"I… win!" Irina's triumphant fist dangled in the air while catching her breath. "There's only one blonde I'll ever be semi-okay losin' to, and it ain't you."

"I didn't know this was a contest," Noel wheezed, hunched, heaving, and clutching her knees for support. Meeting Irina's gaze merely scared her senseless, and although seeing her must have freaked Irina out, the delinquent ended up with a different motive for screaming. "Rachel, what's going on?"

"Hm? Oh." Rachel uncorked earplugs she'd inserted. She forgot to take them out her pockets prior to their journey here, but bringing them proved favorable for her mental health. "Have you two finally finished up? No lingering wails to pierce my eardrums?"

"U-um, yes." The edge in Rachel's tone was subtle, yet sharp. "Sorry."

"Heh. No need to be sorry when the winner was obvious," Irina snorted.

"I... guess?"

"Now!" Irina stomped her foot on the edge of her coffin and pointed at them. "Fess up! Who the hell're you idiots, and where am I? You've got till the count of three before I start swingin'."

"W-well…" Noel didn't know how to explain it. Lying about their location would only make things more confusing. Besides, what kind of lie could she tell on the spot for this? Maybe that this is a movie set? Yeah! That could–

"You are beneath a cemetery." Rachel came flat out with it, to the astonishment of Noel and befuddlement of Irina. "Surely you are not so cognitively stunted you have yet to realize you are standing atop a coffin."

"A coffin?" Irina blinked, then looked down. Then up. Then down. "Oh, how 'bout that. I am, ain't I?"

Tick.

Tick.

Ding!

"What the FUCK?!" Irina sprung out of it like her rear had been set ablaze. "The fuck am I doin' in a coffin?! Ain't no way I'm dead! I'm not dead, am I?!"

That's what I thought. At least now Irina was on the same page as Noel. Took a bit though.

"Oi! You two better have a good explanation for what I'm doin' here, or there's gonna be HELL to pay."

Noel shook her head fiercely when interrogative pink eyes narrowed on them. "I don't know! We came and found you here."

"Hence the irritating five minute long shrieking that decided who possessed fewer brain cells." Rachel did have to admit, regardless of the winner, either one could have proclaimed that prodigious title.

"You've gotta be shittin' me. Wait." Irina rummaged through her skirt pockets and her skin paled. "Oh this can not be fuckin' happening. No no no! My phone's not here?!"

"P-please calm down." Noel's attempt to remedy her anxiety only turned the delinquent anger toward her.

"How the fuck am I s'posed to be calm in a situation like this?!" Noel understood the sentiment. At least until she said, "All my game data is gone!"

Noel's head tilted. "What?"

"So much time and effort grinding those units, down the fuckin' drain! Not even grinding them, just getting them from pools." Irina crumpled to her knees in a whimpering heap. "Just put me back in that coffin and shut the lid. Screw living. I'm done."

Rachel shrugged. "If she insists."

"We can't do that!" Noel berated and cautiously approached the muttering Irina whose lifeless eyes stared out at nothing. "C-come on, it's not the end of the world."

"The hell it isn't!" Irina shot up with tears brimming in her eyes. "Of course someone who doesn't understand the torturous grind would say that! How 'bout I take somethin' you've sunk all your time and energy in so you'll never see it again because locking accounts to email is just too hard?! Screw transfer codes!"

Noel lacked the social etiquette and experience to deal with an outburst like this. Rachel didn't appear remotely interested in soothing her worries. Lost on how to approach Irina and stop the delinquent from jumping back into the coffin, her attention geared toward the strange symbols that appeared around it. Seithr levels rose and Nightmares formed from the smog. It didn't take a genius to realize why they showed up. "Irina, please get back!"

"Huh?" Still in a stupor, Irina hadn't taken notice of the seithr or monsters stalking near her.

Noel lunged into action. A Nightmare's attempt to grab at a befuddled Irina was thwarted by a sharp kick knocking it back. Noel brandished Bolverk in that same notion and vaporized the threat with three shots. Wails of anguish disappeared along with its horrific form. Rachel dispatched one with the ease of swatting a fly, crushing the hellish creature under the weight of an immense gust of wind. Noel moved to deal with their final adversary but was surprised to see it already mid-air.

"Groaor!" The Nightmare cried as it spiraling in the air and crashed down like a pile of bricks.

"Try to jump me, will ya?" Veins pulsed through Irina's forehead. Her fist was still clenched and poser in the same dynamic uppercut position she'd sent the Nightmare flying in.

"How can…?" Noel couldn't believe her eyes. She'd… hurt it?

"Ya got some balls, I'll give ya that." The whimpering girl who'd lost all hope vanished. With all the might in her body, Irina stomped on its stomach and glared right into crimson eyes. "I dunno what group you freaks belong to, but you must be new if you think you've got the cred to fuck with me."

"I-Irina!" Noel called out. "Get away from that Nightmare, it's dangerous!"

"Put a sock in it, blonde." Long gone were tears; malice burned bright and sharp in pink eyes. Irina put more force on her foot when the Nightmare attempted to get up. "Lemme show you why I'm the fuckin' head honcho around these parts, and drill my name into your ugly ass!"

Noel wasn't sure what to do. A regular human couldn't hope to injure a Nightmare; she and Ragna tried and failed. Yet Irina brought one to its knees, and maliciously pummeled the creature. Watching the delinquent leader drive the Nightmare into the pavement both impressed and scared her. For an infinitesimal moment as the Nightmare faded into its base elements, Noel pitied it.

"Mmm…" Irina stretched her arms with a refreshed expression. "Ah! Nothin' more rejuvenatin' than beatin' some dumbass into the concrete. Ain't used to 'em pullin' a Hoodini like that though. Now." Her attention went to the unfamiliar girls. "Time to cough up. Who the hell're you two? From my experience, blonde's are nothin' but trouble and freaks o' nature. Latter part seems about right. Name?"

"My name is, uh, Noel. Noel Vermillion." Irina's cordial demeanor threw Noel off for a bit. She expected a full outburst but was met with methodical caution.

"Rachel Alucard."

"Noel and Rachel, eh…" Irina shook her head after a brief moment of contemplation. "Nope. Can't say I've seen any of you 'round my neck of the woods, so you're no delinquent."

"We, um, don't really come by this area. Actually, we're here looking for someone," Noel told her.

"That someone ain't me, I take it?" Irina glanced back at her coffin. "Not a place I'd rest my head. Means there's an ass that needs kickin' here. Called the freak a 'Nightmare'?" Irina hummed when she received a confirming nod. "Talk about a crazy delinquent group name. You, Noel."

"Y-yes?" Irina's approach tied a knot in Noel's stomach. Though she had nothing to worry about it seemed.

"Thanks for jumpin' in there," came an honest thank you from the delinquent. A light blush tinted Irina's cheeks as she crossed her arms and looked away. "I coulda taken that creep in my sleep and didn't need you to handle him, but, y'know," she itched her hair, "thanks and stuff. That was… pretty cool."

Noel adopted a smile. "I did what anyone would have."

"You too," she addressed Rachel. "Thanks for lendin' a hand."

"You are welcome."

"Just sayin', again, those jokers ain't a problem for a top tier delinquent like me to take down! Didn't need your help, but I won't just pretend you didn't try to lend me a hand. For that," Irina put both hands on her hips and smiled proudly, "I'm gonna make you two honorary members of my group! Welcome!"

"...Huh?" Noel managed after several beats of silence. Was she being recruited to join a delinquent gang? And what happened to that methodical dubiousness? It was like talking to two different people.

"Today's a good day ya found me!" Irina exclaimed.

"Agree to disagree," Rachel remarked.

"Now, personally, I ain't a blonde kinda gal. Terrible history with 'em. But there's always exceptions!" Irina nodded her head in approval. "Dunno how you're pullin' weapons outta thin air or turning into a human feather duster, but I've never turned away promisin' help. Especially from sisters in arms!"

Sisters in arms? While Noel was clueless as to what Irina meant by that, better judgment left it unanswered as a pang of disappointment etched into her bones. "I… think I'm okay." An immediate decline not following from Rachel had Noel momentarily believe she considered joining Irina. Though the reason Rachel hadn't responded was due to her focus being elsewhere. "Isn't that what we saw when we first entered the Masoleum?"

"A defensive incantation," Rachel responded simply to Noel's query regarding the sigil inscribed on the wall.

"Incantation?" Irina turned where their eyes focused and gasped, "When'd that get there?! Freaky…"

"How do we handle it?" Noel asked.

"We disable it. Surely I should not have to worry about you touching it like that fool?"

Noel uttered a weak laugh. "I-I won't. I'd rather not separate us even more, or something worse."

"We learn from the mistakes of others, that's good."

"Huh. Doesn't look like graffiti." Irina muttered, running her finger across the stone. "There a cult down here or somethin'?" The delinquent tilted her head when met with mixed stares. "What?"

In that moment, a bright light encompassed the trio and Noel could have sworn she heard Rachel lamenting not throwing Irina back into the coffin like she originally asked.

"Livin' in a world where my actions are denied sounds like horseshit. Think I'll pass."

Relentlessly, they haunted Her.

How could she say that?

No matter what She did, it simply wasn't enough. Even when She brought "her" back...

"That pipsqueak's the last person who'd bend to someone else's rules. 'Bout the only thing half-way respectable about the twerp."

Why didn't she understand?

Information flooded from the Boundary like a broken faucet, washing over the world– the plane of Her design, as the Observer. Fire and brimstone, suffocating darkness, emptiness. Serpentine, hellish monsters baring their fangs, trying to rip the life, all that She was and more, free, just like with them.

"It is your wish, your world, so it will be done." So "it" said when She'd taken on the role of Observer.

"So then why...?" She oversaw this world; it was Her wish to reclaim the precious souls she'd lost. Yet... how can it be possible those same individuals rejected Her "dream"? How? Why?

"Doesn't matter how many times you try. The only thing you're getting is the bird."

Why couldn't she just understand this was all for them?!

"Are you okay?"

Kind words from the one who applied simple aid calmed Her down. Blood rushed from Her bitten lip. Attacks like this were commonplace during work; work was always a struggle, so Her father said. A soft tissue dabbed at Her bleeding lip, the wound healing immediately. "Of course. I promise it won't happen again."

"Don't push yourself," Ai said.

"I'm not. I told you that." Her protest came out as a childish whine. Performing multiple interventions thanks to constant interference by those intruders was draining. On top of rebuilding everything further taxed Her. Hard work paid off though! That was what Her father always said and he never lied. "I just need a little more, and you'll be 'complete'. Then I can start with 'her', and we can all be together."

"No more." A terrified, fatigued voice. Innocent, shimmering eyes met dispassionate, distant ones. "Stop." Sitting in a corner as if placed in timeout, her courage seemed spent after uttering that squeak of defiance. "Please, if you keep this up—"

"Shut up." She regarded the whimpering child with abject malice. Conversing with Ai and the wretched existence shelved in the corner was like night and day. Seithr bellowed from the Observer, the pressure suffocating. Her brow wrinkled in disgust, words dripping with venom. "Going against everything we worked for! Trying to deny ME!" The girl's chest tightened as emotions stormed within her. Hot tears poured down Emy's cheeks, dripping onto the metallic floor. She buried her head in her knees.

"Are you crying?"

Lifting her head up revealed her blotchy, tear-streaked face. Much like any father would do, Ai sunk to his knees and pulled Emy into his chest. Her shoulders relaxed from the gesture, so comforting it hurt, and she broke down harder. Emy didn't know whether to cover her ears, sick and tired of listening to the Observer's chant, or seek solace in her father's arms. All she wanted was for this happiness to last, to be with her family. Soft humming kept her ears open, however, familiar tunes soothing her spirit as Ai rocked her back and forth.

"I know how much you liked her song. All of 'us' did." Ai gently stroked her hair. "Don't you want to hear it from her again? As a family?"

Emy had heard the mesmerizing melody countless times, even before her brother whose fondness most certainly stemmed from him. The whole point was to reunite her family, but why try when failure was inevitable? "I just want to forget it all…"

"Hush. Be strong." His embrace tightened at the child's cracking voice. "It will all be over soon."

"How stupid can you possibly be?" Ragna's anguish rang out in the soundscape. No matter how much he kneaded his temples, the ache remained.

"Like I was s'posed to know some shit like this would happen?!" Irina shot back, despite being the cause of their current predicament. Could anyone have predicted some hocus-pocus nonsense like this would occur? Of course not!

"Do keep it down. I believe my ears have endured enough punishment today." Rachel was as freezer-calm as ever. After explaining what had occurred to reunite them, a silver lining amid troubling circumstances, Rachel knew her time was better spent getting a grasp on it all than pointing fingers.

"Are we actually in some other dimension?" Ai, the less feisty of the two coffin-dwellers, asked. Purple as far as the eye could see encompassed them, the eerie stretching on for infinity.

"More or less," Kyo answered. He had to admit this situation was… awkward. Standing beside a younger version of his foster father, the man responsible for razing his home, kidnapping Emy, and leaving him crawling out of rubble, left his thoughts askew. Kyo kept in mind that their memories prior to their imprisonment were shaky at best.

"How can that even be possible?" Irina didn't grasp the explanation she'd been given. Waking up in a coffin taxed her brain well enough without all this meta-physics stuff. "And you!" Irina pointed at Ai. "How the hell can you be so freakin' calm?"

"I think it's better to rationalize if I stop kidding myself. Making a fuss hasn't helped any, has it?"

Irina waved him off. "You and your geeky collected logic. Whatever dude."

Ai gave the rambunctious delinquent a scolding eye. "Maybe you should give it a shot instead of causing a bigger scene. This is your fault after all."

"The hell, dude, you're takin' their side?! We're supposed to be tight!"

"There's no side to take. Let's try not getting in their way and making it harder?"

Irina pocketed her hands with a huff. "Yeah, yeah, fine. Guess you've got a point." She rubbed her sore throat. "My throat's still killin' me after earlier, anyway."

"It's not like you can talk either, Ragna." Noel's interjection earned a frown from Kyo when she said, "You touched that weird insignia on our way in and we got split apart."

"So that's why you were so cautious when that sigil appeared." Following the coffin's opening and defeat of the Nightmares that materialized shortly after, a strange array of symbols formed an elaborate insignia on the wall. Ragna insisted no one touch it. Kyo reasoned he'd seen something like it before, and that assumption appeared correct.

Irina's anger resurged. "And you're giving me shit?!"

"I even told you to be careful, but you said 'it's probably nothing' and— mmfph!" The pain of having her cheeks pulled by a wooden-faced Ragna stopped her.

"You were sayin'?" Ragna tugged harder as her arms began windmilling. Only when Noel nodded in compliance to remain silent did he release her.

"A tree would forget to grow if it were as stupid as you lot." Forced to bear witness to a screaming contest where the winner could boast about having fewer brain cells depleted Rachel's idiocy tolerance for one day.

"Do we have a way to get out of here?" Noel inquired while rubbing her sore cheeks. "I can't sense the Observer's attention on us. However…" she shuddered as a chill raced down her spine, "it's as potent as the one that trapped Ragna, Rachel, and I. A little overwhelming, actually."

"I know what you mean." A similar sensation suffocated Kyo when his adoptive father showed up to abduct Emy. He half-expected to run into him. In a way Kyo technically did.

"I ain't feelin' shit, not even a breeze." Irina looked at Ai. "How 'bout you?"

Ai frowned. "Don't look at me. It's not like I know what's going on any better than you... much."

"Oi. What's that last comment?" Irina snarled.

"Do we have a way to break free?" Noel asked.

"Breakin' outta here won't be an issue." Ragna's confidence earned a few eyebrows. "Right? It'll be a cinch for you to destroy somethin' this 'weak', won't it, Rabbit?"

Rachel considered him with an interested look. "Ah, so you do pay attention."

"Hard to miss when you don't try to hide it. Besides, I'm more of a visual learner." Ragna recalled the ease with which Rachel shattered that Bounded Field, a devastating show of might far beyond anything she'd displayed up till then. Rachel mentioned they could brute force their way through one. Ragna initially presumed that meant something simple like making a tiny hole. Observing Rachel's complete annihilation of a Bounded Field put into perspective the scope of what Rachel meant. That was a special touch he lacked.

"Hey, brat." Irina bent down to Kyo's ear and whispered, "You know what they're on about? There a pervert 'round here or somethin'?"

"Uh… kind of." Watching people without their permission or consent did count as being a stalking pervert.

"Then sign me up!" Resolve brimmed in her pink eyes. "I'm more than happy to dish out some divine retribution. Especially if my sisters in arms are takin' part."

"Sisters in arms?" Kyo repeated, perplexed when Rachel and Noel (mostly the former) were outed to be who she referred to.

"Like-minded women!" Kyo grew more confused as Irina happily went on. "We share a burden. Gotta stick together. They can handle themselves well in a scrap, too." Although Irina still struggled to comprehend their supernatural tools, she wasn't one to discriminate against good help. "Offered to bring 'em into my inner circle. Shiori and Miyazaki'll have to make some room."

Still ignorant of what Irina meant by that, the feeling of depression which followed what sounded like an endearment crept into Noel all the same. "I really don't think I'm cut out for that kind of thing."

"Molding you into the proper delinquent won't take any time at all!" Irina threw a friendly arm over Noel's shoulder. "Think of us gals runnin' every single prefecture, kicking assholes into the curve!"

A big issue was that Noel did envision it. Some street-tough version of her standing in front of an army of motorcycle-riding goons, draped in a black trench coat with a leaf in her mouth ready for another fight. Honestly, that seemed more like Ragna's thing. It was easy to imagine, what with his roguish personality and delinquent look… who also seemed to realize where her thoughts were drifting.

"Wanna share what's on your mind?" Ragna inquired.

"N-nothing!"

"Gotta come up with a good name for you though…" Irina cupped her chin and paced a few steps in deep thought. "Maybe 'The One-Eyed Gunslinger'? No, wait, shit, you got two eyes." She snapped her fingers with a "Eureka!" that worried Noel. "All ya gotta do is lose one!"

"Lose one?! That's a terrible idea!"

"Maybe we can just call her 'One-Shot Kill'?" Kyo proposed before someone lost an eye.

Irina hummed and crossed her arms. "I like the angle, but it sounds a little too generic. How about 'Two Hands'? Hold up, nah, that's taken." A shrug. "Miyazaki'll come up with a name. She's good at that shit, the shōnen junkie she is."

Kyo caught her barb. "What's wrong with shōnen?"

"Nothin'. It's just that idiots who can only be satisfied with two muscled up morons punchin' each other are the worst fans to deal with." Irina shook her head in pity. "Slice of life or romance is too 'slow' or somethin'. Guess interpersonal relationships are too much when there ain't two people competing over who can cause the bigger explosion." Her rage mounted. "Dammit! Now I wanna sock Miyazaki!"

"It can be, but a lot of my favorite anime and manga are slow burn romance."

Pink eyes gleamed. "Have you heard of Lovers Eternity?!"

Kyo's face lit up. "That's one of my favorites!"

"Hell yeah! Found a cultured one. Put 'er there, kid! Minami and Yuri—"

"For life!" Their high five echoed throughout the space. "There were a bunch of them around my house. Watched them with my sis and fell in love with the characters. Apparently my, er," Kyo spared Ai a glanced when he continued, "father... got them."

"Your father and sis are fans too?!" Irina nodded with a wealth of praise and admiration. "Culture must run in the family. What editions?"

Kyo tapped his chin. "It's the limited edition version."

Irina's eyes became saucers. "With all the extra and deleted scenes?! That's a bitch and a half to get your hands on. I should know." She pointed to Ai. "Me and this guy searched all over for months. Expensive, but worth it."

At least they seemed to forget about my street name. Noel maneuvered the conversation back to their primary dilemma. "Can you do it?"

"It will not pose an issue," Rachel answered.

Kyo's ears caught their exchange amid his and Irina's energetic discussion about their favorite season of Lovers Eternity and asked, "Now that I think about, where is the core?"

"A core?" Irina repeated.

"What holds this place together," he explained.

"Is it… some kind of crystal?" Irina's imagination stretched as far as what anime and manga she'd read. Situations like these weren't alien in fantasy stories. Man, how sad would it be to say that?

"Last time a big monster came and attacked us." Some color drained from Irina's expression but returned when told they'd defeated it. "Odd that we haven't gotten ambushed or something."

"Maybe we shouldn't give the universe any wild ideas?" Ai posited.

Irina elbowed his side with a taunting grin. "Don't tell me you're scared?"

He eyed her cooly. "I'm pretty sure your legs started trembling when Kyo mentioned it, not mine."

"Delinquents don't tremble for shit!" Irina pounded her chest in an overdramatic fashion. "I've already seen one of these 'Nightmare' things after I woke up, and I can say the sewer rats crawlin' around the alleys and train tracks are way more threatenin'. Creepy that they're actually monsters, but if I can beat the shit outta one, I can beat the shit outta all of 'em."

"You two really are the same. Bravado at the end of the day."

Anger creased her forehead and Irina was quick to get in Ai's face. "Better not be comparin' me to that blonde bitch. I'm in a league o' my own."

"You just keep telling yourself that."

"Don't roll your eyes at me!"

"Now that Kyo mentions it, the fact we haven't been attacked yet is strange." Noel looked thoughtful. "By now, the Observer should know trying to contain us like this won't work. It seems pointless to waste time creating this."

"Answer's simple." Ragna's heavy blade materialized. Gasps erupted from the group as the metal flashed and the blade stopped just short of Ai's neck. Noel collected herself first.

"W-what are you doing, Ragna?!"

"Oi!" Fury morphed Irina's expression. "The fuck do you think you're playin' at? Take another step and I swear the only thing leavin' that mouth'll be teeth!"

"You didn't flinch. Not even a little." Ragna's uncharacteristically measured tone brought silence. "Next time you wanna try and pull a fast one on me, put in a little more effort."

"When did you notice?" Ai asked after several beats.

"About the second I saw you. Bein' thrown in here just proved it to me. Must be cuz this Bounded Field is in a constant state of flux." Ragna pressed the sharp end of his blade against "Ai's" neck. "I think I'm starting to understand this observation shit now, and why the Rabbit's so calm and collected the whole damn time. Looks like you've been screwed over, bad."

"Huh. Well shit." Danger levels shot up. Ragna snagged Irina in the group's escape as seithr erupted from Ai… or the one who decided to take on his appearance. Red eyes glowed beyond the veil of seithr. Chaotic power thickened the air. Gradually it dispelled and a new face emerged, someone whom Irina recognized once she looked beyond his new freakish appearance.

"Kouto?!" Red veins pulsed along his now gray skin and crimson pupils glowed in blackened eyes. Despite the irritatingly cocky smirk adorning his stupid face, it looked as if the life had been sucked completely out of him. Irina never thought there would come a time where Kouto's presence made her queasy.

"Pretty deceptive of you, pal. Didn't take you as the sharp type." Kouto regarded Ragna with his titular outgoing swagger. "Gotta thank you, though. Any longer wearing that prissy-ass nerd's face and I woulda just come clean on my own."

Ragna glowered at his ever-composed and annoyingly amused techno-parrot. "Bet you knew the whole friggin' time, didn't you?"

"Pointless to ask if you already know the answer, no?"

"I swear, you get off on being vague… Guess that was meant to be another one of our 'tests', huh?" Ragna's remark was met with a pleased grin and he just felt sick.

"I don't get it." Kyo eyed the snickering teen. "Was he not Mr— erm, was he not Ai?"

"No. Messin' with our perception probably ain't too hard in a place where the Observer's abilities are more concentrated. It's why outside looked so normal before. In truth, the place had already turned into a shit show. Fucked that up a long time ago." Ragna turned his nose up at Kouto. "Ain't that right?"

"Don't tell little Miss 'Family' that," Kouto chuckled.

Means this place wasn't gonna last long anyway. Ragna pointed his sword at him. "Give it up then. Four on one ain't good odds for you. If you were smart, you'll take us to the one holding your leash."

Kouto scratched his head. "Never was bright. 'Sides, no way in hell I'd just accept ruin. I'd rather go down in round one then call a match off." He looked at Kyo and said, "Mind stayin' put while I deal with these chumps? If I kill ya, I'll be in another heap of trouble."

"You must be insane if you think I'm sitting this out." Kyo shot him a baleful glare. "Where the hell is my sister?!"

"Father dearest is keepin' the bawlin' brat company. Any more cryin' and I swear I was gonna—"

Kyo didn't let him finish. Red obscured the boy's vision at the mention of a single tear running down his sister's cheek. Blue lightning arced off Kyo as his power coalesced and materialized in his palm, forming his trusty knife, a weapon he understood very little yet so much. Closing the ten-foot gap separating both parties took less than a second. Kyo's knife radiated an unspeakable amount of energy that filled the soundscape with a thunderous burst once he'd brought his weapon down.

"Kid, no!" Ragna's warning arrived too late as a massive arm jutted out from behind Kouto. Kyo bounced from the recoil. Suspended in mid-air and without any way to dodge, the second arm which sprung from behind Kouto crashed into him. Knuckles like steel shattered his poor guard and buried into his ribs, sending the boy skipping across the ground like a rock on water.

"These odds ain't too bad." Two more arms sprouted forth. Kouto's voice deepened as he transformed from a normal teenager into a nightmarish creature. Pulsing red veins interlaced along his gray body as if the life had been sucked right out of him, and he emitted seithr as if it were his personal fragrance. "This fixes our issue nicely, wouldn't you say?"

"That… hurt!" Kyo grunted upright, clutching his side. Seeing the new and improved Kouto made him do a double-take. "What happened?!"

"Would love to figure that shit out myself." Irina had rushed to Kyo's side where his miraculous recovery revealed an inhuman tenacity. Observing the events unfolding around her, that wouldn't be a hyperbole.

"Funny how this works." Despite no muscle fibers lining his biceps composed entirely of seithr, they bulged all the same when Kouto flexed them. "Always joked about needin' more limbs for scraps when some punks'd try and jump me. Moment I came into this work, that wish came true."

"Quite a mundane wish to regress so far, if I say so myself. Though I suppose 'you' had little say in the matter."

Rachel's remark turned Kouto's face pallid. "It's Kouto, got it? The one and fucking only. Just like my boy, Yuto, and I got a score to settle for what you did to him."

Her composure remained. "Had he not attacked me, I would not have been forced to dress him down. Perhaps you should train your hounds how to properly treat a lady."

"A lost cause, trust me. To take some words from an old pal of mine– you're not just some 'lady'. Gotta get rough sometimes." His seithr levels rose. From two thick veils of purple smog emerged lycanthropes towering several feet above them.

"The fuck're those?!" Irina yelled, managing to find her voice in her fright as their howls shook the pseudo-space.

"About those sewer rats being scarier?" Ragna asked.

"Piss off!" Irina spat.

"My eardrums can only take so much from mindless dolts." Rachel stepped forward. "I shall create an opening within the field for you all to escape."

Irina voiced her immediate disapproval. "And leave you here?! Like hell!"

"One of his caliber could not hope to best me, even in these circumstances." Rachel glanced side-long at Ragna. "That is what you wish for, yes?"

The smug grin on Rachel's lips left a poor taste in his mouth. "Feeling generous leavin' such an important job to us?"

"I simply wish to know if you are more than just bravado." Not a second later and Rachel shot a bolt of lightning outward. A crack appeared and a white light peeked from beyond. "Do good work now."

Ragna saved whatever he had to say and motioned for the rest of them. "I don't know 'where' we are, so I'll leave that to you Noel."

All of them headed for the exit. Irina shouted back "You better not kick it!" before vanishing. Once Rachel could no longer detect any of their presences within the field, she faced her opponent. "Rather surprising you did not attempt to impede them."

"What good would that do?" Kouto shrugged in resignation. "At least this way, it'll give 'em a fighting chance."

"A wise play, all things considered." Rachel put her guard up. "Shall we proceed with our melee?"

The White of Nothingness: a bleached void spreading to eternity, a vacant expanse bereft of "possibilities". A single silver-haired girl existed in the space; if not for the bright red coat adorning her shoulders, her pale skin would've blended right into the landscape. She'd beheld the expanse many times on her missions. Every venture conveyed the same melancholic inevitably of an end brought about by machinations beyond mortal understanding. "Cruel" would be appropriate. Others might call it "mercy", but she called it "bullshit."

"Juusan, do you read me?" A voice crackled in her ear. "Hello? Hellooo? Is this thing on? I swear, you better not be sleeping."

She had a mind not to respond. "I'm here. Are you going to tell me why I was sent here?"

"Hold your horses. Getting distinct readings is a little tricky when someone decides to smash your observation devices. What did poor Raabe do to you, anyway? Like it's her fault you couldn't wake up– honestly!" Fascination followed the grumbling, which quickly wore on the operative's nerves. "Getting a lot of bizarre readings here. The coordinates I provided should've led to a Fractured World, but, as I'm sure you've noticed, you're standing in the middle of nowhere. Sensors are picking up dimensional anomalies in your vicinity."

"Reconstruction?" A wide-scale intervention where an Observer breaks down their point of observation to reform it anew. Once rebuilt, errors can be redone… usually. Scale played a big part in it. To strip away everything, regardless of how "little" there actually was, for minute corrections displayed a pitiable level of observation prowess that Juusan felt not a modicum of concern over. Even within their realm of observation, it wouldn't prove difficult to act outside its rules since the one enforcing them paled in comparison to an Observer worth half their salt.

"That is my guess."

Juusan had been sent in without any kind of anti-observation equipment, meaning this mission required zero contact or worry regarding an Observer. "Why am I here?"

"Because I want to see something," she casually replied.

Juusan rolled her eyes. "A half-assed answer, as always."

"Keep engagement to a minimum. Only do so when absolutely necessary. Try not to get swept up in what's going on."

"Understood." Boundary navigation wasn't difficult for Juusan, but it would still be a pain.

"There will be something warm waiting back home once your mission is complete, 'kay?"

The transmission ended with that jovial promise and Juusan sighed in relief that the annoying workhorse no longer chattered in her ear. Doing reconnaissance in a world teetering on the brink of destruction seemed pointless, but after years of working with her, Juusan knew a larger reason existed.

Mission underway, Juusan proceeded toward her destination with an exhausted sigh.

Yeah, this was meant to release almost three months ago. Life busied me, among other things, so writing this and storyboarding the next following chapters took more time than I would have liked.

August I have a trip to JP, so I want to post at least two chapters before the end of August when I head out. Hoping that's possible, because I haven't been able to post a chapter a month here like I initially wanted. This story should be way more far long than it is now but... life, oh well.

Guest: That I was lol

Thanks for reading, and give praise to Wild Blue Sonder for beta reading me!