Zach and Zappy ran through an empty room.

Suddenly, a cut appeared across Zappy's body. Zach turned, seeing nothing there. A second later, he was attacked as well.

The enemy had nothing to be detected by. They couldn't be seen or heard. Yet, they could damage the pair.

"Let's retreat a little!" He yelled to Zappy, pulling back.

More attacks came from the front. He blocked one, but a second later was attacked from behind.

He fired. The bullets hit nothing, then Zappy was attacked again. The Ludroth tried using mucus to slow the enemy down, but it missed.

"Let's think for a second."

Zach blocked another attack.

"As much as it seems like there's multiple opponents, these aura users tend to be unique. So I doubt the chances of there being more than one. Meaning they're super agile. I guess it's also possible that we're being attacked from a distance, but the attacks are constantly moving, meaning they must be trying to dodge us. So it's definitely something living."

Another slash.

"Uses cutting attacks. Seems to be jumping around a lot. Yeah, this is definitely a glaive user. And based on what I've already seen…"

He got hit with another attack.

"Yer Lyra, right?"

That invisible presence froze.

"Yeah, I was right. So why're ya doin' this? Talk to me."

He was attacked again. In response, Zach kept asking that same question over and over. Eventually, she snapped.

"Why do you care?"

The voice spoke without revealing the host.

"So her ability only hides her appearance. The lack of sound must just be because of her. Not that that actually helps me out at all." Zach thought, before he replied "Cause we're friends, obviously."

"...I just want to disappear. So leave, already. Nothing can change until you're all out of the way."

"And why's that?"

"Which one? You need to stop interfering so we can begin."

"Begin what?"

"...All of you came all the way out here without even knowing? We're going to wipe out the monsters, and return things to how they were before."

"...What the hell are ya… no, I'll ask him when we get there. So that's yer plan, huh? That's not what I'm focused on here. I was asking why ya wanna disappear."

"You saw the reason yourself, idiot. It's because of Shoot's death, obviously. I don't understand these feelings. I don't want to deal with them. That's all there is to it."

"Ya know that isn't good, right?"

"Really? Because me getting spotted by that monster was the very thing that started all of this. If I can't be seen anymore, then that means that it won't happen again. So it's fine that way. Everything works out better. There's no downside."

"So do ya genuinely believe that, or are ya just ignoring how obviously wrong that is on purpose?"

"It's not wrong."

"It is. Living like that is barely resemblin' living at all."

"Then I don't need to live."

"Of course ya do!"

Zach was attacked again. It appeared she was done talking.

He tried to work out some way to deal with the attacks, but couldn't figure anything out.

Lyra went for another attack, but was somehow blocked. She attacked again. Another coincidental block.

He was slightly too slow to keep up with her, but he seemed to know where she was. Lyra had no idea what was giving her position away, but it infuriated her.

Zach too, had no idea what was giving Lyra's position away. He was just following instinct.

This didn't last forever. Eventually, through causing enough confusion, Lyra was able to break through her opponent's defenses.

It seemed like there wasn't a way for Zach and Zappy to win.

A screech from above them. All three looked up, seeing the outline of a Malfestio above them. Chante descended.

Scales rose up from the ground, she flapped her wings.

Before Lyra could dodge, they covered her, causing both confusion and revealing her location.

"Nice, now we can finally start fighting ba-" He tried to turn left, but ended up going right. "Ya caught us with the confusion too, dumbass!"

As he yelled this at the wall, Chante ignored him and faced Lyra, letting out another screech.

"How did you… find me here?"

Chante didn't answer.

"If you're all around, then… then I can't disappear. So… I'll have to get you out of my way."

She drew her spear.

The battle began.

Lyra and Chante clashed. Even when visible, Lyra was still much faster, but she was at least being slowed down by having to adjust her movements to deal with the confusion.

Zach and Zappy tried to keep up, but struggled with the confusion. It was just a duel between those two.

Lyra struck Chante over and over again. The bird tried to counter, but wasn't quick enough.

Even when she was losing, Chante refused to leave.

More attacks. Blood covered the ground.

Finally, the ghost came to a stop.

"I don't get it."

Everyone else came to a halt as well.

"Why won't you just leave me alone already?" She yelled out a question "The only reason he got hurt was cause he decided to go with me! If he'd just left me alone, then nothing bad would've happened! So… why!?"

She continued.

"I don't get it. I can't understand it. It's the same as why I even decided to help you. And the same as why you're here now."

"Isn't it…" Zach replied "Cause she wants to help ya?"

"But why? It's just getting you hurt. Why does it matter that much?"

"Well, for one thing, we'd probably be gettin' a lot less hurt if ya just stopped fighting us."

"You know that's not what I mean. I'm only doing this so you'll just leave me already. Because if you don't, then you're just gonna…"

Chante interrupted her with a screech, as if to say she didn't care about that.

Lyra paused, before continuing anyways.

"Even if you don't care what happens to you, I do. But… I don't know why. Isn't it weird? He's already gone, thinking about it so much won't do anything. But it won't go away. It won't leave my head. It's definitely weird."

"It's because ya cared about him."

"Again with that? Sure, it's 'cause of that then. But if it just ends up hurting in the end, then I don't want to go through it again."

Zach struggled to reply, before coming up with something.

"Was it fun?"

"What?"

"All that time ya spent with him. Was it fun?"

Lyra didn't answer.

"I know that it can hurt but… getting attached to others, others getting attached to ya. That's all a natural part of living. And… since we all want ya to keep living, ya can't disappear. No matter how tough it gets, ya don't have to worry. All of us are gonna be here to support ya through it. So… stop tryna ditch us!"

Another pause.

Lyra seemed to look between all the ones facing her.

Her thoughts went back through all the memories. Of her time with the group. Of her life with Chante. Of her life with Shoot.

Finally, they settled on that last moment. What showed up on his face in those moments wasn't anything resembling regret, just relief. Relief that she was safe.

It truly was stupid. That someone would sacrifice themselves for another, especially her. Self-sacrifice was possibly the stupidest thing she'd ever witnessed.

Despite how sad it left her, there was another emotion. That if she was what he gave his life for, then she couldn't just throw that away.

So, there was no choice.

The scales around her began to float away. The confusion wore off. But, instead of disappearing for good, Lyra did the opposite. The aura floated away with them.

She stood there with a hard to read expression, looking towards Chante.

"I really don't have a choice in this, huh? You're all unfair."

Chante squawked back, agreeing.

TO BE CONTINUED