A/N- Big and important chapter gets a big and important length.

Anomaly

Episode 14- Deal with the Devil

One week. A single week since Corvin had gained back everything he wanted. And all in all, it had been the best time of his life. Sure, there hadn't been much change in terms of his daily routine on the ship, but what little change there was had seen him actually socializing with the others. Actually talking and interacting. And doing human things- eating, for one.

Oh, food. Of all the things he'd missed as an immortal creature, food had been on the top of that list. It was less the sensation of eating and more the taste. Taste hadn't been irrelevant when he hadn't needed oral consumption for energy, but now that was different. And there was a large difference between gorging on food due to an empty stomach and actually savoring the food given to him. He'd almost died from the overload of flavor alone... he'd never take Kat's cooking for granted again. Ever.

Other than that, things had been going great for Corvin. There were good times with his humanity...

"How long are you going to stare at the glass of water, Corvin?"

"Shush. This is important." This would be the ultimate test, this water. The final assurance that he could move on from his time as some immortal thing and continue life as a human. To do that, he would have to get rid of his ingrained fear of water. Once that happened he would be able to safely say his rehabilitation into humanity was complete.

Only... he'd sat at the table for about an hour now, staring at the glass. He knew it wouldn't hurt him to drink it, but he always flinched back when he tried to grasp it. No matter how hard he tried, his hand would not obey him. Not even using two hands worked. He refused to give up, however, and persevered.

This had resulted in nothing being accomplished.

Keith sighed, rubbing a hand against his face. "I know you asked me to help you with this and everything, but what am I actually supposed to do here, Corvin?"

"You're to make sure I don't run away from this challenge," Corvin answered. "And stop being impatient. It'll be over soon."

"You've said that four time so far."

"Cities aren't built in a day."

Keith's eye twitched. "You're right, they aren't." His hand swiftly picked up the glass of water, Corvin gulping as Keith looked down menacingly at him. "But we're breaking walls down, not building them up."

Before Corvin could even think of a retort he was drenched. He given a loud yelp, falling out of his chair and doing his best to try and wipe the water off of himself. His panicking soon slowed to a stop when he realized the liquid that was splashed on him was doing no damage, and all it had served to do was make his cloths wet. He looked up Keith sourly, who just smirked back down at him.

"Congratulations, Corvin." Keith gave a single, slow clap. "You got over your hydrophobia."

Corvin rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Thanks a lot, friend."

... And there were difficult times as well...

Keith had been enjoying a good morning breakfast when Corvin had walked into the kitchen.

Well... "walk" couldn't accurately describe it. It was more like a pained waddle, and every singe step he took elicited a sharp hiss of pain from him. He finally made it to where Keith was sitting and pulled a chair towards him, slowly sitting down in it while breathing heavily.

"Um... are you all right?" Keith asked. "You look like you're in a lot of pain."

"Yeah. I am," Corvin groaned. "You know, I'm really starting to miss that regeneration. And pain tolerance."

Keith slowly put his plate of food down, turning to face Corvin. "Okay, what's wrong?"

"It's like this, Keith. Flora's been really, really happy that I'm normal now and everything. A little too happy." He slumped onto the table, misery plastering itself onto his face. "I mean, I knew she was always so enthusiastic in bed and everything, but I barely paid any mind to it. Now... now I can't help but notice."

A single brow cocked itself on Keith's brow. "Okay, I'm still not following."

Corvin let out a groan. "Here," he grumbled, and proceeded to turn around in his seat so his back was to Keith, remove his blood hoodie, and lift up his shirt. Keith immediately winced upon seeing the issue.

Corvin's back was still in one piece, so that was good. What wasn't good, Keith noted, was how his back looked like a child had taken a razor to his back and made it look like white canvas splashed with red lines. There were lines intersecting each other across his entire back, dozens of them, though thankfully they didn't look deep enough to be serious. They'd likely heal up in two or three days, but it looked extremely painful to endure.

Keith slowly lowered the shirt, giving Corvin a look of condolence as he turned around to face the basitin. "Have you tried talking to her about it?" he asked.

"Keith, I don't think you seem to realize this all happened last night. She hasn't even woken up yet." He let his head fall onto the table, a remorseful moan escaping his mouth. "And what am I suppose to say to something like this, Keith? Am I suppose to ask her to remove her claws? Should we just stop altogether?"

"Are you actually considering that?" Keith asked.

"Nooo..." Corvin groaned. "I don't know what to do. I can't even lie down right because of this. I just stayed up all night on my stomach, my head hanging over the edge of the bed."

"So talk to her about it. Seriously." Keith gave Corvin a deadpan look. "You're only risking her being a bit mopey for two hours afterwards over going through this for the rest of your relationship."

"What, take the rational option?" Corvin scoffed. "What do you take me for, Keith?"

A roll of his eyes. "Used to take you for a rational and straight-thinking person."

"Hey, I'm plenty rational," Corvin argued. "I'm just still getting used to things, is all. You ever spend a little over half a year as a monster?"

"No."

"Then you don't get to complain about my adjustment."

Silence fell between the two after that as Keith thought about what Corvin had just said. Then, redirecting the conversation, asked, "so do you want me to get something for your back, or...?"

"Bandages would be fine, thanks."

But there was more to it that just his humanity. There had been his sister as well, which had been a big help to improving not only his recovery, but his overall mood as well. The others one the ship often looked happier with her around too. Probably the infectious happiness of a young girl.

But he was the happiest out of all of them when it came to her. And maybe that went a bit too far with how protective he had become over her. There was one incident in particular that especially highlighted this new behavior of Corvin's...

One wouldn't think that Kat could give such a stern glare, and Corvin had seen an array of emotions come from her. Anger wasn't one of them, though, so that was new. He started to sweat bullets as she stood in front of him, arms crossed as she blocked his only escape route from the kitchen.

"Corvin. Would no mind telling me-" she stepped a few inches to the left so that the view of all the knives in the kitchen were in view, "- why every single one of the kitchen knives have a perfectly good wooden cork stuck to each tip?"

"..." Corvin's mind whirled into a frenzy as he tried to think of a good explanation. None came, so he figured he'd just tell the truth. "Aya likes playing around, and I didn't want her to accidentally hurt herself on one of the knives. So I popped all of the corks off from all the wine bottles in the cargo hold and made the knives safer."

Kat grit her teeth. "And what exactly did you replace to corks with?"

"Oh, I tore some pages out of the risque books in Eric's collection and clogged the bottles with those."

"And why exactly did you do that?" the hybrid ground out.

"Because I need to preserve Aya's innocence for as long as possible and those books weren't helping."

Kat shook her head, letting a frustrated groan out. "Can you please just get out of my sight, Corvin?"

"But-"

"NOW." He was sure he imagined those flames spurting out of Kat's eyes, but he didn't want to stick around and find out, so he had run away. He was still confident afterwords that he had done the right thing for Aya's safety, even if it was to Kat's grievance. He had later learned that she'd removed all of the corks from the knives, but became satisfied when she said she would lock away the knives. He'd thought that had settled matters then and there, and that the two of them could forget this.

He'd been proven wrong when she'd served him food that night that was somehow overdone and underdone at the same time.

Other than that, things had been nice with his sister. He'd spent some time with her, and to his delight she'd managed to make at least one friend to spend time with as well.

There wasn't really much to do on the ship, and Corvin had already explored that route of boredom long ago. So he had opted to just sit at a table and observe the two youngest people on the ship talking to each other. He would admit at the time he had just used Maddie as an excuse to try and integrate Aya to different species, but he hadn't realized how good the two would get along.

Currently, the two of them were talking about a strange topic. Mainly, basitin biology. Specifically, basitins' quadruped legs. They both sat on the floor, Aya cross-legged while one of Maddie's legs were in her lap. She kept picking it up and turning it around, specifically near the joint areas. Maddie just hummed a tune to herself and seemed content to let Aya do as she pleased.

"Wow, you really like my legs, huh?" Maddie giggled.

"They're just weird," Aya muttered, raising the leg over her head to get a better look. "I don't understand how you can walk around on these. They just look awkward."

"That's what I said when I first saw human legs." Maddie closed her eyes and shrugged. "I guess everybody learns how to walk differently. Besides, I could ask how you hear so well with those small ears."

Aya pouted briefly, but then she went back to a smile. "That makes sense," she said. "We're gonna talk more about basitin stuff later, right? You said you would tell me more stuff later."

Maddie nodded. "Oh, sure! There's a ton of stuff we can talk about!"

Corvin chuckled at the two from his position sitting in a chair not too far from them, one leg over the other as he observed. And to think he'd been so worried about her making friends. This couldn't have been going along better.

And though there were some awkward times...

"So, Corvin..." Flora's hands roughly pressed against his chest and pushed him against the wall, her body leaning closer into his as her face hovered inches away from his. "Know what we're doing tonight?"

A large gulp sounded from the back of Corvin's throat. He still felt the phantom pain from the scratches on his back from the other night. And he had neglected to talk to Flora about it at any point between now and then. And he knew she wouldn't listen to any reason while in this state. "Can we just sleep?" Corvin pleaded. "Sleep sounds good. I'm tired. I had a rough day."

"You didn't do anything all day and we both know that." She grasped the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer until they were nose-to-nose. "So are you getting on the bed or am I forcing you on?"

"U-u-u-mmm..." He had to hold in the explosive sigh of relief when he heard a small knock on the door. "Bettergetthat!" he quickly said, pushing out of Flora's grip and running right to the door. He might've swung it open harder than he ought to have, but at that point he didn't care. Anything that could buy him some time to think of a plan out of this was more than welcome.

Imagine his surprise when he saw Aya standing at the other side of the door, wearing the pajamas Eric had donated to her and sleepily rubbing a half-closed eye. A very much welcome surprise, sure, but a surprising surprise nonetheless.

"Big brother..." Aya muttered, lowering her hand and heavily blinking her eyes up at him. "I had a bunch of nightmares. Can I sleep with you tonight?"

Corvin would've smiled in relief and readily said yes had he not felt the daggers being glared into the back of his neck. "A-aren't you sleeping in the same bed as Maddie?"

He stiffened up when he felt a presence over him, Flora's head leaning past his to stare down at Aya. "Yeah, aren't you?" she asked.

"Maddie isn't big brother, and sleeping in the same bed as big brother always helped get rid of the nightmares," she said.

Corvin turned his head to Flora, and then felt a twang of fear when her eyes snapped to his. "She's my little sister," he tried to reason.

"She's a big girl, Corvin." Flora focused her gaze back to Aya. "Aya, I'm sorry, but-"

The look she was given stopped her dead in her tracks. The pleading look of an innocent girl, eyes slightly wet as she shot a pleading looked up at Flora. Her wavering face dropped when Corvin seemingly slid right next to her, giving Flora an identical look.

"Are you serious?" Flora muttered to Corvin.

"Never been more serious," he answered.

At that, Flora let a gasp of exasperation out. "Okay, fi-" No sooner had she said those words had her body been pushed out of the room, the door slamming in front of her face before she could even blink. So with that, and while letting out a withering breath, Flora trudged through the halls towards the only open bed she knew was on the ship.

Later

"Thanks, big brother," Aya mumbled, slowly snuggling into Corvin's arms. Likewise, he breathed a sigh of relief as he sunk into the bedding the two laid back.

"Sure. Anytime, Aya." His grip around her tightened. "No, really, anytime. Don't hesitate to ask me of this again."

"Mh." He felt her head turn upwards. "Hey, big brother? Why do you sleep in the same bed as the tiger lady?"

"Because Eric's ship doesn't have a lot of beds," he lied. "It's the same reason you're sleeping in the same bed as Maddie."

"Oh. Okay." A pause. "How come she seemed so grumpy?"

Corvin sighed. "Well Aya, one day when you're in a rel-" he stopped himself dead. She couldn't know what he and Flora had. And there was no way he'd ever let any boys near her so she could experience this torment. Or, even worse, submit some other poor fool to what Corvin himself was enduring. "Nevermind, just don't worry about it."

"But-"

"Please forget about it for your big brother?"

"Hm. Okay. If that's what big brother wants." She fell asleep soon after, Corvin breathing a sigh of relief upon her slumber. Soon enough he followed her example, worn out from the last ten minutes.

Meanwhile

"Soooo..." Maddie turned her head to a fuming Flora, whose arms were crossed angrily as she stared ahead in anger. "Are you two fighting again, or...?"

Flora grit her teeth. "Shut it."

And even more awkward times...

To say Corvin disliked meat wasn't too far off the mark. He'd eat it, but that didn't mean he liked it. It was more of the taste than anything else. Fruits, grains, even vegetables: no problem. Meat? He avoided it like the plague. Ironic considering his former state of being.

Aya happened to be the exact opposite when it came to the two's eating habits, as her go-to food was meat. Specifically hamburgers, but any kind of meat would have done.

Now, unfortunately for Corvin their father had made it a points to inform the both of them about nutrition the body needed and all the major food groups and all that. Corvin had taken this advice to heart, but had still skirted away from any and all meat. Again, Aya had done the opposite. And if there was ever anything that Aya ever worried about regarding her big brother, it was his health. Enough that Corvin was almost at the point where he wished he was back to where he didn't have to worry about his health.

This lead to one afternoon lunch, where the entire crew of the ship tried and failed to stifle their laughter as Aya sat on Corvin's lap, a large lump of meat stuffed between two slices of bread in hand as she tried to force feed Corvin it. He tried his best to escape this fate, but his only exit route would be to toss Aya off of him, which would inevitably hurt her. So he had no options of escape.

"Aya, please, no..." Corvin moaned, tilting his head back as far as it would go so as to avoid the sandwich. "You're embarrassing me in front of all my friends..."

"Your health is more important then that," Aya huffed. "I'm only making sure big brother doesn't fall apart from not being well-fed. You're already too skinny."

"Guys?" He turned to his so-called "friends" for help, but all they did was snicker and point, not bother to raise a single finger to help. "Traitors..."

"Are you going to eat it yourself, or am I going to have to hold your mouth open?" Aya asked.

Let it be said that Corvin had made his choice, and had proceeded to walk directly out of the room he was in if anybody had ever brought it up again.

Happy times, embarrassing times, and every other type of time in-between. Things had been interesting, and for Corvin that had been the greatest. He felt alive. He really couldn't ask for more.

Months ago

"You guys ever wonder what the hell the higher ups think of us?"

An explosive sigh. "I swear to the gods, Reiner..."

"No, I'm serious. Hear me out here." The sound of a hand ruffling through a pocket. "I have so many posters in here I can't even FIND the damn thing. You all know what that says about us?"

"You really wanna do this with him literally right there?" a male voice asked.

"... Point taken."

All in all, there were seven of them marching forwards in a single group. Three young men in their late twenties and three women of equal age in the back of the group. The one who lead them was a man of significant age, around sixty or so. All human, of course. Human and wearing intricate sets of white armor with various pouches and weapons strapped to them. Armor heavily emblazoned with Templar symbols. The only exception was the elder who lead them, who wore a white armored robe with significantly more pouches than the rest.

One of the group of six, Reiner, the one complaining, gave an annoyed grunt as he pulled a poster out from his pocket. "Y'know, the name 'enforcer' used to mean somethin'. Nowadays I feel like we're sanctioned bounty hunters."

Another male wearing glasses stepped next to the man and scoffed, pushing the spectacles up his nose. "Those who have seriously offended our order and broken human law pose a serious threat to the general human populace. Their actions go against our order. Hunting miscreants such as that down serve to further our goals."

Reiner just rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Specs," he muttered. "I mean, sure, when it was entire groups doing this it was fine. But this!" He wildly flapped the parchment in front of Specs' face. "It's one guy! One flippin' guy, Specs! How are you going to justify spending so much manpower on someone like this?"

The one who had sighed and complained to Reiner before, a short female, sighed once again. "He killed a member of the Templar and some city guards, Reiner. And the member was high-ranking, too. Do you know what it looks like when a well-known figure of our order turns up with a hole punched through his chest?"

"World has a lot of Templar-hating psychopaths, Soph. Don't see why this one makes a difference."

"Come to think of it..." an intelligent-looking woman put a finger to her lips. "Sirus seemed real skittish when he handed us the assignment. Wouldn't even go into that much detail with the guy. Really weird, actually."

"Gag order." These words were simultaneously said by a man and a woman walking rather close to each other behind the group.

"Is it that obvious?" Specs asked, turning his head to the two.

Of the two walking together, the woman responded first. "You mean it wasn't?" she asked.

"We would have figured the lack of information being provided on what was deemed a critical mission would have been a good enough clue," the male added.

"Art, Mart, I get you both are twins and all, but it's really creepy when you do that," Reiner said.

"All of you, enough." All six immediately snapped their mouths shut and faced forwards at the elder leading them. He refused to slow his walking pace, but he turned his head around to face them, white hair brushing past the purple eyes that bored into them. Fear was part of the reason they all listened to his words, but most of it came from the sheer respect they had for the man in front of them. They all knew how higher he was compared to them.

"Reiner, I don't want to hear any more complaining out of you. The assignments we get are to be followed to the letter to the best of our ability, such is our place in the order. To question our superiors is to question the Templar. Sophia, stop snipping at your comrades. They're your brothers and sisters in arms, and you nitpicking their words doesn't help things. Maria, stop over-analyzing the situation. Arthur, Martha, the same. And Specs..." The old man gave a withering sigh. "You didn't actually do anythin' wrong, so keep it up."

"Yes, Father Dove." All six bowed in respect for the aged man in front of them. He just scoffed and turned his head back forwards, continuing on.

He'd been assigned as their leader for some time now, and in that time the word "respect" had been redefined for the young six. The man in front of them was a venerated priest of the Templar, after all. A man known to have unwavering faith in the order and who's loyalty to the Templar had been tested time and time again. A well-known veteran of both faith and combat, as it were. Well respected and highly regarded, the six had come to know the man like their own father. He surely disciplined them like one, after all, but they had all improved in the face of his stringent rulings while leading them. They trusted this man, the legend that walked in front of them, with more respect than themselves. Rightly so given the accomplishments of Father Dove.

"I just want to get back to the village," Reiner muttered to Specs. "It's been a long day of getting no information on this guy. Literally zilch. It's like he's a ghost."

"Ghost does him compliments," Specs muttered back. "It's as if he doesn't even exist."

That was the conclusion all in the seven-man group had come to on the search for the mystery man in the hoodie. That was the name they had decided to give him, as even a name could not be provided to them. The assignment itself seemed standard: a human had killed a Templar and some guards. Bounty was placed, but due to the Templar member being involved, the seven of them had to look. Good so far. It only started getting weird when one of the highest-ranking members of the whole Templar order had personally come to the seven of them to give them the order to hunt the man down (Father Dove had nearly blown his knees out he knelt so fast). A bit strange, but nothing to worry too much about. Find the killer, bring him personally to the order.

Problems had begin to arise when almost no information had been given about the man. A sketched picture of a young man wearing a hoodie whose hood's shadow obscured most of their face, that was it. An escaped keidran slave travelling with him. Rumors of a basitin traveling with them as well. The first too were basically useless tidbits of information they were so generic, and they had thought the basitin bit would help them out, but not even that had been enough. Asking around town to town, inquiring at inns for any strange travelers, nothing. Only so far to go when they didn't even have a name to work with.

This little investigation of theirs had taken place inside of a Templar-controlled village near a large port city. They mainly returned for rest, resupply, and to gather their thoughts, though at this point it was mainly just mulling around while hoping a break would come along in the investigation. As it happened Father Dove's home was located in this village, and his daughter lived in said home. This meant that most of the info-sorting went to the six juniors while Father Dove spent time with his loving daughter. It was fine enough for them, though. Father Dove trusted them enough to get the job done, and they were an intelligent bunch. They'd actually had a hundred-percent success rate of their assignments until they had hit what was essentially a brick wall with this one.

Hours of walking. They were all accustomed to it, but that didn't make it any easier. It was only when they saw the tops of houses and structures approaching did they all feel relieved that the end of their journey was near. Reiner made this apparent by letting loose a loud yawn.

"Man, finally!" he shouted. "Feels like we've been walking for ages!"

The footsteps of the other began to slow. "Reiner..." Specs began.

"Seriously, I won't be surprised if the inside of my boots are died red! We've literally been on the move for days with nothing to show for it."

Maria's eyes began to widen in horror. "Reiner, really..."

"What?" he asked, turning around to face the others.

Arthur pointed towards the village. "Take a look," he croaked, his arm wavering as he struggled to take in the sight before him.

Reiner finally gave in and turned around. His face began to pale when he realized why the others had gone so silent.

The village was in ruins. Not burning, not razed, just... ruined. Like a terrible storm had come through and wrecked it. The homes and structures dotting the village were all still standing, but most were damaged. But the strangest by far were the large, black spikes that protruded from the ground and surrounded the entire village in a circle.

The first to move out of all of them was Father Dove. He'd sprinted towards the front of the village in an instant. The other six soon followed, panic setting into all of them as well as intense worry for those in the village.

The seven had maintained a thunderous sprint straight towards the only opening leading into the village, only stopping to avoid slamming into Father Dove, who stopped to a dead halt at the entrance to the village. Everybody released airy gasps at the scene they stopped in; mutilated corpses littered the ground, all in pieces. The ground around them was stained dark red with dried blood and covered in severed limbs, a sight that had all but one reeling in horror. The only exception was Father Dove, whose sole attention was on the bottom half of a human body lying in the dirt. Based on the size and shape, it belonged to a small girl.

Sweat beaded down a face filled with dread as his left hand hand glowed with a green energy. Specs, noticing this, turned around and asked, "Father, what are you-"

"I need to know, Specs."

"Know what?" Maria whispered, a hand over her mouth as she did her best not to look at the bodies. "What did this? Is that what you want to know?"

Father Dove didn't answer. His only action was to allow the green energy to drop to the ground, causing a green circle to expand around the seven Templar.

"A temporal glance spell?" Arthur asked.

"Seems like it," Martha concurred.

The environment inside the circle began to change. A green and shimmery film surrounded the corpses on the ground, save for the small pair of legs. The ghostly image of a small girl appeared in front of them, transparent and with a green aura surrounding her. Father Dove released a choked gasp upon seeing her face, tears running down his face.

"What the..." Maria reeled back in shock when she recognized the image's features. "It's... it's..."

"It's his daughter," Sophia finished, her face twisting into grief. "Damn it..."

There was another ghost in front of the small girl. Reiner was the first one to notice, and gave a noise resembling a shocked yelp. A hooded figure staring down at the girl, one arm missing and the other arm turned into a wicked, twisted thing with metal claws protruding from the end.

"It's... it's him!" Reiner realized.

"What?" Specs asked.

"Yeah, look!" Reiner pulled the wanted poster out from his pocket. "This is the one we've been after all this-" his words were cut off when the image of the hooded man fazed through him and zipped past the image of Father's Dove's daughter. Her upper half flew off from her lower half in the next instant, the image of the lower half landing on the real pair of legs while the upper half landed by itself on the dirt, imaginary blood splashing down soon afterwards. The group didn't even get the time to react to the grotesque scene before the figure dug his claws into the dirt, stood up, and walked forwards while tendrils sprouted out of his back. Half went to the upper half of the girl, digging into her body and liquidized it into a black sludge only to be absorbed into the tendrils. The other half went to another another claw, severed and lying on the ground.

The magic cut off after that, the green light fading away. The group only stared silently, too struck with confusion and horror to process what had just happened. Father Dove was the first to break the silence by whispering, "check the village."

Reiner faltered at his words. "Father, are you-"

"Just go. There might be survivors." They didn't need convincing. The six ran into the village soon after, shouting to try and get the attention of any still alive. Father Dove was the only to stay behind, grief washing over him as he fell to his knees. The only sound that was left once the others were out of earshot was the sound of an old man's broken sobs as he grovelled over a pair of legs.

As for the rest of the group... try as they might, they couldn't find a single living person left in the village. Only pieces. The further they delved into the destroyed village, the more horrified they became. Hundreds of bodies strewn about, not a single one wholly intact. Swathes of blood caking the sides of homes and the streets. Shops in shambles.

Everybody had different reactions. Reiner held his hair tightly, looking at the carnage in front of them in disbelief. Specs tried his best to appear calm, but failed by the way his mouth twisted into a disgusted grimace. Sophia had slammed her fist into the wall, utter rage plastered onto her face. Maria had thrown up in revulsion, the sight of families chopped to pieces too much to bear. Arthur and Martha both looked extremely shaken, and both were finding it difficult to console one-another.

Hours of searching. Hours of sifting through rubble. Hours of calling out in vain. All in naught. The only thing left in this village besides them were bodies.

"Nothing but more dead over here..." Reiner called out, turning over another pile of bricks. Another body torn apart.

"Got some keidran over here," Specs called back. "Wolves," he clarified.

"A basitin," Arthur reported.

"Really?" Reiner stepped over to examine the body, recoiling in shock once he saw it. "Oh gods, that's Frederick. I knew him. He was an exile."

"Men, women, children, keidran, basitins... this bastard doesn't discriminate," Sophia growled.

"This is insanity!" Reiner shouted. "I thought we were hunting down a random psychopath, not some mass-murdering monster! Why would he do this? What possible reason could somebody have for doing something like this!?"

"To eat." All eyes turned to Martha, who stared at the ground as the chilling realization hit her. "Didn't you all see in the illusion Father Dove's magic made? He kills people and eats them. Absorbs them. That's why there's not a single intact body in the entire village. He killed everybody, tore them apart, and ate them all." She looked up at the black spikes surrounding the village. "And chances are he erected those spikes to seal off any escape from the village. He didn't want his food running away."

The words sunk in to the group. It made sense. It didn't explain why whatever the thing was chose this village of all places or even what it was, but it made sense in a cruel, calculating sort of way. Reiner was the first to react, fists clenching tightly as he stomped away. "Come on," he grunted. "Let's go."

"Go?" Specs mumbled, too in shock to get all his faculties in check. "Go where?"

"The port city. Sirus is there. I want some goddamn answers." He looked back at the five, fury blazing in his eyes. "You guys wondered why he was so acting so weird when he gave us the assignment? Why the goddamned spymaster of all people wouldn't give us much info on the guy?" He turned back around, continuing to stomp forwards. "Doesn't add up. None of it does."

"But..." Maria began, but was cut off when Reiner stopped once more.

"There's nothing left here, Maria. Not a single thing but corpses." He paused to allow those words to sink in. "Now come on. We need to go get Father Dove."

The others saw the sense in his words and followed Reiner, all too eager to leave the graveyard of a village. They were about as silent as a graveyard as well when they finally found Father Dove in the same spot they had left him. It was another hour before they were ready to move again, the Father carrying what was left of his daughter in his arms as the seven trudged away from the village. They never once looked back, not wishing to refresh the image of the sights they saw that were burned into their memories.

"I understand that this is a very serious matter. And I understand why you all would be so inclined as to learn more about this individual." Sirus sighed behind the desk he sat at, rubbing the temples of his forehead with his thumbs. "I can't help you, though."

Reiner shot the man a look of disbelief. "Are you kidding me here?" he asked. "That hooded bastard, that, that THING is responsible for the deaths of everybody inside of that entire village, not to mention the Templar stationed there, NOT TO MENTION we're the ones you requested to find in the first place, and you're telling me you can't tell us anything!?"

"First of all, you were not the only ones sent to look for him." Sirus rose from his seat, silently glaring at the man who glared back. "Second of all, we had no way of knowing how... volatile he actually was until now. We're leaving any matters concerning him to me and my colleagues."

"Oh, so all you upper-circle assholes get to deal with him, is that it? What a load of-"

"REINER!" A loud stomp quieted the man. He turned around to face Father Dove, who sat in the back of the room with the rest of the group. A conflicted look had settled upon his face as sweat dripped down from his cheeks. "To question him is to question the T-"

"Oh, forget that!" Reiner screamed, and then turned back around to Sirus. "Do you know what we saw in that place!? We're all gonna have nightmares for years because of the things we saw there! THE ONLY THING FATHER DOVE HAS LEFT OF HIS DAUGHTER TO BURY IS A PAIR OF LEGS! THAT HOODED BASTARD ATE THE REST OF HER!" He took a second to calm himself, the other looking at him in shock due to his outburst. "We didn't sign up for this shit," Reiner continued. "Razed villages and slaughtered people, sure, we've seen plenty of that. But that was always done by bandits or large group of keidran. We signed up for this so we could stop all of that. But if you're going to sit there behind that desk and tell us a single person is walking around out there that can and has done even worse damage then any group of bandits or some angry keidran has ever done, and you're not even going to tell us who he is so we can try and stop him, we're done. We walk out."

"Reiner-!" Maria gasped, but was cut off when Sophia stood up.

"He's right," she said. "We're supposed to protect people. What if that thing does something like this again? We can't just let it go around free like this."

"I concur," Specs agreed. "The protection of the people is our highest priority here, spymaster. Failing in that task is to fail the title the Templar bestowed upon us."

Both of the twins turned to Father Dove. "We know you probably don't agree with this," Martha began.

"But we simply cannot abide by this," Arthur finished.

"... Why did I teach you all to be so headstrong?" Father Dove muttered. "We can't just go against the word of-"

"I'll tell you what I can." All conversation was interrupted when Sirus said those words. He sat back down in his chair, shook his head, and placed his elbows on the desk to address all seven. "I can't tell you everything, though. You need to understand this isn't my choice here."

"That's about as much as we could ask for, I guess," Reiner grumbled. He moved to the back of the room with the rest of his companions, sitting down in an empty chair and paying his full attention to Sirus. The rest did the same.

"Oh, where am I supposed to begin with this?" Sirus mumbled to himself. "His existence was brought into being by those much, much higher than us."

"Define 'us'," Reiner said.

"Humans." Father Dove seemed shaken by that statement, and the rest went rigid. There were only three being in existence who classified under that, after all.

"Somebody very important died despite all assurances he would survive, so the 'hooded bastard', as you put it, was brought into being as a replacement," Sirus continued. "I was followed his movement and observed him, went into disguise and even interacted with him from time to time. Still am, honestly. I'll soon be off to intercept him at his next destination under another disguise."

"You're telling me you know where this bastard is going..." Reiner began, but quieted down when Sirus raised a hand.

"Let me finish," he said. "For the most part, he seemed average. A bit strange and quiet, but otherwise normal. Then he started to become a problem to those that brought him into being. Specifically, he ripped the mask of an individual a Mask was possessing."

There were audible gasps from the group of enforcers. "Impossible," Father Dove proclaimed. "The will of the gods is absolute. There is no possible way he could have circumvented their rule and done that."

"Well, he did," Sirus said. "It was then that they discovered something more troubling. As they are the gods of this world, the Masks can willingly change the fundamental rules of how a species work. But for him, they can't do anything. Their magic can't affect him unless through direct interaction. We theorize it's because he doesn't fall under any category of species, but we're honestly unclear on that. Because of this, and the fact he's much stronger than they anticipated, the Masks want him dead before he causes a serious issue."

"And the reason you're calling off everybody so the inner circle can deal with him is what?" Specs asked.

"You saw in that village. He's beyond whatever-"

"It. It is beyond whatever they could hope to accomplish."

All heads turned to the source of that baritone voice. He'd walked out from the corner of the room, out from where there was no light shining. Dressed in fitting clothing and with an arrogant smile on his face. He brushed the midnight locks of hair away from his eyes, revealing crimson eyes that seemingly glowed as they bored into those that stared at him.

"Corvin isn't a he. It's an it," the man reiterated. "It's a creature of profane flesh hiding in the skin of a human who feeds off the pain and suffering of others. Do not dare presume, spymaster, that it has the right to be called a 'he'."

"Corvin." Reiner tested the name, saying it slowly and with disdain. "So that's its name. What is it?"

"An abomination is what it is," the red-eyed man stated. "A perverse mockery of man. A sad creature that has no right to exist." The man shook his head in disgust. "We never should have brought that thing here. It was a mistake to even entertain the idea."

The seven Templar sitting down went still, the implications of those words hitting them in full force. Six of the seven lowered their heads, and Father Dove began whispering prayers under his breath. The only exception to this veneration was Reiner, who angrily stood up at the red-eyed man.

"You're telling me," he said, teeth bared in anger, "that you are part of the reason-"

The red-eyed man raised his hand in one swift motion. Reiner choked on his words as a cloud of black smoke surrounded his throat, it with enough force to make him drop to his knees. It was only then the smoke dissipated as the red-eyed man lowered his hand, giving it a dissatisfied glare as Reiner breathed heavily on the floor.

"I don't know how my siblings put up with this. Possessing bodies is such a hassle," he muttered. He then turned to Sirus, saying, "these seven will do."

"I thought we told you we had a plan for killing Corvin once he reached the islands," Sirus said.

"I realize this. I also realize that this problem has been going on far more longer than it has needed to." The red-eyed man turned to the others, who looked up at him in a mixture of awe and fear. All except Father Dove, who looked down angrily at Reiner. "What is it you humans say? If you want something done right, you do it yourself? I simply want to assure that the world is rid of this dark menace forever in the unlikely event that your plan fails. And these seven, they've seen what he is capable of. What he has done." He leaned in closer to the seven, eyes scanning over all of them. "What did it feel like? Walking into the den of carnage that he created? To be surrounded by all the death that he wrought?"

"It felt... it felt horrible," Maris admitted, eyes turned to the floor.

"Abhorrent," Sophia spat.

"Atrocious," the twins intoned.

"Grotesque and vile," Specs said.

Reiner gave a grunt. "It was sickening," he growled. "Seeing all of those bodies. There were kids there, damn it."

Father Dove was silent, which drew the attention of the red-eyed man. "And you, dear priest, have lost more than enough to justify any hate towards Corvin. Don't you wish for this evil to be brought down? Don't you wish to avoid others meeting the same fate as your daughter? To ensure that you are the only one who will feel this pain brought upon by it?"

"I do," the priest croaked. "I so very much do..."

The red-eyed man smiled. "Good. Very good. This is why I need you seven to help me destroy Corvin in the event the initial plan fails to kill him. You've personally experienced the terror he can cause. You're motivated." He stepped away from them and to a window overlooking the city below. "We'll set out next dawn in wait."

He heard the excited whispers behind him. The anticipation. It made his smile even larger. His hate for Corvin had grown so large that the loathing he felt for that thing was almost equal to the thrill of knowing its end would soon be at hand.

"Such a sad and repugnant thing you are," he whispered to himself, small clouds of dark smoke flowing from his glowing eyes. "Corvin... what a Chaotic creature you are."

Present

It was still mystifying seeing Corvin act so normally to Keith. In all the time he'd known Corvin, he'd never acted so, well, human. For good reason, of course. It was just shocking seeing how much he had changed as a person over the course of a week.

He watched as he chatted happily with his little sister at the front of the ship, the two kicking their legs over the railing as they stared out into the ocean. He hadn't talked with her much in all honesty. She'd mostly kept to herself and Corvin. And Maddie, too. They played together on occasion, and was likely the closest thing she had to a friend on the ship. Corvin had tried and failed to have the others befriend the others; she was always so nervous around everybody.

"Why are you just staring at them?" He felt a presence settle themselves next to Keith, looking towards the same direction at him.

He looked impassively at the wolf. "It's just really weird," he said. "When I first met Corvin, he was weird and quirky. Kind of clueless and didn't talk much. After the islands he was all dark and moody because of everything happening to him. And now that's he's human again and has his sister, he's all... well, he's still quirky," Keith admitted. "Quirky and happy, I guess. He only ever smiled sarcastically around me. Now he just genuinely smiles."

Natanie scoffed. "I guess."

"What's your problem with Corvin?" Keith asked. "Ever since we've all been travelling together all you've done is glare at him, and he did his best to avoid you all the time. Now I think he just avoids you because he's scared of you."

The wolf sighed. "Look. I know being a freak messed with his head and that he was a very different person back then. But... he really rubbed me the wrong way when we met. Said some things he shouldn't have." The wolf looked down in thought. "I'm not totally against the idea of making up with the guy. I can see he really has changed. It's just not gonna be that easy because of everything he did, you know?"

He didn't really know. The wolf had neglected to tell him exactly what it was Corvin had done to earn their ire, and whenever he asked Natanie just grew angry towards Corvin. It was good to hear that they were willing to patch things up, though. He'd been worried this grudge of theirs would carry on forever at this rate.

"Well, even if he did do some amoral things to you back then... some of those things are the reason we're together now." His hand brushed against the wolf's as a smile crossed his face. "You can't say that wasn't a good thing."

Another scoff by the wolf. That just caused Keith to smile again.

"So, big brother?"

"Hm?" Corvin disrupted his stare into the ocean to face his sister, who looked up at him from her side of the railing they sat on. It was something he'd been doing a lot of lately- staring into the ocean. He hadn't been able to appreciate many things while he was different. Admittedly, he didn't get much out of the experience, but it was something new for him to try.

"How come we have to go to this secret village place you keep talking about?" she asked. "Can't we just go and live in the nearest village? Why do we have to go so far?"

Corvin sighed, turning back to the ocean. "Because not a lot of people like keidran, Aya. That place we're going to is the only place without persecution. Without Templar enforcing enslavement laws. It's the only place-"

"But we're not keidran," she argued. "We don't have to worry about that stuff, right? Can't we just leave them?"

"They'e my friends, Aya. The only ones I ever made. So, no, we aren't leaving them." He reached over and pushed a single index finger against her forehead, forcefully tilting her head back. "You wouldn't like it if I took you away from Maddie, would you? You know, the only friend you've made so far in this world?"

"Big brother, quit it..." she whined, batting his finger away. "Besides, she's a basitin. You said they're different," she huffed.

"They are," he agreed, "but some people can't really tell the difference. Or care."

Her face fell into into something akin to a mixture of confusion and anger. The face of an angry child who was told something they didn't like but understand why it was so. "Why do people hate them so much?" she asked. "Why do they hate keidran enough to kill so many of them and enslave them?"

A question Corvin often asked himself. He never really paid much thought to it, though. He always had other things to worry about those days. "I don't know. Hate, I guess." He gave a mild shrug. "Keidran burn human villages, and supposedly some wolf tribes enslave humans. Humans kill entire tribes and enslave keidran. It's a big cycle of hate that doesn't really end."

"Mh." She looked down into the water, staring down at the wavering reflections that stared back up at them from the surface of the water. "But you said that keidran were friendly to humans when they first met, which means humans started it. So why do they hate them so much?"

"... I don't know," he honestly answered. One thing that was tricky with children was that they always asked the simplest and most important questions. Childhood naivety, Corvin supposed.

Aya gave an unsatisfied grunt at that. "It's really dumb," she said. "It doesn't make any sense."

"Yeah," Corvin agreed. "It doesn't."

She was silent for a few moments, her head picking back up to stare out into the ocean. "Wanna play I-spy again?"

"No," Corvin groaned, "I don't want to. That game gets old when the only thing we have to stare out as is an infinite and empty expanse of ocean."

"C'mon, I found something you'll never guess!"

"I doubt it," Corvin muttered. "Okay, fine. What is it?"

"Something blue and white."

Because there were so many things they were looking at right now that fell under that color scheme. "The sky and clouds," Corvin guessed, lazily resting his head into his palm.

Aya shook her head. "Nope!"

"Nope?" Corvin furrowed his brows in confusion as he expanded his search. "Is it the uh, the... oh, is it the sun's reflection in the water?"

"Nope!"

And already he gave up. "Then I don't know, because those are the only blue and white things I see. What else is there?"

"The flag on that ship over there."

It took a few moments for those words to register in Corvin's brain. And then it took him double the amount of time to realize she was looking right at what she was describing, so he followed her line of sight. "What the- what ship? What... the..."

He'd wished that he'd never seen that boat. He knew the second he saw it that the ship approaching their's that he'd made the mistake of even acknowledging its existence. It was all because of the flag that was on the top of that ship's mast. A white flag with and intricate blue circle and lines running through it.

A Templar flag.

"Oh no..."

Minutes ago

For so long they'd been planted on this ship waiting. Lying in wait. Waiting for news. Waiting to see if they would get to act. Nobody had been waiting as hard as Father Dove had, though. It wasn't that hard to picture, after all. The murder of one's own daughter often weighed heavily on one.

It had been a simple enough plan. The seven enforcers and their plus one would lie in wait at sea. The other Templar at the basitin islands, in collaboration with their basitin friends, would lead Corvin into a trap and kill him. Simple. If they failed, then it would be their turn to intercept him. They would lie in wait along the most popular trade route leading from the islands to the mainland, as the ones they pursued had no reason to deviate from that path.

As for how they would deal with Corvin when the plan on the islands failed... well, then it would be left to their plus one. Considering who he was, they all had complete faith that he would be able to finished this. He had to.

'squeeaak'

Father Dove looked up from where he sat on the bed, squinting at the light from the opened door. That door had been seldom opened since they had left the port to wait at sea. He only ever left that room for necessary reasons, such as food. Otherwise the Father had been locked in his room, thinking about a myriad of things. His daughter. Corvin. Happy memories of his daughter. How he was going to eviscerate Corvin.

"Father Dove." The voice made the Father instantly fall to his knees, kneeling his head down at the person at the entrance of the doorway. The red-eyed man just stared passively down, giving no indication of appreciation or annoyance.

"My lord," the Father greeted. "Is it time?"

"... As you know, the Templar's plan to destroy Corvin on the basitin islands failed. Miserably at that."

The Father did remember. He also remembered how half of himself felt enraged and humiliated at how they had failed to destroy that monster. Yet, the other half had felt a small amount of elation. Because if the Templar on the island failed, that meant they would encounter Corvin. The two of them would get to meet.

"So we're going to intercept them on their route back to the mainland," the red-eyed man finished. He brushed the black locks from his eyes when the priest below him refused to move. "Father?"

"Yes, lord?"

"Realize that I only brought you seven along because you, out of all the Templar, would be the only ones who would willingly go of their own accord no questions asked due to all that you saw. I only need you seven to keep any others on that ship at bay as I deal with Corvin, as I will require no distractions. Yet... you still wish to act in my stead? To try and kill him before I have a chance?"

"Yes, lord." Every word was true. That was his every single intention.

"You'll die," the red-eyed man stated simply. "I told you of his abilities. He's beyond you. He would cut you down without a second thought, Father, and he wouldn't bat a single eye just like he didn't bat an eye when he cut your daughter in half. So I ask you..." he crouched down to the Father's level so the two's eyes met in line. "Do you really wish to attempt and kill Corvin? All for your daughter? For revenge?"

A large gulp was heard from the back of the Father's throat. "It's not just about my daughter," he choked. "I've given my all in the name of the Templar order. I've given my life in the worship of the gods. I... gave everything else into being a good father." A single tear splashed onto the wooden planks below him. "But Corvin... that thing... that monster...! He spits on everything I stand for! He has killed those who gave their lives for the Templar order just as I have and carries on like a free man. He has defied the order and will of the gods, incurred their very wrath, and yet walks unscathed." A tightening sound was heard as his gloved hands squeezed together into fists. "That abomination is the very opposite of the ideals I have poured my very soul into, my lord. I cannot live in peace if a creature like that lives alongside me in the same world. I don't want to do this out of just revenge. And I don't just want to do this." He looked up at the red-eyed man, tears freely falling from his purple eyes. "I need to do this. Or else I can never forgive myself if I knew I didn't do everything in my power to bring that monster to justice."

"I see." The red-eyed man rose and turned to the door. "You'll have your chance then, Father. Use it well; you won't have much time once he's on the attack." He walked out of the room, the door slowly closing behind him. "We're approaching them now. Get ready."

The door closed, leaving the Father alone in his room. He breathed a long, heavy sigh, and then stood onto his feet. This would be the day. The day he had waited such a short time for, and yet it felt an eternity.

He couldn't have been happier.

Present

About five minutes.

Five minutes was all it took to ruin Corvin's life that day.

The first minute had been full of pandemonium and panic. Not the comical kind, either. Corvin had immediately grabbed Aya's arm and dragged her straight to the room Corvin had been living in, ignoring every protest given off by her.

Minute two: ship had stopped by the time they reached the room. Corvin had pushed the door open and shoved her in. She didn't even have time to voice her protest before he slammed the door shut. He didn't have time to explain things.

Minute three: panic. He started scratching himself across the chest as his skin started prickling with panic as he paced down the hall. "Ohhh... this isn't good," he thought, staring down at the floorboards as he moved forwards. "Why are they here? Templar? Here, right now? This doesn't make any sense."

They were on open waters, yes. They were on common trade routes, yes. The chances of them encountering a ship of any kind in passing was high, but what possible reason could there be for them to pull right up to their ship and board them?

"There isn't a single good reason," Corvin thought. "We haven't been at sea long enough for word of what happened on that island to reach the mainland. All the magic or mana or whatever was wiped away from the blast, so in the likely even Jackdaw left some stragglers in his rampage they couldn't have pulled any magic tricks to get word back. Crystals would have been decommissioned, too. That ship doesn't have any reason to board us like this. So why? Why did they board us?"

Minute four was when he saw them. He burst through the doors leading to the dining room, stopping dead in his tracks. Everybody was standing in broad daylight; the hole that had been made in the wall and covered with tarp had been torn down, revealing the ship settled next to them. Everybody Corvin knew was on this ship was on their knees staring hatefully at a peculiar group of white-armored humans that glared back at them. Those glares shifted to Corvin the second he stepped into the kitchen, and at the same time they seemed to intensify.

Six of them seemed young yet experienced. The one who glared the hardest at him was a brown eyed and haired man. A dark-haired man with glasses who stood next to that one stared coldly at Corvin. A short blond woman stared up at Corvin with about as much scorn as the brown-haired one. A tall, redheaded woman seemed to shy away from Corvin, though she still glared hatefully at him from the corner of her eyes. And a man and a woman, both with the same golden eyes and light hair, stood close to each other as glared at him silently.

A seventh stood in the back, past the hole. Though he seemed different, considering he was darkly dressed and stood away from the rest of his companions. Corvin didn't like the way his red eyes eerily glowed- reminded him too much of a certain someone.

The last one, the eighth one, stepped forwards in front of Corvin. His age wasn't lost to him; likely sixty to eighty to Corvin's eyes. Out of everybody in the room, he seemed to look at Corvin in the worst possible way. There was hate, scorn, disdain, and every other negative emotion in those eyes. There was anguish, too, for whatever reason. But what worried Corvin the most was the anticipation in those light purple eyes. They were more worrying than the eyes of the dark-haired man in the back.

The fifth minute was when he recognized the color of the old man's eyes and hair. He'd seen them from somewhere before. In fact the memory came to him so vividly that Corvin almost wished he didn't remember it, because he became terrified upon the realization of why this man glared so hatefully at him. The fifth minute was the minute Corvin realized the man in front of him was the father of the girl Jackdaw had murdered outside of the village Flora had been forcibly taken to all that time ago.

It'd been easy enough to subdue everybody on board the ship once they boarded them. They had swords and they didn't, after all. The hole leading into the ship had looked peculiar, but to the Father it didn't matter. It was just another way in.

They'd surrendered when they'd burst into the kitchen with swords at their throats. Reiner was quick to point out the tiger keidran that was in the wanted posters related to Corvin's posters. He didn't care much, so he told Reiner to just sit her down with the rest. They could all be sorted out later.

He'd felt his head snap to the source of footsteps that entered into the room they were in. And he knew from sight alone it was Corvin- he had the same clothes, after all, though the hood was down, revealing his young, bewildered face. He looked over his features briefly, noting the sharp, pale features, the two-toned hair, and the deep, blue eyes that looked back at him. What was surprising to the Father was that those eyes weren't what he was expecting. He'd expected a pair of orbs with a piercing look, or perhaps even one with arrogant confidence. With his abilities, it was more than plausible. These eyes, though... they looked more frightened and bewildered than malicious.

The Father internally scoffed. Maybe it was an act. Maybe it was genuine surprise at seeing them. It didn't matter, nor did he care. He calmly walked forwards in front of Corvin, his sword sliding out from his right sleeve and into his hand. He saw Corvin's eyes flick down to the sword and back to him, and in the instance he looked at the Father's face there was a spark of familiarity. And in that moment Corvin's face became even more frightful.

"W-wait, I didn't-"

The Father was behind Corvin in an instant, sword in hand and arm stretched out to the side. At the same time Corvin's right arm had dropped away from his body, and a large gash had been run through his right eye.

Corvin was completely silent at first, standing still in shock at the loss of a limb and an eye, blood splashed over his chest and face. Then he fell to the floor, screaming at the top of his lungs as he held the bloodied stump of his arm.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" One of the three basitins yelled at him, almost ready to rise to his feet when Reiner held his blade in front of his face. The rest next to him just stared at Corvin with mixtures of pity and horror. The tiger keidran in particular only stared mouth agape as tears flowed freely down her face.

"You can't do this," the basitin continued. "You can't just come here and-"

"Shut up," Reiner whispered, his focus planted entirely on Corvin.

"I'm an ambassador of the basitin people. I have diplomatic immunity. You Templar can't just-!"

"You really think we care? After what he did!?" Reiner shouted. "Do you know how many people he killed? An entire village. He wiped out an entire village. You see that man right there?" he pointed at Father Dove, whose sole attention was focused on Corvin. "He killed his daughter. Fucking cut her in half and walked on like it was nothing." Reiner's face twisted into an angry snarl. "And then he ate her! He killed and ate everybody in that village!"

That seemed to shake those on their knees. "Y-you're lying," the basitin girl near the one Reiner threatened sputtered, her eyes glossy as she tried her best to avert her eyes from Corvin's screaming form. "Corvin wouldn't do something like that! He wouldn't just kill an entire village for no reason!"

The basitin Reiner held a sword to glanced to the tiger keidran's side, who cast an appalling look to the floor. A memory flashed across his face as he released a frustrated noise. "That's because he didn't do something like that," he growled, then looked back up at Reiner. "You idiot, Corvin didn't-"

"One more word and you'll lose your head, immunity be damned," Reiner threatened. "You, the two basitins next to you, hell, we may as well kill all of you for helping that thing!"

The other Templar didn't comment on this. They were instead transfixed on Corvin as he rolled around on the slowly-expanding pool of blood on the floor in anguish. They were all perplexed at this, though none more than the Father. They had all been lead to believe that a wound like this would be superficial to him at best. Father Dove had figured Corvin would just shrug the wound off and attack him, not scream in agony as he clutched his bloodied stump. In fact he shouldn't have even had a stump at this point. It was nothing more than curiosity that stayed their hands from going any further as they observed him.

That was until Maria's eyes widened and she pointed behind Father Dove, shouting, "look out!"

He turned around halfway, eyes widened at the small form that was blurring towards him. A small, human girl with a frenzied look in her eyes with a strange, black, pointed object held in her hands. She didn't get within five feet of the Father before a black blur appeared in front of her, a single hand stretching out to grab the object and stopping her.

"You should be careful," the red-eyed man said, grinning at the furious look the girl was giving him. "Might hurt yourself, running around with something this sharp."

Pain.

He'd read a number of books that described what the sensation of losing a limb was like. They always said it was something akin to dousing a limb in oil and setting it on fire. Another book had said it felt like the limb had been crushed into nothingness. When he'd been the way he was he'd lost limbs, yes, but his sense of pain back then was almost nonexistent. As a human, both before and now, he'd never experienced it. And considering he'd never been set on fire or crushed, he'd have to settle with describing the pain as an indescribable, white-hot sensation that was blaring on both his face and shoulder.

He'd felt the sensation of his mouth making screaming noises, but it was honestly drowned out by the pain and feelings running through his body when he collapsed on the floor. The went feeling of the blood seeping into his clothes, the pain from his wounds, the fear of whatever else was going to happen. The embarrassment was probably the second worst thing, right next to the fear. The embarrassment of knowing he was screaming his head off in front of all his friends as he pitifully flailed on the floor in his own lifeblood, and the bitter anger that came with knowing there wasn't anything he could do.

That hurt almost as much as losing an arm and an eye. Knowing he was powerless in front of all these people. They were older, more experienced, had weapons, maybe even magic. The old one had cut him down faster than he could have blinked. Almost made him wonder if what he was feeling right now is what people that he or Jackdaw had killed felt. The feeling of an overpowering foe standing right before you, and the knowledge there wasn't a single thing you could do to stop it.

It honestly was the worst feeling in the world to Corvin.

He didn't know how long he was laying in a pool of his own blood. In reality, maybe forty seconds, a minute at most. Felt more like an hour. His vision had begun to blue from the loss of blood, and his movement had become sluggish. His vision only focused when he saw the darkly dressed man from earlier standing in front of-

His remaining eye widened. His sister was there, her eyes blazing up at the black-haired, red-eyed man. And she was holding that black sword. That thing.

It wasn't that surprising in hindsight. With all the knives locked away, that was probably the only thing she could find in a short amount of time. And he'd been in such a panic he hand't locked the door when he shoved them into his room. She probably saw the entire thing, remembered the sword propped against the wall, gabbed it, and tried to kill the one who dismembered him. How could he have been so stupid about not locking the door...

He felt pure anger race through him when the red-eyed man slapped her in the face. She fell back with a cry of pain, the chipped and twisted blade clattering to the ground. He tsked and looked down at Corvin, a curious light in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked, voice almost mocking as he crouched down to Corvin's level. "Not going to turn your arms into swords and fight back? Hm? That seemed to be your answer to everything, after all. Cutting up people into mincemeat and eating them. Did you think we weren't watching intently after what happened with my sibling?" He grabbed Corvin by the throat, causing him to gag as he was lifted off his feet and into the air.

"Wait a second... wait just a second here." The man's red eyes flashed crimson, and then widened when the light faded. "You're... human? Really?" He tossed Corvin back on the ground, and all at once turned around. "Well, isn't that interesting. That changes a few things..."

Corvin heard him continue talking, as well as the other Templar. He didn't much care about their words. He could already the gist of what would happen should events continue as is: he would die. Whether from his wounds or from continued abuse, he would die. His friends would probably die, too. Maybe they would try and take Flora again, or maybe they would just kill her as well. They'd probably kill everybody on this ship to erase the memory of his existence as much as possible.

Him, his sister, his lover, his friends. All dead. It was such a horrifying thought that he didn't want to think on it, but between current events and the pain he was suffering it was the only thing he could think of. His entire new family dying right before his eyes.

His remaining eye fell on the twisted black blade, mere inches away from the spot the red-eyed man had tossed him. No, he wouldn't allow that. He couldn't. He'd never allow it.

One week ago

Maybe it was a mistake shaking this demon's hand. Maybe it wasn't. Corvin didn't care at this point. He just wanted his humanity back.

"So. The deal is struck," Ogre said. Those words seemed to prompt the black inferno that soon ensued. Black flames outlined in red soon surrounded Corvin's dark inner world, seemingly eating away at the nothingness. The two figures standing in the middle were seemingly illuminated by the black and red flames, Corvin impassive while Ogre was... happy? Jubilant? Corvin couldn't tell at this point.

"So. What's gonna happen to me?" Corvin asked. "Am I just going to magically turn into a human from shaking your hand, or what?"

"A few details you left out there, but essentially, yes."

Oh. "I'm not even going to try and comprehend the power you have, Ogre." And maybe that was for the best. He'd probably go insane just trying to figure it out. "Anyways, you said something about getting these powers back if I ever needed them if I took this deal?"

Ogre nodded. "Yes. I did."

"But since you'll die... I'd be stuck like that forever."

"This is also true, yes."

"Hm. I doubt I'll ever subject myself into becoming something like this again, Ogre. It probably isn't worth telling me."

"Don't be too hasty, Corvin. At least let me finish explaining the rest of the deal." Ogre walked forwards towards the edge of the wall of dark flames, staring directly into the light. "The power of the Destructor can't just vanish with my death, Corvin. It's a fundamental power that balances the universe. The power disappearing would be akin to gravity suddenly ceasing to exist. It would be catastrophic." He looked back at Corvin. "That, and there's those pesky details I mentioned about the process of turning you human. You're already shaped like your old self, so I need only turn it human. There's still the virus, though- the reason you're like this."

"So you need to do something with the virus and your power," Corvin finished. "Do what?"

"I can manipulate whatever viral flesh is left into a... vessel, of sorts. An object made of it that will appear next to your human form. It's as simple as that."

"So, what, if I want to turn back into this thing I just need to eat the object or whatever?" Corvin scoffed. "Not the most original thing in the world."

Ogre shook his head. "No, it'll be dead organic matter. It won't do anything, you likely won't be able to even break it. Dead, but extremely versatile. Hardy." He gestured towards the flames that surrounded them, the flames burning away at Corvin mind. "I'll transfer the last of my power into the object. The power of the Destroyer."

"And what does that get me?" Corvin asked. "This power of yours?"

"It won't be much, I admit. A fraction of what I have. But you forget that one of my powers is the ability to freely travel between dimensions," Ogre stated. "When your Father was experimenting with the virus, he made multiple versions. Many were destroyed in his efforts. In the end, two versions remained; one was used to turn you and meld Jackdaw into your psyche and to turn himself. The other, an inferior prototype to the final one used, was discarded due to the final version being superior."

"And what happened with the prototype?"

"He had no use for it, so I took it and hit it away in the one place it wouldn't be out of place."

Corvin remained silent for a moment. "The world it originated from," he realized. "That's your plan. Turn the viral matter into a vessel for your power. If I want to, I can use that vessel to go to the world you hid the prototype. I use it to get my powers back."

"A bit more complicated than that, I'm afraid," Ogre admitted. "The power that will be in it will be enough to freely go to that world, I'll make it so you'll be able to do it without a second thought. However, Corvin, the return trip won't be so simple. It takes an enormous amount of energy to break the dimensional barrier. It would take a considerable amount of time for the vessel to gather enough energy to make another portal for a return trip."

"How much time?"

"A hundred years, give or take ten years."

Corvin faltered. That was... a considerable amount of time. More than any human could afford. He'd have to wait a hundred years, possibly more, if he went to get his powers back? If he went that route, he'd have to get his powers back just to live long enough to make the return trip to his world. And if he did that...

"What good what that do me, Ogre? Wouldn't everybody I know die by the time I got back?"

"Time is... fluid when it comes to dimensional travel, depending how close they are. Seconds in one world could be years in another. The one you currently inhabit and the one the prototype is in are fairly far apart. A hundred years spend there would be about a five-second passing."

He shook his head. That solved that problem, but he'd still never do that. It wasn't worth it, no matter what happened to him. He'd never go that far just for power. "I don't think I'll ever stoop to that level, Ogre," Corvin said. "Look how far I'm going to become human again. You really think I'd ever go that far to come back to being this?"

"Do what you will," Ogre said. "Hide the vessel away in a closet for eternity for all that I care. I'm simply honoring my end of the deal."

"... Out of curiosity's sake, where did you put the prototype, anyways?"

"Oh, in a small, abandoned shop. Rather out of the way from the public eye. Nobody should intrude on it."

"A shop?" Corvin deadpanned. He sighed, rubbing his forehead. A dangerous thing like this virus, and he puts it in a shop of all places...? He really was careless. "Can I ask for the name of the shop?"

"Oh, you'll know it when you see it."

The hand rubbing his face fell to his side. "Thanks, Ogre. Really."

He looked around himself, pulling away from his momentary stupor. His attention focused up to the colored orbs on the ceiling above them, noting how the flames weren't reaching those. "What about those?" he asked. "The memories of everybody me and Jackdaw consumed?"

"They'll remain due to being a part of your psyche," Ogre explained. "Dormant and locked away deep in your subconscious, of course. You shouldn't notice them."

"Charming." He felt a tingling sensation running up his hand. He held it up to his face, noting that the dark flames had begun eating away at him. The same was said for Ogre, as half of his body was already engulfed. "I guess this is it, huh?"

"It is," Ogre confirmed. "I'll die, and you will live a life as an ordinary human again. You'll even get your sister back. You must be very excited."

Corvin gave a grunt of affirmation. His waning emotions didn't really give him much opportunity to appreciate that sediment. He'd have to see how he felt about that later.

"Since we have a few moments left... I want to ask you one thing," Ogre said. "What do you think of madmen, Corvin Drevis?"

"Madmen, huh?" Corvin looked down in thought. "I've only ever met a few, I think. And every single time they made my life worse. I think I hate them." He looked up at Ogre's black and red eyes. "But you just find them so interesting, don't you?"

"Well, what interest ever came from a sane mind?" Ogre chuckled. "Yes, they are incredibly interesting... yet dangerous, too. Take that one human who had run out on a genocidal spree that the Templar in your world had all been worked up over. I had kept a eye on him, you know." The demon shook his head. "Absolutely ludicrous, that one. One who's death was made to be an accident that may or may not have been set up by an inter-dimensional being who didn't like one needlessly slaughtering the hundreds of thousands as if it was a game."

"More like a being that killed him to set up an even bigger game involving an equally mad man and his family," Corvin muttered under his breath.

"Well, the term 'game' in this sense is subjective. If you really want to talk about the term game, look to the Masks. They treat the world they rule over like a chessboard, the inhabitants like pieces. I know because I watch, Corvin. Flora's pregnancy?" He scoffed. "Neutral's meddling. A sad attempt at preserving the species should this game of theirs kill them all off. That's why it happened." He waved a hand. "It probably won't even work, you know. Who know's what will result?"

"I should have figured..." That certainly would explain how that pregnancy had happened. He felt he should have been more surprised at that news. Then again, here he was burning alive in a cognitive world and not having a care in the world. Losing his emotions certainly was a novel experience.

"You're missing the point," Ogre said. "These are being who will manipulate the biology of species they created, who will rage wars and genocide so one remains to prove that they are superior. Like children comparing toys to see who has the shiniest one." He shook his head. "Pettiness. Madness. That, Corvin, is the danger of madness. And it's up to the sane to keep that madness in check so the world doesn't fall under them. It's something I've always believed. That good people are the ones to keep madmen in check."

"And over the course of your observations of countless subject, Ogre, how many times has that belief held true?" Corvin asked. "How many times did good triumph over madness?"

Ogre's smile shrunk, though he still managed to look earnestly happy. "Rarely. Though the times it did triumph were always memorable." The flames had covered their entire bodies at this point, covering their faces. "It seems our time is up. Farewell, Corvin Drevis. May your new life as a human be long, meaningful. Enjoy yourself." He made a motion of tipping a hat to Corvin, though the flames had obscured his entire body. "And thank you for keeping me so interested right up to the end."

And he was gone, just like that. The flames had spread away to reveal empty space. And so Corvin was alone, the flames covering his body as the world around him burned.

"Your welcome. Goodbye, Ogre, and thank you. You won't be missed."

Present

"All I wanted... was to live a life of peace with my new family..." These thoughts were the only ones spurring him on as he pitifully crawled towards the black blade. The vessel. The remnants of Ogre's power. "A life as a human. One where I could live and die. Enjoy quietness and peace with my friends... was that so much to ask for?"

It wasn't fair. His time had been so short... a measly week as a human. He'd been so happy... there had even been tears of joy. He arrived at a point where he didn't want to ask for anything else. He received everything he'd ever wanted. He'd done it! He'd gained back all that he lost! And now... now he would have given everything just to go back to that life.

"Was a I fool for assuming everything would work out?" he asked himself. "A fool for thinking nothing like this would happen? For thinking the Templar wouldn't chase me down for everything I did? That Jackdaw did?" His one eye streamed hot tears of anger as he fingers brushed against the handle of the vessel. "What were we supposed to do? They came after us first. I only acted to protect them." That's why they were going to the hidden village. They were all supposed to live peaceful life away from them. From Templar. They were supposed to go to a place where human and keidran could get along so that Corvin wouldn't have to worry about things like being weak. He wouldn't have to protect them anymore once they reached that place.

He hated them. The Templar. He truly hated them now. He loathed them, he detested them, he hated them so much that he felt he would explode from the pure rage flowing through him! The only other person he had ever known to exude this much hate from him was his own father, Alfred. And even then... even then, Corvin thought he might've hated the Templar even more. Because in his eyes... they were stealing his second chance at life.

His hand weakly gripped the handle. "Ogre... you demon..." he thought, "p-please... don't let this happen. Let me... let me go to that place. They'll all die if I don't do something, but I'm just too weak as a human. I'll die at this rate." His last hand gripped the handle hard enough that his knuckles began to turn white. "I need to... protect them... I... need that... p-power... so please... please, let me go to that place..."

And all at once, the sword seemingly sprung to life. Flames whiter than the hottest light edged in blue danced across the blade. He felt the power flowing through the blade through his arm. He silently thanked the demon. Thanked him for providing a solution out of this mess. And then he silently cursed him, too.

Everybody, friends and Templar, looked in shock as Corvin used the burning blade to prop himself up. He paid no mind to them, and with a cry of fury plunged the sword to his side. The blade seemingly sunk into nothingness, and Corvin pulled down. The blade slipped free from space, and a blue portal tunneling into nothingness was left next to him. His exit.

He looked back at his friends and family. Most were shocked speechless and confused at the same time. Keith showed these emotions the hardest. Aya seemed so shaken that she looked sick. And Flora... the look of hopelessness and sadness painted on her face left Corvin speechless. She looked at him blankly, her whole face wet with tears from seeing him mutilated. He never again in his life ever wanted to see that look. It hurt him even more than losing body parts.

"I... I'm so sorry..." he said, voice laden with despair. "I don't... I don't know what else to do..." His gaze shifted to the Templar who stared dumbstruck, and his face darkened in anger. He was so tired that it was all he could muster. "You Templar... I'll never... I'll never forgive you. I'll never forgive you for this-!"

An arrow had lodged itself into his throat. He gagged, blood flying from his mouth as he stumbled backwards. He saw where it had come from- the Templar with the glasses held a crossbow in an outstretched hand. It didn't matter, because Corvin had already done everything he needed. All he needed to do was go through the portal.

So that's what he did. He had stumbled back, slipped on his own blood, and tumbled through the portal. He didn't even get the mercy of seeing his family's faces as the last thing he saw before the portal closed behind him. Just a dusty, wooden ceiling.

Life was truly unfair to him.

Somewhere

Crossing dimensions had been a duller experience than Corvin had expected. He'd been hoping for a view of the infinite cosmos as the view of trillions of trillions of worlds passed by him. Something... interesting. Exquisite, maybe. Instead he'd bore witness to an endless black tube for a few seconds before being dumped somewhere, a black night sky filling his vision.

Oh, well. He was losing so much blood that his consciousness was fading. He probably couldn't have enjoyed it, anyways.

He tried to move, but couldn't. He tried to breath, but that wasn't working too well, either. Blood was filling his throat and restricting his breathing. Maybe if he could move his arm he could pull the arrow out as some form of back-alley tracheotomy, but he couldn't even move that. Unfortunate.

So, with that all in mind, he decided to take a view of his surroundings. Hard thing to do with one eye and a head that wouldn't move. It took him a moment to realize the only thing he could actually see was the night sky he was staring at. He could smell, though. Loss of breathing made it difficult, but it was possible. And what he smelled was horrible: the smell of rotten food and other rancid items. So considering that and the soft landing... trash. He'd landed in trash.

He would have groaned if he had the energy. And a mouth free of blood.

"Hey, you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Oh. Voices. He was too tired to make them out, though. Too tired and cold. He could already feel his eye forcing itself closed.

"I, like, I dunno, it was a thump."

"A thump?"

"Yeah, like a, like somethin' dropped down over here. Uh... yeah, there! The dumpster!"

"Dumpster, huh?" Corvin thought he heard some rustling near him. Crunching? He couldn't tell. Sounds were beginning to blur together.

"What the, what's all this... is this blood? Why is there- holy...!" He saw a figure lean over him and shake him. Corvin's vision was turning black, though, so he couldn't make any features out. "Oh, holy shit this isn't good!"

"What'd you find?"

"There's a guy in here and he's seriously hurt! Go get help!"

"What!?"

Based on how his vision was moving, Corvin assumed the figure above him was shaking him. His body was so numb he couldn't feel anything anymore. "Hey buddy, stay with me! It's gonna be alright!" The figure turned his head. "For god's sake, man, go get the doctor! Go get Ragland!" He turned back to Corvin. "Hey, you still with me? Hey! Hey, don't die, man!"

Corvin couldn't even hear the person anymore. His vision was already turning black. Soon he did lose consciousness, and the only thing left on his mind was knowing that, even if he did die here, he died in a place where his body couldn't be ruined any further for his family to see.

It was a small comfort. But after everything that had happened, it was the only think Corvin could think of before he blacked out.

A/N- I knew I should have split this chapter up in two parts, but I told myself it would be fine. Whoops.

Anyway, yes, I went there. The story is going to be very different from here on out, for obvious reasons. To be honest, I've been waiting a long while to arrive at this point in the story, and I'm very excited for the things to come.