They had no clue where they were; this hall looked like every other sanctuary hallway. Dexter carried Valkyrie on his back, and watched, amused, as Saracen stumbled around, peaking through rooms, and searching for any indication of their whereabouts.

"How could they not put signs? How is anyone supposed to find their way around?" Saracen mumbled.

"Will you stop it? You're not going to find directions in a random office room," Dexter remarked.

"How are we going to find the medical wings if we don't even know where we are?"

"We'll find them," Dexter reassured him, although it was more of a reassurance to himself.

"I know we will," Saracen muttered. Dexter scanned the walls, searching for any distinguishing features, yet there were none. Saracen found one, though. He pointed to an average-looking wall, "The prison is beyond that wall."

Dexter raised his eyebrows, "That wall looks like every other wall in this place."

"Yes."

"So, how did you know it leads to the prison?"

Saracen smiled, "I know things."

Dexter sighed, "I'm getting so sick of you."

"You're a liar."

"Nope! You are the most insufferable man I have ever met," Dexter assured him.

Saracen shrugged, "Whatever you say, Dexter Vexter." Dexter shoved him, and he laughed, "Ow ow ow, that hurts!"

"Good." Saracen shot a look of mock-anger at him.

"Here," Saracen motioned suddenly to an adjoining hall, "We go this way."

"And from the prisons," Dexter added, "We can get to the medical wings."

Saracen nodded. "That's right," he said, leading the way through the hall. The prison was not far; beyond the hallway another locked door, there was an entire wing dedicated to housing the sorcerers who did not abide by the law. And then, beyond that, Dexter and Saracen could rely on their own mental maps to get to the mental wings. They have been to the prison countless times, and to the medical wings moreso.

Dexter busted open the locked door with an energy beam. Similarly to the sanctuary walls, the door, which had once been protected by China's sigil magic, was now an ordinary door. They entered. Prison cells lined the walls, facing parallel from each other. All of them were empty, and the prison doors were cracked open. Remnants had possessed the prisoners- or killed them. Puddles of blood had formed on the floor, and bodies lay in them.

"Do you hear that?" Saracen asked. The sound of chains clanking together echoed through the corridor.

Dexter nodded, "Yes. Someone is still in here."

"Yet, there are no remnants in sight."

"Watch out. They might be lurking around here."

Dexter creeped closer to the noise and peeked his head in front of the cell, looking to see who the noise was coming from.

It was China Sorrows.

She did not look graceful like she usually did; her hands were chained up, and all of the sigils on her body were slashed through. Cuts were everywhere, from her face to her ankles, and blood trickled down her bruised skin, staining her once elegant dress. She looked up tiredly, eye bags had formed, making it seem as though she had been trapped here longer than she truly was. Saracen rushed over to her.

"Wait-" she managed, "guards." Saracen turned, and just as he met Dexter's eyes, a strong gust of air smacked into him, sending him flying into the wall beside them.

"Saracen!" Dexter cried. He looked toward the guard. A pair of sorcerers were running at them, swords in hand. Dexter sent energy beams flying at them. The guards dodged most of them, but one hit the male remnant's shoulder, and he stumbled back. The female guard continued on. She clicked her fingers, and a ball of fire lit up in her hand, and she threw it at Dexter. He swerved right, missing the fireball. The woman was only a few feet away, but instead of keeping a good distance, she continued forward, facing Dexter head on. She swung her sword at him, but he ducked and stepped forward, catching her in action. He reached across, grabbing her, and slamming her into the wall. In response, she pulled her sword up, making him stumble back, and using this to her advantage, she ran forward and thrusted the sword forward, aiming for his stomach. Dexter reached his arm out, parallel to the sword, and grabbed her wrist. He twisted it, turning her entire body, and he kicked her knees, making her fall. He snatched the sword out of her hand, and grabbed her hair, pulling her up. He slammed the hilt of the sword against her temple, knocking her out temporarily. He turned his attention to the male remnant guard, who had collected himself, and who was also an elemental. He sent a gust of wind flying towards Dexter, knocking him back. Dexter shot back at him, with beams of energy, making sure the man had no time to send any more gusts of wind at him. They both had swords now, and the man seemed confident he was a better sword fighter; Dexter was confident that the man was not a better sword fighter, seeing how the man stumbled around with it. He rushed forward, sword raised, slashing out at the man, who tripped in an attempt to back away. Compared to the woman, this man was easy to knock out. He swung the sword down on his neck, again and again, decapitating him, and Dexter made sure the remnant wouldn't be able to get back.

He turned his attention back to the female guard, and decapitated her as well. He patted the dead sorcerers down, or at least, he patted their disembodied limbs, searching for a key. He found a clip of keys in the female corpse's jacket pocket, and handed them to Saracen, who lifted himself, limped over to China, and began to unlock her shackles.

Once the chains were undone, China's legs gave out, and she fell into Saracen's chest. She lifted her head just enough to speak, "The remnants- There are so many more." Her gaze fell on Valkyrie, and her eyes widened in apology, "Valkyrie? I don't know what's going to happen to her." And then her head fell limp on Saracen, and she was unconscious.

Saracen laid her down carefully, "Valkyrie's out. China's out. You have minor injuries, but I can't even walk without hurting."

"You were just smashed into a wall. You need to lay down."

Saracen shook his head, "I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

"Dexter, please. We need to focus on China right now."

"Alright," Dexter responded, "We need to wake her up."

"We need to wake Valkyrie up too," Saracen said."

"But, we can't." Dexter lay Valkyrie down on the floor and began to shake China awake. She jolted upright, eyes wide, and sat up quickly.

"Woah! Calm down," Saracen grabbed her shoulders and gently laid her back down, "What happened?"

"The remnants- they're looking for something"

"What are you talking about?!"

"They're looking for- for," China choked, desperation in her eyes.

"What are they looking for?!"

"A machine. Like a soul catcher, except they can control it."

"What?"

"They're looking for a machine that will let them possess whoever they want, for however long they want, and it won't be permanent."

Dexter furrowed his brow, "So? The permanence hasn't stopped them before."

China shook her head, "If their host dies, they can still find a new one, no matter how long they've been inside of the host."

Dexter caught on, "So, if the remnant's host dies, they can keep possessing more sorcerers until everyone is dead, and all that is left is the remnant-possessed sorcerers."

China nodded frantically, "We don't stand a chance."

Saracen frowned, "Then what are we going to do?"

"If they get the machine," China exhaled, "Then we'll have already lost."

"Valkyrie can pull remnants from people's bodies, and tear them apart."

China widened her eyes, "What?"

"She pulled a remnant out of me," Dexter explained, "And out of another sorcerer."

Saracen whispered, "But she lost so much energy after pulling only two out."

"She can take magic from dead sorcerers and heal herself, though."

"So, what? We're just going to wait until thousands of sorcerers are dead!?" Saracen exclaimed.

"Thousands of sorcerers are dead, Saracen."

Saracen crossed his arms, "This isn't going to work."

"We have to try," Dexter breathed.