Masayoshi's first impulse was to teleport back to his bind point, to follow Gotou, to try to apologize immediately - he hadn't meant for any of this to go down the way it had, he was a colossal fuck-up and please, Gotou-san, don't be angry - but Masayoshi hesitated, hand in the air to call forth the binding spell. He didn't remember where Gotou had last bound - was it at the same obelisk as Masayoshi? What if he ended up in a different zone entirely? If Gotou logged out of the group chat ... there'd be no easy way to find him, at all.

He dropped his hand, and stood alone in the darkness, heart beating heavy in his chest.

He wasn't alone for long.

Masayoshi heard them coming before he saw them - from deeper within the darkness of the ruins, the light bouncing off of crumbled stone, a small orb of light leading the way for the two figures. Masayoshi switched his grip on the halberd to two-handed, stance spread as they emerged from around a pile of debris. The traditional game functions might be gone in the unmapped zones, but Masayoshi still had his skills and his gut sense, and his gut was telling him that this was trouble.

They were the enemy race, the Asmodae - skin blue and hair fair, both small and slight of frame. Masayoshi knew that without his radar they hadn't been alerted to his presence yet, but at least one was a magic user since they had a light spell active. Uncertain of their level, he might be able to take them ... but the niggling thought of, what happens if you die off the mapped zone echoed in his head and he hesitated.

That hesitation would cost him - as they noticed him. Two female players, the one in the lead gave a shout of surprise. "Elyos!" she called, the light she was manipulating growing to show Masayoshi in a defensive position. She was dressed in a white dress, accented in blue, a different shade than her skin - and when she gestured, a harp appeared in her hand. The Asmo behind her was dressed in armor, although it was of the short-skirt, thigh-high boot variety. She had a battle-axe in her hands, meaning she was a warrior class, like he.

"Only one?" the warrior-class Asmo called, and Masayoshi's head cocked. They weren't supposed to be able to understand the enemy faction's words - they'd come through as gibberish when this was a game properly, but he could understand their chatter clear as day.

"I can't tell," the songweaver said, strumming her harp. "I'll lock him down for you, Mari-chan!"

Masayoshi blinked. "Wait," he said, as the warrior-class Asmo sprinted toward him, swinging her battle-axe. "Mari-chan?"

He didn't have but a moment to prepare, and without a shield he only had his halberd with which to block, hands spread on its shaft. The blade of the axe slammed into the metal shaft, the reverb numbing his hands even through his gauntlets. It caused the blade to embed, just a bit, and she turned, planting the heel of her boot into his chest and using him to free her axe.

It can't be.

"Root him!" the warrior-class Asmo yelled, and, yes, he knew that voice, even if her skin was blue and her hair was closer to white than brown.

"Mari!" Masayoshi yelled. "It's me!"

The songweaver - it had to be Moe, if Masayoshi had to guess - gestured at him, a blast of magic aimed his way. Masayoshi didn't have time to dodge or even attempt to block it - and with a pop, he was suddenly much shorter and tangled in place. What, he tried to yell, but the word came out in a horrified squeak.

"The Elyos said my name," Mari said, axe held loosely in her hand. Masayoshi flailed his arms, and realized they were flippers. He held them in front of his face and gave an anxious honk. He was a penguin.

"I love that spell," Moe said, bouncing closer to Mari, who had her axe pointed at Masayoshi, prepared to effectively end the encounter but knowing that Moe liked cooing over cute things. "Isn't he adorable? I love turning nasty Elyos into cute little penguins!"

Masayoshi hopped into the air, freed from the tangled web of restraint ... but still a penguin. He waved his flippers and honked again angrily. Mari cocked her head, and glanced to Moe. "Shouldn't he have turned back by now? I know you hate it when I kill them as penguins, so I'll wait, but..."

"The spell's cooldown is off," she said. "Yeah, he shouldn't be a penguin any more."

Masayoshi let off a long, angry noise. He turned around, but his halberd was gone too - caught under the same transformative spell. He hopped toward the exit, already figuring out that the spell's cooldown was affected by the unmapped zone - but Mari caught him by his feathered scruff and Masayoshi kicked his feet angrily, unable to do anything but squirm in Mari's grip. "Weird," Mari said. She held the kicking, squirming penguin out to Moe. "Want to keep him?"

"He's so cute!" Moe said cheerfully, taking Masayoshi-the-penguin from Mari and squishing him enthusiastically against her chest. "I'll keep him as a pet! I wonder if I can get an inventory pack for him, he's adorable."

Masayoshi thumped his head against Moe's shoulder and thought, I am in so much trouble.

The fortress was completely abandoned. Black and Ruby found the exit to the main level, where they stood in the open air and aether of the Abyss, and not a single enemy had populated or shown their head. "It's all gone," Ruby reported, having run down to the main generator room, and not even finding clerics tending the shield generator. "The place is empty, no wonder our cells were unlocked.

"That begs the question as to why continue to hold us," Black said. "If they were just going to abandon us."

"I don't know about you, but I'm glad to be free, and armed again." Ruby patted the knives that sat at the small of her back, the hilts angled so she could easily unsheath and attack. "Now I just gotta find my friends, and we can get back to figuring out how to get home."

Black nodded his head curtly, glancing upward and spotting the unfolded wings of someone flying. He pulled his weapons free, prepared for attack, and Ruby did the same - but Black relaxed his stance as the figure hove into view, and managed to fail making a precise landing and instead slamming into one of the parapets. "Blue," Black said with sigh.

"More Flamengers?" Ruby said, not letting up on her stance.

"Black!" Pink said as she landed lightly, ignoring Ruby completely. "Looking cute!"

Black ignored her and looked to Green, who was just a bit behind Pink. "Everyone's gone," he said. "The fortress is abandoned."

Green looked around the open courtyard, with all the entrances that led down, deep into the fortress. "You're certain."

Black nodded, and Ruby shifted her stance a little, knives still held up and at the ready. "This is Flamenco Ruby," he said, nodding his head toward her as Blue jogged up to them, having recovered from his crash-landing.

"Is Leader here?" Blue asked.

Black glanced back at Blue, then shook his head negatively. "The energy barriers went down, and we escaped, but the place is empty. We haven't seen anyone else since you arrived."

"Guess it means the ruins were a dead end," Pink said. She inclined her head at Blue. "We can send Blue to go fetch them, maybe it'll scar him."

Green looked at Ruby. "You're one of the Flamenco Girls? You're here, as well?"

"All three of us," she reported. "But we're the only ones who seemed to be in-game. Everyone else we encounter player-wise is still an avatar, not a real person. Until I ran across you guys."

"So it's not just confined to our side," Green confirmed. "More data. Hm."

"Blue, go find Leader," Pink said, and shooed him.

Green held up his hand. "Wait," he said. "We need to wait for them to turn up in a mapped area, then we'll reconvene. Without the urgency of needing to rescue Black ... I don't know how we'll find Beyond Flamenco."

Black's eyes widened slightly. "Beyond Flamenco is behind this? Isn't he Masayoshi's evil twin?"

Ruby looked between Green and Black. "What?"

"I thought he was dead," Black said. "He's here, in-game?"

"So it seems." Green looked up into the purple-red aether of the Abyss. "Leader seems to think he's behind all this, so if we confront him, maybe we'll be able to log out and get home." He inclined his head out of the fortress. "Let's get back to Terminon, back to a mapped zone and see if he contacts us before the teleporters close down for the night."

Even as Green spoke, the fortress underneath their feet rumbled, and shook a little. Everyone looked down at their feet as the rumbling became stronger, and more pronounced.

"Well," Ruby said, blades in her hands again. "That can't be good."

Masayoshi hung limp in Moe's arm as she lead the way through the cavernous ruin. The two Flamenco Girls hadn't spoken much since Mari had chosen another path, one that led deep into the ruin's core. He had so many questions but no way to voice them, and he let out a long sigh, which sounded all the world like a squawk.

She was illuminating the path through a spell he did not know, it caused a small pixie-sized ball of light to flutter along ahead of them. The light was enough motion to trigger aggro targets, but they had not run across any enemies, although there had been several small rodent-like creatures who scurried out of the light and back into cracks in the walls.

This was just great. He was in an unmapped zone, out of chat, out of contact with Gotou, and stuck as a penguin. Masayoshi let out another annoyed noise, and Moe's arm tightened across his midsection. He honked again, quieter this time, and thought of how nice it would be for Gotou to arrive and rescue him. He'd be mocked mercilessly for being a penguin of course, but he'd take it, if only it mean that he was with Gotou again. He even take being yelled at, over this.

Mari huffed in exasperation behind Moe. "This is taking too long," she said finally, her voice echoing slightly in the half-buried tunnel. "Mizuki-chan's not going to be here."

"This is what she was investigating when she disappeared," Moe said, not raising her voice or showing any kind of irritation. "It's the best place to start, Mari-chan."

"'Start'? We've been walking these ruins for days, and the only thing we found is an Elyos shit-head that you turned into a hugging pillow."

Masayoshi honked indignantly. Who are you calling a shit-head?

"He's not a shit-head, he's adorable," Moe said benevolently, hugging Masayoshi close. He struggled against her arms, watching as the little light-pixie's reach grew, as they exited the tunnel into another large, dark chamber. "Aren't you adorable?" She held him up so he could look at her face - despite the blue features, that looked exactly like Moe. Masayoshi sighed and hung limp in her hands, and a strange expression crossed Moe's face. She was looking at the air above Masayoshi's head. "Um, Mari-chan?"

Mari had come around Moe, battle axe in both hands as she looked around the much larger room. "Whew," she said. "This place smells like death!"

It did have a pungent odor to it, the scent of putrefaction in the air. Masayoshi kicked his feet again against the way Moe was holding him, wanting to be set down. He still had no access to any of his skills or abilities or even speech, but he was not going to be hauled around like he was someone's plush toy. Especially not if Moe needed both hands for spell-casting.

"Mari-chan," Moe called again. "I think this is Hazama-kun."

Masayoshi abruptly stopped kicking his legs and stared at her. How...?

Mari half-turned and shot Moe a look of disbelief. "Samumenco isn't gonna play games like this, he's too busy fucking his roommate."

Masayoshi let out the loudest honking noise he could muster, followed by a series of squawks. He flapped his flippers uselessly and kicked and struggled against Moe's hands again. "His username is Flamenred," she reported.

"Fanboy," Mari said.

Moe turned him around and held him out at Mari. "Tell her you're Hazama-kun," she instructed.

Masayoshi felt like a dog told to perform a trick. He did it anyway, squawking the approximate amount of syllables that added up to I-am-Hazama-Masayoshi!

There was a moment of silence after Masayoshi's last squawk echoed in the large, dark chamber. "Good going, Moe," Mari said. "You turned Samumenco into a penguin."

Gotou's head was throbbing in time to the beat of an invisible marching band, its percussion line stomping around somewhere behind his left temple. He groaned but didn't open his eyes right away, because the last thing he remembered was teleporting back to a resurrection obelisk and he had the bad feeling that he was not going to be anywhere near one.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Gotou-san," Masayoshi's voice said, and Gotou's head throbbed a little more, and he squinted open his eyes finally. Masayoshi was leaning over him, a slightly-concerned expression on his face. Gotou raised one hand and settled it over his eyes, that small flame of anger still flickering underneath his ribcage. "I'm still mad at you," he said softly, but not feeling it.

Masayoshi's voice changed as he spoke, settled into something familiar and not all the same. "Are you sure it's me you're mad at?"

Gotou's hand came flying off his eyes, and he tried to surge upright into a seated position at the same time. The face was Masayoshi's - the eyes, the nose, the grin - but not that voice, and not that expression. His quick movement made the room spin a bit and he caught his head with both hands and groaned, and could barely put up a resistance when a firm hand caught his shoulder and pressed him back down, onto his back.

"There, there," not-Masayoshi said, a tenderness in his voice that felt more mocking than not. "Not too quickly, Gotou-san, being pulled from the aether stream like that can really make one come apart."

"You did this," Gotou said, eyes flying open. He struggled to get upright again, but not-Masayoshi kept him down with that single hand, sitting at Gotou's side, looking somewhere between amused and satisfied.

"Of course I did," not-Masayoshi said. "I am this world, I can do whatever I please inside and outside its rules." Gotou glared up at his face, Masayoshi's and not, and the up past it, toward the arch of the room. The walls, that he could see, were crumbling stone, lit in shades of red and purple coming from the center of the room. Gotou twisted his head, looked past not-Masayoshi, and saw the glimmering orb in the center of the room.

"What is that," he asked, voice hoarse. It was purple at its core, red and black veins of light skittering across its surface. It was easily the size of a small car, and suspended in a beam of brilliant white light.

"That," not-Masayoshi glanced over his shoulder at the throbbing ball of light, "is the thing that separates fantasy from reality." He grinned a little, a scary, unhinged smile that melted into something akin to caring as he looked back at Gotou. "It's the heart of Siel."

Gotou closed his eyes. He wasn't sure if that was supposed to mean anything to him, but looking directly at the orb had only amplified his pounding head. "It was a stupid thing to grab me," he said instead, eyes squeezed closed. "Once Masayoshi finds out-" He would come, he would stomp this not-Masayoshi's face into the floor and Gotou would cheer him on, if he couldn't help do it himself.

"Ah," not-Masayoshi said. "You speak as if brother knows your whereabouts. I grabbed you from the aether stream, dear Gotou-san. He thinks you returned to your bind point cursing his name."

"What is the point of all this?" Gotou said finally. "You said you wanted to get revenge on Masayoshi, how is this-"

Not-Masayoshi tilted his head, gaze still cast over his shoulder at the orb. "Soon it will be too late for any of you to stop me," he said, pleased with himself. "The gamemakers cursed this world with a cataclysm to create chaos, and I shall bring it a cataclysm to cleanse the world and make it anew."

"With you as its one true leader, I'm sure," Gotou said derisively. His head was still pounding, but not-Masayoshi no longer had his hand on Gotou's shoulder, so he sat up slowly. He was lying on the floor, at the top of some stairs that encircled the glowing orb.

"Hardly." Not-Masayoshi turned around completely. "I shall be a small, noble adventurer, same as yourself. The cataclysm will rob me of my power, but it will also grant me life again." He was focused on the orb, not looking at Gotou. "Real life, not as zeros, and ones."

Gotou stared at him, silent. "I am what you would call a backup copy," not-Masayoshi said. "A virtualized version of the interface of From Beyond. I was uploaded to the internet before my death, and I found as close to physical form here, in the world of this game."

"You were the one who sent the Flamengers the email with the free invite codes," Gotou said, realization dawning.

"I am lonely, in this world - the sole thing that belongs to it and not its programming." Not-Masayoshi looked soft and vulnerable for a moment, then cocked his head. "But not for much longer. When the heart detonates, it will destroy the servers, and all who are logged in will become part of this game forever."

The rumble started soft and low, beneath their feet. Mari gripped her axe tighter, as Masayoshi struggled still in Moe's arms. "Shush, hush," Moe chided him. "It's more efficient for me to carry you."

"What is that?" Mari asked, as the ground shifted slightly under their feet. There was something in the air, heavy and electric, but it didn't weigh them down, it almost made them feel lighter, more buoyant.

"Aether," Moe said, her hair standing almost on end. "An excess of it, my reserves are full." She half-turned, on her toes, her magical light flying brightly in front of her. Masayoshi flapped his flippers in that direction as well, whatever was going on, it was originating from the source of the aether. "Hazama-kun wants to go that way."

"Of course he does, he runs toward danger and not away." Mari hadn't moved yet - then she nodded her head. "Okay, we'll go. Can't have Samumenco the Penguin showing us up now, can we?"

Masayoshi wished his tongue was long enough to stick out at her in aggravation, he flapped his flippers harder and wished that whatever he was turned into was not as useless as a penguin.

The rumbling had not ceased, in the Abyss. However, a bright light had emerged from the center of the fortress, shooting diagonally toward the center of the Abyss. The Flamengers shielded their eyes from the brilliant glow - Ruby turned almost completely away. "What the hell is that?" she yelled, as the rumbling intensified.

"I don't know," Green yelled back, unable to be heard properly without raising his voice.

"I bet that whatever it is, Leader is at the center of it," Blue ran past them all, wings unfurled, and dove straight down into the source of the light itself, within the depth of the fortress.

"I bet he's right," Ruby said, unfurling her own black, tattered wings.

"I don't get paid enough for this," Pink said, following Ruby without hesitation.

Green and Black exchanged a wordless glance, and then followed.

"You can't do that," Gotou said, his mind not moving as fast as his mouth. His mouth had gone dry with the implication of those words. "All those people-"

"People with skillsets outside of what this world cultivates," not-Masayoshi said. "Skills that will be useful to help save this world, make it a place worth living in again." He tilted his head at Gotou, watched him.

"Don't do it," Gotous said. "I know you're lonely, I'll stay here with you, just don't-" Gotou felt the physical reverb of those words in his throat, saw the way that not-Masayoshi stiffened, stared at him.

"You'd do that," he said, clearly unbelieving. "You'd stay here, in this world forever with me, if I stop the destruction of the heart of Siel right now?"

"I," Gotou curled his fingers into a fist. "I would, you have to promise to let everyone go, everyone, even Masayoshi and the other Flamengers..."

Not-Masayoshi stood. "You'd be my lover, then?"

Gotou said softly, "if that's what it takes."

The words curled in his belly, vile and foul and still he spat them out without hesitation. Gotou tilted his chin defiantly to the not-Masayoshi, he would do whatever he had to, if it meant the others could be free, if it meant the others ... if it meant Masayoshi would be safe from harm, safe from reprisal... Not-Masayoshi grabbed Gotou's jaw, jerking his head up violently, staring at him, his usual blue-grey eyes dark from the strange light cast by the heart.

"You'd do that," he said. "For me?"

And for a moment, for an instant, he heard Masayoshi's voice, bewildered and unsure, and Gotou closed his eyes tight. If he accepted this, if he released the others from his thrall, allowed them to log-out ... then the last time he would have ever heard his Masayoshi's voice would have been in anger, in a fight... Gotou swallowed, eyes still closed. "Yes," he said, the word almost a whisper.

He jerked Gotou up, sharply, by his chin. Gotou gave a yelp of pain, felt his sword scrape the floor as he staggered upright, realized he was still armed - and not-Masayoshi recognized this at the same time, waved his hand again and grinned. "Go for your sword," he murmured. "Show me how you lie."

Not-Masayoshi was holding Gotou aloft now, by jaw and neck, the tips of his sabatons scrabbling for purchase on the stone floor. "If I agree," not-Masayoshi said thoughtfully, "we have to do something about this height, before I lose the opportunity."

"What," Gotou gasped, and not-Masayoshi slammed him back into the wall, one hand on his throat, the other on his head.

"This might hurt a little," he said, grinning as he spoke the words.

Gotou gave out a yell of surprise and pain as it shot through his entire being - and as his eyes rolled up in his head, he swore he saw a small penguin come flying down one of the staircases that lined the room...

"Hazama-san!" Moe yelled as Masayoshi kicked himself free of her arms finally. They'd followed the flow of aether, it getting ever stronger until the small pixie-light was no longer needed. It winked out, and the strange purple-and-red illumination cast everything in bizarre shadow.

And then, Moe and Mari stood side-by-side in the entrance of the room, taking it all in, the glowing orb suspended in the center of the room, and Masayoshi holding Gotou by the throat against the wall.

"Okay, so," Mari said, axe in both hands. "You're sure the penguin is Samumenco."

Masayoshi ignored them both, ignored everything, and made for Beyond Flamenco. He didn't move as fast as a penguin but dammit he moved, and if there was one thing that Beyond Flamenco had not expected was to see a tiny, pissed penguin come hurtling directly at his face. Leave Gotou-san alone!

Masayoshi's words of course did not come out as words but as a syllable-less noise of rage. Beyond Flamenco released Gotou and he staggered back against the wall, barely alive or awake. "What the hell-" Beyond Flamenco yelled as Masayoshi bit and clawed at him, making it almost halfway up his armor before Beyond Flamenco caught him by a leg and pulled him off. Hung upside down and still spitting fury and fire at Beyond Flamenco, Masayoshi kicked and flailed with all his might.

"Is this," he held the penguin up in Moe's direction, "the best you can do, beastmaster?"

"Hey!" Mari said. She shifted her grip on her axe and moved to charge down the stairs, when Beyond Flamenco turned, and hurled Masayoshi-the-penguin toward the glowing, pulsing orb with all his strength. He hit the orb and vanished into its glow.

"No!" Moe shrieked.

Mari didn't even slow her pace, hands choked up on the axe as she ran, taking the steps three at a time. Beyond Flamenco shifted, and pulled the magnificent, giant two-handed sword from his back, prepared to meet the smaller warrior-class's swing with his weapon.

Her charge slammed her into him at full speed, and as he spun to take some of the brunt of the blow he missed the step, backing off into the air. He flailed backwards and Mari followed, brutal and unforgiving.

Moe flew down the steps and landed at Gotou's side. He had slid to a seated position, head back against the stone and eyes half open. "Gotou-kun!" she said, and waved her hand, pulling from her repertoire some healing spells, to try to bring him back to consciousness.

Beyond Flamenco yelled out, and suddenly, there were more people. Mari looked up, surprised, as four Elyos, and Mizuki dropped out of the air around her. "Mari!" Mizuki yelled, dropping behind her, and to the right. "They're on our side! It's-!"

"The Flamengers," Mari said, twirling her axe back with one hand. She grinned a sharp, wicked grin. "You're outnumbered now, asshole."

Beyond Flamenco tossed his arms out wide, sword held tight in one of them. "That's what you think," he said. "I control this game right now, not you."

"Oh, good," the one wearing an assortment of blue-tinted armor said, from Mari's left. "Let's taunt the megalomaniac, see where that gets us."

Beyond Flamenco took a step back, as an extraordinarily large creature materialized in the space between them, its head almost brushing the top of the chamber's ceiling.

"Now that," Mari said. "Is a fucking dragon."

The one on Mari's right, who was wearing sorcerer robes and glasses, glanced at her. "You're a tank? Tanks to the front! Support, second line, we can bring this guy down, but we've got to cooperate!"

Masayoshi opened his eyes to bright, white light. It was coming in through stained glass all around him - colors of all sorts and shades decorated the floor, and dust motes danced in the air. He stuck his hand out - still wearing armor, but not his usual armor - and watched the colors slide across its surface. "Am I dead?" he asked aloud, his voice echoing in the chamber.

"Not quite." The voice was soft and feminine, and Masayoshi turned about, to see a woman clad in a hooded cloak, that covered a flowing white gown. He could not see her face, but could sense the softness there. She spread her hands wide. "You are outside the flow of the aether, daeva."

"Are you ..." Masayoshi hesitated. "The Will of the Universe?"

She laughed, her voice tinkling like little bells. "I am not," she said.

Masayoshi looked around - the chamber that they were in was circular. Bright light seemed to come from all directions, but so far as he could see, there was no exit nor entrance. "What am I doing here?"

"You are full of questions, proud daeva." She folded her hands, he cloak falling forward to cover her arms. "I have brought you here, to temper the cataclysm."

"Temper it... how?" Masayoshi turned toward the woman. "How do I stop it?"

"It cannot be stopped." She glanced to the floor - and Masayoshi looked down. The floor beneath his feet was translucent, he could see the strange orb throbbing and pulsing. "My heart beats its last. If it is allowed to stop, you and your friends will be free, but it will mean the death of this world and everyone in it."

Masayoshi wet his lips. "How do we keep it going, then?"

"It cannot keep going."

He jerked his head up and stared at her. "Then what was the point in bringing me here, to tell me that it's going to stop and the world is going to die?"

"Because," she said softly. "There is another way."

Gotou's eyes flew open when the dragon roared. He sat straight up, and the Asmo tending to his side leaped back. "Masayoshi," Gotou said, his voice a rasp, his head still pounding. The dragon roared again and they both felt the heat of its fire. "What-?"

"Hazama-kun is gone," Moe said, didn't elaborate. "There's a dragon, the others are fighting it."

Gotou slammed his hand into the wall beside himself, tried to push himself into a seated position. "What the fuck," he said, "Masayoshi is not gone, he's-" Gotou swung his head around, looked at the chaos around the heart of Siel and did not see Masayoshi among it. "Where's Beyond Flamenco?" he hissed, cold fire in his belly.

She inclined her head, and Gotou turned and saw him, standing at the top of one of the staircases, sword before him, point in the rock and hands on its pommel, just watching. Gotou pulled himself to his feet. "He's mine," he said.

"You won't get around the dragon," Moe said.

"Watch me."

Gotou stood, closed his eyes, found his breath. The aether in the air made everything lighter, he felt his wings, and was airborne in an instant, shield on his arm, sword in the other. He made no secret of his approach, yelling his intent and he saw Beyond Flamenco jerk, sword in both hands as Gotou slammed into him at full speed.

They went tail over teakettle, over the edge of the staircase. Somehow Beyond Flamenco threw Gotou off before they both hit the floor, and Gotou half-landed on his shield, the impact jolting him to his core.

He barely had time to roll away, to his feet, as Beyond Flamenco's sword slammed into the rock behind him.

"We're gonna end this," Gotou said, staggered to his feet. He couldn't see or sense his HP bar any longer but he didn't care, he was done, he was through, he was going to put his sword through this fake-Masayoshi's heart.

But, Beyond Flamenco wasn't looking at him any longer. Gotou held his position but it wasn't a feint, and he turned as well, keeping his shield between him and Beyond Flamenco.

The entire room shook as the dragon fell, life depleted. It vanished into the aether seconds later - but that wasn't what had captivated Beyond Flamenco's attention either. He was staring at the heart of Siel, pulsing black and purple and red - and standing on it, his halberd in both hands, was Masayoshi.

"What," Beyond Flamenco said, his voice almost lost among the cacophany that had begun around the pulsing orb. "What are you doing-?!"

The sheer energy being emitted by the magical artifact was blowing his hair up, the cloth bits of his armor billowed up around him. Masayoshi was staring at Gotou, but whatever he was saying couldn't be heard over the rush of energy.

"Masayoshi!" Gotou yelled, turning his back on Beyond Flamenco, his anger forgotten, sheer terror in his voice. Masayoshi looked away from him, raised his halberd high, and slammed it into the orb beneath his feet.

It pulsed, and cracked, and white light seeped from the crack. He hefted his weapon and struck it again. It shuddered, and more white cracks appeared along its length, mixed with the black and the purple and the red. Masayoshi hesitated on the third swing, looked at Gotou again.

Gotou didn't hesitate further. He jumped the steps to the lower platform, dropped his shield behind him and ran at the orb, sword in both hands. When he struck it he felt the jolt, electric, shoot up his arms and down into him. A new crack appeared, where his sword impacted the magic.

Mari was beside him in an instant, her axe in both hands, the Flamengers only a few seconds behind. Without word or signal they all struck at the orb, until the entire thing glowed white-hot and bright, chasing the darkness from the room, swirling around them all. It was almost too bright to look at, and Gotou shielded his eyes with one hand, unable to make out Masayoshi any longer.

With a rush of energy and fire, the heart of Siel exploded.

"My thanks to you, kind daeva," the old farmhand said, leaning on his crutch, the summer sun beating down from above. In the clear blue sky the tower of Eternity could be seen, glimmering in the sunlight. Gotou straightened, wiping his dirty face with the towel slung around his neck, the hoe held tight in one hand. "I would not be able to get my work done today, without your assistance."

Gotou nodded his head, leaning the farming implement against the wooden fence and crouching down, to dump the pail of water he'd left there over his head. He blew out a breath in relief, the water, even lukewarm, felt fantastic. "When's lunch?" he asked.

"My wife should be finished shortly," the old farmer said. "We are forever in your debt."

He watched the old man shuffle toward the small farm house, and Gotou glanced back out at the hills that lead down into Tolbas. The farms here had begun to thrive once the Lephartists were driven from the coast, and even the frillnecks that terrorized travelers had been brought into line. All told, a decent amount of work from the daevas who lived here. Gotou smiled to himself a little, and patted his face dry.

So much had changed, in six months time. The war with the Asmodae had shifted - while there was still conflict between the two factions, they had a common enemy to combat, and the united front they had presented was also uniting the nations behind the scenes. Gotou looked up at the Tower of Eternity and wondered for the barest instant, his heart aching.

Masayoshi was gone.

Consumed by the energy of the heart of Siel. Returned to the aether, as the brigadier general had solemnly proclaimed. Another daeva lost, but in glorious battle to save them all. No one but the Flamengers, or the Flamenco Girls knew the truth, that the destruction of the heart of Siel was initiated by Masayoshi; that the even that had trapped all active players within the game, made this their new reality was caused by the honored dead.

Gotou couldn't bear to be around them any longer. The Flamengers, or the Flamenco Girls, or any reminders of Masayoshi. It tore him to shreds, so he wandered the land alone. He picked up odd jobs, helped out those who needed him, lent his sword to those in trouble and his labor to those who couldn't do it themselves. It was the only thing he could do. Daeva could not die.

He thought about Masayoshi's face in that last instant before the light became to bright, the words mouthed, not heard.

I love you.

Wait for me.

After lunch he bid the couple farewell, his armor on again, sword at his side, shield on his back. He would keep moving. There was plenty of area yet to be explored, unmapped by previous mapmakers. Maybe he'd find Masayoshi there yet, waiting for him, sunny smile on his face. He'd keep looking. For as long as it took.