Chapter 6 - Trials of the Sand.

[Several Hours before the Rescue Operation commenced.

The walls of the Last City groaned in pain, around the eerily silent city. The bricks that kept the walls steady still bore the scars from the Vex's invasion of the city. Citizens, Guardians, and Eliksni worked diligently to recover and restore the buildings which were destroyed that night. Zavala was overseeing the large majority of the reconstruction projects. He sat in his private office, several folders strewn across his desk. Most of those folders were regarding the House of Light, and demands for the Warlock Osiris to be brought to trial. He had been dealing with such matters for days on end, and his mind was growing tired of reading the same complaints over and over again. He grew more and more restless as demands and rebuilding projects continued to pille on his desk.

"Zavala…"

Zavala looked up from his desk, searching to see where the voice that called out to him had come from. His eyes landed on the space between the doorway to his office occupied by a familiar figure.

"Ikora, come in."

Zavala muttered the figure's name, glancing up towards the doorway. He looked back down on the stacks of paperwork on his desk, as the figure slowly entered the room.

"I've been walking around the streets, listening and talking with the people. Many are still mistrustful of House Light, but I hear many also speaking in good faith for them. I doubt that we'll ever get rid of that seed of distrust planted by Lakshmi-2, but the faith that some people have...it's a start."

Ikora tried to instigate conversation with him, steadily approaching Zavala's desk as she did so. She looked at the large piles of paper and sighed. "Even after what happened with Lakshmi…"

"Indeed. It's all so...troublesome."

Ikora and Zavala followed their exchange of words with solemn silence. The past few days had really taken a mental strain on their well-being. Despite their status as Guardians, their minds were still susceptible to the pains of a mortal.

They watched in silence as several ships departed and arrived at the tower to deliver supplies and sanction them off to the different districts of the city.

"I've gotten reports of a Guardian that's gone missing in a Vex Warpgate. Yesterday, their fireteam members came to me directly...and asked permission to embark on a mission to rescue her."

Ikora spoke in a somber tone, hoping to pull Zavala's attention away from the paperwork. Zavala looked away from his desk and into the eyes of the Warlock Vanguard.

"I know, they've already informed me. They came to me a few hours ago."

Ikora took a deep breath, sighed, and asked Zavala about his decision. "I see. What did you tell them?"

Zavala sighed, took a deep breath through his nose, and spoke.

"I allowed .it"

Zavala's stoic answer did not catch her off guard - she expected such an answer from the Titan Vanguard. Ikora looked past Zavala, and gazed into the city. Bright lights dotting the districts, almost a mirror of the night sky above.

"I wish you would've spoken with me about this. I agree with your choice, but making decisions on your own like this, especially during this time...it'll put more stress on the both of us, on the city."

Ikora strained her voice, leaving Zavala unsure of how to continue. He opted to not react to Ikora's outburst, keeping his stoic expression on his face, only letting out a short sigh.

"I allowed them to gather supplies and a crew, under one condition."

Zavala spoke in a low, serious tone. Ikora raised an eyebrow at her friend, confused as to what exactly he meant.

"What is their secondary objective?"

Ikora tried to question Zavala, but instead he turned to look out his large glass window. Ikora knew the answer in the back of her mind; a new Vex Vortex, a missing Guardian. This scenario would most certainly attract the attention of her old mentor.

"I think you already know the answer to that, Ikora."

The ragtag group of adventurers, a Lightbearer, and her ghost had set off once again into the sand dunes. They had many very difficult days with their search and destroy mission across the sand dunes ahead of them.

The conditions of finding the fabled conflux, which kept this entire Vex simulation intact, had to be found in accordance with the ones set by the Vex themselves. In other words, most of their searching would have to be "guessing and checking" until they could find one that let them straight into the mainframe.

Understandably, it was a cause for some anxiety.

"Even though there are many of these structures around here, finding the right one is gonna be a hell of a task. Thinking about it, it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

"At least we are moving around a lot. If we always stay at one place, the animals around us might remember our smell. I'll be fine, but if by any chance you lose me or something…. then they'll chase you everywhere."

Ana's and Meili's opinions seemed to be the main ideals that kept the majority of the group in order. The former opinion was a bit unreliable but still held some merit in their situation. The latter opinion however held a lot more weight. They'd spent the greater part of the past few days searching for the conflux, subsequently spreading their scent across the sectioned-off land of this simulation. They didn't know if the Vex simulated the mabeasts inside their simulation. Grain hypothesized that perhaps their territory was originally in the "Sand Time" area; however, their positions now reset daily whenever the simulation reset itself. Despite Grain's seemingly enthusiastic attitude about the subject, thinking about time itself resetting the group wasn't something that they really wanted to think about. They needed to keep their wits about themselves. They could not afford to be cowards. They needed to be ready to push themselves and face their fears and perhaps fight against time itself.

"We just gotta stay strong, right?... Emilia-tan?"

"Yeah, right!"

Subaru spoke with Emilia through the dragon carriage's window, his motivation to speak with his group never faltering, even after the past few days of searching.

At the very least, they are quite flexible with things like the food and water after they restock in Milra. Subaru wanted to believe that besides worrying about finding the mythical conflux, everything else that the group would have to deal with was already planned for.

"Emilia, I know things look kinda grim, but let's try to look at the bright side of things. These are those types of times where we gotta keep each other in order to pass through this. Actually, I'm getting stressed out from not knowing how many days we'll have to work."

"Subaru, spit out the gravel in your mouth. Even if it's a little, the miasma has made its way into the sand, I suppose. If you deal with it improperly, you'll have a painful experience later."

Beatrice became completely used to the feeling of tasting sand in her mouth, and she warned Subaru, who wasn't being very cautious. Still placed within Subaru's arms from their usual dragon-riding posture, Beatrice brought out the water container from her pocket. "Look, I'll rinse out your mouth, I suppose."

"Alright, alright...hey Erin, you two were talking about this Osiris guy. You got any other stories to tell us to keep us in spirits?"

Erin sat on the roof of the carriage, her large sniper rifle perched on her legs. Her helmet and hood were pulled over to protect her eyes from the incoming sand.

"Eh? Ah, sorry, I was focused on something else. What did you say?"

"He asked if you had any stories to pass the time, in fact."

Beatrice scowled at Erin's seeming aloofness. While Grain searched for the conflux, Erin told stories of the Warlock Osiris. She recounted the various feats that he accomplished during the many years that the tower stood. She scaled back, however, on the centuries-long span of time that Osiris lived, fought, and studied in.

"Ah...I don't really have anything else that I can say about him. I only really ever met him once or twice, and he was a very distant and mysterious guy. Only one person was ever seen near him, and that'd be our resident bird feeder of the tower."

"To allow a person of such lowly position to be near a scholar of such magnitude, he must've been very humble." Julius spoke.

Saying he's a bird feeder isn't too far off the truth, but to call him lowly... Erin thought to herself.

While Erin downheartedly explained that she had nothing else to say about Osiris, Julius turned from his seat and added his opinion on the great scholar. Hearing Julius's opinion on Saint, however, made her roll her eyes internally. She wanted to be more explicit about her home, however, she needed to withhold some information about it. If not for confidentiality, then for the sake of the Japanese boy she had just met.

"It doesn't have to be about your very own "sage." Tell us some more about yourself, what did you work as originally?"

The weight of someone leaning the upper part of their torso on the windowsill caused Erin to shift in her perch. Anastasia had just leaned out the window, a sly smile formed on her face while watching Erin shift uncomfortably on the roof.

"I am...a hunter, back home. I was taught the tricks of the trade at a young town is protected by people like me - other hunters. We're all given Ghosts, just like I have Grain, when we're selected. Guardians, they call us, kind of a straightforward name, wouldn't you say?"

As Erin recounted her story, she lit a small flame on the tip of her finger, in order to show off her "magical" power. Anastasia raised a questioning eyebrow while listening to Erin's story. Emilia however, who had been peeking over Anastasia's shoulders seemed to be enamored with Erin's secret magic technique.

"Oh wow, that sounds really interesting! So you and Subaru are from beyond the Great Cascade? That's really exciting. It makes sense now why I could never understand some of the phrases Subaru says every now and then. Could you tell us more? I want to learn more, if you wouldn't mind."

"Indeed. I as well would like to hear more about what's beyond the Great Cascade."

Emilia and Anastasia continued to prod Erin about more information in regards to her hometown. Erin insinuated that Subaru could perhaps be from the same "kingdom", as Emilia put it. Subaru did not deny it - rather, he went along with it, which had made Erin uneasy. She would always tread carefully around Subaru's questions, being vague in her answers to his questions.

"Ah, maybe another time? It looks like we have some...guests, over there."

While Emilia inquired about more of Erin's backstory, she stopped Emilia and pointed at a group of wild dog-like mabeasts.

"Oh, here we go again. The mabeasts have reappeared! The way they surround us...if I didn't know beforehand what they were, I'd assume that they would be a pack of Houndooms."

"O~oh a Houndoom sounds really scary, I don't know if I would be able to keep such an animal away from us. You should be grateful and praise me more since I can tell these animal-chans to make way for you. Though the way they look at you...it's really weird."

Subaru brings Patrasche closer to the dragon carriage and looks at the group of mabeasts that gathered at a place deviating from their path horizontally. Just like Meili said, they looked at Subaru with a curious expression. As expected of the day being reset, they would find these same mabeasts in generally the same area, though they seemed to appear sooner during the two days of their travel. It seemed that regardless of it being a simulation or not, his witch's scent would still attract mabeasts. Subaru tried to give some thought on how the Vex may have copied the miasma into their simulation, though he didn't quite understand exactly how it would work and gave up most of the time that he thought about it.

"Oh, Ram, it's those same beast dogs from last year. It's kinda nostalgic to look at them now without them being all bloodthirsty."

"It's really discomforting that you talk about them as if they're a part of any happy memories. Looking at them gives me nothing but painful memories, as they should for you, Barusu."

The group of madogs that were looking at them from afar were the same disastrous beasts that attacked the former Roswaal residence. Ram shot a harsh glare at Subaru, who was bizarrely enthusiastic.

"Don't say that. If I were to describe them, I'd say that they were the building blocks of our close friendship. If they weren't there when they were, maybe we wouldn't be here right now. When you think about it that way, we really are….. Wait, what the fuck am I talking about?! It's shit!"

"You are so quick to kill your enthusiasm Subaru. I don't know how to feel; impressed, or pitiful. I think your friend would call it a miserable sight, no?"

The anxiety buried deep within Subaru's subconscious awakened. Erin and Ram sigh at Subaru's heated realization. In response to his pseudo mental breakdown, Ram closes the window to the dragon carriage, leaving Erin outside with the crazed teenager. Unfortunately, it couldn't be helped. Such a traumatic experience with the mabeasts were bound to form some bubbles in Subaru's mind.

"Where is Grain? It should almost be time for "Sand Time" to begin."

Julius halted the wagon and focused his attention towards Erin, who seemed to be looking around their surroundings.

"I am here. Sorry for leaving for so long."

Erin lazily held out her hand and Grain materialized on top of it. He had gone away from the group in order to scan any conflux that he could find. He would find several different pylons, but none of them led towards the center of the simulation.

"Any luck out there? Or nothing new?"

"Nothing that we could use."

"I see...this is really bad news. We've been here already for a few days. One must wonder, is there another way through?"

Grain downheartedly explained his lack of any new leads. Subaru grew more anxious about this mission. His anxiousness wasn't helped with the soon arriving sand time. Julius seemed perplexed about what to do. These past few days had begun to take a toll on him.

"I didn't want it to come to this, but if we keep going like this, we'll never make it in time to that tower. If anything, I hope that your Sage has been able to survive all this time, or else your journey will really be for naught."

"What the hell are we supposed to do then?! We're stuck here with no way out, you two have been looking for days yet nothing has come up, our situation just keeps getting worse and worse."

"Barusu, stop your childish tantrum. It's not the time to be throwing insults to the wind."

Erin's warning made Subaru more and more anxious, prompting Ram to exit from the Dragons carriage back door. Subaru stops for a moment to look over at the pink-haired woman. Ram turned her attention towards Erin, who turned to look at Ram in response.

"We have hired you for such occupations regarding our new adversary, correct? Do not tell me that you are incompetent with fighting against something that you yourself claim to have years fighting against."

"...It's not so simple when dealing with enemies that can manipulate time and space. To be frank with you, this group would not last a few minutes against the Vex. We were trying to find the safest route, but even then I'm not sure that you could last through an attack there."

As Ram and Erin began to argue, Emilia exited the Dragon carriage in order to calm both of them down. "Please, we shouldn't be fighting. Erin, what about our training? Aren't my walls supposed to be able to keep the Vex away from us?"

"Yeah, you two were training for two days straight trying to get the walls just right. You shouldn't underestimate Emilia-tan's ability to create an even sturdier wall of ice."

"That's not it. I'm confident that her ice walls can hold off some of the Vex's artillery - what I'm really worried about is the rest of you. Magic and Swordsmanship won't be able to hold off a large-scale attack. I've told you this already, yet you all keep ignoring me."

Erin expressed her worries to Emilia, causing Ram to grow more annoyed at her lack of confidence in them.

"And we've told you on several occasions that no matter what, retreating is not an option for us. So regardless of who we encounter, we have no other option but to succeed."

Ram spoke with conviction in her voice towards the frustrated Erin. She knew that it would be useless to try and convince them otherwise, however much she wished to change their minds.

"Y-Yeah, we can't just back down now. We risked a lot to come to this desert. We need to get to that tower, not for us, but for those whose lives can be saved by the information inside it."

"Natsuki-kun may have simplified it too much, but he has the basis of why we are here. Erin, we hired you to assist us with the Vex. If you wouldn't mind, could you return home?"

Everyone outside the dragon carriage turned to look at the emerging Anastasia. She looked as if she had just been awakened from a deep sleep, disturbed by the sudden shouting from outside.

"What are you talking about? Are you saying that you want to give up on this? Don't be like that."

"It's not something I want to be saying myself. Regardless, we do need to break this trap in order for all of us to leave, so I believe that it would be in all of our best interest that this seal is broken quickly."

Subaru let out an exaggerated gasp of confusion. It took him a moment to realize what Anastasia was implying by asking to break this simulation and retreat. As Erin prepared herself to respond, Grain moved in front of her, stopping her from saying anything.

"There is another way that I could bring down this simulated trap, though it could spell out certain doom for all of us. If I were to choose that method, it would attract an even greater reaction from the Vex, perhaps even the Mind which controls them. If we all truly want to leave this place, then we must be ready to lay down our lives for this fight."

Silence falls across the camp, as the warning spoken by Grain rung loudly in the ears of those around him.

"We came here with anticipation of such an encounter, I suppose. Vex or not, we came prepared to fight for our lives, so our will won't waver just from your warnings. You should think of better ways to scare us, in fact."

The little blonde girl sat atop the slender Earth-Dragon. Her butterfly-shaped pupils stared intently towards the Ghost and Guardian. Her seriousness combined with the other's intense gazes told the Ghost that they were ready to fight for their lives. If they were to live up to their determination and survive, they needed a new plan.

[ Hours had passed since the party had made their decision to stay and fight. They found the large Vex structure which they would spend their nights in earlier than expected. They used most of their newly acquired time to come up with strategies and counters for the Vexs long-range attacks. The fact that one of their most abled-bodied soldiers relayed on close-range attacks didn't bode well for his survival. Erin came up with an idea to use Emilia's ice walls to create covers for Julius as he moved closer towards the Vex, whilst also narrowing advancing Vex troops through her own ice traps. Aside from giving Julius cover, she would also give the rest of the group cover inside the walls by creating smaller walls which they could crouch behind. Ram and Anastasia suggested that they should use those ice walls for cover to fire magic towards the Vex. Meili insisted that she should be near the frontlines commanding mabeasts to fight alongside them, so she was put alongside Ram and Anastasia. Beatrice would be assisting Emilia in casting defensive magic, while Subaru….

"Your aim really leaves a lot to be desired. Though your grip on it is pretty solid!"

"Thanks...I guess?"

A small distance away from the parked dragon carriage, two voices could be heard speaking in a loud tone, followed by the booming sounds of a hand cannon.

"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Most people have hand cannons fly out of their hands when they first fire it. What's left for you is to concentrate on hitting that target over there."

Erin approached Subarus's shoulder and pointed her long index finger towards a makeshift target that she carved into the side of a stone slab. She had been trying to get Subaru to shoot inside the circle for the good part of an hour, however, he had been having issues aiming the gun through the sandstorm. Coupled with the weight of the gun, it was making it extremely difficult for him to concentrate on the target.

"You chose an awful time to try and teach me this. The sand that keeps getting in my eyes makes it really damn hard to aim. It doesn't help with you leering over my shoulder as well."

Subaru whispered that last part to himself whilst trying to take aim once again at the target. He could feel Erin's gaze on every part of him. His footwork, the way he handled the gun, the way he looked towards the target, he felt as if his every move was being judged - and, well, it was.

"If the sand is really getting in your eyes, then you should've said something. I've got a set of goggles you could borrow."

"Eh-you would think that any normal person would've had an issue shooting with sand in his eyes. Think a little ahead of time please."

"Yeah yeah, hold on."

Erin reached for her back "pockets" and pulled out an old dusty pair of goggles. Rust had all but replaced the metal clasp which kept the leather bits in place. The glass viewport had been smudged beyond recognition, dust and mud being the only thing that could be seen through them.

".Are you joking me - how old are those things!?"

"They're not that old, just a bit dirty. You could clean it off a bit with some water."

"I don't think just a little water would be enough to wash even a single layer of rust off. I think I would be better off with putting a piece of cloth over my eyes."

"Hey, it's not all bad, just clean the smudge off and you'll be fine. Though that cloth idea you had isn't that bad either."

Erin shoots a devious grin towards Subaru, who turns away in frustration to look back at the target. It would probably be safer for his skin to use a piece of cloth, letting that disgusting rust touch his skin for more than a few seconds would probably ruin one of the only things Subaru was proud of. Realizing there weren't any other better options to shield his eyes, he sighed and reluctantly took the goggles from Erins hands.

"Do you have any water on you? I gotta start cleaning these lenses."

"Here you go."

Erin handed over a small flask of water, letting Subaru wash off the dirt and mud off the lenses. In this downtime of cleaning, it would be easy to strike up a conversation.

"Subaru, I know I haven't been straight with you about Earth...about your home. It's just...before I say anything, I need to ask you a question. If you can answer it, I'll answer anything you ask."

The blonde's statement caught Subarus' attention, making him grip his goggles in frustration. He was tired of hearing her excuses; he wanted to know what happened to earth, to his family.

"If I answer, you promise you'll tell me, right? No more bullshit, no more side stepping, you'll tell me the truth and only the truth."

"I won't bullshit with you anymore, I promise."

Subaru's patience was getting close to its limit. Why'd he have to go through so many hoops just to understand what happened to his hometown.

"Natsuki Subaru, if you were given the chance to go home and abandon this place, would you take it?"

Erin asked him that question, with the expectation that his mind would stop in his tracks. Perhaps then, he wouldn't answer her question, and she could spare him of the truth. If she were to tell him the truth of what happened to his world, she feared his mind would not be able to handle it.

"Huh? Would I abandon this world?! What the hell kind of question is that? Abandon my friends, Betty, Emilia, Rem...Hell no, I wouldn't abandon anyone!"

The snear Subaru gave with his response to Erins question was not what she expected. It was rather rare for the seasoned Guardian to see such conviction coming from a mortal. Looking into his fiery eyes, she could tell his will was steady. He wouldn't be dissuaded by any threats or ominous warnings.

"I see...You've gotten attached to them...all of them, haven't you?"

"Of course I love them. I would die for them. I've lived with these people for over a year, and yet I don't know what I would do without them."

While he spoke to Erin, Subaru looked over towards the two he cherished most in this world. Erin followed his gaze and realized what made him push onwards in this world. She did not understand the weight behind Subarus statement of death, however she did understand the dedication he has put to injecting himself into this society.

"Well, I think it's time I give you the truth then, Natsuki Subaru."

[ Emilia sat inside the dragon carriage, examining an object she'd never seen before. Erin and Grain called it a holographic image board, though Emilia didn't understand what holographic meant. They were treating it like a map, but to her it looked as if they were playing with a one to one model of the desert. It wasn't the first time she'd seen them use strange devices, however this one was high up with some of the strangests ones.

Emilia studied the holo-map keenly, her eyes slowly combing over the simulated sand dunes and highlighted points of interest.

"Miss Emilia, is everything alright?"

From behind, Grain called out to her, breaking her out of her trance-like state. The half-elf turned in surprise to see the Ghostfloating in the middle of the carriage. She hadn't heard the blanket which covered the back door be lifted.

"Oh, sorry! I'm alright. My mind was just...spaced out."

Emilia gave a reassuring smile towards Grain, his shell spinning in response. His eye seemed to be looking her up and down, all the while his shell continued to spin clockwise and counterclockwise.

"Grain, are you alright? You seem to be spinning a lot more than usual."

"Ah? No, I'm okay. Just stressed, is all."

Weird, Emilia thought to herself. She'd never really seen him stressed, even when being worn out by the witches miasma. She would give him the benefit of the doubt; perhaps the past few days have been weighing on his conscience.

"Um, may I ask, have you seen Subaru-kun? Is he still practicing with Erin outside?"

"I believe so, yes. I'd say he's definitely improving with his aim, though it could use more work."

Emilia had seen Erin give Subaru a bizarre weapon, much more different than a sword or bow. A small device which, to her eye, didn't seem like it could cause much damage. She was proven wrong, however, when Subaru shot through five pieces of hardwood in a single squeeze of the trigger. She was startled at how much power such a small object could hold, but truth be told, she felt some sense of relief that Subaru had such a strong weapon to protect himself with. While Subaru and Erin trained, Emilia would sometimes feel a pain in her heart, but her knight would never fail to ease the pain with a simple smile and wave. How could she deserve such a wonderful person to be in love with her…the thought made her heart skip beats.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

Suddenly, a deafening yell came from outside the dragon carriage. Emilia recognized the shaky and raspy voice of her knight, yelling into the night at someone.

"...Erin, what did you do…"

The Ghost mumbled to himself, barely audible to Emilia. He quickly exited out of the dragon carriage, and flew towards the source of the screaming. Emilia quickly followed suit, rushing out of the carriage to see Subaru facing off Erin, who had her head hung downwards.

"Subaru! What's the matter?! Are you alright?"

Quickly from the side, Beatrice ran towards her enraged contractor. From afar, Emilia could see his face, twisted to portray the rage and sadness he was going through.

"You...HOW COULD YOU KEEP ALL THAT FROM ME? THAT WAS MY HOME….MY FUCKING FAMILY….YOU LIED TO ME!"

Subaru continued to scream at Erin, his face continuing to contort into further grimises of pain and anger.

"Subaru...I'm sorry….I-"

"SORRY IS NOT GONNA CUT IT…..GODDAMN YOU GODDAMN YOUGODAMNYOUGODDAMNYOU-!"

Subaru let out a final scream of rage while clutching his head, and stormed off in the opposite direction, further into the desert.

"Subaru! Please, wait-!"

Emilia yelled out to her knight, but it was no use. Subaru didn't turn to acknowledge her, only continuing to run further into the dunes.

"I'm going to go get him, everyone else please stay here. I'll bring him back quickly."

"Emilia-sama, please don't endanger yourself. Barusu is having a temper tantrum, you don't need to put yourself in avoidable harm."

Emilia ignored Ram and darted towards Subaru's direction, leaving behind the rest of the group who were all confused at the current situation.

"What did you say to him? You better tell the truth or I'll make sure you do, in fact."

"Beatrice-sama please, let's not be animalistic to each other. Erin, what happened between you two? Are you both alright?"

Erin stood silent while Julius and Beatrice surrounded her. Julius could see tears slowly streaming down her pale skin.

"I...I'm sorry...I...lied."

"Lied, what did you lie about?"

"Home...I lied about his home…"

Erin silently mumbled to them, barely audible to the rest further away from Erin.

"We don't understand, what do you mean you lied?"

Before Erin could respond to Julius's question, a familiar spark of light appeared in front of her chest. From the spark Grain materialized, catching the attention of everyone who surrounded Erin.

"I believe these lines of questions should go to me. Erin was just listening to what I had told her to do. It was my idea to hide the truth from him...from all of you. Erin, you should go for now, take a breather. I'll speak with them."

Grain flew up towards Erin's face, directing everyone's attention to him. Erin silently nodded in understanding, and slowly began to walk away from the confused group of people.

"I believe an explanation is in order, then. What did she say to Natsuki-kun that made him storm off like that?"

Anastasia approached Grain, her arms crossed on her chest.

"What Erin told Subaru was the truth of what happened to his country...to his old home."

Everyone after hearing Grain's words turned to look at each other, unsure of what to say.

"I don't understand, I thought you and Onii-san were from the same place, no?"

A little black haired girl approached the floating Ghost, slightly tilting her head and putting her index finger to her lips.

"Yes, but it is more complicated than that. Let me explain further."

The rest of the group gathered closer, eager to listen to Grain's reveal of the truth. ]

[ Liar...liar, liar, fucking liar. How could she - mom, dad…

Those thoughts echoed in Subaru's mind. That person, who'd come from his world, a person which he could perhaps talk with about his transportation to it. Such a person seemed wonderful, until she hid the horrible truth from him. His world was dead. Gone, lost to time. Everyone he once knew, his town, his house, his family, gone. A thousand years had passed, a thousand years for the ashes of his old home to vanish to time. How could she lie about that? How could she tell him with a straight face that all was alright, that his family was fine, his home was fine. How could she hide such a truth from him? He deserved to know what happened, one year in this godforsaken world turned to a millennia in his. His parents died without him knowing, without anyone to tell him the only people who cared for him, died. They died, not knowing what happened to their son, their pride and joy. They died empty, hollow, fearful of the fate which befell their son. He would have her answer for her transgression. He wasn't one to hold grudges, but for such an occasion, he needed to.

"Subaru! Subaru, where are you?!"

Emilia, why are you here? The miasma will kill you...

Subaru heard the sound of a chiming bell, the voice of his beloved Emilia. The only person in his life which he would devote himself to. Even that voice would not bring him out of his rage, perhaps he would never be able to overcome this anger. But he couldn't leave his beloved to die in this forsaken miasma. He needed to find her.

"Emilia?! Where are you?! You'll die out here - what are you thinking?!"

"Subaru?! Subaru, are you there? Follow my voice - please, come back! It's dangerous out here!"

The two exchanged yells, trying to figure out the whereabouts of their partner.

"Emilia, use your ice magic! I can follow the sound of it!"

"I understand!"

With a strained yell, Emilia erected a large ice pillar which shined a brilliant blue. Subaru was able to see it through the brown desert wind, and slowly began to walk through towards the pillar.

"Emilia, stay where you are! I see the ice, and I'm coming your way!"

"Please hurry - the miasma is starting to become overwhelming!"

Subaru followed the blue light of the ice pillar, eventually making his way towards it. Beside it, Emilia was hunched over, grasping her chest. Subaru could hear her shallow breaths as he approached her.

"Emilia, why'd you come alone, stupid?! The miasma will kill you!"

"Well, what was I supposed to do, leave you alone out here? The miasma will hurt you too!"

Subaru picked up Emilia from the shoulder, looking around to see if there was a place they could take shelter in.

"Emilia, did you see anywhere we could hide for a bit?"

"Yes, I saw a ridge a few feet that way."

Emilia pointed her arm in the opposite direction where Subaru was facing.

"Even now, your instincts are no joke."

"Always happy to help, Subaru."

Subaru began walking, shoulder-to-shoulder with Emilia, towards the direction she pointed to. The wind was beginning to pick up more, Subaru was beginning to feel the fatigue build up inside him. He needed to be quick; if he felt like this, he couldn't imagine the pain Emilia was in.

"Over there, I can set up an ice wall so the miasma can't reach us."

Emilia pointed out a small rock formation. It looked perfect for sheltering a small group of people from normal weather, however a bit of magic was needed in order to make it survivable from the miasma. Subaru and Emilia crouched beneath it, staying close to each other in order to be fully covered.

"Emilia, are you sure?"

"Don't worry, I still have enough strength for one more wall. Stand back!"

With a pained yell, Emilia erected a wide wall of ice, completely blocking the entrance to the rock formation. This would allow Emilia and Subaru to regain some of their strength back before returning to the dragon carriage. Now with their safety somewhat guaranteed, Emilia would try and speak with Subaru.

"Subaru, you're shivering. Do you want to wear my coat?"

"Me? Nononono, I'm ok with the cold. If anything, you need the jacket. You're practically heaving right now."

"Oh, I didn't mean that to bother you, sorry."

"How are you bothering me? I thought we went over this kinda thing, stupid!"

"Hey! That's mean!"

The two jokingly bickered inside their makeshift shelter, Emilia sharing a wry smile towards Subaru, whose eyes were still red from crying. It pained Emilia to see her knight like that. She needed to help him.

"Subaru, what happened between you and Erin? Did she do something to you?"

Emilias amethyst eyes widened while she asked Subaru about Erin, a slight emotion of jealousy forming inside.

"Uh, no. Not physically, at least. It's more complicated than that."

Subaru stopped talking to wipe his face with the cloth around his neck. Emilia watched patiently, waiting to hear out his woes.

"Sorry, my heads just...god...there's so much, I...don't even know where to start...I don't want to worry you."

His eyes began to swell with tears, lines of water slowly began to drip onto the sand. Emilia saw her knight, vulnerable, depressed. She hated seeing him like that. The half-elf leaned over closer to Subaru and pulled him into a tight embrace, bringing his head towards her chest.

"Subaru, you dunderhead. It's so like you to carry burdens alone. But you need to stop it, it's not right. It's not right for you, and it's not right for anyone else."

Subaru looked up into the beautiful amethyst eyes of Emilia. It felt as if his body was lifted of all stress whenever he looked into them.

"Emilia...there's a lot of things I want to tell you, tell Beatrice...but I don't know how."

"Subaru, you don't need to push yourself right now. I'm here for you, Beatrice is here for you. I'll wait as long as you need to, until you know how to tell me. Please don't burden yourself like this. Let me share some of it with you."

"E-Emilia…."

Subaru couldn't back his emotions anymore. He let them flow like a broken damn onto the person he loved. He felt ashamed she had to see him like this again, but he couldn't hold himself anymore, tears and snot flowed from his orifices. Once again he was reduced to nothing but a shell, but as always, Emilia was there to help him get back up.

"It's alright Subaru, we've been through a lot now, this is just something we'll have to overcome. Together, alright?"

"Y-Yeah, together."

The two laid together, the warmth of their bodies keeping them safe from the outside cold. Subaru felt himself falling asleep slowly, when...

"Subaru...did you hear that?"

"Hear wh-AHH!"

Suddenly, the rock which they were sitting under lifted. The rock was held in the hand of a large creature, it's true appearance hidden behind the veil of the heavy sand wind. All that they could make out was a large, singular red eye.

"SUBARU, RUN!"

Emilia yanked Subaru away from the towering figure. The eye followed the two while they ran, but the figure did not give chase.

"Wh-where is it...fuck, alright."

While Subaru and Emilia ran, he tried to search his cloak for the hand Cannon gave to him. Hoping to shoot back at their assailant, Subaru gripped hard onto the gun, and fired several shots in the direction of the figure.

"Emilia, do you know where we're going!?"

"Yes! I set small ice pillars as markings!"

"Always thinking ahead - you're a blessing, Emilia-tan!"

The two continued to follow Emilia's ice markers, which had begun to slowly melt into puddles of mana.

"Up ahead! I think I see it!"

Subaru could make out the faint glow of the camp's fire pit. It's fiery glow acted like a beacon for those lost in the sand wind.

"Almost there, Em-EMILIA!"

Suddenly from his side, Emilia's legs gave out and she fell to the floor. The miasma draining all the energy from her body, coupled with the stress of creating structures from ice, would logically lead to her body giving out from exhaustion.

"Shit..Shit...HEY, HELP! YOU GUYS, HEEEELP!"

Subaru hoisted Emilia off the ground and set her arm around his shoulders, in a feeble attempt to walk the both of them closer to the camp. He could feel his own strength leaving his body, but he needed to push through to save the both of them.

"EVERYONE - please."

Subaru's voice was starting to give in, his legs began to lose strength and he began to slowly fall. He tried to shout again, but no sound would leave his lips. He tried to pick himself back up, but his arms lost their strength, and he fell to the ground. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was the silhouette of three people running towards him and Emilia. ]

[ "...W-where…"

A weight was slowly lifting off the eyes of Natsuki Subaru. Bright lights were all that Subarus' mind could distinguish in his current state, however the drowning feeling of the miasma was gone. Did someone save him, or did he suffocate amidst the sand wind?

"Natsuki-kun, please rest, your body is still recovering."

A voice, a familiar voice called out to him. His ear couldn't discern who was speaking, but he understood it was someone he knew.

"I-Is Emilia…"

Subaru mustered the strength to pry his lips and speak to figure next to him.

"Emilia-san is alright, she's resting next to you Natsuki-kun. Please rest, the healing process needs you to sleep."

Subaru turned his head to the side to see Emilia, eyes closed with a thick blanket over her. Her shallow breathing indicated to him that she was still alive, though in deep sleep.

"Emilia…"

Subaru could feel his body parts slowly reanimate, getting control of his limbs once more. As his body came back to him, he could feel a weight centralized on his stomach. He raised his head slightly to see what was laying on his body.

"B-Betty…"

His eyes came to focus on a small bead of blonde hair. The young spirit, Beatrice, was sleeping on his belly. The sheets he was covered in were slightly damp around the young girl's head.

"She was balling her eyes out when we found you. She was practically inconsolable, never leaving your side. You've got good people around you, Subaru."

A noise, familiar, yet unfamiliar ringed in his right ear. A sound similar to the shuttering of a camera. What was it, who was it.

"Grain...is that you?"

The small creature moved to face Subaru, its shell churning in its normal fashion.

"Yeah, it's me. I detected you and Emilia's signals just outside camp. Everyone went nuts trying to resuscitate you two."

"A-Ah..I see...Thank you. I'm sorry...for making you guys worry...so much."

Subaru turned his head further to scan his surroundings. They were inside the dragon carriage, the seats being turned into makeshift beds. Across from them, Meili and Ram were asleep atop another set of makeshift beds. Up by the rider's box, Julius was leaning against the wall sword in hand, asleep.

"Seems...everyone else passed out, huh."

"Yes, everyone else wants to leave the dunes as soon as possible, so they're resting as much as possible for tomorrow. I suggest you do the same."

"Right...Yeah…"

From the large group that came into the dunes, only one was missing amongst them.

"Where is...Erin?"

Anastasia breathed a sigh, followed by Grain lowering himself onto Subaru's chest.

"When we found you two, she broke down. She screamed and cried her apologies to all of us in camp. She hoisted the two of you in her arms and brought you inside here."

Subaru felt a tightness in his chest. He still felt rage towards the person who supposedly lied to him, however he couldn't brush off the fact that she broke down at the sight of him near death.

"Erin is outside right now. She's keeping watch of the camp alone, letting all of you rest."

"I see…"

Subaru turned his head to face the ceiling of the carriage. His mind was still slow due to the miasma, but he could still feel it try to race all those thoughts inside. He would need to speak with her in the morning again, once he was well rested.

"Miss Anastasia, I suggest you rest as well, you'll be needed tomorrow just as much as the rest."

"Will you keep an eye on them?"

"Yes, I swear on it."

Anastasia sighed and nodded, slowly sitting up from the middle of the carriage. She pulled out a thick blanket and laid it on the floor.

"Get some rest, Natsuki-kun. We'll talk in the morning."

"...Goodnight, Anastasia."

Subaru let his heavy eyelids close. As he was falling asleep, he glided his hand towards Emilia, trying to find her pale, slender fingers.

"Goodnight...Emilia-tan."

He glided his hand over hers, her pale skin was cold as ice, and soft as silk. He slowly wrapped his fingers around hers, and let his mind drift into slumber. ]

[ The sun rose over the horizon the next day. Emilias ice had melted, leaving the dragon carriage exposed to the harsh heat. The party went through many hurdles in the previous days, however they were prepared for today's trials. Using the majority of the night, they rested their bodies from the fatigue of the desert and the witches miasma. Erin woke the group, ready to begin their journey once again in the dunes. Grain acted as their map once again, and guided them towards a nearby Vex conflux. The group left the carriage and began to scout their surroundings, making sure the area was clear of any threats.

"If I'm being honest, I thought these things would look a lot cooler."

A little dark-haired girl stood at the base of a towering pillar. Her eyes lazily scanned it's alien design. It was radiating strange energy, and what was to her, jolts of lightning around the tip of the pillar.

"The way you describe these pillars, it's not a completely incorrect line of description, I suppose. Though these artifacts are more than just cool, in fact. They are fascinating."

"Yeah yeah, fascinating, schmascinating. They're still not that cool. Ahhh, Onee-sama still doesn't get me."

Meili stretched her arms and sighed, still groggy from waking up early in the morning. From her side, a monotone voice retorted. The second small "child" of this group, Beatrice, had approached the large pillar. While Meili seemed indifferent towards the metal monolith, Beatrice marveled at its design. Seeing something so alien to her knowledge was truly marvelous for her.

"Beatrice-sama please be careful around that pillar. It looks really dangerous to touch."

"Don't worry, my little Beako wouldn't do something so reckless."

Two familiar voices spoke out from behind Beatrice. She turned around to see Emilia and Subaru, slowly approaching her side by side. They looked well rested, a stark contrast to their appearances from the previous night.

"To think that you would assume that I would do something so careless. It can't be helped, I suppose. Making sure I don't repeat the foolish mistakes of my contractor makes sense."

"That's my Beako, always making sure we're all doing okay!"

Subaru left Emilias and side and ran up to Beatrice. He pulled her into a loving embrace and began to pat her hair, causing Beatrice to go red in embarrassment.

"Agh, Subaru, Not that I mind...but this is not the time for headpats, in fact."

"Where's Grain, wasn't he supposed to be here?"

As Subaru vigorously pated Beatrice's hair, Emilia slowly followed and stood beside Subaru, giving a heartfelt smile to the flustered Beatrice.

"Have you seen Grain? I want to thank him for watching over us last night."

As Emilia asked, a small glint of light sparked in the air. Out of it, a familiar creature manifested.

"I'm here, Miss Emilia."

Grain appeared in front of Emilia and Subaru, surprising both of them.

"Oh, hello. Sorry I'm still not used to the way you appear, sorry."

"It's fine, most people take time to get used to it. Are you and Subaru feeling better?"

"Yes, we're feeling much better, thanks to you and the others."

Emilia gave Grain a warm smile, followed by Subaru giving a wry smile and a quick nod. The Ghost responded to the two's kindness with a churn of his shell and a slight nod.

"Hey! Is everyone up?"

A loud voice boomed from the bottom of the hill. There the carriage sat stationary with the earth dragons attached with leads. On the roof of the carriage, the source of the yell was Erin, clad in her strange, but sleek armor.

"Yeah we're up, we're up, stop yelling."

"Such a hoarse voice to greet Ram in the morning. You should take better care of your foul larynx."

Two feminine voices groaned from inside the carriage, sounding very annoyed at Erin's sudden yelling. The culprits being Ram and Anastasia, who were the last to exit the dragon carriage, taking time to try and rest more.

"Sorry, my throat feels like a desert. I haven't tasted any real water in the past couple days, I've been letting you guys have it all."

"Yeah about that. I have a question, Miss Erin. How have you been able to keep your body in good condition with you eating so little? Grain never explained anything about that."

From the side of the carriage, Julius walked towards Erin's location and questioned her bizarre physical upkeep. During the night, when the party would gather around to eat. Erin would refuse to eat any of the rations that they had brought along with them, preferring to just eat the scraps of their leftovers. She wouldn't accept any of their offers to drink water either, rather drinking whatever liquid she could find from the desert flora.

"I guess he thought it wasn't important. Simple answer is that I've trained my body to survive off the small amounts of nutrition. Also, I have some of my own rations."

Rations?! Where on earth do you keep them?

Subaru looked down towards the two people speaking to each other. Her cheerful attitude made him feel a tinge of relief, though his mind was still fixated on the Erin of last night. The truth she revealed to him the night previous was excruciating to take in.

"Subaru, are you still...upset?"

"Me...I guess in a way, yeah."

Emilia gave him a concerned look, and he let out an exhausted sigh. He wanted to be angry at Erin, angry at what she did. He wanted someone to blame for the cataclysm that befell his home. But he couldn't, he couldn't bring himself to stay angry. He needed to push onwards. His life was not over, he still had people to fight for.

"Emilia, I'm not...angry at her. Upset, yeah, anyone would be upset, but I'm not mad. I want to move on, move past this…."

Subaru saw Emilia's eyes transform from concern into content, seeming happy with his response.

"I'm glad, Subaru. If you ever feel yourself getting worse, just leave it to me, ok?"

Subaru nodded at Emilia's affirmation, and gave her a smile in return. Her smile was the push he needed to go on. He needed to keep himself together, if he were to let himself be absorbed in what happened to his homeland and godforbid experience Return by Death again in the sand dunes, he didn't know if he would be able to recover alone. After they returned from the Augrian Sand dunes, he would need to speak with Erin again.

"Well, since it looks like everyone's up and about, let's go over our roles once again."

"Right…the plan."

The plan Erin mentioned was the reason why the group had taken an early break from traveling the day before. The plan of defense they had come up with in the small town before leaving for the desert sounded solid in their mind. However after further thought on it, the party came to the conclusion that the walls would act more as a death trap rather than a serious defense. Instead of using a strictly circular design, Erin, Grain and Anastasia came together to think of a more preferable design. Both brainstormed different ideas, trying to utilize the power of all their party members. Eventually, after a couple of hours of ideas going back and forth, the three settled on a maze-like defensive wall. The idea was that rather than creating a long, singular wall of defense, Emilia would create several short and long walls adjacent and perpendicular to each other. The reason for this decision was to allow the members of the party which relied on short ranged combat to play a major role in the defense. Having the enemies funnel through tight corners and hallways would allow Julius to use his skills as a knight without much worry of being shot from far away. It would also allow Ram and Anastasia to take out large groups of enemies by having them walk through tight corridors, giving them ample cover as well by hiding behind the walls. While they were planning everyone's positions in this design, Emilia brought up the issue of having to reinforce the durability of the walls. In response, Erin showed another one of her mysterious powers. An orb that could turn anyone invisible, without any way to be detected. Erin told Emilia that she would make her undetectable so that she would be able to reinforce the ice walls without being in harm's way whenever they were damaged. It wasn't a fool-proof solution however, there was a limited amount of time which one could remain undetected, so Erin and Emilia needed to be near each other to communicate efficiently. In the center of the defensive maze, Subaru and Beatrice would protect Grain whilst he hacked the central conflux. Erin would not hold any position down, rather she would jump around using her extreme dexterity and providing cover across the entire defensive line. All of these factors combined would provide their most likely chances of survival against the Vex forces.

"You're taking so many risks to help strangers that you've only known for a few days. It's rare to see such virtuous people these days, let alone one from such a far away land. Thank you."

"Yeah...Don't mention it."

Julius exchanged a look of gratitude with Erin, who gave him a wry smile in return. She turned to face the top of the sand hill, seeing Subaru and Emilia standing at the edge. Seeing an opportunity to speak to them, she ran up the hill in order to speak with them face to face.

"Hey! Emilia, Subaru. Are you guys feeling better?"

"Uhm, yes I'm feeling alright...I'm ready to perform my part. Thank you for helping us last night, Erin."

Subaru and Emilia stood side by side, looking into the eyes of the tall blonde. Subaru didn't speak, rather giving her a slight nod and looking away from her. Emilia could tell the two still needed to talk things out further after last night's incidents. She wasn't entirely informed on what happened, but she didn't care. If her knight was in pain, it didn't matter what caused it, she'd be there to help him as he did for her.

"Well, I'm glad you two are doing alright. You scared all of us half-dead when we found ya."

"We're really sorry for causing you so much trouble. It was a really hectic night."

Standing side by side, Subaru could see Emilia fidgeting with her fingers in embarrassment. He didn't want her to be sorry for anything. In his eyes, it was his fault they ended up passed out in the sand.

"Emilia...Miss. Emilia...Excuse me, Miss. Emilia."

A gravely, filtered voice came from behind them, breaking the two out of their state of embarrassment.

"A-Ah yes I'm here, sorry my mind was...sorry I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. I'm really sorry for any trouble I caused."

Emilia turned around and frantically bowed apologetically, while Subaru looked away with an even redder face.

"You're fine, I just wanted to make sure you were ready. It's about time you start setting up those walls."

"Right, of course! I'm ready, very ready, I'll get started right away."

Emilia quickly rushed past the others with her head down.

"Did I say something?"

Grain looked at others and asked, the rest just as confused as him.

"Fool, there's a lot of pressure on her, I suppose. Perhaps you should be more mindful of how you phrase your commands, in fact."

"Look at my Betty, thinking about Emilia. You deserve some more headpats."

"Eh? Oof-"

Subaru pulled Beatrice again in a tight and loving embrace, pulling on one of her pigtails and petting her silky blonde hair. The sudden action made Beatrice gasp in confusion and embarrassment. Grain also seemed surprised at the sudden sign of affection. He wondered if his mind was still discombobulated from the night before. It gave him some unfortunate second thoughts about the group's chances of survival. ]

[ Emilia ran down the sandy hill towards the dragon carriage. Her heart was racing while being near her knight, however she needed to focus on the task at hand. If she was to fail her party, then there would be the high possibility that they wouldn't make it out of the Augrian sand dunes alive. She had to put these new emotions aside and pull herself together in order to help everyone in the upcoming battle.

"Good morning, Emilia-sama. Did you sleep well?"

While Emilia was sorting out her emotions, she was approached by Ram, who bowed her head in greeting.

"Oh, Ram-san! Yes, I slept quite well last night!"

The sudden appearance of Ram startled Emilia, making her blurt out what came to her mind first.

"Emilia-sama, it's important that you keep yourself focused on your surroundings, considering the task that is coming."

Emilia lowered her head in shame towards Ram, causing the pink-haired maid to let out a shallow sigh.

"Emilia, is everything alright? Why'd you run off like that?"

From behind, a concerned voice which contrasted Ram's more stern tone caused Emilia to quickly turn her head around.

"Ah, Erin, I'm feeling well this morning. Apologies for making you worry about anything."

"Well, worry me you did. But honestly, you look good, so if you say you feel good then my worries are a little bit lessened. Plus it's good to see you energetic."

Emilia took in the towering figure of the distinctly armored blonde. She must've run down the hill after her. Her armor's angular design was completely foreign to her. She had only seen Lugnician armor, but had seen artistic depictions of soldiers from the other kingdoms. None of them bore any resemblance to what Erin wore, making her all the more mysterious to Emilia.

"T-Thank you, I appreciate your kindness, Erin."

The half-elf gave an endearing smile to the tall blonde. In return, Erin exchanged the half-elf's kindness with a hearty smile of her own.

"Alright, if everything is sorted then, it's about time we get started. The sooner we're able to break through the better the chance we can make the transition to "Sand Time.""

From Ram's direction, Anastasia spoke up. She theorized that despite being inside a simulation, "Sand Time" would still be in effect. Starting late in the day wouldn't just mean that they had to deal with the Witches miasma. It would also mean that they would need to wait out the night until "Sand Time'' reset, possibly risking an even greater attack from the Vex, or being imprisoned in another simulation.

"Yes, just leave it to me. I'll make sure we all make it out." ]

The heat from the sun slowly roasted any exposed skin from Subaru. He couldn't tell whether the heat was real, or just a simulation. Neither answer would quell the uncomfortable feeling on his skin.

"Subaru, what do you think will happen when the fighting begins?"

On his side, he heard the childish voice of his companion, Beatrice. They were holding hands in order to continue their daily routine of mama exchange.

"Eh, what do I think will happen? That's a pretty serious question coming from Beako."

"I'm being serious Subaru... I have a bad feeling about this fight...Somethings not right, in fact."

"Well yeah, as far as we know we're inside a simulation, so nothing about this is right."

"No, not that. Since we've walked into these dunes, I've felt eyes watching our every movement. It's as if the sands of this place have eyes, in fact."

Beatrice's grip tightened around Subarus hand, a look of anticipation and worry started to overtake her usual poker face.

"Do you think they're watching us?"

"I don't think they are, I know they are, in fact."

Subaru felt his legs become heavy. It was difficult to keep himself standing after hearing Beatrice utter those words. How could he have not realized, he was the one who came from another world, he'd watched plenty of media which had people trapped in simulation. There was always someone watching, how could he have let such a fact fly over his head?

"Wh-Why didn't you say anything? Keeping something like that to yourself is irresponsible!"

"I didn't feel the need to say anything, I suppose. I could tell the others felt it too, Anastasia and Julius especially. I'm surprised you yourself hadn't noticed."

"Eh, you mean everyone else noticed?! This sucks, this really really sucks."

"Granted, knowing we're being watched or not changes nothing about our situation, in fact. We're already about to begin cracking through their prison."

"I guess...you're right, thinking about such bad things right now will be bad juju."

Subaru slapped his face lightly, which caused Beatrice to look at him confusingly. This was one of the many things he did that confused her.

"Natsuki-kun, Beatrice-san, are you two ready?"

An accented voice called to the two from behind. The one who held such a voice was Anastasia, who had been walking towards the two from the dragon carriage, accompanied by Julius.

"Oh Anastasia, yeah we're...ready. But are you ready?"

"It's so like Subaru to hide his worries behind such jokes. But is this a good time to hide behind them?"

"Me, nervous?! Hiding behind jokes?! That's a pretty bold assumption, Mr Knight!"

Subaru greeted the two approaching, and gave his usual sassy greeting to Julius. He in return, gave Subaru his own sassy comeback.

"Hey fellas, you ready up there? Emilia is almost done setting up the walls down here."

Down the hill, another voice called out to the group of four at the peak of the sand mountain. It was Erin, standing atop one of Emilia's newly formed ice walls. She had begun to form the outer walls of their labyrinthian defense.

"Aside from positioning, Julius and I are ready. Now for Natsuki-kun and Beatrice…"

Anastasia waved towards Erin, giving her a thumbs up, and a sly smile towards Subaru.

"Hey, we're just as ready. Emilia-tan just hasn't finished our spots yet."

"Aren't you already standing in your spot though?"

Subaru crossed his arms in frustration, while Julius raised an eyebrow in confusion. He didn't know why Subaru was so flustered all of the sudden.

"Oh, I think it's our turn, Julius-san."

From below the hill, Anastasia could hear the sand being parted and the formation of large walls of iced mana. Emilia was making quick work of creating their labyrinthian style defense.

"Betty, do you have any game plan on how we strike back when they get to us?"

"The fact that you're so doubtful of the other's defense makes me uneasy, in fact. If I were to say, you'd stop using that whip and use the weapon Erin gave you. You did train with her for occasions like this, I suppose."

Beatrice gave Subaru a pout as she worded her concerns to him. Subaru reached into his cloak and pulled out the hand cannon. The more he studied it, the more he came to appreciate its sleek design. The guns he used to know were all just large hunks of metal, nothing pretty to appreciate about them. However, its intricate patterns and inscriptions made it feel and look so different. He aimed it at the sky, looking down its sights one more time without anything blocking the view.

"Subaru, once we're somewhere safer...could I examine that weapon? I could do something more inside it, I suppose."

"Sure, I guess you could take a look at it. Just remember, this pin shoots it, so don't shoot yourself on accident please."

"I'm not an idiot, Subaru."

Beatrice adjusted herself on Patraschess saddle, Subaru holding firmly onto her waist in case she falls off. The two sat and watched as Emilia put the final walls around the conflux. The fighting is going to begin soon. ]

[ "Ana, everything feel okay down there?"

"As okay as one can feel between two walls of ice."

On top of the ice walls, Erin looked down to speak with Anastasia, who was nestled between two ice walls.

"Remember, Julius and I will be making rounds, me on the top and him on the bottom, so just call out our names if they start pushing through."

"Well, I hope you remember that my mana is limited at the moment, so I'll be relying on you and Julius for extra support."

"Don't worry. If it gets too much Julius will take over."

Anastasia sighed and nodded her head in understanding. Erin jumped from wall to wall, making sure the rest of the group was in position.

"Emilia, you did an amazing job with these walls. Some of your best work so far, I gotta say."

"Thank you, Subaru."

By the conflux, Subaru, Beatrice, and Emilia stood by, their positions secured for the moment. Subaru exchanged pleasantries with Emilia, prompting her to give Subaru a heartwarming smile.

"Everyone looks to be ready, Grain you can start when you're ready."

From the air, Erin dropped in next to Subaru and Emilia, scaring the both of them.

"Jesus...could you not?"

"Sorry, guess I'm just too excited."

Subaru glared at Erin, who apologized by bowing her head forwards.

"Uhm...Is everyone else also ready?"

"As far as I could tell, yeah. Your friend, Ram, gave me the stink eye but I think she's ready."

Erin gave Emilia a thumbs up, prompting her to let out a sigh of relief. Subaru gave a wry smile at the mention of Rams attitude.

"You get used to Ram."

"We'll see…"

Erin shared a solemn look with Subaru, walking away from him and towards Grain.

"Grain...If I…"

"I know, Erin. Just keep them alive. Leave everything else to me."

The two gave each other a nod of agreement. Erin pulled out her large rifle and began walking towards one of the walls. Grain turned to face the conflux, and slowly levitated higher to face the tip of it. His shell expanded, floating behind his singular eye. A blue sphere surrounded his eye, pulsating with strange energy.

"Subaru, what do you think he's doing?"

"I'm not sure, I've never seen anything like it."

The two people watched the Ghost float slowly around the conflux, it's blue colored energy mesmerizing them.

"Subaru, Emilia... I can feel them!"

Subaru felt a tug at the bar of his shirt. He looked down to see a wide eyed Beatrice.

"Betty, what do you - wait, you don't mean-?"

"Yes, them...I can feel their eyes on us. More than before. Subaru, I think they're coming now."

Subaru looked up towards Grain, still continuing to scan the conflux.

"Hope you're all ready. They're gonna really feel this one."

As he spoke, Grain's shell expanded further, a bright light bursting from his shell. As quick as his shell expanded, a low rumbling could be heard echoing from the entire area.

"What's going on?"

"Subaru...I feel them... they're coming!"

Beatrice looked around frantically, focusing her attention on the base of the sound.

"The sand…EVERYONE, THEY'RE COMING FROM THE SA-!"

As Beatrice yelled, a loud boom erupted from the sky. A dark cloud, roaring with electricity began to circle around their labyrinth of ice. From the ground, the sand rippled like water. The sand erupted into the air, followed by unrecognizable screeching. Slowly, Vex soldiers began to rise out of the ground, sand leaking out of every crevice they had. They were hiding there, waiting for the right moment to strike against those who went against their grand designs. ]

[ AN: Hello everyone, welcome back. "Good news," I'm not dead, nor have I given up on this project. I apologize for not having this chapter out sooner, I really wanted to release it sooner myself. However I've been having bouts of burnout, I've been thinking ahead as to what to write in the upcoming chapters rather than focusing on what I have right now. It's a bad habit that I want to get rid of, hopefully I can soon. This chapter went through a couple of rewrites, but I think I'm pretty happy with the final product. Again, really sorry that this took so long to post, but hopefully I'll be able to post future chapters on a more consistent basis.

Also, I've posted this story on Archive of our Own. I wanted to branch out a bit and see how the two most popular fanfiction websites fair between each other. You don't have to go over to Ao3 to get any new chapters or anything like that. Both will have the same stuff posted between the two. Thank you for all the wonderful comments you readers have posted, it really helps with the drive to write more.

Cheers. ]