MASS POST WARNING: GO BACK AND READ THE FIRST CHAPTER I POSTED, PLEASE. IT WILL SAY "THIS IS THE FIRST CHAPTER I POSTED." All poems are mine, this chapter.

What is the real aim of these hooligans?

i am tossed on these waves

i have nowhere to run

yet

in my darkest moment

i remembered

my "sin"

Chapter 31: Goodbye Lullabye

It wouldn't be surprising if she had PTSD by now. Being hunted for a good portion of your life can certainly do that to a person.

Scowling, Amber pocketed the now-useless artefact. The contract was still active, of course, it just wasn't responding to any of her commands. Amber usually used her fan as a medium to transmit her mana, but she was now restricted to the bare minimum a mage normally was able to use. Meanwhile, the initial shock of not being able to use her artefact was still setting in. She couldn't forgive herself for trembling, but her hand wouldn't stop. She whipped out her wand and waited for an attack, standing back to back with her equally prepared friends. For now she was going to have to use wind spells to keep them at bay.

Minoru, having examined his artefact thoroughly when he received it, knew just what to do. Upon inspection, the grimore was surrounded by a crisscrossing of straps. It was more like a case, actually, with two loops on the back of it. This, he realized, could be used to wear the book like a backpack. After experimenting with Yuzuki and the other Persocoms in the courtyard, he found that this greatly boosted his magical resistance, and helped him to cast some of the more powerful spells. It even had a special ability called 'Fall Net' that slowed down the way gravity acted upon the beholder of the artefact, resulting in softer falls.

Hideki and Garrett had their swords, of course, and Chii was already holding her bouquet, looking exceptionally stern.

From her peripherals, Amber overlooked this scene with numbing dread.

How crazy had this world become? Her friends were quickly becoming hardened warriors, ready to defend themselves at a moment's notice. Even Chii, who was such a sweet and kind girl, was developing a dark side.

All of it was her fault.

Angel, accompanied by her loving partner Kamijou Miki, sat and watched the events of their twisted play run their course. Staring at the screen in front of them, the blue-haired beauty smirked in satisfaction and sat back to enjoy the show.

Two goddesses watched as the timeline shifted once again. One dwelled in Elysium, while the other sat in its dark counterpart. Two halves of the coin: the blessing and the malediction.

Both watched as the fate of the multiverse hung in the balance.

Would the dimensions stay forever more, or would they eventually shatter?

...

Thomas's broadsword collided with Garrett's own. Wincing, the Chobit held back the weighty attack with gritted teeth. From measuring the force alone, Garrett had a feeling his actuators were being thrown out of alignment by just clashing with this man. He may have been made of military-grade parts, but he wondered if this person was really human.

What Garrett found odd was that Thomas's partner, oddly enough, wasn't a Persocom. However, Thomas himself did rightly classify as a 'cyborg'. Much like how Amber had an artificial pair of legs, it seemed that Thomas had a pair of artificial arms. This probably contributed to his monstrous strength.

'So…heavy!' thought Garrett, feeling something akin to pain.

Minako, we need help!

A rain of arrows made of pink lightning rained down upon them.

Standing in front of Yuzuki, Minoru cast a shield charm. It didn't stop the arrows, but slowed them down enough for him to deflect most of the damage with his artefact. Its other ability, 'Damage Siphon' directed the energy behind them, which made several booths explode into paper, dust and splinters.

Sparks rained around Garrett and Thomas, the fleeting shards of light dancing in an emepheral ballet.

The response from Minako took longer than he expected, but nonetheless, she replied, which was great.

Garrett? What's going on? You normally don't email me.

He didn't have the energy to sigh in relief, but to get those words sent back, Garrett felt a little better.

I don't know if you can, but some help would be nice. A shady mage and his partner are attacking us at ComiFest.

The response was nearly immediate, if not for the fact Minako had to speak to Junji.

Just a mil. I told Junji. Where you're at is a little out of our jurisdiction. The local magical authorities have reported that they blockaded it off already, but I'm sure you know that. Hold on, he's calling in a favor right now.

Jack was snapping his fingers, which sent tiny pillars of light shooting up horizontally from the floor. Thanks to their wireless link with Garrett, Yuzuki and Chii were able to coordinate their movements to protect their humans from the ultra-fast lightshow. The beams managed to graze them all, but it was better than getting attacked head-on. The scorching beams had left dark marks on the carpeted floor, which would not have been good if they collided with flesh.

Well, tell whomever it is that they need to hurry!

Garrett could have used one of the abilities of his sword, more specifically, 'Attack Link,' to help power up his attack, but trying to explain that to Minoru right now would have been really difficult. He usually used such an attack with Amber, but she seemed thoroughly freaked out from not being able to use her artefact. If he was able to charge his sword with some ice magic, though, these guys would have had an even harder time pushing them around. Behind him Garrett could tell that Amber was not holding up well, mentally. She seemed to be falling apart as they fought. He had to knock her out of the way at least thrice.

"Minoru, back me up, you nerd!" said the stressed Persocom.

"Right!" Charging forward towards Thomas, the young man smiled roguishly. "Yuzuki, cover us!"

"Rodger!" said Yuzuki, morphing her pistols into a short-range shotgun. The scope on it was much different than the others, as it appeared as a lavender-tinted monocle on her face. She had seen a collection of magical guns from a magazine in the resort. Thankfully, her artefact greatly accommodated her, and she now had an all-new arsenal to choose from.

"Ensis Exsequens!*"

Minoru brought all this fingers of his right hand together in a tight formation. His hand was immediately wrapped with a glowing coat of blue magical energy. In order to help Garrett against Thomas, he needed a blade. Paper never beat scissors, so his book wasn't doing much, so he had to get creative. This spell was a pseudo-blade that stabbed outward in the direction of his fingertips in the approximate form of a sword. Minoru, since Garrett was distracting Thomas, was able to get in a few shallow cuts, but overall, he was protected by his partner's magic.

Currently, Chii and Hideki were trying to hold back Jack with flower petals and a sword. However, this was not faring as well as the others' attacks. He was very fast, and was able to put up extremely thick barriers to protect himself. Once the two of them broke through one, he would simply create another. Amber was trying to help with her wind spells, but he only used them to his advantage, somehow stepping onto, yes, stepping onto the wind and skating out of the way of attacks.

In midst of the commotion, somehow one of the pair slipped through their defense. Somehow, he passed by them without gaining any sort of dmaage. His steps had been so skillful that he had surpassed them in an instant.

Garrett, who was still occupied with Thomas, was able to catch the exact moment it happened. He looked to Amber, Jack's one and only target.

Her eyes were clouded over, like when she had woken up the second time from Yui's 'Arc Symphony'.

However, this was much different than that time. It was ten times more desperate, and a thousand times more dangerous.

"Hello, darling," said Jack, his voice so sultry it could be described as nothing less than a purr. "I'll be taking it now."

Garrett saw her trembling lips begin to part.

Warning bells were going off in his mind. He detected the spike of magic through their contract before everyone else could register its existence.

"NO! Amber, wait!"

In the instant Garrett's concentration broke, Thomas kicked him across the room like a football. Flying through the air in a shallow arc, Garrett landed on an already broken booth. He was glad that his skin was so durable, but his concerns were elsewhere right now.

Within the fear, within her heart Amber felt something stirring. Behind her eyes, she could feel her emotions shut off once by one. A darkness brewed in her, a feral darkness that could consume the universe, if left unchecked.

She anticipated a fatal attack. She could feel it. The fear that was ebbing through her told her that was inevitable.

'...so scared.'

Time wasn't budging an inch. She could feel it's resistance as she struggled to claim control over it.

Still, the maddening feeling of terror emained.

Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared.

Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared.

But within that madness was a single speck of sanity, deep within the recesses of her mind. From that portion of her brain, ten words popped out. Ten very simple words. Ten words that would shatter their reality and bring back a monster.

In a steely, frigid voice, she opened her mouth to speak.

"Connecting to the Luxuria archive." A dark miasma began to encircle her as she spoke. "I'm executing my thema…"

Magic A is Magic A

Magic B is Magic B

Magic A plus Magic B equals

Magic C?

What is this powerful presence? Will Angel's servants feel threatened?

T/N: * Ensis Exsequens = (Executioner's Sword). A high-level, normally unincanted spell. As described, it acts as a sword of pure energy to help slice up te target.

A/N: Anyone who has a question should speak up. If you have something you want to see or something that needs to be resolved for you, I think I might be able to squeeze it in. If you know a good beta-reader that could help me with my work, then by all means mention us to each other!

Also, I launched my page, which I've linked to my fanfiction profile. I'm not using it to support my fanfiction (obviously), but for my original works. I'm also revamping my YouTube channels, which is going to be fun/time-consuming. I also am trying to get a steady job, but I doubt anyone will hire me, still. Hence, the reason for my .

I'm also getting ready to launch two more series. One is a manga I'm drawing, but co-wrting with a fellow TvTroper. It's called 'Real-D Kanojo.' I'm trying to get it onto taptastic or smackjeeves. The second series is called 'My Little Youkai', and the free excerpt of the first few chapters is on my Wattpad, which I think I linked on my fanfiction dot net profile.

Plus, when Minako says "just a mil", it's short for "just a millisecond"

Stay lovely, everyone!