Selphie dragged her feet down Galbadia's halls. She followed Quistis and lost her on one of these floors like the worst operative on Gaia. Zell wasn't talking to anyone anyway and that meant she had no excuse not to help Irvine instead and Quistis was the one in charge of figuring that one out.

But she lost Quistis.

Selphie groaned and took a seat in the hallway. Students moved about with pistols and textbooks and Selphie wondered how they were supposed to use ammo in their exercises. When using a sword or baton, she didn't worry about refilling and could practice the same moves over and over. But ammo? Did the school just spend a ton of money on lead?

She'd ask Irvine when they got him out.

"Out of my way!" yelled a girl with the wrong uniform before barreling past a small group of students. A handful of others followed her with the same urgency.

Selphie watched them go and shrunk against the seat by habit.

"Man," said a kid that came up where they were. "I can't believe that worked?"

A large man with a terrifying network of scars joined him. "We should stick to our plan."

"And how are we supposed to do that, man? Headmaster's not there anymore—must have run off the moment he saw his chance."

Selphie fingered a minifrag on her belt. Something felt off about those two.

"Mm?" The kid looked her way. "Oh, don't worry about us. We're just here to blow the school sky-high."

"Maqui."

"What? We're supposed to raise a fuss!"

The man shook his head and warped out of existence. The kid groaned and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Some help he is."

Selphie pulled a capsule free and stood. "I don't like you."

"No, that's kind of the point." Maqui faced her. "What, are you gonna get in my way now?"

An explosion in the hallway could compromise the integrity of the flooring and cause a collapse. She pocketed the capsule and whipped her nunchaku free. Maqui sighed.

"I don't wanna fight you, man. Could you just pretend you didn't hear anything? I've got a lot of time I don't wanna waste."

Selphie let out a slow breath. Two chairs to the left, one to the right before the wall opened up to overlook the main entrance. If she could get him over that edge…

The kid pulled a gun free and Selphie danced left. A shot went off.

Selphie rushed him and Maqui yelped in surprise when she twisted behind him and pulled her nunchaku across his neck. She asked, "What're you planning, huh?"

"It's not your business!" He wrenched away from her with surprising strength and shot again before she could get away. "Just leave me alone, alright?"

Selphie bit her lip and avoided looking at where she felt the bite in her boot.

The guy shoved the gun back in its holster and looked around him. "You care about these people, right? I mean, more than random strangers on the street?"

"You're weird and creepy."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

Selphie scowled. "You got Irvine in trouble, didn't you?"

"… Only kind of."

The hallway cleared enough and Selphie pulled a minifrag free. "Tell the truth, bastard."

"I only kind of got him in trouble!" Maqui put his hands up. "Sheesh, it's not like I put out the order on him!"

"Then who did?"

"Do you know Ellone?"

"Oh, you've got to—!" Selphie ripped the pin out of the grenade and tossed it at the guy before ducking behind a chair further away. An explosion went off and swallowed him in a shower of shrapnel. He screamed and Selphie refreshed her grip on her nunchaku.

Peeked out from behind the chair to find the ground blackened and the guy still standing. He twitched and shuddered before straightening and looking her in the eye despite blood oozing from a slice in his forehead.

"Crap." Selphie pulled herself to her feet and readied for an attack. He couldn't be human.

"Selphie!" Quistis' voice.

Selphie didn't turn to find her—instead watched the guy with the burns and the blood. His limbs shook in intervals and he shifted in an unnatural manner. Selphie said, "He's behind what happened to Irvine."

Quistis hesitated. "What is he?"

"Well, that's just rude!" the guy said.

"Selphie," Quistis said slowly, "we need to get out of here."

"Not until I find out what happened to Irvine and Noel."

"You're bleeding."

"It can wait."

Quistis pulled her whip from her side. "Very well."

Selphie took to her side without breaking gaze with the guy. "Physical damage doesn't seem to affect him."

"I can hear you from here, you know. You're not actually gonna keep this up, are you?"

Quistis placed a hand on Selphie and a healing wind overtook her. The pain faded from her foot and Selphie hoped the bullet didn't stay in there. "Take this side," Quistis said.

Selphie cast shell and jumped at the guy. He scrambled back and she took him by the middle. Quistis electrocuted the vicinity and he choked out another scream before blasting them both back and pulling out his pistol again.

Selphie cast protect on herself and Quistis, but Maqui let off several rounds that bit through Selphie's leg and shoulder.

Quistis dropped and Selphie struggled to stand for the pain in her limbs. Her mind grew foggy from magic use and she barely thought straight.

Trilling music filled the air and another girl joined them. Maqui buckled over and shot her in the stomach, but she didn't seem to notice.

Selphie squinted—the girl had neat features and a uniform that didn't match this place or the other gardens. But she seemed… familiar?

The girl emitted red magic and increased her music pitch. That knocked him over. Another joined them, a man with fighting gloves, and he cast something on the kid before taking to Quistis' side while the girl joined Selphie.

"Sorry about that," the girl said before channeling white magic into Selphie and curing the worst of it. "I'm Deuce. This is Eight."

"This one's in bad shape," said the man. "Where's the hospital?"

"I don't know," Selphie said. "I don't know this place. I was just following Quistis when—"

"We can find someone." Deuce moved to help Quistis to her feet in time for school security to show up. Deuce directed the officers to Maqui. "Do what you will, but keep him alive for us. We'll probably want to recover him later."

That sparked some confusion and argument between the officers and the newcomers. Not like they were gonna listen to strange students from another… wherever they came from.

"Who are you?" Selphie asked once the officers finally left. "I mean, I know your name now, but how did you do that?"

Deuce said, "He's a vessel. They're kinda like cockroaches except you don't need to worry about the innocent soul inside a cockroach."

Quistis refused to let Eight help her. "Vessel? Soul? I assume that relates to how odd he acted?"

"It's complicated," Deuce said. "We can fill you in after you're settled in the hospital and we figure out what's happening on this planet."

"It's caught in a time twist," Eight said. "You two might know something about it."

"Like what Ultimecia did?" Selphie asked.

"Ultimecia?" Deuce asked.

"A witch," Quistis whispered before squinting her eyes shut. "Ugh. I need painkillers."

"And someone to check those bullets," Deuce said. "Or they'll hurt worse later. Follow me."

Selphie went with them. "Ultimecia used time compression to try to make herself live forever or something. But we stopped her."

"Doesn't mean it didn't leave aftereffects," Deuce said.

"We'll let the others know," Eight said. "For now, let's get Noel and these guys resolved."

Quistis stumbled. "What about Noel?"

"We'll try and revive him," Deuce said. "If the Council of the Dead let us. … It's a long story."


Baralai didn't like to admit that he'd come to see this place as a second home, but when he watched teenaged children spar in the yard and exchange quips like they had an upcoming test instead of a cosmic threat on their doorstep, he couldn't help but humor the thought of staying here a lot longer than he should.

The world's only sun warmed his skin this morning and a cool eastern breeze wafted in. This place didn't carry some of the more alien elements that he found on other places, but there was still something to the air that didn't quite fit in his lungs and the grass felt too soft beneath his feet.

Desch arrived looking worse for wear, but his countenance betrayed his satisfaction. A woman and child trailed behind them, bound with magic and cords and looking for all the world like prisoners brought in to be slaves. Baralai grimaced at the thought that they might see it in such a way.

A portal from Valhalla appeared and let out a salmon-haired girl and a man in what looked like archery gear that greeted Desch before the new girl took Desch's collected energy and glowed brighter for it. Each shard of Bhunivelze brought the Cie vessels one step closer to godhood and brought down Bhunivelze's recoverable power.

"Visitors?" asked Iris, coming up beside him and glancing about the yard. "What's it about this time?"

"Routine collection." Baralai watched Firion and the mages take the new vessels into custody. Paused when he caught a closer look of the child and made out green eyes past the locks of golden hair. "… One moment, please."

Iris made a confused sound before he moved to catch Desch's group. "Shinra?" he asked. "Is that you?"

The kid looked up at him with narrow, angry eyes. "So what?"

Baralai leaned to his level despite his knees protesting. "How did you get taken? Weren't you with Rikku and Paine? Are they okay?"

"I don't know. Maybe." Shinra looked away, messy hair bouncing with the motion. "Why do you care?"

"You know him?" asked Desch.

"Not well enough." Baralai shook his head and straightened. "We'll probably need my friend here to clean him of the madness."

The kid harrumphed. "It's not madness, idiot."

"Desch," Baralai said. "Make sure this one stays out of the range of most because he's shown a tendency to stir up emotions where we don't want them."

Shinra growled and Desch led him away.

Baralai fought down a burn of frustration and returned inside. It felt like collecting puzzle pieces only where none of them fit. They fixed Prompto, but how would they find just the right matches for everyone else?

Ace came out to greet his friend from Valhalla. Baralai caught words regarding the friends not managing enough personal time to study and something about protocol. Ace paused before they disappeared inside and called for a "Vanille."

The shard collector looked up from speaking with Gladio and scurried their way. "Yes?"

"This one needs to get cleaned, too." Ace put a hand on Baralai's shoulder.

Baralai waited for Vanille to approach before he gave a slight bow. "Welcome to Saronia, milady."

Ace resumed his conversation with Trey and left them at the door.

"You're the one everyone's talking about?" Vanille asked. "Well, I suppose we talk about a lot of people… but you were one of the first. And one of the longest, by the looks of it."

"I'm honored." Baralai gestured inside and Vanille took a seat near the entryway. The building gained a couple more rooms since its start and he heard they would install a second floor before much longer. But at the rate and style they went, it would look quite haphazard and awkward by the time it finished.

"How long have you had this, then?"

"I couldn't say." He lowered himself into a chair across from her. "It's hard to keep track when you're traveling across different planets with different cycles and time-keeping systems."

"Oh, duh." She flashed a goofy grin and held out a hand. "Can I see?"

He hesitated and put forward his wrist like Desch did. "I don't understand what there is to see."

"Having a celestial mind in your body leaves a lot of hidden surprises. I started hearing dead people after losing mine."

Vanille touched her hand to his and he saw flashes of bells and green, surging light that left a ghost of a tingle down his spine. And with that, the cosmos and its endless pathways threatened to leave him feeling cold and powerless and weak. Muscles lost their strength and he remembered the meaning of physical fatigue.

He held back few enough that Vanille didn't seem to notice, then slumped against the chair and barely kept himself from slipping to the floor.

Vanille's face scrunched up. "That… wasn't a pleasant surprise."

"No, but it's done."

"You should feel like yourself again, at least."

"Is that possible?" He barely uttered the words and didn't think Vanille heard them before she let out a small sigh and pulled her legs up her chest.

"Yes. It was easy for me, but I know Mwynn to be a kinder divinity than her son. You can regain yourself, but… it will hurt."

"I'm used to hurt."

"I wish I still had my old magic." Vanille gave him a concerned look. "Are you taking plenty of time to rest?"

"Yes," he lied.

"That's the best remedy. With the madness and the power gone from you, it should only take some soup and sleep to find yourself… well. Not better. But you can find a semblance of normalcy again."

"I think I've found some of that already."

"Yo." Prompto bounced in. "Baralai, I had some questions."

Vanille stood and Baralai followed suit. He still knew his manners, even if every nerve in him tingled and ached. She said, "I should be getting back."

Baralai left Vanille with a farewell before giving his attention to Prompto and drawing on the pitiful remainder of his power to say, "Yes?"

"First of all, how do you feel about using the roof of the Cabin to conduct some practice with aerial combat?"

"I would worry about the structural integrity of our only shelter."

"We wouldn't break anything."

"Maybe you wouldn't."

"I'll keep the others in line."

"Much as I respect and value your skills, Prompto, I don't think controlling people like Palom is included among them."

"What if we don't let Palom join us?"

"… My point rests. Speaking of, have you been sleeping?"

"Sure, why?"

"Because weakness creates openings for possession and we can't afford to lose anyone, including you."

Prompto groaned. "Fine. But it'll pass."

"Will it?"

"Probably?"

Baralai gauged Ace and Trey's attentiveness from their position in the other room—their hushed conversation focused on topics regarding the cosmos and both appeared distracted. Meanwhile, Prompto shifted uncomfortably and would likely find an excuse to leave any moment. "You were changed," Baralai said. "Made into a pawn of the enemy."

Subtle changes to Prompto's posture—frozen fingers, slight twitch in the brow, curl at the corners of his mouth…

Baralai continued, "You didn't even realize at first. It took a long time to find out and when you did, you couldn't look at your friends the same."

"Are we still talking about Bhunivelze?"

"Are we?"

"I don't know, you say some weird things at times."

"Many say that about truth. But perhaps I should rephrase my question: does it matter if it refers to Bhunivelze or not? We share similar stories though it may not feel like it. We both almost served our enemies and we both almost lost our worlds to destruction."

Prompto cleared his throat and Baralai knew he hit home. Let Prompto stir in silence until the man asked, "What if… what if I did want to go back?"

Another moment. Baralai struggled to stand straight for the fatigue tugging at the corners of his consciousness and he missed the enabling power of Bhunivelze's shards. … Or, having more of them. "Do you?"

"… It hurts."

"It does for all of us."

"Yeah, but it didn't hurt before." Prompto refused to meet his eyes. "And I didn't worry about what others thought."

"Because Bhunivelze didn't."

Prompto's quiet served as its own confirmation. Baralai heaved a long sigh and gestured for him to take a seat. Prompto did so.

"You don't want to be here?" Baralai asked.

"I don't want to hate walking every day."

"And you'd rather go back to destroying worlds?"

"No. But we didn't do that much destroying, anyway."

"Then what did you do?"

"Collect, mostly. I think."

Such seemed the story of all possessees. "And what was your plan for the Guild?"

"Either take or dispose, depending on the person."

"And who was meant for what?"

Prompto furrowed his brow and pressed his lips into a fine line. "I don't remember."

"Bhunivelze works as we speak and furthers his own scheme." Baralai leaned forward. "We make a show of preparing and it remains only a show if we can't summon the strength to revive these memories we have."

"He probably took them with him."

"He can't." Baralai gripped his temple against a forming headache. "He shouldn't. But it depends on the connections of those memories to the heart, which he can't reach. The emotion of it, all that anger and all his schemes, they leaked out of him without purpose, so he couldn't just take them."

"Then why can't we remember? He can mess with the mind, so why wouldn't that override the emotions?"

"I fought for every thought I still have and I know others can do the same. Did the same." Baralai watched Prompto struggle to think, barely kept focus going by the shifting of his hands. Perhaps he retreated to another place, or maybe he slipped into the old nightmares that plagued him before recovery. The ones they repressed and pretended not to acknowledge. The ones that Bhunivelze must have intended as reminders.

"Bhunivelze sent you here for a reason," Baralai said. "What was that reason?"

"I don't remember—"

"I know he wanted someone. Was it me? The twins? Firion? Or the children? You remember, you just don't realize it yet." Baralai stood despite the agony in his feet and crossed the distance to kneel to look Prompto in the eyes. "Please. For all our sakes, you must know that he wanted to take at least one person from our camp."

"He didn't predict who would survive the process."

"No, but he hoped. He held out for some of the more efficient vessels. He saw value in ways we didn't. Who matched that ideal?"

"I thought he wanted purity."

"To him, purity as he defines it is efficient. And you match that ideal in some ways, but there must be something else to it."

"I was… the best choice out of three. I already knew—"

"Vulnerability." Baralai licked dry lips and hated Bhunivelze. Then used that hate to remember how the creature thought. "It knew you as a weapon of destruction and chaos. It found experience with confusion and desired that for itself and its own ends. What did you do?"

"I—I didn't do anything. I was made to be a weapon, but I left."

"But the genetic makeup is there all the same." Thoughts raced faster than he followed. "Is that a commonality between us? He finds vessels familiar to what he desires and capitalizes on that?"

"I'm not a weapon."

"You are. I see it now, that's what we all are. We fooled ourselves to think we could ever fit in a group as what we found. The Guild could never be our home and yet we blend in anyway. The hidden traps in a crowd of heroes."

"Are you saying we should give up?"

"Only in the short term." Baralai stopped. "And only you. We might want to go back, but there's nothing for us there. Do you understand? We all walk shallow waters together."

"You're confusing me."

"We're destined to go back eventually, and We can use that. We can do what he wants before he expects it."

"That doesn't just help him?"

"Not if we take the right precautions. Come." Baralai moved and wished it didn't hurt so much. "I should teach you what I know. This isn't the first time I've dealt with possession."