Hi hi!

So, thanks to some concrete and a prayer to our lord and savior the flying spaghetti monster (He will fly on), that crack in my 4th wall is finally sealed. For how long that'll last I have no idea, but it's better this than author's notes that could go on for five pages.

Also, yes, I know, this is an early update. It's nothing important, but I wanna see if I can finish this story up before the end of the year. Originally, my personal deadline was going to be before Christmas, but I don't really think that I'll be able to pull of a miracle like that.

But yeah, other than that, I got nothing left to say!

ONWARDS!

Kuro nearly threw herself from the bed as she jolted away, hands to and ready for the fight...that wasn't currently in her room.

Normally, she'd wake up groggy, taking a few minutes, sometimes half an hour, to fully remember what had happened before she'd fallen asleep.

But no, this one time she didn't want to remember, that was the one time everything came flooding back the moment she opened her eyes.

She took a moment to look around. This wasn't her shared room with Corvus, that was for sure. This room was a perfect circle, and made of stone now that she was thinking it over, so it wasn't a room that was within the main castle.

All that was in the room, besides that rather towering wooden door, was the bed she was sleeping on, a small dresser, a smaller vanity and chair, and a window. So, with that light coming in from their one and only blood red sun, that took the dungeon off of the list.

She made sure she was decent, before getting out of the bed. Someone, and she wasn't going to waste time wondering who, had changed her out of her street clothes and into a casual short white dress. Taking another look over, her shoes, weapons and ring were gone.

She didn't have time to be pissed off though, she had to find a way out.

She took a quick look over and out the window, now understanding where she was. From the stone walls and the view, she was in what she had first assumed to be guard towers. There were four main ones at each corner of the castle, from being how she could see the inside of the whole place, she wasn't in one of those. Probably stuck her in one of the smaller middle ones.

She could see a crowd down there, right in the middle, crowing what looked like an execution stand. The thought made her gag, sure she wasn't exactly one for honoring the dead and all, but making it akin to some sort of entertaining show?

That was barbaric right there.

She couldn't help but lightly scratch at the area on her finger that use to have her ring. It didn't feel right, she hadn't taken it off ever since...Since this whole mess started.

Finally, she went for the large wooden door, banging on it. It felt locked, but she didn't hear anyone outside, nor did she see any shadows from under the door.

Locked but not guarded.

She took another moment to look back out the window, only to shake her head. It wasn't like she had what she needed to climb her way up and out. Even if she did, the crowd down there was too big, it would be near impossible to get out undetected.

Kuro shook her head, looking around the room for something she could use as a weapon. Doors it was. She had to get back out there, start looking. Maybe she could find them. Of course, she couldn't find ALL of them since Zagan was-

She shook her head, looking under the bed for something to use. Zagan was gone, and she couldn't do anything about it.

But like hell was she going to leave this place without making sure she the other three weren't with her.

No way they were all dead. Kuro had to keep repeating that in her mind, before her hand finally closed around something metal. felt like it was part of the bed, but being how it had been up here for so long, it seemed rusty and old.

If she tried, she could pull it free.

"They're fine," Kuro repeated, giving the metal bar in the bed another firm tug, "Abraxas is great at disappearing. No way he'd let them find him."

"Yeah...Yeah, if anything, that idiot managed to escape." Kuro insisted to herself, giving the bar one more hard pull, "Shax too, no way he'd go down without a fight. He might be the proud dainty proper boy, but he ain't no damn slouch."

With that last word, she finally managed to tug the metal bar free, pulling it out from under the bed, "And Vale, well, as long as he's with Shax, he'll be fine. They'll all be fine, I have to get out to them."

"Vale's always going on and on about how I always keep them waiting," Kuro muttered to herself, testing the door by pushing her foot down on it, "I can hear him bitching about it in my head already."

"Bet that they're just holed up somewhere, just for the time being," Kuro went on, rolling her shoulders. She found it kinda funny, whenever she read a story about some girl stuck in a tower, she always had to wait for someone else to come along and rescue her.

To that, she shook her head. As if she'd ever allow anyone to do something like that.

She was about to kick down the door, bracing herself for the splinters to the feet she knew were about to come, before a roar from outside caught her attention.

She took a moment to look out the window, having to brush her long hair out of the way. Jeez, mental note, cut that damn thing already, it was getting too long.

She watched as someone, judging by the smokey outline being Legion, had walked onto the stand, hands up as if enjoying the applause.

Dear Satan was it kinda irritating.

She could faintly hear the demon's voice, but he wasn't loud enough for her to hear exactly what he was saying. Kuro shook her head, about to go back to the door, only to have doors on either side of the stage pop open.

One by one, Kuro watched as Rifters were herded out in shackles, head down and expressions full of shame.

They weren't just any Rifters either, Kuro could see their cut up blood-red attire, mixed in with the shirtless tattoo-covered demons.

They had taken prisoners from the attack, from both Bloodbath and Skinner's group.

But, in the sea of the uniformed and proud members, three stood out of place.

Even from up here, Kuro could easily tell who they were. With their faces in mind, Kuro began to kick and pound at the door, watching as the wood began to give in.

She wouldn't be late, not this time.

"...Well...On the bright side...I've always wanted a tour of the castle." Abraxas mumbled, wincing and growling as they were herded along.

Shax and Vale were right behind him, all three of them forced to sit before the stage, front row seats to watch their friends die.

But not all of them were here, no, there were a few that they had decided to keep. They had passed by those lucky to live, or rather, those unlucky enough to spend the rest of their days tortured for information and other more...unpleasant things.

The three watched as the captured members of Bloodbath were lined up, "I'll be honest, sitting here now, I feel better knowing that Lucky didn't make it."

"Well, that's just demented." Abraxas scowled, trying to ignore whatever the smoky figure on the stage was saying, about how the guards of the capitol protected them from the Rifters and all that bullshit. Yeah, way to be a propaganda leader.

All the while, Shax just sat there, silently. Neither of the other two could get a real read on him. They couldn't tell if he was scheming some sort of escape plan up, or if he was just accepting that they were going to die.

They all snapped out of it when the roar of the crowd behind them grew louder, an executioner walked onto the stage, carrying some sort of rope.

"Hey, you think if the hanging doesn't work, they'll just beat the bodies up there like pinatas?" Abraxas asked, watching as the members of Bloodbath tried to fight back, as they were pushed under a long hanging pole that the guards had just pulled up.

Vale had to look away. It was just a bit too much for him, to watch demons he'd practically tricked into battle die.

One by one, each demon was strung up, before that same smoky demon came back around, "It is true, no matter how many of them we bring to their death, it does not bring back retribution for those who have fallen to protect us. But, with that said, we shall not allow these traitors crimes go unpunished!"

With the backing of the whole crowd behind them, he gave the nod to a guard. They pulled down a lever, causing the floor to fall in on itself.

For that part, Abraxas had to look away as well. He had thought that it was some stupid joke up until now, but seeing those bodies flail about, even just for a second...Didn't matter if he was a demon, that just wasn't right.

Whatever was in those ropes, those sparkling pieces of red, was enough to kill a demon. From his experience, he knew that whoever managed to infuse shards into the ropes for the sake of killing...They were either a genius or a madman.

Maybe a bit of both.

"...Do you know if that...That monster took Kuro back?" Vale seemed to ask out of nowhere.

Abraxas shook his head. All he really remembered was a cold feeling sweeping over him, and before he knew it, he was waking up on some cold stone floor by someone hitting the bars.

Vale kept his eyes on his hands. There were too many things bugging him at the moment, so many in fact that he felt as if all of his life's problems were hitting him all at once.

He wondered if this is what others meant when they say that their lives flash before their eyes.

If so, it was a pretty shit way to end someone's life.

"She's okay, I'm sure of it."

Abraxas nearly jumped at the sound of his brother's voice, his head tilted to the side, "You sure did choose an odd time to jump into this."

"Think about it, the prince didn't even acknowledge us back there." Shax reasoned, his tone a lot more void then usual. Of course, he was never much of an emotional anyway, but this was a steep decline from the already emotionally-constipated demon Abraxas normally dealt with.

"He tore through Zagan as if he were nothing, and he took us out as if we were simply an obstacle to go through. We weren't the objective; Kuro was the target."

It really didn't matter to both Vale or Abraxas, even in their profession, hearing the name of a friend that had fallen too soon still left an impact.

Abraxas hung his head low, unable to watch as those from Skinner's group were forced onto the stage.

Vale, on the other hand, couldn't do anything but watch blankly. He took note of how they didn't fight nearly as much as Bloodbath, and in a way, it made sense.

They had just seen what was in store for them, as well as the fact that there would be no chance of liberation.

"To think that, after all this time, we'd end up here." Vale sighed.

To this, Abraxas finally shook his head, looking around, "No, no way is this how we go out."

"What are you trying to say?" Shax sighed, giving his brother a pointed look, before sighing. Just like Zagan is, no, was; Abraxas never did know where the quitting point was, "If you think that we can somehow get out of this-."

"I know we can." Abraxas insisted, being mindful to keep his voice low, "Look, we've been in worse, but we still made it through. We can make it through this."

"And how, pray tell, do you plan to do that?" Vale hissed, "Look around you! No weapons, no tricks, nothing against these armored giants we'd have to fight through!"

"We can still get out of this, I know it." Abraxas insisted, looking around, "There has to be something you guys have noticed, something that we can use."

"What's the point?" Shax whispered.

His phrase took the other two both by surprise. Of course, it had been running around in Vale's head, but to hear it come from Shax himself...It did more than surprise.

"Come on, don't be like that." Abraxas insisted. All Vale did was silently watch. Honestly, in his head, Shax wasn't completely wrong, but he never did think that the great Shax himself would fold over.

"Okay, say we do get out of this." Shax muttered, "Then what?"

"Then we just...Well, we can go back to the bar!"

"Yeah, cause they won't look for us there." Shax sighed, shaking his head, "This is why you always got into trouble and I always had to bail you out. You have no idea how to plan ahead, you don't know what could come after step 3 because you decided to just 'go with the flow'."

"It's better than sitting on my ass and either waiting for help or expecting someone else to pick up the slack." Abraxas growled right back, growing sick and tired of this treatment, "If you're right and these are our last moments, you'd think that your one and only brother, your own flesh and bone, would make an effort to just try to be that tiny bit nicer."

All three of them were silenced by the sound of the wooden panels giving way once again, none of them able to look up to face those who were hung.

Seconds later, they were forced to rise from their positions, Vale nearly tripping over the chains, as all three of them marched up.

In his first, and last, attempt at humor, he sighed, "...At least I'm not being executed next to Zagan."

"...Vale, shut the fuck up."

It didn't take long for Kuro to kick the final doors of the tower down, metal bar in tow. Right outside her door, there were only two guards, both of which surprised by the door being kicked in.

Didn't stand much of a chance from there.

From that moment on, it was just a spiraling staircase down, and if her location was correct, she'd end up coming out right into the crowd outside. She'd join the crowd of demons waiting to watch her friends die.

She didn't think twice, going quickly to unlock and open the doors, quickly dashing out and into the crows once they were thrown open.

She could just see it, just above the heads, on the stand. They were just being herded onto the stands, about to make themselves some sort of last spectacle.

Kuro dashed through the crowd, not caring for those she had pushed to the side, nor did she care too much for the loose gravel digging into the bottom of her feet.

All that mattered would be getting ot them and getting them out of here. Hell, she didn't really care if she herself got caught at this point, if she could get them out of here, it would be enough.

One last chance, one last push.

Kuro ignored how some of the crowd would push her back, hoping that her feet weren't all cut up at this point, before a guard moved to block her. He was saying something, probably trying to get her back into the tower, but Kuro ignored him, pushing past him, only to have a large metal arm come out to stop her.

"My lady, I must insist that you head back to-."

The moment a hand was put on her, Kuro pushed him back. She didn't pay any attention or mind to how much force she used, nor did she flinch when she managed to push a guard, clad in metal armor, easily into the left side of the crowd.

If she jumped up just a bit, she could see them over the heads of the other now panicked crowd of demons, most of them having enough of a mind to move out of the way.

Good for them, she thought as she pushed her way through to the stage, they're not just mindless sheep.

She could see the confused guards at the top of the stand, as well as a small grin on Abraxas' face, as she ran over. She was shouting something, but she honestly had no idea. It was like something else was commanding her body, all the while, she would take in the surrounding area.

She noted the guards that seemed to begin to try closing in, but they were quickly taken care of. If anything, the crowd helped by creating a sort of fighter's ring, allowing guards in for the fight.

She continued to fight her way to the stage. Nothing else mattered, at the moment, that stage was the end goal.

She could have sworn that she was glowing or something, from how bright it was beginning to get slowly, but it didn't matter. She could see the three revolting, doing all they could to try to escape the restrains.

Vale had managed to kick over one of the hanging posts, but that was just about as much as they were able to do before they were taken back under control.

She could hear Legion shouting something, probably orders to get her restrained, but she didn't care. If anything, she picked up the pace as the three were fitted with ropes around their necks.

She fought her way to the front of the stage, battering anyone who got on the wrong side of her metal pole. Heck, she felt that, with all of this sudden confidence and valor, she could totally take on Satan.

Not even for the throne, just for the fun of it.

She wasn't sure when, but one of the guards managed to grab her by the arm, rendering the bar she held useless when he grabbed it, flinging it out of her hold.

Without thinking, she reared around, facing the demon down. Now, she was never really one for rational thought, but at the same time, she knew enough to put two and two together and realize that punching a guy in armor full force would hurt more than the other guy.

But, that same idea didn't seem to match up, as she pulled her fist back anyway, punching the guard right in the chest, full force.

It didn't seem to add up in her head, there was no way that her fist would have been enough for her to leave an indent in that guard's armor, nor should it have been possible for her to basically decimate not only the armor, but the guy inside, but she didn't care too much.

She was running back for the stage, hoping over anyone in her way, or attacking right back if they tried to grab her.

Legion was shouting something, probably orders to have them hung, which made Kuro run faster.

She managed to make it to the stage, when another metal-covered hand clamped down on her wrist.

She was ready to knock it back, only to have another grab her other wrist. To this, she began to thrash and growl, almost anamalisticly. She was so damn close, but a bit farther and she'd be good; why is it that she was always so close but so damn far!?
She could hear Legion saying something, laughing almost, as more hands held her down. He was probably teasing her, making comments about how this Rifter-born princess was nothing more than an animal.

Kuro managed to kick at one of them, but more would come forth to hold her down, pulling her away from the stage as she did.

Her eyes went wide, as an executioner walked over to his post, ready to pull the lever. She elbowed one guard, freeing up her hands as she made a mad grasp for the stage. She had been so close, she couldn't just allow it all to fall in like this, not now.

She could tell that she was screaming and crying, but it all felt so...surreal. This was making no sense, why were they on that hanging post? Why was Abraxas offering small tearful smiles, while Vale was the one that seemed to be crying out for once? Why was Shax just standing there, his head down as if he were submitting.

All too soon, the wooden panels beneath all three of them were dropped.

Kuro couldn't unsee it. To see their feet dangling, bodies held up by some rope. Her screaming turned to roars of anger and anguish.

Suddenly, she felt too hot, as if she had suddenly become a sort of overused lightbulb. It felt very uncomfortable, and soon enough, it was all she could feel.

But, as hot as she was, while the metal hands fell away, it wasn't enough to make the tears leave too.

She felt both hot and cold. It was too much to feel at once. Her head was pounding, and even with her eyes closed, that bright light was still to much. She felt herself falling to her knees, and after that, the lights were suddenly shut off.

the last thing she remembered before all the lights went out was a pit opening inside of her, a sort of emptiness settling within her before blacking out entirely.

Nothing like crushing all hope under your shoe, am I right?

And now, for the rest of the story, prepare thy self for a serious mood change.

Or don't, you know, free country and all.

...Yeah, I really have nothing else to say!

So, I hope you guys enjoyed, feel free to drop a review, and I'll cya next chappie!

Till then, bai bai!