Twilight.

The last hour of light was upon them. The sun's glow was dim, just an empty shell of its former glory. Its weak light illuminated a landscape covered with ashes and ruins, where a couple of figures covered in black hoods advanced.

"The oasis should be close right?" -

"We're almost there, just hold on a bit longer. I know we've been like this for days but…" -

"Wait, do you…" -

They were interrupted by the faint sound of a dark prayer, a song everyone in that ruined world knew to fear, for it indicated the arrival of the Fallen. This pair however? They heard that prayer a lot already, and they didn't fear it. Not anymore.

Soon, from beyond the dunes of ash, humanoid figures covered in black ash rushed towards them, using swords and spears to try and kill the two, who quickly countered the assault with a blast of fire, pushing the Fallen back.

"Stay back, I can handle them" - one of them yelled, preparing a dark sword that ignited with fire and launching himself against the Fallen, who knew to fear the burning heat of the flame.

"I'm not gonna stay behind you know? I'm the one that's been protecting you all this time, and I'm not going to stop just because my mana is low" - the other one yelled, pulling out a dark bow and creating flaming arrows which fired at a group of Fallen who tried approaching from behind.

"You're as reckless as always aren't you?" -

"Could say the same thing about you" -

The pair didn't say anything to each other anymore, simply focusing on destroying the enemy Fallen. It didn't take long, and just a few minutes later the last one fell to the ground, leaving the pair panting.

"That's the third one today…" -

"Then we better hurry if we want to get to the spring before they catch up again" -

"You're right, let me just…" -

He couldn't finish speaking however, he dropped to his knees, coughing blood, scaring his partner.

"No. No no no no no no!" - rushing to him, she held him in her arms and began carrying him - "I'm not letting you die, not after everything we did to get here!" -

Moving with her partner in her back, she slowly made her way across the dunes, just as the sun began to disappear and give way to the darkness of the night, until they saw their objective. A small tree growing in the middle of an oasis.

Without saying a word, the girl moved as fast as she could towards it, dropping her partner in it while spraying some of the oasis' water in his face.

"Come on, don't do this to me. You can't do this to me, not now!" -

She took a few steps back, watching how his body absorbed the water, how his breathing returned to normal, the wounds on his body slowly faded away, and how he opened his eyes.

"Ugh…" -

"Don't say anything, just… Stay like this for a bit, let your body heal" -

She then laid down next to him, holding him close to her as they washed away their pain in the magical waters of the oasis.

"Day 12… We're making good progress" - she said before closing her eyes.

The girl then dreamt of the world that once was, or at least, the world she used to know. A world where despite everything, humanity still fought side by side. The memories of those days were hazy, but she could still remember her training, all her friends, her family…

She could still remember the screams, the blood of those she tried so desperately to protect, staining her armor and face. She remembered her mentor, the man she looked up to the most, now nothing but a mindless beast attacking her. All the pain, all the agony, she remembered everything.

And then, she opened her eyes once more, now to the sight of a black sky over their heads, with nothing to light it other than a couple of phantom stars and the faint white glow of the moon, and her partner sitting by her side with a worried look on his face.

"You were trembling again in your sleep. Is everything alright Juno?" -

The white haired girl slowly raised herself towards her partner, her golden eyes meeting directly with his blue eyes.

"I'm fine, Ritsuka. You don't have to worry about me, I'm the one that should be taking care of you" -

"You know I can't do that. We're a team, you watch my back and I'll watch yours" -

Juno smiled at Ritsuka and hugged him. Of course he would care for her. He's her Angel after all.

"I thought that this oasis was a lie, but as soon as I saw the amount of Fallen close, I knew that it was here" - Juno spoke as she passed her hand through the water - "It's the first one we've seen since you arrived" -

"Then this means we should be getting closer right?" -

"I suppose so. The Citadels that were created by the Knights of Ashes were made close to the oasis, so if we found one, the first Citadel shouldn't be far away" -

Juno then turned to look at what Ritsuka and her were wearing, an armor made for the Knights of Ashes made out of a metal that, according to their leader, 'was born when the world died'. This grayish-dark metal that they call Ebonium is the one that the weapons and armor of the Knights of Ashes were made of. The armor would adjust itself to fit its user's body, and the weapons could change on the fly to better suit whatever situation its user found themselves in.

Alongside this, Ebonium weapons were imbued with a magical seal that allowed them to harness the power of the Sun, the flames of which could be used to kill the Fallen that now roamed what was left of the world. In the past, the Sun kept the Fallen at bay, and they couldn't move during the daylight, yet as the world died, the star soon followed, its light no longer offering protection from the abominations.

"If I'm right, then we should be able to use the seal to ignite the flames of the Sun, at least a bit more, and push back on the Fallen" -

"And if we do it on all 8 of them…" -

"Maybe we can disperse the curse altogether. It may be a stupid idea but I need to try it, I owe it to everyone" -

Juno held hope that the world could still come back, that the embers of their dying world could once more ignite into a fire, that would bring humanity back from the brink of death.

"Sounds like a plan to me" - Ritsuka said as he prepared his weapon, taking the form of a sword and igniting with the flames of the Sun - "Then let's go, we have a fire to ignite" -

Juno looked at him, and smiled, her weapon taking the form of a scythe - "Let's go, my Angel" -