Part 13

Rokurou's mental exercises over the days spent in Elysia left him alert and ready. The boys came down when they were ready, waving goodbye to their friends beyond the gate. He noted that Sorey in particular had a strength to him that he didn't before, something good had happened and Rokurou nodded, glad his new baby brother was now even better. "Which way from here?" he asked.

"Back down to the forests," Mikleo said. "There are some ruins there."

"The ones we saw on the face of the mountain?"

"Yeah," Sorey said, "We used to explore there when we were kids. Come on."

Rokurou followed, fully expecting the boys to twitter about their childhood, share stories and memories of what was probably the thing that was a defining playground of their youth, but the closer they got the more their bright faces dimmed, and the silence started to build. Something bad had happened there, and both of them were thinking about it. He hung one hand in his sash, near his kodachi, wondering.

The ruins were half eaten by the forest, ancient rocks worn down to curves - not the white stone of the dwellings he had seen up with the malakhim, but more natural grays, weathered and worn. Sorey guided them through the entrance and down a series of steps, moss and roots emerging from every crack and corner. There were a few small spider hellion - nothing the kids couldn't handle, and they moved across an invisible bridge. Both of them paused, eyes tracing up the carved edifice of stone.

"I still miss him," Mikleo said.

"Yeah… I do, too."

Sorey bowed. "It's been a while, Gramps," he said softly, and they moved through the gate at the foot of the statue. Rokurou looked up, studying the grand form, and essence of power, and he bowed, too, glad such a warrior had raised such a good pair of kids. They moved deeper into the ruin, Rokurou guessed a place of worship for Sorey's and Mikleo's old man, down a narrow hall and then into a larger chamber. There were no remarks on the nature of the structure, its possible origin or intended design, no speculation on age or craft. There was also no memories or adventures, the boys were quiet, solemn, as they moved through the space. It pressed on Rokurou, and he kept silent as well, until in one room Mikleo slowed to an absolute stop, kneeling down and putting his hands together.

Only then did Rokurou lean into Sorey. "What's he doing?" he whispered.

"This is where his mother died," Sorey said in low tones. "This is where she locked herself away to try and stave off Phi's corruption, for seventeen years."

Sorey stepped forward, kneeling down and joining his lover, and Rokurou gave them their time to pay respects. He guarded them solemnly, watching, before Mikleo took a breath and stood, Sorey joining him a few minutes later. "You okay?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Yeah."

That was all they said, all they needed to say, and they moved on. Rokurou lingered, imagining the story behind it all, and he bowed, again paying his respects. No wonder these kids were quiet, this place had a lot of pain attached to it. He caught back up with the kids.

"Do we know whatever happened to Symonne?"

"... No. None of us saw her again after that day."

"I feel bad," Sorey said. "I wonder if she ever found a way to see past her pain."

"I don't know," Mikleo said. "Though I suppose not hearing from her is a good thing… right?"

"I guess…"

"Mm, I meant to ask up in Elysia, did you come through here when you woke up? This is the only real path through to Ladylake, where you said you ended up."

Sorey gave an embarrassed laugh, scratching his cheek. "When I first woke up, I was getting morning headaches for realizing moss grew on the same sides of trees to navigate," he said sheepishly. "The first few weeks - months? - were kind of sketchy at best."

Any comment Mikleo made was cut off as they finally saw light at the end of their hallway, and Rokurou watched as that tiny bit of lighter conversation was immediately shut down as the three of them entered the Origin Village.

It might have been impressive whatever hundred years ago, but the structures had been almost completely reclaimed by the mountain, and that was as far as Rokurou's thought process went as he stiffened, catching a different scent in the air. His eyes roved around the place, and it was very faint but he could sense it: killing intent. There was a daemon here. He pulled his hand out of his sash, spreading his feet as the boys moved forward, ignorant of what was coming. Rokurou kept looking, trying to infer directionality. It was subtle, but there was weight to it, too. He put a hand on the grip of his kodachi, searching, searching.

"It's moments like this when I really realize how much time has passed," Sorey said. "The ruins were still fresh when we were first here."

"Time has that effect," Mikleo said. "Alisha wanted to mark the village as a preserve, especially knowing this was where you were sealed away, but Rose convinced her that would be a giant signal for hellions and other countries. We wanted… we wanted your rest to be peaceful, and if people settled here, even to maintain a historic landmark…"

"It would just replay the dawn of the Age of Chaos all over again," Sorey said. "So long as people live here it will be the source of greed as humans try to lay claim to the space, and set between Rolance, Hyland, and the northern countries it's too convenient to pass up."

"Yeah. Hyland and Rolance hadn't settled their political disputes yet - it took Alisha almost her entire reign to iron all of that out."

"You said they're sister countries, now?"

"Yes, independent of each other but allies when dealing with other countries. It gives them a lot of political power in negotiations. I'm not caught up on that and haven't been for a long time - it's not as interesting to me, and as a seraph it doesn't affect me."

"Well, for now, I guess," Sorey was saying, crossing his arms and looking up. Rokurou was still searching. "But as more people start to see seraph, don't you think that over time that will affect the politics of the country itself?"

"Not if the church is kept out of politics all together," Mikleo said, hand up and playing with his chin. "Part of the problem with the Rolance Empire was that the church had so much sway over the emperor and his family. The church lost sight of its duty to help maintain the seraph with offerings and prayers - it's hard to do that if your mind is full of the politics of succession. That was one of the reasons the pope disappeared, and one of the reasons that cardinal turned into a hellion."

"Huh, I never thought of it like that," Sorey said. "Do you think that's why it was so much easier to find and install Lords of the Land in Hyland?"

"That's my assumption based on the evidence."

"Guys," Rokurou said, putting another hand to his kodachi, "Do you sense it?"

Both of them turned, utterly confused. "Sense what?"

"There's a daemon here."

"... Daemon like hellion? Or daemon like a would-be Calamity?"

"Don't know for sure yet. Either of you have a domain up?"

"I will," Sorey said, closing his eyes for a minute. Rokurou felt the air change, he was getting better at sensing it, and that made the intent clearer and easier to sense. "To the west," he said.

"Not near the throne then," Mikleo muttered, summoning his staff. "How should we approach?"

"I want to talk to them first," Sorey said, putting a hand on his ritual sword but not drawing it. "If Phi is right and this is a would-be Calamity, I want to know why."

Rokurou nodded. "I'll stay back, then," he said, "Let you two do the talking."

The three of them nodded and slowly fanned out, climbing and then descending a hill. Mikleo kept his eyes northeast, where the throne was, and Sorey followed Rokurou as he moved silently through the trees, utterly focused and ready for anything. The woods slowly thinned out to a clearing, and beyond was a woman, late forties by human standards, average height and slightly heavy in weight. Her physicality didn't imply much, but Rokurou knew whatever her daemon form was would be the better to judge by. He crouched down by a tree, gesturing for the two malak to step forward. Sorey stepped forward, scarf fluttering in the wind, Mikleo at his right side.

"Oh, hi!" the lightning malak said. "Can you see us?"

The woman turned. "... yes?"

"Ah, wow, haven't come across a human that can see us in a spell! How are you!"

"Oh, my, would you two handsome boys be… seraph?"

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Mikleo said stiffly, suspicion radiating in waves.

Sorey laughed it off. "Don't mind my friend here, he always takes a while to warm up to people. I'm Sorey. What's your name?"

"... Sorey? That name has much weight in this day and age."

"Really? I've been told that before, but I was only born a little while ago, so I don't really get it. What brings you all the way out here? Are you traveling with your family?"

The daemon looked away, one hand balling into a fist. "I have no family," she said, face bitter.

Rokurou watched as Sorey melted. "I'm so sorry," he said, stepping closer. "I can't imagine how lonely that must be." Rokurou felt a spike, something skittering over his senses that he couldn't immediately identify. He pulled some hair back, trying to look through his daemon eye, trying to understand what he was seeing.

The woman shied away from Sorey's approach, making the lightning malak freeze and give her space. The woman didn't say anything, but something was skittering around in her aura. Normal daemons, hellions, had one base emotion that flowed into all of its actions: hunger for therions, aggression for beasts, etc. This daemon was much more complex - much more human - and it made her harder to read. Rokurou took a deep breath, exercising patience to see what would happen. Laphicet had told him would-be Calamities were different, and he studied diligently.

"... do you want to talk about it?" Sorey asked.

"What's there to talk about?" the woman said. "You wouldn't understand. You have a friend with you. You've never been alone your entire life. You've never been rejected by everyone around you."

"That sounds really hard," Sorey said, empathy etched along his face. "I'm not sure I can imagine what that would be like, but I'm really sorry you went through something so painful."

"Don't talk like you care," the woman said, bitter.

"Well, I mean, you can travel with us for a while, if you want," Sorey said. "We've traveled together in groups of all kinds of sizes. We'd love the company, and you can tell us what the humans have been doing in some of the places we haven't been to, yet."

The woman stared, wide eyed. "You… you would offer that to a stranger?"

"Well, sure," Sorey said, and behind him Mikleo nodded. "No one should feel that alone, and if we can help in any way we'd be happy to. If you're not comfortable with travel, we can at least talk for a little while, give you some conversation. Where are you from?"

The surprise was bleeding all through the woman, Rokurou was beginning to think this might not be a daemon, but it was because he was watching so intently that he noticed the change. It was so soft, so subtle, but something shifted, Rokurou's eyes widened as he realized it was an outside shift. Something drifted across the woman's aura and the surprised hope disappeared like Velvet had eaten it, and in its wake was left cursed suspicion.

"That's a lie," the woman said, anger bubbling up and spewing out in waves. "That's a lie! No one wants me! The world would be better without anyone in it! If I have to be the next Calamity to do it then so be it!"

Rokurou unsheathed both kodachi, dashing in as the malevolence started to fight Sorey's domain. The lightning seraph grunted at the aggressive attack as he drew his sword, but the clean air stayed and he shook off the assault. Mikleo flanked Rokurou and he felt the heft of power this daemon had as she shifted to her other form. The dark cloud misted over her features like that brat from the port, but there were more distinct claws. Her hair ribboned out in white waves, her teeth elongated to fangs, her frame doubling in size as hands shifted to talons and claws, feet widened to paws. She roared, but in the time it took to show her true form Rokurou had already stabbed her with both of his kodachi, Mikleo sweeping in with a brutal swing of his staff.

Sorey followed up with a thrust, but the daemon shouted and pulled back, slamming a claw into the ground to cast an arte. Mikleo summoned a pair of ice claws from the ground to scissor her and Sorey gave an intense slash charged with lightning. The arte unleashed, however, and the boys were pushed back with a wave of earthen spikes. Rokurou was too nimble, navigating the attack with ease and releasing a hurricane thrust, knocking the daemon back. He followed up with a bone breaking slash and mirage dance to get up behind her. "Form Four: Cyclone Dart!"

The wind based attack didn't phase the creature who had performed an earth arte. Interesting.

Sorey had recovered and had rushed in to engage in combat, Mikleo further back and casting an arte. His swordwork was met with talons but he held his ground. He ended his combo with an aggressive thrust, "Lion's Howl!" that had no effect.

Then, Mikleo, "May your knowledge bleed from you: Mindflayer!"

The daemon screamed and made a vicious slash, catching Sorey and knocking him back.

"She's weak to fire!" Mikleo shouted, lowering his staff and adjusting his stance.

"In that case, Form One: Fire Burst!"

"Solar Burst! Borealis Blast!"

"Form Eight: Magma Tower!"

The daemon screamed and Rokurou was able to land vicious strikes with his kodachi as Sorey focused on his small collection of fire artes and Mikleo swept in with his staff. The hits were powerful and chained together beautifully - the daemon didn't really have the chance. She had weight to her power, but no training, just like before. Rokurou realized that whatever was happening, the people who became true Lords of Calamity all had military or fighting backgrounds. These two wannabes were untrained and unable to tap into their potential - they needed time to learn how to fight, but Shepherds found them too soon. He sighed, realizing that these would always be weak opponents.

"She's stunned! Now!"

"Heavenly Judgment!" The mystic arte thunderbolt swept down, striking the daemon and leaving her crumpled on the ground, in her human form. Mikleo ran over to purify her, but Rokurou held him back.

"She won't accept purification," he said.

"We don't know that," Sorey said.

… "Okay," he said, stepping back. Mikleo lifted his hands and casted his arte. Rokurou watched as the silver flames engulfed the daemon, fighting to purify the woman, before her eyes snapped open and she screamed.

"You can't purify me! I'll end all the pain!"

"Rangetsu Style: Heron!"

It was, perhaps, a little overkill. She was gone before his fifth strike, and he grunted as he straightened. "I can't get stronger facing weak opponents," he muttered, cleaning his blades. The lovers were looking down, sad, and Rokurou let them have their feelings, sheathing his swords and turning to face them more fully.

"It's sad," Sorey said, "That they don't want to be purified."

"What's more sad is the fight even needing to happen," Rokurou said, explaining what he had been able to glean while watching.

"Wait," Mikleo said. "An outside influence made her go crazy?"

"Yeah," Rokurou said, arms crossed. "She might well have agreed to talk to you, even travel with you, before that sense of hope was eaten."

"You say eaten," Sorey frowned, fingering his chin. "How do you know it was eaten?"

"You forget I was traveling with a therion for a while," he answered with an easy grin before sobering. "I get why Laphicet wanted me to look into this. Velvet and Innominat both have to eat, they were locked away feeding on each other, but if Innominat's seal is breaking, then he's taking his snacks from other sources."

"That's horrible," Sorey said, "On so many levels."

"Yeah," Mikleo said. "It feels like the tragedy can't seem to stop."

"Heh, look at you two, all down in the mouth," Rokurou said with a smirk. "You forget that we're here! We'll beam up there and stop it from happening, give Innominat a more permanent solution, and free Velvet as I pay my debt to her. It's a win-win all around!"

Familiarity started to echo across Sorey's memories - as he'd told Mikleo those first weeks were a blurry mess of morning headaches, discoveries, and more headaches. But as they moved up the hill he recognized the moss on the north side of the trees, and the birch and oak. Grass had overtaken the path but he felt cobblestone under his boots. Could it be…?

And then the trees parted and there was a vast field of flowers, multicolored sensory pleasure, almost as pleasant as looking at Mikleo, and he spun around as they walked through the field, eyes drinking in everything, awed at it all.

"The flowers were from Zaveid," Mikleo said softly. "He blew the seeds in from all over the world."

"I'm surprised," Sorey said, head swiveling everywhere, "I thought flowers weren't very manly to him."

Mikleo shrugged his shoulders. Sometimes there was no understanding that guy.

Further up the hill was white stone that had obviously come from Elysia - Edna's gift, Sorey remembered his partner explaining to him. He could appreciate the mixed era design now, Mikleo had obviously had more than a slight hand in the design, and he could only imagine how much teasing and grousing he forced himself to put up with to make Edna create the arch with her artes. He smiled, reaching out and taking his partner's hand, swinging it slightly. Mikleo smiled at the gesture.

Past the arch was a stone marker, and Sorey realized belatedly what he was looking at: his grave. He stared, processing the gravity of the location in a new light, kneeling down.

"Shepherds used to take their oaths here," Mikleo said. "Lilah would bring them up to make the contract, so they understood just what the stakes were when they agreed to become a shepherd."

"... what made her stop," he asked carefully.

"I asked her to," Mikleo answered, his voice soft. "I was still hurting then, it felt like we were disrespecting the fact that you were coming back. Later, when I started to get better, I didn't want my visits interrupted on the off chance Lilah would bring someone up here… I was being selfish, I guess."

"Not selfish to look out for your health," Rokurou said, stepping up and bowing to the marker.

Sorey frowned, standing but still staring at his grave marker. Beyond was Shepherd's Lake - he internally groaned at the fuzzy memory of thinking it was an ocean when he first woke - the massive crater their fight with Heldalf had created, destroying Phi's temple, Artorius' Throne. Were they going to go underwater to get to Velvet? He wasn't sure. He turned to Mikleo and Rokurou, but his partner shook his head. They would have to wait for Phi.

He sat in front of his gravestone, staring at it. Nothing really triggered in his heart - there wasn't an emotion attached to the marker. Was he supposed to feel something, looking at this? He didn't, it was so separate from him he felt he was looking at a stranger's monument. He was more interested in Lilah bringing shepherds up here to take their oaths and make their contract. He hadn't thought about oaths since waking up, it was one of those nebulous "seraph things" that he had no hope of achieving. Edna had taken an oath to keep Eizen on a mountain, Zaveid never talked about it but he had an oath to end Eizen's pain. Lilah had an oath to never speak of the stories of prior shepherds.

"... did you ever make one?" he asked suddenly, looking up at his partner. "An Oath?"

Mikleo turned, violet eyes blinking. "Nothing official, I guess," he said, a soft breeze kissing his tail of hair. "But after my first real visit here, I promised myself to keep you up to date on ruins."

Sorey smirked, standing. "It always comes back to ruins, doesn't it?" he asked, shaking his head. "I wonder if we'll ever change."

"I don't know, I think we've both changed," Mikleo said. "Beyond the obvious," he added with a gesture to Sorey's white tips of hair, "we've both experienced many adventures and trials and events. We're stronger for our experiences, and have learned how to be better people. Before your return you never asked for help, even when all of us pushed you to, but almost the first words out of your mouth was that freeing Velvet would be hard and that you needed help. For me, I was so attached to you I couldn't handle separation in a healthy way, and now I know how to be independent and self-reliant."

"... you're not afraid of dogs anymore, either," Sorey said. "And you have a way higher tolerance of Edna's teasing."

Mikleo flushed again, pretty even in embarrassment, and he crossed his arms and looked away, muttering under his breath.

Sorey smiled, putting a hand on his partner's shoulder. "Then here's my oath to you," he said. "I swear in front of you and Rokurou that I'm going to explore every ruin in the world. You'll have to come with me, of course, because it won't be even half as fun, but I'm going to do it, to prove that seraph and humans lived and worked together long before this day and age."

Something shifted in his soul when he finished, making him blink as something slid into place and he felt the press of the words he said. Uh-oh, did that count…?

Mikleo gaped. "Did you… did you just make an oath without thinking about it?" he demanded.

"Uh…"

"Sorey!"

Rokurou burst out laughing as Sorey felt a pressure on his shoulders, the urge he felt to explore ruins that was always there now somehow manifesting inside his very body, and he felt a mild panic as he wondered just what kind of implications that meant. Didn't Zaveid say he had to wear no shirt for his oath? Edna something about peanuts…? Oh, man, now what was he supposed to do?

Mikleo was utterly fuming, one hand at his temple to forestall a headache and groaning between his curses. As the sensation of the oath faded Sorey shifted his weight, nervous if something was supposed to happen. But the feeling disappeared, and he felt normal in less than a minute. He frowned, putting a hand on his chest, closing his eyes and reaching inside himself. "I don't… I don't feel any different," he said after a moment's examination. "Was I supposed to feel different?"

"Not that I know of," Rokurou said. "Daemons don't really have oaths, but in all the centuries we knew each other Eizen said he barely noticed his oath most of the time. It was the boundaries where you could really feel it and it made you do weird things."

"Huh, interesting," Sorey said, one hand on his hip. "So then I won't really notice anything unless I'm - what, not exploring ruins?"

Rokurou shrugged. "Hell if I know."

"Do you know, Mikleo?"

The water seraph sighed, shaking his head. "I never took one," he said, "I wasn't comfortable being tied down to something if you weren't there with me."

Sorey smiled to hear something so soft, and he reached over and wrapped an arm around Mikleo's shoulders. "Well," he said, "I'm with you for the rest of our time - you heard my oath - together forever. Together in all things."

Mikleo dipped his head in acknowledgement but didn't immediately say anything, still feeling his emotions. Sorey leaned forward and nuzzled his nose into Mikleo's hair, squeezing briefly.

"Oh, good, you're here."

Sorey turned, Mikleo breaking apart, and Phi was there, his ten year old countenance smiling up at them.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting. Doing this is going to take a while and I wanted to make sure I wasn't distracted."

"No," Sorey said quickly, "It's fine. What happens, now that we're here?"

Phi moved past the gravestone and to the edge of the cliff, looking out over the massive lake, one hand up slightly, sensing before he nodded to himself. "The gate is still working," he said after a long pause. "I can send you up there."

"You've said 'up there' before," Sorey said. "What do you mean?"

"I mean just that," Phi sait, turning. He pointed straight above his head. "I'm sending you up there, about fifty miles above us."

"Fifty what?" Mikleo demanded.

"You'll be right at the edge of my domain, but I can use the mana in the Throne to send you up there with a teleportation arte. Up there is a space of crystallized energy drawn and condensed from the Earthpulse: the body of Innominat."

"Wait, wait," Mikleo said, incredulous. "You're going to send us to… what, Innominat's belly? Is that even safe?"

"We did it once before," Rokurou said brightly, hands on his hips. "You like pretty things, right Sorey? The view is great."

"Th-that's entirely beside the point!"

"It's a place of light and dark," Phi said, face solemn. "Heaven and hell. There won't be any enslaved malakhim up there, so you can just make your way up to his heart. There… there should be a seal, and inside is Velvet and Innominat." His olive green eyes glanced to Rokurou. "Were you able to get to the truth of the matter?"

Rokurou sobered, too. "Yeah," he said with a nod. "If the seal is weakening like you said, then it's Innominat who's eating the emotions of the wannabe Calamities. If that's the case, then…"

"Then he's eating more than just Velvet," Phi said, looking down. "It might even mean there isn't much Velvet left; that's what worries me most."

Then, to Sorey's mild surprise, Mikleo reached out and put a hand on Phi's shoulder. "Laphicet has suffered a lot," he said softly. "He shouldn't suffer any more, especially from Innominat, especially from hunger. We'll gladly help him in his pain, even if it means ending it."

Sorey reached out, unconsciously grabbing Mikleo's wrist. He had never heard such words from his partner, and yet somehow he had perfectly summed up Sorey's feelings toward Heldalf. That made him scared, scared that Mikleo had a thought of doing something as reckless as being a vessel for Phi for hundreds of years. He caught his partner's gaze, and everything was communicated with a look.

Phi nodded, stepping back and reaching out, light beginning to emit from deep below the waters of the lake. Rokurou spread his feet, keeping a ready stance, and Mikleo leaned in, to Sorey's ear. "I swear to you, in front of Maotelus, that I will follow you to every ruin you explore, and follow you through every stupid decision you make. That will be my oath. So you better not be thinking about sealing yourself away and replacing Innominat's seal by yourself." He drew back, and Sorey watched his face change as the oath slid into place somewhere inside him. Sorey smiled, squeezing their hands.

"Every ruin in the world," he said.

"Every decision you make."

They smiled, as Phi transported them up. Up to where Innominate slept.

The weightless sensation wasn't new, per se, but it wasn't the same as falling through the air or off a cliff. Mikleo felt weightless in a way that was unfamiliar, and as he looked around he wasn't quite sure what he was expecting to see to explain it. Well, he didn't until he looked down, down, down, down…

A beautiful green and blue mass of color was below him, white swirling around and bits of browns and grays for flavor. Was that… wait, was that really…?! Mikleo reached out for balance, looking for water in the air to pull towards him, not for any arte but to sooth him as he processed that that thing below him was all of…!

Nothing came to him, and Mikleo felt vertigo as he swayed slightly. He reached out physically this time, grabbing Sorey by his sleeve. He tried to reach for more water, but again nothing answered him. Sorey turned, green eyes confused. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"There's no water," Mikleo said. "Not anywhere. Worse than the moors." He held a hand to his head, frowning as he acclimated. And there was still everything below them. He watched Sorey frown in concern, but Mikleo was still looking down, recognizing the continent of Glenwood, noting the southern isles and the northern continent and how was he able to see all this? He swayed again.

"Told you," Rokurou said brightly. "It's a hell of a view!"

"You didn't tell us anything about seeing the entire world," Mikleo hissed, finally removing his eyes from the site to glare at the daemon. Looking away helped, and he was already adjusting to the lack of water in the air.

"Haha, kind of hard to describe to someone who's never seen it before," Rokurou said, nonplussed. "On the upside, there aren't any malakhim here under Innominat's control to attack us. This will be a walk in the park."

"Nothing you say ever helps!" Mikleo groused, sour but feeling less vertigo now that he wasn't looking down.

"Man, you're an easy one to tease," Rokurou said, hands on his hips.

"Oh, you haven't found the best parts to tease yet," Sorey said brightly, being absolutely no help. Mikleo frowned deeply but took a breath, moving to the center of the narrow - Hall? Ledge? - they were on and keeping his focus on his two companions.

Rokurou took the lead, confidently navigating the string of paths and Mikleo kept his eyes firmly on Sorey's white scarf, one of its tails fluttering and swaying back and forth like his old stole. So long as he didn't look down… The space was beautiful, aesthetically, everything was whites and golds contrasting just the right amount against the… the… view below them. The paths were kept in several levels, spiraling up to some kind of white central structure. Mikleo tilted his head as they moved slowly around. It looked somewhat like the shape of a human heart.

"Oh!" Sorey said, halting for a second and making Mikleo run into him. "I bet this is the Dawn Star!"

"What?" Rokurou asked.

"Wait, is that even possible?" Mikleo asked.

"I think it might be," Sorey said. "All other stars in the night sky move - even ignoring the wheel of stars that happens over the course of the night there's also the seasonal movements and even slower movements that stretch out for centuries at a time. But the Dawn Star is known for being in a fixed location no matter what time of day and what time of season and what time of year, right? If this structure is fixed over Artorius' Throne, I mean Shepherd Lake, then of course it wouldn't move. It's closer than any other star in the sky and locked to Glenwood in a way that no other star is."

"Huh," Rokurou said, "Never thought about it before."

"... how sad," Mikleo said, looking up at the heart-like structure again. "To be fixed in one place for so long, never moving, stuck immobile for centuries."

"Whatever emotion this star represents isn't a healthy one," Sorey said, equally reflective.

The three moved on, using ancient teleportation artes to move higher and higher up. Mikleo recognized the eye symbols in each arte, and he mentally took note of them, memorizing as he could to jot them down for later. He wasn't sure this would be a journal, per se, but understanding the arte might be important for later.

If the outside was all whites and golds against a dark sky and a vision of the world, then inside was nothing but blacks and purples, a low hum of seraphic artes pulsing through the structure, heavy and thumping in a way that didn't match any heartbeat Mikleo knew. He felt pressure in a way that didn't make him comfortable, and he saw Sorey gripping his sword, the only tell that he could feel it, too. They moved in and out of the heart, sometimes exiting out to the white and gold paths, sometimes reentering the thumping blacks and purples. The thumping hum grew and grew, and Mikleo resisted the urge to shudder every time they entered the darkness, until they reached a cavernous space - barely called a room - with a pillar of condensed seraphic light: the source of the warped heartbeat.

"Oh, yeah," Rokurou said. "I'd forgotten about this."

"How can you move so smoothly," Sorey asked, voice strained. "Isn't the pressure getting to you?"

"Pressure? What pressure?"

"That," Mikleo said, pointing to the heart of the… of the heart. "The artes there are…"

Rokurou shrugged his shoulders. "I hear a hum, and there's a lot of energy, but no pressure."

"I wonder if it's because we're seraph," Sorey theorized, pushing forward but with heavy steps.

"Can you sense what the artes are doing?" Mikleo asked, moving just as stiffly. "I can't get a good read of it."

"I think…" Sorey's eyes drifted, the green tracing up and down the sinuous white pulse of energy. "Phi thinks this might be how this vessel is staying up here."

Rokurou stopped walking, turning to show a shrewd face. "So this here," He said, pointing to the pulse of artes, "Is what's keeping Innominat's body up and running?"

"Phi isn't one hundred percent sure, but… probably."

Rokurou grinned, slightly feral, as he put a hand on one of his greatswords. "Well then," he said, "We're going to need every advantage against that guy that we can get. Hurting him before the actual fight should give us the edge we need. After all, everything is ephemeral when touched by my blade. Form Nine: Final Judgment!"

"Rokurou wait…!"

But Rokurou's daemon eye was bright red, and he moved even faster than Sorey, two greatswords slicing through the sinew in a raw display of power. The entire cavern shuddered, Mikleo and Sorey falling to their knees as there was this cacophonous, raucous shriek that vibrated through everything, making Mikleo clutch his ears and wait for the terror to pass. The sound pierced his very heart, made him shudder at the pain of it, and when he could finally look up he saw Sorey just as shocked as he. Rokurou sheathed his sword, calm, and slowly tilted his head back to look up. "That's the opening salvo, Innominat," he vowed. "The real fight is on its way."

The pressure disappeared, Mikleo could feel himself slowly become more certain of his footing. The low vibrations settled, but didn't completely disappear.

"Are… are we sure that was a good idea?" Sorey asked, standing.

"We're in a battle now," Rokurou said, completely serious. "In a fight you use every advantage you have. Even deception, even tricks, and especially preparation."

That… didn't sit well with Mikleo, but there was no point arguing over what had already happened, and a glance at Sorey showed that he had the same thought. They continued onward, the ground rumbling occasionally, and when they moved to the top of the cavernous space they exited to a short white hall - Mikleo risked looking down and saw the lower levels cracking and crumbling - the source of the vibrations.

"You did significant damage to the structure of the Dawn Star," he observed. "Will this station even stay afloat after that?"

"Who knows?" Rokurou said, "The important thing is hurting an Empyrean enough that we have an edge. He isn't hampered by being in an armatus with Artoius, and he isn't starving from being unable to feed, we have to do whatever we can to get a win out of this. This way."

Sorey was holding his chest, frowning and glancing down. Mikleo pulled even, catching Sorey's eye.

"I can finally feel the other contract," he whispered. Mikleo frowned, uncertain what his partner was talking about, but Sorey shook his head, gesturing for them to move forward.

Beyond the short white path was not the darkness of the inside of the heart, but rather an expanse of white stairs leading up to a bluish-black sky. As Mikleo crested the stairs he saw a sword embedded in the ground, the remains of a skeleton. Could it be…? Beyond was what would have been a white sphere of light, but it was cracked and crumbled, and stepping out of it was a boy. If Phi looked to be ten this boy was at least thirteen, honey blonde hair turning pure white halfway down rather than just at the tips. His clothes were white, his frame thin and willowy, and golden brown eyes snapped immediately to the three of them.

"It was you, wasn't it?" the boy demanded. "It was you."

"Hey," Rokurou said. "Heard a rumor you were up and about again. Came up to check and what do you know? What a disappointment."

The boy's eyes stared blankly, before flickering in recognition. "I… I know you."

"Rangetsu Rokurou," the daemon said, artfully drawing his daggers. "Greatest swordsman in the world."

"Hmph," the boy dismissed, honey eyes flicking over to Sorey and Mikleo. "Are you two similarly braggadocious?"

"I'm Sorey," the lightning seraph said, stepping forward. "This is my partner, Mikleo."

"... Are you… Laphicet?" Mikleo asked.

"... Laphi…" The boy straightened, gaze widening slightly. "I know that name… my vessel… there isn't much of him left… I was so hungry… and she wasn't enough… I needed more…"

Mikleo understood in an instant: Innominat was meant to eat the malevolence of the world every few thousand years, that's what Rokurou explained. In his last outing, however, he had been captured by Artorius and crammed inside of Laphicet as a vessel, and even with all malevolence focused on the seven therions, could not eat enough. Velvet's final gambit had been to let her brother eat her, while she as a therion ate him - a perfect contradiction.

Only, it wasn't perfect. Innominat's hunger was greater than Velvet's, and he took more than she did. And his hunger began anew. If he was released, he would sweep over the world and consume all malevolence, yes, but the upheaval would require the other four Empyreans to fix the damage and the cycle would start anew. Who even knew what would be wrought of both seraph and humans.

Those were the stakes, that was the price of failing here. He glanced at Sorey, saw that he, too, understood.

"Innominat," his partner said, "You have to stop. If you keep eating everything, you'll destroy everything the people have built in the last sixteen hundred years. Humanity has grown, they have shepherds to heal them from malevolence, you don't have to hurt yourself by taking in all that negativity, you don't have to sacrifice yourself like that any more."

The boy looked up, confused. "Sacrifice?" he asked, utterly lost. He floated over, his thin form bobbing up and down slightly. "You don't make sense. I'm just hungry. I need to eat. You look… delicious…"

"Sorey! Form Four: Cyclone Dart!"

Rokurou used the burst of wind to push Sorey back as spikes from the floor shot up - not quite fast enough as one managed to glance off his side, blood spurting out not only of the graze but Sorey's mouth. Mikleo lifted his staff, "I'll be your protection!" and cast his healing artes. Innominat had a silver sword out, a rapier, and Rokurou engaged in combat.

Mikleo tuned it out as he pulled out his bow, Sorey dashing forward to engage. He let loose an arrow as he concentrated on his artes. "May your knowledge bleed from you: Mindflayer!" What he needed most was information, this was an Empyrean, and like Rokurou said, they needed every advantage they had. He unleashed the arte just as Rokurou locked swords, Sorey lightning dashing to the side to give a horizontal electric slice - attention split, Mikleo hoped to glean something from Innominat. What he wasn't expecting, however, was to watch what must have been a disjointed illusory arte that made the Empyrean look at him eerily out of synch.

You wish to read me? How arrogant…

What could only be described as feedback jolted through Mikleo's mind, and he grunted, staggering back and holding his head against the assault. He heard Sorey call out to him, and when he pulled his hand away he saw blood from his nose.

Okay, that had been a bad idea.

Mikleo took a deep breath and drew his bow again, firing and observing. Rokurou was the lead aggressor, his efficient movements and switching between standard attacks and his various elemental forms making him dynamic and hard to track. Sorey wandered the zone of attack, trying to find weak spots to sneak attacks. Mikleo held himself at a distance for now, needing to better understand how to attack this foe.

Sorey unleashed a bolt tempest, the arte shattering down and followed up with beast thunder, an old, old art taught by Sergei of Pendrago. Innominat shrugged it off like it was nothing, holding up a hand and shoving Sorey back with an elemental gust of power, ignoring the seraph to focus on Rokurou. Interesting. Sorey dashed to the side, ducking under one of Rokurou's swings and getting a good hit into Innominat's side, using it as a base for chain lightning, and again Innominate barely noticed, swatting him aside. Oh.

Oh!

"Sorey!" Mikleo called out, switching to his staff. "He's a lightning seraph at heart - he's resistant to your attacks!"

"Got it," Sorey said, seamlessly falling back and giving space for Mikleo to take over. "I'll focus on fighting his domain!"

Mikleo barely acknowledged it as he moved in synch with Rokurou, letting the daemon give a feral slash and connected hard, Mikleo following up with a sweep of his staff, clubbing the Empyrean in the head and adding a burst of water to add force to the blow. Innominat grunted, but his rapier swung out without looking, the Empyrean having a preternatural sense of the space around him. Rokurou was no slouch, though, and caught the blade, sliding it to the side with one dagger effortlessly before stabbing his other into the ground for one of his earth attacks. Spikes shot up from the ground, but the floating Innominat just bobbed around them. Mikleo pulled up an ice reaver, hoping to scissor his foe - it connected, but barely, and he watched it break immediately on impact.

Lightning and water go together, he remembered saying that to Sorey, and he realized he was at a similar disadvantage here. He frowned, swinging his staff around in a defensive ark as Rokurou stepped in with some kind of vertical slice and sent the Empyrean up into the air. Mikleo took advantage and cast twin flow, holding Innominat in place momentarily to set Rokurou up for his next attack.

"Form Eight: Magma Tower!"

Mikleo jerked his staff down, adding force to gravity to send Innominat plunging into the arte. The molten lava hardened immediately, effectively trapping the boy and giving all of them half a second to breathe.

"You're all so mean!" he cried out, "I just want to eat!"

"Ha!" Rokurou said, manic grin on his face. "No food until the fight is finished. Form Nine: Final Judgment!"

The attack was deadly to anyone else - it had severed the heart of the very structure they were fighting in - and no sooner had Mikleo had that thought that the floor rumbled unprompted below them, low and with increasing strength. Everything was literally cracking around them, this had to be a quicker fight.

"Let's end this: Heavenly Judgment!"

Mikleo added his own mystic arte: "Crystal Rod!"

Both impacted at the same time, Innominat finally doing more than grunt, shoved back and actually recoiling, reacting to the double strike. Rokurou, ever aggressive, was already moving in to keep the pressure up but Innominat screamed, thrusting and managing to connect to Rokurou. The daemon grunted, his red eye wild, and Mikleo had to rush to cast his healing arte as the Empyrean retracted his blade. The ground shook again and that moment of inattention was all that was needed. Innominat cast an arte faster than Mikleo thought possible, and just as the resilient aide enveloped Rokurou earth - the element he was weakest to - shot up in massive spikes to impale him. The shaking ground masked it's appearance and all Mikleo could really process was that suddenly earth was piercing into him and it hurt so bad there was blood an-

"Luzrov Rulay!"

Mikleo the Enforcer.

He felt the call and followed the tether, released from the spikes and wrapping around his partner, feeling his strength flood through him. Sorey grunted and staggered as he took on the pain, and they both understood: healing.

"Elixir Vitae," they murmured, the healing arte flooding through them. They cast it again, this time on the scruffy looking Rokurou. Only then did they breathe.

I'm almost getting somewhere with the domain, Sorey said. Can I leave you to lead?

Mikleo nodded, drawing his bow. He could better feel Sorey's efforts now that they were bonded, deep concentration while also focusing on the fight. Mikleo let him do his thing, drawing his arrow up and casting an arrow squall, dozens of charged arrows raining down from above. Rokurou laughed as he danced through the assault, engaging again.

Mikleo pulled deep inside, focusing and asking briefly for a nudge from Sorey to give a lightning charge, and then he was able to cast his next idea: "Maelstrom!"

Water lifted up as lightning shot down - Innominat was resistant to lightning, yes, but lightning was conducted through water, increasing the charge and hopefully being more than the Empyrean could handle. The force of the water spout held him in place as thunder and lightning continued to be attracted to the arte, shocking it four, six, seven, eight times before the arte finally dissipated. Innominat looked worse for wear, actually landing on the ground as the floor shuddered again. Could he be disorientated? Stunned?

"Rokurou!" they shouted. "Now!"

"Here is the technique discovered after a thousand years of training! Form Ten: Ephemeral Dust!"

It was one slash, but with it was, as Rokurou announced, a thousand years of training. The scream that followed was torturous, but at last, at last, Innominat fell.

Let me lead, Sorey requested, and Mikleo agreed, stepping back as Sorey lifted their hand and slapped it into the ground, channeling their joint blessing and shoving it at the Empyrean. Domains never needed linguistic triggers like artes or Rokurou's techniques, but Mikleo could feel the push, and Innominat's domain faltered. Sorey pushed more, and then it shattered. "I did it!" they shouted. "We can split them now!"

Rokurou grinned, daemon eye glowing brightly, and he swung his greatsword. There was a flash of light, blinding them both, but when it was over there were two forms on the cracked ground.

Sorey, I have more defensive artes, let me protect Laphicet.

Got it.

They separated, and Mikleo pulled out his staff, slamming it into the ground and trying to cast a teleportation arte. The studying paid off, he appeared across the arena and crouched down, grabbing Laphicet - he was so small - and then teleporting further back, near the cracked and broken ball of light that had been Innominat's seal. He swung his staff around, summoning a defensive bubble. The fight was still going on, but he forced himself to tune it out, stretching out Laphicet and examining him.

"Hey," he said softly. "Hey, can you hear me?"

Honey brown eyes slowly opened, empty and devoid of life. He looked around as Mikleo continued, pulling out a gel to rub on his chest and check his airways. "Easy," he soothed, "You've been through a lot, but you're free now."

"... no," Laphicet said, surprising Mikleo. He paused in his ministrations to look at the boy fully. "... no… I'm just free… to die…"

The twelve year sickness. Right. Mikleo gave a small arte to assess, but he smiled when it was done.

"No," he said gently. "Your body has been cured of that. You can live, like you always wanted to."

"... but I didn't…" Laphicet confessed, and moisture began to fill the lifeless eyes. "... I wanted to die… I was… so tired… of living…"

Oh… that was why Phi requested… Mikleo lifted Laphicet into a gentle embrace, pressing close. "I know that feeling," he said softly. "I know how tiring it is to keep living. There was a time when someone very close to me was gone, and I didn't understand how or why I was still going." Laphicet twitched in his grip. "It eats at you," he said, "It makes seeing the people around you hurt. You can't understand how they're living so brightly. Part of you is happy to see them happy, but part of you is resentful because you don't know how to join them. You're trapped, stuck in this one dark place, and you don't know how to leave it."

Small hands fisted Mikleo's sleeves, right at the elbow. Mikleo rocked slightly, hugging tighter.

"Someone had to help me," he confessed. "I didn't know how to help myself. I had to be drawn to a place where I could move on."

"... then you… were sacrificed… too…?"

Mikleo pulled back, saw a hint of light in Laphicet's eyes. "That was how I became a seraph," he said gently. "I was too young to remember it, but someone sacrificed me to make a curse. My mother, she saved me. She protected me to her dying breath. You have someone like that, don't you?"

The light grew, faintly. "Vel… vet…"

Mikleo nodded. "See this?" he asked, pulling back his bangs. "This was my mother's gift to me. She wanted me to live. I never knew her, but I've always had this. Gramps told me it was to protect me. Now I know it's a symbol of someone loving me enough to make sure I lived. Here." He tugged at his circlet, pulling it slowly off and turning it around. He tugged Laphicet's hair back, tracing the silver circlet carefully onto the boy. "A lot of people are putting a lot of effort into you and Velvet living. I'm giving you this so you have a reminder that so many people love you enough to put in that effort. You have more than just Velvet now."

"Velvet… where's… Velvet…?"

"What are you doing to my vessel?!"

Mikleo startled to hear the shriek, gaze snapping up and seeing Innominat bedraggled and irate, racing towards them, popping the water seraph's protective bubble with a gesture, bloodied rapier ready to strike. Mikleo tried to raise an ice wall, knowing there wouldn't be enough time.

Then,

"Phi! Maotelus!"

One Who Lives.

Author's Notes: The finale is upon us! The finale is upon us!

Though anyone could have guessed, we all now have confirmation about the would-be Calamities, and we start to understand the stakes might be more than just personal. Phi jumps them to Innominat and we play with canon again. The two of us never really got a sense of shape during the final dungeon, so we guessed it looked like a human heart to give it narrative weight. We also glance at Berseria's any-means-necessary way of fighting vs the more purehearted Sorey and Mikleo.

We didn't want to rehash the Berseria fight, so there isn't much reference to being hungry or condescending, but some things bleed through. We also give Rokurou a form ten - we felt it was inevitable after so many years of training. Everyone gets a chance to shine, Rokurou with close quarters combat, Sorey's domain mastery, and Mikleo's strategy and also his empathy for Laphicet when the time calls for it.

And we finally pay off very carefully making sure Sorey never says Phi's true name. More on that next chapter. Speaking of:

Next chapter: Sorey's second contract. Lots of purification. And a collapsing space station. Just another Tuesday.