Chapter 151

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE GOD EATER FRANCHISE

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Name: Cedrick Esparza

Gender: Male

Hairstyle: Style 7 (Dark Brown)

Nine days had eventually passed since I arrived at the Far East Branch. On the seventh day my leg had healed enough to use crutches. On the eighth day I was able to walk without them but told to not put too much pressure on my leg. The ninth day gave me the news I had been waiting for, my leg had completely healed. However, I was still unable to go out on a mission, Director Sakaki had thought it would be safer not to send me straight out into the battlefield. Now though, on the tenth day since my return I'm free to go on as many missions as I want. As I relish in the comfort of my bed under the rays of the sun, thoughts about my time away from the Branch cross my mind. I don't get to think too much about my time away, however, as I hear a few knocks on the door.

"Cedrick?" The sweet jingle of my girlfriend's voice rings through the door. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, Ciel, come in." My answer is quick as I move from my lying position to sit up, my legs hanging over the edge of my bed. As Ciel enters the room I decide to stand and walk towards her. As soon as she closes the door behind her and turns back to face me, I envelop her in a hug.

"Cedrick?" The surprise in her voice is evident and at first she doesn't reciprocate not until a few seconds have passed for the surprise to wear off as she settles into my embrace, closing her arms around me. "This is a nice surprise." We revel in our warmth before splitting apart a few seconds later. "I don't usually get a morning embrace." She continues speaking.

"Yeah, well, we haven't really had a chance to hug, have we?" I motion towards my leg as I speak, giving it a few shakes to further emphasise my words.

"How is it?" She asks, a smile on her face but worry in her eyes.

"Good as new." I slowly lift my right leg up as my left leg anchors the mass of my body. "It's completely healed, and I can't wait to walk like normal again."

"Are you sure it's alright to do that? You don't want to aggravate it." The smile fades from Ciel's face as she sees my balancing act. I quickly put my other foot back on the ground in an attempt to ease her worry.

"Yeah, I was given the all-clear when I went to the Infirmary earlier. Anyway, what's up?" I try to change the conversation. "Did you need something?" I look to the digital clock I have by my bedside and see that it reads as 10:40. I've already been awake for several hours, and I think Ciel has too, so I doubt that Ciel came here to simply give me a good morning greeting.

"Oh, right." Ciel seems surprised at my question and I can't help the smile that spreads across my face. My hug caused her to forget why she came here. The pride I feel right now could carry me to fight several Quadrigas alone. "Have you seen Cradle any-? I suppose you wouldn't if you've been in your room." She answers her own question.

"Who do you need? The whole Unit?" The way she worded her question intrigues me. Rather than searching for just one person, she's asking about the whereabouts of a whole Unit. "Have they not went on a mission?" Ciel holds a hand under her chin as she thinks about my words.

"That's a possibility." She doesn't seem entirely convinced. "It's just that no one has seen them in a while."

"Wait, are we still talking about the entire Unit?" The warmth I was feeling fizzles out at the possibility that Cradle is missing. "Wouldn't it be easier to ask the director?"

"No, no, no, no. The Director is the person who asked me to find them. Apparently, nobody has seen Winter and Kanon for a while. When was the last time you saw them, Cedrick?" She quickly answers my questions and I begin to feel slightly more at ease.

"Well, I haven't seen them today at least. Or the past few days from what I remember."

"Days?" My answer confuses Ciel and it shows on her face. "I saw them yesterday, but you haven't seen them for days?" Her probing question makes me feel a little guilty.

"It's not as though I've been trying to avoid them. It's just that I still feel a bit awkward around Cradle, at the moment." I hear a heavy sigh come from the woman in front of me.

"You still haven't apologised for that?" Another sigh follows from the woman as I choose not to answer her. I watch as she closes her eyes in thought. It doesn't take long before her expression turns into an annoyed one. "We're going to find Cradle, and you're going to apologise for your behaviour." Her annoyed tone tells me that there's no possible way she's letting me escape this fate, but that doesn't stop me from trying.

"Already? I haven't even prepared myself first."

"Prepare yourself?" Ciel repeats in surprise before her voice takes on a slightly angrier tone. "You've had plenty of time to prepare yourself." She takes a sharp step forwards and makes me unwillingly flinch under her stare.

"I can't deny that." I give a dejected sigh. "I have been a bit of a dick, after all."

"I'm sure they'll forgive you." Ciel gives a smile, knowing that I've crumbled under the pressure and will accompany her to find Cradle. It seems that while her plans were to find Winter and Kanon, it has now become to find those two along with Lindow, Soma and Alisa so I can properly apologise. I suppose I do need to do that. I was thinking about my time with Cradle and realised just how much of an idiot I was. Although, that doesn't stop me from thinking that I want to find them all individually rather than together. Sure, it would be easier for me to apologise if they were in a group, but I feel as though that would invite a bit more humiliation for myself.

"Why don't we start outside the Branch?" I raise the question to Ciel, "There's a big chance we'll find Alisa checking up on the Satellite Bases. We can ask her if she's seen Winter or Kanon around." I smile as I continue speaking.

"That's a good idea, but we should probably check around the Branch first." She dismisses my idea with a smile.

"Have you not already done that?" Did Ciel just come straight to me? My chest warms at the thought of Ciel relying on me.

"No, I thought I'd just ask around first. I didn't really check a few places, so we should finish in here before leaving the Branch." She theorises.

"Well, you're the tactician, we'll do it your way." I see the ends of her lips tug upwards because of my words.

"And after this, we'll go on a mission and I'll show you what tactics I've learned while you were away." She responds happily as we walk towards the door, leaving and locking my room as I follow Ciel, walking by her side.

The two of us walk through the Branch, checking rooms and asking people if they had seen anyone from Cradle around. I find it strange that none of the people we ask seem to have any indication of where they are. Ultimately, we find ourselves in front of the door to the laboratory, where we expect to see Dr. Soma on the other side. Before we even enter, we can hear many sounds coming from behind the door.

"That's a lot more sound than usual." I can't help but comment as I hesitate to open the door.

"It does appear to be the case. However, we cannot let this opportunity pass us by." Ciel's words remind me that we're here on business and not for a friendly chat. She proceeds to knock on the door and waits for a response. We wait for a few seconds before trying again. It achieves the same result as the noise from the other side of the door shows no sign of stopping. Ciel moves her hand towards the handle and cautiously opens the door where we see Soma dressed in his signature white lab coat as he rushes backwards and forwards between desks.

"I don't think this is a good idea." I grumble at the lack of attention we receive from Soma as he is grossly invested in his work. What is he doing anyway? As Ciel ignores me and takes a few step forwards to enter the laboratory I decide to follow her and close the door after I've entered. Despite now being in the room with the busy scientist, he still hasn't noticed that the two of us are here. After a couple of seconds of hoping he'd notice our presence, I open my mouth, ready to speak, but quickly close it as Soma walks back to his desk and operates his computer. With him now facing our direction, we can get a better look at his face and it surprises me to see clear dark circles under his eyes. Seeing that Soma still hasn't noticed us, we decide to step right up towards his desk where, as his eyes meets ours, we notice how bloodshot his eyes are. He quickly blinks several times.

"You're not here to tell me to stop, are you?" His voice shows his fatigue but also his anger. I hadn't expected to hear an angered response from him. As far as I've known him, he's always seemed incredibly calm. He was rarely ever angry while we were working away from the Branch. His fatigue must be making him act abnormal.

"Why would we stop you?" Ciel speaks up clearly intrigued as to why Soma expects us to stop him.

"I guess you don't know." He gives a dejected response, continuing his onslaught on his keyboard. "Winter wanted to see you." Soma looks directly to me as he speaks before his attention returns to the many screens around him.

"That's exactly who we're looking for. Do you have any idea where he is?" I sense our opportunity to ask the question. I have the feeling that our presence is currently a hindrance to the working scientist.

"He should still be in the Den. He said he wasn't going to leave without you." Soma's words cause a shiver to go up my spine. I get the impression that whatever Winter wants me for isn't going to be a good reason.

"Do you know where Kanon is?" Ciel speaks up, reminding the scientist of her presence.

"If she isn't in her room, I have no idea where she is." Soma sounded a bit dismissive of Ciel's question. Perhaps all the time we've spent away from the Branch has caused their friendship to dwindle? I wonder if he's like this with the rest of Blood.

"Did you check her room?" I turn to Ciel as I ask her.

"I did around three hours ago. She wasn't there then. I suppose she could have returned." She turns her attention back to Soma, "Thank you, Dr. Soma for the information." She gives a small bow before turning around.

"It's Soma." He comments with a depressed sigh. It's strange to see him like this. Something must really be upsetting him.

"What are you even doing here, anyway?" The question escapes me before I can think and I hear Ciel turning back around, prepared for an answer.

"You really don't know anything?" Soma's tone seems to suggest that he cannot believe I don't know what he is talking about. He seems so stupefied that he even stops typing on his computer to ask me the question. With a shake of my head he knows my answer. "Listen," a hand makes its way to his hair as he holds his head. "I'm sorry, I've probably been acting differently." I hear Ciel walking back towards us, coming to a stop beside me. I feel her nudge my elbow.

"I should apologise too." I quickly interrupt as I remember one of the reasons why we wanted to find Soma, "you know, I wasn't in the best of minds when I was with Cradle." I decide to give a deep bow, "I'm sorry for my behaviour."

"Don't worry about it, Cedrick. We knew what we were getting into when we took you from your unit." He offers me a smile and I reciprocate it, standing back to full height. "Still though," his smile fades, "that's all the more reason for you to talk with Winter."

"It doesn't sound like it will be a pleasant talk." I can't help but comment.

"It probably won't be. So, I'll apologise on Winter's behalf if he doesn't apologise to you." He replies.

"Do you know the contents of the conversation he intends to have?" Ciel's voice shakes with dread. It seems she was also able to feel the tone of the conversation Winter plans to have with me.

"I do," He replies but quickly continues to prevent any interruptions, "Cedrick should probably hear it from him. And Ciel," He pauses to make sure he has her attention, "Winter will only want to speak with Cedrick."

"So, the reason why he only wants to speak to me is due to the topic of the conversation?" I interrupt before Ciel can ask why Winter wouldn't want her to hear the talk between Winter and I. Soma nods his head in response.

"I'm sorry, but I'm really busy. Can I ask you two to please leave and find Winter and Kanon yourselves?" Soma enquires, giving us the cue to leave while returning to typing on his keyboard.

"Right, we'll head off then." I respond, turning around and heading towards the door.

"Thanks for the information." Ciel expresses her gratitude to the ominous information we received.

"Good luck." Soma speaks with an ominous tone as we leave the laboratory. I can't supress the shiver that makes its way up my spine for the second time in a short time.

"I don't like the sound of the conversation Winter wants to have with you." Ciel comments with a hint of worry in her voice. "You might find it difficult to find the chance to apologise for your behaviour."

"That's what you're worried about?" An exasperated sigh leaves my lips. I have a feeling the conversation will be a scary one, yet all Ciel is worried about is whether I can remember to apologise. "Anyway," I give another sigh, "Should we try Kanon's room? I bet she and Winter haven't spent a moment apart since we returned."

"Yes, you may be right." She gives a little chuckle as we continue our journey to Kanon's room.

We soon find ourselves in front of the God Eater residential barracks. They are exactly as you would expect; plain. Brown walls, a lighter brown floor, there is a complete lack of colour and design along the corridors. This isn't anything like Blood's barracks, I should be thankful for that. I know that we don't exactly have many resources to spare, but I'll be surprised if a person could survive a few months in here without going insane. The whole place just gives me a dreary vibe. That may explain why the two people we see up ahead appear to be very depressed. Luckily for us though, they just so happen to be two people we needed to see.

"Good afternoon, Lindow, Alisa." I greet the two people that hadn't seemed to notice us as Ciel and I come to a stop half a metre away from them.

"Yes, good afternoon." Ciel joins me in greeting the two people that have since turned towards us. It's hard to notice that, like Soma, they also have bags under their eyes. Their whole posture seems to suggest that they're incredibly tired. It's almost as though they've been awake for the entire nine days we've been back at the Branch.

"Ah, Captain, Ciel." Lindow greets us back, his voice seemingly devoid of any enthusiasm. He attempts to smile but the muscles in his face betray him as the corners of his mouth twitch awkwardly. I'm surprised he's still standing if he can't even bring himself to smile. The smile fades from my face as I acknowledge how bad of a state he appears to be in. Other than the physical signs of fatigue, his body emits an odour of one that has not bathed for a while. All I can smell is the sweaty, musky miasma.

"What are you two doing here?" Alisa asks us and I turn towards her. Her voice seems to suggest that she isn't as tired as Lindow, but it could just be that she's better at hiding it. The woman appears to not be emitting as foul a stench as Lindow, but it isn't exactly the pleasant one I have come to expect from her.

"Are you two alright?" Rather than answer Alisa's question, Ciel brings up the question on both our minds. The concern in her face is clear and it only grows as Lindow they slowly turn towards us in anticipation of a long conversation. Their movements are incredibly sluggish.

"Yeah, yeah, we're fine." Lindow attempts to mask his fatigue by brushing Ciel's question off.

"We have a lot of work to do, so we should be going." Alisa tries to end our conversation here and tries to walk around us. Lindow gets ready to follow her. I debate on whether to block off their exit and force the conversation further, but ultimately decide not to.

"You should rest." Ciel, surprisingly, blocks off Alisa as she tries to move around Ciel. Seeing this, they stop in their tracks.

"We can't rest yet, there's still a lot to do." Lindow tries to reason with Ciel and I see him back up. Just in case he tries anything, I decide to extend my arm to the wall to block off any form of escape around my side.

"We're running out of time." Alisa sounds exasperated to the point that I can't help but grow even more concerned. I had originally thought they had just tried to do too much, but if there is a time limit on their task then it must be important.

"Do you need any help?" I ask them both unsure of whether they'll finish their task before the time limit is reached.

"You can't." Lindow interrupts. "Winter told us that he wanted to see you." I sense urgency in his voice, but despite that, I'm sure Winter can wait. He's waited long enough, after all. What's to say he won't wait a bit longer.

"I'm sure that can wait-" I try to explain,

"It can't, Cedrick." Alisa looks at me, and for the first time I see a layer of water form in her eyes. I drop my arm in surprise and Alisa takes this as a sign that I'm letting her pass. She moves past me, quickly followed by Lindow.

"Where is he?" I ask after them. For some reason, Winter wanting to talk to me has brought Alisa to tears. What the fuck is happening?

"Check the roof!" Lindow shouts back as he accompanies the fellow Cradle member. After they leave the residential barracks, I turn towards Ciel who looks equally as confused and possibly pretty upset at seeing her co-workers in such a state.

"Should we go?" I ask Ciel as I turn away from where Lindow and Alisa walked.

"No." Ciel's swift answer surprises me as she turns my way. "They sounded really upset. I think you should go and see Winter."

"But we don't even know if he's on the roof. He could have left. And what about apologising to everyone?" I give an exasperated sigh. "It would have just been easier for him to find me."

"You'll just need to apologise next time you see them, but yes, I agree." Ciel comments, also finding it strange that Winter didn't just come to see me himself. "But if there's a chance that he's there, you should take it."

"What are you going to do?" I've noticed that she's only been talking about me for now.

"I'll see if I can find Kanon. If Winter is in there I'll tell him to meet you on the roof." Ciel seems to have a plan in mind which calms me slightly. "Until you've talked to Winter, don't leave the roof." Ciel walks off in the direction of Kanon's room. After she's walked about ten metres away she turns her head to look over her shoulder. She must have noticed I haven't moved as she make a shooing gesture with her hand before looking ahead of her again. With a sigh, I decide to head back the way we came. I get on the lift and head towards the roof, the last known sighting of Winter.

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Ciel's POV

I occasionally turn my head as I walk, wondering why Cedrick still hasn't moved and is continuing to watch me walk down the corridor. After the third time of turning my head and seeing he still hasn't moved, I make a shooing motion with my hand and hope he'll get the message. I continue walking down the corridor as a new sound makes its way to my ears. I turn back around to see if Cedrick had decided to follow me instead, and the new sound was a new pair of footsteps, but as I see that there is nobody behind me, I realise that this new sound isn't the sound of feet against the ground. Rather, I can't quite tell what it is. Nevertheless, I proceed forwards and I can feel my heart beginning to beat slightly erratically. I can't blame myself for being scared as the sound becomes increasingly clearer the farther I walk. Eventually, I turn a corner and can now discern what the sound is. It's the sound of wailing. I bring a hand to my chest in an attempt to calm myself down, not wanting to be carried away by the strong emotions I can hear. After a few seconds, I bring myself to continue my walk to Kanon's room the sounds of wailing only growing closer as I approach her door. It's only when I'm standing in front of her door that I realise the crying is coming from Kanon herself. I once again catch myself feeling scared, but not for the same reason as before. Whereas moments ago I was fearing an unidentifiable sound, I now fear that my friend is hurt.

"Kanon?!" I shout as I try to open the door but find that it's locked. "Kanon? What's wrong?" I shout as I jiggle the doorknob hoping that Kanon will realise that I want to come into her room. The wailing begins to lower in volume and I take the opportunity to shout for Kanon again. "Kanon?!" I hear movement coming from her room and stop jiggling the doorknob. A few moments of silence pass before I hear the door unlock and the door slightly opens.

"D-do you need me, Ciel?" Kanon stammers slightly through her wavering voice. She doesn't appear through the crack in the door.

"What's wrong, Kanon? Why are you crying?" I can't help the words that splurt out of my mouth as I step closer to the door. In response to me shortening the distance between us, I notice the door close slightly further.

"You don't know?" Her words confuse me. Why would I know why she's crying? Her words seem to suggest that I should know. Have I done something to make her cry?

"N-No." I hesitate in my reply as I try to think about how I may have hurt her. I hear Kanon sniffle a few times before hearing footsteps leave her door. Unsure on whether this means I can enter her room, I slowly open the door and enter, closing the door behind me. Kanon, meanwhile, has retreated to her bed and is lying with her face on her pillow.

"Where's your captain?" She mumbles and I can't help but feel a twang of pain in my chest. She wants to see my boyfriend? Why does she think that Cedrick would do a better job of cheering her up than me? There's a certain tone in her voice which makes me wonder why she never said his name. It's almost as though she is avoiding saying his name.

"He's probably trying to find Winter. We thought he might be in here, but now I see that he isn't." I try to explain my reason for being here while informing her that Cedrick won't be coming to her room.

"Good." She mumbles, her head still against her pillow and drowning her words.

"Good?" I repeat in confusion. Is Cedrick the reason for her mood? What has he done?

"Ciel, you don't have anything planned today, do you?" Kanon suddenly asks me, avoiding the conversation.

"I haven't got anything planned."

"Good." She mumbles again before raising her head. "Meet me on the roof in thirty minutes." She speaks up before she walks over to me and begins to lightly direct me to her door by pushing me in its direction. I don't fight her pushing and can't even think due to the confusion as she pushes me out of the door and I hear it locking behind me.

"I'll meet you up there then." I speak after a few minutes in stunned silence and begin to prepare for what I expect to be a mission.

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Cedrick's POV

This whole situation really doesn't feel right. Our goal was to find Winter and Kanon since no one had seen them in a while, but apparently Winter has just been hanging out on the roof the entire time that Director Sakaki had wanted him? Winter has to be deliberately avoiding the director, possibly even entering the Branch itself, hence why he has told other people to find me and to meet him on the roof. But what's so important that he would ignore the director's order of summons just to talk to me?

"This had better not be another long mission again." I can't help but mutter in annoyance. Winter is going to really roundabout methods to get me to speak with him. He should have just grown a pair of balls and seen what the director wanted to talk to him about. "You honestly really infuriate me, Winter." I grumble again as the lift slows and eventually stops on the roof. I leave the lift and start looking around, choosing to ignore the two helicopters on the roof for the time being. After all, one of them looks like it's going to leave any second now, I doubt that Winter would just take off in a helicopter while I'm searching for him. That would be a dick move. I might not like Winter, but I know that he wouldn't do something like that. Right? "Fuck sake Winter, show yourself! I'm not in the mood to play games!" My voice may have been raised a bit more than I had intended too.

"Cedrick?" I hear a faint voice from behind me and turn around. "Over here!" Winter's voice is slightly louder now, but the sound of the helicopter blades above him still drown his voice out. I hadn't expected Winter to be on any of these helicopters, hence why I didn't search for them. Regardless, I head towards him still slightly pissed off. Before I can even say "I'm here, what do you want?" He motions towards the helicopter.

"Get in, we've got a job to do." I look at the man in front of me incredulously. The man that's avoiding entering the Branch and speaking with Sakaki just wants to go on a mission? Something seems pretty fishy here. I decide not to voice those concerns though,

"I don't have my God Arc."

"I already scheduled it to be put in the helicopter." He replies instantly and steps into the helicopter as well, leaving no room to argue. With many doubts, I enter the helicopter.

"Let's go!" Winter speaks up enthusiastically as he waits for me to sit down before signalling to the pilot to take to the sky. A few seconds of silence passes by before I find my words,

"Where are we going?" I'm still incredibly suspicious of the God Eater in front of me. He seems way too excited for a mission. Winter leans forward, his elbows on his knees and a large smile on his face.

"We're going on your first mission since you recovered." His actions only make me further suspect him.

"I'm pretty sure I asked for our destination, Winter." I just can't bring myself to match Winter's suspicious enthusiasm. Winter leans back in his seat, his smile now gone.

"Am I the only person you act like this to?" Rather than a smile, an intrigued expression makes its way to his face. "Before we left on our 8 month mission," Winter doesn't leave any room for me to speak up, "you were pretty pissed off."

"I—"

"I understand why you were. You were taken away from the woman you love, the Unit you love and forced to participate in a mission that was expected to take half a year." Winter interrupts me. It's clear that he is trying to get his point across. "Before that though, I had only heard good things about you. Alisa said he helped to some of the pressure off of her. Lindow mentioned that you were helping him learn a Blood Art. Soma commented on your ability to make friends and eagerness to help him with his research. You even helped my own girlfriend through her depression which caused her to revert back to her accidental friendly-fire mistakes." His expression darkened as he uttered the last sentence about helping his girlfriend, but his words do hurt me slightly.

"Listen, I'm—"

"I don't really know what it is that makes you so distrustful of me." As I try to apologise, I find myself interrupted again.

"At the moment, it's because you're not letting me get a word in." His constant berating isn't doing anything to calm me down. He only gives a soft smile at my words.

"Maybe that's why I can trust you with this." His soft smile remains as he speaks, and while it doesn't annoy me it does confuse me.

"With what? The mission? You still haven't told me our destination yet nor our targets." I can't help but comment, my bad mood lifting slightly now that the topic of conversation is shifting.

"We're going to the Forgotten Carrier." His soft smile fades, a slightly more sadistic expression taking over. "There's a couple of Tezcatlipoca roaming around there. One each. A nice easy start to get you back into Aragami hunting, right?" I give a deep sigh at his words.

"Yep, one each." I confirm, although I fail to see why this mission takes priority over the supposed meeting that he and Director Sakaki were supposed to have. A few seconds of silence passes by, none of us wanting to speak up. With much reluctance, I decide I had better apologise.

"I'm sorry for the way I've treated you, Winter, during the Cradle mission and after it." I give a small bow as I do so.

"Don't worry about it, Cedrick. I never expected an apology." I smile as Winter confirms there are no hard feelings between us. The smile remains on my face as I sit straight again and stare out of the window, knowing that the only two people I still need to apologise to are Lindow and Alisa. It was surprisingly easy to apologise to Winter. I had expected a big scene of him winding me up, but it appears he's a better person than I give him credit for. "Besides, I'm about to give you another reason to hate me." He mumbles something under his breath that I can't quite make out.

Eventually, the two of us end up in the Forgotten Carrier. Without any words between us, we silently charge towards our targets. Winter taking the one farthest away, I assume in consideration to my most recent injury. Before we can get a surprise attack against the two Tezcatlipocas one of them happens to turn our way. We're unable to get behind cover in time before the Aragami roars, signalling the start of our battle and alerting the other Tezcatlipoca that they have company. Within a few seconds, the one that was farthest away quickly closes the distance to the first Aragami.

"Tsk." I can't help but click my tongue as I realise this battle won't be an easy one. Regardless, I switch my God Arc to its Gun Form and start firing a few rounds of bullets towards my original target. As I switch my Arc back to its Melee Form, I watch the bullets as they whiz towards the Tezcatlipoca. As if showing that I'm a little rusty, only one of the bullets manages to hit the left-most missile pod. Unsurprisingly, the monster shakes off the attack as I realise my God Arc isn't currently optimised for battle against Aragami with a weakness to the DIVINE attribute. I see another few bullets pass by, but don't bother to acknowledge them as Winter must have just had the same idea as me. Instead, I decide to charge towards the beast that is currently recoiling from the bullet that hit it. I manage to reach the Tezcatlipoca before it fully recovers, but as I go to slash at it the Aragami jumps several tens of metres into the air. Knowing it's too late to escape the impending flames, I deploy my shield in the hopes that it would absorb the damage. As the monster lands on the ground, a shock wave propels me backwards several metres as a swarm of fire encircles the monster. Thankfully the shockwave pushed me to the perimeter, but I still feel the heat of the fire. It's a feeling I haven't experienced in a while.

"Don't get reckless!" Winter shouts in my direction. I spare a glance his way to see he has already successfully broken the missile pod bond on his target. It's not really fair though considering he has access to some unnatural abilities like his massive Gawain-like arms sprouting from his back.

"I know!" I shout back to the older God Eater as I retract my shield and deploy a quick devouring attack on the beast. I instantly feel a little boost as I enter burst mode and jump high enough into the air to smack the Tezcatlipoca's missile pods a couple of times before falling back to the ground.

"Focus!" Winter shouts as I feel a sharp and explosive pain in my left arm and I'm forced back several metres. I realise too late that Winter's target must have deployed a rocket in my direction.

"That wasn't my fault!" I speak up, taking a restore pill that I had thankfully decided to keep on my person while I was injured. Unfortunately, I only have a few more of them left. I hadn't really stocked up on them as I hadn't anticipated having to go out on a mission the moment I saw Winter. "Keep your own Aragami to yourself!" I continue shouting moments before I sidestep the charging Tezcatlipoca that I only narrowly avoid. Sensing my opportunity, I swipe at the monster's underside several times before backstepping. I decide to sidestep again as I predict that the Aragami will launch itself backwards.

"Easy." I grin with satisfaction as my prediction came to fruition and I manage to land a few more hits on its front armour. Sensing another opportunity, I switch my Arc to Gun Form and fire multiple point-blank bullets into the beast's front armour again. It falls onto its stomach after all my bullets make direct hits and I unleash another devour attack to trigger burst mode again before jumping to attack its helm.

"Coming your way again!" Winter shouts as I notice the other Tezcatlipoca running towards me. I back off from the recovering Aragami on the floor and run perpendicular to the charging one. It passes by me with plenty of time to spare and I see Winter charging straight after it and, somehow, being able to hold it in place with his abnormal Gawain-like arms as he slashes at its armour. Tearing my attention away from his brutish methods, I turn back to my own target as it makes its way back to its feet. I manage to charge at it and perform a quick devour, extending my burst status. Before I can land an attack however, it deploys multiple rockets. My shield manages to absorb most of the damage though.

"Flash grenade, incoming!" Winter shouts and I cover my eyes. I open them a few seconds later and realise that both the Tezcatlipocas are blinded. Changing my Arc's form again, I completely empty my OP meter as I fire rounds of bullets at the Aragami's front armour.

"Blood Rage!" I yell as soon as I realise that my bullets have managed to successfully destroy the beast's front armour bond. A yellow veil I'm all too familiar with surrounds me as I choose my pledges. Thinking that the both the Aragami are on their last legs, I decide to only choose two pledges: Perform 3 devours (10% damage boost) and Deal 20,000 damage (25% damage boost). As soon as I've selected them, the yellow veil disappears as I count down the seconds before my pledge-fulfilment time arrives. Once a few seconds have passed, I get straight on them. I quickly perform two quick step devours before being forced to deploy my shield to prevent damage from the fire tornado that surrounds the Tezcatlipoca. As soon as it ends, I execute my final quick devour and, feeling the added boost of burst, unload five slashes against the Aragami. As the monster recovers from those attacks, I spare a glance at my Arc's visual display and see that each slash must have dealt between 800 and 1000 damage.

"You got another flash grenade?" I ask Winter who is currently occupied with dodging his own charging Tezcatlipoca. As soon as the beast has charged past him and turned back around, I see Winter bring a hand into the air that holds a flash grenade.

"Eyes closed!" He shouts as a warning and I follow his lead. Another few seconds pass before I decide to open my eyes and capitalise on the blinded Aragami, moving towards its front and slashing at its unbound front armour. As the monster recovers from its lack of sight, I feel a familiar surge of strength push through my body and I can't hide the large, sadistic grin that makes its way onto my face.

"Get ready to meet your maker." I proudly proclaim, humour in my voice before I unleash a tirade of strikes against the Aragami, almost laughing at its surprise that it can't hurt me while I'm using Blood Rage. After the tirade of strikes ends, I notice that Winter has started chipping down the Tezcatlipoca along with me. I look towards the direction he had appeared from and see a freshly decomposing Aragami corpse. Honestly, I'm surprised he was able to subdue his target before I could defeat mine and maybe that's why I feel a little pissed off and begin another tirade of strikes.

With Winter's help, the Aragami never even managed to last until the end of my Blood Rage as it falls to the ground with a heavy thud. I extract the core using my Arc's devouring capabilities before looking around the battlefield. Despite the lack of enemies in the area, I still force myself to not feel relaxed. Something still feels strange about this situation. My eyes lock onto the retreating form of Winter as he walks towards the edge of the land and gazes out towards the island known as Aegis. I'm honestly a little hesitant to join him, but after a few seconds decide to walk in his direction anyway.

"Time to radio for pick up?" I ask, or more like remind him that our duties are done.

"No. We're not done here." For the words that he used, I expected him to have some malice in his voice. At least then I would have a reason for tightening my grip on my God Arc. However, his voice lacked any malice or even anger. His words imply he still has business with me, but his tone reflects his sadness. Despite the guilt I feel, I tighten my grip on my God Arc once again.

"What do you mean by that?" My voice croaks as I speak, expecting the man in front of me to face me with anger marring his face. His very vague words leave space for my mind to wander. To wonder about the true meaning behind his words. The meaning behind his actions. This is the man that avoiding meeting with Director Sakaki and decided to wait on the roof for me to accompany him for a mission. I highly doubt that he would want to steal my first mission back from injury from Ciel, the one whom I had promised it too. I don't even want to imagine the scolding I'm going to receive from her later on.

"We can't go back yet." He repeats the same basic principle but in new words. It does little to quell the anger stirring up inside of me as he fails to get to the point. Clearly, whatever it is that's keeping us from returning to the Branch is the reason why he wanted me to go with him.

"You've got something to say to me, right?" I explode, not allowing Winter to have another word. "You want to tell me that you hate everything about me? That you regret having me accompany Cradle to defeat that Aragami and upstage you all by doing it myself?" I rant to the man, the anger dripping from my words. I haven't been in a situation like this for a long time, not since my Unit's confrontation with our former boss Dr. Rachel. "Then get it over with! I'm prepared to hear it!" Despite my words, the man in front of me simply turns towards me, a look of confusion on his face.

"You— What?" Winter seems utterly confused at my words and my temper begins to ease off. "This isn't about you!" He shouts back at me as I stare at him in shock. "What even gave you that idea?"

"You're clearly up to something." I comment, my voice returning to me as I recover from my shock. "You avoided entering the Branch, and now you're on a mission with me as your only teammate. There's something incredibly suspicious there."

"How is me not entering the Branch anything to do with you?" Winter responds after a sigh. I can't help but sigh as well.

"It doesn't matter. Forget it." I try to dismiss my thoughts. The man has already told me that the reason why he's acting so suspiciously isn't anything to do with me. "So, why can't we go back?" As I ask him this, the man looks back out to Aegis.

"Do you know how I became a God Eater, Cedrick?" His voice is devoid of any emotion other than sadness. He seems to wish to move the conversation along too.

"I assume you went through the usual process. You tested positive to the new Bias Factor at the time and underwent the acclimation process to become a God Eater, right?"

"I did have to do that, obviously, although I wasn't tested the conventional way." Winter's words intrigue me. How else could he have been tested if it wasn't through the traditional way? "Before I was a God Eater, I made a living from scrounging. I had to beg for food in some cases. At other times, I would need to find my own food even if that meant eating something that my body would reject."

"It sounds like you've had a tough life." Then again, haven't we all? We are constantly living under the threat of Aragami. There are even the odd people you need to be wary of. Thankfully, I haven't met another person like Dr. Rachel yet. Let's hope that I don't ever have to meet another person with a mind like hers.

"Obviously I needed to find a way to manoeuvre around the place. I needed a way to defend myself. I needed shelter, food and water too. I suppose I was lucky to have a clean water source, one that I never strayed too far from. I would always end up in that area whenever I needed a drink." Judging by Winter's words, he is just setting the scene for the situation where he becomes a God Eater. "I didn't have access to much at the time. I used whatever I could find. I even learned survival skills like how to make weapons, even if they were made out of Aragami."

"Wait." Winter turns towards me. Something doesn't sound right. "You made weapons out of Aragami?" Surely he can't do that. Coming into contact with an Aragami when you don't have a Bias Factor flowing through your body is definitely a death sentence. The Oracle Cells would take over his body! Winter smiles as he speaks,

"At the time, I didn't realise that a person would die from doing that. After all, I wasn't really educated about the world. All I knew was that I should avoid the Aragami as much as I could. So, when I saw my chance to create multiple spears out of Coccoon Maiden spikes, I thought that I might even be able to defend myself against smaller Aragami if I was ever in a situation that I wouldn't be able to outrun them." Winter focuses his sight back onto Aegis island. "That's how my compatibility with the new Bias Factor was found. Some God Eaters had found my traces of my blood and they gave it to a professor who tested a Bias Factor on it. They found that the owner of that blood was compatible with the new Bias Factor." If he is the owner of that blood, and he is from the Far East Branch, does that mean that the God Eaters and professor from his story are people I know?

"So, how did they find you?" I get him to continue his story.

"I'm not quite sure how, but they managed to track me down. I was pretty much forced to become a God Eater there and then. That's how my career started." I'm not quite sure of his reasons for telling me his story. Sure, he didn't exactly get tested the regular way, but neither did I. My Uncle had randomly sent off a vial of my blood to be tested for a unique Bias Factor. Being a professor, he would take blood samples just to make sure I was still healthy every now and then. I didn't think he'd keep my blood samples for such an occasion though.

"Is tha—" Before I can ask if he is finished, he interrupts me.

"I've met many God Eaters in my career. Some have saved me, others I have saved. I've also seen my share of deaths, especially when I was a rookie God Eater and I carried the corpse of another God Eater into the Branch." A small smile crosses his face and I can't hide the urge to grimace at the idea of carrying a corpse into the Branch where a ton of people would notice it.

"I don't really get what you're getting at. Why are you—" As I try to ask what the point of him telling me his backstory is, he interrupts me with a pained scream,

"-AH!" He falls to one knee as he clutches his left arm.

"What? What's wrong?" I move closer towards him but he simply releases his arm from his grip and keeps me an arm's length away from him. Despite my concern for him, he continues to grunt for a few seconds. Moments before I think about radioing back to base, Winter's pain seems to subside as he takes a few deep breaths before trying to stand.

"I-I thought I had more time." His voice is barely louder than a whisper and his words cause my heart to beat slightly faster as I realise the meaning of his words.

"More time?" I can't help but repeat, hoping that he is just being a hypochondriac and is exaggerating his injuries. Winter manages to make it back to his feet but quickly crumbles back into a kneeling position. "Blood 1, reporting in." I activate the radio line to the operators.

"No, Cedrick. Please, don't." Winter pleads for some strange reason.

"Fran reporting in, what is the issue Captain?" I'm glad to hear Fran's voice on the line and begin to explain the situation to her, ignoring Winter's plea,

"Winter seems to have a serious injury and we'll need a medical team to check him out." I give a brief description of our situation, looking back at Winter and seeing him attempting to stand back up again. He fails though and crumbles to his knees.

"I'll have a medical team sent out in a few moments. How severe is his injury?" Fran asks and I step in front of the dejected and injured Winter, kneeling down to analyse his injury to his left arm. I look towards his arm and don't notice anything out of the ordinary, other than his sleeve his now covering his hand. I move to lift up his sleeve before suddenly feeling a hand come up to my ear. I choose to ignore it as I try to see the extent of Winter's injury, assuming that he just wants to use me for support to keep his body upright.

"Let's have a look-" I speak up before suddenly feeling my earpiece yanked out of my ear. "The fuck?" I look at Winter and realise he has my earpiece in his other hand. "What are you doing?" I ask him as I try to grab my earpiece back, knowing that it is a vital tool to keep in contact with Fran and the Branch. To my dismay, he crushes my earpiece in his hand. "What the fuck was that for?" I shout in retaliation.

"I'm far too gone for help, Cedrick." He speaks in a pained tone. Before I can retaliate, he extends his left arm through his sleeve where I can see a startling change has occurred. Rather than the usual skin colour he has, his arm now adorns a strikingly dark grey appearance. If that was it, I wouldn't be too alarmed, but attached to his arm is a claw about the size of his hand in the same colour as his arm.

"You've got a new ability?" I can't help but ask, hoping that what I'm seeing isn't what I think it is. Hopefully it is something he can retract, just like those Gawain-like arms. Actually, now that I think about it, his claw seems to be similar to a Gawain's too.

"It's already starting, Cedrick." He speaks through pained grunts and I begin to fear the worse. I don't think the sudden change in his arm's appearance is a new ability… "My history of touching Oracle Cells has caught up with me." He comments before grunting through the pain again. "Sakaki told me three years ago that my adaptability rating to the Oracle Cells in my God Arc was too high, and that it would only get higher." With every sentence he speaks, dread begins to fill through me. I know what having a high adaptability rating means, the Oracle Cells would eventually take over his body.

"How long did he give you?" I hesitate as I ask, already knowing what his response will be.

"I had lost all of my human cells years ago." His sentence is incredulous, but I suppose that would explain why he has had the ability to grow an extra pair of arms. "He told me I had— ARGH!" He screams in anguish again and I step backwards out of fear of what is unfolding before me. In front of my eyes, Winter's right arm suddenly takes on the same appearance as his left arm, and I'm sure they've grown significantly. Despite my fear, I grip my God Arc harder. "I was supposed to run out of time two months ago!" He manages to speak through pained garbles. "That's why I was so happy when you had managed to defeat the Mukuro Kyuubi. It meant I could spend my final days with my wife." He looks up at me and I can see his face is also undergoing physical changes. His skin has already turned a dark grey colour and I can see his nose beginning to twitch. "I'll forever be thankful for that, Cedrick." Tears stream down his dark grey cheeks whether through the pain or gratitude I don't know, but I choose to think it's the latter. "Please, Cedrick. " He pleads with me, and as much as I don't want to hear his next words, I now it is impossible for me not to hear them. "Kill me!" He shouts in pain. I begin to feel my own eyes beginning to water as well as I am now faced with the possibility of having to kill a fellow God Eater.

"I can't." As much as I don't like the guy in front of me, I can't bring myself to kill him. There has to be a way to avoid this. To avoid killing him.

"Plea-AAAAh!" He tries to plead again, but thick silver Gawain-like arms sprout from his back and his nose is beginning to twitch a lot more. "Cedrick!" He shouts my name in anguish, but I can't bring myself to fulfil his wish.

"There has to be a way to save you! Like you saved Lindow!" I try to argue with the rapidly changing Winter in front of me.

"There isn't! We've tried! We thought that learning a Blood Art would delay the infection, but it didn't work! Besides, Lindow still had his human body!" Winter's pained grunts are becoming louder and louder.

"So do you!" I try to reason with him, but as we speak more changes begin to occur. Due to the weight of his Gawain-like arms sprouting from his back, he is lifted several metres into the air. As he is, his nose begins to extend.

"Cedrick, please! I can't hold it back forever!" He shouts back at me, and I unconsciously tighten my grip on my Arc again. I feel the handle scraping against my skin and a red liquid falls from it. As much as I detest this situation, Winter seems to have no hope that he can be saved. With the tears falling from my eyes I get ready to decapitate the person I've only just finished a mission with. I line up my Arc's blade with the silver neck of Winter. I bring it behind my back before bringing it forward, regretfully putting all of my strength into it. I close my eyes as it happens, hoping to see the smiling, unhurt face of Winter as I execute him. Time seems to slow down as I eventually feel my Arc make contact with Winter's neck. I grunt as I try to decapitate him, only to find that my God Arc bounces straight off of him. "What are you waiting for?" He asks in confusion and pain. I try once again to decapitate him, paying no attention to the fact that his legs have now become significantly longer, has grown claws and become a dark grey colour. I feel my Arc hit Winter's neck and I begin to panic as nothing happens. "Cedrick?!" Winter shouts worriedly.

"It's not going through!" I shout back in confusion, tears now streaming down my face as my heartbeat drastically increases due to my panic. I almost lose my grip on my Arc due to how scared I am.

"No! We can't be too late!" He shouts and I see him undergoing a further change. This time though, it's right where I am. I force myself to give up on decapitating Winter and escape from under him, just in time to see that he has grown a snout and incredibly sharp teeth. His eyes have sunken and a silver crest has grown along his spine, neck and head. "I don't blame yo—ARGH!" He screams in pain again as I realise that the person that was once in front of me, is now almost 100% a Chrome Gawain. However, unlike any other Gawain before it, this one seems to have grown a pair of incredibly large wings. It doesn't seem as though Winter will be able to use them in this incredibly heavy frame, but it would probably hurt to get hit by them. "GAARHH! GARRH!" Winter growls, the transformation now being 100% complete. Before he can cause any damage, I use my Arc to swipe at its face. I backstep to look at the damage I've inflicted, and instantly fear the worst as my God Arc failed to register even a scratch against the transformed Winter. Despite my fear though, I'm only just able to deploy my shield as Winter brings clobbers my shield and propels my painfully against a ledge, leading back to where we entered the battlefield.

"Cedrick!" I hear a feminine shout and, despite the pain, I grit my teeth and get back to my feet. I see a few bullets whiz through the air towards the charging Chrome Gawain. As the bullets make Winter flinch, I turn my attention towards the source of the bullets and find two people I hadn't expected to see…

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Ciel's POV

Despite my obvious confusion about what just happened in Kanon's room, I decide to listen to her request and prepare myself for whatever it is Kanon has in mind. Since she told me to prepare, I guess that she means to take us on a mission, but is she even capable of completing a mission in her state? She's quite clearly very depressed as her loud crying seems to suggest. I don't think she is mentally fit to complete a mission. Whatever has made her depressed is clearly something bad. I've never seen Kanon in such a state before. I feel like I have to do something to help her. First of all, I need to convince her that she cannot participate in a mission at the moment.

I wait on the roof for Kanon to arrive. It hasn't been 30 minutes yet, but I've always thought that it is better to be early than late. Hence, I decided to arrive five minutes earlier than our allotted time. This spare moment of time allows me to think of what I'm going to say to Kanon to prevent her from leaving the Branch. I just hope that she sees the error of her ways and accepts that she needs help. I see the door to the roof swing open with such a force that I'm sure it had broken off of its hinges. Kanon emerges onto the roof with a determined look on her face and I can tell it's not going to be easy to dissuade her.

"Ready?" She asks as she walks up to me.

"Should you really be participating in a mission in your current state?" I begin my attempt to dissuade her. "You seem to be over-prepared." Rather than a God Arc and a few healing items, I see that Kanon has a lot more than that. She appears to be wearing an incredibly large backpack which seems to be filled to the brim of what I think must be healing items and traps. I know you can never really be too careful when fighting Aragami, but all of that added weight is going to do more harm than that.

"We're going to need it, Ciel." She gives me a determined gaze that seems to pierce my soul. There's a strong fire in her eyes. I'm not sure I've seen Kanon as fired up for a mission before.

"Why? What are we even going against that requires that much preparation?" I ask her with a confused look on my face. We've fought together plenty of times before, and she's never had to prepare this much for our enemies. "Are we fighting against 20 Hannibals or something even worse?" Even for 20 Hannibals, I think there's enough healing items in Kanon's bag to make us avoid any significant damage. Still though, for my own preparation, I had checked the available missions. Fran had told me that there were only missions for medium-sized Aragami, since the larger Aragami missions had already been selected. There's no medium-sized Aragami that would require this much preparation. Unless, "Are we up against several Nyx Alpha?" I ask her, that is a possibility that seems a lot more likely than 20 Hannibals. I suppose Kanon could just have many O-Ampules in her backpack to keep our OP meter up and allow us to continually use bullets to bring down the rare Aragami.

"It'll be big." Kanon mumbles, looking away from me as she does so. "Trust me." Her voice hitches as she speaks it's almost as if there's something stuck in her throat. She walks by me and towards a helicopter. Something is making her upset, but she clearly doesn't want to open up about it. Should I press her for more information? Or should I wait until she's ready to share her problems with me? No matter what, it's clear that Kanon is not going to give up and stay at the Branch. I suppose the most I can do for her is to be with her. I walk towards the helicopter than Kanon jumps into. Before I can enter it as well, Kanon jumps out. "Not this one." She speaks before looking around to locate another helicopter. Her actions only prove to confuse me further. Why can't we enter this helicopter? I doesn't seem as though it is in use.

"Right." I speak only to confirm to Kanon that I heard her words. Kanon quickly makes her way to another helicopter and I decide to stay back slightly if Kanon decides that this helicopter can't be used either. My thoughts seem to be in vain though as Kanon quickly beckons me over to the helicopter. I place my things inside of it before sitting opposite her.

"Let's go!" She shouts to the pilot.

"You're just as energetic as your boyfriend." The pilot responds leading me to believe that Winter must have been on this helicopter as well. Does that mean that Winter and Cedrick have also went on a mission? This is the same helicopter they were on?

"So, we're going to join Winter and Cedrick?" I ask Kanon whose enthusiasm has instantly left her and she replies with a simple nod, her head downcast. I'm pretty sure Kanon was simply putting on an enthusiastic front when speaking to the pilot, her attitude seemed to fade pretty quickly after all. Is it possible that she had a fight with Winter and that's why she's depressed? She's just embarrassed that she is going to apologise to him and that's why she's not saying anything about our destination. I release a sigh as I realise that Kanon won't give me any answers.

We sit in silence for the duration of the flight until the pilot speaks up,

"This is where we left them." He turns towards as he speaks. "Should I wait here for a while?" He asks. I turn my attention to Kanon as I expect her to answer.

"No." Her voice has grown shaky and the volume has decreased significantly. I was only just able to hear her, and I'm sitting next to her.

"No." I echo Kanon's answer to the pilot before standing up and preparing to leave the helicopter. "Thank you for the ride." Meanwhile, the person accompanying me remains seated. I place a hand on her shoulder, "it's not too late to turn back. I'm sure you can do whatever you're planning to do with Winter later." Kanon stands up sharply as soon as she hears my words.

"There is no later, Ciel." Her words begin to scare me as I don't know what she means by them. The woman proceeds to collect her own things before leaving the helicopter. I follow her off the helicopter.

The two of us walk in silence along the Forgotten Carrier, slowly clambering up ledges and avoiding the large holes in the ground.

"Watch where you're going!" This is the third time I've had to tell Kanon to keep her eyes on the ground in front of us. There are some large holes that I've only just managed to pull her away from. I knew from the start that this whole idea would be troublesome. Kanon doesn't even have the energy walk by the look of things. "Listen, Kanon." I try to put on my best instructing tone. Maybe she will respond better to me if I pretend to be her instructor in a similar way that Cedrick was her instructor. "You're going to get us both killed if you don't pay attention." The constant reminding her of danger is really starting to get on my nerves. If she is like this when there are no Aragami in the area, then how will she react when there are some?

"How long did he give you?" I hear a voice that I know very well, but I don't see the person that spoke it. I try to focus on the conversation I can hear Cedrick having.

"I had lost all my human cells years ago." I hear a voice that I don't recognise, but I do realise where the voices are coming from. There are a couple of ledges and drops in front of us, but we should be able to see them from that second ledge.

"Come on, Kanon." I speak to grab her attention, turning towards her in the process. "I can hear Cedrick up ahead." Instantly, Kanon's neck snaps upward and she starts sprinting forward. We help each other up the ledges and find Cedrick in the distance. I can't spread the smile that spreads on my face as I see him and see that he is unharmed. However, next to him is a figure I don't recognise. Whoever the person is, they are hunched over and appear to be in pain. It isn't until I hear a sharp thud on the ground beside me that I realise who that person must be. Judging by the horrified look on Ciel's face, that figure must belong to Winter. I can understand her distress, but surely she's overreacting, right? Winter's only injured. It doesn't seem as though they're in danger. Or so I thought, "What the—?" I can only utter and her a pained wail from Winter. Not even two seconds later, Winter sprouts his Gawain-like arms and is propelled several metres into the air.

"No! NO!" I turn my attention to the screaming woman beside me, her eyes focused on the sight in the distance.

"Kanon! What's happening?!" I won't lie, I'm beginning to panic. I have no idea what is happening right now, and what's worse is that Cedrick could be in danger if we don't help him. I kneel down beside the hysterical woman whose eyes don't leave Cedrick and Winter.

"I-It's the A-Aragami infection." Kanon explains through her wails. I turn my attention back to Cedrick and Winter and see that Cedrick is now underneath Winter, his God Arc lined up with the older God Eater's neck. Cedrick shakes as he holds his Arc ready to end Winter's suffering. My chest constricts at the painful sight and I feel my eyes beginning to drip tears down my cheeks. I understand now. The reason why everyone was depressed. The reason why Kanon was crying in her room. It all makes sense now. They knew that Winter's time was running out. While I don't quite understand what lead up to this situation, I know that this isn't just an act. Cedrick and Winter aren't just pulling a joke with an extremely poor taste. The reason why Winter wanted to see Cedrick, was so that he would be executed away from his friends and girlfriend. So he could die without others seeing what he was becoming. Cedrick brings back his God Arc and I tear my attention away from the scene, not wanting to see my boyfriend kill another human being. I instead hold onto the hysterical Kanon, hoping that she'll notice my support. "It didn't work?" Kanon's voice sounded almost hopeful and I turn my attention back to Cedrick and the rapidly transforming Winter. I see Cedrick repeatedly pull his Arc backward and pushing forward with all his strength, but the neck of Winter remains undamaged. What we're witnessing is Winter's successful transformation into something he wanted to avoid, but Cedrick failed to deliver on Winter's wish. I cannot imagine being in the same situation that my boyfriend is currently in, nor can I imagine the situation that the woman I'm holding is in. What I do know is that I wouldn't be able to go through with it either.

"Cedrick." I can't help but mumble as the man I'm thinking of only narrowly avoids being attacked by the newly transform Winter. He deploys his shield, but the strength of Winter is much greater than anything we've faced as, even with his shield deployed, Cedrick is sent flying in our direction. "Cedrick!" I shout a lot louder this time, relinquishing my grip on the crying Kanon and hoping to see that Cedrick is okay. Before I can confirm that though, I notice that Winter who now looks like a Chrome Gawain is charging in our direction. I switch my Arc to Gun Form and start firing bullet after bullet and inwardly sigh in relief when the bullets hit and Winter stops charging. I look back towards Cedrick and see him grimace as he gets back to his feet.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Cedrick's POV

"Ci—" My voice hitches as I see the woman I love, along with the crying form of my student. I don't know how Ciel or Kanon managed to get here, but at the moment I love that they actually are here. Even if the latter would rather not hurt the person she once knew as her boyfriend. I've realised now that Winter's transformation has successfully been completed. However, what I don't know is whether Winter is still inside the Chrome Gawain's body. Whether he can be saved like he can save Lindow. "Get Kanon into cover!" I shout to Ciel. "She shouldn't have to witness this." Thankfully, Ciel doesn't answer back as she nods her head in agreement. I turn my attention back to the Aragami form of Winter as it slowly creeps towards me. I hope that its slow walking is Winter trying to prevent himself from attacking, but a part of me chooses not to believe it. This is a creature that has just flung me about half of the Forgotten Carrier away from where we once were.

"NO!" I hear Kanon shout again. I had anticipated her to show some resistance, especially since we're going to need to hurt Winter if we want to have a chance to save him. What I didn't expect was to see Kanon run towards him herself.

"Kanon! You idiot!" I shout after her trying to run towards her and deploy my shield as Kanon comes to a stop with her arms outspread.

"Winter! I know you're in there!" She shouts at the Chrome Gawain. "We want to help you!" Winter closes the distance between him and her faster than I can. I force myself to switch my Arc's form to Gun Form and fire a bullet at Kanon as I see Winter preparing to crush her under one of his massive claws. My bullet hits Kanon in the side and propels her several metres away from where she was once standing, where a crater now resides as the Chrome Gawain connects with the ground instead of her.

"Kanon! Don't be an idiot!" I hear Ciel shout as she runs towards the downed Kanon. However, they're still dangerously close to the man-turned-Aragami. I fire a few more bullets in the direction of Winter.

"Over here you—you- bastard!" I shout to the monster to try and take its attention away from the two women. It's hard to think that I'm now shooting at the person that I was talking perfectly with a matter of minutes ago, but I try to push past those thoughts for the time being. At the moment, I need to make sure not to hurt Winter too greatly that he won't be able to heal, but I need to inflict enough damage to make sure he can't fight back. My bullets serve their purpose as Winter now charges in my direction, maybe a little too fast. I deploy my shield and notice four large blood red spikes emerge from the two massive claws attached to Winter's back. "That's new!" Realising that my shield won't be enough to stop all four blades from causing serious damage, I force myself to move faster than I ever have before as I try to avoid each swipe from the blade as Winter ascends into the air with a massive whirlwind that would rival the greatest of tornados. If I had thought battling that Kyuubi about two weeks ago was bad, then fighting Winter is going to be significantly worse.

I narrowly escape being stabbed several times from Winter's new toys and even from such rapid whirlwinds that didn't originally seem fast enough to deal damage. What I now know is that I can't get too close to Winter unless I find a good opening. I deploy my shield again to block as much damage from Winter's frantic flailing of its overgrown claws as the monster dances around the battlefield. A claw connects with my shield and it forces me backwards several metres. Immediately after though, Winter stops attacking and pauses to regain its breath. I take my opportunity and slash at the large claw that had recently hit me. I ignore the stream of bullets that also hit Winter. What I do notice though is that there is only one stream of bullets. Kanon mustn't be participating in this battle. I can't really blame her though. I spare a brief glance in the direction the bullets came from and see Ciel prepared for battle. Kanon, however, is cowering against a large boulder a fair distance away from Ciel, her arms wrapped around her legs as she stares in my direction. I've never seen Kanon as mentally drained as much as she is right now. Is this how I looked to her when I got rejected by Ciel that time on the roof? Regardless, I turn my attention to the now recovering Chrome Gawain that seems to have caught his breath. I back off from it, knowing that it will quickly go on the offensive. I was right, the moment I step back it tries to deliver four quick swipes to my body. I'm able to avoid the first two, and my shield takes the brunt of the third, but I can't defend against the crushing power of the fourth and I'm painfully sent to the ground.

"Guh!" I can't help the groan that leaves my lips as I land awkwardly. I don't have too much time to dwell on the hit as I'm forced to roll several metres away as Winter tries to bring a claw down to try and crush me. Sensing the opportunity, Ciel delivers a few swift slashes to the Chrome Gawain's tail. I take the opportunity to take a Restore Pill before also taking my only O-Ampule to completely replenish my OP meter. I instantly switch my Arc to Gun Form and fire a few SPARK attribute bullets at the large physique of Winter's Aragami form. To my dismay, it seems my bullets are as ineffective as my melee attacks as it doesn't even leave a scratch on the transformed God Eater. "For fuck sake" It really deflates me, but as soon as I run out of Oracle Points, I choose to go back on the offensive with my Arc's Melee Form. Ciel almost angelically escapes from all four blades from Winter's oversized claws and, while he regains his breath, deals a few sharp slashes to his face. I'm sure she has her own reservations with hitting a person we used to know, but she manages to hide it well as she delivers full force slashes against the recovering Winter. I manage to land a few hits on Winter's midriff before being forced to back off again.

"Backup has arrived!" I hear the enthused shout of Romeo and see a familiar orange buster blade collide with Winter's tail.

"You really don't understand the situation, do you Romeo?" Along with Romeo, a calm feminine voice speaks up and its owner has a red variant scythe. Livie manages to land a hit on the other side of Winter's midriff before she retreats to avoid repeated slashes from Winter's wings. I was wondering when he was going to use them. I had hoped it was merely just a visible threat and didn't hold the potential to be used as a weapon. Apparently, they do.

"We know!" Nana shouts as she brings a hammer down on the Chrome Gawain's head as he recovers from its lack of stamina. "We just need to make sure he can't fight back before we can help him!" Nana words confuse me as I have no idea how they know that the Aragami in front of them is a transformed Winter.

"Well, that's the gist of it." Gilbert comments, firing a few shots from his gun

"We know of the situation." I hear the voice of my former leader beside me. Julius' clothing seems to suggest he didn't expect to be called upon for a mission as he still wears his farming outfit. He places a hand on my shoulder as he gets close enough. "Apparently Cradle and Sakaki have known something like this was going to happen for a while."

"It would have been nice to know that." I express my disbelief, shaking off his hand with a shake of my shoulder. With a sigh, I continue speaking a smile spreading on my face, "I'm glad you're all here." Honestly, it was starting to get a bit too much for us to handle. We have to constantly keep an eye on Kanon to make sure she isn't in danger or doing something dangerous, and we don't seem to be inflicting much damage on Winter either. Hopefully, with five more people we'll be able to subdue Winter enough to focus on how to heal him. "Did you bring any supplies with you?" I turn to ask Julius since he's the closest one to me. I only realise after I turn to him that it was pointless asking him. He didn't even have time to change into battle-worthy clothes, there's no chance he would have brought anything like O-Ampules. "Doesn't matter." Despite there already being four people melee-attacking Winter, I decide that without any Oracle Points I'd be worthless in support so I also join the frontal assault.

With so many potential enemies to choose from the Chrome Gawain's movements become slightly more predictable and we gain the upper hand. It only increases as more reinforcements arrive, albeit slighter later than expected,

"We must save our fallen ally at once!" I choose to ignore Emil's outburst as he arrives. Unlike him, Erina is a lot more silent in her arrival, only choosing to fire bullets at a distance. I imagine that she also can't bear to see Winter in his current state. I'm not sure of all of Winter's relationships with people in the Branch, but I know that he has a fairly positive one with Erina. It's not the kind of relationship that we have, a teacher-student one. It's more so of an estranged older brother meeting his younger sister. Unfortunately, there is one person that arrived with them, and I can see the visible distress on his face.

"I never thought it would come to this." A clearly saddened Kota manages to speak as he holds back his tears. I know that he and Winter have a long history. They apparently became God Eaters on the same day. They also used to be in the same unit. I don't really want to know what it will be like when the rest of the people from his former unit arrive. I may have just shared eight months with them, but there's still a lot of things you can't learn in eight months. Like Winter's big secret. Kota keeps his distance as he fires bullets. Unlike the rest of us, he doesn't have the luxury of changing his God Arc's form.

"Ciel!" I shout to get her attention, she's thankfully among the long-range support at the moment. "See to Kanon!" As far as I know, the woman is still in shock. She needs some help right now, and at the moment I think Ciel is the one that can provide that help.

"Right!" I hear her confirm her new task, although I'm sure she'll have difficulty with it. I narrowly avoid being belted with Winter's new dancing skills as his blades dance between everyone. Unfortunately, Romeo isn't as lucky and is knocked back several metres where I notice that blood has been drawn from where Winter's blade connected with his stomach.

"Nana, heal Romeo!" I've noticed that the two of them have been spending a bit more time together than I believe they did before I left with Cradle on that eight month-long mission. There might be something between them, there might not be. I know that Romeo will be fine in Nana's hands though. "Er—" I quickly cut off my next command as I was about to tell Erina to fill in for Romeo and Nana. However, she seems incredibly distant. I don't blame her for not wanting to get up close and personal, so I decide that we'd be at a slight disadvantage than if Erina did fill in for Romeo. I mean, we still have an advantage, just not as big a one as I would have liked. I deploy my shield as Winter strikes at me several times. This time, I manage to avoid being hit and immediately counter with a few slashes to his head while he catches his breath. I fortunately manage to see that my God Arc has now caused a few scratches to appear in the Aragami's skin and it gives me a little bit of hope. "Keep hitting him!" I shout to my teammates, "We're starting to damage him!" I back off from Winter as a barrage of bullets hit his head. I stick around long enough to get a view of a small crack forming in Winter's dark grey skin.

After twenty more minutes of fighting more backup arrives. It's a strange combination of people as not only do Cradle arrive, along with them is Haruomi. Without sparing a moment to gawk at the sight of our transformed friend, Haruomi, Soma and Lindow charge towards the beast. Alisa, meanwhile, supports at a distance. Seeing three of the newcomers charge towards Winter, I decide to back off and support those on the front line, occasionally shooting healing bullets at my teammates. Nana and Romeo have long since returned to the battle as well. Romeo is currently also supporting the others. I find myself shooting a lot of healing bullets towards Cradle. They've gotten incredibly reckless with their decisions. Soma and Lindow wind up taking more hits than they can deal out. Despite the damage they've taken, they get back up fairly quickly because of our healing bullets. I have to wonder though, how many hits could they have taken before they are out for the count. I spare a glance towards Ciel and Kanon to see what the situation is. It appears that Ciel may have talked some sense into Kanon as the woman is standing, firing healing bullets to the God Eaters on the front line. That's all I can ask for really. I wouldn't want her to hurt her transformed boyfriend. Ciel also shoots bullets but they're damaging ones and they're aimed for the Chrome Gawain.

"This is useless!" Emil shouts as he jumps a fair distance away from Winter as he slashes repeatedly at Emil. Emil narrowly avoids being launched into the air with Winter's dancing tornado attack, Soma isn't so lucky. However, he uses the added height to his benefit and shoots back towards the ground with such a speed that I'm sure his God Arc would pierce through Winter. Unfortunately, his God Arc bounces straight off of him.

"Don't give up, Emil!" Soma retaliates in anger, likely because he too is beginning to see how fruitless our attempts are.

"He's still in there!" Alisa joins in to assist Soma, reminding us to keep our hopes up.

"Exactly!" Nana gives an enthusiastic shout. It must be really difficult for her to be that enthusiastic considering none of our attacks do more than scratch at Winter's skin. At this rate, we'll be here for weeks before we deal any considerable damage. "It's not over until it's over!"

"She's right! We can still save him!" Julius chimes in as he charges towards Winter. Seeing this, Livie backs off and comes to stand near me as we continue switching between healing bullets to fire at our teammates and damaging bullets to hit the transformed God Eater.

"I have to say," Livie speaks up from beside me, her voice is barely louder than a whisper. She may intend to speak only so I can hear it. "I've known from the start that we're fighting a battle we can't win." Despite her words, she still fires bullets in support of the team.

"Don't say that, Livie." It's hard to keep my anger in check at how easy it seems for her to give up. I know we've been fighting for about an hour now, but that's still no reason to call it quits. There is a God Eater in need of all of our help, if one of us starting doubting he can be saved then that bad attitude can spread to the others. "He saved Lindow before he transformed."

Exactly." Livie replies instantly, "that's before he fully transformed. According to Alisa and Kota, Lindow still had a human body. It was almost as if Lindow was growing an Aragami out of his back." As much as I don't want Livie to continue, I have to admit that she has a point. I haven't seen anything like a human body under the Chrome Gawain. "Even Julius had a human body. He hadn't completely become an Aragami while he is in the Spiral Tree." I'm about to ask her whether she remembers fighting the Einherjar, but then I realise what she means. In our final battle with Dr. Rachel, Julius was inside a red jewel. Dr. Rachel had tried to absorb Julius before I managed to pry her chest open to save him. Julius still retained his human body then.

"Livie, don't make me give up." I almost plead with her, still continuing to fire supporting bullets as Lindow finds himself flying towards a large rock after being pelted with two of Winter's massive claws. He grimaces as he gets up, but our healing bullets seem to do enough to dissipate his pain. He gives a thumbs up gesture in thanks to all of our healing bullets.

"I'm not telling you to give up, Captain. I'm telling you to accept that we won't be able to damage him unless we go all out." It takes me a few seconds to realise what Livie is trying to say.

"You want me to use Blood Rage?" I look towards my God Arc's display screen and see that it reads as 400%, meaning I can use Blood Rage four times. "I need to fulfil pledges to use it, remember. Unless we can cause a large amount of damage within thirty seconds, I won't be able to use it to the maximum effect."

"It's a risk we'll have to take. If you don't think we can deal that much damage, use the other pledges." Livie responds before charging forwards, her OP meter having run out. I quickly revert my Arc back to its Melee Form and activate the button for Blood Rage. I disregard the yellow veil around me as I ponder which pledges to activate.

"Blood rage activated!" I hear Ciel shout and a few heads turn towards me. I look at them to see a few small smiles on their faces. They must be in support of me using my power. Knowing that they are far too confident in my ability, I choose not to reciprocate their smiles and turn my attention back to my God Arc. Unfortunately, of the five available pledges, only two of them seem usable. A 5% boost to power for performing three devours, and a 10% for performing a 20-hit combo. Meaning that despite this being my ultimate weapon, I can only get a 15% power increase which is less than if another God Eater were to join us in the battle.

"Three devours! 20-hit combo!" I choose not to tell my friends about the small damage boost as I know their hopes are being placed on me. I count down the seconds before the pledge-fulfilment time begins. As soon as it does begin, I charge towards Winter. Immediately I am forced to deploy my shield as he performs the tornado attack. Gilbert wasn't as lucky and he avoids being left with massive injuries only because of the muscle boosters he had taken. He struggles to get back up for a few seconds before he charges in as well. By this time, I've performed one quick devour. However, the pledge has already been completed as two other people must have also performed a devour. I'm currently on an 8-hit combo, but I'm forced to backoff as Winter launches himself towards our support. They have enough time to avoid the massive jump, but it means that I've lost my combo. The supporting God Eaters quickly run away, all but Erina and Alisa who change their Arcs to Melee Form and start chipping away at Winter as he regains his breath. I check my God Arc's monitor and see that the combo meter is steadily progressing. With a smile on my face, I chip in and so do the others that have caught up to the Chrome Gawain. Very soon, I feel a familiar surge of power and weightlessness and begin an onslaught.

To my dismay, Blood Rage only leaves a few scratches on Winter's skin as well.

"There's no way." I hear Kanon mumble, who I had just so happened to land near after finishing with Blood Rage. "Even Blood Rage wasn't enough." Kanon crumbles to the ground.

"It's too early to give up, Kanon!" I shout towards the girl who looks up to me, fresh tears trailing down her cheeks.

"No, it's not." Erina who is only about ten metres away from Kanon and I speaks up, as she also falls to her knees. "We were all hoping Blood Rage would do it."

"I know my only hope was for Blood Rage to work." Livie, the person who had suggested I used Blood Rage also seems dejected and ready to give in, despite her still being on the frontlines against Winter.

"W-We can't run away from living!" Lindow shouts at the top of his lungs, although it sounds as though he may be starting to believe them.

"It's hopeless." Emil repeats. "I told you it's hopeless."

"Emil! Shut up or I'll punch you in the face again!" I shout back at the man I believe could have instigated the thought that we fail our friend. For all his talk about chivalry and how his friends are his comrades, he is quick to give up.

"I think he might be right though." To my disbelief, even Romeo seems to be giving up. I'm beginning to grow severely pissed off with my teammates, and I charge straight towards Winter. Easily dodging one of his claws and landing a couple of hits on the transformed God Eater. Unfortunately, my attacks still only leave scratches and I begin to deflate.

"There must be a way!" Soma shouts from my side. "Don't give up!" He swings his Arc at Winter repeatedly before I'm forced to deploy my shield in front of him as his carelessness almost gets him critically hit with one of the Chrome Gawain's blood red spikes that emerge from his claws. We're both flung back about twenty metres away from Winter.

"Let's get back in there." I speak to Soma, not bothering to look at him as I expect to hear him charging in with me again.

"Wait." At Soma's sudden halt, I can't keep the confused look that overcomes my face as I look at him. "I might have an idea."

"What? What is it?" I reply maybe a little too fast.

"Cover for me. I need to contact Sakaki." Soma responds to me and places a hand to his earpiece. Following Soma's words, I decide to charge back into the frontlines.

Ten minutes later, Soma returns to the frontlines as well.

"Anything?" I ask him, sparing the pleasantries as we don't have the time for them.

"We need to find a way to break through his skin." Soma comments, "Then, we'll have a chance."

"Of course, we'll have a chance, we'll have broken through the skin and caused him some damage. That should hopefully convince the others that he isn't a lost cause."

"Sakaki would occasionally take samples from Winter and do experiments with them. He said that the only chance we have to revert Winter to normal would be to inject Winter with his human cells and hope they replicate quick enough to overpower the Aragami cells." Soma explains.

"What are the chances of that happening?" I can't help but ask. I don't know a lot about science, but I do know that Oracle cells easily overpower human cells, hence why people succumb to oracle cell infections.

"Very slim. We'd need a miracle for it to work." Soma comments, his face downcast and I soon share an expression that reflects his. It seems our only chance is to hope for a miracle.

"How many miracles do we get in our lifetime?" I'm clutching at straws here. I've already experienced a few miracles, I think I may have already reached my lifetime's quota.

"If we're incredibly lucky, we can have at least one more." He ends our conversation by swinging at the Chrome Gawain, going on the offensive and most likely trying to draw blood. Within a few seconds, I join him.

An exhausting hour later, a helicopter makes itself known in the distance.

"Soma, go and retrieve it." I command. He's probably pushed himself the hardest other than me. The others, even those in my own unit seem to have given up and aren't putting as much effort into their attacks. It doesn't help that I've used Blood Rage a further three times during this hour and I still haven't been able to cause enough damage to Winter to draw blood. Honestly, even I'm beginning to give up.

"If only I could still wield others' God Arcs." Livie speaks through pants as she tries to regain her breath. After charging towards Winter again and only being thrown backwards, I begin to realise that maybe there isn't anything we can do. I struggle to get back to my feet, using my God Arc as support. I'm utterly exhausted. I've used Blood Rage a total of four times, plus I've also managed to gain another 200% on my Blood Rage meter, meaning I can still use it twice more. "The only way you can kill an infected God Eater is to use their own God Arc against them. Without that, there's no way to do it."

"Wait. Use their own God Arc?" I repeat as I glance towards the area that Winter and I were talking a few hours ago. "We can cause damage using his God Arc?" I repeat to Livie.

"Yes, but there's no one here that can use it." She answers me simply, not seeming to know what I have planned. I look towards where the helicopter had arrived and see Soma running back to the battlefield. I can't see it in his hands, but I imagine that he has the syringe filled with Winter's human cells with him. I look towards Winter's God Arc again. "Cover me, Livie." If the only way we can kill Winter is with his God Arc, then surely we can still draw blood using his God Arc. I just hope this works. I press the button my God Arc to activate Blood Rage and, making sure that the yellow veil is surrounding me, reach out for Winter's God Arc.

"That's not going to work!" Livie shouts after me but I've already made contact with Winter's God Arc. Instantly, my left arm becomes incredibly numb as it feels like my veins have been injected with a ton of needles. I can almost feel Winter's Oracle Cells shooting through my arm.

"ARRGGHHHH!" The pain is unbearable. This is the stupidest idea I've ever had.

"Cedrick!" I hear a collective shout from my teammates, although I can't identify who shouted as I try to pick up Winter's God Arc. Despite the fact it feels like it weighs the same as three Garms, I manage to get a steady enough grip on it. I take a few step forwards with Winter's God Arc in my left hand, my legs feel like crumbling on the spot but I manage to somehow select a few pledges for Blood Rage to activate. Now that I think about it, maybe I should have waited until Blood Rage was already active before trying to hold Winter's God Arc, because the moment this yellow veil disappears, I'm going to be in even more pain.

"3 Devow-!" I scream in pain as the yellow veil disappears and I feel my arm transforming, almost as though my own arm is becoming a Gawain-like claw. "10,000 damage!" I grunt through the pain, being forced to kneel down.

"Cedrick!" The concerned shout of my girlfriend rings through my ears.

"Do it!" I shout back at her and hope that others join in to help her fulfil the pledges.

After what feels like thirty minutes, I begin to feel a weightless feeling and can't help moaning in relief,

"Ahh." It feels a lot more relaxing than before and I force myself to get to my feet. Although I can't seem to be able to run towards the Chrome Gawain, I am able to make to Winter within seconds. I try with all my might to slash at Winter's different limbs. I can't suppress the massive smile that takes over my face as I see large streaks of blood cut along the Chrome Gawain. It makes me think that the pain I went through to get to this point was worth it. "Inject him now!" I back off as Soma runs towards Winter's chest and injects the cells into Winter. He backs off instantly and we all stop attacking to see what the situation is.

"Sakaki said he placed a tracking device in there as well. Let's hope for that miracle now." Soma speaks up, and it is only a few seconds later that I hear Sakaki's voice through my earpiece.

"The tracking device has been destroyed." He sounds incredibly dejected and looking at everyone else who had seemed to be regaining hope, they've completely been deflated. "He can't be saved."

"We can't give up now!" I retaliate instantly, "there's no way it can end like this." I turn towards Soma as I expect him to back me up, only to see an expression I have never seen on his face. He looks entirely hopeless as he stares at the Aragami that was once his friend.

"Cedrick, I think it's time to end it." Ciel walks over to me and I feel tears beginning to stream down my face. The one person I had hoped would forever agree with me on this also seems to have given up. "Don't forget, we're now on a time limit." I look towards my God Arc and read that there is only ten seconds left of my Blood Rage usage. "If we don't get you to help soon, you'll end up like him." I stare at the face of my lover, realising that she doesn't want this ending either as the tears rolling down her face suggests. "We can't afford to lose you too."

"Ciel…" Her name slips through my lips, I really don't want to give up, but I know what she means. Grabbing another person's God Arc can also be a death sentence. There's a chance that my decision, the only one I could take to try and save Winter, can also take my life.

"Please Cedrick," I hear Alisa speak up, tears streaming down her face too.

"End his suffering." Soma speaks up, he's given up too. There's nothing else we can do. I look to my God Arc and see there are five seconds left. Sucking up as much of my emotions as I can, I run towards Winter with blurry eyes. I blink the tears away as I reach the Chrome Gawain as he tries to pierce me with his blood red spikes emerging from his claws, but because I have Blood Rage activated it doesn't affect me in the slightest. I run at Winter's chest and plunge his God Arc into the area where I can see a light blue aura emitting from it. As soon as I do, I hear Winter scream in pure agony. I quickly pull out the God Arc before piercing the orb again, this time, I see it shatter into pieces. I leave go of his God Arc milliseconds before my Blood Rage deactivates. The last thing I see as I fall to the ground in utter exhaustion and pain is the crumbling form of the transformed God Eater I have just killed.

As I begin to return to consciousness, I realise that it feels as though there's an incredibly heavy weight keeping my body down. I feel slightly warmer imagining that it's Ciel, but as I open my eyes and come to recognise the familiar ceiling of the infirmary, I realise that Ciel is not lying on me. Nor is anyone else. Nobody is lying on me.

"Fucking hell." I groan as I try to move my body, only to find that my body now feels like it weighs three times as much as it should.

"You shouldn't get up yet." I hear Sakaki speak up. "You're still recovering." I'm surprised to see that Sakaki is the one that is treating me. I'm honestly a little disappointed that nobody is by my bedside but judging by the fact that I've made it back to the Far East Branch, I assume the whole ordeal is over.

"How did it end?" I ask Sakaki already anticipating the answer.

"I suppose I should congratulate you." His words sound positive, but his voice shows his sadness. "You've once again defeated another big threat to the world. If you hadn't taken the sacrifice to kill Winter then a lot of people could be dead right now." His words do little to make me think what I did was a heroic act.

"I failed him." I croak out, fresh tears threatening to spill from my eyes. This is the first time my failure has caused a death, and I really don't like that. I don't like that at all.

"No," Sakaki interrupts. "He knew this time was going to come. It was his wish to die away from his friends and loved ones. He knew that if something went wrong, he could rely on you to finish him off. In that sense, you were the only one not to fail him."

"I had the opportunity to end his life while he was in as little pain as possible. I couldn't do it though."

"I've known this would happen for three years. In all that time I hadn't developed a single way to save him." Sakaki speaks, his voice still as sad as before. If I had the energy, I would have gotten angry at Sakaki, but I suppose the fact that he's tried for so long is evidence enough that nothing could be done. "We're just lucky you didn't go through the same thing." He speaks up and I feel a pressure under my left arm. He brings my left arm into my line of sight and I see a strange thing on my wrist. It's something that I really didn't expect to see, but when I think about it, it makes sense to see it there. "I'm glad that putting another Armlet on you had worked. Everyone else is glad as well. We couldn't afford to lose two of our best God Eaters on the same day." He places my arm back down, and now that my fatigue is beginning to wear off, I can move my arms without much difficulty.

"I have to admit, I feel a little disappointed that my friends didn't want to be with me in what could have been my final moments." I sit up as I speak. It does sting me a little. However, I can kind of understand why they weren't here. They didn't want to see what could have been my dead body. They wanted to remember me for when I was alive. The last memory they wanted to have of me was when I was living, and not when I was dying in the infirmary.

"They were always on standby, but once they knew that you would be okay, they decided to attend Winter's funeral." Sakaki explains but his words only proceed to confuse me.

"His funeral?"

"You woke up earlier than I expected. I had anticipated you would wake up sometime tomorrow, not a matter of moments after your unit left to attend the funeral." He comments, but I'm still confused. How can they have anything to bury for a funeral? Surely they can't bury an Aragami's body.

"How long have I been out for?"

"Only 21 hours." Sakaki replies matter of factly.

"They're holding a funeral the next day. Isn't that a bit early?" I didn't expect to be out for almost a whole day, but there's still one thing that concerns me. "Is it too late for me to attend?"

"I was hoping you would say that." Sakaki speaks up as he moves away from me. "I don't think you'll be strong enough to walk there on your own, so you can use these. I bet they look familiar to you." I notice Sakaki hold back a light chuckle as he presents a pair of crutches to me. I slowly swing my legs off of the bed, and take hold of the crutches from Sakaki.

The two of us walk, with Sakaki leading the way. I hadn't asked where the funeral was taking place, and I regret doing exactly that now. Although it doesn't take us too long to reach the Lounge, as soon as we enter a few heads turn our way. Those same heads share a smile with me, and I make my way to stand by Ciel. As I get closer, I realise that the funeral is being held at the back of the Lounge. Only a photograph with a few flowers is present and there doesn't appear to be a body. Instead, there is only a photograph of Winter smiling. I wonder what he achieved to make him smile like that, because I'm not sure if I've ever witnessed him smile like that. I look around the place, a lot of people are wearing black and releasing their own tears. I soon feel a hand hold onto mine and realise that Ciel has taken it into her grip. I look to her face and see her expressing a few tears of her own. Seeing her in such a sad state does cause my own eyes to become wet as well.

The funeral didn't last too much longer, but the afterparty to celebrate Winter's life lasted until the night. People did come up to me and ask how I was doing, but it caused an incredibly guilty feeling to grip my heart. My friends are asking about me while at Winter's funeral. I feel as though me being here is taking something away from that. We're supposed to be celebrating Winter's life, not enquiring about mine. Ultimately, I suck it up and just get on with the rest of the night until the afterparty ends at midnight and we all leave the night. For the first time in eight months, Ciel and I fall asleep in the same bed, ready to greet the new day with more adventures.

A/N: There we go. The end of this story. I will still update this story every so often during certain events like Christmas or birthdays. Or even update it with other perverse scenes. This story has officially come to an end, even though I won't be marking it as complete. Thank you all for sticking with me through the three years I've developed this story. It means a lot to read your reviews. I had actually expected to finish this fanfiction of March 2019, but I lost my motivation and it's hard to write when you're unmotivated.

Thank you all for reading this story. My attention will mainly be shifted to my God Eater 3 fanfiction now. I only have two chapter of it out at the time of writing this chapter, so it shouldn't take too long for you to catch up with it if you haven't already.