A/N So, this is a sequel to my Halloween special, Prison Break. If you haven't read that, none of this will make any sense. Not that it makes much more sense with context.

"Two months ago, an einheri named Quercus Cosmo left our hall.

"She was given a gift, and she rejected it. She chose the dishonourable path, in the face of our paradise.

"This cannot be allowed to stand. Our warriors must see that defiance of fate will only lead to failure.

"It is now winter on Mobius. Her species is cold-blooded, and her minions are in hibernation. And this delay will have made her underestimate us.

"Find her. And bring her back, at any cost."

Life was good.

Cosmo shone a sun-lamp directly into her eyes as she relaxed outside, photosynthesising the light happily. It was a beautiful winter morning at the workshop. Last night had been a snowstorm approaching a blizzard, but the clouds had cleared around sunrise, and now the thick layer of snow was reflecting a clear blue sky. It would probably melt by afternoon, but for now it was a breathtaking sight. Even the low temperature wasn't bothering her much, as she had traded her by now quite battered white dress for some warmer apparel, in particular a hand-knitted green turtleneck, with designs of flowering vines. Tails had made it for her, as a Christmas present, whatever Christmas was. He wasn't the best knitter, but she still loved it.

Cosmo had always liked winter. It was counter-intuitive, she knew; back home, winter was always something to be dreaded, with the blackened, leafless trees, and the low energy and feelings of lethargy the cold brought. There was a reason why all the festivals for the dead happened in the cold months. But she liked the quiet atmosphere, and found the tiredness strangely soothing. It made her feel like she could spend her days relaxing calmly, without a care.

And that was exactly what she intended to do this winter. Two months ago, as soon as she had returned, Cosmo had devised a plan. Her fears about what would happen post-Valhalla were still very much present, even through the pure joy of being home again. So, as soon as the tearful reunions were over, and the last of the parties had been thrown, she threw herself with enthusiasm into not doing anything at all.

The idea was that an extended period of peace would allow her to "detoxify", losing her mental calluses and regaining her fear of death – both hers, and other people's. Cosmo knew that she couldn't just jump back into her old life fresh out of Valhalla, even with the support of her friends, so she gave herself plenty of time to meditate and readjust.

She hadn't told anyone where she had gone when she died. She didn't want to relive it. They had all been very understanding, and left her to heal at her own pace.

And now, she felt like it was working. When she returned, the paranoia had actually been the worst part. At first, she had constantly been looking over her shoulder for Valkyries, although she thought that they would have followed her if they could. She hadn't interacted with the others as much as she would have liked, for fear that she'd let something slip. But the worst part was when she'd go to sleep peacefully, only to dream about waking up in Valhalla again.

Cosmo had worked through it. She had buried her Valhalla-trained instincts deep inside her mind, and now she finally felt like she could lead a relatively normal life. Maybe she'd offer to help at the next Eggman fight.

She turned away from the lamp, resting her eyes, and took a sip of her drink, looking at the stunning view. In the distance, she could just about see smoke rising, and the occasional flash. Eggman didn't usually attack so close to the workshop, but there had been... she actually hadn't been listening, but it was a shipment of computer parts or something. Sonic and Tails had gone to fight, leaving her at home. For some reason, she minded more now than the other times – probably a sign that she was getting better.

There was an unusually clear rainbow in the sky above the fight. She admired it for a while.

Then, it started to grow.

Cosmo leaned forward, confused, until she realised. It wasn't getting bigger. Somehow, it was getting closer.

Rainbow bridge.

It was speeding up. She swore loudly, leaping from her chair, and hurriedly pulled a small cloth pouch from beneath it. She had made that pouch on her first night back, and always kept it hidden in quick grabbing range ever since.

Cosmo opened it, reaching out mentally. Still safe. She slipped it into her sleeve, took a deep breath, and turned to face the Valkyries.

Valkyries, plural. She wasn't prepared for that. She guessed she might be able to win a one-on-one fight, maybe even two or three now that she was home. But twelve? That wasn't feasible.

Not that she was going to give up.

"What took you so long?"

The one in the fanciest armour, clearly the leader of the group, glared at her. "It may be dishonourable to retreat. But waiting for the right moment is merely another strategy."

"Oh, very witty. Come up with that one all by yourself?" She stood as straight as she could, suppressing her almost paralysing fear.

"You've caused quite the upheaval. No einheri has ever left Valhalla before."

"I asked around. Apparently, I was the only one who cared."

The Valkyrie narrowed her eyes. "Perhaps. But one runaway is one too many." In unison, they levelled their spears towards her.

"Quercus Cosmo of Valhalla. Prepare to return home."

The leafless trees around them burst into life, twisting themselves into weapons.

"You'll have to kill me first."

Two kinds of blood were splattered across the scuffed-up, rapidly melting snow.

The first was red, and shimmered unnaturally, like a failing hologram. Little spots of it dotted the area sporadically.

The second was a vibrant green, the colour of lush grass, and was mostly centralised to one, terrifyingly large patch.

Tails was trying very hard not to panic.

"Crap." Sonic looked over at him, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Okay. We were only gone for... twenty, twenty-five minutes. Whatever happened here, she can't be far, right? At least, not for us." He was clearly almost as panicked, and was very transparently trying to make Tails calm down and focus.

It worked, though. Tails closed his eyes, willing away the images of spaceships and cannons, and a very important fact floated into his mind. He ran into the workshop and over to his desk, searching through the drawers.

"Tails?"

"She gave me something. An envelope. Told me to open it if -" he paused, pulling said envelope from its hiding spot below his old blueprints, and suddenly became quiet. "- if... anything happened to her."

He looked at his brother. "Did she... know? That she'd disappear like this?"

They were silent, as they both for the first time considered a question that had been puzzled over by every sentient being in history at some point. Just where did she go when she died?

Sonic motioned to the envelope. "Go ahead." Tails carefully opened it, pulling out a letter and a small booklet. They began to read.

Tails,

If you're reading this, I've probably been kidnapped.

First, let me apologise. I didn't tell you what happened, or how I came back. I know I should have, but I was too scared of reliving it. Maybe, if you don't ever read this in the end, I can tell you myself one day. But if you do, then it means I didn't, and everything's gone wrong because of it.

I'm writing this now, the night after I came back, because there's a good chance I won't make it to the morning. If the Valkyries come to drag me back, I don't know if I can stop them.

Still, I'm not giving up. I refuse to go back. Which is why, when I'm done writing this letter, I'm going to write up every little thing I know about Valhalla.

Enclosed is all the information I was able to gather over the time I spent there. Hopefully, you can put it to good use.

I hope to see you soon.

Love,

Cosmo

Tails opened the booklet, quickly running his eyes over the content. As he read, he turned pale. "This is..."

Sonic looked over his shoulder. "What the hell? What is this?"

They read through the booklet, the silence only broken by the occasional gasp from Tails and Sonic's silent but still tangible suppressed swearing.

Finally, Sonic collapsed on the sofa, head in his hands. "Jeez... I can see why she didn't tell us about that. Spending all that time there..."

Tails remained standing, staring intently at the booklet, expression unreadable. "She must be there now."

"I guess. So what do we do?"

"We go there."

"How are we supposed to do that?"

Tails looked at Sonic, eyes gleaming with... enthusiasm? Determination? Malice? Christmas spirit?

"The last battlefield. Five minutes. I have an idea."

"Wake up."

Cosmo cracked open her eyes, wincing. Where was she? She could feel blood trickling down her face, and her head was pounding like...

Oh. Like twelve Valkyries had beaten her unconscious.

She looked up at the face staring disapprovingly down at her, and spat in it reflexively.

"Quercus Cosmo." The Valkyrie's face contorted in distaste. "About what I expected from someone like you."

"Go to Hel. I'm not playing your game anymore."

"So, that's how you see our paradise? Valhalla is far more than a mere game."

"We kill each other every day, without any consequences. What else would you call it?"

"Valhalla is a training ground. When Ragnarok comes, you warriors will be our first line of defence. You cannot be expected to properly fight in a war of that scale without proper practice." The Valkyrie leaned over, rage visible in her eyes. "Consider yourself lucky that we gave you this hall."

"I don't care about your stupid battle! I'm going home, and you can't stop me."

"Home? You are an einheri. This is your home now, Quercus. Whether you like it or not is of no consequence."

"So, that's it? You're just going to send me back?"

"Of course. We can't afford to waste a warrior of your... unique ability." The last part sounded strained.

Back. Cosmo reached out with her powers, farther than she had ever reached before, and felt nothing. No plants that could save her. She could feel the hope draining away, the panic rising, like lead in her stomach. It was a maddening, almost physically painful sensation.

She struggled against the chains binding her to the chair, straining harder with her mind, almost screaming with frustration.

"There's no point. We removed that little backup of yours." The Valkyrie turned to two more standing next to the door. "Take her to the battlefield."

Cosmo screamed, in rage, frustration, and terror. And at last, she felt her mental tendrils, extended painfully far, brush gently against something.

The Valkyries pulled her to her feet. The interrogator went to leave, but paused, turning around.

"You know..." She considered her words for a moment, looking at Cosmo like something under a microscope. "I still don't quite understand your motives. Why would you want to leave the warrior's paradise?"

Because I'm not a warrior. Because I finally have friends out there, people who care about me. Because I'm tired of spending my life doing what other people tell me.

Because I just don't want to die.

"Good question. You know the biggest difference between Valhalla and Mobius?"

"What's that?"

Cosmo tugged, and there was a distant crash. She looked the Valkyrie dead in the eyes, and, despite everything, smiled.

This Valkyrie had worked at Valhalla for a thousand years. And yet, that smile made her shiver.

"Biodiversity."

The door burst open.

Brunnhilde looked down at the burnt battlefield, looking for something alive.

She hadn't expected to find any souls here. After her failure two months ago, she had been reassigned to follow Sonic the Hedgehog. As if he'd be dying any time soon.

But a Valkyrie has an instinct for when people are about to die. And hers was going off like crazy.

She spotted movement out of the corner of her eye. Sonic was on the ground, coughing. He looked hurt. A large, battle-damaged robot was standing over him menacingly. This could actually be it. Brunnhilde swooped down to hover over him, hoping he put up a fight. This could be just what she needed.

The robot fired, and a streak of gold intercepted the blow. Tails kicked off the robot's head, before collapsing into the dirt, white fur streaked with red.

"Tails!"

So that was it. Well, he'd do fine. She flew over to the collapsed fox, reaching out for his hand. But instead of his soul coming loose, she only felt pain. Her body shuddered uncontrollably, and she collapsed next to him, quickly falling unconscious.

Tails stood up, brushing the fake blood off his fur and pulling the electrified patch from his glove. Sonic walked over to him.

"Huh. I can see her now."

"Guess they can't stay invisible when you tase them."

The other einherjar might not have been interested in escaping, but they weren't totally obedient.

Once, Cosmo had seen a Valkyrie die. It had been a particularly rowdy night, and she had spent most of it hiding in a corner. A thrown axe had gone off course, and embedded itself in a skull.

She hadn't seen that warrior again. But the next day, she saw the Valkyrie again. She had looked annoyed, but unharmed.

The vines snapped the necks of the two guards, as she raised her wooden blade, holding it to the neck of the interrogator. It made sense, of course. Why wouldn't the Valkyries have the same protection as the einherjar?

Come to think of it, she probably didn't have that anymore. A few seeds turned into trees with a popping sound, and started to twist around her, shaping themselves into a suit of armour.

The Valkyrie raised her head. "You won't get away with this. We will chase you. Wherever you go, we will find you. And one day, we will bring you back."

Cosmo looked at her, expression a strange fusion of enraged and exhausted.

"Don't you have anything better to do?"

The blade cleaved her neck.

"Are we nearly there yet?"

"No idea." Tails looked up at the swirling, rainbow-coloured vortex. "No idea whatsoever."

When the booklet had said "rainbow bridge", Tails had pictured the horse flying up to a rainbow and trotting along it. This was more like a spaceship entering warp drive in... well, any sci-fi movie ever.

He squinted forward, spotting a light at the end of the tunnel. He pointed towards it, hoping that it wasn't a metaphor for death. "I think that might be -"

Then the horse reached the light, and burst up into Asgard. Sonic and Tails stared out at the golden city, mouths agape.

"Oh. Guess it was."

The horse slowed down, whinnying questioningly. Tails looked over the edge, scanning the crowd. No one seemed to have noticed them yet.

"Can you take us to Valhalla?" It shot forward, heading for a large, castle-like structure.

I'm going to be fine.

Alarms blared as Cosmo ran down the hallway, vines throwing Valkyries and einherjar out of the way. Her armour moved in time with her legs, staving off fatigue as she sprinted.

She refused to let this undo all her progress. She could still get out. Last time had taken careful planning and preparation, but this time, she had the technological advantage. If this really counted as weapons technology.

Her plan was simple. Run as fast as she could to the stables, use the stolen Valkyrie insignia still stored in her pocket from last time to steal another horse, and hope she had enough seeds enough to make another Bifrost run. Then, get back to Mobius, take a shower, apologise to Tails for getting blood all over his handmade sweater, and maybe find a cape to go with this armour.

And live. She hoped that this would be intimidating enough to keep the Valkyries off her back, at least for a while. Next time, she would be better prepared.

She turned a corner, and almost ran headfirst into Tails.

They both screeched to a halt, equally shocked. Sonic, who had managed to get all the way down the hallway before noticing her, also stopped, looking back, before stepping out of sight, a touch awkwardly. Better give them some space.

Tails took in the suit of armour that looked like a living tree grown into the shape of a person, with components that moved almost telekinetically, sharp clawed hands, and a masked helmet with an intimidating jagged mouth design carved – or grown – into the wood, which quickly retracted, revealing Cosmo's tired face, stained with green blood.

"You look great."

She blinked. "Thanks. What are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you." He looked around at the chaos. "I guess you don't really need it."

"I appreciate it, though." She smiled warmly at him. "Thank you. And sorry. I... kind of ruined your present."

"Right." He looked down at the blood. "You didn't, um..."

"I had to." She looked down, embarrassed and somewhat scared. There was an uncomfortable silence.

"They're... resurrective immortals, right?"

"But it always feels like I'm killing someone. No matter how many times I remind myself that they aren't dead." Cosmo shivered. "This is why I didn't tell you. This place... I was scared that..." She paused. "... that I would stop being scared of it."

Tails put his hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "It'll be okay. Let's just get out of here for now, alright?" He looked at her determinedly. "And no matter what, I'll make sure we never come back."

"You're not mad, are you? I mean, about me keeping this a secret?"

"Of course not!" He smiled brightly at her. "I mean, it's not your fault, is it? The Valkyries made you do this... messed-up death game thing. And anyway, it's not like you killed anyone..." he looked at the blood again. "... permanently."

Cosmo stared at him, and abruptly started to laugh. She laughed as hard as she could, maniacal, hysterical laughter that both scared and relieved her. As she caught her breath, she suddenly leaned forward and hugged him tightly. "Thank you. You don't know how much I needed that."

Tails had just enough time to almost pass out before she let go, swooping past him. She spun around, smiling with determination. "Come on, I just thought of a plan. Let's get out of here!"

She ran off down the corridor, and Sonic walked up to Tails.

"That was so friggin' pure, bro."

"Sonic, I think I might marry her."

"Probably a good idea."

They ran out of the front gate straight into a horde of Valkyries.

Cosmo stepped confidently forward. "Hey! Who's in charge here?"

The one at the front floated down. She wore a set of intricate golden armour, with metal wings that gleamed blindingly bright in the sunlight.

"Quercus Cosmo. In all my years of service, I've never met anyone as disruptive as you."

"I never wanted to be sent here. You dragged me here for your fight, but you never asked if I wanted it. Were you watching me, when I fought?"

"Yes. You were... unusual, to say the least."

"Then you know better than me how many times I died before I was willing to kill someone. And I never got used to it. Even with this... resurrection thing."

"You claim to hate fighting, and yet you killed three of my sisters not an hour ago."

"Because you didn't give me a choice. And I'll assure you, if they hadn't been immortal -" she stepped forward, coming face to face with the Valkyrie, "- I would have done anything not to kill."

The Valkyrie narrowed her eyes at Cosmo. "Just how dedicated are you to fighting your fate, Quercus?"

"Enough. The point is, I'm a terrible einheri. You'd all be better off without me."

She seemed to consider it, before nodding. "You are still in Valhalla. And here, we settle arguments with death." She drew her spear. "Face me, Quercus. To the death, in single combat. If you can kill me, I will allow you and... those to leave."

"I thought you might say that. Fine. But make your sisters move back first."

The Valkyrie nodded at the horde, who moved away, forming a ring above them. She floated down to the ground, readying her spear. Cosmo's armour formed a pair of wicked-looking blades, and she waved at Sonic and Tails, who stepped back.

"In the name of Valhalla."

"Oh, shove it."

A pair of colourful missiles struck the Valkyrie, who stumbled back, falling over. And then Cosmo bolted.

They laughed as they ran away from the horde. Tails turned to Cosmo. "How did you know that would work?"

"Oh, I've studied them for a long time. That's the thing about immortals – they're really predictable."

"And that speech?"

"I can't tell you how many times I rehearsed those lines."

Sonic spin dashed a Valkyrie who was getting dangerously close. "Yeah, as cool as that was, we need to get out of here, and quick."

"Right. I'm guessing you stole a -" The horse leapt from a nearby rooftop, swooping down to fly beside them. "Oh hey, I think that's the same one I stole!"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah! Wow, Brunnhilde's totally getting fired."

Tails picked her up, flying over to the horse, and set her down in the saddle. He sat ahead of her, and turned pink. "Ah, sorry."

"Oh, it's fine, Tails." Cosmo laughed, before leaning over to the horse. "You know the drill by now. Try not to break any of my ribs this time, okay?"

"Wait, what?"

"Remind me to tell you how this went the first time."

Sonic leapt up onto the rooftops, in a parkour sequence so impressive that nobody could follow it, and ran alongside them. Cosmo looked behind her at the Valkyries chasing them, and then ahead at the rainbow bridge in the distance.

This was a scene that had featured prominently in her nightmares ever since her return. She remembered the last time she was here, a scarring ordeal of utter panic and impending despair.

But somehow, with Tails frantically directing the horse to dodge thrown spears, and Sonic fending off the close-range assailants, it didn't seem as bad. It was... bearable, and perhaps even close to the cusp of being somewhat fun.

"Hey, Tails? Is this what that 'Christmas spirit' thing is?"

"... Not really."

"Okay." She tossed the first seed, and it burst into a blunt-force missile.

The sky seemed to splinter into shards of light, twisting around the rainbow in a vortex of spiralling colours. The white winged horse burst from the portal majestically, landing gently on the grass outside the workshop.

Sonic, having graciously allowed his younger companions to take the mount, and thus lacking a horse of his own, merely faceplanted. Luckily, his skull was protected by organic diamond blades, and in any case he was used to it.

"Let's do that again!"

"Let's pray to every being in the universe that calls itself a god we don't ever have to do that again." Cosmo looked back at Tails, who seemed to be just now realising that he was sitting almost in her lap. He leapt off the horse to hover awkwardly in the sky for a moment, before his brain came back online.

"Do... do we get to keep the horse?"

"Oh, we absolutely get to keep the horse." Cosmo slid off its back, patting it on the head affectionately. "I'm going to call you... Snowy. Yeah, Snowy." Snowy whinnied happily, nosing her as she laughed.

Sonic peeled himself off the ground. "So is that it?"

"I don't know." Cosmo looked at the sky, feelings of elation fading. The rainbow had already vanished, and it was still a perfectly clear, calm day, like nothing had ever happened.

She turned quiet. "But if I had to make a guess, they'll probably attack again at some point." There was silence, as she realised for the first time what breaking out of Valhalla actually meant.

"Well, then we'll fight them off." She looked at Tails, whose expression was determined. "Together. And we'll keep doing it, until they understand that you're not going back."

She smiled at him, feeling, for the first time since her original death, truly content. There was no point in worrying. She was back home, and as long as her friends, these ridiculous idiots who were nearly her family, were by her side, it would all work out in the end.

"Thank you."

Somewhere in Hel...

Why fingernails, anyway?

She understood the concept of a part of someone's body containing their "essence", or at least she thought she did. But surely it would be easier to build a boat out of bones, or something? She would have brought it up with the organisers, but they weren't exactly talkative.

And besides, she was getting good at building things out of fingernails.

Speaking of which, they weren't looking her way right now. As she reached for another nail, she quickly slipped a second one into her pocket. Just a few more days, maybe a week if she was unlucky, and she would have enough to make herself a small but functional dagger.

And then... something. She wasn't really sure of her exact escape plan. She had no idea where the exit was, or how she might defeat her guards. The cold made it hard to even think, let alone build a boat out of small, thin objects. She doubted that she could win a fight right now.

But she was sure as here going to try.

Galaxina looked up at the dark sky, smiling. Oh yes, she was going to try.

A/N Wow, this was angstier than I intended. Longer, too – this is almost twice as long as the original. Hope you liked this sort-of-but-not-really-at-all Christmas special!

By the way, just so you know, Cosmo doesn't have a canon surname, so I made one up. I went with "Quercus" because it's the scientific term for the oak genus, and it sounds reasonably cool. I only realised after the fact that it sounds like "carcass", but I will take credit for that nonetheless.