Chapter 9 is here! My week has been... depressing to say the least, but today was eventful when Sage's heat lamp broke, I shall simply say that the nearest pet shop isn't exactly on our doorstep. He's fine now with his new one (Not cheap by the way). I would also like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has stuck by me and given this fan fiction a lot of support! Thanks for reading, every view means the world to me! ^.^

So without further ado, here's chapter 9! Enjoy! :3


Chapter 9: Sacrificial Sanity

He awoke some time later and found himself in a prison cell. In front of him stood one of the monsters… watching him. It was unnerving but Jorge simply glared at it but it couldn't see underneath his dirty visor. It left after a few minutes leaving Jorge alone to think of an escape.

"You had me worried. Quite frankly I'm not sure what to do with you." The woman's voice returned. "I hold no grudge against you Jorge. We are both very much the same you and I." Jorge grew frustrated at her patronising voice. "Did you really come here all the way from Reach?" He perked up, wondering how in the world she knew about his home. "You talked about trying to remember not only your home but… her as well."

"What the hell are you talking about!?" Jorge yelled in anger as emotion started to come back to him.

"You shall wait here and take on the Shadow yourself. Thank you."

A time bomb went off in his head and he punched the brick wall next to him in rage. His actions were halted when half the wall was knocked over and he could get into the cell next to him. He tried the door and this one was open. This was his way out of the cell but not out of the block and this time he had to look for a key. There were many useful items in each of the cells and even one of the bars of his own cell broke off which could be used as a weapon, but just like the times before, he knew he would have to use it for something. One of the cells contained a note from a previous prisoner who, after years of living in this dungeon, had almost thought of his cell as his safe haven where no one could hurt him. "He claims that Alexander had done this to him… the same guy that drove Daniel to torture" Jorge began. "Whoever this guy was… he must've been an awful man." Before Jorge put the note away and went into the next cell only to see a familiar white glow flood his vision. It had been a while but another vision of his past was about to begin.

"Well, I've got good news and bad news. This bird took some fire and her thrusters are toast which means the only way off this slag heap is gravity."

"And the good news?" Six replied.

"That was the good news." He said dryly.

"At current velocity, 53 seconds to entry point-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." He interrupted. "Bad news is timer's fried. I'm gonna have to set it off manually."

"What?" Six's voice took on a very worried tone. "But… that's a one way trip."

"We all make it sooner or later." He replied in a much softer, gentler voice. "Better get going Six they're gonna need you down there." She took off her helmet and tears were clear on her face.

"Listen, Reach has been good to me. Time has come to return the favour. Don't deny me this."

"No Jorge please!" Six begged but Jorge knew what he had to do and put Six's helmet back on then carried her to the edge of the ship. Tears came to Jorge's eyes as well but he didn't show it.

"Tell 'em to make it count." He said before he threw her down to the planet below.

"Jorge!" Six screamed, begging her close friend not to leave her but it was too late and his mind was made up.

He returned. Suddenly, a corpse appeared right in front of him. Where it came from is something he'll never know. He quickly pulled off his helmet and vomited in a corner. A sudden nausea had come over him which his stomach couldn't take. Jorge felt awful and sat down by the well in the centre of the room. He looked into his visor just as he did in the Wine Cellar and he could barely recognise himself from before. His eyes seemed colourless and his hair had turned vastly greyer. The biggest difference Jorge noticed was his skin and how pale he looked. He could only compare himself to a ghost and he could see now that this castle had taken much more of a toll on him than he ever thought. A few minutes of breathing in and out deeply allowed Jorge to feel stable enough to get up and walk towards a pipe next to the locked exit. He studied the note again and it said one of the guards dropped a key down the pipe. He squinted his eyes and saw a rusted key amongst its rusted surroundings. He took out the bar he pulled from his cell earlier and wedged it into the gap. With a bit of effort, Jorge used the bar to nudge the key out of the other end of the pipe and onto the floor. He picked up the key and tried to get the bar back but it was wedged in. He sighed and then checked the final cell to find a random wooden bucket which he filled with water in the well and headed out of the exit.

He took a couple of steps before a deafening boom was heard from behind him. It wasn't something he had heard before so he knew it wasn't one of the previous monsters. An unusual red aura caused Jorge to turn his head, whatever it was, was getting closer. A door was blocked by debris but just like the door in the Wine Cellar, he was able to move it and get through the door. It was making the same noises as the Shadow, the same roars that had been following Jorge since he first awoke. He came to a fork and turned right only to see it cut off by a rock slide so he back tracked and went left. He then came to a hallway flooded with water. He dove in and waded through it as fast as his legs could go but he was still heavily slowed down and the Shadow easily caught up with him. He felt as if fear itself was chasing him for his crimes, but what crimes? He couldn't remember his past and wondered if he had done something unforgivable. Jorge gained some more distance once he was out of the water and made it back up to the Nave with time to spare.

Jorge was out of breath, more than usual and went to a table with a note on it. As soon as he picked it up, his mind gave way and he collapsed unconscious. Out of nowhere, Daniel began to speak.

"18th of August 1839,

Tonight we will unlock the power of the orb and ultimately banish the Shadow hunting me. I feel it closing in on me and I fear for my life more than ever.

Just outside Altstadt, lies a small settlement where Zimmermann, a dairy farmer, lives with his wife and three children.

We took the coach and went there. Our visit was unexpected and Alexander was able to strike Herr Zimmermann down without alerting the others. As he went and took care of the farm hands, I began to look for the children.

We should have more than enough prisoners to finish the ritual now."

Jorge awoke some time later to find his head pounding and his hands shaking.

"Daniel… you bastard." He whispered in a state of shock wondering how someone who used to be so innocent…turn into such a monster. He slowly walked back to Agrippa to see if he was alright. There was evidence of the Shadow everywhere and it even roared occasionally but Jorge didn't react at all. Jorge noticed a door that was previously blocked, had been torn off of its hinges. It led to the Laboratory which Jorge then remembered could be used to make Weyer's tonic.

He first put the jar of blood onto a burner and boiled the blood. Once boiled, he put the jar under an outlet and crushed the bone the water monster had left, the remains then mixed with the blood. The last step was to crush the poison gland from the plant in the Choir. This poison would be the paralyzer in the tonic and with that, it was complete. It didn't take long for Jorge to reunite with Agrippa.

"Jorge, I thought I'd lost you. The castle trembled and I could hear the Chancel collapse."

Jorge only nodded as he approached Agrippa. He told Jorge to find some kind of sawing tool. It would be needed to cut off Agrippa's head. As the tonic works, he would be able to remove his head without taking his life. Jorge did just that and found a saw in a now accessible room. After a grim series of squelching and crunches from the flesh and bone being sawn, his head was successfully removed. He put his head in his backpack to keep it hidden and then returned to the Chancel. The path to the right door had indeed collapsed leaving only the left and forward paths available, he searched right to begin with. There was a tinderbox; a container filled with tar which Jorge thought would be perfect for repairing the orb and a note written by Daniel. The guilt of his crimes had finally set in and Daniel now realised what he had become, 'A cold-blooded murderer.'

Jorge found a smaller room with working machinery and the noise infuriated Jorge for reasons he did not know. He roared at it and gave it a heavy punch which caused it to stop working altogether. He thought he might have broken something he shouldn't have but the peace and quiet soothed Jorge's soul and he went to the only other room in the Chancel. There were no monsters around which Jorge found odd since there were six that ambushed him earlier and he even heard another split-headed beast patrolling the walkways.

He shut the door behind him so he could work in piece. An oddly futuristic energy shield was blocking the door to the Inner Sanctum and Jorge assumed it was the orb inside that was creating it. He lined a stone bowl with the tar he found and began placing the pieces of the broken orb. They merged together like magic and Jorge couldn't believe how perfect it looked once it was fully mended. He turned to the shield to see it reacting to the orb. Once it made contact, a boom caused the Chancel to shake again nearly knocking Jorge off his feet. The door was now accessible and Jorge entered leaving nothing but the Chancel behind.

No time to stop as the Shadow was hot on Jorge's tail. He ran straight down the stairs and pulled a lever which shut a heavy door behind him. It wasn't much but Jorge now had some time to figure out how to open the door to the Orb Chamber. He first went left and immediately found one more note from Daniel. He was upset, very upset as he looked back on everything he had done. The murders, the torture… what was it all for. Just to save one life? He wished that the Shadow had caught him back in Algeria. It was all this that sparked Daniel's anger and caused him to kill Alexander which in turn freed him from the Shadow. Despite Daniel's wrongs, Jorge was somewhat glad that he got out alive and wanted a similar fate for himself. He still wanted to remember it all despite his heavily scarred mind.

He put the note away and sighed deeply. There was something on the table to the left of him, a kind of sharp object and a small container for collecting blood. Jorge looked behind him to see a pentagram on the floor. He wasn't entirely sure what do with it but tried nonetheless to figure it out. He pulled off the glove of his armour and cut his finger, allowing the blood to drop to the table. His eyes went red and assumed he was doing it right. He then stood in the middle of the pentagram until the sanctum rumbled. His head was hurting badly so he quickly went into the room opposite and did the same thing. His mind broke and Jorge fell to the floor as the Shadow roared at him again. A high pitched noise echoed in his skull causing him to grip his head in pain. It lasted a few minutes before fading at which point Jorge got up and clambered over the newly formed Shadow to get to the door of the Orb Chamber. He drank a lot of laudanum to heal his wounds from the Shadow's flesh before he ventured inside.

"It's all or nothing now." He growled.

"I was wondering if you were going to show up" Jorge was greeted by the same feminine voice as he entered only this time he could see who it was coming from.

"I see Agrippa convinced you to run some errands. Tell me, is everything nice and clear now? Am I the villain?" Jorge for the moment had no energy to speak and only listened to what Aurora had to say.

"Good and evil. Such comforting concepts- but hardly applicable. Are you so blind that you see no good in me? Or evil in Agrippa?" She stopped and nodded towards Jorge. He spoke.

"You must be Aurora." He started.

"Yes and you are Jorge." She replied.

"I assume you know why I am here?"

"You are correct. I've seen the hell you have been through and I salute you for making it here alive. You went through all that just to get your memories back?"

He nodded. "Not just those, I also wish to be returned home to Reach." Aurora giggled but then her expression grew more serious.

"You and I are not all that different. We are both in an unfamiliar world and we both wish to return where we are, or in my case, were welcomed. You have done well Jorge and it still doesn't pain me to say this but your journey is not over yet." Jorge's eyes widened but then calmed and he fell to his hands and knees.

"Please… I'm exhausted. Please allow me to go home… allow me to remember. I don't know what I did to end up here. What did I do to deserve this hell?" Tears formed in his eyes. The exhaustion, the hunger, the lack of sleep and the insanity was all becoming too much for him until Aurora spoke again.

"There is one more trial you must go through. I will of course heal your mind and body before I send you there but only because this trial could destroy your mind and I warn you now you may be but a shadow of your former self if you make it out alive." Jorge didn't cry, he didn't yell, he didn't do anything. He just got up and stared at her as he took off his helmet.

"Why should I do this?" He asked.

"Because once you are there you will remember everything of your life and those memories will motivate you to escape." A determined look appeared on Jorge's face and he nodded, accepting Aurora's trial.

"Assuming you get out, you will be returned to me and I will then set up another portal which will send you back to Reach on August 30th 2552. Do you understand?"

He nodded once more and placed his helmet back over his head. A portal appeared in the centre of the room which Jorge jumped through, sending him to his worst nightmare.

Six's Entry #7

August 30th 2552

Well, it has come down to this, me. I am the only one left. I can't comprehend all of this, how I am the only survivor when I was certain it would be someone else? I was certain my carelessness would've gotten me killed but everyone else perished before me.

Jorge… the first to go. He sacrificed himself for us, for his planet but what he didn't know was that it was all in vain. As I write here now, an entire Covenant fleet is in orbit and there is infantry obliterating any chance I have of escape or survival.

Kat was the next one to fall but she was kind of lucky with one swift shot to the head. It would've been instant and painless, for her anyway but Carter… he wasn't the same afterwards. He seemed distant and lost without her. Maybe the rumours I've heard about them were true but now isn't the time for that.

It almost doesn't surprise me that Carter fell next. Part of me thinks he wanted to but the other part thinks that he's not that kind of guy. Long story short a scarab was in our way and he disposed of it using his Pelican. Need I say more? Emile's reaction well… he didn't really have one but then again he rarely reacts to anything.

Last but not least, Emile. An elite zealot got him with its energy sword. He didn't go out without a fight. Using the good Noble team spirit he took the bastard with him. I wonder even now if he felt anything. Anger? Pain? Sadness? Fear? I can't answer any of them and I will never be able to.

Right now it's only me. I'm not entirely sure what happened to the Pillar of Autumn I assumed that it must've fled but I didn't want to stick around and watch. There was a Covenant cruiser but I destroyed it, giving the Autumn all the time in the world to get ready to leave. You want to know why I'm not on it huh? Well, I saw my whole team die here, except for Jun who went off with Halsey on another Pelican a while ago. Other than that I don't know where he is or what has become of him. Anyway they all died here and I just wouldn't feel right if I up and left, it would be like abandoning them here and I don't leave anyone behind, especially when I've gotten to know them so well. They were my friends and as far as I am concerned, I am going with them unless some miracle purpose comes out of nowhere and gives me a new reason to live? No… I am going down fighting on this planet just like the others.

This will be the last you hear from me.

Tell them to make it count.

Noble Six out.