow and a very talented incubus. I know how much you hate them in particular, Seito. You had the element of surprise before, sure. But what about now?”

Izu looked at Nagask, who stood as still as a statue for minutes on end before the angel turned and began walking away. And we all stood transfixed like that, all the way until the two Hakkeshu had finally left us. And for a quite while more, none of us moved at all... almost out of fear that our sudden turn of good fortune would be dashed by another twist.

It didn't. Nagask or Seito or whatever the angel's name was had left, as had Izu. And finally, once Shal knew that, the elemental fell to her hands and knees. And then she cried silently, her facade of a traitor and then the facade of an unbreakable soldier gone, leaving behind, well, something else.

… I did not know much about Atha Sido. And I suddenly felt a great desire to make that a thing of the past.

[MorriganAensland]

The light

We kept getting dragged back to these places. Hospitals. I guess its the price someone pays when they have to take on megalomaniacs drunk on their own ambitions. Giselle had been in a total fury when she found out two people named Kerrigan and Tsukuyomi had been beaten nearly to death. Well, the latter was one I assumed to be Susanoo's brother.

The benches outside of the hospital had been swept clean of the snow, and the fresh air did me good as I sat there, trying to sort through all of these conflicting facts. I was almost going to just throw up my arms in anguish when I heard a man's voice.

“Here. You're getting worried about all of this, aren't you?” In an outstretched hand was a cup of hot chocolate, probably procured from inside. And standing there was a good friend of mine, one I had actually dated for a brief period of time.

“Thanks, Soma,” I said as I accepted the gift and then made room for him to sit down. “Although I'm surprised you're out here with me when Hokuko and everyone inside.”

“I figured you have it the worst,” he told me. “I mean, from what Akane and Hokuko were saying, they really were out for your blood. Everyone else is collateral, whoever is responsible for this is after you alone.”

I didn't need to speak; Soma realized all too quickly that remark did nothing to better my mood.

“W-well hold on a second,” he tried again before clearing his throat. “Minako, as much as you want to try to believe you're like everyone else, there's still differences. I mean, you're Amaterasu's Candidate, her only Candidate. Jun's fortunate enough to have thirteen... granted, eleven are dead but that's not the point. The point is you have a power no human else in the whole world does.”

I was halfways tempted to go into a bitter tirade about how I never wanted it. But that would be a stupid lie. If it weren't for my stint as Brauner's lapdog, I would have never met Mizuki or rebonded with Akane. And these two years had been the best of my entire life. Instead I finally just opted to give him a resigned muttering.

“But why are they after me?”

“Considering the last notable threat to humanity had completely ignored you-” Susanoo stepped into view, looking as depressed as me. “You should count your blessings. Rest assured, we'll all get through this. Together.”

“Going somewhere?” I asked, effortlessly guessing the cause of his melancholy mood.

“You can't be serious,” Soma said as he stood up. “Three people have already been hospitalized, to say nothing about all the harm that the Moon Hakkeshu did, Susanoo! We need all the help we can-”

“Normally I would love to stay!” Susanoo responded as he turned to the white-haired boy, “But please to not forget that we are fighting a war, one which has taken a very dour turn and will probably continue on a downward spiral for quite some time. As I was busy telling your friend once before, there's only so much I can do on my own.” The god turned to face me before bowing quite shamefully. “I would not be doing this if I didn't have the utmost faith in your abilities, Minako Yuki. Believe in yourself. Please.”

With that, he left. I wasn't in the mood to argue with him, and thankfully Soma wasn't either. We just sat there for a brief while. Talking about other issues wasn't appealing, and there was only so much to be said about the conflict.

Finally the sun started going down and I found myself standing up and walking back to the hospital.

“... Tomorrow's the fifth, isn't it?”

“What of it?”

I looked back at Soma for a minute before moving on again. “Someone's going to try to kill me. I'm not going to let that happen. Come on. Before it gets cold.”
_
The sword

This sucked. This... really sucked. Multiple lacerations, severe blood loss, and a devastated home... all in the name of standing up for a friend. All of that I gladly accepted. Even if my parents ranted and raved it didn't matter. Hokuko and I had killed that woman and Minako was safe.

What was eating at me was that I was out of commission and there was going to be another threat to everyone... and I had been stupid enough to beat myself up in a fight just prior to that.

Thank God that Akane knew how to cool things over. Nothing could beat autographed Majischule volumes.

“Wow... Saori's gonna flip out when she finds out that it's not spelled the right way in Canada.”

I looked up, seeing a young tan-skinned girl standing in my doorway. I vaguely recognized her as the person that had helped Hokuko get me to the hospital.

“I see you're feeling better,” she continued before pulling up a seat next to me. “Giselle Vega-Stroheim.”

“Horoki Ayasato,” I responded. “So why are you up here anyways?”

“It's late,” she responded. “Well, that and I'm sure there's going to be hell to pay when I get back to the others from L++ and I'm probably going to be in mounds of trouble. Might as well stay here so I have someone to back up my claim that I saved someone's life.”

“L++?”

“Yeah, it's a university in Montreal. I go there for Post-Secondary stuff.”

“... And how's someone like you get dragged into our crazy world?”

She girl chuckled before shrugging. “What can I say? The desire for vengeance can lead people down roads to such worlds.”
_
The jewel

“You sure she didn't want to come?”

“Vega-Stroheim made it clear,” Akane told me once again. “This girl didn't seem in the mood to talk in person with her.”

“Stupid reason if you ask me,” I responded as we trudged through the lamp lit streets of Tokyo. “Plus it could very easily be a trap.”

“Giselle's on the level,” Hokuko stressed. “She made saving Horoki's life easier, after all.” She had a point. “Besides... I want to find out from the source what the deal with Kei Kimatura was.”

… Another valid point. Of all of us, it would be the Shiko most concerned with the mystery that was Kei Kimatura.

The three of us were taking the initiative and paying a visit to the nameless girl that Giselle had run into the day before and who advised her to follow after Hokuko. Minako had declined going, instead returning back to the apartment she and the Snow Woman shared to sort out the further deterioration of her armor and strength. Soma and Giselle were keeping an eye on Horoki. Which left, I mused as I stepped down on a surprisingly compact clump of snow, the three of us to do the necessary detective work.

The walk wasn't bad at all and just as the Brazilian had described, the Kimatura residence looked like any ordinary house from an outside view. Of course, I had experienced illusions in the past and the unjustified picturesque homestead just made me more suspicious. I slid my hand into my coat pocket, reassured that I had the Yasakani Magatama with me. After that, I proudly put one foot in front of the other. If this Construct girl was watching, I had no reason to look scared.

Suffice to say that our host was responding in kind, the front door spontaneously sliding open a bit.

“She knows we're here,” Akane said. That part was quite obvious and we all knew it. What followed, however... “She could very well already have visitors.”

“What?” Hokuko and I said in unison as Akane brushed past me and continued toward the Kimatura house. “She didn't know that Giselle was coming, in spite of the fact she understood what you were the moment Giselle described you to her, Hokuko. The girl said this individual could 'assist'... you can't 'assist' yourself.”

“Meaning whatever cognitive power she had can only be used to help other people, rather than herself,” Hokuko concluded. Akane paused, turned, and nodded.

“More than one person means the greater likelihood of a trap,” she continued quietly before resuming her walk. “We can assume by that then Giselle really is on the level with us. The more things contradict her story, the more suspicious she'd end up.”

“You've thought this through, haven't you,” I joked before picking up the pace.

The brown-haired girl shrugged. “Blame crime scene show compilations for Christmas.”

Right.

The interior of the house was indeed dark and in need of renovation, and as Hokuko shut the door behind her I guessed it was one of the few things in working order in the home.

“I thought I said-”

“We're other people, friends of hers,” Hokuko told the unseen speaker. “I was that Yuki-Onna you advised her to follow before.”

“... I see.” Things suddenly became a great deal clearer to see in spite of the house staying as dark as before. “I assume none of you have indulged in using the Hallowed Prisms of your own free will?” The girl she had mentioned, with patchwork spectacles made from scrap and far-too-thick glass was sitting at the end of a candle-laden table in plain sight. Nobody else was around.

“Never heard of them until a few days ago,” I answered. “But the name 'Kei Kimatura' has been bothering us all for over two years.”

The girl peered at us, leaning forward before standing up. “... Kei Kimatura did a great many things. I'm not surprised.”

“Then will you tell us about her, please?” Hokuko asked as she carefully moved towards the girl, maneuvering around a few haphazardly-stacked chunks of drywall and a hole in the floor. “We're all in over our heads and it seems every time we find a dead end we also stumble across that girl's name.”

Our host gave a brief sigh. “Are things getting that dire? The creator of the Hallowed Prisms is in the past now. I thought-”

“Don't pin all your opinions about 'Evil' in this world on just one person,” I suggested. “Even if something has the very word in its name it doesn't amount to much if the person don't have ambitions.” There, Mizuki. I shilled you in complete honesty. My New Years Resolution's fulfilled

“Perhaps,” the girl said as Hokuko pulled up a seat next to her. Akane and I quickly followed suit. “But then again, when your entire existence focused on helping someone by locating the Prisms...”

“But Giselle didn't meet you until just yesterday,” Akane pointed out.

“It wasn't her. It was Ikki Higashi.”

… No... way.

“You mean...” Hokuko was almost at a loss for words. “You mean all those months ago... when Soma was bent out of shape because Ikki up and vanished...”

“Ikki was awakened to the evils of the Prisms. I was just helping him in his quest.”

… Giselle hadn't mentioned anything about that. I might have to see what else she had neglected to tell us when we got back.

“Alright then, enough about that.” Hokuko's hand struck the table enough for it to shudder slightly. “Let's just focus on why we came here. Kei Kimatura and that power of hers, the Gou Kurosou.”

The girl looked at her for a moment before continuing. “I assume you don't have to be anywhere tonight.”

“By all means,” I told her, “When things hit the fan, we drop petty things going on in our life.” Well, usually outside factors did that for us but that wasn't the point. The point was that we wanted answers and nothing was going to stop us.

“Very well then.”
_
I was brought into existence not long before Kei Kimatura vanished off this Earth, committing suicide. As she was the cloth I was cut from, I realized it all too quickly. After that I began my duties, providing information that spontaneously came to me to those that needed it. Well, more a case of specifically helping Ikki. He had a resolve to destroy the Hallowed Prisms, and I aided him in that journey.

… I know it's childish to demand that Giselle leave these premises... b ut I think Kei made me this way... like... to be able to register the Hallowed Prism users as enemies.

How pathetic is that... blaming my faults on a dead woman who doesn't have the ability to defend herself.

But this brings us back to Kei herself and the Gou Kurosou. The Great Black Ocean's powers are on the opposite side of the spectrum of the Hallowed Prisms; being a immaterial Darkness. It lacks a form of its own but at the same time is the power of, well, I guess you could say “metaphors”, with words being written out in it being an absolute embodiment of them. “Surpass”, “Overcome”, “Assist”... these are all marks that a person or object could hold.

The Darkness also has a different power, which leads to the reason why I and other Constructs can be created. Normally, the center of every person existing is a small Light, a fraction of the power of the Profound Shine. These Lights seek an equal and opposite force to compliment them... and this leads to the natural occurrence of Candidates and those in possession of similar powers.

Constructs are the opposite. Inside of them, at their very core, is nothing but darkness which in turn craves the Light. In the end, we are merely the same side of different coins.

Kei had this power, the Gou Kurosou, and began to use it at an early age. Animating her toys was a simple enough feat... and then one day she met a very nice girl. A special girl with a similar power. They were young... they had so much fun together. And then the friend asked Kei something.

She asked Kei to make a Construct for her. A perfect duplicate of the friend.

… Something horrible happened after that. That was... it must have been ten years ago. I'm sorry, I'm literally pulling stuff out of nowhere right now and regrettably my powers are not without limit.

But Kei was a changed person after that. She had little restraint in making Constructs after that, people that had left her life for one reason or another. I think something made Kei's mind break.

… And then twenty-seven months ago, for whatever reason, Kei finally gave up. She met a woman who would go on to oppose the Hallowed Prisms and entrusted her to “Surpass”. Who, I don't know. But Kei's story ends there. She had walked into incoming traffic of her own free will and was slain.

Perhaps her downward spiral was due to experimentation with the Gou Kurosou. Or maybe some external force. Or maybe just a chance whim she had on an off day. I don't know.
_
“But that's that. The story of Kei Kimatura.”

Hokuko was left deep in thought by that all, no doubt thinking about her days as the woman named Natassia Kamiya and how everything fit together. And yet Akane was still just as on the ball as ever.

“Ten years?”

“Yes, of that I am certain.” The girl said this with the kind of confidence that we knew to accept.

“Where was this all taking place?”

“Kyoto.”

Akane muttered something quick under her breath before standing up. “Alright then. If it's okay with you I think we're done here. If you have anything to say make it quick; I'm heading back.”

Well Kirishima clearly had gotten something of genuine worth from that last exchange. Hokuko and I started to follow, but I noticed that the Yuki girl stopped and turned back to our host.

“Thank you. This has been a help... you should definitely go outside more often.”

The girl shook her head. “I'm sorry. But I doubt I'll ever do that. First of all, I know all too well the power that the Light holds, a devastating force you're all too unknowing about. And second of all, in spite of that fear...” she shrugged. “I'm a Construct and to me such brilliance would be all too enthralling. I wouldn't want the Light of the world to distract me from the duties Kei asked for me to do.”

“But how often do you have to help people out?” I asked her. No need to stay cooped up in here for months on end just for the occasional visitor.

“Why, plenty of times,” she responded. “Ikki and his new associate...” she closed her eyes and paused for a second, “One Johan Stroheim still get assistance from me whenever they take on another Prism user. To say nothing of you three right here and right now.”

… Well played, nameless.

The world suddenly grew black again, the girl no doubt darkening one of those candles. Well, this was fairly productive and without any problems at-

“FOUND YOU!”

A pair of gleefully vengeful voices screamed out behind me, as if they had suddenly popped out of the woodworks. The nameless Construct screamed as I heard the sound of someone getting slammed into the wall.

A trap? No, no, this wasn't structured like a trap. They had said “Found you”... meaning they had only suddenly arrived.

… Which raised the question of how.

The strange candles of Darkness were relit, and I found myself staring at a pair of figures, one predominantly in red and the other in blue, their bodies remarkably similar in nearly every aspect, with nearly identical long, wavy hair the opposite color of their clothes and a thin black line on the the side of their neck... on the right side for the woman in blue and the left for the woman in red.

And the one in red had slammed Hokuko against a wall, looking at her with glee.

“I can't believe how long this took us Rie... but now just think! We found her!”

“Hands off Hokuko!” I snapped before being swatted away with ridiculous effort by this “Rie”, falling onto the ground.

“Oh, come on... we're just-”

“Naomi!” Rie snapped as she turned to the woman in blue, “This is serious. There's three of them.”

“Four.”

All of us turned to see the nameless Construct standing there, fists clenched. Whoever these newcomers were, it seemed intruding in the Kimatura residence was something that was not going to be approved of.

Rie barely paid her any mind though, or that of a charging Akane, as if almost by willing it having the Construct rocket towards her before simply side-stepping out of the way and letting her bowl into Kirishima.

“Alright,” Rie said as she turned to Naomi, who seemed to be having just a bit too much fun strangling Hokuko. “We've got our target now let's-”

A small violet blur struck the woman when she wasn't looking, knocking her away before there was a sudden “burst” of purple flames and the Yasakani Magatama returned to my hands.

“Oops...” I chuckled. “Was I supposed to yell out 'Change Yasakani!' and gather a lot of attention to myself?” My clothes had become so much vaporwear, replaced by the dark purple dress with crimson-red lines. “My bad...” I played with my similarly-colored magatama before smirking a bit. Naomi had let go of Hokuko, more surprised at me. “I'll be sure to make this short!”
_
The mirror

Asuka had been quick on the offensive, and I was thankful for that as I pried myself away from the Construct before muttering “Change Yata” and silently praying it wouldn't take away my labcoat. I was quite pleased that it didn't as I straightened up and looked at the Construct. Asuka's offensive had forced Naomi and Rie further into the house, which was a good sign. With me there we could finish them off without too much difficulty. But first-

“Get Hokuko out of this house and somewhere safe.”

“But-”

“Don't make me slap you,” I snapped, causing the Construct to flinch. “First of all, it's night. Second of all, look at her!” I pointed at the Yuki-Onna lying on the ground. “As your guests, we brought this into your house and by all rights we need to end it. But you're our host, and taking care of those that are unable to do so for themselves is your job.” Without waiting for an answer I ran after Asuka.

I found her all too quickly, Kabuto being blasted through a section of drywall and right into my path, Rie and Naomi standing there with a solemn and arrogant look on their faces respectively.

“Who would have guessed...” Naomi chuckled. “This is great! A chance to avenge Arys would lead to being able to kill Regalia users in the process! This is just too good!”

“Naomi!” Rie was almost talking down to the woman in red and yet her focus on us hadn't lessened at all. “Fighting against a Yuki-Onna when it's not snowing out is one thing... two users of the Three Sacred Treasures with their full powers is entirely different!”

“Yeah, yeah...” Naomi shrugged. “But that doesn't mean we can't do this!”

Helping Asuka up, I took the point to give her a chance to recollect herself. “You're... Constructs aren't you?”

The two of them bowed, Rie with a stiffer and more elegant stance, Naomi the complete opposite.

“Rie and Naomi, at your service,” the first of the two said as they pulled up their hair and turned their heads to the side. The black lines from before grew to be symbols...”Reach” for Rie and “Unite” for Naomi. “Two Constructs serving the great Mio Yui... intent on showing you that you do not kill a fellow Construct when they are doing what they will.”

“You seem pretty at ease about Minako killing that Dario guy,” Asuka snorted.

Naomi shrugged. “Who cares about him? He was doing his job and we all knew he could die. But...” she clenched her fists before charging. “Your friends... killing Arys... that's unforgivable!”

They obviously had never realized that they had the marks for “hypocrites” stamped proudly on their foreheads, even if only in metaphor. But this was no problem, and I still remembered quite a bit of my arsenal of techniques from two years ago as I slashed out with my fingers.

Naomi merely smirked as my hand neared her arm-

And then I screamed, stumbling backwards as blood spilled. Asuka was screaming my name and I was left, clutching the bloody stump of my right forearm as Naomi laughed.

“Got youuuuuuuu...” she held my right hand playfully in her hand as Rie stood off in the distance. The woman in blue was laughing so softly... guess she had a bit of her friend's personality when she wanted to.

“You're in over your heads at this rate,” Rie told us. “You can't even comprehend how our powers work... let alone replicate them... Kirishima.”

My mouth went dry. “W-what?!?”

“It's simple,” Naomi continued. “We have bodies made of darkness, whereas yours has a center of light, in case you didn't know.” Funny she would mention that. “ All our abilities... they come from a separate source that the Yata Mirror can't comprehend...

“Meaning,” Rie finished before suddenly appearing behind us, “THIS!”

We were slammed into the ground, my mind going mad from the pain and the bloodloss, and Asuka doing no better. I tried to put all my strength into regenerating the limb, but my powers weren't working. The stump stayed a bloody stump as I could just stare at it in desperation.

“And another fun thing...” Naomi said as she charged at me. I tried to roll out of the way only for Asuka to grab and pull me away from the two Constructs. “You can't even heal yourself... thanks to my clever usage of my own powers!”

You... have got to be kidding me. It was like they had been specifically tailored to neutralize the threat I'd present!

“Are you just that lucky?” Asuka growled as she helped me up.

“Oh, please,” Rie said as she rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Our powers simply naturally compliment each other. It makes for a dangerous combo.”

… “And by that...” I muttered, “You mean a mix of teleportation and bending space for one and using an attractionary force to bring forces together for another? I could see why.”

“No way!” Naomi blurted out. “How did you figure out-”

Bowing my head down and hissing in pain as Asuka tried to keep me from falling over. “Just now, thank you very much.” And I was willing to bet they were using their powers to trick my body into thinking I still had a full arm, which meant my body wouldn't try to regrow a limb if it thought it wasn't missing in the first place.

“Well, it doesn't mean anything, Naomi,” Rie stepped forward. “After all... we can still redirect all their attacks right back at them.”

Asuka looked over at me for a second. “Can you stand on your own?”

“If I said 'no' it wouldn't change anything, now would it?”

“Fair enough.”

The Constructs knew we were up to something and raised their guard accordingly. Not like either of us cared. I knew what Asuka had in mind as I ran full-sprint at them again. I was going to get my arm back, dammit! Even if my body gave out in the process, I was going to show these two that their “unbeatable” defense was anything but.

“You're crazy!” Naomi shouted as she rushed to the aid of her sister, swinging her fist right at me. Unfortunately, her aim was more than a few feet off and I slid by her, swinging my left fist forward right into Rie's body and knocking her back a bit. That was followed by multiple replications of that event, striking the Construct again and again as I gave my legs a break and sank to my knees, letting an enraged Naomi's attack whiz by my head.

… Giving Asuka the opportunity to slam her magatama into the blue-haired woman's back.

“Ya Ryusei.”

There was a flash of violet as she was sent throwing away after Rie, the Construct already recovering as she looked over at Naomi.

“... Impressive. You used the Magatama's powers to stall motion on the light around you.”

“Hit you before you could even realize it,” Asuka snorted, tossing the Magatama into the air before catching it again. “Sharp mind too to figure it out that soon.” This could get very ugly fast, and unfortunately I was still without my hand. This was not going to end well if it didn't end fast.

“I can't believe it!” Naomi exclaimed. “H-how can you be so calm about all of this!”

Rie winced in pain before looking at her comrade. “We're going.”

“But-”

“If we stay here we only run a greater risk of getting killed. We came here hoping to kill the person that murdered Arys. That probably won't come to fruition. However... we've all but killed miss one-arm there.” She pointed at me and I could only scowl back. “It's just a matter of time.”

Naomi sighed. “Fine, fine...”

They all but vanished, leaving us in that ruined house together. Asuka was nearly throwing a temper tantrum, throwing the magatama against the wall and almost blowing it down before she caught herself again.

“For the last time,” I said, finally being able to talk over her, “Calm down! For one I-” My legs grew weak again as I stumbled forward, Asuka running back over to me to catch me. This was getting harder.

“Are you going to be okay?”

I weakly nodded. “For the moment. But we're going to have to act fast.”

“B-but-”

“... They talk about all that stupid stuff about 'Reaching' and 'Uniting'. We're going to use that against them!”

[MorriganAensland]

The light

I was halfway back home when my phone rang quite loudly. Freeing my hands from their warm confines in my jacket's pockets, I pulled it out and quickly looked at it. It was a text message, and only two lines.

Please. Help. Anyone.

Below that was a street address I recognized all too well. Asuka, Hokuko, and Akane had gone there.

I turned around and starting to increase my pace to a modest jog. There was never any reason to stop conditioning myself, not with my plans for being M--'s star runner for this last year as a student there, and the weather was a non-issue. It didn't even matter that my powers were faltering. I had a job to do, no matter what.
_
The jewel

Akane stumbled forward in the house, trying to keep her body from giving out. “D-dammit. I didn't think it would be this hard to do.”

“Do?”

She looked at me for a minute before sighing. “This is taking a lot of effort.” The girl hissed in pure anger as she fell to one knee. “This is getting ridiculous. Asuka, when we get there, you need to get my arm. Before you do that, I don't think I'm going to be able to-”

She fell to the ground amidst my screams. This was bad. This was really, like really, bad. I didn't even know if this place had first aid equipment or where to even look for it. Akane was going to die. She was going to die and we'd be left with nothing; no closure when it came to Rie and Naomi's crimes.

Akane let out a shallow breath, most likely the last as I tried to think of something, anything... I could do. Nothing came to mind. I was out of options and-

“What?!? Rie, h-how the hell did they catch up to us?”
_
… I looked around in confusion. Everything was... different. The decaying house had been replaced by a chamber seeped in darkness, a single lantern hanging in the center that did little to brighten the place. And standing right in front of me were Rie and Naomi, the red-haired woman in the blue dress and the blue-haired woman in the red dress. In Rie's hand was Akane's severed limb and I was already starting to wonder if they had come here for any special reason.

Nevertheless, Rie simply sighed as she looked at her fellow Construct. “I don't know. But the one with glasses is good enough to be dead. She's the one we have to really worry about, with her copying powers.”

“But-”

“Hey, you two!” I snapped. Akane had given possibly everything for this chance and I had to act quick... otherwise Rie could just teleport away again. “You have something that belongs to Akane and she's going to die without it. I'm going to be taking it back now.”

“On your own?” Naomi asked as she leaned forward. “Can you really pull that off on your own?”

I gripped my magatama and charged. My enemies were no stronger than they had been before; all I'd need to do was to keep my wits about me. Naomi was already coming at me, Rie hanging back and no doubt making her own plans. The Construct kicked at me and I threw the Yasakani Magatama up in opposition. Foot and trinket met each other as I smirked.

“Go to hell.”

Purple flames blasted out from the magatama, immobilizing Naomi for the split-seconds needed for me to spin around and deliver a swift kick to her side. And yet my foot crashed not into her, but Rie, who all too easily smashed me into the ground.

“Futile,” Rie said as she brought her foot down on my head, forcing it further into the ground. “You can't really accomplish anything, now can you?”

This was humiliating, the Construct's sheer aloofness driving me even further up a wall as I noticed something.

Akane's arm. Right there in Rie's left hand. She thought this fight was over... but I was going to prove to her I still had a few tricks up my sleeve.

“Rie, just finish her off!” Naomi cried out, obviously annoyed and bored with her comrade. “The sword user's in the hospital, the mirror user's right here and dead as a doornail, and the jewel user's the only one left! So just get on with it!”

In spite of the discomfort, I couldn't help but chuckle. “Sorry. Can't let you do that.”

Something very cruel flickered in Rie's eyes as she looked down at me, kicking me onto my back and then bringing her foot down so it was touching my throat. “I would like to see how you can change this around at all. My powers are the perfect means of evasion; even if by some miracle you do escape with your life, you'll just end up in the same situation right away.”

Now that I could stare straight up and get a good look at Rie's face, I knew she could have a good look at mine too. And I wanted her to see me show no fear when I spoke again.

“Your next line will be...” I said. Rie's eyes narrowed and I could feel the faint sensation of a weight being removed from my throat. “'Enough talk, this all ends here!'”

“ENOUGH TALK,” Rie shouted as her leg was brought up, suddenly speaking with a great deal more emotion and volume than ever before, “THIS ALL ENDS-” Her attack paused for a split second and I had my fighting chance again.

The magatama's red lines grew more pronounced for a second as my dozens of copies of my body streamed out of me, obstructing both Rie and Naomi's view.

“Checkmate,” I remarked gleefully. “You can't possibly-”

Naomi simply snapped her fingers once, the various illusions flying back to reunite with me. Rie give a stifled laugh before looking down at the ground.

“You're pretty stupid... you think that the power to 'unite' wouldn't let Naomi simply take care of all your copies?”

“You're quite right,” I shot back. “But you'll be surprised what someone will think up when they're improvising.”

Rie looked up, eyes opening in disbelief that I was standing right there in front of her. I could almost hear her thought processes as she turned back to Naomi.

“NAOMI! STOP THE PROCE-”

She didn't finish, a red and white blur standing up behind her before she was cut to pieces.
_
The mirror

I flexed my right hand experimentally as I did my best to not stumble forward or show any signs of weakness. One of the Constructs was dead, only one left to go.

Naomi was looking more and more unbelieving as she tried backing away from us. “B-but how did-”

“Use your brain for once,” Asuka said behind. “You did.”

“I...”

It figures. She didn't even understand the full nature of her abilities. That would probably explain why we had even been able to get dragged to this -wow it was really dark- place. “Asuka used her illusions to trick you into uniting all 'her' fragments together, except it wasn't her you were focusing on. It was me. Thanks for the quick fix.”

I had to keep her off balance and doubting herself. If Naomi realized how close I was to death's door, if my speech slurred even a little to show how badly I was running on empty, I probably wouldn't be able to survive another mauling. And then it would just be Asuka against her...

And I didn't think that would end very well at all.

The lines on the back of Naomi's neck seemed to grow, become more pronounced as she bowed her head down. “I can't believe it. It actually happened.” A single, utterly insignificant tear began to grow and trickle down the left side of her face before she finally began to just start laughing over and over again.

“I can't believe it! In the end... how... how pathetic could she really be?! ? At the end of her life, she couldn't even have the mental focus to have some kind of safeguard reflex!” Naomi's eyes flashed with almost ridiculous glee before she pointed at us. “Let me guess... Arys died because of her own stupidity too, didn't she? She underestimated that Snow Woman and whoever else she was fighting and it cost her everything!

“It was the same with Dario and the same with Kaguya. No matter what happens, everyone thinks they can just waltz all over you people. Hell, you killed the Shiko! Even if the Hakkeshu were not bound down to the grand scheme of Destiny or the dichotomy of the Dai Makai and the Profound Shine, they certainly didn't seem to care that much about it! You're dangerous, the kind of dangerous that stems from a violent and-”

“Are you going to actually shut up sooner or later?” Asuka snapped. “You lost your partner and-”

“Oh, shut up yourself.”

Before I could even believe it, Asuka was flash-frozen in a block of ice, my mouth agape at the utter ease that Naomi had done that.

“And now that she's taken care of...” Naomi's voice took on a bemused tone as she turned to me and smiled. It was almost as if she had become an entirely separate person with Rie's death. Almost as if-

“... Your power is a fairly vague term.” I noted as I began to desperately figure out a way to avoid following Asuka's footsteps. I wasn't coming up with much of anything. “You're using it in creative ways that almost border on bull****ting your way through.”

Naomi shrugged. “Rie's power caused things to become distanced. Mine causes things to become centralized and focused. Do you have any idea what happens when it happens to someone's thought processes? I can see through your facade with the utmost of ease.”

She was nothing but talk, there was no way that-

“I can tell... so easily...” She smirked. “Now that I can actually focus... the way you're standing, the way your eyes are almost straining.” Naomi started to walk towards me. “Considering where we are, my life may very well be forfeit now that you killed Rie. But killing you will be so easy... and your numbers are so few. You two, the sword user, the Usurper Empress, the girl you call Minako Yuki... and then there's those associated with one Saori Ichimonji. At the end of the day, you're all just running on borrowed time. And before you know it, you're all dead.”

I felt my legs almost quivering as Naomi called my bluff, and as if waiting for me to try to lock my knees up so I wouldn't fall, the Construct attacked. The first blow nearly crushed my ribcage, she was 'uniting' all her strength into singular strikes, sending me into a daze as she moved for Asuka. My mind was racing as I tried to lunge at her, but she was too fast. I fell flat on my face, expecting the sounds of ice breaking and taking human life with it. Asuka was going to die and then I was going to-

“... Where... where exactly are we?” I growled to Naomi, hoping to at least stall for time if nothing else as I tried to stand up. It seemed the Construct was feeling generous, pausing and turning to me with a shrug.

Naomi started to say something before stopping herself and casually walking around Asuka's frozen body. Using Kabuto as a shield... I had to admit she was really trying to follow through on that claim of not slipping up. “... Would you believe the innermost sanctum of the Demon Empire?”

“What?!?”

Naomi chuckled. “It's true. We are at the very center of the Empire, a group that has spread and grown under the leadership of the Demon Empress Jun. And do you know why we were here at first?”

My mouth went dry. I was seeing where she was going.

“You had something planned here, didn't you?”

“Maybe we did and maybe we didn't.” Great, she was getting smug too. “And maybe you showed up with more than enough time to stop us or maybe we're already done. And maybe you need to prevent something, or maybe we've just thrown some schmuck bait in a few places and if you're dumb enough to fool around with it you'll just further our grand scheme. Oh well, whatever happens, you can gladly think be reassured hindsight is 20-20.”

Yes. Very, very smug indeed. I forced myself back up to my feet and tried to control my breathing. Coming back so close to the brink was really doing a number on me. “... And why didn't you freeze me like you did Asu-”

“What, and miss the opportunity to have an intelligent discussion with you?” Naomi asked as she peered over Asuka's icy prison, “And simultaneously rub in your face how outmatched you are? I wonder how long it's going to take until you pass out. Just stalling until the inevitable happens may be a boring way to win, but it's still a fairly decent way. Then again...” a sly grin crossed her face. “You could just be stalling for the inevitable as well. This room's not too terribly hot, a gradual thaw and your friend wouldn't be too much worse for wear...”

“Then break the ice. Right now.”

Naomi almost recoiled as I said that, surprised at my delivery before stepping back. “What are you talking about?!? Kill your friend in the proce-”

I shrugged. “In your own words, hindsight is 20-20. For all you know somewhere along the way over beating Asuka, you and your friend missed her switching places with me. How you did that I haven't a clue.

“So maybe I'm toying with you just as much as you're toying with me.”

“You're nothing but talk now, Akane Kirishima!” Naomi snarled.

“Then kill Asuka. See where you end up.”

She moved fast, faster than I could hope to match in my current state, swinging her fist down into the ice as I ran forward. So much of that had been a bluff... now it all just rested on Asuka.

Forgetting about whether or not I'd walk away after this debacle, I ran full sprint at Naomi. Yes, I was not the stellar runner that Minako was and that was when I was at peak form, but this was all about common sense.

I had to have faith in Asuka. I had to have faith she had set something up for me to work with, just like how she had fought before having faith for me.

Whether or not the ice had broken, I didn't pay attention. All I did was slip by Naomi, hands cutting through her arms, legs, and then spinning around and giving her one last cut on the neck. In spite of being Constructs, I was still rewarded with blood for my efforts, although it would just be a matter of moments for her to recover by reuniting with all the parts of her.

… I noticed a single, widening fissure in the pillar of ice.

“YA...!”

And then it completely burst open, showing a very cramped, sweaty Asuka Kabuto ramming her magatama right into the ground underneath Naomi's feet.


“... KUMO!”
_
The knight

Fudoh's fist connected with my face, knocking me right on my back. Let it officially be written down that you don't try to egg on an Oni.

“And for the last time, stop acting like she's going to get hung out to dry!” he snapped as I pulled myself up. “If you want answers, fine, you'll get them! Just be patient!”

The blow stung quite a bit, and I glared at Fudoh as I stood up again. The quaint little room we were in, complete with a few chairs and even a coffee maker had nobody else in it, and we could do nothing but wait. The revelation that Atha was, well, a member of the Hakkeshu had shaken the status quo up quite a bit in the Empire and so much that had followed was pure insanity. They were going to Court Marshall her, examine Atha's entire tenure and see where her loyalties really were.

Fudoh and I, the two that she had directly attacked prior to her attempt to kill Nagask, were also viewed with suspicion. However after a lengthy interrogation process we were deemed loyal to our Empress and her Empire.

Atha however... Atha no doubt was-

“I thought I said she'd be fine,” Fudoh said as he shook me a little, knocking me out of my introverted state. I glared him for a minute before walking away to a seat and sighed.

“This is ridiculous.”

“They want their bases covered, Keston,” Fudoh said as he found a chair opposite of me and sat down. “There are currently four Hakkeshu still alive. Yama no Izu and Tsuki no Kaguya were with the Separatists for quite a while. Ten no Seito showed he finally chose a side yesterday when he killed all those people. And Atha, Chi no Shal, has suspicions cast on her.” He leaned back, pulling out his large book again and opened it.

“We're not monsters. At least not in that context,” he said. “She'll get a fair shake and this will all serve to solidify her stance in the Empire as a soldier.”

I grumbled quietly as I stood up and walked over to the coffee dispenser. “When are we getting out of here?” Pouring myself a cup, I retched after drinking a mouthful of the stuff.

“When they decide to have someone get us. This is a serious issue... a Hakkeshu in the capital is a security concern. Plus they still might be discussing what they're going to do with us. Humans aren't the only people capable of being bogged down by bureaucracy.”

“You sound confident about all this.”

The Oni looked up at me for a second. “I-I do?” And again his unflappable nature was lost with the greatest of ease.

“Well, yeah,” I gave him a weak smile. “Here I am, freaking out and generally accomplishing nothing during this whole affair, and you at least had a shot at Seito or Nagask... or whatever he calls him-”

“It.” Fudoh corrected. “If you're going to use a pronoun in relation to Seito, 'it' would be the correct one to use.”

“But-”

Fudoh groaned as he set the book aside again. “Alright Keston, think of it this way. Angels have no definite gender. But at the same time, in ancient times they were revered because they were considered to have beautiful bodies, possessing elements associated with fertility.”

A pit began to grow in my stomach as I started to think about the indications of that. Wouldn't that mean then that-

“So if he wasn't wearing baggy clothes, we'd see that Seito would have both-”

“Oh, stop dragging it on,” Fudoh sighed before he grabbed his book and sighed. “Seito's a hermaphrodite. All angels are.”

… And I suddenly wished I could get that image out of my head.
_
The light

My phone got more messages from the same distressed caller as I ran to find them. As if the anxiety from repeatedly being reminded someone was in danger wasn't enough, more and more when I noticed a very faint snow begin to descend on the streets of Tokyo. Thoughts of Hokuko assuming her demonic state filled my mind too and I grew to worry about how that would further complicate the situation.

… And then I saw them and my fears gave way to genuine concern. No more “what ifs”, now all I had to deal with was “how can I help?”, which I was thankful for.

Some black-haired girl with large, clunky glasses was holed up in an alcove out of the snow and out of breath. Across her back was my sister's unconscious form.

The girl herself looked at me for a minute in disbelief as I slowly started to walk towards her. She propped Hokuko up before standing. “Y-you would be...?”

“Minako Yuki,” I answered. “You were calling my number.”

The girl blinked for a moment before blushing. “Um... sorry about that. I was just sending the text to all the phone numbers I could think of. I guess my ability clued me into yours too.”

This was getting baffling. “Ability? Don't tell me that you're-”

She gulped nervously before nodding. “Um, yes. I'm the Construct person.”

Why was she out here? Why was my sister unconscious? “What happened to Hokuko? And for that matter, where's Akane and Asuka?”

The girl looked at the ground. “There was a fight...” she mumbled. “Your friend here got injured and I tried to get her away from the others. I don't know what happened after that.” Almost pleadingly, she looked up at me and had to fight her best to not start crying. “I know this is crazy but you have to believe me, please.” Her composure was slipping, her pacing becoming more and more rapid as she tried to explain. “This-is-the-first-time-I've-ever-stepped-outside-my-house-andthings-aregettingreally-”

“Stop,” I told her. “Just... stop and calm down.”

“But you're the only thing here that looks natural to me!”

…

What... did she mean by that?

The girl blushed furiously as she bowed her head down. “I'm sorry, I just thought I'd have a better grasp of myself after talking with people in-person. And then you come along and just... just totally throw me off.”

“W-why would that be?”

The girl looked at me under very close scrutiny for a second before. “It's... nothing. Just nerves. Really.”

The way she said it didn't leave me so sure, but whatever the case, I shrugged. The snowing, as insignificant as it was, had stopped.

“I'll help you carry Hokuko. If it's okay with you, I'd like to get back to my apartment, to be honest. I haven't exactly had the best of luck, recently.”

“Um, yes. Of course.”
_
The north

I woke up to find myself sprawled out on a familiar bed, the one in the Yuki sisters' apartment I used nearly every day. The midday sun was streaming through the windows and illuminating our otherwise lightless apartment. My neck still hurt from that debacle last night, but I was alive and for that I was grateful. I'd have to see what I could do for Asuka and Akane.

“Ah, you're awake.”

I could see Minako, leaning on the side of the door frame, with a bowl half-filled with cereal. She flashed me a happy smile before continuing with her meal.

“Yeah...” I said before rolling out of bed. “That... what happened... was just plain crazy.”

“They mentioned it,” Minako said as she gestured towards her bedroom. “I let her have my room and took the couch instead.”

“That was generous of you, wasn't it?”

Minako laughed. “Why wouldn't I?” She left for the eating room and I followed, waiting until we were both there before having the conversation take a serious turn.

“... Any word from Asuka and Akane?”

Minako, well in the way of sitting down again, froze in mid-move for a moment. Her expression darkened as she then all but fell into the chair and looked up to me. “... nothing.”

And at that point our bright and chipper morning together came to a crashing end. We continued the meal in silence before Minako stood up again.

“It's the fifth, isn't it?”

I nodded. There was going to be a full moon tonight. Which meant that whatever Tsuki no Kaguya and whoever she was working for had planned, it was going to come to a head tonight. “... What are you going to do then?”

Minako frowned a little before trying her best to get in a better mood. “I'm going to visit Horoki. I'm going to visit her, and call Mizuki, and talk with Soma and that Vega-Stroheim girl and everyone else I know here.”

Minako....

“And then I'm going to-”

“Don't talk like that, Minako! We're going to get through-” I had bolted upright, my chair getting tipped over and falling on its side as I kept get bad feelings about what would happen.

Minako just turned and walked around me, setting the chair up again before walking straight to the fridge. Minako... what were you-

“You know quite well since, well, whenever you started doing your hijinx as the Black Tortoise of the North, which we'll just breeze over because we're both adults and we're past that, that I've had to deal with a lot of crazy stuff.”

“But that was all just arranged by Brauner to-”

My sister opened up the refrigerator. “That doesn't mean I can't fight. Twice now those Constructs have made attempts on my life. And I've survived them both. I've made it this far in my life, and I've accomplished a lot.” She shut the door to the fridge before turning to me. “We're running low on some fruits and vegetables. I'll see if I can get some today.”

… “Minako... why are you...?”

“Doing what?” She smiled. “The past two years have been... just wonderful. I have a sister who loves me very much, a girlfriend who I want to spend the rest of my life with, I've reconnected with an old childhood friend and made others...

“This is a world that I've finally been able to see without worrying about monsters or the fate of the world. Yes, there was that problem with the Hallowed Prisms but there were people with the decency to deal with it on their own. And I owe them all. This is a great world in spite of all its flaws, a world that should be protected.” Minako waved happily to me before walking out the door.

“And I'm going to protect it.”

The light

I was halfway back home when my phone rang quite loudly. Freeing my hands from their warm confines in my jacket's pockets, I pulled it out and quickly looked at it. It was a text message, and only two lines.

Please. Help. Anyone.

Below that was a street address I recognized all too well. Asuka, Hokuko, and Akane had gone there.

I turned around and starting to increase my pace to a modest jog. There was never any reason to stop conditioning myself, not with my plans for being M--'s star runner for this last year as a student there, and the weather was a non-issue. It didn't even matter that my powers were faltering. I had a job to do, no matter what.
_
The jewel

Akane stumbled forward in the house, trying to keep her body from giving out. “D-dammit. I didn't think it would be this hard to do.”

“Do?”

She looked at me for a minute before sighing. “This is taking a lot of effort.” The girl hissed in pure anger as she fell to one knee. “This is getting ridiculous. Asuka, when we get there, you need to get my arm. Before you do that, I don't think I'm going to be able to-”

She fell to the ground amidst my screams. This was bad. This was really, like really, bad. I didn't even know if this place had first aid equipment or where to even look for it. Akane was going to die. She was going to die and we'd be left with nothing; no closure when it came to Rie and Naomi's crimes.

Akane let out a shallow breath, most likely the last as I tried to think of something, anything... I could do. Nothing came to mind. I was out of options and-

“What?!? Rie, h-how the hell did they catch up to us?”
_
… I looked around in confusion. Everything was... different. The decaying house had been replaced by a chamber seeped in darkness, a single lantern hanging in the center that did little to brighten the place. And standing right in front of me were Rie and Naomi, the red-haired woman in the blue dress and the blue-haired woman in the red dress. In Rie's hand was Akane's severed limb and I was already starting to wonder if they had come here for any special reason.

Nevertheless, Rie simply sighed as she looked at her fellow Construct. “I don't know. But the one with glasses is good enough to be dead. She's the one we have to really worry about, with her copying powers.”

“But-”

“Hey, you two!” I snapped. Akane had given possibly everything for this chance and I had to act quick... otherwise Rie could just teleport away again. “You have something that belongs to Akane and she's going to die without it. I'm going to be taking it back now.”

“On your own?” Naomi asked as she leaned forward. “Can you really pull that off on your own?”

I gripped my magatama and charged. My enemies were no stronger than they had been before; all I'd need to do was to keep my wits about me. Naomi was already coming at me, Rie hanging back and no doubt making her own plans. The Construct kicked at me and I threw the Yasakani Magatama up in opposition. Foot and trinket met each other as I smirked.

“Go to hell.”

Purple flames blasted out from the magatama, immobilizing Naomi for the split-seconds needed for me to spin around and deliver a swift kick to her side. And yet my foot crashed not into her, but Rie, who all too easily smashed me into the ground.

“Futile,” Rie said as she brought her foot down on my head, forcing it further into the ground. “You can't really accomplish anything, now can you?”

This was humiliating, the Construct's sheer aloofness driving me even further up a wall as I noticed something.

Akane's arm. Right there in Rie's left hand. She thought this fight was over... but I was going to prove to her I still had a few tricks up my sleeve.

“Rie, just finish her off!” Naomi cried out, obviously annoyed and bored with her comrade. “The sword user's in the hospital, the mirror user's right here and dead as a doornail, and the jewel user's the only one left! So just get on with it!”

In spite of the discomfort, I couldn't help but chuckle. “Sorry. Can't let you do that.”

Something very cruel flickered in Rie's eyes as she looked down at me, kicking me onto my back and then bringing her foot down so it was touching my throat. “I would like to see how you can change this around at all. My powers are the perfect means of evasion; even if by some miracle you do escape with your life, you'll just end up in the same situation right away.”

Now that I could stare straight up and get a good look at Rie's face, I knew she could have a good look at mine too. And I wanted her to see me show no fear when I spoke again.

“Your next line will be...” I said. Rie's eyes narrowed and I could feel the faint sensation of a weight being removed from my throat. “'Enough talk, this all ends here!'”

“ENOUGH TALK,” Rie shouted as her leg was brought up, suddenly speaking with a great deal more emotion and volume than ever before, “THIS ALL ENDS-” Her attack paused for a split second and I had my fighting chance again.

The magatama's red lines grew more pronounced for a second as my dozens of copies of my body streamed out of me, obstructing both Rie and Naomi's view.

“Checkmate,” I remarked gleefully. “You can't possibly-”

Naomi simply snapped her fingers once, the various illusions flying back to reunite with me. Rie give a stifled laugh before looking down at the ground.

“You're pretty stupid... you think that the power to 'unite' wouldn't let Naomi simply take care of all your copies?”

“You're quite right,” I shot back. “But you'll be surprised what someone will think up when they're improvising.”

Rie looked up, eyes opening in disbelief that I was standing right there in front of her. I could almost hear her thought processes as she turned back to Naomi.

“NAOMI! STOP THE PROCE-”

She didn't finish, a red and white blur standing up behind her before she was cut to pieces.
_
The mirror

I flexed my right hand experimentally as I did my best to not stumble forward or show any signs of weakness. One of the Constructs was dead, only one left to go.

Naomi was looking more and more unbelieving as she tried backing away from us. “B-but how did-”

“Use your brain for once,” Asuka said behind. “You did.”

“I...”

It figures. She didn't even understand the full nature of her abilities. That would probably explain why we had even been able to get dragged to this -wow it was really dark- place. “Asuka used her illusions to trick you into uniting all 'her' fragments together, except it wasn't her you were focusing on. It was me. Thanks for the quick fix.”

I had to keep her off balance and doubting herself. If Naomi realized how close I was to death's door, if my speech slurred even a little to show how badly I was running on empty, I probably wouldn't be able to survive another mauling. And then it would just be Asuka against her...

And I didn't think that would end very well at all.

The lines on the back of Naomi's neck seemed to grow, become more pronounced as she bowed her head down. “I can't believe it. It actually happened.” A single, utterly insignificant tear began to grow and trickle down the left side of her face before she finally began to just start laughing over and over again.

“I can't believe it! In the end... how... how pathetic could she really be?! ? At the end of her life, she couldn't even have the mental focus to have some kind of safeguard reflex!” Naomi's eyes flashed with almost ridiculous glee before she pointed at us. “Let me guess... Arys died because of her own stupidity too, didn't she? She underestimated that Snow Woman and whoever else she was fighting and it cost her everything!

“It was the same with Dario and the same with Kaguya. No matter what happens, everyone thinks they can just waltz all over you people. Hell, you killed the Shiko! Even if the Hakkeshu were not bound down to the grand scheme of Destiny or the dichotomy of the Dai Makai and the Profound Shine, they certainly didn't seem to care that much about it! You're dangerous, the kind of dangerous that stems from a violent and-”

“Are you going to actually shut up sooner or later?” Asuka snapped. “You lost your partner and-”

“Oh, shut up yourself.”

Before I could even believe it, Asuka was flash-frozen in a block of ice, my mouth agape at the utter ease that Naomi had done that.

“And now that she's taken care of...” Naomi's voice took on a bemused tone as she turned to me and smiled. It was almost as if she had become an entirely separate person with Rie's death. Almost as if-

“... Your power is a fairly vague term.” I noted as I began to desperately figure out a way to avoid following Asuka's footsteps. I wasn't coming up with much of anything. “You're using it in creative ways that almost border on bull****ting your way through.”

Naomi shrugged. “Rie's power caused things to become distanced. Mine causes things to become centralized and focused. Do you have any idea what happens when it happens to someone's thought processes? I can see through your facade with the utmost of ease.”

She was nothing but talk, there was no way that-

“I can tell... so easily...” She smirked. “Now that I can actually focus... the way you're standing, the way your eyes are almost straining.” Naomi started to walk towards me. “Considering where we are, my life may very well be forfeit now that you killed Rie. But killing you will be so easy... and your numbers are so few. You two, the sword user, the Usurper Empress, the girl you call Minako Yuki... and then there's those associated with one Saori Ichimonji. At the end of the day, you're all just running on borrowed time. And before you know it, you're all dead.”

I felt my legs almost quivering as Naomi called my bluff, and as if waiting for me to try to lock my knees up so I wouldn't fall, the Construct attacked. The first blow nearly crushed my ribcage, she was 'uniting' all her strength into singular strikes, sending me into a daze as she moved for Asuka. My mind was racing as I tried to lunge at her, but she was too fast. I fell flat on my face, expecting the sounds of ice breaking and taking human life with it. Asuka was going to die and then I was going to-

“... Where... where exactly are we?” I growled to Naomi, hoping to at least stall for time if nothing else as I tried to stand up. It seemed the Construct was feeling generous, pausing and turning to me with a shrug.

Naomi started to say something before stopping herself and casually walking around Asuka's frozen body. Using Kabuto as a shield... I had to admit she was really trying to follow through on that claim of not slipping up. “... Would you believe the innermost sanctum of the Demon Empire?”

“What?!?”

Naomi chuckled. “It's true. We are at the very center of the Empire, a group that has spread and grown under the leadership of the Demon Empress Jun. And do you know why we were here at first?”

My mouth went dry. I was seeing where she was going.

“You had something planned here, didn't you?”

“Maybe we did and maybe we didn't.” Great, she was getting smug too. “And maybe you showed up with more than enough time to stop us or maybe we're already done. And maybe you need to prevent something, or maybe we've just thrown some schmuck bait in a few places and if you're dumb enough to fool around with it you'll just further our grand scheme. Oh well, whatever happens, you can gladly think be reassured hindsight is 20-20.”

Yes. Very, very smug indeed. I forced myself back up to my feet and tried to control my breathing. Coming back so close to the brink was really doing a number on me. “... And why didn't you freeze me like you did Asu-”

“What, and miss the opportunity to have an intelligent discussion with you?” Naomi asked as she peered over Asuka's icy prison, “And simultaneously rub in your face how outmatched you are? I wonder how long it's going to take until you pass out. Just stalling until the inevitable happens may be a boring way to win, but it's still a fairly decent way. Then again...” a sly grin crossed her face. “You could just be stalling for the inevitable as well. This room's not too terribly hot, a gradual thaw and your friend wouldn't be too much worse for wear...”

“Then break the ice. Right now.”

Naomi almost recoiled as I said that, surprised at my delivery before stepping back. “What are you talking about?!? Kill your friend in the proce-”

I shrugged. “In your own words, hindsight is 20-20. For all you know somewhere along the way over beating Asuka, you and your friend missed her switching places with me. How you did that I haven't a clue.

“So maybe I'm toying with you just as much as you're toying with me.”

“You're nothing but talk now, Akane Kirishima!” Naomi snarled.

“Then kill Asuka. See where you end up.”

She moved fast, faster than I could hope to match in my current state, swinging her fist down into the ice as I ran forward. So much of that had been a bluff... now it all just rested on Asuka.

Forgetting about whether or not I'd walk away after this debacle, I ran full sprint at Naomi. Yes, I was not the stellar runner that Minako was and that was when I was at peak form, but this was all about common sense.

I had to have faith in Asuka. I had to have faith she had set something up for me to work with, just like how she had fought before having faith for me.

Whether or not the ice had broken, I didn't pay attention. All I did was slip by Naomi, hands cutting through her arms, legs, and then spinning around and giving her one last cut on the neck. In spite of being Constructs, I was still rewarded with blood for my efforts, although it would just be a matter of moments for her to recover by reuniting with all the parts of her.

… I noticed a single, widening fissure in the pillar of ice.

“YA...!”

And then it completely burst open, showing a very cramped, sweaty Asuka Kabuto ramming her magatama right into the ground underneath Naomi's feet.


“... KUMO!”
_
The knight

Fudoh's fist connected with my face, knocking me right on my back. Let it officially be written down that you don't try to egg on an Oni.

“And for the last time, stop acting like she's going to get hung out to dry!” he snapped as I pulled myself up. “If you want answers, fine, you'll get them! Just be patient!”

The blow stung quite a bit, and I glared at Fudoh as I stood up again. The quaint little room we were in, complete with a few chairs and even a coffee maker had nobody else in it, and we could do nothing but wait. The revelation that Atha was, well, a member of the Hakkeshu had shaken the status quo up quite a bit in the Empire and so much that had followed was pure insanity. They were going to Court Marshall her, examine Atha's entire tenure and see where her loyalties really were.

Fudoh and I, the two that she had directly attacked prior to her attempt to kill Nagask, were also viewed with suspicion. However after a lengthy interrogation process we were deemed loyal to our Empress and her Empire.

Atha however... Atha no doubt was-

“I thought I said she'd be fine,” Fudoh said as he shook me a little, knocking me out of my introverted state. I glared him for a minute before walking away to a seat and sighed.

“This is ridiculous.”

“They want their bases covered, Keston,” Fudoh said as he found a chair opposite of me and sat down. “There are currently four Hakkeshu still alive. Yama no Izu and Tsuki no Kaguya were with the Separatists for quite a while. Ten no Seito showed it finally chose a side yesterday when it killed all those people. And Atha, Chi no Shal, has suspicions cast on her.” He leaned back, pulling out his large book again and opened it.

“We're not monsters. At least not in that context,” he said. “She'll get a fair shake and this will all serve to solidify her stance in the Empire as a soldier.”

I grumbled quietly as I stood up and walked over to the coffee dispenser. “When are we getting out of here?” Pouring myself a cup, I retched after drinking a mouthful of the stuff.

“When they decide to have someone get us. This is a serious issue... a Hakkeshu in the capital is a security concern. Plus they still might be discussing what they're going to do with us. Humans aren't the only people capable of being bogged down by bureaucracy.”

“You sound confident about all this.”

The Oni looked up at me for a second. “I-I do?” And again his unflappable nature was lost with the greatest of ease.

“Well, yeah,” I gave him a weak smile. “Here I am, freaking out and generally accomplishing nothing during this whole affair, and you at least had a shot at Seito or Nagask... or whatever he calls him-”

“It.” Fudoh corrected. “If you're going to use a pronoun in relation to Seito, 'it' would be the correct one to use.”

“But-”

Fudoh groaned as he set the book aside again. “Alright Keston, think of it this way. Angels have no definite gender. But at the same time, in ancient times they were revered because they were considered to have beautiful bodies, possessing elements associated with fertility.”

A pit began to grow in my stomach as I started to think about the indications of that. Wouldn't that mean then that-

“So if he wasn't wearing baggy clothes, we'd see that Seito would have both-”

“Oh, stop dragging it on,” Fudoh sighed before he grabbed his book and sighed. “Seito's a hermaphrodite. All angels are.”

… And I suddenly wished I could get that image out of my head.
_
The light

My phone got more messages from the same distressed caller as I ran to find them. As if the anxiety from repeatedly being reminded someone was in danger wasn't enough, more and more when I noticed a very faint snow begin to descend on the streets of Tokyo. Thoughts of Hokuko assuming her demonic state filled my mind too and I grew to worry about how that would further complicate the situation.

… And then I saw them and my fears gave way to genuine concern. No more “what ifs”, now all I had to deal with was “how can I help?”, which I was thankful for.

Some black-haired girl with large, clunky glasses was holed up in an alcove out of the snow and out of breath. Across her back was my sister's unconscious form.

The girl herself looked at me for a minute in disbelief as I slowly started to walk towards her. She propped Hokuko up before standing. “Y-you would be...?”

“Minako Yuki,” I answered. “You were calling my number.”

The girl blinked for a moment before blushing. “Um... sorry about that. I was just sending the text to all the phone numbers I could think of. I guess my ability clued me into yours too.”

This was getting baffling. “Ability? Don't tell me that you're-”

She gulped nervously before nodding. “Um, yes. I'm the Construct person.”

Why was she out here? Why was my sister unconscious? “What happened to Hokuko? And for that matter, where's Akane and Asuka?”

The girl looked at the ground. “There was a fight...” she mumbled. “Your friend here got injured and I tried to get her away from the others. I don't know what happened after that.” Almost pleadingly, she looked up at me and had to fight her best to not start crying. “I know this is crazy but you have to believe me, please.” Her composure was slipping, her pacing becoming more and more rapid as she tried to explain. “This-is-the-first-time-I've-ever-stepped-outside-my-house-andthings-aregettingreally-”

“Stop,” I told her. “Just... stop and calm down.”

“But you're the only thing here that looks natural to me!”

…

What... did she mean by that?

The girl blushed furiously as she bowed her head down. “I'm sorry, I just thought I'd have a better grasp of myself after talking with people in-person. And then you come along and just... just totally throw me off.”

“W-why would that be?”

The girl looked at me under very close scrutiny for a second before. “It's... nothing. Just nerves. Really.”

The way she said it didn't leave me so sure, but whatever the case, I shrugged. The snowing, as insignificant as it was, had stopped.

“I'll help you carry Hokuko. If it's okay with you, I'd like to get back to my apartment, to be honest. I haven't exactly had the best of luck, recently.”

“Um, yes. Of course.”
_
The north

I woke up to find myself sprawled out on a familiar bed, the one in the Yuki sisters' apartment I used nearly every day. The midday sun was streaming through the windows and illuminating our otherwise lightless apartment. My neck still hurt from that debacle last night, but I was alive and for that I was grateful. I'd have to see what I could do for Asuka and Akane.

“Ah, you're awake.”

I could see Minako, leaning on the side of the door frame, with a bowl half-filled with cereal. She flashed me a happy smile before continuing with her meal.

“Yeah...” I said before rolling out of bed. “That... what happened... was just plain crazy.”

“They mentioned it,” Minako said as she gestured towards her bedroom. “I let her have my room and took the couch instead.”

“That was generous of you, wasn't it?”

Minako laughed. “Why wouldn't I?” She left for the eating room and I followed, waiting until we were both there before having the conversation take a serious turn.

“... Any word from Asuka and Akane?”

Minako, well in the way of sitting down again, froze in mid-move for a moment. Her expression darkened as she then all but fell into the chair and looked up to me. “... nothing.”

And at that point our bright and chipper morning together came to a crashing end. We continued the meal in silence before Minako stood up again.

“It's the fifth, isn't it?”

I nodded. There was going to be a full moon tonight. Which meant that whatever Tsuki no Kaguya and whoever she was working for had planned, it was going to come to a head tonight. “... What are you going to do then?”

Minako frowned a little before trying her best to get in a better mood. “I'm going to visit Horoki. I'm going to visit her, and call Mizuki, and talk with Soma and that Vega-Stroheim girl and everyone else I know here.”

Minako....

“And then I'm going to-”

“Don't talk like that, Minako! We're going to get through-” I had bolted upright, my chair getting tipped over and falling on its side as I kept get bad feelings about what would happen.

Minako just turned and walked around me, setting the chair up again before walking straight to the fridge. Minako... what were you-

“You know quite well since, well, whenever you started doing your hijinx as the Black Tortoise of the North, which we'll just breeze over because we're both adults and we're past that, that I've had to deal with a lot of crazy stuff.”

“But that was all just arranged by Brauner to-”

My sister opened up the refrigerator. “That doesn't mean I can't fight. Twice now those Constructs have made attempts on my life. And I've survived them both. I've made it this far in my life, and I've accomplished a lot.” She shut the door to the fridge before turning to me. “We're running low on some fruits and vegetables. I'll see if I can get some today.”

… “Minako... why are you...?”

“Doing what?” She smiled. “The past two years have been... just wonderful. I have a sister who loves me very much, a girlfriend who I want to spend the rest of my life with, I've reconnected with an old childhood friend and made others...

“This is a world that I've finally been able to see without worrying about monsters or the fate of the world. Yes, there was that problem with the Hallowed Prisms but there were people with the decency to deal with it on their own. And I owe them all. This is a great world in spite of all its flaws, a world that should be protected.” Minako waved happily to me before walking out the door.

“And I'm going to protect it.”

This post has been edited by MorriganAensland: Sep 19 2009, 12:21 AM

[MorriganAensland]

The hope

Hokuko placed the teapot on the table, asking if I wanted any sugar to go with it while she was still up. I respectfully declined, more concerned with the other Yuki sister and what she was going to do tonight and hence not having much of an appetite.

“When things seemed bad, you know...” my girlfriend started to say as she poured us both a cup. “Before I was Hokuko... did she ever act like this?”

“Wouldn't you be better able to tell me that?” I asked Hokuko. “I mean... it's not like you didn't see her around the campus of M--.”

“Certainly, but... well, there's observing and then there's experiencing. The Shiko and Brauner ran her through the real Magic Girl experience, including making her scramble to get various useless trinkets every once in a while and generally just playing a Zero Sum Game with her while we found the Candidates and the stewards of Jun's castle. For us it was just going through the motions-”

I knew where Hokuko was going well before she got to it, “But for her it was like the entire world was at stake.” A single sip of the tea and the burning sensation on my tongue that followed convinced me that a bit of ice couldn't hurt as I stood up to get some. “Well, maybe it just never got to her. Maybe she believed in her own abilities.”

“But this is different though. Her armor and her very strength is failing and we don't have a clue why. And now Asuka and Akane are missing, Horoki's still injured, and to top it off, there's that Construct girl.”

I looked down the hall of the apartment. Minako's bedroom door was shut tightly and no light was coming out of it.

“How's she's doing, incidentally?”

“She's staying quiet,” Hokuko told me. “She turned down breakfast, and from the sounds of it Minako tried to get her to eat too. No luck.”

Weird. The word escaped me at the moment, but she was starting to remind me of one of those people that stayed holed up in their home, just living on the Internet and being super antisocial. “What are we going to do with her then? She can't just stay cooped up in Minako's room the whole time.”

Hokuko looked down at her tea as she thought of our options. It didn't take her long to speak up again. “We'll give her her privacy for the moment. When Minako comes back, then we can face her together.”

“You almost sound like she's an enemy...”

“She's the only Construct we've met that hasn't tried to kill us. I'm just trying to air on the safe side of things.”

Fair enough. But then again I really couldn't imagine that she'd-

There was a knock at the door. Hokuko and I both froze. The girl had contacted Minako via cell phone. A phone that neither of us, and presumably not Minako either, had confiscated. Aside from the incident with Horoki, none of us had been attacked at our homes.

… But it was different now. Asuka and Akane were missing, causing our ranks to be thinned even more than before. It wasn't even snowing outside, meaning Hokuko and I couldn't even count on her demonic nature. If the enemy was aiming to kill us then-

Hokuko had stood up very, very quietly and looked at me, with the kind of expression that screamed “Say something!”

… I didn't know what she was planning. But whatever it was, she was moving to the side of the door. I couldn't understand any of it all, but my girlfriend grew more and more visibly frustrated as the seconds crawled by.

Finally I just gave up and spoke.

“Uh... yeah?”

Nothing came in response for a minute before I heard a low, soft kind of laugh. “... And what, pray tell...” a masculine voice came from the other side of the door, “What pray tell would you, Soma Elpiz, being doing in the apartment of a woman such as Minako Yuki?”

Oh god this was not going to end well at all... was it? Any second now the door was going to utterly shatter and then some horridly powerful man was going to charge in here and kill both of us and-

… Wait. That voice. I... knew it all too well.

Whatever Hokuko had planned would have to be scrapped. I grabbed the doorknob and pulled. And there, standing in front of my, looking a little more tanned and scruffy than eighteen months ago... in his blue-haired glory...

Was Ikki Higashi.
_
The student

“... D-dad...”

I couldn't believe it. Standing there in a heavy winter coat and with his hands buried in its pockets was my father, Johan Stroheim. This was entirely out of the blue. He was supposed to be scouring the world clean of Hallowed Prism users and saving them from themselves. Why... why was he here?!?

“It's been a while, hasn't it, Giselle?” he said as he looked around the room that had been rented out by L++ for the field trip. “How are you holding up?”

I found my throat had become incredibly dry as he reached out ever so slightly with his hands. I understood the gesture in an instant and embraced him. Nine months. Nine months since I had seen him last. Nine months since I had fought tooth and nail to avenge my mother and find him.

Tears slightly welled up in my eyes as he patted my head ever so slightly. “You got your hair cut.”

“... You weren't here to have a say in it,” I half-joked. He took the remark in stride, laughing as he looked down at me.

“I'm sorry. Please forgive a wronged and manipulated man for desiring to atone.”

Considering what I had done prior to finding him, I didn't think I was anyone to judge. Instead I simply slid out of his embrace and looked at him for a moment. “... What's the occasion?”

“... My contact. I received a text last night, as did Ikki, saying she was in trouble and providing a street address in Tokyo. In fact, we got multiple texts from her, all with the same thing except for a difference in the location.”

Wait... contact. Did that mean- “And where's Ikki?”

“He headed off to meet up with a girl named Minako Yuki.” So things kept getting intertwined together. “I thought it would be nice to actually pay you a visit for once.”

I bowed my head in appreciation. But it wasn't as if he had forsaken all contact with me, even though at the same time, this was the first I'd seen him in nine whole months. “Her?”

He blinked. “... Are you...”

“I met her yesterday. It's... a bit of a long story. I was actually thinking of checking up on her later today... because, well... a lot of crazy stuff is probably going to happen soon.”

My father's eyes narrowed. “How soon?”

“Tonight.”

My father sighed as he slumped down ever so slightly. “Tell me about it during lunch. It wouldn't be a problem, would it?”

I shook my head. This was pretty much a do-nothing day for us. Or it very well could be. Not like I had any reason to place L++'s admittedly sound programs in front of my dad.

Dad smiled. “Good. I'll get some of that actual ramen, not that cheap instant stuff you probably have been scarfing down by the boatloads.”
_
The light

“Hey there.”

I smiled as I walked down the street, phone in hand and calling the most important person in the world to me. “And right back at you.” It was yet another reason why I couldn't let the impending shadow of Tsuki no Kaguya get to me. If she killed me... what would happen to Mizuki? She had a chance to kill the Hakkeshu and that had fallen through in it's entirety. Kaguya was still alive. And she was going to be gunning for me in a matter of hours. If I died, then Mizuki would never be able to live with herself. And I couldn't have that. “How're things over there?”

“More problems, but not of the dangerous kind,” Mizuki said with a huff. “I'm under house arrest and pretty much under my parents' watchful eyes. The punishment would probably not be as severe if I had actually told them what I was doing in a city where everyone had been killed and been hanging out with two critically injured persons, two uninjured Interpol agents, and a kid.”

“Are they going to be alright? Those two-”

“Yeah. The Tiam lady's gone through worse, from what Saori said. And Tsukuyomi's still a god no matter what. He's in the process of shrugging off his injuries.”

I sighed. “Still not in any shape to fight, is he?”

There was a momentary pause on the phone. “... No. No he's not.”

I smiled. “Then I'll just have to do it myself, now won't I?” It wouldn't be impossible. I'd figure something out. The way Mizuki had always figured something out in all her battles before when so much was at stake. For a long time, I didn't get any response from my girlfriend, and I eventually spoke up again in an attempt to change the subject. “So how'd you get your phone back again then?”

Mizuki snorted. “Easy. It's the middle of the night, I know where they put it, and there's always the Dai Makai to soundproof my room.” Ah, such a wonderful tactic. I could feel my face blush when I thought about that night when we had-

“You're thinking about what I think you're thinking about, aren't you?” The blush went to a full, embarrassed red-face as I heard Mizuki give an honest laugh.

“Uh... yeah...” I knew it was a weak response, but I said it anyways. The change in subject was reminding me of what I still had to do today before sunset. “Look, I need to get going, Mizuki.”

“Alright. I love you.”

“I love you to.”
_
The list of odds and ends I needed to pick up quickly dwindled, the last one being the most recent volume of Arcane Hecate for Horoki. After that, there wasn't anything else to really worry about at all and she deserved a little extra something to cheer her up after nearly getting killed.

Much to my surprise, she was waiting for me down in the lobby of the hospital, bandages all over her body. In spite of that, she still gave me a bright and honest smile.

“Hey there!” she said before noticing the manga book in my hands. “... Aw, for me?”

My gaze shifted away from Ayasato as I spoke. “Well you did get attacked and nearly killed because of me.”

“But I didn't, and that's important, right? So what is it? More Arcane Hecate?[/i”

I smiled. “Yeah. Plus since you're up, I might as well give you your sword back.”
_
[i]The hope

I... I couldn't believe it as Ikki continued his tale, highlighting so many events, so many other Hallowed Prism users he had faced and struggled against with nothing but his courage and wits. This was... the man that I had been forced to punch so very long ago?

“And you have Zien here too,” Ikki remarked as he finally finished up, “And not only that but Giselle as well. I'm sure Johan is glad to see his daughter again.”

Hokuko looked confused at the man before speaking. “Wait, 'Zien'?”

“Yeah.” Ikki nodded as if nothing was the matter. “The person that kept providing us information. After the death of Midori Ai, she started being a bit more open to us. And by that I just mean that she said that she wasn't Kei Kimatura... whoever that was.”

“We'll explain that later,” I told him. “But anyways... how did she end up with a name like that?”

Ikki opened his mouth to answer but stopped. “Would you believe... a typo?”

… A typo? How... how even would that work?!?

Judging by the utterly baffled looks on both of our faces, Ikki continued again. “I'm serious here. I really am. One day Johan and I got a tip about a problem in Hamburg and, well, German language, phonetics problems, Johan wanting clarification on something and then rampant apologies by poor Zien. It really shook her up.”

“And then you just started calling her that?” Hokuko asked. “Isn't that a little cruel to keep reminding her of something she obviously feels horrible about?”

“We never called her that to her face.” Ikki was quick to defend himself and Stroheim, almost taking on a professional tone in the process. Good old lawyer tactics... with the right word choices one with a good grasp of them could easily make almost any taboo acceptable. “But we referred to her by that name It was the first time, really, that I saw her as someone more than just a voice saying 'Prisms are here. Destroy them'. I wanted to remember that about her.”

… Believable enough.

“Well...” he stood up before walking down the hall. “Which one is she in?”

“Minako's,” Hokuko said as she quickly followed him. I in turn followed her, and without any kind of hesitance after being shown which room, Ikki promptly opened the door to “Zien's” inner sanctum.

Hokuko didn't seem surprised at all at the complete lack of light, guess that was just standard issue with the Construct, although thanks to opening the door we got a better view of everything. For a second I was wondering if Minako's room would have changed to some kind of hellish portal to a land ruled by the damned. But then again... considering how friendly the Demon Empress was compared to what you'd expect...

“... You're... Ikki Higashi.”

Zien was sitting on Minako's bed, doing nothing at all. It would have almost been creepy, but she just carried herself in this quiet, resigned way.

Ikki bowed his head in recognition as he stepped into the room. “And you're the person who gave me the means to atone for my past crimes. I do believe this is the first time we've ever met, to be honest.”

“It is,” Zien answered. “I'm sorry, but I don't really know what to say.”

“... You know dangerous things are happening, don't you?” he said to her. “Things totally unrelated to the Hallowed Prisms.”

“And there's two of our own that are missing to boot,” I spoke up. The Construct looked at me for a moment in surprise. “Nobody told you that, did they?”

Zien paused for a moment, looking almost anxious as she struggled to speak. “I... I know they're alive. Uh, look. This is... uncomfortable for me. But if you wouldn't mind... I'd... like to help.”

I could see Hokuko suddenly become much more relieved. She probably had been considering pressing the girl into lending a hand however she could.

“That's a good sign, Zien,” Ikki said, addressing the Construct by the name he'd given her. I could almost see her stiffen up and blush when he said that word; I guess the memory was fresh in her mind as well. Nevertheless Ikki continued on. “Johan's here too. As is Giselle. We have a life to save and we don't have much time, now do we?”
_
The light

I slouched forward, just staring at the stretches of white snow dotted with various trees. Somehow Horoki and I had found ourselves at the park, just talking about stuff and how quickly this had been happening. “How are your folks handling this all?”

“Upset, granted,” Horoki responded. “At the same time though, what can they really accuse me of? This Arys girl was someone nobody knew about to say nothing about having records of. The police are utterly confused by it all and honestly? That's a bit of a reassurance.”

“But what about insurance and repairs to your house?”

“Minor details,” Horoki said with a smile. “... Now how about you? Tonight's the night, isn't it?”

I checked my watch. Only a few hours away from it at that. “I'll be fine. I know what I'm doing. I'm not going to die tonight. No matter what.”

Horoki laughed. “Confident, aren't you?”

“Just going back to basics,” I told her. “Enemy appears, fight them, and beat them. You, Mizuki...” my voice drifted off for a moment, “Asuka and Akane... you all did that just fine. And I was doing it long before you even picked up your first Magic Girl manga.”

Horoki looked up into the sky in contemplation. “Then you're going to need the Kusanagi blade then. For tonight, that is.”

“What?” I turned to her in confusion. “But that's-”

“You said go back to the basics, right?” She turned to me and gave me an innocent smirk. “Didn't you use it before me? Wasn't it like standard issue with your armor?”

“Yeah, I guess it-”

“Then of course you're going to have to need it if you're going to need it. I mean... just think about this for one second: all those battles you had over all those years before you met Mizuki, you were using the Kusanagi, right? And how many of them did you lose?” There was a brief pause. And even though Horoki could sometimes be dense, she knew my silence could only mean one thing. “It's settled then.”

She had a point. No matter what happened to my armor or my powers in general, the Kusanagi blade was always going to be something to fall back on. The fact Horoki was willing to let me keep it meant that she'd stay out of-

“I'll be joining up with you!”

What?!? “H-Horoki, you got be crazy! There's no way in your shape that I would let you-”

I was almost expecting to get slapped. It seemed that was the preferred choice when you needed to shut someone up, after all. Horoki didn't do that, instead she just stood up to give herself the image of standing over me.

“You think I'm just going to sit around and wait for my injuries to get better? Minako, someone is trying to kill you. What kind of friend would I be to just sit back and throw you to the lions in your current state!?!”

I stood up in response. This could very easily lead to a shouting match. But how much would that really accomplish? It could simply lead to me fighting Kaguya and being on death's door, only for Horoki to swoop in and save the day at the final moment because that's what friendship meant like so many of those comics she read. Whatever happened next would probably devolve into being a very contrived sequence that possibly would ruin any kind of drama as soon as someone would quote a story.

Or I could just be honest.

My gaze shifted to the side as I spoke. “You're the kind of friend who shouldn't have to worry about saving the day for me anymore.”

For a while Horoki didn't speak and I was afraid I had touched a nerve.

“Huh?”

… Then again, maybe I had just not been direct enough.

“Horoki.” I turned back to her. “Everyone's done so much for me. I need to return the favor.”

“Getting yourself killed won't solve anything though.”

“And I'm not going to let myself get killed.”

…

“You know... she's right.”

Horoki and I almost jumped when he heard Hokuko speak out. Looking around in confusion, I finally found them. All of them... or at least those that were still here. Giselle, my sister, Soma, that Construct girl, and then two adult men flanking them. One, though I was surprised to see him, was obviously Ikki Higashi. The other, however... was an unknown. He looked European.

“Getting yourself killed won't solve anything. And you care a lot about this world, don't you?” It was Giselle who spoke this time. “That's the only reason why you're doing this, isn't it? A sense of responsibility and guilt?”

… I was starting to wonder if that Construct's ability to “Assist” was helping them get to the root issue of all of this.

Horoki looked quizzically at them, “Who's the girl with the glasses? She the Construct?”

“Yeah. That would be me,” the spectacled girl said. “And my name is not 'Zien'.”

… O... kay...

“But anyways, Yuki, this is the case isn't it?” Giselle asked again.

I nodded. But just because they knew why I wanted to do this didn't mean they could persuade me to-

As if having this all planned out, Giselle just kept going. “And what happens if Kaguya decides to start killing civilians then? Do you really want to risk that? It's one thing if your powers start failing in defense of you, granted. But what about everyone else?”

The warmth and presumably the color drained from my face. I... would have to chew Soma out for getting help from a skilled prosecutor some time. But still...

“... You're right.” I hated to admit that. But we knew already that Kaguya was someone all too willing to kill entire towns for selfish and childish reasons. And it would be just as childish for me to endanger so many people for the sake of pride. “But still, the fact remains, I don't want anyone else getting involved.”

“Then compromise.” Ikki's tone was very casual. “It's not impossible. We still have a few hours before sundown anyways. Why not make the most of it?”

Well, crap. I had no real choice but to smile and agree. These were the people I fought for. The people that were smart enough to understand and appease the desires of someone like me.

Come tonight, I would not let them down.
_
The jewel

… How did things end up like this? I mean... really. Alright, the whole not getting killed by Naomi thing was easy enough: lock-up all the air immediately around me to serve as a kind of cushion in case she tried something and then get her when she was caught off-guard.

Admittedly, getting frozen in a block of ice had not been part of the plan at all. But hey, Akane had given me the opening I needed once Naomi cracked the ice open enough to break free. And her body was quite dead when it crashed back down into the ground next to us.

What followed afterwards could best be summed up as getting medical attention by the very Legions of Hell. Except said Legions actually used sound medical practices like keeping everything clean, for starters.

And then I and a still-weary Akane found ourselves in front of her.

“Hello there you two. It's been a while, hasn't it?”

A red dress. Long, wavy-black hair. And a perfect, nigh-flawless Dai Makai at her disposal to appease her every whim. The Demon Empress Jun.

We were inside of a large black chamber quite reminiscent of the castle we had needed to hack through all those many months ago. Things were very much the same in terms of appearance. There was Jun standing in front of us, hordes of monsters of varying sizes and degrees of humanity flanking her. I took a guess that they were bodyguards.

“Yeah,” I answered. “And we've gone through debriefings. Twice.”

The Empress sighed. “I'd apologize, but then again, we are fighting a war.”

“We know. A certain Brazilian girl told us,” Akane remarked.

“Ah, Vega-Stroheim.” Jun gave a slight smile at the mention of the girl. “She's done a lot. A great many people have, for that matter. And right now, we're returning the favor. It's the right thing to do, after all.

“I'm sorry for all of these precautions, but we can take steps to see that you return home. If you want, I think Susanoo could spare a few hours.” The goddess grew downcast as she continued. “Normally, considering what's going to happen so soon, I might try to convince Ammy to lend a hand... but... she's not talking to anyone.”

“What?” This was news to me. “What are you talking about?”

“I honestly don't know. But something happened and she locked herself away. It almost reminds me of that incident... in mythological times.” Jun laughed sadly. “We were so young then... And we've barely even had the chance to start living for ourselves.”

“And you can't afford to lend us actual manpower, right?” I asked this already know the answer... I had discussed this with Susanoo yesterday.

Jun sighed. “Manpower that could make a genuine difference against a Hakkeshu and not attract attention? That would be impossible. To say nothing of the issue of escalation.”

Akane took a step forward, and I was half-expecting her to point defiantly at Jun. “Please tell me right now that you're not going to just throw all of us away. I know you're better than that.”

Oh crap. This could very, very easily end badly. All it would take would be-

“Minako's armor and her powers are failing, aren't they?” What? She knew about that? The surprised look on my face was all the confirmation that Jun needed. “I'm not surprised, really?”

“You know why it's happening?” Akane anxiously asked. “That's great! That means that-”

“It's just a guess, really.” Jun sighed. “An educated one, admittedly, but a guess all the same. It has to do with Loretta Brauner, actually.”

“... What's she got to do with anything?” I said. “We're past the age of Destiny, aren't we? First of all, she's dead. And second of all, the Shiko are either dead or reformed.”

“Not all of her creations are gone, however. No... I didn't watch from the sidelines for far thousands of years just to let her slip something past me. It's her armor.”

“What?” Now it was Akane's turn to be shaken up severely by something. I bet she didn't see this coming. “But why would-”

I, on the other hand, would just roll with this. I was starting to catch onto Jun's idea as it was. “... Let me guess,” I spoke calmly. “You think Brauner provided it for her?”

“As a means to control her by being a focal point through the Profound Shine would flow, in fact,” Jun answered. “The gradual decay of the power of Destiny explains why the armor itself is failing, and Minako's powers along with it.”

“Because she can't manifest her powers without the armor.” Very, very clever of you, Brauner. Even in death, you still left a little something behind to continue harassing us and endangering Minako in the process.

Akane grumbled something under her breath before speaking. “Then how are we going to deal with this then? Obviously destroying the armor won't fix the problems, will it?”

Jun smirked. “Think about it. In ancient times, Amaterasu was coaxed back into the world after hiding in Yomi due to the Yasakani Magatama and the Yata Mirror. Think for a second what are in your possession. I'm sure the answer will come to you.”
_
The light

Midnight. The streets of Tokyo were more or less burned out, with few people up and walking around. Some were just hoodlums and delinquents doing whatever, others were basic office workers going home after putting in another late night in their cubicle.

I was quite alone. Everyone else was going to stick to the plan. I could trust them to do that. And now it just came down to her.

The world darkened a bit as I looked up into the sky. The bright moonlight faded away into nothing with such ease as I heard the sound of snow grinding under the feet of someone in front of me. I looked down and my eyes narrowed.

“Mizuki was wrong about your color-scheme, it seems.”

The woman shrugged. She was there in an elegant black dress, matching her hair and the entirety of her eyes in hue.

“I have my Lunar Eclipse,” Tsuki no Kaguya retorted. “With my true power comes my true appearance. What do you have that compares to that?”

I closed my eyes. It was do-or-die time. But I wouldn't be scared. I had all that I needed.

My eyes snapped open as I spoke loudly.

“CHANGE! YAMI!”

[MorriganAensland]

A/N: ARGH! This chapter took FOREVER to make. I have no excuses. V_V However, I DO have kudos for a friend of mine, LinneaKou, who made an awesome sketch for Minako specifically for this chapter.

The flawed

The pungent and disgusting flavor of instant noodles woke me from my slumber just as well as smelling salts could. The surroundings were the same as they had been last night: a basic apartment with couch in front of the television. With my sensing gradually getting themselves up to working order, I pulled myself from that couch, seeing Saori wave to me from the dinner table.

“... You're... having ramen for breakfast?” I groaned. “... Nine months and you still haven't cleared that stockpile out, have you?”

“I took care of that eons ago,” Saori said with a shrug. “This is an entirely new batch.”

So she hadn't learned her lesson at all. How surprising.

“... Uh... look...” My hand still ached from the countless points where I had run that Hallowed Prism through it, “About... then...” It was all becoming routine for me now after the events of that day. If I was in private with Anser or Saori, I just couldn't help but try to apologize... It was getting kinda annoying, to be honest. No doubt it would be even worse for them.

“Shot, it's alright.” Saori was doing her best to keep me from getting all that worried or stressed again, and if she was growing irritated at me repeatedly brining it up, well... Saori had handled much worse. “You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to.”

She was at least cutting me a break in that regard. I thought it the best to just try to change the subject. “Where's Anser?”

“Anser?” Saori scooped up some of the ramen before slurping it down. “He's sleeping in. By all rights he has class today but I let the teachers know that things had come up. Besides, we've had so many late-nighters ever since New Years. At least one of us needs a break.”

My throat grew a little dry as I stood up. “How is Kerrigan doing?”

Saori didn't lose her focus on the conversation as she finished off her breakfast and sighed. “Bedridden, but very much alive. Iris is standing guard like usual. I'm hoping things can cool over quickly and we can get back home, to be honest.”

Words failed me as I tried to figure out what to say. I could just look at Saori before plopping back down on the couch. “... How's the Hachi Satsu operating now anyways? It wouldn't be like Interpol to entirely disband a successful program like that.” Nine months at the whim of that woman... Mio Yui... I couldn't believe how stupid I was for following that woman.

My right hand twitched again ever so slightly, drawing my attention down to it. Bandages crisscrossed over the entire length. I had really gone overboard.

“Shot.” Saori's voice snapped me out of my introspective musings as she stared into my eyes. “Think about what I've had to live with for a minute. And think about how everything can be viewed relatively.

“Compare yourself to Eri, Shot. Compare yourself and your fallacies that were not yours alone with those of someone who did it of their own volition. Besides, are you going to let that woman, Mio Yui... get away with what she's done?”

What she had done? What did Saori mea-

“She desecrated the boon that Kei gave you in the past, didn't she?”

…

My fingers twisted reflexively as I looked away from Saori. As much as I wanted to believe that, I knew it couldn't possibly be true. “That power was also holding you back, correct? Ensuring I would 'Surpass' you by limiting your growth, right?” Maybe they were in league with each other. Maybe Kei and Mio had laid out this oh-so-intricate plot years ago and were now springing the trap. And then-

Saori's left hand connected with my face, slapping me harshly and bringing me to focus on Ichimonji again. “Don't think like that. Do not.”

“That's easy for you to say, isn't it?” I fired back. “You never met Kei. You didn't see what she was like. And now I'm finding myself second guessing every moment of our one meeting with her.”

“And as I said before, don't do that. Shot, think here for a second. Your power did more than just suppress my growth, think of how it reacted with the Hallowed Prisms.”

The Prisms. Those creations of Midori Ai, those objects with the power to grant the heart's desires. And would that mean... “... then no matter what, Kei had at least a fiber of altruism in her, didn't she?”

I felt a pressure on my shoulder, Saori having just rested her hand on it. “Yeah. And that's why. That's why you shouldn't second-guess Kei's intentions.”
_
The light

I'd been expecting a pathetic excuse for my armor to answer my summons as I charged at Kaguya. What I had to work with not only lived up to my expectations but all too easily shook my resolve. The entire upper-left half of the main plate was gone, the only thing on my entire left arm being a doublet, and the rest of my armor suffering from decay and corrosion.

The aforementioned doublet, incidentally, shattered to dust after my fist collided with Kaguya's, the force nearly breaking my arm in the process as well.

“You didn't think it would be easy, did you?” Kaguya smugly asked as I struggled to think up a strategy. “Well, too bad for that.” The Hakkeshu lunged at me with horrifying speed, swinging her hands up to deliver a mortal blow. Diving back, I did the only thing I could to stall: grab a handful of snow and sling it at her face. She batted it away with a look of bemusement on her face, but still relented for a moment.

“Determined, aren't you?” She laughed. “What can you do in your current state, really! I don't even need to raise a finger.”

We stood in a deadlock, Kaguya just standing there and acting as if her grand scheme to kill me had finally come to fruition. Whatever it was, however, I simply wasn't seeing it as we stood in the deserted winter streets of Tokyo. “I don't see what the point of thi-”

“And now.”

Something lashed tightly to all my limbs and my throat, barely letting me choke out a scream as Kaguya just stared at me.

“I got the idea when I fought that Rajoshin woman... it's a little ingenious, don't you think? Then again, you can't really see... I'll have to fix that.”

My head was forced to look straight down, letting me behold the dozens of transparent, black hands reaching up from the ground. Oh... god no.

D-Dai Makai? Here?!? It was bad enough with that weird fetus thing nine months ago but-

“And just in case you can breath by some kind of miracle, let's be safe too.” Kaguya snapped her fingers as another shadowy mass appeared, clamping down on my mouth too as the others began to constrict tightly. The world started to go black as Kaguya just looked at me, unimpressed by it all.

“You're quite pathetic, really,” Kaguya scolded as all the hands pulled me face down into the ground. This was bad. “What made you think you could do anything with those failing powers of yours?”

I could hear cracking noises, a weight feeling removed from my legs in the process. More of my armor was getting destroyed and I knew it was only seconds until the same started happening to my bones. I wasn't going to let that happen.

A pale and weak light emanated from me, nonetheless warding off Kaguya's hands as I tried to stand up again. It was almost too easy when I put my effort to it, the tremendous darkness that surrounded me raising my light's power at least a little and-

A force comparable to a freight train slammed into me, sending me careening into a streetlight. The impact bent the streetlight down as I could see Kaguya charging again.

“Persistent, even when your death is so near!”

“I have to be!” I reached up, pulling down on the light and attempting to hit Kaguya with it. She simply slid to the side and attacked again. Just as I wanted.

So many years of my life had been spent fighting those mock-battles cooked up by Brauner and the Shiko. So many fights where I had been forced to improvise. And this monster of a woman, who had attempted to kill Mizuki, the person closest to me in the whole world, thought I would let her beat me?

She attacked, no doubt frustrated as I slid backwards before reaching down and grabbing a few visible wires from the streetlight. Jamming them into her, I was rewarded the sound of maddened shrieks and no-doubt painful twitches and contortions.

“Don't think I can't fight at a disadvantage.” I used the opportunity as well as I could, grabbing Kaguya's head and bringing it into contact with my unfortunately unarmored knee. The Hakkeshu was knocked back for a moment, finally free from the electrocution as she stared at me in anger.

“... Experience can do a lot to even the odds,” I told her.

“Granted, but that would be more of an issue if we weren't in a habited city, right?” Kaguya gestured around her, my gaze following the motions. My eyes opened wide in terror. “My power isn't exactly that of the Dai Makai, so to speak... It's more that of gravity. Well... when it's not being tainted with the light of the Sun, anyways.”

Every building, every structure on the street, had those ghostly arms wrapped around them... before they promptly collapsed in on themselves and crushed whoever and whatever was inside.

“And just think... if I had killed you already, there's a chance I would've gotten bored and just left everyone alone. Then again...” Amidst the crumpled-up balls of metal and glass, high-pressure streams of blood began to spray into the air. “Tokyo's a big city... it would be quite fun, to be honest, to run rampant here. Of course, Seito would be proud of me. That's extra incentive. Wouldn't you agree... Minako?”

I adjusted my footing and tried to look around for a serviceable weapon. With all the wreckage lying around after that... unforgivable act, there had to be something I could use.

“Oh, and before you think of trying anything else...” Kaguya turned her back to me and started walking away. “You're about to die.”

What did she mean why would-

A shard of something impaled me from behind, barely missing my heart as I frantically looked around.

Kaguya paused and chuckled before looking back at me. “If I can't use gravity to crush your body, I'll find another way... one that has so many useful means of attacking you. I couldn't decide which one to indulge in. So I decided to use them all.”

The metal and the glass all around me twitched. Oh god, she was going to do it. This was not going to end well at-

“And that,” Kaguya snapped her fingers. All those materials shot straight at me, from every angle. I cowered, trying to cover up my body and pray for the best. This was not going to be easy. “Is tha-”

From the corner of my eye, I saw a violet flicker. And then a haughty voice rang out quite clearly.

“Your next line will be 'How dare you interrupt my speech.'”

I looked up, seeing my body surrounded by a spiraling stream of purple flames and holding the wreckage at bay, Kaguya glaring at me furiously.

“How dare you inter-” Kaguya's moth dropped open as two figures, one in red and the other in white, shot past me. There was another burst of purple, knocking all the glass and metal away from me and into Kaguya, and then I saw Akane bolt past me, lashing out with a handful of punches and kicks before flipping away, the torrent of blows continuing to repeat themselves even after Kirishima had stopped.

… Remember how I had a brief rant before about not wanting this to happen? How I didn't want someone to swoop to my rescue in a heartwarming and emotional sequence?

Yeah. Forget all of that. Besides, that was relating to Horoki, Giselle, and Hokuko. This was totally different. I wasn't even going to ask where they had been because, well... I had gotten a lucky break and I wasn't going to jinx it.

“You've... uh... got some window stuck in your back...” Asuka said.

Reaching back, I clenched my teeth as I pulled it out. “I did, at any rate.” It was a bit heavier and wetter than those shards of my armor's wings I had been using before, but it would have to make do as a weapon for now. “So what's the plan, you two?”

Kaguya sighed. “Numbers aren't going to change anything, you know that? At the end of the day you're all just stupid humans.” Raising a hand up and grinning cruelly, Kaguya began to laugh again as she looked at Akane. “... The power of the Yata Mirror, well, all of the Imperial Regalia are dangerous, but that doesn't mean anything against something like me. After all... all I have to do is put my mind to it... and you're all dead.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Asuka snorted. “Let's see how arrogant you are when you're run though by a giant hunk of metal.”

Kaguya opened her mouth to speak again, but was promptly impaled by a ridiculously long and think sword that seemed to be more a plate of metal wielded to a handle.

Horoki poked her head behind Kaguya's back. “Sorry I'm late, guys... You should have mentioned this before.” Grunting, I could only stare in amazement as Ayasato hefted the blade in the air, Kaguya sliding off and hurtling through the night air before crashing into the pavement far away.

“You guys...” I couldn't believe it. I'd been so stupid, so prideful as to try to fight on my own... and here they were risking life and limb for someone like me. “How did... how did you even manage to get back?”

“A friendly visit to one Matei Jun,” Akane said. “We had the fortune of getting a few questions answered in the process, and we think-” She didn't finish. All she did was just just kinda drift off, her eyes opening wide as all light around us nearly vanished.

I could almost feel some kind of pressure or wave come bearing down on me. “You...” Kaguya's voice resonated in my head as I bore witness to the full power of a Hakkeshu. “Pathetic, stupid, insignificant...” My muscles all looked up as I heard agonized screams.

And then color returned to the world, and I found myself getting strangled by Kaguya, with Asuka, Horoki, and Akane sprawled out on the ground around us. It was unnerving, seeing this monster of a woman prove to be so much of a threat when she should be dead. And she could understand my feelings all too well as she pulled me close and whispered.

“... It surprises me... knowing exactly what you are, exactly what's inside you... that people would be willing to risk so much for you. I mean, even right now...” her voice trailed off as Kaguya began to silently count, mouthing each number. One, two, three, four, five, si-

“MINAKO!”

Casually Kaguya threw me aside into one of the wreckage heap, where I could see Hokuko lunging straight at her. This was crazy, any second now Kaguya would just-

There was a glint of silver behind my sister, and before Kaguya could even realize what was happening, a collection of metal blades lashed out from behind her and tore across the Hakkeshu's body. Hokuko got the time needed to plant a fist right in Kaguya's face.

Giselle came into view then, having recalled the blades to make the kendama form a scythe. “You think we'll just let you have your way?!?” she snarled. Kaguya attempted attack her only for Hokuko to kick her in the back of the neck. Giselle screamed out in fury as she brought the weapon down, slashing it across Kaguya's face. The black-haired woman could barely move out of the way in time, and still got a very painful gash across her face.

Kaguya looked at the blood on her hand in disbelief. “So many... so many people that would-”

Two figures appeared from high up, Ikki Higashi and Johan Stroheim crashing down into the Hakkeshu's face, knocking her off and away.

“This is our fight just as much as it is yours, Yuki,” Johan said sternly.

Everyone was... everyone was willing to-

Another furious blast of power was released, sending me flying away further. With that, Giselle, her father, Ikki and Hokuko joined Akane and the others on the ground in crumpled heaps as Kaguya turned to me again and smiled.

“Still alive, huh?” She laughed as she pointed at me. “Even with your armor practically gone...” That was an understatement. The only thing left was a view pieces of it protecting my torso, “Even with that injury from before... you are still conscious. You've taken my full power and you can still stand and fight, no matter how pathetic it would be.” The ground beneath Kaguya cracked and split open as she charged at me.

“BUT THIS IS THE END, MINAKO YUKI! AT MY PEAK... IN THIS ENVIRONMENT... THERE IS NOTHING HERE THAT CAN WITHSTAND MY POWER!”

There was another crash and burst of darkness overwhelming me. My body felt like nothing more than a mass of nerves as I screamed and crashed into the ground. Why was I even capable of drawing breath? I could barely register my body's movements, no matter how insignificant they were as Kaguya looked down at me.

What was this person? Was this the power of a Hakkeshu... a creature that existed since the beginning of the Earth, wielding a force outside that of even Destiny's domain? Or was I just so out of it that I'd-

… I didn't think someone like you would just give up. Not after all you've gone through.

… Who... who was that? There was a voice in my head, a woman's. She spoke very calmly, almost comforting, really. I was halfways tempted to just chalk it up to another trick, to be honest.

You're unfamiliar with me. To be granted, I should have no ability to communicate with you. However, due to your nature and your abilities... I've found a way.

Yeah? And just who are you?

Someone who's previously helped Mizuki's allies in New York.

… I see. And you think you can help?

I can do very little, unfortunately. But you cannot doubt yourself. No matter what, you must have confidence in your abilities. The Dai Makai is a shield, the Profound Shine is a sword. You have the power to strike this woman down, if you truly force yourself to continue on. For the people you care about... do not let them down. You can still stand and fight, protect them even now. Are you the kind of person that would shirk from this duty?

…

No. No I wasn't.

“KAGUYA!”

I was leaving a red, bloody trail behind me as I tackled Kaguya, screaming and attacking her over and over again with my bare hands. Everyone was chipping in, trying to let me have a chance of killing Kaguya. I... would... NOT let that be in vain!

Tsuki no Kaguya leered at me and I knew what was going to happen. Almost in a panic I fired off a beam of light into the night sky as my whole body was thrown off of her as the ground began to crack around her again. “... The more you cling to consciousness the more it infuriates me,” Kaguya muttered. “But I think it would be smart to cover my bases before I shut you up. You know what that means?” The bloodied and battered woman began to crack a smile before snapping her fingers.

Their bodies... Giselle, Ikki, Johan, my sister... Akane, Horoki, and Asuka... they all began to rise slowly into the air as my legs suddenly grew very weak. Oh no. Oh God please no don't you even try to do it... please...

Kaguya tilted her head slightly before the smile grew even wider. “They came to your rescue... and now they're going to die for it. Try living with that on your conscious, Minako Yuki. You know...” She began to laugh, “That might be a pretty cruel action... it would even one-up what Seito does when it gets really creative...

“I'm going to kill everyone you have ever cared for, Minako. I'm going to hang over you like the moon itself, destroying everything connected to you. Sounds fun, doesn't it? Got anything to say to that?”

…

…

I bowed my head down and sighed. “Only that telling me this before doing it was a very stupid thing of you to do.”

I had run all the time in the snow, sometimes even with some minor injuries. I was hanging on by threads, really, but at this point in time I just didn't care anymore as I charged straight the woman. I would not let her get away with this!

“KAGUYA!” I howled. “THIS HAS GONE ON LONG ENOUGH!” I still had that shard of glass, I could end this if I drive it into her heart or head. All I had to do was that, and then this would be over.

Kaguya promptly grew very quiet and solemn as I neared her. “Yes. It's growing embarrassing how much you've dragged this out when by all rights I should have killed you ten times over by now.”

She moved like a blur, effortlessly gripping my right hand and making me drop the shard as she spun me around and plunged the entire length right into my chest.

“That should do it.”

With a slight nudge, she let me fall to the Earth... defeated.

…

Everyone... I'm...

…

I'm sorry I let you all down...
_
It seemed for so very long, I had done absolutely nothing to better anyone's lives. My whole existence... it was just to be that woman's pawn to enslave humanity to predestination. A grand scheme that had began long before I had even been born.

And here I was, dead after trying so hard to try to make something of my life.

As I thought this, I felt as if a hand struck my face in a harsh slap. It felt almost... almost real as realized I was suddenly in an ankle-high pool of water, falling back into someone's embrace.

There was a figure in front of me, head bowed low and her face hidden behind long damp clumps of dark violet hair. Her hands were at her side, clenched in frustration. Frustration at me.

“I thought I said...” she muttered, “I thought I said you had the power to strike that woman down.”

“But I can't! How am I supposed to do that when I can't even-”

The figure holding me tightened her hold. Then a very loving voice told me, in no uncertain words, “Minako. You can do whatever you put your mind to.”

My heart stopped as I heard that voice. Mizuki.

“She's just based on your memories,” the purple-haired woman told me as she turned around and started to walk away. “But she's the person who loves you and places you above everything else. And the same is true of you loving her.”

I wasn't complaining, really. But I still didn't understand how this was going to change anything.

“Minako, please...” Mizuki's, wow... not sure exactly what to call her... Well, my inner Mizuki. “Remember the time we fought Kasumi and Chinami? And I said something so important back then.”

She did.... Mizuki had said... that the darker the night, the brighter any light would shine in it.

The watery ground in front of me began to build upon itself. Forming a mound, it raised itself higher and higher, until I could see a sword, a magatama, and a hand mirror resting there.

“They'll light your way, Minako. In this hopeless situation, they, and more importantly, you, will shine brighter than you could have possibly imagined.”
_
There was another scream of fury and another wave of destruction released from Kaguya. I suddenly realized I was standing on my feet again, having again pulled that chunk of glass out of my body as I started to dread the worst.

… And yet nothing came. That horrible force didn't touch me... even though I could see so much blood fly into the air.

“... Dammit...”

A young man with white hair had thrown himself in front of me, defending me from Kaguya's attack at... oh god no! Please, Soma! Please, don't-

“Dammit Minako...”

Soma Elpiz... my friend-turned-boyfriend-turned-friend had took an attack meant for me. It didn't even matter how he had gotten there, he just had. His body had stood in front of mine, arms spread wide to take as much of the brunt as he could. And for that, his body had... had...

Soma hit the ground, the snow beneath him turning red at an alarming rate as Kaguya threw her hands up in frustration.

“Jeez... how many people are going to end up dying for you, Yuki?!?” She looked at me, expecting an answer or some kind of outburst, but I didn't feel like trying to talk with her about trivial matters. Nobody was going to die here. I was going to kill her and save everyone.

I pulled a black headband out of my pocket and held it up for the Hakkeshu to see. “You know this?” I asked Kaguya. “This is a memento of someone who can't be here right now. She beat you once before. I'm going to finish the job.”

“And just what'll you be using to achieve that?” Kaguya lunged at me as I fired another weak ray of light into the night sky before rolling to the side. I could see her stumble for a second as she looked at me in confusion. I could tell from her eyes... there was a thin white slit in the middle of them for a split-second.

“How... how the hell did you do that?!?”

I laughed. This ancient, unstoppable force had finally met its match.

“The Eclipse. I'm taking it away from you.” Gritting my teeth, I inhaled as much as I could as Kaguya tried her hardest to get to me in time. “ECLIPSE... TRANSITION!”

By the time she swung her fist at me, I had already caught it in a gauntleted hand, a entirely new suit of armor appearing on me bit by bit as I swung my other fist around and connected it with her face, knocking her away.

My new suit... something I had made right here... through sheer force of will. It was definitely different, my right gauntlet fingerless while the left was a bit bulkier, a section of it having a thin opening at my elbow. My fingers were also covered by this gauntlet, the tips ending in points to form a claw.

Kaguya was looking at me incredulously. “How... how the hell did you do that?!? You should be DEAD, dammit!”

That was rich, coming from a woman that had gaping stab wound going through her entire body.

It would take a little more than a second for another beam of light to reach the moon and illuminate it. If I could hold out that long, Kaguya would be weakened enough for me to kill her. But to do that... I needed a sword. Horoki and the Kusanagi were too far away and Kaguya would start to get desperate and just crush everyone any moment now. Time to just take one last gamble.

“BRILLIANT~!” With my left hand I pointed at the moon as another stream of light was released. Kaguya panicked, summoning up her powers for one last attempt at victory. “LUMINESCENCE~!”

Kaguya was on me, pitch-black tendrils surging from her entire body. There was no time to escape. I had to act now.

My right hand reached up to my left arm's elbow, a small white object appearing below the slit. I pulled as I backstepped, and out came a thin but long sword. With a sweep of it I warded off Kaguya's attacks, leaving her vulnerable as her hair and eyes entirely took on that milky-white color.

Die, Tsuki no Kaguya. Moonlight will never defeat the Profound Shine!

“FINAL!” My sword plunged into her body, glowing white. “FANTASY STAR!” Pulling it out, I raised the blade high before striking down.

“EXECUUUUUTIIIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Kaguya was cleaved in half, leaving me alone with everyone else.

Everyone else who had fought their hardest for my sake. Fought so that I would have a chance at winning...

…

I stayed there... I stayed there until I saw the police cars and ambulences. They'd be okay... all of them. They'd get taken care of, no matter what.

… Zien... the Construct Girl... she had done this, hadn't she?

… I'd have to thank her. As for me, though...

I hit the ground, reverting back into my civilian clothes. I was tired. I was tired and wanted to sleep. This had... this had taken a lot of effort.

[LinneaKou]

ROW ROW ROW FIGHT DA POWAA~! *is beaned by potatoes, which hurt a lot more than rotten tomatoes*

*Lise: YES! FINALLY! WIPE THAT DISGRACE TO IMMORTALS OFF THE PLANET! *shakefist* She gives white-haired nonhumans a bad name! Grr to you, so there! AND SHUT OFF THAT HALLELUJAH CHORUS! I'M SICK OF IT!

*Hallelujah chorus shuts off. Ode to Joy starts playing and overpowers her*

Minako is scary when she's got the upper hand. Remind me to never get on her bad side. o_O Poor Soma! That guy goes through too much crap. He deserves something shiny and polished. Hold on a sec, lemme find it... *rummages around*

It's about time that Minako finally figured out what she did. If it were me and my friends were offering help, I'd gladly accept it.

*Lise: No, you wouldn't, you idiot. You'd go off and be a martyr.

...>3>

Anyway, WHAT THE BLAZING HADES DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T WRITE A MULTI-PERSON FIGHT?! YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME. I can't even manage a two-person fight! At least, not on my own.

*Lise: SO THERE.

With that, I quit abusing capslock. *bows*

[MorriganAensland]

Actually, as I mentioned in the previous chapter, Kaguya's hair and eye color actually shifts to black during a Lunar Eclipse. ^_^

[LinneaKou]

I know that!! Alice just wanted to rant.

[MorriganAensland]

The maiden

The phone continued ringing, threatening to drive me mad with its monotony as I held it in my hand. I had seen the newscasts. I had seen the destruction that Tsuki no Kaguya had inflicted. The death toll was staggering; an entire city block destroyed and hundreds of people had been killed.

If... if Minako had been among the dead then... then what did that mean? Did it mean that our enemy, this Mio Yui lady, had won? Did it mean we were all inevitably screwed because of some long and elaborate scheme? What if-

I couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed the phone of my desk and steeled my nerves. No matter what I'd have to stay strong in spite of personal feelings.

I crawled up on my bed and answered the call. “Hello? Who is this?”

For a moment I couldn't hear anything on the other end. And then finally... “You sound worried.”

I felt a weight leave my shoulders as I closed my eyes and smiled. “Minako... It's.. it's good to hear your voice. Like, like really good.”

“Things aren't that great over here...” Minako's voice had taken on a downtrodden tone. I could faintly hear the sound of other people discussing things on the other end of the phone. “It's... well... you know how we seem to spend more time running people to the hospital than we do fighting recently? You, Akane's parents, Horoki...”

Kaguya... Kaguya hadn't... “Please tell me nobody died.” This was something I was afraid to face. I had gotten my shot at Kaguya and I had beaten the crap out of her, sure, but she had gotten away. And that had led to last night for Minako and the others. Horoki, Soma... well, everyone. I had seen what Kaguya had done to Kerrigan and Tsukuyomi and if-

“Mizuki. It's okay. They're alive. All of them.”

My heart was almost bursting with joy. This was great! This meant that we had a definite leg up on the enemies now! One Hakkeshu down and we still had all our manpower! “ Then that means you sorted this all out on your own then?”

There was a pause. Oh... please don't tell me-

Minako's tone let me know my fears were well-founded. “They all got in the way. They all helped, no matter how little. Even those that were associated with Saori and the others... they all pitched in. As it stands, nearly all of them are bedridden.”

“... How... how bad is it...?”

“Varying degrees of it. Horoki's the worst, then again, she just got out of the hospital less than a day ago. Giselle's pretty banged up too... although Hokuko and Soma are somehow going to be just fine and on their feet again in no time.”

I furrowed my brow in confusion. “We're talking about Soma Elpiz here... right?

“Yeah. Who else?”

I sighed. “Sorry, I'm just a little surprised at it is all...” Hokuko I could understand. She had the body of a demon, afterall. They were made of stern stuff regardless of what type they actually were. But if Soma were to be on the battlefield... how the heck could he just end up shrugging off the powers of a woman who could defeat gods? I'd have to look into it some time when I had the chance. “Anyways, what about the others?”

“Ikki and Johan are pretty banged up too... and Asuka and Akane are-”

The surprises just kept coming one after another.

“I thought you said they went missing.”

“They did,” Minako emphasized. “I mean... I don't know how but they're back now. In all honesty I'm kinda wondering how too... Kaguya struck them down not long after they showed up and saved me. But they'll be okay too. It'll just take a while.”

“Okay then. Remind me to take Asuka out for something sometime.” As often as I acted contrary to the belief, Asuka was a good person and I knew I could count on her in a pinch. They all were. And it was because of them that I could still talk to Minako. “Oh, and find out what happened with Asuka and Akane when you can too.”

I could hear Minako laughing on the other end of the phone line. “That'll take a while, but I'll be sure to do that, alright?”

“Alright then.” This was... this was good. Kaguya was dead and with any luck that would show that Mio Yui lady just how dangerous we could be. “Take care, Minako. You're the most important person to me in the world. I love you.”

“I love you too, Mizuki.”

And with that, our goodbyes had been said. I'd pass on the information to Saori and company, and with any luck we could get on with our lives.
_
After getting picked up in some necropolis in the middle of the night with a triplet of Interpol agents, my parents had gone into overdrive asking questions to me. I gave them the appropriate ratio of truths to half-truths and lies to get them off my back for at least a few more days. By then I'd be back in Tokyo and things could cool over. Until then however...

Let's jut say that house arrest sucks. Yes, there was really nothing my parents could do to me and all they had done was ask me not to leave the house. But due to the goddamn honor system and going behind their backs I was half-inclined to just stay in the house and out of trouble. It wasn't like I was really needed, anyways. Thankfully I still had my phone, so after one quick call Ichimonji knew of the good news about the Hakkeshu of the Moon and that seemed to brighten her mood up too.

I found a few ways to kill time, however, and doing the dishes was pretty much the same as it was back home. You got the dishes in the sink, poured in warm water and added some soap... cleaned and dried the dishes... put them away in the cupboard where there were-

The rare, one-of-a-kind china teapot I was holding slipped through my fingers. It would have shattered into countless pieces if not for a quick Dai Makai hand to catch it in time, but I barely registered that at all. My mind was just...

What... just what was going on here?!?

Hallowed Prisms had only become a part of my life very recently. Not even a week, really. But I could still recognize the shape and the unearthly beautiful color to them. I could still comprehend the dangers they represented.

And I wanted to know why my parents suddenly had a pair of them stacked neatly on top of their dinner plates.

The teapot was returned to its place in the cupboard before I ran back to my phone and redialed Saori Ichimonji's number.

I wanted some answers. I wanted some answers because I knew nothing good could come of this.
_
The light

It was over. At long last, at least Kaguya would never hurt anyone ever again. I felt so... so relieved. And I had new armor and I felt stronger than ever before. I could protect the people I cared about and give them the respite they deserved.

“So how's Ikki handling avoiding the media?”

The Construct girl had, although being quite uncomfortable all the while, joined me for breakfast that morning. She didn't really need to eat, but the the company was still appreciated. At her request though, I had dimmed the lights and closed the blinds to make things a bit easier for her. She seemed a bit more open and amiable to me than I had expected from everyone else's description of her, and I was kinda wondering why that was. In spite of that, I appreciated the company; it had been a while since I had been living in my apartment alone.

“He said he had his ways when I talked to him. It's really not as difficult as you might think.”

The Construct blinked in surprise. “Really? How would he do that?”

She couldn't figure it out? The Construct girl who had been able to provide us with information couldn't just put two and two together? My thoughts must have been betrayed by my face, and she spoke up again. “Um... is it really that obvious?”

“Well of course it is,” I told her, “A fake name, some yen thrown here and there for bribes, and keeping information on a need-to-know basis can do wonders! I'm really surprised you couldn't figure that out.”

The girl sighed. “I'm sorry. I really am. But there's a difference between gaining the knowledge to 'assist' people through epiphanies and trying to figure out whatever happened.”

I understood what she was saying. “You're saying all the knowledge you have has come from providing information to people, aren't you?”

She nodded. “It's a messed up way, isn't it? Granted, I'm not objecting to it but I know it's not the way anyone else learns things.”

“Well, you're right about that. People who aren't empowered by the Gou Kurosou to 'assist' have to go to schools or learn the hard way to learn factual knowledge. And for other stuff? I guess you just learn it as you live.” I took the plates over to the sink, making a mental note to wash them up when I'd have the time. “So then...” I turned to her and smiled. “What are you planning on doing with yourself today, Zien?”

“I thought we've gone over that my name isn't 'Zien'!” the Construct said as she slid out of her chair to stand up. She certainly was adamant in this one aspect of her life. Then again, who would want to be remembered for a mistake?

“Alright then. I'm sorry that I called you that then.” Looking her straight in the eyes, I smiled. “Of course, you still deserve to have a name. There's no reason for you not to have one. Especially right now.” The Construct looked at me in confusion. Guess this was another thing she hadn't quite thought through either. “Think about it. Mr. Higashi and Mr. Stroheim are in no condition of going out into the world right now and destroy more Hallowed Prisms. And I don't think anyone else would be that inclined to pick up the torch in their stead.”

The girl lost some of her nerve, and looked down at the ground. “... They're only here because I asked for some help... and now-”

“And now Ikki got a chance to meet again the man that revived his grasp of what justice truly is. And Johan's been reunited with his daughter. And nobody's dead. You shouldn't feel bad about that at all! Which of course leads me to my big question...

“What exactly are you going to do with your life, nameless girl?” My smile was reduced to a basic lopsided smirk as I outstretched a hand in a purely symbolic gesture. “Or at the very least, what are you going to do until your comrades in this quest against Hallowed Prisms get into fighting condition?”

She sighed. “I... I really just don't know. I mean, it's scary out there!”

I laughed. “It's scary everywhere if you give it the right spin. Right now you're in an apartment alone with a woman who was the capstone of scheme that began when humanity was just beginning to emerge and killed a Hakkeshu, the shades are drawn so nobody could possibly see anything, I have the full extent of my powers back, and by the time someone hears you scream it would be too late to do anything about it!”

The girl scowled. “But you wouldn't do that! You're not the kind of person that would do that!”

I couldn't help but laugh again. She was catching on. Was this the first time she had learned something through her own intuition and cognitive skills? “And just because the world can be a scary place doesn't mean it has to be. So much in this world comes down to how its used... even the Dai Makai itself, a force of such profound negative power, can be used for constructive purposes if the user's of the right state of mind.”

My optimism proved infectious as the girl chuckled slightly. “Mizuki Rajoshin proved that, didn't she?”

“Indeed she did. Although I think it wasn't that big of a challenge, considering Jun's personality. Plus there's Soma and Aya- err... Iris. The last one took a while to get it to sink into her, but she certainly helped a lot. Plus, take a look at yourself! You're a Construct and you're not trying to kill any of us! That certainly sets a nice precedence, doesn't it?”

I was getting through to her. This was... this was good. This was really-

“... Would that apply to the Hallowed Prisms as well?”

…

I don't know how long it took for me to realize what she had said, to realize the meaning behind it.

It took me much, much longer to shake that feeling of extreme dread before grabbing a winter coat and tossing it to my guest. “That's a weird thought. But for the moment, let's just forget about it, okay? We've got other stuff to do in the meantime. Fun stuff.”

“Fun stuff?”

“Yeah. I'm going to take you sightseeing.”
_
The preceding

You shouldn't be out of your bed, Kerri. You took hits that defeated a god.

“And I'm going to be fine,” I told Iris as I changed the bandages that covered most of my abdomen and chest before replacing the ones on my limbs. Lastly came the ones on my forehead as I stepped out the hospital waiting room. My pace was deliberately casual; the worst thing I wanted was to get unnecessary attention from some intern afraid of losing their job.

I was feeling worn out, but still quite relieved. Tsuki no Kaguya had been killed, for one, due to the combined efforts of my sister, Mizuki Rajoshin, and one Minako Yuki... the very woman we had been trying to save in the first place. And second, Shot was back. Shaken up, but also providing us all a few answers about what was going on now. And I was finally off the drugs. That meant I could finally start thinking again.

My gamble paid off, and I walked straight out onto the snow-laden sidewalk to see Saori Ichimonji, her son Anser, and Shot Ichiban all waiting for me. Shot averted her gaze when she saw how bad of shape I was in, but nobody else minded. She would need to get her edge back.

“I got your message... about Mizuki finding Hallowed Prisms in her parents' home.”

Saori sighed. “I know. One thing after another.”


I looked down at Anser and then up to Shot. Her right hand was tightly bound in cloth, hiding the scars that resulted from the incubus boy pulling a Hallowed Prism from out of nowhere. Yet another question we had no answer to.

I walked up to the car, walking past Shot and standing in front of the passenger-side door. “We need to pay them a visit. And possibly see if they ever made any donations to the Order of the Goddess. Saori, while Shot's driving you need to make a call to someone who can do that. Shot, you're driving. I have the directions.”

They all complied, and at least for the moment Shot would have her mind off what was eating at her.
_
“Anser... I just want to check one more time.” I thought I had everything down pat, but I still wanted all my bases covered and it never would hurt to get some help from the person in the car associated with the supernatural by default.

The boy looked at me in earnest as I directed Shot to take a left through New York City. God, it was going to be nice getting back to Montreal...

“What is it?” he asked.

“I just want to be absolutely sure of this before we pay the Rajoshins a home visit. Just because if someone's a Candidate, it means absolutely nothing else about their entire family lineage, correct? No heinous individuals in the past, no horrible skeletons in the closet, right?”

Anser shook his head. “There could very well be. But it wouldn't factor in to who would be a user of the Dai Makai. Besides, your sister was a Candidate, right?”

I smiled as Iris materialized in between us, startling Saori in mid-sentence of a call before causing her to have to do damage control. My sister, to presumably make this as uncreepy as possible, promptly sat in between the Ichimonji matron and her son before speaking.

“Indeed I was. And as far as I know, our parents, well, our whole family had no connections with the supernatural. Then again...”

“You're thinking that might not necessarily always be the case?” I asked.

Anser sighed. “We're going to just have to find out when we get there... and hope that Tetsuya and Sayaka Rajoshin don't take this the wrong way.”
_
The knight

“You wanted to see me?”

Atha... Chi no Shal... looked at me from behind a pinkish barrier and nodded. It was a holding cell, just one in an entire row of them that stretched for miles in Jun's castle. The pink light helped illuminate the otherwise dark fortress, all thanks due to the numerous mages stationed throughout the entire area to keep an eye on prisoners and visitors. They weren't an issue right now. Atha, however, was.

Atha looked at me and nodded. “Yes. Due to my little confession a few days ago, I guess I have people here in an uproar.”

“But that's over and done with, right? You're fighting against Seito and the others!”

Atha grew suddenly very surprised as I said the angel's name before scowling. “Keston... do not make a habit of saying its name like that. There's a difference between when I call it Seito and when anyone else does so.”

In utter confusion I could only blink. “What are you talking about? You did it and got away with it, right?”

“And I'm also a creature on the same level as power as Seito.” She continued giving me a steely glare before finally relenting and sitting down with a sigh. “Keston... you are an incubus, a type of demon more meant to help people have children then fight. And I've known Seito personally for... well... let's just say for a very long time. And it is a horrible thing, a person of such hatred and malevolence. Keston, Seito wishes to go by the name Nagask Nadesico. Going against those wishes can only bring for experiences worse than death.”

She was serious. I could read it in every gesture, in every stressed syllable, in the pacing. Seito... Nagask... was it really that much of a monster? “Does it have that large of a history of barbarism?”

Atha laughed. It was a long, pained, purely humorless laugh of a woman reveling in some bitterly ironic joke. “Far from it Keston... for the longest time Seito was... well, you're at least familiar with the way some people portray angels. And Seito was the perfect little cherub.

“... And then one day it all changed. It flew into a rage, committing horrible acts against innocent people and enjoying every moment of it. Although Kaguya and Izu didn't give a damn about it, the others-” her voice cracked. For a moment she stood silent and perfectly still before looking up at me. “I'm sorry, Keston. We're getting off-subject.”

“Off-subject?”

She nodded as she tilted her neck up before looking from side to side behind me. “... I'm going to be getting the full treatment, court-marshall wise.”

My mouth nearly hit the floor. That was ridiculous! “That's-that's stupid! You-”

“I'm willing to bet foul play is involved, to be honest.” She motioned for me to step closer and I moved towards the barrier as she did as well. I could hear the sound of rustling feet behind me; that was right. We had spectators too. “Ignore them.” Atha wasn't paying them any mind. I hoped she was right about this. “Keston... something's happening. I don't know how or why, but it's been going on since New Years Day, Earthside.” Her voice was low and her pace was rushed. She obviously didn't want anyone else hearing about this.

“What kind of 'something'?”

“Ever since then,” she continued, “I've begun feeling a strange pressure. Being an avatar for the planet itself comes with at least a few perks. It's been all over the place... until about last night. And then I've been feeling it constantly. Something bad is going to happen.”

I scowled at her. “And you haven't tried to raise it to anyone's attention? No offense, ma'am, but you are currently the focus of the Demon Empire's entire upper brass!”

Atha glared right back at me. “You actually think that I haven't tried to? Keston, this is something that's affecting everyone, human, god, and demon alike! And as it stands, you're pretty much the only person I can trust to actually do something about it!”

“And why's that? Weren't you saying before that I'm the kind of demon that helps people have children instead of fight?”

I wasn't sure what this was going, but it was definitely starting to get to me. Atha's sudden grin made it worse. What the hell was she getting-

“Because you're not like other Incubi, are you?” She turned and started walking further into her cell. “Keston, the events that happened to you before you came to Point Rubi... helped kill that lich... it's those events that'll give you the strength you need.” She turned around to me again and smiled. “Don't jump the gun... but keep your eyes open. This is important, Keston.”

…

I nodded before walking away. Whatever she was talking about, it was important. I made a mental note to secure an Algol the first chance I got while I was here at the capital.
_
The light

I was surprised at how quickly the city of Tokyo was trying to get over the madness of last night. As I led the Construct girl around the city, there were still people out there, enjoying themselves no matter what the context. Maybe it helped that we had gone through a string of crazy developments in the past.

… Just wish I would have been able to kill Kaguya sooner. Too many people died.

But at the same time, I couldn't do anything for them now. And traveling with the Construct was fun nonetheless as I let her enjoy the outside world. Sometimes she'd ask questions and I'd answer them; other times she just observed her surroundings.

“So when is your girlfriend getting back?” she asked as we walked past a string of stores. “Uh, Rajoshin, I mean.”

I shrugged. “In time for school at any rate. It's going to be our senior year... our last year at-” My attention was diverted when I noticed a pink wallet lying on the ground in front of us. Someone must've dropped it, and if they were unlucky they might have been a visitor that was long gone or out shopping and doomed to find they didn't have any money on them.

Before the Construct could beat me to the punch, I went over to the wallet and knelt down to pick it up...

And then I saw her. Brown eyes were staring straight into brown eyes. For a second I was wondering if I was looking into a mirror, or if I had another sister besides Hokuko.

But no. There were a lot of similar characteristics... but there were so many others that were different from mine. Our hair was the same reddish-brown color, but the woman's was a bit longer, with bangs and styled to have a ponytail. She also had paler skin and as she picked up her wallet and stood up, I noticed she was slightly shorter than me and her body wasn't as conditioned as mine.

“Um,” she said as I stared in disbelief. She even sounded like me! “Sorry about that.” Putting her wallet back in her pocket, she let out a sigh before looking up. “Huh... snow's starting to fall again... Sorta had a feeling it would.”

She was right, and amidst that snow, the people on the streets of Tokyo, and the nameless Construct, I couldn't take my eyes off this woman. The feeling was indescribable, like I had known her since birth...

“Thanks for trying to pick up my wallet though, it would have been a lot of trouble if I lost it!”

I laughed and reached out my hand to shake hers. “Hey, it's no problem, really!”

My new friend returned the action before discarding her amiable expression. “Well... to be honest, It would have been a lot of trouble even if you would have picked it up. Because then you would've looked into it and seen who I am.”

“I'm sorry?”

“Please. If I was going to let you find out who I was...”

There was a glint of metal. Blood splattered everywhere as I fell. There were screams from so many people as I crashed into the snow. In mere seconds I was feeling light-headed, as if the amount of blood I had lost would be easier to measure in buckets rather than milliliters.

“If you were to see who I was... to discover our connection...”

The girl towered over my dying frame, clad in beautiful white armor.

My armor. The armor that I had worn while serving Loretta Brauner... restored to its full glory on this woman! And in her hand there was a slender, katana... its sky-blue color contrasting with my blood smeared all over it.

The woman looked down at me amidst the panic. “I would have liked to have it be on my terms and nobody else's.” This person, this monster preempted my attempts at fighting back by gutting me with her blade as I grasped.

“The name is Mio Yui, Minako Yuki. It's a pleasure to meet you. And I need to thank you. Thank you for everything.”

My vision blurred as I felt the cold metal be pulled from my body. This woman... who was she... how could-

“Destiny.” I could hear Mio laughing as she impaled me again with her blade. “The power of Destiny has returned thanks to you. You and I share a bond, a connection that goes all the way back to that day ten long years ago... and all I had to do was wait

“2012... the year in which the Mayans predicted the end of one era and the start of another... an end to humanity's days of being able to escape predestination!” She impaled me again. Her laughs grew more and more twisted as suddenly all the screams, all the yells, and all the panic from those around us stopped.

What was happening? And... and why was this happening?!?

Mio could barely contain her laughter, and as I lay dying she continued to revel in the bloodshed. And then she just stopped. She became deathly quiet and the began speaking again in a perfectly calm, deadpan tone.

“Ten years ago... there was a girl named Minako Yuki. She lived in Kyoto. She was going to be a great person and help shape the world in her own ways. She was close with another girl... Akane Kirishima. She knew something terrible was going to happen to her soon. That's why she asked another friend of hers...

“Kei Kimatura. She knew Kei had such wonderful powers. The power to even make an artificial life form! And she asked her one favor. One simple favor... and can you guess what it was... girl? Well?” Yet again her sword impaled my body, this time with the force to pierce through the snow and concrete beneath me as I screamed. It was amazing I wasn't dead from all of this yet.

“Come on, you pathetic Construct, answer me!”

C-Construct?!?

…

The sword was suddenly gone, and I found myself staring into Mio's brown eyes in such horror and terror as she spat at me.

“You've done your job. And I thank you for that. By discarding the armor Loretta Brauner provided to you, I could take it as my own, use it as my own... in all the ways I see fit. Including to usher back in the era of...” she smiled. “Pure, inescapable Destiny. Destiny for humans. Destiny for animals. Destiny for gods, the plants, even the Earth itself.” She stood back up straight and looked around. “Isn't that right? People of Tokyo?”

And then, as one, there was a bone-chilling chorus.

“Yes, it is... Mio Yui.”

She then looked down at me and winked. “Good then. Let's get going. We have a great many things to do.”

They then formed all around her, a single file line... each one of them marching away... off into the future.

A future I wouldn't be part of. A future I... that I would never-

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

...

A/N: Next week's chapter will be a side-story exploring Seito's utter evilness. Shin Minako will continue on in two weeks.

... And aren't I a stinker?

This post has been edited by MorriganAensland: Oct 4 2009, 11:51 PM

[LinneaKou]

Yes, yes you are. And before you ask, YES THIS MARIONETTE IMAGE THAT I CAN'T GET RID OF IS PARTIALLY STEMMING FROM THIS.

I will have my revenge. But first I must keep Alice from ripping up Enmacho.

[MorriganAensland]

A/N: All I have to say for this is I still have trouble remembering that Seito/Nagask has gender-neutral pronouns.

Sidestory: What will lead us to tomorrow

“Nagask! What a pleasant surprise!”

The angel scowled as it stepped through the well-furnished mansion, past all the dozens of servants that attended its owner's every whim. Seito had come here often, whenever it needed assistance or perhaps just to find a place to rest where he wouldn't have to think too hard about the content of its host's character.

“Manfred.”

Standing atop the balcony, flanked by numerous portraits and busts that could have appeared in any museum's showcase, stood a young man in a dark blue suit. His skin was as pale as the snow, in contrast to the dark red color of his lips and similarly dark black hair.

The man continued looking down at Nagask Nadesico before bowing his head and smiling slightly, in the process exposing two slender fangs. “I see that Carist is no longer with you. What happened to the boy?”

“Dead,” Nagask responded as it continued further into the manor. The angel heard the sound of something touching down on the ground behind it, chalking it up to Manfred wanting to be theatrical.

Before long, Manfred was next to him, almost pouting in disappointment before sighing. “Did you kill this one too, Nagask?”

It stopped and turned to Manfred. “It was Shal. She's siding with Jun and the other idiots.” The angel continued on, leaving Manfred to just watch him go and whistle in amusement... a whistle that quickly died away as Nagask turned and glared at him. “What's so funny?”

“She's probably furious about Lynn, you know that? So... what, that means that's five Hakkeshu you ended up alienating yourself from?” Manfred was almost tempted to start laughing, but then again he was entertaining a rather finicky guest and he was pushing his luck enough as it was.

But Manfred Uruk was not a foolish creature. He was a vampire, and had over the course of a few decades accomplished quite a great deal, far more than many of them more dogmatic and older members of his race too busy sucking up to the elders. He of course attributed it to the flow of Destiny and there was no reason to object to it, but now he was dealing with a Hakkeshu and he would hate for all of his upstart success to crumble away because of a few snarky words.

For a long moment Nagask just stared at Manfred before bowing its head down. “I don't care, really. I halfways expected this anyways. And Kaguya's dead too...”

Manfred laughed. “Oh, come on. Our fearless leader was considering that a necessary defeat anyways. And now that the Yuki girl's pretty much handed over the one thing we need to really win-”

Nagask raised its hand up in annoyance and the vampire promptly shut up and ran over to Nagask. They two continued walking until they reached a large pair of mahogany doors that would lead them to by-now familiar rooms and faces.

“Have you brought in any new hands to work here?” Nagask asked. Manfred just shrugged before he threw open the doors-

Revealing dozens of men and women dressed in servants' clothes standing at perfect attention, eyes opened wide in joy at the sight of their master Manfred. They had varying shades of paleness, some of them looking much more human than some of the others.

In contrast to the brooding Nagask, Manfred returned their appreciation with his own, smiling at them before gesturing to his guest.

“My good friend Nagask here-” The angel suppressed the urge to give a dry laugh at that joke. It was nobody's friend. “Is going to be staying here a few days to recoup. You are familiar with the routines when it visits, right?”

The nodded as one. “Of course, Master Uruk!”
_
“And right this way,” a surprisingly chipper girl in a maid's outfit led Nagask down the hall to a very specifically-made room, “We've refurbished it since your last stay here; I'm... admittedly surprised and how destructive you can be when you get angry.” She immediately blushed when the angel glared at her. “N-no offense meant at all though, none at all!”

“Whatever.” Nagask reached for the doorknob to it, looking forward to a few days to just rest and finally spread its wings when it realized the girl was still there. Turning to her, it stared daggers through her. “These are my private quarters. You and your pathetic ilk that Manfred's decided to be the patron of have seen enough of it. Now what do you want?”

The girl's unease grew more and more apparent as the seconds ticked by, a shameful blush steadily growing more and more noticeable on her cheeks before she cleared her throat. Nagask noted to itself that she hadn't been saved from her own damnable humanity yet... it wondered why Manfred was dragging his heels.

“Uh... I was just... wondering. There was a boy here that... that a few months ago you left with. And he's not here right now.”

Nagask sighed. “Are you talking about Carist?”

She silently nodded.

“You are aware of what I do to some... how shall we say it... 'problems' that Manfred sometimes sends my way?”

“Y-yes. You help him correct some uppity people that don't take kindly to Manfred's guidance and-”

Nagask silenced her with a rude snort. “... I do it for no such reason, miss. I do it because there was a time I was blinded by foolishness. And then I lost something very, very precious. I died a little that day when I witnessed firsthand...” Its entire body seemed burdened with such dark, painful sadness as it turned away from her.

“When I witnessed what a human, a human no different than any other on Earth in any way shape or form show their true colors. In a way, you could say that the pure angel of that time, known by a name other than Nagask Nadesico, died that day. I'm...” It had done this speech so many times, reveling in its own pain. “I'm just a shell of what I once was...”

Nagask reached for the doorknob again only to be stopped by the girl. Looking up at her, Nagask saw the tears already streaming down her face.

“A human...?”

Nagask nodded sorrowfully. Manfred had done a lot to help open this one's eyes up to the damning nature of her own race. “... Of all the creatures I have ever witnessed... there are few more heinous than humans. They fight and kill each other, they make each others' lives miserable... and yet the instant you try to enact justice on any one of them when they commit unforgivable sins...

“They will stand against you. They will hate you and curse you even though you are justified. They think that they are right, when all they do is hate whoever they want.”

The girl was almost a sobbing mess right now. Nagask really would have to applaud Manfred's efforts of getting through to the girl. Plus... in about a month maybe he could pull some strings and-

“But we're not all like that!”

The girl's sudden outburst surprised the angel, and it was half inclined to teach her some lessons about proper etiquette. But then Nagask reminded itself the girl had no doubt been schooled already by Manfred and besides, they were getting off of the subject.

“Perhaps you're right.” Nagask opened the door to his chamber and paused one last time. “He, Carist, died. He was killed by a former comrade of mine. A very stupid woman who can't see my pain no matter how hard I try. A stupid woman who sees only my wrongdoings and not the reason why.”

“But can you really justify-”

Nagask slammed the door in her face. Perhaps she hadn't learned enough.
_
It was good... good to finally be in a room perfectly designed to accommodate its wings. The angel finally spread them all... fourteen in total; each one perfect and pure white save for darker blue tips.

The room itself was specially treated with magic, in fact nothing but a large, dome-shaped interior with more than enough room for the angel to fly around in if it so desired. Nagask... Seito as that annoying holier-than-thou Shal continually called it... could think.

No doubt Shal's foolish stunt would put her in hot water with the Loyalists that still served Jun and the other powerful gods. And now that Mio Yui possessed that specific set of armor, Destiny was hers to control for nearly all. Those connected to the natural flow of life on this planet, the flow connected to Darkness and Light would all be under her control if she so willed.

But not Shal.

No, Shal was now surrounded by the billions-strong legions of the Demon Empire, a prisoner to them all even if Mio cut her a break and decided every one of them was destined to pardon her mistakes.

The humans on Earth would finally be under the oppressive heel they were meant to be as well. Now there would be no more atrocities of the past. No more people judging it for “going too far” or “disregarding justice for infantile tantrums.”

Nagask's thoughts drifted to the moments before Shal's arrival and her seeming defection to the Separatists. That Oni had opposed him, flat-out declared his determination to uphold the Empire. And next to him had been... it was either a human or one of those demons that could pass as them.

Nagask felt its blood boiling as its thoughts continued to focus on that individual. There was something about him that the Hakkeshu of the Heavens absolutely detested. Then it finally came to him.

“... It's a moot point if he's a human or a demon, isn't it?”

Of course it was a moot point. Demons, especially humanoid ones, looked to those disgusting humans for guidance on how to act, to emulate their behaviors to appear more human themselves. And humans...

The same horrid pain tore through Nagask's soul again as it thought of that horrible woman that took everything away from it. It needed relief. Fast.
_
Not even five minutes had gone by. The girl was still walking down the hall, wondering what she could do to help prepare Lord Manfred's dinner tonight. Perhaps he'd indulge in the blood of one of the girls or-

“You. Maid.”

The girl paused, turning to see that Nagask had returned from its room. When she looked at it, she thought of his twisted and broken spirit, how he must suffer every-

“Why haven't you let Manfred turn you into a vampire yet?”

Nagask's overwhelming tone surprised her. She struggled through an answer but eventually did gather the words for one.

“M-my birthday.”

Nagask raised one eyebrow. “What?”

“My sixteenth birthday. It's in two months.”

“Go on.”

Trying to think straight, the girl continued slowly, hoping that Nagask would not find offense to it. “When Manfred first found me... I told him my greatest birthday wish was to become a vampire like him... to live forever in his care and-”

Pure hatred flashed across Nagask's face. “And here I thought you were different from the others.”
_
“You killed her?!?”

Manfred ran to keep up with Nagask as it stormed through the halls of the Uruk mansion.

The angel shrugged. “Like I give a damn? She deserved it. She was holding out still. You weren't doing your job. Besides...” Nagask turned to Manfred and smiled. “It's not like I haven't killed some of your pathetic humans before, have I?”

There was a brief moment. Manfred just stared in utter amazement at Nagask.

Before laughing.

Because of course it was true. There were over six billion humans in existence. Why cry over one that wasn't worth saving? Nagask could always see past that stupid sentimentality that Manfred knew he struggled with. He was foolish to let the girl have her way in such a manner. She brought this on herself, really.

“But unfortunately, I really must be going.”

Manfred's laughter immediately stopped as he looked at Nagask in disbelief. “But you only just arrived?”

“And I already feel refreshed. You wouldn't want me killing all your favorites by accident, now would you?”

Manfred sighed. “... True...”

“Then good.” Nagask raised one of its fingers. “One month. I'll ask a favor of Mio that within one month, you will move into a far better home for you and those under your care, Manfred. Until then...” It smiled. “Enjoy your servants.”

Manfred smiled in return, fully showing his fangs. “Like I ever don't.”

[LinneaKou]

Just to be a pain:

XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIIIIIM

And some more.

XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM XIM...

Had enough? XD

You already know what I think of this. 'nuff said. *toddles off*