"Bring me closer to Valkyrie," China managed, her body giving way to it's injuries, "I can wake her up."

"How? We already tried."

China rolled her eyes, "Yes, well I have an idea that doesn't involve aggressively shaking her."

"Oh," Dexter scooped her up and laid her beside Valkyrie. China tapped the inside of her cheek, and pulled out a sigil needle.

"Wow," Saracen whispered to Dexter, "She really has sigils for everything."

"She had sigils for everything," Dexter muttered. Saracen stifled a laugh, "That's terrible!"

China glared at them, "I can hear you."

"What? We… we weren't-" Dexter faltered, and looked over to Saracen for help.

Saracen threw his hands up, "It was Dexter."

"What?! You traitor!" Dexter cried.

"Suddenly, I wish I could go back in time to when I was tortured, because it wasn't nearly as painful as listening to you two."

"Wait, why were they torturing you? Couldn't they just have possessed you?"

"They couldn't possess me, all thanks to my sigils. The cuts all over my body are due to their vain attempt at finding and disabling the sigil I use to block their little souls from entering me."

"Useful."

China nodded, "Yes, it is." When she was finished, she put the needle back in her cheek. How it worked, neither Dexter nor Saracen knew. She tapped the sigil carved into Valkyrie's neck, activating it; a white glow emitted from the adeptly thin lines. After a moment, Valkyrie's eyelids began to flutter open, and she stared, half-dazed, at the ceiling.

"Val!" Dexter grinned and hugged her.

"Um...hi?" She mumbled, still processing her surroundings.

"She won't stay awake for long," China said.

"What-?" Valkyrie faltered. She had absolutely no clue what was happening; Dexter was jealous.

"Valkyrie," Saracen said, "Time to wake up."

"Sorry. I'm not a morning person."

"Right."

Valkyrie lifted herself up and looked around. Then, as her memories came back to her, her mouth opened into an 'O' shape and her brows furrowed, "Now why did you have to wake me up?"

Saracen smiled and responded matter-of-factly, "Because, if the remnants get a special machine that, for some reason we have, and let's be honest, they'll probably get it, then you'll be the only one who can save us all." Valkyrie groaned dramatically and lay back down.

"I hope the world ends," she said.

"No, you don't!" Dexter chirped, "Let's go save the world!"

"Yea!" Saracen said loudly, though in a very monotonous way. Dexter turned back to him, "Thank you."

"I'm always here to back you up."

"Stay focused," China reminded them, "for once. Please."

"We are focused," Saracen said.

China sighed, "Just do your job."

"Yes ma'am."

"We should find someone, a dead someone, for Valkyrie to snatch the magic from."

Dexter raised his eyebrows, "Snatch?"

"Yes? Is that word weird?"

"No," Dexter shrugged, "Well, I mean-"

"Okay, stop. Stop. We need to stop."

"Right. Valkyrie, can you walk?" Dexter asked.

She nodded, "Help me up." Dexter reached his hand out to her and pulled her up.

"It'll be very easy to find a dead guy," Saracen said, "but we still need to be sure they haven't gotten the machine."

"Where is the machine, China?"

"Remnant Research department, obviously."

"That's a thing?" Saracen raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"Yes," China responded, "There are departments of all kinds."

"Once I have enough magic," Valkyrie suggested, "I can search for it."

China nodded, "And if they've already gotten the machine?"

"Then we'll have to rely on Valkyrie."

"I don't know how much I'll be able to take," Valkyrie added.

"A lot," China said, straightening herself, her grace and elegance returning, "I've seen you fight, and you can take a lot."

"I can't heal Saracen and break all of those remnants."

"You have us now," Saracen grinned. Valkyrie smiled, "Thank you."

"Anytime."

China was moving past them now, walking towards the dead prisoners, "Valkyrie. Come here." She kneeled down easily, as though her injuries were something of the past.

"I can't take their magic. It's being cut off by the cuffs."

China smiled that beautiful smile, "You underestimate me, dear." China took out a sigil needle again and began to carve into the shackles. The needle, thin and sharp, did not seem like it could carve into the metal so easily, yet China carved a sigil with grace and ease, and a trail of light followed each scratch she made. The sigil glowed and the lock popped off.

"Someday," Valkyrie said in awe, "You're going to have to teach me that."

China smiled, "If that was all it took to inspire you, I would have done it back when you were twelve."

"The best teachers are the ones who love teaching," Valkyrie said.

"Not necessarily, but yes, I'm an excellent teacher."

Valkyrie could sense the dead sorcerer's magic emanating from their bodies, floating listlessly, unsure of where to go now that their bodies were gone. Valkyrie reached out to the magic and pulled it towards her. The magic flowed into her body slowly, serving to lengthen the permeating feeling of warmth and coziness, and she welcomed it, enjoying the new power. She kept pulling and pulling, but the magic suddenly stopped, like the door to her body had locked. She frowned, "It stopped. I can't take any more."

China looked down and bit her lip in thought, "Your body has limits. As sorcerers, our bodies can only take in so much magic before it kills us."

"Don't you have enough magic?" Saracen asked.

Valkyrie shook her head, "I'll be using magic faster than I can take it."

"I can help you by giving you a higher capacity for magic. It would be like a storage room hidden inside of you," China said dully, her smile faltering.

"But?"

"But I don't know how well your body can handle it," she sighed.

"I can take it," Valkyrie said determinately.

"You don't know that," Dexter warned.

"My body handled Darquesse, and that is a lot more magic than what China is offering," Valkyrie affirmed.

"It's not like we have any other option," China sighed.

"I don't like this idea," Dexter crossed his arms. He turned to Saracen for help, "This is a bad idea, right?"

Saracen nodded, "Yes, but that has never stopped us before."

"And look where that got us," Dexter grumbled.

"I'm doing it," Valkyrie decided and held her arm out to China.

China smiled, "I'm sure you can do it." She gently grasped Valkyrie's arm and pressed her carving needle into the skin, and surprisingly, it didn't hurt, only tickled.

Valkyrie waited patiently and watched the intricacy in China's cuts, how she treated it like art, yet there was a sense of alertness in the pit of her stomach, warning her that their time was wearing down. Adrenaline rushed through her, making her heart pound and her stomach queasy.

China let go of Valkyrie's arm, "I'm all done."

Valkyrie looked at her, "How much magic will it hold?"

"See for yourself," China smiled and gestured to the corpses. Valkyrie nodded and reached out again, pulling the magic into her body. It came rushing in faster than before, filling her up but not quite. The last of the corpse's magic entered her, yet she could still fit so much more. Valkyrie gasped, "Holy shit," the energy was overwhelming her, coursing through her veins like electricity, and her heart was beating faster than ever, "I'm going to have a heart attack."

Dexter looked concerned, "Are you OK?"

"No," Valkyrie choked, trying to push the heavy feeling down, "I'm dying."

"This isn't going to work," Dexter said, "She can't keep going like this."

"Yes she can," China affirmed, "She needs to get used to it."

"Everything hurts," Valkyrie whined.

"On a scale of 1-10, how bad does it hurt?" Saracen asked.

"200."

"She's fine," Saracen sighed, "She's just being dramatic."

"Saracen!" Dexter cried, "She might die!"

"Look at her, Dexter! She's not going to die!" Saracen raised his eyebrows and pointed at Valkyrie, whose movements were animated and dramatised.

"Valkyrie," China said, trying to stay focused on the mission, "Search the sanctuary for the machine."

Valkyrie looked at her, "What kind of machine am I looking for?"

"A powerful one."

"Thanks, that's extremely helpful."

"Of course," China straightened, "It uses mostly necromantic magic. It's small like a ring, but you won't miss it."

Valkyrie let the surplus of magic rise in her, and as it began to claw its way out, she snatched it and used it to search the sanctuary. There was a lack in life; most sorcerers had been possessed or murdered, reminding Valkyrie of their situation's direness. She continued searching, scanning for large assemblies of necromancy, but now, necromancy was everywhere and large groups of remnants gathered near the fighting. The remnants were winning the fight, and Valkyrie could feel the pain and grief that the remaining sorcerer's faced, making her dizzy. She moved on quickly, and something caught her eye. A group of less than a dozen remnants were racing towards the lower floor carrying something small. Small but powerful.

"I can see the machine," Valkyrie said.

"Do they have it?" China asked.

Valkyrie took a deep breath and exhaled, "Yes."

Dexter cursed, "We can get it from them."

Valkyrie shook her head, "They're going to the lower floor where the fighting is. We can't take on hundreds of remnants."

Saracen whispered, "Valkyrie's magic is unstable and wild. What are we going to do about the innocents?"

"We have to take that risk," China breathed, "because we don't have time, and evacuation would be suspicious."

"We'd better get moving now," Valkyrie muttered. Saracen and Dexter looked at each other and exchanged gentle glances, silent offerings of comfort in recognition that this was the calm before the storm, and they would stay beside each other throughout it all. China brushed her skirts out calmly, an unconscious tic she developed long ago. Valkyrie was scared though she said nothing. She hadn't ever, nor had any other sorcerer used their magic in such a way.

To her, there was only one outcome: she was going to die.