"Ich kann nicht das mehr nehmen!"

I bolted up and stared at the entrance to the Sklavenheim just in time to see Nina kicking it closed with the bottom of her foot. Her clothes were askew, her hair frazzled, and her face was covered in sweat. Unconsciously, I scooted backwards an inch or two to give her all the room she wanted; after all, it was never a good sign if Nina's face was bright red and a vein was splitting her forehead in two.

Alphonse chuckled behind me. "What's the matter, princess?"

Huffing and breathing heavily, Nina attempted to answer. "I…he…" Then, the most incredible, impossible thing in the world happened: Nina started to cry. Her entire body was quavering as she fell against the door, sobbing and screaming incoherent words. The only things I could make out were "Dämon!" and "Teufel!"

This was something that didn't normally happen – in fact, it had never happened during all the months I'd been in the Sklavenheim. I had no idea how to react or what to do; it was like going over a plan for something in your head, then executing it and getting snagged on something you didn't account for. So I sat there without a clue.

The rusted metal springs of an old cot behind me groaned as they bounced and Alphonse came running into my view. He sprinted over to where Nina was breaking down. When he arrived he wasted no time cradling her limp figure in his arms. And she threw her arms around his head to steady herself as she continued to howl. Crying echoed around the room, and it was one of the most forlorn sounds I'd ever heard.

"Calm down!" While this started as a soft, friendly attempt to quiet Nina's sobs, Alphonse ended up having to nearly scream it in order to be heard. It also helped that he was shaking the redhead around. So, a few minutes later, she had finally calmed down enough to speak comprehensible words. "Now tell me what's going on!" By now, I'd gotten up and slowly gravitated towards the door. Looking around, I saw Zorn doing the same; Lyra was holding back, but was still undeniable tuned into what was happening.

Taking deep breaths, Nina finally talked. "It was horrible! Das ist immer schrecklich, aber dieses Mal machte er es eine lebende Hölle! A-after we were finished…After we were finished…" She seemed to be choking on what was next. I could see the anxiety in Alphonse's eyes – he wanted to know what was going on, and he wanted to know right away. However, he didn't prod her; merely stood there as a crutch.

"Right after he was done with me…" She was finally able to speak again. "He told me to get up and he pulled…he pulled her into the room." Alphonse's eyes widened, and his pupils dilated.

"He didn't!"

"Uh-huh." Nina nodded solemnly. It was just at this moment that I realized who she meant by 'her' – Lust. "He let her look at me; he let her laugh. Then he started kissing her right in front of me, and he forced me to watch…" Nina was an absolute wreck; her entire face was awash in tears. And just when I would've thrown up, her legs gave out from underneath her. She fell to the floor in a heap, laying against the door with her hands covering her entire head. "Das war so demütigend..."

Except for stifled sobs from Nina, the Sklavenheim was quiet. Alphonse looked about ready to break something, and I can assure you it wouldn't be glass. As for me, I was trying to wrap my head around Neid being so needlessly cruel. He had to know how Nina felt, and doing something like that…It wasn't right…

"…I hate him…" The voice of Nina was shaky but steadier than it had been. "I hate him so much…"

"What are you going to do?" Alphonse asked her breathlessly. "What can you-?"

"I'll tell you what I'm going to do." The hands left Nina's head, revealing her face – it was stern and powerful through its wetness. Resolved. "Tonight. I'm going to make him pay. I'll take a knife and cut until everything's gone and the only thing left is blood. And I'll laugh and I'll dice both assets right on the floor."

For the first time I heard Alphonse gasp. "Nina, what are we going to do without Neid?"

"No." Nina's hand curled into a fist. "Not Neid. I'm talking about Lust."


Blaring alarms thrust me from sleep and into the cold atmosphere of the Sklavenheim. My head was covered in a cool sweat. Turning, I saw Zorn already up and off of his cot, though I couldn't tell if he was really awake through the darkness. Nonetheless, I jumped up to my feet. "What's going on?!" I yelled.

No answer.

Growling, I got on my hands and knees and pulled from under my cot the Karabiner I kept with me. There was nothing quite like the feeling of security. With my gun in my hand and half a clip at the ready, I dashed to the Sklavenheim's door and threw it open.

Soldiers were scurrying down the hall in both directions, their heavy boots thudding against the floor. It was absolute pandemonium – controlled, military pandemonium. Portions of the hall rushed one way, other portions the opposite direction. People were yelling to each other in strangled, two word sentences that said only what they were meant to.

"What are you two doing? Come on!"

As I came back to reality, I saw a female soldier standing in front of the door; Zorn was beside me. The soldier quickly nodded down the hall in the southern direction, and we both got the message. Zorn and I followed the soldier speedily.

"What's going on?" Zorn asked the woman; I could hear the small fear in his voice, but I didn't know if the woman knew him well enough to.

"Shadows running along the wall and attacking people," she replied, seemingly taking no notice of Zorn's apprehension. "They shouldn't do that – our job is to find them and put them out of their misery." She grumbled. "Schatten sollten wirklich die Wand länger bleiben, wo sie gehören."

Before too long, the female soldier left us down a particularly dark corridor. But I had a feeling she wasn't going the right way, and I had a feeling I knew where to go. Apparently, Zorn had the same idea.

Neid's office.

We literally had to fight through the swarm of soldiers to make any headway. Grown men and women were pushing so hard to flow through that it came to blows with some people – leaving me hurting more than I should've been. But it was making progress – we were coming closer and closer to Neid's office.

At one point, Zorn almost fell too far behind me. When I noticed, I reached my hand out to help him, and he almost didn't take it. Instead, he stared at it as though it was some disgusting creature, come to eat him. In the end, he did clutch onto my hand and curl his fingers around me, but I had a hunch it was only because he had to, or else get trampled by the crowd. I won't mention that it took all my strength to pull him back up to me, and he didn't so much as thank me for it.

It took some time, but finally, we were alone at the entrance to Neid's office. My hands were trembling; I didn't want to open the door and discovery what lay on the other side. If only there was some way to delay the inevitable, only for a few more seconds…A few more seconds that I could hope…But my wishes were interrupted by Zorn's quaking hand gripping the handle and turning it.

The door lazily creaked open, revealing to us a void of darkness. There was nothing to be seen but the faint outline of a desk and something protruding from its face. Zorn and I entered cautiously, keeping our guns at the ready. As I slowly closed the door, a voice entered my conscience: "Do put those down; you won't be needing them."

That moment, the room erupted into light. Neid was sitting at his desk, hands folded in front of him. And standing behind him was Lust, her arms folded and a look of utter contempt on her face; her mouth was curled into a dangerous frown.

It took me another moment to notice the other two people in the room. There was a sharp intake of breath from Zorn, and I had to hold myself up with the wall.

Nina and Alphonse were crumbled on the floor, unmoving but still breathing; the knife was still clutched in Nina's hand. My eyes floated back up to Lust – there was a jagged line along her left cheek.

A low chuckle emanated from Neid. His hands unfolded and opened; his expression was purely psychotic. "Schauen Sie, wer schließlich schnappte."


"Ich kann nicht das mehr nehmen!" - "I can't take this anymore!"

"Dämon!" - "Demon!"

"Teufel!" - "Fiend!"

Das ist immer schrecklich, aber dieses Mal machte er es eine lebende Hölle! - It's always horrible, but this time he made it a living hell!

"Das war so demütigend..." - "It was so humiliating..."

"Schatten sollten wirklich die Wand länger bleiben, wo sie gehören." - "Shadows really should stay on the wall, where they belong."

"Schauen Sie, wer schließlich schnappte." - "Look who finally snapped."