Mercury Black was having the time of his life.

For as long as he could remember, all he knew was the dangerous life he had of living with his father, the assassin. Every day was a miserable experience of training, getting beaten, and barely having anything to eat whenever he disappointed him, or was drunk. If the latter was the case he would have what little he had to eat beaten out of him and forced to lick it off the floor. It was a life of pain, pain, and more pain. Long did he wonder what his purpose in life was, other than to just survive. He had nothing to protect, nothing to love, nothing he could really call his own. That is, until he unlocked his Semblance.

But even that was taken from him by his father.

"This is a crutch. This makes you weak." His father told him. "You can have this back when you become strong."

It was then when he found his goal; to become strong and take back the only thing that truly belonged to him. So he embraced the nightmare that was his life. He endured every brutal punishment his father gave him and dedicated himself into learning his techniques and the arts of assassination. And as the months passed, a resentment began to burn in his heart whenever he saw someone not living in the same nightmare he was in. Every single time he saw a person just living without a care in the world, all he could ask himself was one question:

Why didn't they have to live like he did?

It was a question that burned a resentment into his heart. Resentment at the happiness of others. It was that, as well as the desire to get his Semblance back that kept him going. But no matter how much he trained, no matter how much stronger he got, he never got his Semblance back, and now he never would. So when Cinder and Emerald found him that day, in the back of his mind, he swore a vow.

No matter what happened, he thought. He promised himself that whatever mission he was given in his life, he would make sure everyone he fought would feel the same pain he did.

That reflected aptly on the situation he was in now, as he watched this wolf-fanus recoiling in pain at the kicks he was giving her. If she couldn't keep up with him before, she certainly wouldn't be getting close to him now. Thanks to Emerald's Semblance, the only thing she could see was, well, he couldn't really tell what she was seeing. But whatever it was, it was making her miss him by a mile.

She stood in between the both of them in the middle of the empty road, panting and growling. Her arms and legs were both covered in bruises, she could barely stand up straight, and blood was dripping down the left side of her mouth. Yet she still charged forward towards Mercury, who could only mentally scoff at the way she was now.

Whatever chance she had at victory against him before had clearly slipped through her fingers at this point. He saw the desperation in her eyes to defeat him, and desperation only begets a more painful defeat, as his father had taught him. Her combat ability only continued to degrade the longer the fight went on, and Mercury enjoyed every minute of it.

"It's almost sad." Emerald muttered, not getting nearly as much enjoyment out of this as her partner.

"It's pathetic." Mercury sneered, watching as the wolf-fanus ran right next to him. He leapt in the air and swiftly delivered a hard roundhouse kick across her back, smirking at the scream she let out as she fell to the ground once again. "It's like looking at a rabid dog trying to find its last meal." Suddenly, the wolf-faunus's ears shot upwards at that, and her screams of agony became a roar of anger.

"You…" She grit her teeth, baring her fangs at her tormentor. "You want to see a rabid dog?!" Letting out a battle cry, she became shrouded in a bright orange light, and the wolf-faunus whom Mercury had been fighting had been replaced with an actual large orange wolf, about the size of a small Creep Grimm. Again she ran towards Mercury, but this time, he held his arm up towards Emerald, letting her know not to use her Semblance. Blinded by rage, the wolf leapt towards him, opening her large mouth, and chomped down on his left leg.

"GHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The asphalt became splattered in red and white, as blood and several teeth flew from the wolf's mouth and onto the ground. Emerald cringed at the sight. She wished she was with Cinder right now doing whatever it is she had to do with that demon. Instead she had to sit and watch as Mercury continued his sadistic streak, laughing hysterically as he looked down at the trembling girl, who had reverted back to her wolf-faunus form and was clutching her mouth in agony.

"Oh man, now THAT'S funny!" Mercury smirked as he rolled up his pants, revealing his legs. The wolf-faunus' eyes widened in shock. They were completely metal. "Guess I should have mentioned that I was using stolen Atlas tech for legs!" He said as he kicked her again, that smirk never leaving his face as he listened to her screams.

"Uh Merc…" Emerald began to say as she noticed something coming from the shoreline in the distance. Mercury didn't seem to hear her as he continued to laugh. "You might want to ease up."

"Relax, these buildings are too big for a Nevermore to fly in here, and even if one somehow did those kids would have beaten it up enough already." Mercury replied, walking towards the wolf-faunus and kicking her again while she was down. The wolf-faunus' sobs turned into hoarse gasps for air, as she looked at Mercury standing over her. "Besides. We're just about done here."

"P...Puease…" She uttered. Her face was a mess of blood on her mouth, sweat on her forehead, and tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, what was that? You've got something there on your mouth." Mercury said as he lifted up his right prosthetic leg, the shadow of his foot filling her field of vision. "Let me get that for you." He laughed as the wolf-faunus shut her eyes, bracing herself as the metal foot threatened to crush her face. But it never came.

"W-What the?!" Rings of pink light had suddenly enveloped around his ankles and wrists, and no matter how hard Mercury struggled, his limbs remained in place. He grunted as he shook from side to side in frustration. This...This was..!

"Restrict Lock."

"Lightning Bind."

"Merc!" Emerald shouted as she too found herself bound on the spot, only her limbs were held by bright yellow cubes that sparked with electricity. She looked up to find two figures descending towards the ground. As she feared, the brunette and blonde fighting the Grimm, Nanoha and Fate, had come charging towards them, and they did not look happy. The former landed on the ground and pointed Raising Heart towards Mercury. The latter quickly ran towards the wolf-faunus on the ground.

"The portal closed on its own and we took care of the remaining monsters." Nanoha said sternly, a controlled anger laden within her voice. "The two of you are both under arrest."

"Alph! Alph!" Fate cried out, clutching the wolf-faunus' battered and beaten body. She gasped in horror the moment she saw her mouth and the blood and teeth that littered the road. "How…How could you do this to her?!" She yelled out, furious tears leaking from her eyes.

"Hey, she's the one who thought chomping down on solid metal was a good idea, can't blame me for that!" Mercury chuckled. "You might wanna put her on a leash."

"You…" Fate clenched her fists as she glared at Mercury. Gently setting the wolf-faunus down, she picked up Bardiche and pointed it towards the two suspects. "You won't get away with this!"

"Yeah kid, the thing about that is, we kind of already did." Mercury replied, his struggling having stopped completely and his condescending smug tone returned to his composure.

"She said the portal closed on its own." Emerald said, her eyes widening and brightening up. "Then that means…"

"Yep. Looks like our work here is done. We win." Mercury added. Nanoha and Fate both looked at each other in concern and confusion at that.

"What do you mean?" Nanoha demanded, not letting go of Raising Heart. "Answer me! What were the two of you planning? Why did you hurt Alph-san?! What have you done with Yuuno-kun?!" Her voice raised more and more with every question she yelled at him. Mercury only laughed in response.

"Kid. Let me just tell you one thing. You lost the moment you put down the barriers over this place."

"But...why?"

Hayate Yagami shuddered at what she was just told. All of this...All of this was a trap meant for her? These people never meant to attack the city in the first place! Everything that happened was all done so she and the Wolkenritter would be dragged out here and cornered like this. But why?

"Why are you doing this?! Let them go right now! Please!" Hayate begged, her body still wincing from the pain she was in from the burns.

"Hayate Yagami, I'd like to ask you a question. Do you treasure the life you currently live? Do you truly treasure those people?" The winged girl spoke while pointing towards her chained knights.

"What kind of question is that? Of course I care about them!" Hayate shot back. "They're the only family I have!"

"If that's the case...then tell me this. How far would you be willing to go to protect them?" The girl who descended from the sky continued to look down upon her as she said those words, her emotionless expression not changing. "If you willingly surrender yourself along with the Book of Darkness, I will personally guarantee their happiness along with yours." Her hand reached out towards Hayate's. "You would never have to worry about fighting ever again."

Hayate stared at the black gloved hand in confusion and fear before looking back at the winged girl's hollow, empty eyes. Her eyebrows furrowed and her teeth grit in anger at this girl's demand. She hated whenever anyone called the Tome of the Night Sky by its former name. That name always represented nothing but painful memories for her and her Guardian Knights. The fact that this girl would attempt to hold her knights hostage like this and so brazenly use that name made the idea of surrendering it to her sick to her stomach.

In the past two years since Reinforce was destroyed and Hayate reprogrammed the Book, her Guardian Knights became directly tied to her own life force. Unless Hayate herself was killed, they wouldn't die. Not only that, but she made sure to master the full control of it in the time she had it, enough so to make sure that it would not fall into the wrong hands like this. So surrendering it would be pointless. Whoever this person was, they either didn't know that or were bluffing.

"I...I would do anything to protect my precious knights." Hayate answered her question, assuming the latter was the case. "But...you can't have my treasure! I don't know who you think you are, but you can't threaten me with them like this!" She shouted as she held the crest that contained the Tome tightly. "If you try and kill me, I'll reprogram the book before you do and make it useless! So whatever you think you can accomplish here-"

Hayate gasped as the rough sensation of the edges of the crest being pushed against her palm instantly faded. It was gone. Once again she looked toward the winged girl and was horrified to see that it was now in her hands. She hadn't moved from that spot, no, she hadn't even changed the position of her body! Yet somehow she had held in her dark hands the very thing she was told to surrender.

"It seems you have yet to understand the position you're in, Hayate Yagami." The girl spoke. "How...unfortunate." She held her left hand under her right one, and uttered one word. One word that sent a terrible shiver down Hayate's spine, right down to her soul.

"Umschreiben". Rewrite.

A terrible aura of darkness began to emanate from the girl's palms. No...it wasn't just darkness. Blotches of yellow, green, blue, red and all sorts of colors emanated from it, but they all clashed together with each other in discordant harmony. That aura began to expand, and it instantly enveloped the area around them. The Tome of the Night Sky flashed up from the crest, and its pages began flipping rapidly from one end to the other. It was hard to see, but Hayate could swear she was seeing text starting to appear on the pages that were once blank. Then-

"!"

Hayate screamed. A horrible, horrible pain suddenly coursed through her body. Writhing on the ground, her body horribly burned, all she could do was scream. Her eyes widened in horror as they opened to see her Linker Core outside her body, particles of energy flowing from it back into the Book. Then suddenly, that pain stopped, and the screams coming from Hayate's mouth were soon replaced with screams from the sky. Her eyes darted towards it, only to be greeted with a horrible sight.

The bodies of each of her Knights had all begun to slowly dissolve into tiny lights of various colors. Vita, Shamal, Signum, and Zafira could only yell in agony as they felt themselves vanishing right before her. It was then when she truly realized what was happening. The pain Hayate had felt before was suddenly replaced with a different kind of pain. This was familiar, this was similar to the pain that she felt back then, on that horrible night. The night she felt that torment, the night she had lost all hope. The night of her despair.

It was happening all over again.

"Stop it! STOP IT!" Hayate screamed. Why was this happening? How was this girl doing this? Desperate sobs escaped Hayate's mouth as she tried to stand up despite the burns all over her body. She had to do something! She had to save them! But whenever she tried to stand, her body was sent shocks of agony that sent her towards the ground again. She couldn't help them. She couldn't fight. She couldn't even stand. All she could do was beg. The winged girl only continued to do what she did, and look down upon her with that completely emotionless gaze. The girl who had attacked her even looked like she was enjoying this.

"PLEASE!" Hayate screamed, tears streaming down her eyes. She didn't understand why, or how, but whatever this girl was doing, she was taking the only family she had away from her. "I'll do whatever you want! Just stop!"

"You really don't understand what's going on, do you?" Her attacker, the other girl spoke, a cruel sneer laden upon her face. "Even if you had willingly surrendered it, she would still have had to do this."

"Our mission requires the Book of Darkness to have as much power as it possibly can." The winged girl added. "To do this, I must return it to how it was before it was turned back into the Tome of the Night Sky, and restore its lost data."

"No…" Hayate shuddered. It was all falling apart. Reinforce's sacrifice. All the hard work her friends did to stop the Book from going out of control. The efforts that her Knights put in to save her. In this one instant, everything she loved was being taken from her right before her eyes, and all she could do was lie on the ground, powerless. "You can't do this! Please..."

Despair began to well up inside her. Her injuries began to take their toll on Hayate's strength. She realized there was nothing she could do, but watch. Her eyes gazed upwards to the sky once again. Shamal, Signum, and Zafira had all vanished. Vita remained, and she could see her eyes open and look down towards her, fearfully.

"Hayate…" Hayate heard the voice of the smallest Knight in her mind, before she too had faded into nothing but those tiny lights, and was absorbed into the book. The only thing that remained were the clothes on their backs, which fell into the forest. And that was it.

They were gone. All of them.

A wail of grief erupted throughout the area as the dark aura faded and the surroundings returned to normal. The winged girl held the Book in her hands, the flipping pages slowing down, before it closed completely as Hayate wept on the ground. No longer could she feel their presence. No longer did she feel the control she had over their life force.

"It's done." The winged girl spoke as she walked towards the crying injured girl. Gently she caressed her face and held the bottom of her chin, forcing Hayate to look directly at her. Hayate could not help but be shocked to see that her emotionless expression had faded slightly, her eyes showing a small hint of sympathy, though at this point she couldn't really care what this person was feeling. Only one thing was on her mind.

"Why?!" Hayate shouted, trying her hardest to remain conscious. "Who are you?!" The girl stood up and backed away. She gazed to the stormy clouds in the sky, where no rain fell due to the barrier. The sympathy in her eyes hardened and became replaced with resolve, as this girl gave her her answer.

"I am many things. I'm an existence called 'Evil'. I'm the embodiment of the human ability to make a choice. I'm the one who suffered through tragedy beyond human comprehension. I'm a demon who sold my soul for a friend. I have felt enough suffering to fill a thousand lifetimes."

The girl's voice kept the same, monotone sound as she spoke, yet Hayate could feel the intensity behind her words.

"You ask why I'm doing this? I do this because just like you, I have someone I need to protect. If I hesitate, if I make even the slightest mistake, I risk losing that person forever." Her dark purple eyes continued to stare directly into Hayate's. She felt the emptiness that emanated from them boring directly into her soul. "So I must go and do whatever it takes. If I must break the rules, if I must bear this burden, I will do so. The ones that aren't willing to make the hardest choices...will never protect those they love."

She stepped towards her, and reached out her hand.

"Now...it's time for you to make a choice. My offer still stands, Hayate Yagami. Your Knights aren't dead."

"They're...They're not? Then what did you…" Hayate stammered weakly, her eyes and breathing growing heavier by the minute.

"Like I said, I simply returned the Book to the state it was in before it lost its data, and took complete control of it." The girl replied, her emotionless expression still not changing. Anything that was originally a part of the Book, has now been returned to the Book. That includes the Guardian Knight system. But you can still join them."

"I don't understand...what do you mean?" Hayate asked. At this point she didn't care what price she'd have to pay. She just wanted to see her Knights again.

"You don't need to understand how, or why." The girl stated flatly. "All you need to do is surrender yourself to both the Book and me, and you will be reunited with your family. You will spend eternity living with them in idyllic happiness. Things like death, pain, sorrow, and tragedy will be but a fleeting afterthought." This girl...no this demon...then smiled. "Now, Hayate Yagami. What is your answer?"

"I...I…" Hayate stuttered, looking at the demon who had snatched away her family. As much pain as she caused her, as much as she hated what she had done, she couldn't deny that she felt sincerity in her words. If she did what she said, she'd be with them, right? What did she have to lose at this point by doing so? Her standing with the TSAB? Her friendship with Nanoha and Fate? Did they really compare with the unbreakable bonds she had formed with her family?

No, she realized. They didn't.

Using every last bit of strength within her, she reached out her hand towards the demon's, preparing to accept her offer. She closed her eyes, and accepted whatever consequence would come of this action, the thought living happily together with her Knights being the only thing on her mind.

"Nanoha-chan...Fate-chan...I'm sorry…"

Sayaka Miki leapt from rooftop to rooftop towards the mountains, running and jumping as fast as her magic-enhanced legs would allow her. Looking back, she noticed she wasn't being tailed, but she knew after that little outburst she had it wouldn't be long before that would change. She didn't care that she had just ran out on Chrono and the others like that. She didn't care that her secret would be revealed. She didn't care that it was currently storming all around her and one wrong move could possibly get her struck by lightning.

All she cared about was making sure her friends were safe from that demon.

"Don't be too late. Please don't let it be too late!" She said to herself. Sayaka didn't understand why Homura was here, but she knew it couldn't be good. Eventually, she reached the location of the barrier. Sure enough, the outside of it was shrouded in those familiar runes. Being able to understand them, Sayaka flashed her Soul Gem towards them and made her way inside the barrier, running towards where she felt Homura's presence. Eventually, she reached a small clearing in the forest, and gasped in horror.

"HAYATE!" She screamed as she leapt towards the horribly injured girl, her Soul Gem flashing a brilliant blue light, momentarily blinding the demon and her other assailant. She grabbed Hayate as fast as she could, lifted her up, and ran. Acting quickly, she activated her magic and began to heal her wounds, not stopping for a second.

"Saaya...san?" Hayate muttered weakly.

"It's okay! You're okay!" Sayaka assured her. "I'll get you and the others out of here!" She added.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that."

Sayaka stopped dead in her tracks. The moment they reached another clearing in the forest, they only found Homura and the girl with her waiting for them. Her teeth grit in frustration, both at Homura's persistence and her inability to think far enough ahead. Though, how could she when dealing with a monster such as this?

"You…" She growled, her eyes blazing with fury. "What are you doing here?!"

"I see no reason why I should give any answers to someone standing against me." Homura responded while flipping her hair in that usual cocky manner of hers. "I don't know how you ended up here, but to humor you I'll at least tell you that I'm finishing what I started."

"So you were serious then?! You're actually gonna destroy everything?!" Sayaka gently placed Hayate on the ground and summoned one of her cutlasses, brandishing it in front of the demon. A rare dry chuckle then escaped Homura's lips.

"Now, why would I do that when there are still wraiths that need to be destroyed?" The demon replied, before her usual emotionless demeanor returned. "You're free to interpret that however you like. Right now, I think you have more important things to worry about, Sayaka Miki." Her finger pointed to the girl on the ground, who was watching the situation with a mixture of shock, confusion, fear, and sadness in her eyes. "Unless you're enough of a fool to think you can take me on again by yourself, you'll surrender Hayate Yagami to me."

"Fat chance of that!" Sayaka shot back. Pointing her sword directly at Homura, she maintained a defiant offensive position. "You know, I admit I'm not exactly the smartest girl in class, but even I can tell that you're not nearly as strong here as you are back home!"

"Is that so? In that case I'll-"

"No." The other girl standing next to Homura, who had been silent up until now, spoke. She gazed towards Homura with a confident sneer. "You wouldn't want to use too much power and leave before we could finish things, would you?" A large glass sword suddenly materialized in her own hands. "I'll deal with her. "

"Very well, Cinder. Just remember what I told you." Homura replied in agreement and stepped back, knowing this wouldn't take long. Sayaka only increased the grip on her cutlass, not taking her eyes off her opponent.

"Saaya-san…" Hayate muttered, not sure what was going on anymore.

"Hayate, just stay behind me." Sayaka commanded, wincing as she remembered the horribly burnt state her body was in when she found her. She was still wounded due to Sayaka not having enough time to heal her before Homura stopped her. "I won't let them lay another finger on you!"

"Oh, isn't that rich?" Cinder chuckled, a sinister smile creeping on her face. "Look who's playing the big hero, when the reality is you're too late to save anyone!"

"What are you talking about?!" Sayaka shouted.

"Listen, little girl. We've pretty much already accomplished our goal. Hayate over there is nothing more than the finishing touch." Cinder's dark smile grew wider. "Honestly, she'd have been much happier had you not showed up right then."

Sayaka only glared back at this girl, still not understanding what she meant. But then she caught something in the corner of her eye. Three sets of jackets were lying on the ground a few feet away from Cinder. The sound of quiet sobbing emanating from behind her, and Sayaka turned to see Hayate covering her face with her hands. The girl's cruel words only hammered in what just happened to her a few minutes ago. A breathless gasp then escaped Sayaka's lips as realization struck her mind. She felt her grip on her cutlass loosening as her body shook, and her mind entered a state of shock.

"How...how could you..." Sayaka spoke, her tone lowering to that of a soft whisper. She fell to her knees, and blood began to trickle down her lower lip as she bit into it. "She didn't know who I was, and she still helped me…" Her mind flashed towards the week she had spent with them recovering from her injuries. Hayate Yagami, a girl who knew nothing about her had practically treated her like she was a part of her family. Now this demon took that away from her. She didn't know how it was done. She didn't know why it was done. In that moment, in that one instant, only three words flashed in her mind.

She killed them. She killed them.

"Time to wrap this up." Cinder said flatly, merging her two swords into a bow, and readying an arrow. She stood above the kneeling Sayaka, and raised the sword to the sky. "How pathetic. The moment you realize the truth, is the moment all that bravado of yours vanishes. She was right about you. Such arrogance."

A bright spark suddenly shot through Sayaka's body the moment those words left Cinder's mouth. The world had suddenly seemed to slow down around her as memories suddenly began to flash through her mind.

It was true, Sayaka thought. She was arrogant. Arrogant to believe that her wish wouldn't be something she'd regret. Arrogant to think she could take on Homura by herself. Arrogant to think she was a hero of justice, when really she had only been fighting for the love of one boy. It was like that every time, in every universe where she saw herself in that fated month, that's who she was. Every time she realized that, that's when despair had overcome her, and she met the fate that all magical girls met.

That's right...she had felt this before. In all those memories, this feeling...the moment where all hope was lost. But the last time she felt this...was that moment where she saw her precious best friend Madoka. It was that moment when she had told her not to be ashamed of her wish, and who she was. It was then when had she had become part of something greater. Something she could be proud of. She remembered the words Madoka had said to her.

"It's all right. There's no reason to despair, Sayaka-chan."

In the deepest confines of her soul, a fire began to burn.

Cinder slashed the sword down upon Sayaka's head, but it never reached it. To the shock of everyone in the area, Sayaka had suddenly grabbed the sword with both her hands, just inches away from her face.

"How...dare you." Sayaka muttered, blood trickling down the sides of her palms. Her face suddenly shot up and looked at Cinder with an expression of pure indignation. "How dare you?!" She shouted as she pulled the sword out of Cinder's hands, and before anyone could react, she had stabbed herself in the abdomen with it.

Hayate could not help but close her eyes at the sheer amount of blood that suddenly splashed all over her from Sayaka's back. But when she opened them again, she realized that wasn't blood, but something else entirely. It was a dark red liquid that had begun to morph around her. Then something suddenly came from the sky, it looked like...a fishing hook? It lowered down into the pool of red, before lifting up something that filled her with awe.

"That's...not possible." Homura stammered. "You shouldn't have that!"

Despite Hayate's active imagination, she found it difficult to describe the entity that had suddenly appeared in front of her above Sayaka. It had the tail of a mermaid, and the armor of a knight. A brilliant blue cape was adorned upon its back, and its hands brandished a much larger cutlass than the one Sayaka wielded. It took Hayate's breath away completely.

"Eat this!" Sayaka shouted as the creature swung the massive cutlass down upon Cinder and Homura. Reacting quickly, Homura quickly flew up towards it and effortlessly caught the blade with her own hands. Grunting, Sayaka noticed that Cinder was distracted. There was a look of shock in her eyes as she seemed to be transfixed by the abomination. Seeing her chance, Sayaka grabbed the cutlass that she had dropped earlier and leapt towards Cinder, spinning herself in the air and slashing at her with a mighty swing. When Cinder looked back towards Sayaka, it was too late. Sharp metal filled her field of vision before-

An awful scream of agony erupted throughout the woods. Cinder clutched her right eye with her right hand, but yet she still managed to stand. Before Sayaka could make another move, she heard the sound of a loud clap, and saw the witch she summoned vanishing before her eyes.

"You!" Cinder screamed as two glass swords materialized in her hands again, glaring at Sayaka with her remaining eye as blood continued to drip from the closed socket. "You'll pay for that!"

"Cinder!" Homura's voice, in a rare commanding tone from her, suddenly echoed throughout the area. "We need to retrieve Emerald and Mercury and leave! Right now!"

"What?! No! Not yet! Not until I-"

"We have what we need. Unless you want to lose more than just your eye, we won't waste anymore time here. We're leaving. Now." Cinder grit her teeth and gave a glare of hatred towards Sayaka before she complied with Homura's order, and leapt towards her.

"You're not getting away!" Sayaka shouted as she ran after the two of them, leaping in the air and readying another slash. She brought it down on open air, as before she hit the ground, Homura and Cinder had both vanished. The cold drops of rain then began to pour down on her, as the barrier above the mountain area had dispelled. "No…"

"Saaya...san?" Hayate stated her alias once again, her voice dripping with concern. Sayaka turned around and looked towards her, before dropping to her knees once again. Tears began to fill her eyes, and the emotions that she had held inside her during the entire confrontation suddenly began to spill out all at once. As the rain poured from the sky, so did the tears that fell from her eyes. As sobs began to escape her lips, she shouted the only two words she felt she could say to her caretaker.

"I'm...sorry…"

150 YEARS, 5 MONTHS, 1 WEEK, 3 DAYS, 4 HOURS, 10 MINUTES UNTIL THE CONVERGENCE.

NEXT CHAPTER: AFTERMATH

A/N: So concludes the five chapters I had written up for this story so far. Chapter 6 is already in development and should be ready in two weeks, but no more beyond that are ready.

After that, I think I'll put this story on a small break while I get more chapters ready for regular updates again.