Chapter Three:

A/N: At one point in this chapter, grammar/punctuation is SO badly mauled and torn and mangled in this that I would advise you to stay away if you're squeamish about English language. If not, enjoy the show.

(do you remember when the sun went out)

With a faint frown, Mizuti flipped over another card.

A city in flames. The blackened skeletons of skyscrapers silhouetted against a raging sky of fire. Something about the flames seemed malevolent, sinister. In the middle of the grisly tableau was a tall, masked man grasping a lumpy, grimy sack, one hand wrapped in a bandage. He stared out at the viewer in an almost sinister way.

Ballad of an Earth Child.

She hated that card. She absolutely loathed it, and avoided using it. She was loath to even look at it, and always exchanged it for a different card whenever it came up. She treated it like a fetid, rotting carcass. She never did understand why.

(the sun went out the world was dark the sun went out)

---

Mizuti walked the early-morning grounds of Gemma alone, not many people wandering this early in the morning. She wasn't fully awake, however, and she certainly wasn't in a good mood.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, shaking her slightly. "Hey, Mizuti. I think one of your friends is over there. Maybe you should have a look at them."

Oh, now what? Did Keven get drunk? Did Mechizedik blow up something on accident? Or something else that was even worse? She didn't want to have anything to do with this, or anything this early for that matter. Although she wasn't sure what to expect, she stormed off to the direction the bystander pointed out, a furious scowl etched on her face.

She suddenly received a jolt of shock when she saw the person before her. Several other people were gathered around the person, whispering in soft conversations to each other, glancing at the person every once in a while. Evidently, everyone was mystified as to who—or what—this person was.

Without their torn cloak, the person Mizuti had met just the day before seemed a bit less imposing. They wore simple black clothing, although they still wore the dark grey mask. Impassive white eyes glanced around the audience, meeting each person's expressions. Pale grey haired fell out from behind the mask, slightly jutting up, but just barely. They were bent over slightly, crossing their gloved hands in a fluid motion.

They spoke, in the deep, distorted voice Mizuti had heard before when she met this odd person. Despite the faint crackling, it was still understandable enough to the audience.

"Greetings. I have not introduced myself to anybody in this village, so allow me to introduce myself formally. I am Bonedancer."

Pure white eyes swept over the witnesses once again, in an unsettling way.

"I see you are all staring at me. You all seem shocked, although I do not blame you. I am not like most Children of the Earth, the people of Duhr. Nor am I like that of those from the Sky. I do not have wings, nor do I have great prowess in the arts of magic."

Their figure was lean and sinewy, not muscle-bound like the cloak seemed to impose. A small belt was wrapped around their waist, and a pack of Magnus glinted in the early pink sunshine, and Mizuti knew they were mostly made up of pens. She remembered the long, thick claws of the guardian Breachers of Zosma, the echanted two-headed hounds with their long, thick fangs, able to slice into their prey without a second thought, slicing into the soft flesh of their prey—

She snapped out of her morbid thoughts as she turned her attention to the odd person, Bonedancer, as they began speaking once again.

"I appreciate your ways of magic better than those fool's fighting ways of the skies. Most of the people of the sky merely lift up a sword and call themselves professional monster-slayers, and most of them get killed in a day or so. It is not all about brute power. It is not about how far we can throw the foe."

Bonedancer tapped their head. "What truly matters is what lies within. Strategy. Technique. Knowledge. Skill. Endurance. Strength."

"But you just said strength didn't matter!" someone blurted out. The boy looked down as Bonedancer's head swiveled around to gaze at him.

"You are right, but you are also wrong," Bonedancer answered calmly. The boy blinked, puzzled.

"Strength matters, but it is not the sole element of battle. You need strength of the mind, strength of the body, strength of your will. You must attain a balance of all the elements of victory. Be fast. Be strong. Be clever. Know your foe. Know yourself."

Bonedancer moved suddenly, in a rapid blur of movement that elicited a gasp from the class. In one fluid movement, Bonedancer hefted up a small boulder with two hands and lifted it into the air.

"Do you see this? I was quick, and I was strong. But! Suppose this desk was a Doomer! Do you know why it would be disastrous to pick such a monster up? Can anyone answer that?"

Mizuti's fear of the tall, lean person and her early-morning crankiness was overridden by her sudden rush of experience, and her arm shot up. Bonedancer turned to Mizuti, and she flinched slightly.

"You need not raise your hand. Simply blurt it out."

"Um, well, uh, it's not a good move, because these monsters tend to know how to explode, and it'd, uh, deal devastating damage to you," Mizuti stammered, instantly regretting having spoken.

Bonedancer dropped the desk, and the witnesses gasped, recoiling in horror. However, their arms quickly snaked down, and stopped the desk within an inch above their feet. As they gently set it upon the floor, the audience released a collective sigh of relief.

"You are correct," Bonedancer replied. "That is why knowledge matters. However, this is also where strategy matters. If you can use some defenses of the opposite element of the attacker, this would negate any damage inflicted upon you. This would result in only the exploder itself getting destroyed by the explosion. Do you see now?"

Bonedancer nodded and tapped their head again. "Battle is not all brute force and flying weapons. There is also strategy involved, and you have one thing most monsters don't have—intelligence." With that, Bonedancer's speech ended, and they turned away from the crowd.

As everyone filed out of the square and dispersed in their own separate ways, they all excitedly talked back and forth in loud voices. Everyone was awed by this sort of being, and Mizuti had to admit she was also kind of impressed by the gentle, quiet power of Bonedancer. Excited chatter rose up on all sides.

"—did you see how—"

"—lifted it up like it was nothing—"

"—and caught it so fast it was unbelievable—"

As the crowd slowly drifted away, Mizuti found herself alone with Bonedancer, who was draping themselves into their cloak again, lifting their hood over their head.

"You are still here, Mizuti?" Bonedancer said suddenly, snapping Mizuti's head up.

"Uh, yeah."

"Is there anything you wish to ask me?"

Mizuti bit her lip. Well, she had wondered about this Affiliation…if Bonedancer came from there, then perhaps they knew more about it?

"I was wondering…what is the Affiliation?"

Bonedancer tightened the cloak around their shoulders, shrugging slightly, testing the cloak's tightness. "You will learn more in due time. I am remaining here for a short time, so you have time for questions as time goes on. Many things are going to happen soon, Mizuti, and it should be wise to rest until then. Something is going to happen, and something is going to occur. You and your friends are going to get caught in between."

"What? How do you know this?"

Bonedancer shrugged. "Can't you see it? There is trouble occurring in the sky…"

"Like I don't know that," Mizuti grumbled.

"More problems than you imagine. Your journey will begin soon…"

"How do you know? And what's going to happen?" Mizuti insisted.

"There are many things planned, Mizuti," Bonedancer replied, walking off. "Many things."

---

Probably the oddest place in Duhr was Cappella's inner sanctum. Deep inside the Garden of Death, there was a small sanctuary that nobody ever traveled to anymore. A silver and gold temple sat in the middle of lush green land, the only sign of life inside of the dark abyss. The dead walked through the dark muddy waters, crawling through oozing, slimy mud, flesh and dark blood trailing into the waters. The shrine within was surrounded by a large barrier of fresh, cool water, untainted by the dark mud.

It was a good while before Mizuti stopped walking and dropped to the ground, leaning back against the cool, comforting trunk of a tree. Her head ached savagely as she fell against the tree with a sigh.

The inner sanctum of Cappella was one of the lush, most beautiful areas of Duhr. It shielded its interior away from the outside world, shielding away a dazzling, enchanting intertwined shield of lush green leaves and rosy pink petals interlocked by spindly branches. Large acres of mud, blood and tainted water stretched out, drowning several travelers, but if one knew how to travel over rotting logs, they could walk there in minutes. Dead trees speared the skies, surrounding the sanctuary with a wall of darkness. Sunlight gently filtered through the rosy foliage, casting dappled light playing across the carpet of blossoms littering the grass. It gave the inner, living area a sort of ethereal quality.

She sat in silence as the dappled patterns of light and shadow shifted fluidly across her face. Her eyes hurt, and she didn't really understand why. Perhaps it was because she was tired…quickly, she attempted to blink back her tears. It was such a childish thing to do, to cry, but she couldn't help it.She rubbed at her eyes, stinging with pain. The ache slowly ebbed away, and her hand fell to the petal-strewn grass.

Mizuti shivered uneasily, although there was no chill in the air. It was a warm morning, save for the forbidding grey clouds choking the sky of its color. Austere, grey, stormy—the very color of her own eyes. She hated it. She hated how there was no sun.

(the sun went out)

A tiny, barely noticeable chill reached down her back again. She felt something heavy in her chest, something heavy, like a chain's

rattle

Mizuti's other hand flew to her chest as her breathing became labored, ragged. "Gah-"

An overpowering wave of nausea slammed into Mizuti and she retched, gagging, but only sour bile came up.

(the sun's out the sun's out the sun's out)

Her mind spiraled down into oblivion, a tiny point of light slipping into an abyss of shadows and chaos. The voice grew more clearer and louder…a dark howl within the ghastly dream that engulfed her in blackness.

(Mizuti! Mizuti…Mizutii…miizuttii…)

Her eyes shot open, as she panted, gasping for breath. Her eyes darted around, searching for any sort of difference that was in this realm. Surprisingly, there was none. She was in her world, her time, her place. Everything was normal. The skies were grey, the trees were green, the water was flowing. All was calm. All was well.

She sighed, leaning back against the tree with a groan. Wind caressed her hair and released it, blowing it gently. The wind rattled against the door of the temple, rattling it slightly. Mizuti got up, shivering in the cold wind. She decided that if she were to get any rest, it should probably be indoors. She grasped the doorknob, twisting it aside as the door creaked open.

She stepped onto floors, unrotting despite having been settled there for hundreds of years. Dust gathered on the floor, giving the dark wood a grey layer. Stained-glass windows stared down at her. Several odd statues of ancient beasts stood guard in the temple, dust gathered on their carefully carved features. Several low stairs brought up to the center of the temple, light shining down around an altar in the center. There was a small indentation in the altar, as if something had been placed in there for centuries, suddenly removed.

A cold, strange wind shuddered through the room, and she shuddered, brushing hair out of her eyes. She turned around, and shut the door.

"That's funny…I though I shut the door…" she murmured to herself.

"Are you lost?"

The faint rasp shot Mizuti out of her thoughts, as she spun around to the altar. A person stood there, although it definitely didn't seem very normal. It sat on top of the altar, their head hidden by a dark black hood and bowed down; their gloved hands folded and legs crossed at the ankles.

"What are you doing here?" she asked suddenly, after a long moment of awkward silence.

"I often come to sit here," the person rasped, as if it were painful to speak. The figure still did not look at her. The head was still bowed, the gloved hands were still folded, and their feet, shod in black boots, were still crossed. "I watch time pass and the world crumble."

"What do you mean?" Mizuti said, taking a step forward. Something in the voice made her a bit frightened, and her voice held more bravery than what she really felt.

The person laughed; a hollow, mirthless laugh without emotion and as cold as the wind. "The world is crumbling, with or without human aid. Time flies…time dies…"

Mizuti took another, slow step forward, trembling involuntarily. The voice sounded oddly familiar, although she had never heard the voice in her life, ever.

"I am the scapegoat of humanity. I am the incorporation of all things forbidden and yet executed hourly. I am the scum and the darkness which makes everyone shudder, and yet I fester in their souls. I was shaped by all of you, and condemned to be hated."

"Who are you?" Mizuti asked, voice trembling.

Slowly, very slowly, the head began to turn towards her. A slender gloved hand rose and gently curled around the edge of its hood, pulling it back. A pale, scarred face was seen, dark golden eyes tinged with blood, dark marks under their eyes. Black hair was brushed back behind its head, without any bangs. Tattered bandages, tainted with dark blood, were wrapped around its lower half of its face, covering its mouth. Its skin was a pale grey, almost white but not exactly.

"Mizuti…you perfectly know who I am," the voice rasped, head tilted to the side. Hair swayed to the side, dried blood tinged on the ends of the hairs.

"No, I don't," Mizuti whispered firmly.

"You don't recognize me? We've met oh so many times…we've seen each other everywhere…in fact, I think I know about you than you know about yourself…"

"I don't know you," she said softly. "I don't know you!"

"You don't know me? Then how about this hint…do you remember when…the sun went out?"

rattle

With that final phrase, something seemed to writhe inside of her, something heavy rattling inside of her, quickly settling.

Tiny shards of glass from the windows glittered on the dusty floor, reflecting her face over and over like color-stained mirrors. She looked up at the person, gazing into their grim, golden eyes.

"The sun went out…" the person hissed.

Something howled, the walls shattering, bright glass glittering through the air, like newborn white feathers fluttering through the air. Something crashed down from the domed roof, splitting them apart like heaven's lightning. Mizuti gazed up, and in all of its glory, she saw Malpercio standing behind the person, the tainted white wings upon its head glittering with a pale light, casting it's body in an unholy light.

The person still sat on the altar, not even giving a glance to the god. "It's come."

Malpercio gazed at her, its empty eyes watching her carefully, cracks resonating from behind it and all around it. Dust and glass and feathers flew around the three, the world shattering apart.

(MIZUTI MIZUTI MIZUTI) the roaring words howled in her mind, searing in their brilliance. (HOW I WOULD LOVE FOR LOVE FOR MIZUTI IF YOU IF YOU IF YOU ARE PURE FOR ME IF YOU ARE CLEAN FOR ME IF YOU ARE IF YOU ARE DEAD FOR ME DEAD YOU ARE DEAD FOR ME DEAD)

The feathers swooped and whirled like a dervish in her mind, slashing and searing.

(THEY ARE DEAD WITH THE REST OF THEM THEY ARE WITH THE REST OF THEM MIZUTI MIZUTI MIZUTI THE SUN WENT OUT MIZUTI IS DEAD WITH THEM MIZUTI IS DEAD WITH THEM UNLESS UNLESS UNLESS)

The walls of the temple roared and blasted apart, the entire world shattering into instant nothingness, the only things remaining were the three beings, the altar, and the floor they were standing on.

(IT HURTS IT HURTS MY WINGS HURT MY WINGS ARE BURNING THEYRE SHATTERING THEYRE BURNING THEYRE BURNING LIKE THE WORLD THE WORLD SOON THE WORLD IS DEAD WHEN THE SUN WENT OUT DISTORTED WITH WINGS DISTORTED WINGS MIZUTI MIZUTI MIZUTI AND WE WE WE I I I YOU YOU YOU WE WE WE ARE WE ARE WE ARE)

The words began to scream across the nothingness, incomprehensibly.

(MIZUTI MIZUTI YOU UNDERSTAND YOU UNDERSTAND YOU DIDNT BIND ME YOU DIDNT KILL ME YOU HELPED ME YOU HELPED ME THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU YOURE WITH THEM DEAD DEAD LIKE THE REST OF THEM HELP HELP ME ME ME WE WE WE CAN BRING ON CHAOS LIKE THE GODS THE WAR OF THE GODS BLOOD AND BLOOD AND THE AEON OF CHAOS RUNNING UPON THE SHATTERED IMPRESSIONS IMPRESSIONS OF SWIFTLY TILTING PLANETS WERE BOUND WERE BOUND WERE BOUND)

Mizuti clutched her head, the voice beginning to scrape at her mind, as if devouring it whole.

(MIZUTI MIZUTI YOU ARE YOU ARE YOU ARE BOUND TO ME BOUND BROKEN TWISTED SEARCHING WONDERING BURNING FREEZING CRYING FIGHTING RIPPED FADING LOST BLOODY ALONE DYING REACHING WRITHING PASSING SIGHING BOUND BROKEN TWISTED SEARCHING WONDERING BURNING FREEZING CRYING FIGHTING RIPPED FADING LOST BLOODY ALONE DYING REACHING WRITHING PASSING SIGHING BOUND BROKEN…)

As the words repeated themselves into oblivion, the person seated on the altar stared at Mizuti, shaking his head. "Mizuti…you don't know what I've done for you…"

She could only listen to the words, rooted to the spot, the world slowly waning away like it had never been, a faint, pleasant scent wafting through the broken windows, light slowly stabbing inside the world in jagged shards, slowly washing away everything. Her mind was strangely blank. An odd numbness was coming over her body, and she suddenly felt cold. Terribly cold, but she could do nothing about it. She couldn't even move, only think jumbled thoughts, until finally, she surrendered, the odd chant of words echoing through her head.

(bound broken twisted searching wondering burning freezing crying fighting ripped fading lost bloody alone dying reaching writhing passing sighing…)

(falling…falling…falling…)

A/N: Moo. Another short chapter. Hey, at least we get to get started next chapter. DEATHREAPERDOESN'TOWNBATENKAITOS.