Solar Flare: Redux

by qwertykid

The darkest shadow is always cast by the brightest light. Two souls undertake the same journey of self discovery to figure out their destiny and who the real enemy of all truly it. This fic is an alternate universe rewrite of Bayonetta 2 and is a direct continuation of Eclipse. Contains an OC, new lore and a whole bunch of Bayonetta goodness. Or so Loptr would have you believe.

12. Chapter 11

Author's Note: I own nothing from Bayonetta

Chapter 10: Chain of Memory

…

"Before tomorrow's sun reaches its apex, Damien will no longer exist."

At a later time, when the world wasn't going to shit and Bayonetta could reflect on her entire journey from start to finish, she would be able to count statements that had filled her with more dread and hopelessness on two fingers. One was yet to come, and the other was when Balder had revealed his grand plan over her brother's corpse.

But neither one had the certainty, the absoluteness, of Khepri's words. They hit her like a truck speeding on a highway, an inevitability that was here and no longer able to be stopped. This wasn't death. Death was a tangible concept that everyone knew; this was beyond that. To not exist meant that everything about Damien would disappear. Her memories, his being, his impact; it would simply be as if it never existed.

Because it never would have.

She couldn't handle it. Bayonetta turned away and slowly stumbled towards a nearby bench, trying to keep the remaining, tattered pieces of her psyche from falling apart. Her buttocks hit wood and her hands gripped her temples; a physical effort to retain her mental state. Was it working? The hell if she knew.

It just… It just wasn't fair. Jeanne was essentially gone. Damien was going. Her mother was dead, killed as a puppet. Her father was a man who-

He didn't exist. Her father may have helped to conceive her, but that was the extent of their relationship. Balder could burn in Inferno and rot away, completely and utterly forgotten.

The Left Eye pulsed and she instinctively covered that side of her face, grimacing in pain. It was a stark reminder of just what the reason for all of this was; the power it contained and what she could wield. Balder had laid waste to millions and altered history as he saw fit to merely get his hands on it. Their latest adversary was seemingly no different with their reckless attacks with Angels into populated cities. Unlike last time, it seemed there would be a consequence or a price would

But just who was 'them'? Did they not know that the Left Eye, as powerful as it was, was useless without the Right Eye?

Jeanne's words came back to haunt her: "I can still sense the Right Eye in this world. But, there's something off about it. Like I can't pinpoint exactly where it is."

Just where was this elusive Right Eye? The theory that both Luka and Dante had put forward was that it disappeared along with Balder, but it never had. The sensation of the power had always remained a constant, a buzzing that never ebbed or flowed.

And just so tantalizingly out of reach.

"Hey."

Bayonetta raised her head to see Loki approaching her, his hands held behind his back. The rest of his posture exuded concern and his tone was no different. She didn't blame him.

She felt like a wreck. She probably looked like one too. It was honestly impressive she hadn't started crying yet.

"Little one," she greeted back, her voice hoarse and wavering. A cringe followed and Bayonetta looked down at her knees again. "Sorry."

"No, don't be sorry. It's been a hell of a five minutes, has it not?" Loki climbed into the chair beside her, relaxing back on his arms. "I don't blame you for anything. If anything, this is a perfectly normal reaction."

"You don't like that name. It would be best for me to stop using it."

Loki chuckled and shook his head. "Before I knew anything about anything, yeah. But now? There are far more things to be worried about than a name. Little One doesn't define who I am, therefore I don't worry about it."

"That's awfully mature of you," Bayonetta commented with a slight amount of surprise.

He chuckled and rolled his eyes. "I guess some recent events have really forced me to be a bit more perspective on everything. You know, before you came along, I wasn't sure what exactly was going on. Now you're here and I've gotten more and more of my memories back, it doesn't make any more sense.

"You have this whole thing with the Remembrance, the Eyes of the World, some weird hybrids, a Lumen Sage is hunting us, and a Demon is not only not trying to kill us, but she's actively being benevolent. I feel like this is a little more than just your everyday, basic conspiracy."

"Would you like me to get you a tinfoil hat?" Bayonetta peered at him with a raised eyebrow.

"That reference is lost on me, I'm afraid." The boy swung his legs innocently, kicking both in an entirely irregular pattern with the left moving faster than the right. "But I believe it to be something greater than just… random?"

"Random?" she scoffed, annoyance leaking into her tone. "Little one, my sister, my best friend, is dead because of something 'random?' Are you saying that my brother, the only piece of family and blood I have left on this accursed world, will disappear and cease to exist because 'random!?' Are you hearing what you are saying!?"

"I don't mean it like that! Or at all! What I'm saying is that there's a lot more going on than-"

"Than?"

"I don't know! But whatever is happening now, is happening for a reason. I can guarantee that." Loki sighed and covered his face. "Maybe Khepri- where the fuck did Khepri go?"

He jumped off and began to search the area, cards appearing in his hands. He flicked them out at the walls of the ruins and they pierced through the stone like they were nothing. "I swear she was right there literally seven or so seconds ago."

"Did she say something about where she was going?" Bayonetta followed the boy's movements with a raised eyebrow, then noticed that Damien had been abandoned on a bench. Khepri did appear from him, after all, so presumably the Madama had simply… gone… back… in?

Since when was her brother possessed by a Madama?

There was a lot Bayonetta still did not know about his trip into Paradiso. She had gathered that the last leg of his journey before he arrived in Noatun was in the realm of the Divine, but what actually transpired there neither Khepri or Loki himself had explained. Standing up from the bench, she slowly walked over to his bench and knelt beside it.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, not expecting an answer. One gloved hand caressed his cheek lightly, recoiling when Bayonetta realised it was covered in sweat. "And why are you carrying a Demon now?"

"POWERFUL. ME THINK POWER HOLDS MADAMA AT BAY."

Bayonetta flinched. You need to stop shouting.

"SORRY!"

'Diomedes has a point,' Butterfly spoke up, her tone subdued. 'Your brother is very much magically inclined, unlike you. That kind of power is more suitable to fighting possession, but if Khepri truly wanted in there would be no stopping her.'

Hey! We're both perfectly capable!

She swore Butterfly chuckled. 'You, my dear, are a far superior fighter. And I don't deal with mystics. I find their kind to be… lacking.'

That's a little rude. Damien is more than capable in… almost every situation.

'What about that time with the vampire?' Butterfly asked.

Bayonetta almost burst out laughing. Instead, she settled on a quiet chuckle and a tap on the sleeping man's nose. That was more hilarious than anything else. But thank you.

'Thank me? For what?'

For cheering me up.

Butterfly was silent for a moment. 'That was not my intention. But if this brings you to a state of mind where you are to continue onwards and stop the annihilation of the universe, then I am glad to be of assistance.'

And not that you care?

The silence was more than enough to draw another chuckle from her. Bayonetta smirked and stood up, satisfied with the condition of her brother, returning her attention to Loki. The boy was standing there, one finger tapping on his chin and look of intense concentration on his face.

"Well, wherever she is, she's not here," he announced with a sigh. "As much as I want to keep moving, we're kinda stuck until Khepri comes back or Damien here wakes up. Something tells me that both are mutually inclusive events."

"You certain Khepri didn't just return to where she came?" Bayonetta asked.

"Are you talking about Inferno or him?" Loki gestured to the man besides her. "Because I'm certain she came from him. Is that normal?"

"No. As far as I know brother dearest here hasn't housed anything other than the souls he was infused with. This is a more recent development."

Bayonetta cast her mind back to Khepri's words. Damien had pushed and pushed himself well beyond his limits, ones that were already lower than normal due to being a 'horse' for a month, so it was far more than likely that his constitution was damaged – a fact already confirmed by the Demon herself. When she was in, Damien functioned normally. Now she was out…

Khepri wasn't a liar. She withheld the truth, but never misrepresented it. Even with that reassurance, Bayonetta felt that her words weren't exactly correct. If she truly was borrowing strength from the futureless man to bring to the present, then why did it look like he was reliant on her? The former was simply a paradox of the highest degree, whereas the former was almost a definite given the evidence.

Was she granting him her own strength instead? A small pact that would grow and grow until-

"She's really not inside him, is she?" She tried not to sound panicked.

"No. My cards would have found her by now," Loki tilted his head. "Is that a problem?"

"I think…" She swallowed and straightened up. "Yes. It could be a problem. But for now?"

Bayonetta let her gaze linger on his face before diverting her attention back to Damien. "I just wonder what is going on inside that head of yours."

…

The apartment was silent on this night. Jeanne had returned from her job and was now curled up under a heated blanket, a pen scribbling upon paper as she made notes on a pile of essays upon her lap. A steaming mug of coffee was upon the table in front of her, untouched but not forgotten.

Damien watched her for a moment. Her eyes were focussed on the paper, staring at it with an intensity that not even Nero could match. She was slightly biting her lower lip and the hand holding the paper was tapping an intricate beat. The red glasses perched upon her nose were a surprise, but then he remembered that Jeanne was short-sighted and actually needed them to read.

"Did you have a good day?" He announced his presence before it became weird for him. Or her.

She peered up and nodded her head in acknowledgement. There was no joy in her eyes; there rarely was these days. It was completely devoid of emotion and reminded him of the dead gaze of a corpse. "It was acceptable. Nothing of interest happened, but nothing bad happened either. A perfectly normal day."

He walked forward and sat down on his chair opposite her. To his left was a love seat, a chair that Bayonetta would sprawl herself in and lament something that had befallen her. To his right was a small stand with a television atop it; the black screen reflected the scene with perfect clarity.

Jeanne was almost too compulsive with her cleaning.

"Did your training go well?"

Her eyes were analysing him. Penetrating him. It was uncomfortable, but Damien knew that something was on her mind. Jeanne did not go out of her way to make him uncomfortable without a reason.

The temptation to peer into her mind twanged at him. Damien opted to ignore it; even with Jeanne's explicit permission to peer inside – something she had once requested to see if he could remove selective memories – it was just so uncomfortable for him given their history that he did not follow through with it.

And that wasn't mentioning how Jeanne had reacted once he actually started to prod through her mental defences.

"You're avoiding something." The statement was simple. It was the key to beginning communication, after all; Margaret had taught him that one or two words were far more effective that trying to stumble out a whole speech.

A dry chuckled followed. Jeanne's eyes flickered across his body and onto his wing. He tried to hide it out of reflex, but she took her attention off it and returned back to him. "Avoiding something? What makes you think that?"

Damien stared back at her, a smile forming on his lips. "Call it a feeling. You don't tend to be so… this."

"This!?"

"You know, all analytical like. You don't do this unless you are thinking and you sure as hell aren't thinking about me." He held out a hand in a peaceful gesture. "What's on your mind?"

The pen stopped, leaving only the very slight sounds of breathing. Jeanne placed it down on the couch beside her and reached up to adjust her glasses. "Something is wrong."

"Wrong?" Damien raised an eyebrow. "Wrong how?"

"Have you ever stopped to think about Khepri's explanation for a few things?" She asked. "Specifically, about your death?"

"I felt it was satisfactory. We retained our memories because the timeline merely adjusted to me being alive."

That explanation was a trip. Khepri had to use several examples for both himself and Bayonetta to wrap their heads around, and even then, they both still didn't truly understand. The idea of it was simple; he died, Balder died, Bayonetta sent little Cereza back to the past and in doing so changed the course of history at three points. Cereza had accepted the Left Eye, saved him from dying and refused to kill her father.

Bayonetta had then questioned how he was allowed to still be alive. History had been dramatically altered, after all. Khepri then explained using a stream of water as the metaphor; his death, the acceptance of the Left Eye and Balder's deaths weren't enough to split the stream. It merely wrapped around the obstacles and continued on. The first of two reasons this was possible was the potential 'nexus point' – what Khepri defined as a part of history that would completely alter events irreversibly – was when Jeanne sealed her away for those five hundred years.

The other reason was because, according to Khepri, the future was never truly set in stone unless the past had been travelled to. Since Jeanne and Bayonetta both had travelled back to the past, they had to exist or the timeline would collapse because of a time paradox. Khepri then told them the reason they had memories from these alternative events was because their bodies were still adjusting to the timeline change and that the ones that were irrelevant would inevitably fade.

They had not. As much as he did not want to, Damien could still remember the cold nothingness of death like it happened yesterday.

"Here's the thing, Damien. That is… it's not…" Jeanne hesitated. "Let's look at it logically; you died."

He agreed with a nod.

"I don't know when, but at some point, the Umbra were experimenting with necromancy. The only breakthrough they got was reanimation of a corpse for about thirty seconds directly after killing them; upon answering the only question they had time for, they revealed they did not remember what happens after death." Her gaze hardened in the break of her speech. "The only thing they remembered was the bullet firing. Not entering their brain, no shutdown of their nervous system; nothing."

"I was not shot and killed instantly, to be fair," Damien tried to reason.

"Your sword exploded and vaporised half of your body. If that isn't instant, I don't know what is." Jeanne sighed and leaned forward, resting her chest on her knees. "The experiments with necromancy were unethical and a blight upon Umbran history, but it did prove two truths; necromancy is impossible unless it is performed immediately and that memories of what happens after are never able to be accessed, if they exist."

"I'm technically bound to Khepri?" he offered weakly. "Maybe I went to-"

"You were never claimed by her. Your body did not crystalise and you do not have a Watch to do anything…" Jeanne grabbed her mug and hurled it at the wall. Damien caught it telekinetically and put it down before any coffee could spill and ruin the rug he had brought back from Tamriel. "You shouldn't remember anything and yet you do! It doesn't make any sense! None of us should remember anything! Did those events even happen!?"

There was silence. Damien sat there, trying to think of something, anything, that would help the situation.

Nothing came to mind.

"Maybe…" he started, hesitating to try and buy himself more time for an explanation. "Maybe we have those memories for a reason. We held onto them so they… could remind us of what we could have lost. What we are always fighting for."

Khepri purred in satisfaction. Damien inwardly smiled at that; he must have said the right thing.

"Perhaps."

Jeanne reached across and grabbed her pen and papers again and did not say anything for the rest of the night. Damien left and retired for the night a few minutes later, sensing that the Witch wanted to be left alone with her thoughts.

…

Damien awoke, but it was not the sight of Noatun that greeted him. Inky darkness sprawled across a vividly lit sky, highlighting random shapes in all colours of the rainbow. He could feel a smooth surface beneath him; his fingertips brushed against it and it reminded him of glass.

Where was he? Was he dreaming?

No, he told himself. This was no dream.

He had experienced a dream in the form of a memory. Jeanne's outburst at their memories was something he had almost forgotten. It was one of many isolated incidents that had built up the tension between them. Not all of them had occurred the same way; approximately half of the time it would be his frustration that boiled over and it was Jeanne who would sit there patiently, waiting for him to shut up.

But this memory in particular was something that was intriguing. Jeanne's insistence that there was no possible way he could retain anything from his death had caused him to ponder the legitimacy of the rest of his jumbled memories, but those events had occurred. Bayonetta and himself had once conversed and compared memories and they found no discrepancies. Khepri had been more insistent that he dropped the entire subject, but her reasoning was that it truly did not matter.

Even if he wanted to pursue the subject, Jeanne decided to get drunk one too many times and it was pushed far from the forefront of his mind.

So now it was back to square one; just where was he?

Something crashed in a horrendous sound of warping metal and breaking glass. Damien twisted his head to the left and froze, bug-eyed at what he saw.

Giant pillars, emblazoned with stained glass and constructed with metal girders, were rising and falling constantly without rhythm, rhyme or reason. They emitted a brilliant glow from their faces and Damien made the connection that the lights above him were coming from them. He could make out some images on the closest pillar, but they were too random for him to comprehend.

Wait…

Was that Bayonetta and Luka holding a baby? He would have investigated further, but something interrupted him before he could.

"Greetings Madama."

That voice! That was Benevolence! Damien almost called out to them, but something told him to stay quiet and listen.

"Benevolence," his patron greeted. "It's good that one of you heeded my summons in a timely fashion."

"Doesn't this place live outside of time? Then their tardiness is meaningless."

"WE HERE"

The abrasive voice nearly made him flinch. Slowly, but surely, he turned his body to see the strangest group of three beings observing a veritable sea of pillars. One he recognised as the green-skinned Madama Khepri. The white and blue Joy standing to her left had to be Benevolence, whereas the hulking red and purple serpentine… thing had to be Asura.

The two demons and angel that essentially composed of him. All that was missing was Balder and Rosa and everyone would be present.

"Right on schedule, as always."

"YOU CALLED MEETING MOONS AGO"

"Asura has a point. This was meant to occur before the Prophet began their interference," the Joy turned their head and nodded at the demon. "But we-"

"Drop the pretence. We all know it's Loptr. There are no prying ears here –" Khepri cut across them, her temperament seeming to rise. "– and we can speak of the current threat without trying to butter it down for others."

What?

Damien lay there, completely stunned. It wasn't spoken with the connotation of confirmation; this was said in a manner-of-fact way. Like she had known the entire time. Luka had told him the biggest issue with this situation was that no one knew what trap they were all walking into, or who designed it.

It seemed very obvious that someone did.

"IT LOPTR"

"Very much so. We did theorise it was him oh so long ago, but my battle with his spirit confirmed it."

"Very well. We gather that Loptr discovered you were meddling, correct?"

"He did. Hope warned me that something was wrong with Paradiso and I managed to pass that message onto Styx, Butterfly and Sheba. I had a feeling that I would be his first target, but for some reason he decided Styx was the biggest threat. But now I have seen the bigger picture? I understand why."

"This is what happened before, correct?"

"Somewhat. Jeanne was always used as bait for Cereza; this was how he managed to achieve that."

"FALSE PROPHET LIKE YOU"

"Well said, Asura. Although my clairvoyancy is actually a legitimate technique, thank you very much, his sight-seeing is non-existent. He knows what is going to happen the same reason we do; we've lived this all before."

"He has obviously far more experience. Perhaps in another time you tried this-"

"Nope. He confirmed that this is the first time someone has noticed what is going on. He actually congratulated me, before trying to murder me."

"Naturally."

"WHERE PROPHET NOW"

"Probably poisoning Balder's mind. Who knows where-"

The rest of her sentence could've taught him the secret of immortality for all he cared. But as soon as the name slipped from Khepri's lips, Damien stopped listening and felt the fury and confusion grow.

Balder.

Balder.

Balder.

Why did she mention Balder? Balder was dead! Balder was gone! And why was she saying it so casually!? He was their sworn enemy, wasn't he!?

He was the source of all of their problems. And now he was being mentioned in a context without hatred?

"Anyway, now is the best time to chat. Loptr won't be listening, my champion is currently recovering and the rest of the chosen are safe." Khepri gestured to the pillars in front of them and seven rose up. "As we can see, everything is coming along as planned."

"WHAT PLAN"

"The plan we agreed upon ages ago, Asura. Please don't tell me you have forgotten."

"THAT PLAN DUMB"

"We would hate to be the contrarian, Madama, but we agree with Asura. That plan involving literal paradoxes is not exactly safe. Or logical."

"Do you have you have a better one?"

"Killing Loptr, for starters."

"Great! Let's go and kill Loptr. Do you know how difficult that is? A Primordius is the only thing that can harm him beyond superficial wounds. Do we have a Primordius handy?"

It felt that a punch had landed into his stomach. They couldn't even kill the Prophet? Then what was the point of this endeavour? How could the stop him and avenge Jeanne if they simply couldn't? This whole thing… what was…

He wanted to announce his presence and simply ask what was going on, but yet again he bade his tongue. Something told Damien that as soon as Khepri realised he was… wherever here was, any further knowledge to be gained would be lost forever. He knew with absolute certainty that he was not meant to be here and definitely not meant to be eavesdropping.

"INFINITE ONE"

"You know his fate is to be stuck in Inferno. Unfortunately, we can't rely on him."

"Surely Sheba would act this once."

"We can't rely on her. Sheba may understand the bigger picture, but she is still far too self-indulgent. She may answer the call. She probably won't; anything less than a grandiose spectacle would be beneath her."

"Would the title of 'Saviour of the Universe' not be satisfactory for her?"

"The universe is beneath her now. The multiverse is what she would save instead, especially since she knows of it. Sheba would want to be able to lord over everyone that she saved literally all of existence."

"Why wouldn't you tell her that?"

"Because she's not technically saving the multiverse if there is not a threat to the multiverse present. And I am not unleashing a multiversal threat just to move her into action."

"THIS WHY YOU MORE SUITABLE"

"Aw, thank you Asura! That is a rare compliment indeed. But no, Rodin did not deem me suitable and chose Sheba instead. Personally, I would have picked myself, but I think it worked out for the best that I was not."

"We're getting off track. You are still certain this plan will work?"

"It's the only course of action Loptr won't expect us to take. It will work."

"Will you let it work? You've told so many lies that we believe you are now lying to yourself."

"W-what? Where did that come from?"

"YOU CARE TOO MUCH"

"Asura is right. You caring too much makes you suitable for being a Primordius, but right now – on a plan that literally hinges on being able to accept that someone might never exist again – it can be a liability."

"What do you mean, I care too much?"

"Do you not recall five hundred years ago, when you cared for Balder and Rosa as if they were your children? You were fighting her death for so long and it still occurred. That's why you let your power be stripped and hidden inside of her body."

"That has nothing to do with this. For my champion to go completely unnoticed I had to reduce his aura until it was practically human-"

"And we finally arrive to the point of contention; your relationship with Damien."

"Tread carefully, Benevolence," Khepri hissed. Her wings seemed to become more rigid, seemingly raising themselves with the intent to intimidate. "I might be in several places at once right now, but that does not stop me from being a threat."

Damien held his breathe, trying to make sure he missed nothing. This was going to be important; it had to be. His gut, his instincts, everything was screaming for him to listen.

And so he did.

"You still haven't told us of your relationship with him. All you say is that he is important, that he is your contracted," Benevolence paused, gathering their thoughts to put them into words. "But you haven't stated why. We believe Asura knows, but it's pure speculation on his behalf."

"CORRECT"

"He is one of the seven-"

"Is he? We stand upon his pillar in the Records and you know what it feels like? It doesn't belong. It is foreign to this existence!"

"UNNATURAL"

"We trust you, Madama, we really do. But please, be honest with us. All of this lying has caused us to rethink our conversations-"

"What else do I possibly need to tell you? He is important. He is one of the seven. That's all there is to it!"

"WHY NINE"

"What!?"

"You've been paying attention to two more pillars. What are you hiding, Khepri?"

"Nothing you need to know about. All you have to do is trust that I have everything in safe hands."

"No." Benevolence's tone was one of finality. "You will not evade us now. Tell us what you know, Khepri. What are you hiding?"

"Repeating yourself will not cause me to answer any readily. And that's assuming there are more answers!"

"What are you hiding?" The Joy's head turned to him. "Speak up too, Damien; don't you want to know?"

Damien froze. Khepri whirled around, her dress leaving green trails in the air that settled down when she abruptly stopped. Her red eyes were wide and fearful, staring at him in disbelief.

"You…"

"HE APPEARS" the serpentine hiss from Asura drew his eyes for a second. Two arms extended out from its torso, with two red shoulder-pad like growths covering them. A pair of hook-like growths hung lazily above its shoulders, clicking and tapping upon the chitin in a regular 1-2-3 4 pattern. Its head, if it could be called that, was simply a diamond-shaped maw that seemed to only open up with every word. "THE WEAKLING"

"How are you here!?" Khepri screamed, rushing at him with her arms outstretched. "Get out! Out! OUT!"

Damien felt something pull at him and then he was falling and falling and falling and fall-

…

Bayonetta only rolled her eyes out of boredom when Damien sat up abruptly. Loki, however, shrieked and stumbled backwards. A crash a second later caught her attention and she looked over to see the boy falling through a section of the decrepit wall.

"You know, you could be a lot less dramatic about it," she muttered, folding her arms. "Wakey, wakey! Rise and shine!"

"Where's Khepri?"

No questions about her, no statements about the little trip into sleep. Not even a peep at his new change in position! Why even bother-

Damien was still looking at her expectantly. She scoffed and raised an eyebrow. "Is that really your first question?"

"I saw her in my dreams. I was in some… strange realm. Khepri was there, Asura was there; Benevolence was there! And they were… discussing this whole predicament." He swallowed and his head drooped. "They were talking about this like it was meant to happen."

"What could you possibly mean by that?" Bayonetta snapped. "Khepri was quite insistent that she did not know what was coming. This sounds like quite a fantastical dream."

"I swear it was real. I… what else could it possibly be!?" He climbed off the bench, holding his hand out. An awkward five seconds passed and he swore loudly. "Fuck! What the hell? Where's my sword?"

"Probably with Khrepri, I'd imagine." Loki popped through a hole and tossed a card behind him. The broken structure glowed blue and returned itself to a slightly less broken state. "Welcome back to the land of the living, mate."

Damien stared at him and then burst out laughing. "What a funny coincidence."

"What so funny?" Bayonetta asked, slightly confused. If she was being honest, that reaction was more unsettling than anything else.

"I didn't just dream of Khepri. A memory of myself and Jeanne discussing my death replayed itself. So yes, that is a really funny coincidence." Damien sighed and let his arm fall to his side. "It doesn't explain where she is, or why Sharuba isn't answering my calls."

"What did she say in this dream of yours that has you all bothered?" she asked.

"Which she?"

"Khepri. If I wanted to know what Jeanne said, I would have asked what made you hot and bothered."

That caused two reactions; Loki doubled over and howled with laughter. Damien wasn't as extreme, but his entire face went pink and he swallowed repeatedly before answering; "I don't know what you mean by that."

"Oh, come on! It's not like you love her, or anything." Bayonetta turned and walked towards the giggling boy with a smirk. "Come on, we have to fix this tower. Or at least watch the little one try his best. Whatever you saw was just a dream."

'Are you sure about that?'

I believe those visions are coming about because of my Eye. Damien doesn't have one; I would have sensed it by now.

'Clairvoyancy doesn't need to be tied to one of the Eyes. And besides, perhaps it wasn't a vision.'

What do you mean?

'A part of Khepri's power and domain is accessibility to the Records of Time – this must be the strange realm he was speaking of.'

That caused a frown to break out across her face. The Records of Time? That sound like a fantastical place; have you been there?

'Not personally. Styx has and what she described was… beyond fantastic.' Butterflies voice had trailed off, in an almost wistful-like fashion. 'It was… do you remember when Damien briefly played that… vee dee ohh… game?'

It's a videogame. And you'll need to be a little more specific.

'The one with Mickey Mouse and keys. Either way, the opening area is essentially the Records. But multiply it by trillions and trillions to fully grasp the scale of what you are looking at,' Butterfly continued with awe, her tone changing to respect. 'Every person has their fate in there, with each event they cause or choose changing their pillar to suit.'

So that was how Khepri was able to divine futures at what was essentially a moment's notice. Bayonetta chuckled at the implication. She's cheating!

'The Records, according to her, help to divine. Khepri's foresight is something that is inherent, just unreliable and never truly showing the full context around and beyond what she witnesses,' Butterfly was chuckling as well, but her laughter faded as soon as it began. 'Viewing one pillar in a single instance tells you the entire history of a single person, based on their events and choices.'

That implication was not as humorous. Keeping an eye on Loki, who was currently staring at a wall with an intense frown, Bayonetta let her own expression fall.

Has this got to do with the plan Khepri has for us?

Butterfly didn't answer at first. The witch was ready to write this off under 'something she was not meant to know' until the silence was broken with resignation; 'I do not know. I assume that she divined something terrible and used the Records to determine how to prevent this.

'Khepri visits the Records to determine fate; how your brother managed to tag along is a question that I believe even she cannot answer. My issue with this place and its validity is the contradiction that arises due to the nature of her visions. The Records are said to be ever changing; is what Khepri sees completely and utterly set in stone? She believes so, but has no proof to confirm her statements.

'Ultimately, it is up to you to decide whether or not to believe a Demon who has every reason to lie.'

Bayonetta's breath hitched slightly, the smallest variation in its pattern. It was enough for Loki to turn around and raise an eyebrow at her.

"Love, it is just a wall. You don't need to be scared of a wall."

"Says the one who is staring at it like it could attack you. What are you thinking of, little one?" Bayonetta walked forward, trying to shove the conversation with Butterfly out of her mind. Whilst it was helpful in understanding several aspects of her brother's patron, the other implications and knowledge were not-

It was not something she was going to dwell on, and she was focussing on Loki now. Not the fact that some sort of doomsday was coming. Not at all.

"Well, I think I know how to repair the cathedral. Maybe," the boy hesitated, "I believe I can. I know I can. I'm just figuring out the logistics."

"You can?" Bayonetta arched an eyebrow up.

"I reverted the wall I fell through with the power of the Remembrance. That got me thinking-"

"Never a good thing." Bayonetta seized that opportunity with both hands.

Loki sighed at her quip, then gave a crooked smile. "What if I just reverted the entire tower? That should fix our way up to the bridge, and the bridge itself. We'd have a straight path to Fimbulventr and the Gates of Hell."

That was impressive. She echoed the sentiment and the boy beamed. "Impressive. But what's exactly stopping you from just doing your thing and helping us along?"

"Well, logistics."

"You said that before. What does that mean?" She folded her arms and fixed her gaze directly into his left eye. "You control the Remembrance, do you not?"

"What I don't control is architecture. I don't remember this place – frankly, I think Aesir never really used this place at all – so I don't know if I'll revert it into something completely different from the ruin around us." Loki walked away from the wall and swept his left arm towards him, pulling all the embedded cards back to his hand. "I return this place to its former glory and we are all standing in the wrong spot? SPLAT! Do I need to be more graphic?"

"Not at all, little one." Bayonetta shuddered dramatically, exaggerating each movement. "So what exactly are you looking for?"

"I don't know," Loki scoffed and crouched down, tracing one card along an indent in the stone. "Anything that hints at a wall and what hints at a wide-open space. Then we stand in the space and we should be completely fine."

"Should be?" came her disbelieving reply.

"I can't account for furniture. Anyway, here's a wall," he said, gesturing at a seemingly random area in front of him, "and over here is an open space. Let's all stand here and not there."

"Are you certain that is an open space? It looks the same to me." Bayonetta shook her head and turned left. "Damien, can you tell the- Damien?"

Her brother wasn't there. Turning around, Bayonetta found him exactly where she had left him; frozen, pale and completely rigid.

"Oh, what the hell? The fuck's wrong with him?" Loki whispered. She shushed him with one finger to her lips. Their last interaction was analysed and replayed over and over again; just what did she say to cause this?

It didn't really matter. Bayonetta began to walk, turning her head briefly back to Loki. "I'll talk to him. How about you start the process and we'll just get lucky."

"Lucky!? Bayonetta, you can't get lucky with a stone wall reappearing inside of you; you fucking die!" The boy huffed and she heard his footsteps echoing the clack of her heels. "Dammit, just let me find a space over there and push to him to it. Fuck's sake."

"Fuck isn't going to save you now," Bayonetta whispered, then found herself in front of her brother. "Hello? Earth to Damien?"

His gaze wasn't focussing on anything, simply staring off into the distance. Her words did not shift it, nor did he make any other move to acknowledge them.

"Hey mate, we're about to potentially stick you inside of a wall. You might want to, I don't know, explain what the fuck is going on and get back into the program before you become part of the building," Loki piped up.

His words did not affect him at all. His eyes and body remained the way they had and Bayonetta was very tempted to slap him.

'Read his mind. Talk to him that way.'

Butterfly's words did have some merit. Concentrating on the power of the Eye, Bayonetta reached out both physically and mentally to him. Her hand brushed Damien's face, and her mind did the same. His eyes snapped to hers, afraid and terrified.

This made no sense at all. Her mind raced to figure out just why he was looking and acting this way, but every possible scenario came up blank. It was beyond obvious that he held feelings for Jeanne; about the only action he hadn't taken was admitting it, but there was no doubt in Bayonetta's mind that he would never do such a thing willingly.

A theory she was idly tossing around was that he didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable or uneasy. That made sense, because he did consider both Jeanne and Trish as some of his closest friends, and from the brief moments she had seen the couple they'd had eyes for nothing but each other. To potentially put a wedge between them just to prove something that couldn't amount to anything? Damien wouldn't do that.

Gently, she began to telepathically speak. Bayonetta left all concerns out of her mind and went straight to the cause; what's wrong?

'How did you know?'

Of what? She tried to push calmness upon him, to try and relax anything. Even with the Eye aiding her, the spell failed and once again Bayonetta wished that her studies included some of these basic elemental spells. Damien felt agitated. Waves upon waves of turmoil washed into her and Bayonetta nearly pulled herself out of the maelstrom before it could consume her.

'I don't… but… I… it's confusing...'

Darling, you are confusing me by saying absolutely nothing. Spit it out or get your act together.

"I don't love Jeanne but I do!"

The sudden outburst caused Bayonetta to withdraw herself out of his mind from sheer surprise. Loki glanced upwards at her, then to Damien and he gave the man a look of confusion. She felt exactly the same. But she wasn't going to dwell on it, especially when the answer was potentially right there.

"Mate… How do you love and not love someone? Unless it's a familial relationship, but I don't think that's the case." Loki folded his arms and glanced to her.

"I agree. It's fairly obvious to anyone who's stood in the same room with Jeanne and yourself that you have it bad for her, but love is a strong word." Bayonetta nodded, both in agreement with herself and Loki. "What do you mean?"

"I can't explain it. It feels wrong but… I…" Damien closed his eyes and turned away. "Have you ever thought about this?"

"No." She rolled her eyes. "To be completely honest I've never really put what you are attracted to and yourself in the same sentence in my mind. I leave the speculation to whatever silly tabloid is attempting to discredit you."

"Let me finish." The man sighed, then sighed again. The confusion was starting to build again, but this time it was in a completely different direction. "Or at least let me gather my thoughts so I can finish…"

"Is it because she's in a relationship and not interested in you? Having feelings for someone isn't bad, Damien. Considering you've respected your boundaries, her choices and not acted upon them to appease yourself I don't see the issue with it." Bayonetta slowly began to approach him, her thoughts racing. Her gloved hand reached his shoulder and she pulled him around to face her. "What is wrong with feelings?"

"That is not what I meanHave… have you thought that you've known different people?" Damien slowly said, each word very deliberate in its intonation. "I died and the timeline shifted to resurrect me. Correct?"

"According to Khepri, that's correct." Bayonetta confirmed with a nod.

"It's just-"

"Hold on; the timeline shifted?" Loki spoke up. "Bull-fucking-shit!"

The siblings both turned to give their attention to the third member of their party. His eyes were wide; not with realisation, but fear.

"Little one?" Bayonetta asked. Apprehension and doubt were beginning to build in both her and, judging from the way Damien was reacting, in him.

"Timelines don't shift. You change something, you fundamentally change everything. No matter what. Bayonetta," Loki addressed her first. "Explain what happened or what you have been told."

"Damien died. My f- Balder died. My younger self was returned to the past and made different decisions that reverted only these specific events." She explained, glancing over to Damien.

He met her gaze and nodded, continuing on. "Khepri explained that because nothing crucial was adjusted, nothing changed."

"But you say you've known different people?" Loki questioned.

"The Jeanne I knew, the one who let herself rest with me, who tried her hardest to make sure I left alive, the one who I fell for, doesn't match the Jeanne I know now."

"That's because Jeanne can now be herself. She isn't forced to play roles she is not comfortable with, or having her mind and body stolen from her. Of course she is now different to who you know," Bayonetta then smirked. "And you just admitted it. Damien and Jeanne, sitting in a tre-"

His face instantly went bright pink and a hand covered her mouth. "Shut up!"

Bayonetta tried to pry away his hand, then thought better and licked it with her tongue. Damien immediately drew his hand back and she took advantage of the opportunity to incite him further. "What do you like about her the most? Her ass? Her legs? Her che- well, lack thereof it?"

"I told you to shut up! It's not right for me to look at her like that, so I don't!" His face was mortified. Damien then tried to cover her mouth again, but Bayonetta managed to dodge and now he was holding onto her into an attempt to silence her.

It wasn't working.

"Or are you a personality man? Awwww… how sweet!" She continued, trying to push him off. "Although does that mean you don't find her body attractive? Damien!"

"Shut up! Just-"

"Sorry for the interruption, but Damien is right. Literally."

The struggling pair halted and both turned to Loki. The boy sighed and shook his head, rubbing the back of it with one hand. "I- I don't know the exact reason, because I don't remember it, but when you change events in the past, you massively affect the future. Timelines don't revert to account for changes. They can't. It's not how they work."

"Then how come we can remember the other events?" Bayonetta argued.

"And where's my body?" Damien added.

"I don't know! Or at least, I don't remember the correct explanation!" Loki cried out, throwing his hands into the air. "This is something best to ask Khepri, because she's the one who provided the explanation!"

"You need to speak with me?"

The trio turned to the voice and only Damien cried out in surprise. The green-skinned demon was leaning against a wall, a smirk on her lips, one arm held across her stomach. "I have attended to the matters I needed to at this point, so I'm back. And my champion is awake! Fantastic. We can focus on our goal now."

"What was that place!?" Damien ran forward, pointing an accusing finger at his patron. "You- what- Khepri!"

"That was a dream, nothing more. We have more important goals to focus on."

That instantly alarmed her. Bayonetta's eyes narrowed and she, for the first time since they had met, regarded the Madama with suspicion. The Demon was normally ambiguous, and hid a lot of truths away for 'their sake', but this was the first time she had outright denied something.

"No! That was real! What was that place!? What were you talking about!?"

"Madama, what have you told them about timelines?" Loki tried a more indirect question, but Khepri's red eyes narrowed and focussed onto him.

"Have none of you noticed that I have a giant hole in my stomach? And the first thing you start doing is question my explanations that you aren't even aware of?" Khepri snarled in annoyance. "You don't even have memories to draw upon to-"

"How did you know that?" Loki pounced. "It's never been mentioned to either you or Damien that I have no memories."

The demon bared her gritted teeth in response. There were no words; Bayonetta had a feeling that there was no possible way for Khepri to explain this without contradicting something.

'This is why honesty is the best policy. Khepri is not your friend, nor does she have your best interests in mind,' Butterfly seemed to sing out in glee. 'And the little house of cards she has built upon lies will crumble.'

Why so certain?

'Because we all warned her long ago that deceit with humans does not end favourably – especially in the way she envisions. Once they find out, the consequences? They will be frightening.'

"What were you doing?" Damien asked, frantically firing off each question. "Where were you? Why couldn't I summon Shuraba? Why are you hurt?"

"One question at a time, Damien.And you are not the first to ask one." Khepri began to shuffle towards the three, very obviously in discomfort. Bayonetta's gaze instinctively was drawn to the Madama's stomach; her eyes widened once she realised that they were not lying. Ichor was leaking from behind her grip, staining her emerald dress with black patches. "Sovereign One, you must understand that timelines can shift-"

"They can't. I don't know what happens instead, but I know that's wrong." Loki shook his head and began to walk towards the centre of the room. "But I do know that you know what's going on. I think. Maybe you are making up bullshit because you don't know and are trying to understand it yourself, but you can entertain these two while I get this building back together. Can you move to the left, please?"

Khepri followed his instructions and sighed. Slowly, she raised her gaze to her contracted, then to Bayonetta's own.

"Are you going to tell us the truth or what?" Damien practically demanded. "You've been lying to us-"

"I have not! Everything I have told you is true," Khepri snapped back at him and grimaced in pain. "I swear upon-"

"Madama," Bayonetta interrupted. "I don't believe you have lied; it's not exactly in your nature. What haven't you told us?"

The question had an immediate effect on Khepri, and it was one that Bayonetta never expected. Her eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in suspicion. "Who told you to say that?"

"Absolutely no one. But it's a logical assumption given that you are definitely hiding something this time. You aren't trying to be subtle."

"And that's exactly what Benevolence said!" Damien cried out. "In that strange place-"

"That was just a dream! Stop taking all visions as fact when some of them are just dreams," Khepri shook her head. "What else can I say to convince you otherwise?"

A scraping sound interrupted before either one could refute her statement. Loki was dragging a rock against the stone, tracing out a pattern of an enclosed diamond within a circle. A low humming was filling the silence, a rhythm that reminded Bayonetta of a descending spiral.

"What on Earth are you doing?" Khepri asked.

"This."

He used a card to slice through the pattern and a blue light burst from the ground. Lines of teal green began tracing themselves through the stone, reaching seemingly random points and bursting out as well. They continued to draw the outline of a building, but did not become solid.

"A hologram?" Damien waved his hand through a nearby line and they watched as it passed with no ill-effects.

"I don't know what this is. If that's what you want to call it, then be my guest." The boy then gestured to the main pillar. "Hey, Bayonetta! Can you… spin this thing? It needs just a little bit of motion for the magic to actually happen."

"Just leave it to me." Bayonetta crouched, then sprang forward. Her legs wrapped around the light pillar, which was surprisingly solid, and she turned back to Loki. "Which way, little one?"

"Whichever way causes the building to reform. Look, I don't know the specifics of the spell," he protested the look of pure disbelief Khepri gave him. "All I know is that you do this and spin that. That's it."

"I'm putting the fate of existence on a group of morons…" The Madama commented to herself, then glanced up to her. "Anti-clockwise. You're going back in time, not forward."

That made sense. Bayonetta leaned back and let gravity spin her around slowly. A kick increased her momentum and soon enough the room itself became a blur.

…

The changes started small.

Damien felt something moving and tugging under his boot, and he lifted it to watch a piece of concrete fly into the sky. His eyes trailed back down to the floor and it was cleaner.

Stone began to reform and splinter together, birthing columns that rose into the sky. Ancient flowerbeds and benches rebuilt themselves from ashes, blooming and gleaming in the moonlight. A sigh from Khepri pulled his attention towards her and he found the demon now leaning against a new wall, her face contorting with pain.

Guilt and confusion both clawed at him. The attempted gaslighting, he felt was completely out of character for Khepri, but at the same time why would she so obviously lie about that strange occurrence? It was very obviously not a dream. Whatever he had seen and heard was real.

It had to be!

'Don't dwell on it. Please.'

Her eyes were meeting his with absolute sincerity. Khepri's body language was showing the same and her mind was wide open. Damien peered in and found more of the same; honesty. Pure honesty.

'We have a common goal. We can't afford to lose focus on it now. If you are still fretting, we can discuss it once Jeanne is back and the Prophet gone.'

Why are you lying?

Her expression softened slightly. 'I'm not. I haven't told you the full truth, but that is to protect you. If the Prophet knew that you had a full understanding of the situation, then he would stop at nothing to eliminate you, as he did for me.

'I only ask that you trust me for now. Without our cooperation, we will be doomed.'

Damien was hesitant, but the common sense broke through; I agree.

He walked over to his patron and began to incant under his breath. The healing spell was released soon after. Khepri closed her eyes in relief and removed her arm from her stomach, revealing a faint scar above her belly button.

"Thank you. I know you have questions, but now is not the time," Khepri turn her head skywards and Damien did the same.

The cathedral stood around them, rebuilt and restored to its former glory. Decorative banners of blue and gold hung from the walls, surrounded by glass of the same tint. The stone was painted in a bright white, illuminated by torches burning in sconces of pure silver. A staircase spiralled up around the building, presumably leading to the top.

And the bridge to Fimbulventr.

Bayonetta was still spinning on the pillar of light, whirling around like a children's toy. He could barely make out her expression, but from the glimpses he managed to make out pure joy.

Still as childish as always. Damien cracked a smile at that one.

"Alright! You can stop now!" Loki cried out and his sister instantly flipped off the pillar, landing perfectly on her heels and presenting herself with a bow. "Thank you."

Bayonetta stood back up and pouted dramatically. "But I was having so much fun! And that's not all I can do on a pole-"

"We don't need to hear about your stripper habits, love," Loki shuddered and turned towards the staircase. "If you had kept spinning, you would have kept turning back time until you started deconstructing the Cathedral. That would be kind of pointless."

He tossed a card at the pillar and it faded, leaving on the orange fire of the torches to illuminate them. The boy gestured to them, then forward. "Now let's go ahead and reach the Bridge to the Heavens, shall we?"

…

Bayonetta didn't speak with her brother, nor the Madama that was now travelling with them. They seemed to be having their own conversation, or they were not interested in conversing at the moment and were focussing on the potential battle ahead. She glanced down at the God-turned-boy and wondered if he was the same.

There was no real hint to the thoughts inside of him. Loki was walking up the stairs like there was nothing wrong at all.

"So this is it," Bayonetta started. The three quickly glanced at her to acknowledge they were listening, but did not stop to keep watching and continued upwards. "We pass across this bridge and we part ways, do we not?"

"Well, that was the deal. You get me to Fimbulventr and I get you to Inferno," Loki confirmed. He exhaled and pulled out three cards from the air, fanning them out within his fingers. "But as I said before, nothing about this feels right. You know I'm sticking with you now."

"And you should. Nothing good comes from splitting the party," Damien muttered in the background.

"Your friend first?" Loki asked.

"Did you have to ask? Once we have Jeanne back, we can go and puzzle out the last piece that we need." Bayonetta glanced up and found they were around two loops below the ceiling. "And this will be over."

"Will Jeanne return to her body or manifest in Inferno?" Damien asked.

"I…" Bayonetta looked to Khepri for guidance. The Infernal shrugged in response.

"Don't look at me. This has never happened before." Khepri reconsidered her statement and shrugged again. "Well, actually a few Witches have tried, and a Sage once did too. None were successful."

They found themselves at a stone door, three times as tall as Damien and two times as wide as his wingspan. Golden lines, patterned like an eagle with its wings outstretched, encased the trim along the edges. Loki walked up to the centre and placed his hands on his hips.

"Uhh… by right of Aesir, I command these doors to open!"

Nothing happened. Khepri rolled her eyes, and Bayonetta met Damien's with a grimace. Loki did not let this setback fluster him; he placed his hands on both doors and pushed. Then he turned around and placed his back against the left door and pushed. And pushed. And-

"Get out of the way, little one," Bayonetta stepped forward, calling upon Butterfly as she did. "You are embarrassing yourself."

Loki pushed himself off the unmoving door and transformed into a squirrel. He scurried off and climbed onto Khepri's leg, trailing up and up until he was sitting on her shoulder. The demon gave him a cursory glance, but nodded to Bayonetta.

Bayonetta leaned back and thrust forward with one fist, launching the wicked weave into the stone. The doors burst open in a horrible screech of stone on stone, revealing a bridge that curved up and onto the mountain.

"The Bridge to the Heavens." Loki had transformed back and was standing beside her. Bayonetta did not need to look down to know they were both staring up at the indomitable sight before them. "Our last step before going to hell."

"Then let's get moving."

The quartet walked out and found themselves on a circular platform. Four columns at each quarter supported a ceiling that sprouted from a central pillar, which housed the entrance to the Cathedral itself. Bayonetta wandered close to the edge of the platform and looked out. The view from the top of the Cathedral was tremendous. She normally wasn't one to be unsettled by heights, but the sprawl of the city beneath her was a little dizzying. A hand gripped onto her upper arm and pulled her back from the edge. She turned to see Damien shaking his head and gesturing towards the bridge.

"We're nearly there. Don't get distracted now."

A smirk lit up her features. "Like you'll be distracted later?"

"Please don't." His eyes closed and anguish spread across his. "It's not-"

"You are allowed to have a… crush on someone. Even if I do think it's a little strange to fall for the person who tortured you, I am not judging you for your interes-"

Damien's hand covered her mouth again. She anticipated this and pushed him away, cackling wildly. "You've lived with me in your life for six months and you're still a blushing maiden whenever anything sexual comes up. How is that possible!?"

"It's not that! I told you, I don't understand why I have these feelings-"

"You didn't tell me that. All you've really done is try to tell me that you don't deserve these feeling or some angsty bullshit." Bayonetta sighed and relaxed her posture, trying to signal that she was no longer playing around. "Look, I'll tell you the same thing I told Jeanne when she tried to confess to me; it's absolutely fine. I felt like absolute shit turning her down – twice, I may add – but I wasn't repulsed and our friendship remained just as strong as ever. Yes, there's absolutely not a chance she decides to leave her lover behind and appease you, but I don't think she would toss you out and destroy your friendship just because you think she's hot. You do think that, correct?"

A blush was her only reply and Bayonetta chuckled. "Oh dear… You do know I find this whole situation absolutely hilarious?"

"It's not that funny," Damien protested weakly.

"The high and mighty Damien, who literally can level cities and explode moons, is afraid of a girl."

"I'm not! She hates men," came the sullen reply. "Anyone who has given a hint that the wanted to proposition her either got verbally annihilated by her or tossed down the street. Imagine if I decided to say 'oh hi Jeanne, I like you as more than a friend but I don't, it's really weird but don't worry about it?' She would be absolutely disgusted with herself and me."

"Oh stop it. Jeanne tolerates you. In Jeanne terms that means she thinks of you as a close friend!" Bayonetta tapped his nose with her index finger and snatched it away when Damien tried to retaliate by knocking her arm away. "How about you just get it off your chest once we get her back and let her decide?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Trust me; you'll be fine. Jeanne only is… well… Jeanne to people she doesn't know and trust. You've saved her life, and she has saved yours. There's quite a bit of implicit trust between you two that won't burn down because you can't control your feelings. No one can, and she knows best of all." Bayonetta turned to the bridge and a very impatient Khepri and Loki. "Now let's go and rescue her, shall we?"

"If you are quite ready, then let's get going," Loki called out, gesturing to them. "The Gates of Hell… don't… urgh…"

The boy's hands clasped onto his temples. A deep, pained moan gurgled from his throat and he began to stumble. Each movement sent him closer and closer to the edge-

"Stay here, Sovereign One." Khepri dragged him back to stable ground. "What was that all about?"

"Memories…" Loki gritted out. "We should be going down… not up…"

Something burst through the bridge, an object of gold and red that spun with furious velocity. It shredded through the stone and ripped apart everything in its path. Chunks of debris went flying into the air and then the wielder of the buzz-saw erupted through the remaining section. Rocks began to rain down upon them, shattering against the floor and cracking through the platform.

Damien stepped forward and clapped his hands together. He thrusted them out and the raining debris reversed direction back towards the being that unleashed them. It roared in annoyance and the buzzsaw, now revealed to be a shield, slammed into it all to explode them into dust.

"Impressive. You weren't able to perform that before," Khepri commented. "You could barely move more than three objects at a time; you have grown stronger."

Something began to approach them from the corner of Bayonetta's eye and she instantly tossed a weave towards it, guided with a slam of her heel. The Wicked stomp crushed the debris against the stone, again bursting out a new cloud of dust into the air. She turned back and gave the trio a shrug; "He missed one."

"It's been three months. Give me a little credit and an excuse, please." Damien folded his arms and an unnatural breeze howled through the sky, clearing the air. The floating Angel that remained was not a surprise to Bayonetta; the similarity between it and Valor was.

"Hmph; this is a preposterous sight. A pathetic image of a God, an abomination of life, an Arch Daemon of the most vile nature and you." It lowered its shield to reveal a porcelain head embossed into the surface, a white scar amongst the gold. "The Arch Eve herself. My other half had much to say about you."

The Angel was a colossal being, dwarfing Fortitudo but dwarfed in turn by Temperentia. Golden armour wrapped around its limbs and body, offering only glimpses of the red flesh beneath it. Just like Valor, this Angel had no head and a large gap lay where the neck should have been. Besides the large, presumably main face, there was a second upon the cross-piece of the massive sword it carried it its right hand. A billowing cape completed the look, flashing with white and crimson as it flapped under the moonlight.

"Bayonetta! Behind us!" Damien called out before she had a chance to respond to the divine intruder. The ceiling groaned, then ripped off in a horrible scream of tearing stone and concrete. A very familiar Angel then crashed onto the remaining stump that was the entrance, crushing it and removing the path back into the Cathedral.

"You again!?" Bayonetta exclaimed. "Didn't I kill you?"

"We do not fall so easy, Coronzon," Valor snarled. It stood up from its crouch, holding its sword upright with both hands. "We and our brother will annihilate you, where you stand!"

"Patience, Valor," the other Angel rumbled. "Do not harm them. The Prophet still requires them."

"Incorrect. They need the Eye," Valor argued with a poisonous tone. "The Coronzon, abomination and Sovereign One can all perish if needed!"

Damien scoffed from somewhere beside her. Bayonetta glanced over her shoulder to see her brother standing with his back to her, keeping his eyes on the new Angel. "Don't you both realise that you need both Eyes for their true power to be unleashed?"

"And at least get some new material; Balder wanted both Eyes before. At least say that you wanted my own power or something original like that." Bayonetta turned her attention back to Valor. "Who is the other one?"

"Address us and we will answer, Coronzon."

"Whatever Bayonetta said," Damien monotoned dryly back.

"We are Valiance, the right hand of the Prophet," it triumphantly announced, pride emanating from it. "We are here to take the Eye and Sovereign One to their rightful place by the Prophet's side."

At least they weren't trying to hide any pretences this time. Glamor had spoken about bringing them to Fimbulventr and, by extension, the Prophet, but they spoke of it as a merry trip with no repercussions what-so-ever. Bayonetta knew there was definitely subtext to that invitation, and this encounter was just proving it.

"Clearly you don't understand how to court a lady, lug-nuts," Loki piped up, walking forward. Khepri kept her grip on his shoulder and prevented him from coming too close. "Nor how to invite a friend over for dinner. Could you ask nicely or-"

"They already sent you a gift-wrapped invitation, brother. You merely declined it."

A blue portal opened up next to Valiance, revealing a location of crystals and stone architecture. A figure, a solid blue hologram, floated through and gazed down upon them. Bayonetta returned their gaze with apprehension, but she was determined to not let this opportunity go to waste.

This was Dante's blue guy. This was the Prophet.

"Loptr!" Loki cried out, then hesitated. "You're older?"

"Hmph. I have grown up, brother. You have not." Loptr gestured down with an open hand at him. "I am here to finally observe you all, including those who are not meant to be here. Isn't that right, Khepri?"

"Keep your mouth shut, imbecile," Khepri hissed in Enochian. "Lest I tear it from your face!"

"Clearly you could not on our first meeting. Or was that our second? Third? I've lost count." Loptr's spectral face contorted into a grin and his gaze seemed to intensify. "You see, insectile one, you are powerless in this situation. You hold no cards because… well, my other half does."

The Demon hesitated and looked away. "What do you mean by that?"

"I spoke about four different topics, Khepri. Pick one to dispute."

"Where's Jeanne!?" Damien bellowed, attempting to lunge forward. Bayonetta caught him just in time before he could fling himself into a much, much worse situation.

"Rule three!" she hissed into his ear. "Calm yourself, now!"

He was trembling in her arms and Bayonetta briefly entertained the thought that he would slip out of this ridiculous jacket and try again, but he did not move further.

"Jeanne is where she is meant to be. Supposed to be. Where else could she be?" Loptr turned to face them, narrowing his gaze. "But you, abomination, are not meant to be here. Not for a very long time."

"Your friend Urizen couldn't hold me. That's also not mentioning that there are too many people who-"

"That is incorrect and not what I meant at all." The spectre let out a long and drawn-out sigh. "Urizen was meant to be a distraction for those pesky half-devils. You being collaterally attached to that distraction was a boon, but something I could not count on."

Both Damien and Bayonetta just stood there, completely dumbfounded. She was the first to find her voice: "What?"

"Let me explain it to you in layman's terms, because apparently you are both completely brainless. But I suppose that neither of you know anything. None of you do, except Khepri." Loptr raised one hand and tapped it against his forehead. "Hmm, I wonder what she knows about this."

Khepri growled in frustration. "Spit it out or forever hold your peace."

"Why should I spill all of my secrets when you still only let them know what you want them to know?" He laughed, then gestured to the two Angels. "I have… foreseen this situation. I could unleash Valor and Valiance upon you and see what happens next, but I have a much, much better idea since I already know the outcome of my friends against a Witch of your regard."

"You flip and flop between topics faster than Cereza on a sugar-high." Bayonetta raised an eyebrow. "You've raised several concepts and elaborated on none of them."

Loptr began to laugh even harder. "Oh, my dear… I do not need to elaborate. All you need to do is speculate."

A surge of fury boiled through her and she pulled out Love is Blue. "How about you just let us know an answer!"

"Damien!" The Madama tossed something towards her brother. "Here!"

Fire burned in a straight line and Damien snatched out his katana. His eyes met hers and they both nodded. Taking their stances, they both directed their weapons at the spectre.

Loptr just stared at them in complete disbelief. "Are you all mad? You cannot challenge me."

"I believe they can," Loki called out. "Bayonetta has defeated several powerful Angels; you are no different to that kind of challenge."

"The audacity to compare me to an Angel is an insult of the highest degree. You know me better, brother." The spectre sneered and held his arms out, moving his clothing out to form a diamond. "Or has your memory of your own potential disappeared?"

"As far as I know, the only thing I can do is manipulate the Remembrance and be stabbed with a card. Your cards, to be fair, but that is something that tells me that these –" he pulled out one and tossed it at the spectre. "– are lethal. What do you have to say about that?"

Loptr caught the card and examined it. "Your memories are mis-informing you. Your deck is only meant to aid, to create. I do not use mine any longer, for I have no need for it, but it is used to harm. To destroy."

"But you have raised a very intriguing proposition; you were impaled by my card." The spectre let the card fall from his fingers and it fluttered down in the wind, spiralling and flipping out of control. "Those events have not occurred and should never occur. How do you know of them?"

"We're beings of time, former Primordius, Gods; whatever you want to call it." Loki gestured to the space around them. "It makes sense that I have memories from weird points of time-"

"Wrong again! You are none from practically everything you have said all day. Memories need to have occurred to be available, unless someone implanted them in you. Considering you were brought here from –" Loptr paused, then chuckled. "You are not meant to know that. But either way, those memories are inaccessible. You cannot have them unless, as stated before, someone put them into you."

"Hah! Like that could ever happen. Implanting memories is tricky-"

"Tricky, unless you change everyone. The only person standing before me with no altered memories is Khepri, which is very convenient for her." Loptr glanced up. "Before you say anything, Valor, no, you do not count."

"We understood that."

The Angel's reply was lost upon Bayonetta. Loptr's words were what concerned her, and the implication they contained. Altered memories? What did they mean by altered memories!? Everything she had in her mind was hers, right?

Right?

Butterfly!? She instantly called upon her patron.

'I…' the Madama sounded just as confused as she was. 'I don't know. I can't tell.'

"Khepri?" Damien's uncertain voice crept out. "What did he mean by that?"

Now all gazes were on the Madama. She looked like a deer frozen in the headlights of an approaching car. Her eyes darted around, either meeting Bayonetta's with panic or frantically looking for an escape. Bayonetta recognised this behaviour with a chill down her spine and yet again she was becoming increasingly sceptical of their supposed closest ally.

"Oh… You haven't told them? This is marvellous!" Loptr began to applaud the situation. "Well, I did not expect you to tell them since a stupid and unaware minion is a perfect minion. But now I can sow dissent and chaos all without needing to do anything. My friend, I thank you for this perfect opportunity."

"You're lying! Khepri wouldn't do such a thing!" Her brother abandoned his stance and began gesturing at the spectre. "She wouldn't! She… She wouldn't…"

Bayonetta had assumed the same, but literally five minutes ago she had convinced him that a vision he had seen was completely and utterly irrelevant. Damien, despite what he had faced and the adversaries he had defeated, was still far too naive against the world around him. As much as she shouldn't be listening to the person who had-

What was she even thinking? Loptr had caused Jeanne's death; there was absolutely no logical reason for her to consider listening to him. Khepri was a good person.

'Khepri is trying to manipulate you all. Please do not think of her as a friend!'

Are you on his side or ours!?

'I'm trying to help you, Cereza. You can't trust any Demon and definitely not her. Khepri has far more secrets and agendas than you could conceivably think of; this is what happens when you play too many at once.'

Do you know what is going on?

'No. But I can hazard a lot of guesses based on all the information so far.' Butterfly then hesitated and continued solemnly. 'Absolutely none of them are any you want to hear.'

"Are you uncertain? Remember –" he broke into an insane cackle. "Oh, what a term to use. Anyway, if you have trouble remembering, just remember that your memories are false. That way you can all be certain that you are all being led to your and everyone else's death by the one and only Madama Khepri."

The portal opened up behind him and he turned to Valiance. "Send them down. They so desperately want to go to Inferno? Then let them. I have allies there. They can deal with whatever scraps arise after they tear each other apart."

"Understood."

Valiance drew his sword arm back and Bayonetta snapped herself out of the trance and straight into action. Love is Blue began firing off powerful slugs that pushed the weapon off balance, preventing the Angel from swinging it.

But she forgot about the second weapon it was carrying and the shield flew like a buzzsaw through the air, colliding and tearing straight through the cathedral.

The ground shifted and threw everyone off balance. Damien fell to the stone and immediately stabbed the Sharuba through it. Loki transformed into a squirrel and jumped to Bayonetta, only to be swatted away by an invisible force. Khepri merely stood there amongst the chaos, her eyes downcast and uncertain.

"And while you fall down and down to your desired location, let me show you just who you are dealing with," Loptr called out. "Let me show you just who your family and friends truly are."

Another tremor rumbled through the building as Valor jumped up. Bayonetta could only watch with dread as it fell and plunged through the floor, collapsing the building and them all along with it. A white flash blinded her and then-

…

Rosa crept along the wall, trying to keep to the shadows of the ancient Umbra Arena. The expanse of the cliffside in front of her was a sheer drop that covered the destruction of the city below. Each silent footstep was agony for her and served as a reminder for what they had all lost.

The day had started like all others. She had awoken from her restless and uncomfortable sleep to hear the news that something terrible had occurred. The guards did not divulge anything when asked and decided to take out their fears and frustrations on her by breaking her limbs over and over again. The perverse punishment was nothing she hadn't endured before, but the Umbran Elder had stormed into the room to cease their actions and inform them all that the Clan was once again at war.

Angels had descended upon them and mortals had stormed the streets of Vigrid, each one calling out for the deaths of the 'heretics'. Rosa was thrust onto the front lines and watched with horror as the slaughter unfolded; unwilling to harm the humans, the Umbra had retreated into Purgatorio. In Purgatorio they were swarmed by endless waves of Laguna, blood lusted and tearing anything apart that moved.

She saw first-hand how the training for her sisters had faltered. Absolutely none of them had Contracted, or mastered the art of Witch Time, or even could control the most basic of weaves. Rosa tried her hardest to kill Angels by the dozen, to keep her sisters safe, but there were simply too many of them. Her long-dormant power had lain stagnant for far too long, and it had not yet come back. If only she could have recovered quicker. If only…

It wouldn't have mattered either way. Rosa didn't like to use the term, but competent Witches were few and far between. There were simply too many Angels, and pushing herself would have ended with her numbering with the dead.

The order to retreat was given when the Auditio arrived and began laying waste to the town. The Angels swarmed them relentlessly, slaughtering all they could reach. One of Rosa's sisters tossed her to the side and down a well before being sliced apart by a passing Ardor. The sewer system beneath Vigrid was putrid, but it was better than being one of the corpses above her.

She climbed out into the citadel to destruction. Bodies of Umbra Witches were strewn upon the landscape in unnatural poses whilst Sapientia stalked the landscape. And that's how she found herself crawling the wall, trying to stay hidden.

And alive.

"Find them. Find them both!" the Auditio roared, shaking the ruins with its voice alone. "They possess the Eye!"

"They have searched far and between for a sight of these two Coronzon," another voice rumbled. A colossal torso descended from the sky and Rosa scurried to hide behind a piece of debris, hoping that it shielded her from both Auditio. Khepri whispered something in her ear and she felt the effects of a chameleon spell wash over her. She still quietened her breathing and stayed absolutely still. "Despite carrying the Eye, she has not accepted it. We cannot find what we cannot sense, and none of us know who we are looking for. The Matriarch's daughter will lead us to her, but she is far more elusive than we anticipated."

Go Jeanne, Rosa cheered on in her mind. Her fear for her daughter's life began to die down slowly; if Jeanne was still alive, then Cereza would be too. She remembered that night when Jeanne confessed to her quite vividly. While she wasn't sure that Cereza would reciprocate, there was not a chance in hell that Jeanne would let either of them be harmed.

Especially if the heiress had the Eye. That alone would make her a force to be reckoned with.

"What are we waiting for? The Father to return and listen to our failures?" Sapientia pawed the ground, sending debris and bodies flying. They rained around her in a macabre downpour and she had to avert her eyes from the sight from a wave of nausea. "We will find them now!"

"As you wish. Begin your search from the North; we will double back and sweep the–"

The two began to move away from the remains of the citadel, leaving Rosa all alone amongst the dead. When she was certain they were gone, and that there was absolutely no one listening in on her, she let out a huge sigh of relief.

She had to find Cereza and Jeanne.

"Oh hello, love. Are you lost?"

Her head shot up with a gasp and turned towards the voice. It was a boy, no older than thirteen, standing there with his arms crossed. He was dressed in strange white and blue clothing that she could not identify from any country in her travels, but Rosa did recognise a hood when she saw one. Tanned features smiled softly at her with kind blue-grey eyes, matching a diamond tattoo that glowed upon his forehead with the same hue. Her senses began to warn her at the power she could now feel and in one second the entire situation went from merely strange to extremely problematic and potentially dangerous.

"Who are you?"

"A friend of your daughter. I am here at her request to come and rescue you." The boy held a hand out expectantly. "So please, allow me to take you to her."

Khepri was frantically warning her. Her common sense was screaming at her. Rosa kept her expression neutral, shook her head and took a step back. "I don't trust boys who appear out of nowhere."

"Rosa, I insist. Please let me help you," the boy stepped forward to meet her, thrusting his hand out. "You can trust me."

"Then who are you?" she asked again. "A name, a title; anything!"

"Why is a name so important? What makes it so important? The sense of identity, the ability to identify, to correlate?" The boy dropped his hands and shoved them inside his tunic-esque clothing. "My name, if you so desire it, is Loki. I am a mere traveller of this realm and, as I said before, a friend of Bayonetta. You can trust me."

The names were completely unfamiliar. "Who's Bayonetta? You've never mentioned a Bayonetta before."

Loki was silent for a moment, then chuckled. "Damn, I let that slip too easily. Anyway, your daughter calls herself Bayonetta now. You know, like the weapon affixed to the end of a gun?"

"I don't." She was completely unfamiliar with that term. It did meet the etymology the boy was suggesting, but the word itself was lost on her.

"It does not matter. Please, come with me. I can take you to your daughter." His arm extended out to her once more. Inviting her to take it and let Loki lead her-

Rosa shook her head rapidly and broke herself out of the haze that was beginning to set in. Another clack of her heels echoed her second step backwards. "Stop it! I will not follow a Demon masquerading as a boy!"

"A Demon? You must be mistaken. Take those glasses off and look at me without that insect affecting your vision." The boy was acting offended, but his eyes seemed to be bright with contained laughter. "It is not the first time this has happened. Honestly? I don't know why I didn't expect you to act any differently, love."

What is he talking about!?

'He shouldn't be here.' Khepri was in complete disbelief. 'There is no possible reason for him to be here-'

"And at least invite your insect out to talk. I would like to meet her at some point." Loki smirked and waved his extended hand in a small circle. "It's rather rude to talk about me behind my back."

'Do not let him see me.'

Rosa already was very certain that her patron should not meet this Loki. She definitely had no plans to summon, not trusting this boy.

"Come on, you can trust me. I helped your daughter save her lover, don't you know? I'm very-"

"You are literally the most untrustworthy person I have met," she echoed her thoughts. "Everything about you screams false, yet-"

"Trust him."

Rosa turned around at the sound of his voice, her body melting and mind forgetting the strange boy behind her. In the flesh, he stood before her. The love of her life.

"Balder!" She ran forward and embraced her husband. Her hands gripped onto his robes tightly, trying to pull him closer and prove to herself that he was real. That he was alive. "I thought I had lost you forever. I thought you dead!"

"It's okay, my love. I am here. We are together again."

His arms wrapped around her as well and she felt more complete than she had in years. Rosa's vision became blurred and she pressed herself against his chest to hide her tears. A deep rumble answered her actions and she felt herself become a little embarrassed.

"Where is Cereza?"

Alarm shot through her emotions, sobering Rosa faster than magic could after a night of drinking. Asking about their child in the middle of a slaughter was perfectly natural and the question was on the tip of her tongue, just waiting for her state to return to rationality. But the way Balder phrased it, the way his voice dripped with hunger and desire to find her, did not sit right.

"Balder?" She pushed herself off his chest, but kept their arms intertwined. Something flickered in his eyes and he closed them.

"Where is our daughter?"

"I already told you love," Loki called out, folding his arms. "I know where she is. I can take you both to her right now. All you need to do is-"

"I don't trust you! You appear out of nothing and believe you have the answer for a question I did not ask!" Rosa pushed Balder away and pointed at the boy. "Who are you!?"

"You can trust him. He will lead us to our daughter."

"Balder! Please!" She turned to her husband and gasped at his gaze; it was not love for her or worry for her daughter that was expressed on his face. A blank stare penetrated through her, uncaring and emotionless. "What happened to you?"

"What happened to me? I was always like this, beloved."

There was no emotion in those words. He spoke them like they had to be said, like they were necessary in this relationship. Rosa didn't know how to react. To be honest she didn't know how she was supposed to react. The man she loved was not this… imposter.

"Are you a Joy?" She asked him directly. An Angel could not lie; if it were truly her husband-

"I am Balder. I am your husband. Do not worry and trust Loki."

That set off more and more alarm bells. Rosa just stared at the mockery of Balder with disbelief, understanding nothing that was spoken. "Are you not listening to me? Why aren't you distrustful of this boy!?"

"Because we are working together, you idiot. I thought that was rather obvious by now," Loki drawled, rolling his arms and stretching them. "Balder, please dispose of her. She is of no use now and apparently is too intelligent to just accept a golden goose when she sees one."

Rosa's blood went cold.

"She has use in creating a new child. That reason alone is worth keeping her." Balder did not take his eyes off her,

"As what? A pet? You should have no compassion for her; she is beneath us!" The boy gestured to him and then sent a glance of pure contempt towards her. "We need to find the Eye, not some part of the past that we have long left forgotten. Prove yourself to me and dispose of her. Now."

"Do not forget who is truly in charge here, welp," her husband snarled, finally showing some emotion through the visage. It fell as soon as it arrived and it returned to the expressionless stone. "But as you wish."

He immediately turned to her and began walking, slowly and deliberately. Each footstep seemed to echo infinitely across the room and shatter her heart into a million more pieces. Balder's expression did not change and his eyes bore straight through her, staring blankly at her location.

"What!? Balder! What are you doing!?" Rosa finally found her voice and Khepri urged her to begin defending herself. Unforgiven fell into her hands, but she did not raise or ready them for battle. She had to break through. Balder loved her. She loved him. Love would-

"It's about due time I cleared the air between us, my love." Balder's mouth twisted into a forced and unnatural smile, from which fear sprouted with her. "You have held onto our love for so long that you have been blind to how… unrequited it was."

"You're lying!"

"He's not lying, love. You're just to blind to see it," Loki jeered from behind her.

"What I wanted was two Children. You only supplied me with one before our former clans caught onto my little scheme. They only imprisoned you because you were the naïve girl who fell in love with the charming Sage," Balder began to circle around her, moving corpses out of his way with slight flicks of his wrists. "But they never knew the full story. I wanted Children and I merely changed you so you wanted them too. You were never in love with Balder. All you wanted was acceptance and it was so, so easy to just give you that. A minor change here, a tweak there and I had a subservient wife who was willing to die for me."

"Y-you-you're…" Rosa's words died in her mouth. Everything about this was wrong. Balder was wrong. He had to be wrong. There was no reason for him to- their love was-

"You actually thought I loved you? Stupid woman…" He then burst out in a horrible mockery of laughter that brought tears to her eyes. "And now you are crying. Pathetic."

"Balder, stop this madness! We- I- I love you! And I know this isn't the real you!" She begged. Rosa wanted to reach out to him, to try and fix him with her touch, but Khepri was also pleading with her to stay still.

'He will not hesitate. You need to live!'

Balder would not think of harming me. Ever.

'Don't be so-'

His glaive appeared and Balder raised it above his head. Rosa did not flinch, but at that same instance she did not act. She would not fight the one she loved. An uncharacteristic look of disgust passed over his face and he lowered the weapon.

"This isn't worth my time. Loki, prove yourself." Balder halted and turned away, putting his back to her. Khepri began screeching at her to strike, but Rosa did not act. The moment passed and the Sage walked away, turning back to click his fingers. A barrier formed in a circle around her, closing to keep herself and the boy within. "If you can defeat her, perhaps you'll be useful within our plans."

"Going to make me do all the work, old man? Typical."

Loki rose up into the air, stretching his arms out wide. A smirk spread across his lips and blue energy began to crackle around his hands, illuminating his surroundings with its glow. "You see, love, this isn't exactly fated. Normally you pass into the next life in a more, mundane…"

"Do not mistake your words, Loki. We both know how she ends."

"Alright. Honestly? You die pathetically. But for you to die now, at my hands? I have relished this for millennia. And as a bonus you get to perish with dignity."Six arms sprouted from his back, made of hard blue light. They each fell down to his sides and Loki pointed his real left arm at her. "Time to die, Rosa Florecer."

There was no hesitation now; Rosa struck first by launching a wicked punch and following up with a blast from both Unforgiven. All three attacks were dodged with short teleports and Loki began to laugh.

"Predictable. Utterly and pathetically predictable."

Two arms rose to the sky and released a blue laser each. The clouds tinted and then began to rain those same lasers, but this time dozens spiked down. Rosa sprinted and felt each blast erupt the stone and bodies next to her into ash and dust. She began to close the distance between the two-

Loki thrust all eight arms at her, the unnatural six forming a fist each and his normal ones splaying with a blue glow. Rosa was flung from the impact and she felt a laser strike through her mid-section, ripping a hole through her suit, skin and organs. She screamed in agony, then felt something grab onto her tattered suit and slam her against the barrier. Another force grabbed her head and rocketed it against the wall, grinding it painfully.

Balder was on the other side, smiling. His arms were folded and he had attached a golden half-mask over the right side of his face, instead of his normal monocle. "So this is the so-obedient wife that would die for me? Where is your power? Where are the traits that made you the perfect woman to breed? If this is your true self, then I shouldn't have bothered with you and merely found a common whore instead."

"Listen to him, woman," Loki whispered in her ear. "And now you'll die alone, unloved by everyone you thought the world of-"

Rosa shoved her elbow into the boy's face, both silencing and forcing him to drop her. She landed on the ground and let out a pained cry as her mid-section burned. A healing spell took away the brunt of the pain, but she couldn't fix the wound in time before Loki was upon her again. His arms were slashing wildly, releasing blue shockwaves across the ground. The Witch jumped and kicked off the wall to dodge them, releasing a wicked stomp at the back of his head to counter. It connected and knocked him into the barrier.

Charging up her power, Rosa roared and unleashed a rain of wicked stomps, repeatedly crushing the boy into the ground. Pulling herself back, she slid forward and kicked up Loki with a twist of her legs, following up with an afterburner kick. Loki recovered with a swat downwards of one trio of arms that she twisted past with ease. He snarled and continued his assault with a hexa-directional thrust that released a shockwave. Rosa saw no possible way to retaliate and flipped backwards off a summoned hard-light floor to create some distance.

Loki did not let her rest for a moment. His physical arms were weaving patterns in the sky, whereas the other six implored to the heavens. Dark clouds formed above him, solidifying with dark, sharpened crystals. Rosa summoned a small shield and prepared for the worst. The boy gave her a bow and it began to hail. The shards of ice flew and she deflected as many as she could, before giving up and summoning a larger barrier; a spell that Balder would recognise all too well. Each shard impacted uselessly against it and she began to advance towards the boy with her arm outstretched.

He rolled his eyes in response and his arms curled into a coil, then untwisted. A galaxy opened up beneath him and everything began to pull towards him. Rosa braced herself by digging her heels into the ground, but a corpse slammed into her back and dislodged her grip. Khepri whispered something to her and Rosa acknowledged it by throwing a wicked punch at his smug face. Loki cursed and twisted around it, but it was successful in breaking his concentration and the spell faded.

She summoned another hard-light barrier and vaulted forward, Unforgiven blazing. The bullets impacted onto a blue shield, but her legs broke through and Rosa connected with his face with a stomp of her heel. A cry of pain brought out a smirk of satisfaction lit up her features and she knocked him further back with a wicked thrust. Landing back on the ground, she watched him recover and glare at her with fury.

"Insolent woman! Get out of my way!"

The arms conjoined together and formed a whirlwind of energy. He dragged it across, ripping up everything in its wake. Rosa tensed, then jumped up-

A hand grabbed onto her ankle and dragged her back down into the maelstrom. The magic tore at her clothing and through her flesh, ripping screams of pure agony from her throat. Rosa was then flung at the barrier and crashed into it at an awkward angle. Something shattered in her shoulder and her impact on the ground dislocated the rest of it.

"You mean to tell me, Balder," Loki spoke with boredom. "That this… disappointment is the pride of the Umbra? You selected this… useless woman to have your child? You really disappoint me."

"She was adequate. You need to remember your own strength."

Rosa began to pull herself up to her feet, pushing up with her uninjured arm. She needed to live. She needed to win.

'Run.'

Where? I'm trapped, Khepri!

'Break the barrier. I'll teach you how.'

'Allow me to be frank, friend; the Umbra are terribly weak. I mean, just look around you. They died to mortals! Mortals! And they are supposed to be able to protect them from Infernals?" The boy scoffed and gestured at her. "They don't even know how to die properly!"

"I'm not dying to someone's child-"

"Love, I am literally a primordial being." A snicker then passed through his lips; seemingly at a joke she had missed. "I have no parents. You'd be dying to the bastard of the universe."

'For Sheba's sake, run! You cannot hope to-'

"That's right, listen to the insect. Run away, coward! Run away and live another day while we kill your daughter, your friends and anyone you've ever loved. Do the smart action for once in your life, Rosa."

The Witch paled at the realisation that he could read her mind. Her thoughts could do nothing but betray her and that did push more doubt and fear in her mentality, but it was the fact that he could enter her psyche without leaving any trace.

Just how powerful was this boy?

"Or will you stand and fight an impossible challenge? I know you aren't stupid, Rosa. Your husband has made that very clear with me. But to continue this battle – no, this slaughter – you would have to be an absolute idiot." Loki folded his real arms and gestured at her with the left three. "So run. I'll give you this chance once, just to see if you are smart enough to take it."

"There's nowhere to run, little one," Rosa taunted, gasping afterwards in pain. She pointed Unforgiven at the boy and tried to compartmentalise the throbbing ache in her stomach away. "So you'll have to settle with fighting me instead. I will not die so easily!"

Loki glanced around, then shook his head. "The barrier's down, love. You can run wherever you want."

Her eyes snapped to the left for a split second, immediately noting that the shimmer of the barrier was, in fact, gone. Another second of hesitation passed through her as Khepri urged her to flee, her body screamed at her to run and her logic begged her to take flight. She couldn't see Balder, nor could she hear him. She needed to run. She had to flee.

But she did not. Rosa did not know what drove her to stay, or why she could believe anything other than a slaughter was about to take place, but she kept her position and retrained her eyes on Loki. It was her final and fatal mistake.

Her legs gave out and she fell forward, her ribcage grinding and sliding across metal, pushed by a force between her shoulder blades. Her body crashed against corpses, blood spilling from her mouth from the impact and staining the already saturated ground further. Unforgiven scattered across the ground as they were released from her grip, but the sounds were distant, echoing and warping. Khepri was screaming something. Loki was laughing? Rosa couldn't tell.

It was all so painless.

A hand reached into the hole that resided through her spine and lifted her off the ground. Rosa tried to move her arms or legs and try to restore feeling in them. They did not obey her commands and flopped around uselessly.

"I didn't believe you could actually do it. I thought you had gone soft."

That was Loki's voice. He had not moved since her defiance. The person who was holding her was-

"She is of no use to me any longer. All she is now… is a distraction. A distraction I do not need to afford any longer."

Something broke inside of her. Despair and hopelessness filled the void and Rosa wailed internally, for she could not speak. She didn't believe it. She didn't want to believe it. Balder would never harm her. Balder did not-

"Find the girl. All we need is her Eye and our goals will be accomplished."

She shifted slightly and now Rosa was moving. "Then perhaps my beloved will still be of use yet."

And now she was falling and falling, her body spinning wildly in its descent. Rosa could see a platform approaching her and she prepared herself mentally for the impact.

She slammed into the stone and the rest of her body broke. Rosa bounced once, then twice and finally settled upon a pile of corpses. Her breathing was laboured and wheezing and she knew that there were very few precious moments left. Khepri was apologising to her repeatedly, but she shut that down.

I do not want my final moments to be of pity. You are my friend, Khepri. Be proud of what we managed to accomplish.

Khepri instantly refuted her. 'You don't understand! I knew this was coming and I tried so hard to fight this fate! For that I must apologise, for I have failed you.'

You cannot always fight fate. If I must die on this day, then I shall. Rosa managed to curve her lips into a smile. Thank you for everything.

All she really wanted was to see her daughter one last time. To be able to see what Cereza had become-

"Mummy!"

-And her wish was granted.

…

Balder glanced upwards at the crashing sounds bearing down upon him and quickly moved to the wall of the cathedral. Pressing against the stone, he waited for whatever was occurring to pass.

Finding Bayonetta's trail again was relatively easy. Once Loptr had finished enchanting his glaive, he had wandered very briefly around the city, heading in the relative direction of the Cathedral of Cascades. About a minute later the Cathedral had glowed a bright blue, illuminating the city like a second sun, and began to reconstruct itself. The bridge that extended off it and stretched to Fumbulventr also began to reform as well. Rock and stone either dragged itself out of the ground or reappeared from the air to fill in the gaps. Balder expected the air to be filled with the ear-splitting sounds of grinding, but the only echoes that lingered were of the soft bumps when the pieces reconnected.

The Cathedral of Cascades then stood tall once more, dominating the landscape with its sheer size.

Balder slipped through the streets and made his way towards the structure with haste. He assumed that it would take a while for his adversaries to reach the bridge itself, but he did not want to let them get too far ahead from loitering around the city.

The interior of the building was a large, tall room that had a staircase that spiralled upwards and presumably to the bridge. Rolling his eyes at the seemingly pointless architecture and label of 'cathedral', Balder resigned himself to walking up all of the steps.

He reached the halfway point when the rumblings started. And that's where he found himself at the present, trying to stay out of sight and away from whatever was going to burst through the ceiling.

The rumbling stopped and Balder held his breath. Anticipation was building, and it was only a matter of time before something happened.

A golden blur sheared through the building, shaking the entire structure and causing him to stumble forwards and away from the safety of the wall. Balder quickly reoriented himself back against it, only to look up and watch as an Angel slammed through the ceiling, hurtling down and destroying everything in its path. There was little time to react, but he judged that the being and the debris falling with it wouldn't touch him.

And he was correct. Stone chunks ripped apart parts of the staircase around him, but only the very edges. The Angel itself, of which Balder shuddered from the foreign sensation of it, hurtled past and into the floor of the cathedral far below him. It did not halt and continued down through, revealing some sort of cave system or tunnel that continued onwards from the walls of the cathedral.

His gaze looked skywards, into the falling rubble, and found Bayonetta. Then Damien. Then Khepri. Then unexplainably a squirrel that was also falling with them, but Balder didn't really acknowledge them. His eyes stayed on the Witch as she fell down and through the newly created hole.

Balder did not hesitate. He ran forward and jumped off and followed them down, not caring for any consequences for his actions.

He would have his revenge upon Rosa's murderer.

…

Hello all!

This will probably be the last update before the new year, but at the rate this story is progressing we might be done and dusted before June of next year. At the moment I'm struggling to keep the 'chapter a month' rate I promised initially, but once we hit Vigrid again this will start to pick up with faster installments. My favourite section when writing the original fic was then and I have a lot of ideas to continue onwards to expand it out in a way that everyone will enjoy.

But this chapter...

I actually wanted to make this chapter longer and continue on with certain themes, but I figured ending it with the bombshell (from a very, very untrustworthy source mind you) and then a... little... flashback would be better. That way next chapter we can deal with the aftermath and we can all learn whether or not Loptr is lying.

For a little tidbit on the status of all of these flashbacks, they are all real memories and have occurred within canon. Even if they seem to be contradictory; that's absolutely intentional.

Also yes, the dual Kingdom Hearts references are very funny to me, but not for a reason you all would understand yet. I have plans to use some aspects of that series here; some I already have used and an imaginary golden star will be awarded to the person who bothers to look back and figure it out.

But anywho, I'll probably write a Christmas special for release on Christmas day to finish up this year. Would you all like a flash-forward family fic with the entire Eclipse gang? Or would you like me to have a stab at BayoxJeanne and write something that can stand by itself? I'll let you all decide.

Until that time, I thank you all for reading. I know this isn't the best of fanfics, nor the most consistent, but I do hope you are all enjoying the journey I'm trying to take you on.