CHAPTER XLIII

As the Bell Tolls

Team APEX lined up at the threshold alongside Team LILY. They each exchanged glances. This was it, the first and final run through this particular Labyrinth. This mission was unlike any other they had ever undergone. After all, it wasn't some stranger they were going in to save today.

He was a friend.

"Can you all hear me?" Ariadne's voice crackled into their earpieces.

"Loud and kinda clear," Leon said.

"Good. The signal has a lot less noise than before. I'll run some tests with the Vacuo LTF later to see if there's a difference between our countries' Labyrinths or if what Xan-chan and I did with our LabNavs actually works."

Ingrid gave Echo a light elbow. "She called him Xan-chan," she whispered.

Echo giggled back.

Athena turned to their technical expert, who was pushing up his glasses in a way that reflected light to obscure his eyes. It did absolutely nothing to mask the redness on his cheeks, however.

"So, Xan-chan," Leon said, resting an elbow on Xanthus's shoulder. "Lead the way, bro."

"I appreciate you filling in for my combat partner," he said, clearing his throat.

"That's what friends are for, huh?"

Yuan turned to face Penny, who was coming up from behind them. "Senpai," he said to her.

"It's just as we thought," she said as she joined the group. "This Fourth Layer seems to be closed off to the outside world."

"Why can we enter, though?" Ingrid said.

"It likely has something to do with the emotional state of the Labyrinth's core. Perseus's heart may be calling out to us right this moment."

"Might that be why we couldn't even locate this place on the map until now?" Yuan said.

"Our scans indicate that the space we now inhabit is sequestered from the rest of the Labyrinth at large," Xanthus said. "It required all four of our Wraith-Knight powers to force a path to this place. It may even be reasonable to call this a Fifth Layer."

"I...don't think I understand," Leon said.

"Dummy," Ingrid sighed.

"Stop being so mean!"

"Stop being so dense!"

"What are they saying, then, huh?"

She didn't answer.

"You don't know either!"

"Xan-chan may be correct about calling this a Fifth Layer," Ariadne's voice crackled through. "My brother's Labyrinth doesn't exist on Remnant at all. It's a pocket of space-time within...somewhere out there."

"Likely created by the Rune of Atonement on his left hand," Xanthus said.

"Right. If that thing is as powerful as Lilith described it—if what we're dealing with is tantamount to a god—then it stands to reason that it has the power to create this bubble of reality separate from any other world."

"And the only reason we were able to brute-force our way into it was due to our connection with him."

"Precisely."

"So, your brother's Labyrinth," Leon began, "is your old house?"

"It isn't surprising at all. Perseus has always had issues with our sudden rise to prominence. As far as I can tell on the map, it's a blend of our old home and our manor."

"Old home, huh?" Ingrid said. "Interesting choice of words there."

"Absolutely. Our old home wasn't merely a single building. We once lived on the very streets of Vacuo."

The group scanned their environment. It was an incomprehensible mash-up of clay buildings that somehow connected together with the Jupiter Manor serving as the nucleus.

"Let's move," Athena said, leading the pack.

The four Wraith-Knights allowed their power to manifest on the outside, their clothes transforming into the same black outfits with their signature colors on the trim. Fortunately, both teams had two Wraith-Knights each, which meant their firepower was spread across evenly.

"We've got company," Leon said, turning to face a group of something they had never encountered before.

"Are those soldiers?" Ingrid said.

"Vacuo soldiers," Penny said. "Be careful, Team LILY."

"Roger that," Yuan said before projecting defensive and offensive Earth Rune strengthening spells on the entire group of seven.

"APEX, stand by," Athena said, watching the group's rear with Xanthus.

Team LILY made short work of the soldiers before rejoining with Team APEX.

"Those guns were real," Ingrid said. "And they did pretty serious damage to our auras."

"Yeah," Leon said. "I didn't like that."

"Team APEX has the next fight," Athena said, leading the way to a door, shield up and spear forward. The group congregated with her just as they had trained, Echo beside her with a lightning arrow ready to fly, Xanthus and Penny at her flanks, and Team LILY facing the rear. Penny reached over to the doorknob to open it and when the door swung open, Athena stepped through, only to stop dead in her tracks, staring ahead in confusion.

"What's wrong?" Penny asked her.

She turned around to the team before facing the other way again. Team LILY looked at her as well.

"Did you see that, too?" Athena asked.

"Uh-huh," Leon said.

Echo looked through the doorway and understood why Athena was so dumbfounded. That door led to the other door on the other side of the hallway from them.

"This is not gonna be easy," Xanthus said. "Ariadne, do you copy?"

"I do," she said.

"Do you see Athena's marker on your LabNav?"

"Yes. Why is she so far away from you?"

"Come on back," Xanthus said to his team leader, who stepped back through the threshold.

"What in the?" Ariadne said. "I see. Each door in that place corresponds to another door somewhere in the Labyrinth. I want to try something. Close the door, please."

They did just that.

"Now, open it again."

"I think I understand," Xanthus said. "It still leads to the same place: our rear."

"I see. I'll take note of every doorway connection and upload it to your LabNavs."

"You nerds are so freakin' awesome," Leon said, beaming from ear to ear. "Right, Echo?"

"They're so freakin' awesome," she said with equal delight.

Ingrid let out a heavy sigh. "Let's just...go find another door or something."

"This certainly is different," Hillphire said as he and Ariadne double-teamed the navigation for the group.

"It is," Ariadne said as she connected two more doors together. "It's difficult enough to keep track of spatial distortions. Fortunately, everything is still stable in there, albeit incoherent. We won't have to deal with door destinations changing on us just yet."

"Perhaps we can take that to mean that your brother's state of mind is stable."

"Perhaps. This may very well be something imposed by the Rune of Atonement, however. We cannot know how that thing operates."

"Lilith mentioned that it is the crystallization of a concept or law, didn't she?"

"She did."

"Hmm. We may be able to conclude based on the nature that it embodies, namely Justice, that it wouldn't do something as chaotic as this, at least not intentionally."

"You're attributing intent to a magical rune."

"If it is tantamount to a god, then it's not out of the question."

"True."

"I think Dr. Hillphire is right," Xanthus's voice came through the speakers.

"Were we on hot mics all this time?" Hillphire said.

"You were. But anyway, I do agree. I think what we're experiencing here is absolutely due to the state of your brother's mind, Ariadne, and not because of the Primal Rune."

"What makes you say that?" she said.

"So," Athena said. "This is what's been weighing him down all this time, huh?"

The group was in a laboratory of some sort, the only place in this jumbled topography that wasn't part of the family's home.

"This place must be really important to him," Xanthus said. "It's upstairs in the living area."

"It's not just in the living quarters," Ariadne chimed in. "You're in the west wing of the house, right in the space where Lilly resided for a time."

"Is that why we're watching you extract runes from her body?" Leon said.

The group turned to him.

"That is you we're seeing, if I'm not hallucinating."

"Yes, you are correct," Ariadne said without missing a beat. "I was the one who oversaw the rune extraction from her body. But I suppose even if I told you that it was her idea, it wouldn't change a thing, would it, Leon Rose?"

She doesn't hold back, Ingrid thought before putting a hand to Leon's shoulder. "You know no one could've stopped her, don't you?" she said. "It didn't matter what kind of pain Lilly put herself through if it meant helping other people."

"No, you're right," he said without making eye contact with his childhood friend. "Still. I think I see why Perseus hates himself so much that a Labyrinth would sprout from his heart." He walked over to the rune extraction machine. "This is no hallucination."

"No, they're not," Xanthus said, using his magic to scan everything around them, the same way Penny was doing right this instant. "You see it, too, don't you, senpai?"

Penny nodded. "They're manifestations of the real thing." She walked to Leon until she was in front of him and then faced him. "But they're not the real thing."

"They're pretty damn close, though," he said. "I bet Lilly's screams and Ariadne's callousness are accurate, too."

Athena was stomping toward him, but before she could reach him, he had already turned around to face her.

"Relax, I get it," he said. "Why waste Lilly's volunteering when the fate of the world itself is at stake, right?"

"Do you really get it, though?" Athena asked him.

"Yeah, I do. And I hate myself for getting it."

She watched as he marched to the door, Vermillion Crescent resting on his shoulder. The rest of the group followed after him, with Xanthus and Echo lagging behind.

"I'm sorry about that, Ariadne," Xanthus said into his microphone.

"There's no need to apologize," Ariadne said. "He has every right to resent me. After all, I understand how you all feel about Lilly. But he was correct. When Lilly volunteered herself for everything the Vacuo LTF put her through, I took it upon myself to make sure we were able to benefit as much as possible from her sacrifices. I was unwilling to allow herself to endure all of that for no gain."

"Ariadne—"

"No, Xanthus Xenon. I will not tolerate you defending me when I have no regrets for the actions I took. I alone will bear the sins of putting Lilly Schnee through suffering that allowed her Wraith to surface."

"You think that's why Lilith was able to confront her in the other world?"

"I've had my suspicions. Lilith herself thinks it was the final catalyst, but no one is certain."

Echo looked over at Xanthus, who tried and failed to mask the sullen expression on his face. She kept her distance. She knew better than most when to stay at arm's length.

"Understood," Xanthus said. "We'll continue mapping out Perseus's Labyrinth. And I vow that we will find him."

"You have my gratitude, Xanthus Xenon," Ariadne said.

Hillphire looked over at Ariadne. Tears streamed down her face, but she showed no emotion on the outside. He wondered what it was about this girl that allowed her to feel so much, and yet keep it largely hidden from the world.

"Dr. Hillphire," she began, "do we have a complete hostile count yet?"

"Not quite," he said. "Some of the marks keep changing between passive and hostile."

"Perhaps another sign of the state of my brother's heart."

"Ariadne, are you seeing this on the LabNav?" Athena said into her microphone.

"I see it," she said. "Space-time distortion is severe past the door you're all facing. How is everyone's stamina? I'm seeing auras at max and EP levels at optimum, but how are you all doing?"

"I'm pumped, to be honest," Ingrid said.

"Me, too," Echo said.

"It usually makes me nervous when ninjas start behaving like berserkers," Leon said, scratching his head.

Yuan nodded.

"Why are you agreeing with him?" Ingrid hissed at him.

Yuan shrugged and gesticulated nervously with his hands.

"All we have to do now is modify her weapon to be a hammer," Penny said with a grin.

"Please don't," Yuan begged.

"If I am not mistaken," Xanthus began as he looked over the LabNav, "this door leads to the actual building your family once resided in when you lived with everyone else years ago, correct?"

"You are correct, Xan-chan," Ariadne said. "I, too, remember those days fondly. It is no surprise my brother's heart is chained to that place."

"Let's go free his heart, then," Athena said before freezing and bringing up her weapon.

"I'm detecting a massive EP spike ahead of you!" Ariadne yelled. "What is that thing?"

"You," Penny growled at the newcomer.

"And you," Moloch said, his hands in his pockets. "I'll never forget your taste, that's for sure." He turned to Athena and Echo, who were gripping their weapons tightly. "And I owe the two of you for last time."

"You sure you wanna call my bluff again?" Echo said, stepping forward.

"Do whatever you like. You're in my territory now."

"That's a Greater Daemon," Hillphire said, gawking at the monitors. "How in the world is he in a Labyrinth created by the Rune of Atonement?"

"That's a good question," Ariadne said before mapping out an escape route for the group. "Teams LILY and APEX, I've sent extraction data to your LabNavs. Get out of there."

"We're not leaving your brother behind," Ingrid said.

"Don't be foolish. Even four Wraith-Knights are no match for this level of EP output—"

"I don't think you can change their minds, Ariadne," Hillphire said to her.

"I think I understand why Lilly is their true leader. They are just as stubborn as she is."

"You're damned right about that," Leon replied to their navigator. "She kinda infected us all."

"How did you get in here?" Penny demanded, squaring off with Moloch beside the four Wraith-Knights.

"That's a good question," the Greater Daemon said. "I was going to ask you the same thing. I've been following you around the World of Shadow for some time now, and then you all suddenly vanished into thin air, while in the other world. Imagine my surprise when it turns out you broke through the barrier into a world erected by a Primal Rune of all things. Even now I can feel the pressure it exerts upon the world."

"So, what, you're here to take the Rune for yourself?" Ingrid said.

"I am not so foolish as to delude myself into thinking that I could wrestle with a Primal Rune and survive. Unlike all of you. You think you can save your friend, do you? While he is on trial by the concept of Justice itself?"

"Are you saying you're here to stop us?" Xanthus said.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. Once you step through that threshold into the Primal Rune's inner domain, you may end up unleashing a force that is beyond us all."

"Way to mask a personal grudge," Athena said.

"Well," he chuckled. "I'm not trying to make excuses for myself, if that's what you're insinuating. It just so happens that two of my goals align so conveniently."

"He's fully in control of that thing inside him," Echo mumbled to Xanthus, who nodded.

"I know," he said as he completed his scan of their adversary.

"Ah, so you've noticed," Moloch said.

"I was wondering why you were so sure of yourself," Athena said. "But it's not just me and Echo you're facing this time. You've gotta deal with our entire team."

Each one readied their weapons for battle. In the meantime, Moloch couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face.

"You hit the target on the mark as always, little girl," he said, pointing at Echo. "Your Semblance allows you to perceive what the others cannot."

Echo's eyes widened as she fell to all fours and vomited.

"Echo!" Athena said, quick to her side.

"Th-That thing!" Echo said. "It's...it's..." She vomited again.

"It's a goddamned monster," Penny said as Echo's emotions forced their way into her mind. "Gluttony is the wrong word for that thing."

"That's why I first introduced myself as I did," Moloch said. "The monster I once struggled with was called Gluttony by your world's religions. But in truth, it most certainly is the Great Devourer. Its hunger can never be sated."

The group gawked as he began floating in the air.

"But I now have full control over it. As such, your power alone will not be enough. You'll need an entire army of mages to defeat me."

"Bring it on!" Leon cried out. "We're no mere Huntsmen!"

"That's right," Yuan said, allowing his power to manifest fully. "We're Knights of Remnant!"

Perseus.

Perseus turned to face the Rune of Atonement, which shone in the air ahead of him, the scales tilted entirely to one side, the eye atop the scales opened wide and gazing directly at him.

"I'm here," he answered the Primal Rune.

So are we.

Another figure joined them in this black void between the worlds.

"Who are you?" he asked the black-clad man.

"An interesting question," the man said. "But the more important one to ask is...who are you?"