A/N:Heyoooo! This chapter is going to be a doozy and things will go unexplained for a while. I'll attempt to wrap things up in a nice little bow at the very end of this fanfiction itself (not the chapter), but please do not expect a miracle.

Due to Rani's interference in this world, a lot of things have changed. Some things not possible are possible, while things that seemed possible before may seem not possible. I should've said that at the beginning, but I'll come up with more explanations later.

The day seemed to last forever.

By the time the sun set, we'd taken a quick nap. Even with the information that I was not of this world, I wasn't really treated any differently. Dezel knew right off the bat, too. Or at least, I thought he did. The fact I'd asked him to write a note for me spoke volumes about how I didn't know how this world's lettering system worked.

The reason why we were waiting until nighttime was that there was a job that Rose needed to do, and she had to do it at night. The information had come from the Sparrowfeathers when we'd stopped by to see them earlier that day. Sneaking into the castle wasn't too big of a deal, but this would be the first time we'd ever assisted in something like this. Leaving the inn once night fell, we walked towards the entrance of Pendrago to start our mission.

But, as we walked, a fox-like man walked out in front of us. Stopping us in our tracks, in other words.

"Well, if it isn't the boss!" The man's voice grated my nerves already, and it was just a few seconds after I'd met him.

"Lunarre!" I looked to Rose, who took a step back. The expression on her face was... anger "But you're a hellion!"

Lunarre laughed. "Oh, you're scaring me with that face, Boss. Haha, what exquisite anger!"

"I really, really don't like this guy." I muttered to myself, taking a step forward. Put myself between Rose and Lunarre, get him to focus on me instead. That was my thought, but it was immediately cut off.

"It makes me so HUNGRY!" And he lunged at Rose.

"Hepsin Yulind!" I called Edna to my side almost immediately, armatizing with her and punching Lunarre away before he could make contact with Rose. I put myself between her and Lunarre, like I'd originally thought of doing. I knew Rose could protect herself but... I wasn't about to let her get hurt while I could do something about it. Both Rose and Sorey drew their weapons.

"His malevolence is extremely strong!" Lailah said, having materialized next to Sorey. Dezel materialized next to Rose. "Be careful!"

"Just like the cardinal..." Sorey said, voice low.

I didn't wait to hear the rest of what they said, launching myself at Lunarre and feinting to make him dodge left. When he did, I punched him as hard as I could. The punch sent him tumbling back, but he jumped back to his feet and growled at me. I knew... I knew they could defend themselves, but something in me kept saying I had to fight and protect them. Perhaps it was because I could protect them, but perhaps it was because I couldn't bear the thought of them getting hurt.

It would ruin my plan, sure... but I had to do something. As I went in for another hit, the world lost all its colour.

"Might you refrain from acting out of turn?" A voice asked. Clearly feminine, and clearly speaking to Lunarre. There was no owner in sight, however.

"It's you!" Dezel said to the disembodied voice.

"Shut up!" Lunarre growled. "Do not interfere with what I'm doing!"

"Such a foolish and reckless fox. Did you forget your role in this story? You were supposed to lead them on. Bring them to me." The disembodied voice said. "If you act so recklessly and provoke anger, what will you do then?"

Lunarre growled again, and ran off. As he did, more Lunarres came out of nowhere. The disembodied voice sighed. "This wasn't a part of my plan. But I'm flexible."

"Damn..." I turned around and immediately launched myself at one of the Lunarres. It didn't seem like this Lunarre knew what he was doing that well, and was constantly getting hit by my attacks. I stopped after a few minutes of just needlessly punching the Lunarre I was fighting. My arms lowered, and I looked to where Lunarre had run off to.

The job offer had been fake.

It'd been a trap.

Releasing my armatization, I took off while Rose and Sorey were busy dealing with the other two Lunarres. In the direction of where Lunarre had run. The area mapped itself out in my head, and so did the scenario of what I was about to do. For Rose's sake, I had to do this.

The Shrinechurch wasn't too far away.

What the hell are you doing?! I heard Dezel's voice in the back of my head. You left them behind!

"I'm doing what I have to." I said plainly, continuing to follow Lunarre's path at a sprint. "You should be with them, not me."

And let you get yourself killed? Rose would be devastated. Though filled with naught but thoughts of revenge, Dezel could think rationally when things came down to it. I slowed to a walk before stopping, and Dezel appeared beside me.

"I'm doing this for her." I said, turning to look at him. "Remember when I said I wasn't from Glenwood? I... know what happens next, Dezel. So I'm going to prevent that, no matter what it takes."

"..." Dezel sighed. "You're a complete and utter fool to think you can do it alone. I may have used Rose for my own gain, but I'm not going to let her girlfriend die because she's a reckless idiot."

I laughed at that, before starting to walk again. "I am a reckless idiot, yeah. So... when the time comes, Dezel. Don't use Rose."

Use me instead.

Sorey and Rose caught up to me after at least twelve minutes passed. I'd stopped walking at the steps up to the Shrinechurch, and had decided to wait for them to arrive.

"Rani!" Sorey called out.

"You idiot!" Rose walked up to me, smacking me across the face before giving me the biggest hug she could muster. "Don't leave me behind like that..."

I laughed a little, giving her hair a soft ruffle. "...I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking straight."

She let go, before giving a small nod of acceptance. We all then looked at the Shrinechurch, before walking up the stairs together. Running up them was an idiotic idea that could end in someone's ankle getting twisted. At the top, near the stairs that lead to the doors of the Shrinechurch, was Lunarre.

"Lunarre!" An angry growl emitted from him and, as we approached, a bright light eminated from him before expanding out. We had to cover our eyes to not get blinded... but it took a few minutes nonetheless for the light to fade and our eyesight to readjust. Covering our eyes did nothing.

Instead of Lunarre, it was a girl. A short, pale-skinned girl with black hair that ended in a dark purple ombre. "Rather productive for the opening act... But what splendid anger you've shown me, girl. If it were to blossom into hatred, oh how happy he would be!"

"I've waited for this..." Dezel said.

"Indeed. The time is ripe, for both of us." The girl said.

"Wait, Dezel-" But I put my arm out in front of Sorey, to get him to hush. I stared at the exchange. Dezel hadn't forgiven Symonne for what she did, even though the hatred he had was wrongfully placed on her. He couldn't remember what exactly had happened, only that she'd appeared during that time. It was why he had a personal vendetta and revenge plot against her.

It got heated. Sorey tried to stop Dezel, the girl continued to provoke him and Rose asked for answers.

And what Symonne gave had her falter. She stood there, staring, as she heard about how Dezel had continually used her for his own gain. Although he did, I knew he still cared for her. He... just didn't know how to show it beyond small things. He probably did regret what he did, but there'd been no turning back once he made the decision to use Rose as he did.

"That's enough creepy little girl for now." Edna said.

"I agree. There's something wrong about all of this..." Mikleo looked hesitant.

"Let's get out of here!" Lailah said, preparing to run.

"I think not." The girl changed with a quick flash of light. A hellion took her place.

I knew what this entailed.

I knew what was coming next. And I'd do whatever I could to stop the last chance to save the one person the boy had asked me to save... from being needlessly thrown away. So I prepared myself for battle, but not in the way most people would. I was steeling my resolve, readying to throw my life away to save Rose and save that one last shot from Zaveid.

I didn't want to die, but...

"Lailah, get ready to purify her!" Sorey shouted, snapping me out of my thoughts. This was it.

"Not this time! I'm gonna kill her!" His body turned teal, and he disappeared.

"Dezel?!" Rose cried out, confused.

And then it struck. I felt Dezel's anger and hatred, his embroiling emotions. He wrenched control of my body from me, and I didn't fight back. I felt the familiar power of the Armatus, but I could do nothing. I was a passenger in my own body, seeing things as if I wasn't even in control.

Because I wasn't.

"Rani!" I heard Sorey's voice from so far away. I clutched at my head, but I couldn't regret my choice now. I knew where this lead. I'd given Dezel the permission he needed to use someone other than Rose for his revenge plot, all to save her from what would happen to her. I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream. I wanted to wrest back control and tell Dezel how foolish he was being.

I knew. I had known all along.

But still, I'd played the fool. Played a part of an act to keep people from being suspicious of me. Only Dezel knew, and that was how it would stay.

I watched the events unfold from where I was, Dezel's hatred and anger preventing me from getting close enough to stop being a passenger in my own body. I just wanted to protect Rose.

I regret this... I regret it. I...

There was a sharp pain, and I broke through the barrier to take back control. It was unintentional and disorienting, as I blinked a couple times to make sure I was actually back in control of my own body. Made sure my arms worked... and then the pain hit me again. I hissed, and looked down. Stabbed through my stomach was a tendril, the same tendril that would've stabbed through Rose.

I could only let out a weak "ah..." as the tendril removed itself from my body. I felt myself starting to fall, and the stone floor met my body. I stared at the arm of my jacket, trying to will my body to move again. I couldn't hear anything, only ringing in my ears and the sound of my own heartbeat... which wasn't beating as much as it should. It was skipping beats.

I was dying.

I felt the tendril grab my leg, and felt an overwhelming sickness. But I couldn't do anything about it, just lay there as it dragged my body. Even the feeling in my body was fading with each beat of my dying heart. I couldn't hear a word anyone was saying.

And then, I was alone.

The world was pitch black, and I could only see myself. I'd somehow found the strength to sit up and pull my knees up to my chest. But I couldn't hear anything... Or feel my heartbeat. I was dead now, wasn't I? I'd died to save her, and I couldn't even tell her I loved her. Sure, we'd... only been together for a few hours, but I hadn't even gotten the chance to actually ever say it.

"I'm such a fool..." I said to myself, burying my face in my knees. "...Such a reckless, idiotic fool..."

I'd sacrificed everything. I'd done what I wasn't supposed to.

And I was paying the price for my foolishness.

Though, slowly, the world brightened up around me. It was gradual, like something was changing. People usually said to not go to the light, but I couldn't do that when it was surrounding me already. But the world changed colour. A gold colour, with white particles around me.

"Hey."

Dezel's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I looked up at him. He held out his hand. I was hesitant on taking it, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. It was here I realized how tall he was in comparison to me.

"Listen, Rani. I'm-" I put a hand to his mouth before he could say another word.

"I told you to do what you did, you dummy." I said. Though I'd regretted it, I had done it to keep Rose from going through the same thing. "It was for Rose. I know you care about her... Hell, I do too. I love her, and I... I didn't want her getting hurt. I knew this was going to happen... So don't apologize to me."

"...You're too kind." Dezel remarked. "Don't let go of Rose, alright?"

"I won't."

"And tell them that it wasn't half bad, gallavanting around those musty ruins."

"Okay."

"And if they get bummed out about this, tell 'em 'Hey, I thought you had good to do in the world! Keep mopin' and cryin', and I'll chain you up so tight that you can't even breathe!'"

"I will."

He started to fade away, and he was smiling the whole time.

"Good luck out there. Keep on keepin' on."

"I'll do my best!"

And my entire world went white.

Somehow, I opened my eyes. I felt someone shaking me, but I barely had the strength to tell them to stop.

"Rani! Oh, thank goodness!" Rose's voice was thick and held a tremble in it. As if she'd been crying. I felt her hug me, and just rested my head against her shoulder.

"We really thought you wouldn't wake back up..." Sorey said. "You were breathing and everything, but..."

"I'm..." I could barely get my thoughts together, but I forced myself to. "...I'm... okay now..."

"At least you're okay." Edna said. Her back was turned to me, as far as I could tell.

"There may be some lasting damage from that wound... but you'll be okay." Lailah smiled at me.

I gave a weak smile back. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, and noticed Zaveid there. He'd come too late...

Rose let go after a moment, and helped me to my feet. I could barely stand on my own, so I leaned against her to help. It was like all the strength had been drained from my body. I'd almost died, so it was probably me recovering from a near-death experience. But it was odd, I shouldn't have felt so tired... Like I was completely drained physically, mentally and emotionally.

"Geez, Rani... You'd think you could walk." It was a joke, and I knew that. "...something wrong?"

"...I'm tired..." I finally get out after a few moments of silence. "...can... we go back to the inn?"

"Sure."

I didn't know how long I slept after we'd gotten to the inn. Rose had to help me eat some dinner that the innkeeper had made for us, and help me change into sleepwear. But the moment I'd laid down in bed, I was out like a light. What had happened was exhausting, yet necessary to keep Rose from getting hurt. She'd stared at my stomach for a bit while helping me change, and I couldn't blame her.

The wound there had scarred over. The skin there was a lot paler than the rest of my skin, a testament to the hellionization I was undergoing before I was saved. A reminder of what was lost that day.

Finally, I'd woken up. It was still nighttime, it seemed, and Rose was sitting on the bed. She looked over at me when I sat up and gave me a smile. "Hey, sleep well?"

"Yeah... Yeah I did. What about you?"

"Eh, couldn't fall asleep." Rose waved a hand. She didn't seem too bothered. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

"What's up?" I asked.

"Sorey's made a pact with Zaveid, and we're leaving to Glaveind Basin." Rose said, sliding off the bed. I tried to get up to follow, but it felt like something was keeping me there. She turned, before giving me a hug and kissing my cheek. "I want you to stay here and recover, okay? We'll figure out how to get you home once Sorey defeats Heldalf."

"Wait, Rose!" Rose let go, turning away and walking off. Out of the room. "Rose, wait! Rose...! ROSE!"

I jolted awake almost immediately, before sitting up and looking around. No one was there. Fearing the worst, I quickly got out of bed and dressed. The only outfit I had was the one Rose had loaned me at the beginning of my stay here, which was just her usual travelling outfit. It seemed that they'd taken my usual outfit because it'd gotten ruined due to the fight...

I had to push that out of my mind and grab my daggers and their sheathes, putting the belt that held the sheathes around my waist and making sure it stayed. After I pulled my boots on, I ran out of the inn. I had to make it... I knew where they were, and I knew what fight was next. They'd be fighting Heldalf again. So I had to make it to Glaveind Basin as soon as possible.

I ignored everything around me, focusing on my one solid task. Even if my lungs burned and I could barely breathe while running, I kept pushing forward. My body gave out at one point, forcing me to collapse onto the ground. I let myself lay there for a few moments to catch my breath and let my lungs recover from the sprint... before I pulled myself back up and started running again. I couldn't feel the Squire pact anymore, so I couldn't call one of the Seraphim to assist me in my running.

They'd left me behind, nullifying the pact so I'd recover and not be a part of the journey anymore.

I didn't blame them for that, but it would've been nice to call Edna to launch myself through the air with Earth to catch up.

It took at least five hours from when I woke to arrive at Glaveind Basin. There was no malevolence here like there had been before. It was dull, dusty and dry. I slowed to a walk, looking around. Up ahead, I saw the familiar silhouette of Lailah and started to run towards her again.

But I stopped halfway there.

Lying on the ground was Rose and Sorey. They were staring at the sky, and I could hear the faint sounds of sobbing. Slowly, I approached the scene and stopped near Lailah. She was the one sobbing, and I couldn't blame her. There was no signs of life from either Rose or Sorey, and they couldn't bring themselves to even touch the bodies.

How had Heldalf done this...?

"Rani..." I heard Mikleo's voice, but I didn't look at him. I started to walk again, and it felt like I was walking in place. Rose never seemed to get closer. Sorey never seemed to get closer. But I knew I was walking towards them. It took my mind a few minutes to adjust to this reality, and I fell to my knees next to Rose.

"...I..." Carefully, I pulled Rose's lifeless body into my arms, closing her eyes. I just held her, even knowing she was a corpse and would never hug me back again. Our relationship hadn't even lasted that long, and she was already dead. I couldn't even understand it... I'd done what I did to prevent anything from happening to her... and yet here she was, lifeless.

"...It's a little cruel." Zaveid's voice carried over to me as I just held Rose without looking at anything else. "Takin' Rose from you so soon."

"..." I finally gathered the courage to look over at the Seraphim. "...What does this mean for all of you? Is the journey over...?"

"It is." Edna said. "Without either Sorey or Rose, we can't fight Heldalf."

"Then you can use me!" I said. "I'll take over for them!"

"I... Sorey didn't want you involved any further..." Lailah said, finally composing herself. "He asked me to dissolve the Squire's pact between the two of you. After what happened with Dezel, understandibly he didn't want you to come to any more harm."

"But this isn't fair!" I shouted. "I was involved from the beginning! Ever since I took that pact with Izayoi, I've been involved in the Shepherd's journey! And now you're telling me that Sorey didn't want me involved further? I wouldn't have cared! It would've prevented them from dying!"

"I know you're upset-"

"I'm pissed. Rose was my girlfriend. And now all that's left of her is a lifeless corpse! I'll never hear her laugh, never feel her hug me back, never see her smile... and never be able to tell her how much I love her!" I all but screamed that. "I loved her, and she's dead!"

The silence hung in the air for a while, until a new voice broke through.

"I can offer a way to fix this." The voice was familiar. I looked behind me to see the boy that Eizen had called Laphicet standing there. But this time, he didn't have the compass like all the other times I'd seen him. His hands were at his side. "But... your body as it is won't survive what I'm going to do."

"What're you talkin' about?" Zaveid asked. "Her body won't survive?"

"I think he means that the damage to her body means it won't survive whatever it is he wants to do." Edna said plainly. "And what is it you're going to do?"

"I can really only do this once." The boy said. "I'm going to reset it back to when Rani first arrived in Glenwood because of me. But I'll use Rose's body as a vessel for her soul this time."

"...A vessel for my soul?" I looked at him in disbelief. "You want to use my girlfriend's body to house my soul?!"

"It's the only way you can survive things being reset." The boy walked over to me. "I'm not supposed to use my powers like this, but it's the only way things can be saved."

"What about Lailah? Mikleo? Edna? Zaveid...? What about them? What's going to happen to them?" I asked.

"...I don't know."

I looked away. There was one thing I could do. I could at least take one of them with me. If I recalled correctly, because Lailah was fire... being in a pact with Izayoi caused things to become problematic. Izayoi had said, so long ago, that she'd been looking for the Oracle. And that was me.

"If my soul gets transferred, will a pact with a Seraph remain?" I asked.

"Yes."

I gently laid Rose's body on the ground and walked over to Zaveid before holding out my hand.

"...I know we've had our differences, and that you might not like me that much. But I can't pact with anyone else for a Prime Lord." I said, looking up at him. "Lailah's Sorey's Prime Lord, so Edna and Mikleo can't be who I choose."

Elemental opposites.

"...So that's why you're choosing me, huh?" Zaveid took off the hat he'd been wearing- Dezel's hat, and put it on my head. "Yeah, we've had our differences, but if this means I can help Sheps not die when the world's reset- Hey, Lailah." He turned to look at her.

"The Sublord's pact was already dissolved when Sorey died." Lailah responded to an unasked question. "I am no longer a Prime Lord."

Sorey's death had shaken them all. I could see it. None of them were the same anymore. If this reset prevented everything from going awry, then... I could help them see a different ending. Resolving myself, I entered into a pact with Zaveid as my Prime Lord. It restored my powers as Oracle, despite Sorey being dead.

"...Alright, I'm ready." I said.

"Then we'll begin." The boy said, before closing his eyes and holding up his hands. The world slowly darkened around me, and I closed my eyes.

When I awoke, I was sitting against a tree. It took me a moment to realize where I was, and what part of Glenwood I was in. So far, it seemed I was near Ladylake again but this time... not with the Sparrowfeathers. Which meant that I'd be doing this alone. Checking myself over, I noticed that I had all of Rose's items and her weapons. I wasn't honestly sure about what the boy- Laphicet had said. Transferring a soul to a new body wasn't a thing in this world, was it? Or was it only because I interfered with the natural order of this world?

I noticed the river nearby, and went to go see my reflection in the water. What I saw when I got on my hands and knees to look at the water's surface...

Rose's face stared back at me. My hair wasn't the same pinkish-red shade as hers was... no, it was black like mine had been. Everything else was purely hers. I could only stare as tears welled up in my eyes. I was technically piloting a corpse at this point, but the corpse was alive and my soul and memories were in it.

I didn't know how Laphicet had transferred my memories, but I didn't care at this point. Standing up and dusting myself off, I decided to head towards Ladylake.

I'd start again, and this time...

I wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

End Note:

This is the beginning of a new storyline with the same journey of the Shepherd. What happened here will be explained later on. But yes, Rani's body was too damaged by the attack from the Lafarga-Hellion to endure the reset, so- yeah. That happened. Honestly it's a plot point that came out of nowhere while I was writing. A-nyway, I'll write up the next chapter soonish... maybe.