Chapter 7 - Halls of Ice and Fire.

[ Amidst the broken streets of a once prosperous city, a woman shrouded in ruined rags gazed upon the endless streets. A bustling metropolis that once housed millions of citizens, had been reduced to a refuge for castaway invaders and overgrowing flora. The colossal skyscrapers that were once tall enough to pierce the heavens themselves, had been toppled over and laid waste across the alleys and streets.

The woman wandered the soulless streets, finding remnants of a greater past, scarred and forgotten by time. Through overgrown vehicles and walls, the woman found a store, fragmented in two by a fallen pillar. The walls had all but crumbled, sections being held together by vines. Over centuries, rain had accumulated in the foundations of the store, causing the interior to turn into a small lake. Assortment of items and furniture drifted aimlessly atop the small lake.

Wafting through the knee high water, she approached a floating bag. Its leather was soaked in water, giving it enough buoyancy to float on the surface. Its condition had worn over time, but still held firm through the water. She grabbed the bag, flipping the cover upon to find inside, a book. Waterlogged but still somewhat intact.

"Do you know what this is?"

The woman, puzzled by the state of the book, turned their heads to face a half-collapse slab of concrete wall. Through the cracks of the concrete slab, a small star-shaped creature levitated through the crumbled wall, blue light radiating from its triangular eye.

"It's a book, judging from its condition it's probably from around the end of the Golden Age. I've never really tried to scan anything like it before, but I can give it a shot if you want."

The girl turned and twisted the book, trying to find any comprehensible words on it. Wet and sticky string all but kept the spine of it intact. Shriveled pages fell out with every rotation of it. What was the front cover seemed to be covered in either mud or wet dust, completely erasing whatever title was written on it.

"Oh?"

Along the flooded floor, a single page caught the girl's eye. She could vaguely make out the shapes of people, although with grossly exaggerated features. The girl reached to grab the paper, delicately putting her palms beneath it so as to not rip the paper.

"Yeah, I'd like it if you could scan it. Please?"

The girl daintily raised the palms of her hand to face the floating creature, its metal-like skin twisting and churning at the sight of the paper.

"Let's see what I can do."

The creature's eye lit up brightly as a beam of blue light shone from its center. The girl slightly flinched at the light shining on her hands, though she quickly eased as she saw the creature focus on the paper. The girl took a second to blink, the dust in the air irritating her eyes.

"Done."

In the instance of her blinking, the Ghost scanned the contents of the book in a fraction of a fractioned second. When her eyes opened the blue light was gone, finding the Ghost floating idly.

"Could you see what it was?"

Quiet and reserved, the girl mumbled a question to the creature, who in turn, lowered itself to be eye level with her.

"Yeah, I could recreate the image to the best of my abilities using what I already know from other books and whatnot."

The girl's eyes widened in soft excitement, a slight giddy sense of wonder visible in her smile. It was slightly clearer thanks to the creature's light, though it was still difficult to make out anything concrete.

"I've seen Cryptharchs sift through texts similar to these. Graphic novels some called them. More or less, the cover is a detailed sketch of a muscular man, with a sword in both his hands. Funny enough, he also had another sword clenched between his teeth."

The creature let out a slight chuckle, trying to get the girl to chuckle along with him.

"Pretty bizarre piece of work, wouldn't you say? Actually, I also could read the title of it. My translation of it wasn't perfect, but I'm confident that it's called "Single Section." If you want, we can look for some more of the series, maybe we can piece a chapter or so together! What do you think? Would you like that?"

The creature bobbed up and down in the air, visibly enjoying talking about his findings to the girl. Looking closer at the paper, a faint grin formed on the girls face as she pieced the image of the man against the thin paper. She delicately folded the paper, and tucked it inside her coat, carefully sliding it into a warm pocket.

"Erin…Are you feeling better? We can about it-"

"No."

The girl's smile quickly faded and turned her gaze away from the Ghost, quickly declining its offer under her breath.

"N-No. I'm sorry, I dont…not yet…"

The girl's voice trembled as she tried to respond to the creature. It could hear her gulp down her words as she tried to speak, every word sounding as if it pained her physically to speak.

"It's alright. I shouldn't have asked so soon, I'm deeply sorry. Let's just…keep looking around the building. Is that alright with you?"

A slow nod and quiet stifling was all the creature got in response.

The girl stood upright, wiping snot and tears off her face with her cloak. She composed herself with several deep inhales and exhales, letting the creature know that she would, at least, be coherent. He needed her to be, lest she let herself suffer again.

"GhKgjj…,.G.h.H.L..LG…g=-gHHkl;aklLH..E?Lh!hfP."

The loud crackling of a busted radio coming to life jolted the nerves of the girl, causing her to dash away in fear. The wet floor and her still jumbled emotions caused her to slip and fall face-first onto the water.

"Erin! Are you ok?"

"I'm fine…the radio…"

The girl pointed her finger towards a dilapidated table, a battered radio was the only thing that was left intact on its base.

"H-_E_-EE-_L-++++==+P…..?1?!...D.';";=_3["".V;';'ILS…S1A/!.!.!"

A barely recognizable cry of a man carved its way out of the damaged microphone of the radio. The two inside the building looked at each other in silent understanding of what was said. The man was being attacked by Devils.

"Erin, its a distress signal, we need to find him. I can trace his location through the radio but we need to be quick. The Fallen wont take long to find his location either."

The creature flew forwards towards the radio and opened its metallic shell. The eye it onced covered was now exposed and surrounded by a blue sphere, the same the girl had seen when it would force open electronic doors.

"I-I don't know if I-"

The girl stumbled back onto her feet, gripping tightly a large rifle, fashioned from rusted iron and eroded steel. She tried to plead with the creature, but was interrupted before she could finish. The girl could feel its unblinking eye bore directly into her own, an intense gaze she'd only seen once before.

"The man will die. If we do not find him and secure him, he will be killed by the Fallen. I've scanned his location already, it matches closely with that of a small settlement not far from this city. Ready your gun, we're leaving now."

"I-I-"

The floating creature closed its shell, hiding away the blue sphere surrounding it. It glided quickly towards an open exit, projecting a map of the city with the coordinates of the signal. The girl stumbled as she tried to follow the creature, a clear apprehension in her voice.

"Erin. I will be there for you, that's what we're for. We're Ghosts, I'll guide you towards the coordinates but you'll need to be ready to fight. I know you're scared, but we cant let him die. He's not a Guardian, if he dies he stays dead."

The Ghost looked into Erin's eyes with an intensity that made her knees tremble. She didn't want to go fight. She didn't want to die, she didn't want to feel the pain all over again.

"Heads up, Guardian. Somethings coming."

Above the buildings, the sky itself seemed to tear open as a rusted spaceship flew beside a slanted skyscraper. The force of its appearance caused the building to topple over and fall onto the streets.

"We are leaving!"]

[ The groaning winds of the Augrian Sand Dunes filled the silence of the desert. The flora of the desert openly embraced the refreshing winds, whilst seeping bountiful energy from the scorching sun. Rain that was needed to nourish life further was scarce, and violence from witchbeasts was constant. They lived only through destruction, feeding off chaos. Life other than the unnatural was destined to wither and die.

In the middle of a red flower bed, the maimed corpse of a witchbeast sizzled in the desert heat. An opening had been cut open across its chest, allowing for scavengers to feast on the rotting organs.

Sifting through the half eaten remains of the carcass, was a vulture. It bore scars from countless wars over the little scraps of food any animal could find in the barrens of the Augrian Dunes.

Its beak was stained with the viscous liquids of the witchbeast's insides, but it did not care. With violent tugs, it pulled away morsels of meat, devouring them hole to fill its gullet. It hadn't stumbled upon such a large quantity of flesh in over a month. It took no shame in gouging itself on the most vile of organs. It reveled in its own filth.

It pecked and pecked away, until its meal began to violently shake. It glided away, as chunks of flesh and bone were crushed into the size of a grain. The ground beneath the corpse began to sink, as if a giant were pressing its palm against the ground.

The air around the vulture charged and crackled, as bright lights seeped through splinters in the sky.

It tried to flap its wings, but there was no air for it to catch. It fell and tumbled down the hill of sand, crashing against the hard floor of sand at the base. Its delicate wing shattered, limply dangling from the birds side. It turned its tearful eyes towards the cracks, as they grew brighter and brighter.

"...!?"

A large boom shook the ground beneath the bird, throwing sand and rock into the air. The bird covered itself with its functional wing, bloating out the sand from its eyes. It felt the pounds of sand pile beneath its feet, swallowing its talons whole.

It waved the sand of its wing, shaking its head vigorously until it had cleaned itself of sand. It looked around confusingly, as the splintered lights in the sky had vanished. In its place, a circular void of black remained. It gave the bird an overwhelming sense of dread. Memories of grotesque monsters hiding inside dark and decrepit caves flashed through the birds mind.

Overtaken with fear, the bird ran away from the dark void, tripping over itself multiple times.

Its darting eyes landed upon a broken log of desert wood. Its bark skinned and dried, it looked brittle enough to shatter with a light shove.

Being flightless, the bird had no other option but to hide inside the log. Crawling through the small entrance, its wing folded into its chest with a stinging pain. He wouldn't be able to heal his wing by staying inside this log, but he felt the urge to hide from potential life threatening danger.

Nestling itself inside, it used its long neck to see through holes around the log giving it a good view on the entrance of the void.

Anxiously waiting, its heart skipped as a bellowing yell came from within. From the entrance, a figure lumbered through.

Focusing its vision on the figure, the bird saw that it was a human. It scratched its scruffy beard, before coughing violently, startling the bird.

Being familiar with the species, the bird eased itself, knowing that the human wouldn't actively hunt it. It had seen herds of human travel through the desert, huddled together by fire and wood.

It also remembered the fate that fell every human that it had spotted. One day, the humans would be enjoying each others company, and the next day the vulture would be feasting on their mangled bodies. The witchbeasts always left them unrecognizable with their brutality. The vulture would always feel joy at the sight of humans, knowing that sooner or later, they would be fresh food for its gut to satiate.

The thought of fresh meat made the vulture salivate in lustful delight. Its greed overtook any rational thought. It knew that eventually that human would die, and would be made into mince meat for him to enjoy fully.

"!...!...!"

Another voice came from deep withing the entryway. The vulture didnt understand any of the words, but it recognized the dialect of its speech. Another human.

Same as the one it just witnessed, a second human through the void and towards the elderr one.

In a seeming threat display, the female bore her teeth. The reaction of the elder was unexpected for the bird. The elder one grabbed its belly and began to yell into the air in intervals.

Humans had always been a bizarre creature for the vulture. They acted nothing like the animals and witchbeasts of the desert.

The bird inched forward slightly, hoping to get more of its head out to get a better view. It's stomach hoped that there would be more humans that it couldn't see yet.

In quick successions, more and more humans poured out of the void. Some on foot, others on metal animals that the vulture had never seen before. It even saw some with four arms and insect-like skin.

The vulture had now been salivating, an entire buffet stood in front of it, waiting to be prepared by the brutal chefs of the sand dunes. Its stomach rumbled in anticipation, with all the sound it would surely attract witchbeasts from near and far.

All of its thoughts were now filled with hunger. Hunger for flesh, for the fulfillment of its own glutenous desires.

Its desires flared to their peak, as the shrieking cries of the Witchbeast familiars traveled with the wind.

There was no fear to be felt this time, only the unbearable pain of suspenseful anticipation.

Its eyes saw blood. Food, and more food. A never ending buffet of human gore would overcome any and all desires that the vulture would ever need.

Alas, the vulture's greed would be its undoing.

By now, it had stuck most of its body outside of the tree log, as if it were wafting towards the buffet in the making. It was left exposed to the elements, open to any animals that would see its moments of weakness as an opportunity to feast.

In an instant, its endless desire for hunger was overtaken by a different feeling.

One of immeasurable agony.

Its rumbling stomach was silenced, the freedom of its movemed ceased. The labored breathing of its lungs was snuffed out by the weight of something gargantuan.

Its hungry organs were expelled from its mouth, painting the ground red in its blood.

It's mind was the only thing that remained, the final flows of blood circulating through its veins. The vulture layed wide eyed, crimson red soon overtaking all the colors of the world.

Its consciousness only lasted a few seconds, before being cut of from the pain of its final moments. In those final few moments, it saw the food it so anxiously waited for fighting against the witchbeasts of the dunes.

Although something was different about the beasts rampaging through the dunes. It was their eyes.

They had more eyes than it remembered them having.]

[The heat of fire…the ringing of explosions…screaming….Subaru had no time to comprehend the wave of sensations. One moment, everything was quiet. Next, something grabbed his legs. He remembers yelling at it, and then shooting it multiple times. He remembered the ground shaking, columns of sand piercing up towards the sky.

He could recall a little girl yelling something unknown, followed by the screams of something infernal. After that, everything just flew past in a blur. Magic, bullets, a purple bow? All of those memories swirled around in a soup of confusion.

His mind stopped, focusing for naught but a moment as he laid on his hands and knees, behind a wall of solid ice.

"Beatrice, where are you?!"

The first thing that popped into his head, the first cognitive thought was to call out towards his spirit. Pulling himself up onto his feet, he anxiously turned his head side to side hoping to spot the little blonde girl.

"I'm here, in fact. I'm needed everywhere right now, I suppose."

A ways behind him, the high pitched voice of a little girl called back to him.

"El Shamak…."

Spinning around, he saw Beatrice facing an encroaching squad of Vex, Beatrice pointed her palms towards them.

She casted her spell and the group of Vex froze in place. Their rifles were pointed at the small girl standing in front of them. Their gazes were unfeeling, their fingers itched to pull the trigger but were halted by abilities unknown to them. That would be the one advantage that Subaru would have over them.

"Betty, DUCK!"

Without hesitation Beatrice dropped down, her face and clothes mixed with the coarse substance. Safely out of sight, Subaru aimed his hand cannon and fired several shots into the Vex Goblins. Their frozen bodies made it trivial for him to land his bullets precisely. One by one, the immobile machines fell lifeless onto the sand, their white, viscus abdominal fluids infecting the rich sandy soil.

"Sorry to get your dress all dirty. I promise after we get through this I'll make it up to you. I'll get you any cute clothes that you want."

Holstering his weapon, he helped the little girl stand up, giving her a reassuring smile whilst doing so.

"Now's not the time to be worrying about something so trivial as clothes, in fact. We can discuss your compensation later, I suppose."

Dusting off the sand on her dress, Beatrice grabbed Subaru's hand firmly. looked over Subarus shoulder and the heads of dozens of Vex Goblins fast approaching.

"Shamak!"

Beatrice pulled Subaru into her embrace, before a cloud of inky black smoke surrounded them. The black fog spread and engulfed the encroaching Vex. Inside, they could feel nor sense nothing, completely cut off from the outside world.

With a quick strike, Subaru pulled his hand cannon from its holster and fired blindly into the fog.

"Enough!"

The smoke slowly dissipated, bringing back the sense of those inside.

"Oh wow. I can't believe that worked."

In front of the two magic users, the chassis of dead Vex laid strewn across the sand. Some had their abdomens pierced, whilst others had their limbs shot off or rendered useless leaving them inoperable for battle.

"Subaru, pay better attention to your surroundings."

"Right, right. Sorry…."

Beatrice walked away from Subaru and scanned her surroundings alertly. Seeing a moment of peace, Subaru fumbled with a loaded magazine before inserting it into his gun.

Not a second sooner, a hail storm of searing bullets whizzed by him.

"Shit, shit shit shit."

The rain of bullets grazed the tips of his hair, instinctually making him duck down onto the sand. Hearing the sound of marching footsteps, Subaru began to crawl on all fours towards cover.

"Beatrice, be careful there's more of them…"

Subaru turned to look towards Beatrice. Only now did he realize her absence from his side.

"I…Cant….Right…Now."

Subaru realized his current situation as he set his sights on Beatrice, who was in the midst of fighting off hordes of headless Vex. They were wildly charging towards her, throwing themselves at her feet before erupting in a violent explosion.

"Fuck me...guess I have no choice."

He leaned his head over cover but was immediately forced to take cover as bullets whizzed past his hair. From the quick glimpse he took, he could see around a dozen Vex Goblins approaching. Seeing little room for other options, Subaru reached into his cloak. Inside, his fingers studied its contents until he found what he was looking for.

"Hoped I wouldn't have to use you so early…"

Tightening his grip around the object in his cloak, he felt the feedback of his Cor Leonis rippling across his ribs. His breathing grew ragged, his hands trembling as he pulled the grenade out into the open.

Erin gave it to him as a last resort if there were too many attacking him. She explained how it functioned, which to him was foreign to grenades he had heard of.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon…."

Subaru tapped his foot anxiously against the sand, waiting for an opening in his enemies movements. Step after step, the Vex marched closer and closer until they were at just the right distance in where he could retreat quickly behind cover.

"Bingo!"

Fumbling the grenade in his hand, Subaru stood up frantically as he threw the grenade towards the Vex. His reckless throw caused the grenade to fly at a high arc, ending up way higher than he expected.

"Holy shit!"

Unexpectedly, the grenade descended rapidly onto the head of a Goblin. It pulsed multiple times before erupting in a brilliant glow of amethyst. Standing awestruck, Subaru watched as the rest of the Vex were engulfed in a smaller glow of purple, before they themselves exploded. In their place, all that stood was a mound of dull amethyst powder slowly disappearing into nothingness.

A sigh of relief left the young man's lips. He felt invigorated watching the Vex disintegrate under the power of Erins grenade. His mind was at ease whilst thinking about how he had seen more of those grenades holstered around her belt.

"Goddamnit!"

His moments of peace did not last long as the sand around him began to burst under the weight of cannon fire.

Throwing himself against the sand, he pushed wildly against the sand whilst covering his head. Crawling on all fours he ended up in the center of the wall, safe from the corners which had begun to melt away in the heat.

Subaru's breathing grew rapid as small cracks began to take shape all across the wall. It wouldn't take for it to be turned to flakes of mana.

His mind bounced against different possibilities of what he could do to escape his situation. He thought of using his Sloth Authority, but it wouldn't be anywhere near strong enough to stop whatever was firing those cannons. He didn't see what it was, but he could feel its strength behind the force of those cannon bolts.

"Beatrice, are you there?"

He channeled his mind to call out towards Beatrice, hoping that she would've emerged victorious and ready to assist him.

Calling out through the darkness, he felt helpless when she didn't call back to him.

His head was now beating against the wall as the cannon shells shook the wall to its core. Shards of ice began to fall all around him. Any moment, the wall would shatter and leave his body vulnerable to the cannon fire.

"Fuck…fuck…not again…"

Subaru's throat tightened, knowing what would happen to him in the next few minutes. The quaking of the wall did little to calm him down. He could feel himself become more and more exposed with each second.

His mind wandered back towards the first moments of the chaos he had found himself in. The pieces left strewn across his mind started to piece themselves together, finally forming a solid image of what had happened. Meili had emerged from the dragon carriage soon after the Vex had begun their attack. Her sudden appearance was left largely unnoticed, although her actions had been felt by everyone. She called out into the air in a language Subaru had heard but not fully understood. Following her triumphant incantation, the ground shook with such intensity it caused everyone around to stumble. The ground collapsed, and from the deep chasm the giant worm that appeared days before had made its devastating reappearance. Its large size and gaping maw were perfectly used to lay waste to dozens of Vex Goblins and Hobgoblins. All that remained from its victims were scraps of metal and spilled radiolaria. Its rampage gave Subaru a faint glimmer of hope that this fight would be short lived.

Looking back now, he punched himself in the gut for how naive he was. Him and everyone else had severely underestimated the power the Vex held over them. As it began to descend, ready to devour more platoons of Vex a large Vex Minotaur manifested at the epicenter of the worms would be the target. It lifted its large metallic arm and grabbed the worm's head, stopping any attempts of attack. It grabbed the other end of the worm with its free hand. It used such great force that the insect-like skin splintered and cracked, leaving its muscles exposed to the world. It outstretched its arms, and in an instant pulled apart the worm effortlessly. The worm's internal organs fell with a wet thud against the sand, its corrosive blood spilling through the ice maze Emilia had contracted. It began to eat away at the mana, leaving large holes and cuts in the group's defense.

Subaru remembers turning towards Meili, finding a reaction that he hadn't seen before.

She was crying.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck…."

Subaru continued to feel his fragile body jerk violently with every earth-shattering impact against the wall. He knew what would happen if he were to sit idly. He dreaded to think of what an impact from the cannons would do to his body.

"What do I do?! Goddamnit, I didn't want this to happen…"

Subaru continued to weigh different options, but none resulted in his eventual survival. He didn't want to use his power, even as a last resort. For the past year he's tried his best to never resort to it. However now, it seemed as if it were the only option left.

Beatrice was surrounded by Vex, Emilia was somewhere entrenched in her own maze, Julius was roaming the outer edges of the wall, and Erin…

"Maybe I can ask her for another gun next time."

Hesitantly, he confided to his fate. Perhaps it was better this way, he now held information that could give his group an increased chance of success. They were fighting an enemy completely alien to all of them, perhaps one restart could prove fruitful. He hated death, more than anything else, but he felt that this time it wouldn't be another waste of his life. He began to think of ways to improve the next iteration of this battle. He had the knowledge to forewarn everyone, including Meili and her worm. Perhaps he could utilize Erin better, he could definitely think of different ways to alter her patrol to better combat Vex in the center. Perhaps he could even…

"HUMA!"

His strategizing was quickly interrupted as a voice that he so cherished to hear came from overhead. He felt goosebumps form on his neck as a freezing wind surrounded his position. A thin wall of ice quickly formed before the Vex approached Subaru, halting their approach.

"E-Emilia, thank god you're-"

Subaru stood up, realizing that Emilia had made her rounds back towards the center. As if she was his guardian angel, she arrived at his lowest to save him from certain death. His infatuation grew more and more, until he stopped his train of thought to focus on the half-elf.

"W-wait, you're…"

"I'm really sorry I took so long, Subaru… Things are getting worse and worse all around."

In front of him, Emilia stood hunched over, breathing in short but deep spurts of air. He felt his heart sink deeper as his eyes wandered around her body. Her dress, which had been woven perfectly to be both elegant and practical, stood no match against the melting heat of the Vex's firepower. Its pale white and light purple complexions were stained in a dark, crimson liquid. Large blotches of bruised skin peeked through the skid marks left by grazing bullets.

He internally fell into deeper panic as his eyes focused on her more. Her hair was unkempt as if someone pulled violently against her hair. The grisly sight of Emilia bruised and bludgeoned by an enemy none of them truly understood. To encounter such an enemy, whilst ill-prepared and filled with empty courage, made him fall into a pit of despair. In that pit however, he took with him a spark of rage. Anger at seeing his beloved, beaten down by an unknowing, faceless creature. It began to overpower his previous feelings of dread.

"Subaru…Subaru, please step back a moment."

The sound of Emilia's chiming bell of a voice rang deep in his ears. The one thing untouched by the Vex's brutality, snapped Subaru back into reality. Before he could understand what was happening, Emilia had already outstretched her bloodied palms, conjuring a swirl of mana energy to release towards the broken-down wall of ice. The mana coalesced with the broken-down ice, reinforcing the build and reconstructing the shattered edges.

"Hrmph."

Emilia grunted in frustration as the thin veil of ice that protected them shattered into nothingness as the Vex continued their match of destruction towards them.

"Enough of you. Ice Brand Arts."

The moment the sheet of ice fell, the half-elf conjured a sphere of crystal ice into her hands. With immense strength she threw the ball of ice towards the Vex, landing in between their legs. The Vex seemingly chose to ignore the orb and continued their march towards the pair.

Subaru gripped his hand cannon tightly. By now, he had thrown away any and all thoughts of submitting to his fate of death. If he were going to die, he would die fighting alongside Emilia.

"Why…"

Before he could pull the trigger, the orb of ice jumped into the air and exploded in a dazzling gleam of bright lights and ice. Dozens of serrated spikes of ice flew in various directions, barrelling towards their intended targets, the Vex. The force in which the spears had been propelled pierced through the Vex's metal shell easily. The strength and firmness of the spears pierced through their abdomens, killing several and leaving others completely immobile. Seeing an opening, Emilia conjured several small ice stalactites and fired them towards the Vex which still raised wildly in a feeble attempt to escape. Following suit, Subaru opened fire on the last few that remain functional, snuffing their lives out with one bullet.

"Thank goodness…"

Emilia and Subaru both sighed in relief, watching as the last remaining Vex in front of them died. Subaru feeling a sense of relief wash over him, he turned to tend to Emilia's wounds, but was mortified at what he saw.

"Emilia!"

The half-elf was now on her knees, her chest heaving as she struggled to breath the little air that she could.

Subaru dropped his gun and grabbed Emilia before she would slump over. He rested her body on his knees, hoping that it would ease her breathing.

His eyes darted up and down her body, blood was gushing from her wounds, painting her pale skin a burning red. Subaru pierced through his mind about any information he could use to stop the bleeding. Adrenaline was pumping into his brain and without thinking, he unbuttoned parts of her dress in order to stop constrictions on her body. A memory of himself watching a medical television series flashed in his mind, as he removed the scarf around his neck. His eyes continued to dart up and down her body, the sound of distant gunfire filled his head with useless noise. It wouldn't let him focus on what was important. His frustrations grew as bruises were ever prominent around her chest. He realized now why she was breathing so heavily. His eyes finally rested near her midsection where most of her blood had been coagulating towards. Ripping away useless and torn rags of clothing, he saw a grotesque gash across her side. The skin around the gash had been burned away, leaving only her muscles visible as they contracted in pain. His heart sank further, he knew this kind of wound. It was this kind of pain that led him to experience his death. He felt a new kind of pain, one that was worse than any physical he'd experienced before. Watching Emilia, writhing and squirming in pain as blood continued to pump through her severed veins. It was his true breaking point. The muscles in his eyes gave way, letting loose streams of pent up tears.

Why couldn't he have just died there, why did he have to watch her suffer like this. Was fate so cruel as to force him to watch her die before he would join her?

"Subaru…It's alright…"

Emilia strung together a sentence that could barely be heard. Subaru turned towards the face to see her face, her eyes clearly conveying a sense of worry. But her lips, rather than quivering in pain, curved to give him a gentle smile.

"..."

He was left speechless.

Watching her, nearly falling apart yet still showing concern for him. How could she bear through it all, how can still smile and care for others when she herself is on the verge of doom. Seeing her smile, a switch was flipped in his brain. He wiped the tears and snot away from his face and gave his own wry smile towards Emilia.

"Don't give me that, of course I'm alright! Save your breath, if you keep talking more blood is going to come out. Right now, you are tagging out and leaving the rest to the others."

Subaru looked into Emilia's waning, fluttering eyes, the pain of guilt stabbing and twisting into his heart. How could he say that, when he himself lacked any faith. Even if he were applying pressure to her wound, without proper treatment or healing magic, she would die in minutes.

Her eyes began to flutter, making Subaru's anxiety worsen more. He tried thinking of anything else he could use to stop the bleeding, if he needed to, he would remove any and every article of clothing to slow her bleeding down.

"Beatrice… where is Beatrice…."

At that moment, Subaru's world went dark, he felt his throat tighten as if someone was forcefully putting their full weight against his windpipe. The constant bombardment, Emilia's near-fatal injuries, and the overarching fear of death made him forget about the other person, fighting for their lives beside him.

"O-Oh no. Beatrice! Fuck- - -fuck, fuck"

"Don't be such a worrywart, I can take care of myself, in fact."

A quiet scoff from behind him froze all his thinking. It was the person he had started worrying so much about.

"Betty is alright, I suppose. There's no need to spout curses into the wind, in fact."

The drawn voice of a little girl came from the face of the sand dune. Her sudden yowl made Subaru's heart skip in surprise. The artificial spirit, Beatrice, had emerged victorious from her exhausting battle against the unusual, self-destructing Vex. Despite her victory, her appearance painted a different picture. Parts of her dress were charred black as coal. Although for the most part, her body seemed mostly unharmed.

"Oh thank god you're alright!"

Subaru looked up at Beatrice with teary eyes.

"Beatrice, Emilia is bleeding. Please is there something you can do"

Beatrice looked solemnly at Emilia, watching her chest rise and fall slowly without rhythm.

"Here, let me hold her. I'll try my best to heal the wound, but my mana alone will only be enough to stop her bleeding."

Beatrice took hold of Emilia, leaving Subaru kneeling beside her, his clothes covered in various liquids. Beatrice placed her hand near Emilia's gash and allowed an opening for a steady flow of mana to enter Emilia's body to heal the injured girl. Subaru had hesitantly taken off his scarf and hands away from her in order to allow Beatrice's magic to flow unhindered. Her bleeding started to congeal, as the surrounding skin began to solidify once more.

"Beako, were there more? It's not safe out here, we need to go back to the carriage."

Seeing Beatrice heal Emilia, a sudden vigor of courage rushed into his head prompting him to jolt upwards and become alert.

"No! We can't lead them closer to the carriage, in fact. Fortunately for now it seems we are safe here, but I would be more concerned for those inside the maze. The ones coming for me changed directions suddenly and walked back towards the maze. Something other than us has caught their attention, I suppose."]

["They're still flooding in from the East. How many troops can they possibly throw at us?"

The static buzzing of a microphone broadcasting buzzed through the intercoms of a worn down helmet. The sound of garbled messes of words mixed together with the heavy blowing of the sand wind echoing through the other end of the call.

"Just hold on for a little longer. I'll help you as soon as possible."

Ducking and weaving through the Vex's cannon fire, she spoke laboriously through her microphone before cutting the line off. She needed to focus on the Vex attacking her above anything else. Jumping high and plunging her blade into her enemies was her routine for the past hour. Her knife grew duller with each kill, requiring her to exert more energy with each strike. Her Void grenades were helpful in taking out large groups of Vex Goblins, however her Light was growing increasingly limited with each grenade made manifest.

Fortunately, she didn't always need to dull her blade to see Vex die in droves.

"Fura!"

A singular word blew loudly with the wind, followed by the dismembered corpse of a Hobgoblin hurling through the air, hitting a wall beside the Hunter. Its mechanical limbs shattered under the impact of the wall with what little life it clung to being snuffed away by bladed winds.

"Nice." The Hunter thought to herself.

Turning to look towards the direction the Hobgoblin flew from, the Guardian focused her eyes on the dainty figure of a woman who stood upright atop a mound of disfigured Vex chassis. Their limbs had been severed from their bodies, cut into several pieces as if they were put through a blender.

"Hmph."

A low scoff escaped the woman's dried lips, before descending from the mound of corpses while kicking aside scraps of metal.

Despite her seemingly elegant appearance, the few sounds that she would ever produce from her mouth were curses of disdain and disgust. Coupled with her rugged barking of spells that sounded as if they forcefully clawed their way out her throat, it ruined her graceful atmosphere. It reminded Erin of a feral animal, with no other option but to stand its ground and fight to the bitter end.

Her petite physique did little to stop her from tearing through Vex forces encroaching on her territory. Her high affinity with what appeared to be wind magic kept her alive alongside shorts bouts of increased strength. During the first few minutes of the battle, she'd seen the maid punch the head of a Vex goblin, sending it careening into a wall of ice. Alongside her abnormal strength, she kept herself in constant movement, keeping her nimble and allowing her to avoid any physical altercations with Vex Goblins or Minotaurs. Although her bouts of increased strength and enhanced magic abilities weren't without their side effects.

Multiple times the Hunter would make her rounds around the northern side of the labyrinth keeping an eye on her physical condition. Every time, the Hunter would find pieces of Vex bodies strewn around the area. She'd also find the one who was responsible for the carnage. brushing a piece of fabric against her mouth, whilst backing away from a steaming, squelching pile of vomit.

Over her various rotations around the maze, she could see Ram's movements turning slow and laborious. If she continued exerting herself the way she was, it wouldn't be long till she dropped dead of exhaustion. She wasn't about to let her die like an animal in the middle of the desert.

"Ram, start falling back towards the carriage. It'll be safer there for you, I'll keep watch over the North."

The Hunter started approaching the maid, waving her arms and gesturing towards the inner labyrinth. Hoping Ram would be receptive to her suggestion, she felt cast down as she saw the girl's face contorted in anger.

"As if that would ever be a reason for me to run away, don't think of me as a coward!"

The short woman started marching towards the stumped Hunter, her face completely twisted to express sheer disgust.

Erin hadn't meant to offend the young woman, so why did she look so enraged at her request.

"I'm not trying to say you're weak, I-It's just that you've been vomiting after each fight for the past hour."

Erin tried to plead with the enraged Ram, her feet stomping even more furiously after hearing Erin's pleas.

Eventually, after a few seconds of angry marching, she'd reach Erin, the top of her head barely passing the Guardians chest. Looking down, Erin's gaze met with Ram's. Even though the dark shading of her helmet, she could feel the maid's crimson eyes radiating emotions of sheer disgust and disdain towards the Hunter.

"Honestly, I don't care what you were trying to insinuate, but I will not put the carriage under any jeopardy. Wasn't the entire reason for us being on opposite sides of this labyrinth to stop any of these Vex from reaching the carriage in the first place. Why would I purposefully leave my post and let them get past us."

The short woman kept her gaze directly squared on whilst berating Erin over her suggestion.

"Perhaps you should leave and go help Sir Julius and the other fool, I'd rather not have you pestering me to run away like a coward."

Ram jabbed her slender finger into Hunter's chest plate, making her stumble back with unexpected strength.

Erin had the unfortunate chance of experiencing Ram's stubborn tenacity multiple times during their expedition. She knew she could never make her budge using words. Thinking of options while watching the maid look at her with further disdain, Erin thought that she could knock out Ram, and carry her back to the carriage so that she could regenerate some energy. The idea was quickly shafted when she realized that any physical alterations with this group would be cause for immediate hostility. As she pondered as to what to do, the sound of distant gunshots and explosions woke her from her stupor. Despite alerting her to the presence of more Vex approaching, it gave her an idea on what to do with Ram.

"Alright, if you want to stay here then at least let me give you this."

Lowering her shoulder, Erin swung around a small grenade launcher and presented it to Ram. The maid seemed inquisitive at the design of the weapon, its overall appearance being drastically different from the two firearms she'd seen in her lifetime.

"What is this?"

The maid looked up from the weapon and into Erin's visor, her face which had been contorted in anger now eased to an emotion closely resembling that of confusion and apprehension.

"Is this another one of those "guns"?" The maid raised her eyebrow inquisitively, seeming to study the cylinders of the weapon.

"Yes, although it works differently to the one I use and the one I gave to Subaru. It fires projectiles that explode. Imagine you're throwing explosive rocks with the force of a trebuchet."

The Hunter tucked the grenade launcher underneath her armpit, keeping it still with one arm whilst the other unbuckled a belt of grenades. With one hand she carefully hoisted the belt over her shoulder with a clunk from the grenades hitting each other.

"Here, these are the grenades you load into it once you use all the ones already loaded into the launcher."

Erin nudged her head towards the bandolier of grenades, giving a thumbs up whilst doing so. In one quick motion, she shifted her right arm to drop the grenade launcher, grabbing it by the handle before it dropped on the sand. The Hunter lifted the grenade launcher, outstretching her arm to offer the weapon to the maid.

"Ha, as if I would need your pity weapon." The maid let out a smug laugh, considering the request to be rather bothersome.

"This is for when your throat dries and you can't shout your magic spells anymore. All this gun needs to kill is a functional trigger finger and the strength to reload it."

Growing irritated, she shook the launcher in front of the maid, insisting that the grenade launcher would only serve as a last resort. Ram's aura of disdain continued to permeate around the two women, however, she seemed to be reconsidering the offer.

"Fine, if it'll make you leave me then I'll take it."

Ram walked closer to the Hunter and grabbed the grenade launcher from her hands. It appeared quite large in her small hands. Thankfully, it was light enough to not need much strength to keep it upright. Feeling satisfied, Erin gave a nod and a quick sigh of relief before handing the bandolier to the maid. Ram grabbed the bandolier, slinging the grenade launcher over her back before buckling the new accessory around her waist.

"If things get too hot for you up here, use your microphone to call me." The Hunter spoke a few final words, before waving goodbye and running through the maze.

"Hrmph." Ram snorted before turning her attention towards the sound of heavy marching. From the sound, she could infer a dozen Vex soldiers approaching her position. A flurry of ideas flowed through her brain as she clutched the handle of the gun tightly. A devious grin formed across the woman's face. Her mind settled on a plan to annihilate her enemies.]

["How the hell can that kid put up with this woman…"

Vaulting over broken walls and crawling through tight corners, the only thing occupying her thoughts were the echoes of Ram's infernal nagging. She prayed that for her sake, that after this endeavor was over she'd never have to deal with Ram again.

"This way!"

Shoving aside the shivering remnants of Ram's voice, Erin focused hard on finding her way back to her Ghost. Her body ached in pain and her armor was torn enough to warrant immediate repair. Hunter armor was durable and tough, able to withstand a large amount of damage before any form repair would be needed. Compared to the armor or Warlocks and Titans, unfortunately it was the weakest. She was far from her Ghost for an extended period of time. Left to fend off on her own, she had to rely on her decades of learned skills.

Running beside a dense wall, she felt her blood run cold as the sound of crackling electricity reverberated from the other side of the thin ice.

"Shit!"

The thundering crash of metal against ice made her instinctively roll away the source. Crashing through and barely grazing her cloak, a Vex Wyvern violently landed with a booming thud against the sand. The weight of its crash was enough to make the wall adjacent to it shatter into pieces. It rose slowly from its crouched position, its body morphing back into its bipedal stance. Its side-appendages re-extending into their normal positions, wreathed with glowing blue tentacles.

"Of all things. Why'd I have to be one of you…"

She'd hoped, against her better judgment, that they'd be finished before a Wyvern would appear.

She threw a smoke bomb at her feet, knowing that she would need to reorinate herself to fight the Wyvern. It exploded into a cloud of thick Void mist, enveloping the one inside it. Her body turned into a hazy blur, making her almost completely invisible. Thankfully, it seemed the Wyvern had lost complete track of her. It scanned around it, but began to walk away after a few moments. Now being in relative safety, she debated on what action she should take.

Memories of the Vex attack inside the Eliksni quarters flashed through her mind. The streets were littered with the bodies of both Vex and Eliksni. The Vanguard sent fireteams as soon as Vex were detected. Tragically, the Eliksni had already been rounded up by Lakshmi and her followers, packaging them perfectly for the Vex to slaughter. Her first encounter vividly. She remembers her stomach spinning, as she descended down. She remembers the awful screeching of Dregs and Vandals as their bodies were eviscerated by the heat of the Wyverns cannon blasts.

The Wyvern models are considered by Guardians across Europa to be among the deadliest. Their builds were unlike any other Vex that's been described in Vanguard records. Their first sightings on Europa were a surprise for both Guardians and Eliksni. Their overwhelming power tore through unprepared Guardians and Eliksni, crushing the ranks of House Salvation with ease.

Despite their strength, it didn't take long for Guardians to discover their weak point. A vial of radiolarian fluid, however it was kept covered at all times under thick platting of armor. Only with excessive damage to the head would the radiolaria core be exposed. There were other methods to dismantle the Wyverns, however most were exceedingly dangerous for any non Light bearer

Knowing the consequences of leaving a Wyvern roam unchallenged, she steeled her nerves with a deep breath, concentrating on its unblinking eye. She may have been invisible, but any sound she made would still be very audible.

The Wyvern's head swiveled and twisted in different directions, its bio-scanners combing through the area trying to find its hidden prey.

Without warning it began firing wildly, blowing away chunks of ice and sand.

Grunting in frustration, Erin grabbed her rifle and loaded her final magazine. In the past she'd scavenge parts from her fallen enemies and convert them into ammo for her weapons. Unfortunately, Ram's violent destruction of the Vex left little for her to scavenge, most of the metal being bent or cut beyond recognition. She had three spare magazines before she'd left her post with Ram, although she was forced to fire two rounds at distant Hobgoblins.

The blasts from the Wyverns cannons crept closer and closer to her position, waves of Void energy brushing against her helmet's visor.

Counting four bullets in her magazine, she sized up her chances of hitting all her shots. Three shots to the eye, and one clean shot into its radiolarian core.

She waited for an opening in its firing pattern, avoiding its explosions with strained grace.

"..."

Her bullet found its mark giving an audible thunk as it cracked its glass. Her shot made her body exit its invisible state, leaving her exposed to the Wyvern. It turned its cannons towards the Hunter, emitting electric wiring that sounded close to distorted screams of animals. Its cannons crackled with Void energy and began firing both on her crouched form. She dashed to the side, clutching her rifle close to her chest and began sprinting down the hall of ice. Now that she had her attention she needed to fight in a open area with enough space for her to dodge its Void blasts. She checked over her shoulder to see it following her, its blue tentacles writhing in unbridled frustration as it fired down the hall. Its bullets spread as they rocketed their way towards Erin, striking against the sand and the hallways walls. Ducking and weaving through the cannon blasts, she closed the gap between her and the end of the hallway. She could see an opening, not as large as she hoped but it had enough cover that she could protect herself against its blasts.

"Goddamnit!"

Nearing the end of the hall, she was forced to slide as a headless Minotaur slammed against the wall. Shocks of electricity sparked from the socket where its head was once lodged in. Leaning upwards it tore a chunk of sharp ice from the wall it crashed into, crushing it in its clawed hands into tiny chunks. It threw the ice at Erin, who ducked downwards to avoid getting minced by the force of the ice thrown. The chunks avoided Erin but struck the legs of the Wyvern, a hefty thud resonating as it bent parts of the metal on its leg. The Wyvern staged, leaning down but never ceasing to fire its cannons, however they knew they were highly inaccurate.

The Minotaur didn't seem to care for hitting its ally, instead charging forwards towards the Hunter. Erin tried to push herself away from the Minotaurs path but her exhaustion had made her movements sluggish. The Vex's claws dug through her shoulders, causing her to scream in intense agony. Its hand tore through her armor, striking first against her muscles, then through her shoulder blade. Her shattered bone exploded into jagged chunks, stabbing through her respiratory organs. Her muscles were violently torn, leaving her left arm limp with a numbing pain blasting through it.

Pain was, by proxy, common for her. From bullets bouncing off her armor, to falling from great heights, to getting chewed on by monsters; She was very accustomed to pain. That said, she could never get used to it. No one could, even with the divine Light of the Traveler, pain was the only thing a Guardian retained from their previous life. The pain of bones shattering, of flesh ripping and muscles tearing all was the same to every Guardian.

"ah…AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Searing pain ran down her entire body, causing her to start shaking uncontrollably. She tried to move her arm upwards towards the Minotaur, but the sensation of moving muscles was absent. She looked down, noticing a long piece of metal embedded in her arm. Panicked, she turned her head to face her other arm. She held to her rifle so firmly, that even after separation from the body her hands stayed clamped over the handle.

She anticipated the same pain that she felt in her left arm.

As her brain was scrambling between flight or flight, the Minotaur readied its free arm. It jagged fingers dug into her stomach, piercing through her spinal cord. She tried to open her mouth to scream, but the command wouldn't process through her broken nerves. She could just watch, idly, as the Minotaur clenched its fist and threw it at her face.

What remained of her pain receptors relayed the stabbing pain of broken glass embedded in her skin. One eye remained functional although heavily tinted in a crimson shade. Her other eye was blacked out, most likely popped by the Vex's fist. Her brain had gone through this experience many times before, in a twisted way it was accustomed to this feeling. The moments before complete nothingness. She knew well not to think much before it all faded, it tended to only make things hurt more when she was brought back into the living world.

The last few cells in her body would work hard to keep her dying organs alive, before they too would succumb to blood loss.

"-"

Her working ear caught a quiet noise, echoing from outside its hearing range. Faint, but still very much so audible. The gnashing teeth of monsters, shrieking into the desert sky. Their claws scarring the sand.

Her dying brain began to think once more, trying to piece together what it was. She needed only a few seconds to understand what was making that noise.

The last few of her neurons flared across her mind, sending one final thought they'd cease to function.

Fear.

Not for herself, but for her newfound companions. They wouldn't know the hell that awaited them behind those roars.]

[Looking up towards the stale, blue sky, Julius watched the brilliant sun of his world become shrouded in the darkness of a storm. The whirlwinds of the desert had started once more.

Recalling the steps from Erins plan, he sheathed his sword and sprinted towards the center. The majority of the ice walls surrounding him had crumbled either from the heat of the sun or the constant barrage of the Vex. The lack of cover gave openings for the sand wind to flow its way through the corridors. He could feel the sand crawl down his throat and he breathed.

An impulse stirred deep within himself. He stopped and focused his mind on his surroundings. He had begun his attempt to call out to the spirits once more.

"..."

Silence. His calls were ignored, all that could be heard was the deafening roar of the wind. Day and Night, he'd call out to the spirits, trying to regain bond with the spirits that pushed him through the hardest times. Day and Night, the spirits would ignore his calls. Ever since his identity was swallowed by the followers of Gluttony, his connection to the spirits was severed. He felt emptiness for several weeks, relying only on his swordsmanship and trying to adjust to living as a nameless Knight. Fighting now alongside his companions, his stomach churned in jealousy as he watched Erin call forth a bow of darkness from nothing, or when Subaru would call upon his "Little Girl Arts" to devastate his foes.

He shook his head at those warped images of his companions.

"Now's not the time for jealousy." he thought.

His skills with the sword were all that were needed to survive against these new foes of his.

Gaining a tinge of confidence back, he continued his run. Passed through more and more broken hallways, he stumbled upon dozens of Vex corpses. Their bodies were either cut, or burned to ash. Small pits of fire and nests of claws were dotted amongst the machine's remains.

"What is this?"

Kneeling down, he ran his fingers against the gashes, studying the ridges and creases. Images of fellow soldiers bearing similar claw marks across their bodies flashed, giving the creature a possible identity.

"Witchbeasts? If so…These are small…" He brushed the tip of his fingers against the gashes, trying to feel any familiarity.

"Although these…" Julius turned his head to look further down the wall, "are very unnerving."

Further up the trail, chunks of sharpened ice and gashed sand marked the sight of Minotaurs remains.

He turned away from the smaller gashes and approached the larger ones. Standing over them, he could tell that one claw mark was as large and wide as his torso.

"Guiltylowe? No.…Too large, and these footprints-What on Earth…"

Julius mumbled to himself as he studied the imprints of large footprints. Two pronged and wide, he mumbled to himself what sort of creature it could be, but none would match the description of anything he had seen.

"Blood."

The scent of iron started to overwhelm his nostrils. Ignoring all other gashes or pits of fire he trudged forward towards the source of the smell.

"..."

A large beam of ice stood in between himself and the path ahead. Sheathing his sword, he mustered all of his strength and hoisted the beam over his shoulder.

"Oh shit…Dear god…"

The scent of blood overtook all of Julius' scenes. Chunks of chewed meat and fractured armor layed strewn across the sand. Leaned against the wall, a pile of unrecognizable flesh and bone stood slumped against the wall. The frame of a Vex Minotaur stood disemboweled beside the gruesome sight, in its claws, tufts of golden hair were interlocked between its fingers. Its legs were detached, trails of blood and puss leading towards the lacerated limbs.

"Erin…"

There was only one person in their group that donned blonde locks of hair. Her hair which glistened brightly in the desert sun, now lay clumped in blots of rendered flesh and blood.

"Did the Vex do this?"

Her torso was crushed against the ice wall, clear signs of intense weight crashing into her. His eyes trailed upwards towards the remnants of her head. Fragmented pieces of her skull still clung loosely to the severed skin.

He kneeled down to examine her wounds further. Most of her exposed skin was covered in deep lacerations, but to him were clearly not the cause of her death.

Questions and theories bounced around his head about what could've caused those injuries.

His mind wandered towards the suspected Witchbeasts. The thickness of the claw marks somewhat matched the large gashes against the sand.

If they were Witchbeasts, they were far more ferocious than he'd anticipated. Most likely bolstered by the witches' miasma flowing heavily with the sand wind.

Left speechless and without answers, he recomposed himself and thought of what to do.

"Grain…Gotta call Grain."

Grabbing his microphone, he pressed it against his ear and pressed in. He needed to report what he found; the claw marks, fire, and Erins unfortunate demise.

"Grain! Are you there? Grain, please respond!"

The radio flickered, a moment of feedback buzzed through Julius's ear.

"Julius?! Are you there!"

The metallic voice of a Ghost chirped through the other end of the microphone.

"Yes, I am present. Grain, listen to me. Erins was killed. I don't know by what or whom, but I've found large claw marks, along with pits of fire around her body.

Julius spoke hurriedly to the Ghost on the other end. During his anxious waiting, he'd failed to notice blood beginning to seep into his boots. He tried to sidestep away from the puddle, but the crimson liquid had already made its way inside the soles of his shoe.

"..."

He began to pace forward away from the Hunter's remains. There was still silence on the other end of the line, only static feedback to indicate the line was still active between them. There were no cries, no shocked gasps, just silent contemplation.

"That…shit…is troubling, yes, but you shouldn't worry about that right now..."

"What?"

.

"It...It doesn't matter. Thank you for notifying me. Right now however, me and you have more pressing matters."

Confusion, anger, pain. No, none of those emotions were on display by the mechanical creature. Its voice was flat and true, no hint of regret or despair.

"I..What?"

Julius was left speechless.

"L-Liste-n Jul..us"

The voice on the other end began to break as it spoke, something had begun interfering with their signal.

"Fin-d An-.-sta—ia. T…h-...sim…lati…n is gon…"

"Wait, Anastasia is not there?!"

Julius' voice raises. He was under the impression that Anastasia would have made her retreat back to the center safely with Erin.

"Oh no…"

A sinking realization took him over, as he looked at where Erins face would be. She would've guided both Ram and Anastasia back towards the center once things began to become too overwhelming on each pole of the maze.

"R-aaam he…re….Ana. . .a i-ss…So…th ….GO!"

The garbled voice of the Ghost flared once more.

"N..o…wh….her.e…EV,...ER…Y..ONE….B.. ..KK NO..W.W!"

The sound of gunfire, and the familiar yelling of Subaru and Ram were accompanied by the gnashing screams of creatures unknown to Julius.

Their screams were unnatural, unholy.

There was no time to waste. He gave one last glance towards Erin's remains, gave a short prayer in his tongue and ran towards the Southern district. Only one thought surged through his mind.

"Anastasia, I'm gonna save you if it's the last thing I do."

He used the wind's direction to find the correct way to go. Finding the correct direction to follow, he unsheathed his sword and began running towards the South.

He turned and ran through various turns and loops, cutting through any beams of ice in his way. More and more, he ran over the broken frames of Vex combatants. He stumbled upon the perfectly intact head of a Vex Goblin. Its crescent shaped head gave the knight an idea. He leaned down and grabbed the Goblins head from the base, pulling out wires and wrapping them around his hand like rope. After a few seconds, he had created a makeshift shield from the head of a Vex Goblin.

"Alright, onwards then."

Julius weighed the makeshift shield in his hand, before taking off towards his perceived direction of Anastasia. More and more broken frames he found, but no sign of Anastasia.

"Yang magic…. Ana must be close."

Residual magic glided with the winds of the desert. It wasn't often that he'd seen Anastasia use magic, although the times he did it involved a form of Yang magic. This was the unmistakable Anastasia trail.

He followed the trickles of Yang energy, passing by Vex frames that had been eviscerated through. Most likely the work of Anastasia's Yang magic he thought.

As soon as the trail of magic started, it suddenly stopped. Not at a dead end but in the middle of a narrow corridor. He focused his hearing to try and discern any abnormalities in the pitching of sound around him, hoping he'd hear Anastasia either breathing or casting magic.

Nothing. Only the sound of the desert wind blowing against his ear drums.

He opened his mouth to scream, but hesitated. He didn't want to draw any unwanted attention towards him or Anastasia. He'd find her, he was sure of it.

As he walked forward, the feeling of his damp foot pressing against his boot ceased. As did with the feeling of sand wafting against his body.

He gripped his hands tightly, but could not feel either sword or shield.

The sound of wind beating against his ears faded into a constant white noise.

Was he getting attacked? Was his mind being targeted by something? A witchbeasts? An unknown Vex? He tried to walk forwards, but couldn't feel his limbs anymore. He tried to blink, but he couldn't feel the moisture against his eyes. His eyes darted around, he could vaguely see the colors of his uniform, and the brown gold of the sand. He tried to think about what to do, but his brain would always stop in its tracks.

He began to not think anymore, only seeing and thinking about the immediate.

With a sudden stabbing pain, all senses returned to him at once. The wet feeling of blood against his damp sock, the sensation of hearing and the hot sand against his face hit him all at once. His mind rattled as it tried to comprehend all the new noises and feelings suddenly returning. He hadn't noticed that he had actually fallen over during his episode of emptiness.

The knight yelled in pain as he felt the wetness of his windpipe vibrating with noise.

"What the fuck was that!?"

He pushed himself suddenly off the floor, grabbing every part of himself to make sure he could feel everywhere. Slowly regaining the memories of his fingers movements, he grabbed his fallen sword and shield and lifted himself upright.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The violent wind was overtaken by the guttural screams of a woman. Her screams reverberated against Julius eardrums. He recognized the voice of the scream.

"Ana!"

The scream had come from the adjacent side of the wall he was beside. Gripping his weapons tightly, he charged forwards towards the scream. Determined to save his companion from whatever hell she was experiencing.]

[Deep between the oppressive halls and twisting corridors of Emilia's ice maze, the Vex marched through blindly, unknowingly facing the brunt of a power they had little exposure to.

Behind a half-crumbled wall, a petite woman with bright violet hair lay crouched in an ambush. All around her, she could feel the vibrations of heavy footsteps surge through her body with each step. She tried her best to fight them off using as little mana as she could, but her magic did little to halt their assault. The Vex had continued their assault for over an hour, Erin and her knight Julius came to assist her on multiple occasions, but they had suddenly stopped their aid after a large explosion happened on the other side of the maze. She was left to fend for herself, using illusions and low-grade magic to misdirect the Vex and slow them down. Unfortunately, the Vex began to catch on to her tricks and could repel most of her attacks. She knew that if she didn't use her full magic, she wouldn't survive long. Anastasia carefully counted each step the Vex took, each step was a second closer to them finding her. She was unsure if anyone would come to her aid, though she feared using her full magic abilities. She understood the consequences of using her full magic ability.

"Anastasia…Please bear with it a little longer…"

Their marching became louder and louder as if drums of despair beat against her ears. Closer and closer, she could feel the heat from their weapons burning the air around her. She couldn't allow herself to die here, she couldn't die, she had to push forward. She had to save herself.

"EL JIWALD."

Anastasia dashed out from her cover and thrust her mana-coated arms towards her enemies. Seering beams of light gather around her fingers and quickly shot forward. The beams of light gathered together as they flew towards the Vex, forming a claw of destruction. Her claw tore through the Vex Goblins violently, splitting their limbs and abdomens apart.

Besides her magic prowess, her cunning had helped her thrive against the Vex.

Whilst attacking, she had deviated a strand of her destructive Yang magic towards the wall behind her attackers. The magic struck with force hard enough to shatter the base of the wall. The broken ice gave way, causing the rest of the wall to fall downwards onto the path in front of her, cutting off anyway to get to her from outside.

"Good enough…for now…"

Despite her victory, the pain on her body overwhelmed her sense of victory with that of despair. With a heavy sigh of relief, Anastasia fell back onto her behind. A hefty grunt escaped her mouth as she hit the sand, the pressure of strong magic being casted back to back began to heavily drain her vitality.

"Argh...Shit!"

Unbeknownst to Anastasia, the stray bullets fired had hit the sand beneath her. The heat was extreme enough to turn the sand into rough shards of glass.

She pulled her hands up quickly, turning them over to see the glass embedded deep into her flesh. Her magic abilities had already been hindered due to the state of her body. Having her hands impaled added mountains of stress on the already large pile of pain.

"…"

She slumped herself against a wall, letting out a shallow heave of satisfaction at survival. The spell took a lot from her mana supply, coupled with the injuries on her hand, she would only have enough mana to cast one more spell.

"Sorry, Anastasia, but you can always buy another dress…"

The one truly in control over Ana's body, Echidna, the artificial fox spirit, gave the real Anastasia her sincerest apologies before grabbing at the hem of her dress and ripping it away. She took the ripped strands of clothing and neatly lay them on the ground, before reaching and plucking out the shards of glass in her hands. With each piece removed, she could feel the blood rush back into her hand, giving her slight control over her fingers once more.

"...Better…"

In only a few moments, she had removed all the shards of glass that were embedded in her hands. In order to stop the bleeding, she picked up the ripped strands of clothing and wrapped them around her hands giving her a crude form of bandages. She opened and closed her fists multiple times before letting out a satisfied sigh. Seeing a chance to recover her strength, she lowered her guard and relaxed her head against the wall, catching her breath and regaining her strength.

The beating of her heart eased, the rush of battle beginning to fade from her nerves. For now, the Southern district of the maze had been cleared. It wouldn't last for long, she knew that. More Vex would eventually phase their way closer and closer towards the center, as they've done before.

However, she still had time to recuperate some strength, before facing the Vex offensive head on. The one glint of hope that kept herself brimming with strength, were the sounds of gunshots and the clashing of metal against metal. It kept her informed, the only way she knew that her allies were still fighting on.

"Did we…win?"

The resounding scream of explosions ceased as sudden as they began. She leaned forwards away from the wall. Her senses focused, trying to pick up on any signs of battle.

"..."

Nothing, not even the buzzing of white noise grazed her ears. Not the woosh of the sand wind blowing, the firing of weapons or the clashing of metal. The feeling of sand between her fingers and the taste of humidity against her skin. Gone. Nothing left.

She could feel her heart race. This wasn't right. It was as if the endings of her nerves were severed. She tried desperately to call out but no noise would leave her mouth, in fact, she couldn't feel her mouth. Her tongue, teeth, even her saliva were absent from her sense of touch.

"!"

Her heart jumped, all her senses came roaring back into her body. The sudden taste of sand, the blistering heat on her skin, the pain of lacerations assaulted the young woman's senses.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

the sound of a gale of sand overwhelming her sense of hearing. She covered her ears, trying to stop the wind from assaulting her eardrums. She could feel the wet sensation of blood pooling against her palms. The sound grew louder and louder, as if it the wind itself was swearing inside her brain.

"..."

Anastasia's eyes darted side to side, anxiously watching as the sand beneath her feet began to swirl into a violent torrent of sand wind. Chunks of rock, and shards of ice began to encompass the shape of the whirlwind. Without hesitating, she pulled her palms away from her ears, letting the built up blood rush down her cheeks. She tucked her head between her arms and entered into the fetal position, trying her best to cover herself from the assaulting wind. Her slender arms were barely enough to keep the jagged rocks from slicing against her eyes. One after another, rock and ice sliced across her delicate skin, tearing away chunks of flesh and leaving bloody gashes. Rocks slammed against her head, it was getting harder for her to endure the pain. Her consciousness began flickering, as more and more blood pooled around her. Opening her eyes occasionally, she saw flabs of her skin torn from her body leaving exposed muscle.

"Someone…"

She couldn't spare any strength to speak, her lips were crusting with each passing grain of sand against her dry mouth. The spirit inside Anastasia fought to keep her body in control but how long could she keep it up. The human body can only endure so much. Sooner or later, the back of her skull would soon cave in, as her broken fingers would lose their function as shields.

There was so much more that needed to be done. Anastasia's status, her reputation, her life would all die here due to the spirits inability to fight.

Eventually, she could no longer feel her fingers. Her muscle was left bare to endure the brunt of the freezing ice and the rugged edges of rocks.

"I…failed…"

A fleeting thought echoed through her bleeding mind, before her body gave out and left itself bare to the world.

"..."

Without warning, the violent wind tearing at her flesh ceased. Chunks of bloodied rock, ice and skin abruptly shot around her, leaving an unnerving outline of herself against the sand.

"W…Wh.."

Her fleeting strength only allowed her to move her eyes and give function to her ears. Sounds of gunfire and metal clashing against metal returned to her ears. Her vision was fuzzy, but she turned her eyes to the side to see four figures. A tall creature, its red piercing eye pushing back against something dark. She couldn't comprehend what the creature was. To her it was a mass of dark green pushing against something silver. Her mind wandered to moss from a forest, overtaking the discarded armor of a fallen knight.

"How pretty…"

Her eyes flickered again, slowly darkening the world around her. Soon she would sleep. The pain of muscle exposed to the sun didn't matter anymore, she would soon be able to sleep off the pain.

All was dark, only the sounds of screams and her name being called out by a familiar voice. She couldn't put her finger on who it was. To her sounded so recognizable, as if they'd known each other for years.

Her consciousness was at its limit, it couldn't bother to remember anymore. It just wanted to rest. It would rest, rest to keep Anastasia alive. She would go back, she wouldn't die here. She could rest with the thought that she would be safe.

Her eyes flickered one more time, before shutting and leaving her in complete darkness.

There was something she saw however, something that did stir her mind even if for a moment. The green creature had turned its head towards her. It held something in its hand, a club, a sword? It didn't matter to her. She was mesmerized not by the object it held. But from its eyes. Its eyes were very pretty. They glowed so brilliantly in the dark. The color she thought matched its skin color so perfectly.

She'd seen so much brown and blue, she'd almost forgotten how brilliant emerald shined.]

AN:

….

Well hello there, it's been a few months hasn't it.
I have no real excuse as to why I have been gone so long. Laziness, burnout, blocks, it was a lot of that.

But on a more positive note a lot of good things have been going on my life. I've been getting more and more invigorated as the months have gone on. I really want to apologize about my absence. As stated above I really don't have any real excuse as to why I haven't posted or even updated those who were there on the day it was published or even afterwards. Here, I want to sincerely apologize for keeping people in the dark. In all honesty, most people would've given up on this fic and I would completely understand. I've read my share of fics that start and then end abruptly around Chapter X or whatnot. I considered quitting a lot of times, just posting a goodbye message and then going on with my life. But every day I could feel the urge to just check the Fanfiction page or the Archive of our Own page and I would see new people reading it. It may not have been much, but the fact that new people would read my fanfiction everyday put a small smile on my face. I saw comments too, from people really enjoying the story. Those comments were truly the ones that pushed me forward to get off my ass and finish the next chapter.

Enough of the rambling. In old fashion, I'd like to say thank you for reading this chapter, new or returning reader. Even if you skim through it, the fact that you spent time looking over it makes the hours I've spent worth it.

I can't promise anything concrete on when the next chapters will be out, but I can say with confidence that it won't be months long waiting. Additionally, with the release of Witch Queen and all the new lore behind that has made me reconsider and rethink a lot of future plot points. I think it's gonna be juicy.

Again, thank you all for reading. Hope to see you next time,
Sincerely, Suez.

"P.S: Vow of the Disciple Day 1 was a pain in the ass, but we did it.

Did I get anything good?

No.

PSPS: The beta reader is having a stroke, send help.

Cat