I ran as fast as my legs would take me, towards Glaveind Basin. Towards the battlefield that Sorey would face Heldalf on, and utterly fail. It'd give him time to learn about Heldalf, instead of blindly running after him in a foolhardy attempt to purify him. It was how Sorey was, and I knew I had to help him. As I approached the area, I slowed my steps until I saw the figures in the distance. Sorey, laying on the ground... The Seraphim, nowhere to be found.

And near Sorey?

Lunarre. Feasting on his flesh like some sort of cannibal, though it was the only way he could "eat". Lunarre's head shot up and he looked at me with a grin, blood on his lips. I stared at him, hearing screaming. Who was screaming? I didn't know, but it was getting louder. And louder, until I realized something about it... That was my voice. I was the one who was screaming.

I forced myself awake, my body covered in cold sweat from the nightmare, Lunarre's face still burned into my retinas. It took me a few minutes to compose myself, trying desperately not to just start bawling right then and there. He'd told me he'd killed Sorey and Rose... had that actually been true? I didn't really know, nor did I actually understand what had actually happened there. I'd gotten there too late, to see the two of them dead. If Lunarre had truly killed them... then what did that mean for me? Did I just let him go, let Rose deal with him in this new world? Or did I go after him myself, get revenge for what he'd done?

Revenge... That sounded more like something Dezel should do and not me. Not me at all.

I sat there in bed, trying to figure out what to do from here. Marlind was finally recovering now that the Drake and the Hellion were defeated, and Alisha had left a few hours ago. Sorey had decided a nap would do us all good before travel continued, so we'd gotten a room at the inn. Getting out of bed after a few more minutes, I changed back into my usual outfit and made the bed before putting my mask on and exiting the room. It seemed that Sorey wasn't awake yet, though he probably didn't actually get to sleep until a while after I did. Heading into the lobby, I just quietly ordered the veggie sticks as my breakfast, not having the stomach to eat anything heavier than that. Taking a seat, I stared at the wall and contemplated things.

Things like... how I'd ever explain my appearance change to my family. How I'd explain about the haircut, the eye colour change... How I'd explain why I'd been gone for so long. For all they knew, I was kidnapped and dead by now... which wasn't too far from the truth, really. In all actuality, according to Eizen, I should've been dead. I should've become a Seraph by now, but I wasn't. It was like I had one foot in the grave and I was struggling to pull myself out.

The other thing I contemplated was how I could beat Lunarre. Get him to tell me the truth. To tell me exactly how he killed them so I could do the same in return. If it was him, if it was truly him... Then I had no other choice but to kill him and get revenge. I had to, for the fact that he'd killed my girlfriend. For the fact that he killed my friend. It was his fault, wasn't it? It was-

I shook my head, dispersing the thoughts from my mind. No, it wouldn't do me any good to go down that sort of path while knowing where it could lead me. In fact, I shouldn't even think of it! But... I kept the idea stored in the back of my mind for now, to deal with when I could properly process everything. Despite how collected I was, I knew I was just waiting for the chance to break even further than I did back in the museum. I never handled death well, and yet I was trying to force myself to move forward faster than I should. I wasn't ready to keep going, but I had to. I had no other choice but to keep moving forward.

Stand up and walk. Keep moving forward. You've got two good legs, so use 'em. It'd been said once, a long time ago when I was a kid watching anime because my family was busy and didn't have time for me until late evening before bed. Even when my brother had died, there'd been no one. My father had yelled at me to stop crying, that "our family doesn't cry". The Starretts were strong, and crying was a weakness that no one should ever witness. Not even your own family. So I'd taken those words as my own philosophy, living by them. Walking even though I didn't have the strength to, when all I wanted to do was collapse and cry.

I had, earlier, but even now I felt ashamed of myself for it. I'd proven myself to be weak, and I had to be strong.

"Here you are, dear." A plate of veggie sticks and a small bowl of dip was set down in front of me, along with a mug of water. Thanking the server, I quietly ate my food while trying to figure out what I should do next. The logical thing was to follow Sorey, get involved with the war and try to find Izayoi and see if she's dealing with Malevolence here as well. The other idea was that I would head off on my own to Lastonbell and deal with Margaret and Wiggs again... Though if I went that route again, I wondered if I could stop her from becoming a hellion before it even began. Before she got bullied.

Or maybe I was too late already, and it'd already happened.

"You're up pretty early, Rani." I heard Sorey say. Raising a veggie stick in greeting, I continued to eat until my food was gone. "Couldn't sleep?"

"I slept, just not well. I'm fine." I responded. Not leaving any room for more conversation, I returned the dishes to the counter and headed out. I knew that was rude of me, but my mind was racing and I couldn't exactly focus too well on conversation right now. I had so many thoughts. How would I save Izayoi? Was she even alive in this timeline? What about Margaret and Wiggs? What would happen? And the biggest problem of all: What about Alisha? I remember she'd taken the sword and wanted to prove herself to Sorey back at the Water Temple a while back, before this timeline existed, so I had to wonder when exactly that happened. As I headed towards the entrance of Marlind, it opened and I noticed a man on a horse. One of his eyes was scarred and closed, and he had a few soldiers with him.

I could feel the malevolence radiating from him.

He was here, earlier than expected. Generally, he'd be encountered near the Griflet River... but Alisha must have been detained earlier than I thought. Commander General Landon of the Hyland Army, who only wanted the Shepherd to claim victory to get Alisha released of suspicions. Walking over to him, I figured I could protect Sorey and take his place in this. Give him a chance to go a different route, not get taken in by the violence of war... if only because I didn't want him to die later. Selfish of me. But I knew better than to take Sorey's place, as that would mean that Sorey would never meet Rose and make her into his squire. I had to keep that, if anything.

"You're bringing an army into Marlind?" I asked.

"I'm only here for the Shepherd. Are they with you?" Landon turned his gaze to me, before narrowing his eye and snorting. "Or did the Shepherd send their harlot out to greet me?"

I rolled my eyes, unseen by the mask. "I'm not a harlot. I'm the Oracle, the Shepherd's counterpart. What do you want with him?"

"That's between the Shepherd and I. Not for his harlot." Landon sneered. It was at that moment that Sorey showed up, and I was held back by him because Landon continued to call me Sorey's harlot instead of anything else due to how I was dressed. I didn't really let it bother me, as he did seem to spit it at me whenever I tried to talk, but it was really dehumanizing in a way. When we were sent off to fight, with Landon giving little care about anything but victory, I separated from Sorey to look for Izayoi while fighting my way through both Rolance and Hyland's men. When I saw a few bubbles, I looked around to see a hellion targeting a young girl. The familiarity of her features made me pause. Izayoi was back?

Armatizing with Kain, I ran forward and sliced at the hellion, watching the silver flames eat away at the malevolence before releasing the armatization and moving closer towards Izayoi.

"Izayoi...?" I asked, unsure. She looked at me, grey eyes staring at me strangely.

"Yes, but how do you know my name?" She asked, confused.

"...Do you remember me? Rani?" Izayoi shook her head, a small, sad smile on her face.

"No, but your name does sound familiar... Wait, if you can see me, then does that mean that the prophecy is true?! The Oracle is here?!" She looked almost happy about that. I checked her, noting malevolence softly raidiating from her. Water was easily corruptible, suspectible to malevolence. And she'd carried it for a long time. I glanced behind me, noting how no one has noticed my presence yet, which was a good sign. "Please, tell me if it's true!"

"Yes, though you need to calm down for a moment-"

"Calm down?! No, this is my chance to be near Lailah-" I grabbed her arm before she could escape. "What are you- Kain?!"

Kain had materialized beside me, gently removing my hand from her arm and walking towards her. "Izayoi, if you were to pact with an Oracle, you'd kill them like you did the last one. Don't you remember? They suffered and died because of your obsession with Lailah. When did it all start?"

"...are you trying to stop me from going to Lailah?" Izayoi's voice deepened slightly, unnerving me. I remembered the last time she'd become a hellion and was thankful she wasn't my Sub Lord or Prime Lord this time around. "Well, Kain? Are you going to keep me from going to the one I love? If so, I'll have to show you no mercy!"

Malevolence.

There was so much it was suffocating.

"Izayoi, please... I don't want to die..." I said, voice weak. "Just... dissolve the pact."

Izayoi didn't respond, like usual. For a moment, anyway. "When you die, I'll use your friend. I have to help Lailah, and I'll go through as many humans as I have to so she'll be safe."

That...

Was it.

"So you don't care, huh?" I stood up, the movement paining me as the weight had gone from just my chest to my entire body within the night. "If I die, you'll just use Aevar, right? Dissolve the pact, I'm not going to die because of you!"

"No. I won't." Izayoi turned to me, narrowing her eyes. "Lailah is the most important person in the world to me, and I won't let stupid humans keep me from protecting her!"

Malevolence... Izayoi's entire body was engulfed by it. I hadn't been corrupted, but... perhaps Izayoi had been even before we made our pact. It would make some lick of sense. A whirlwind of malevolence formed, and dispersed soon after to form a drake. I felt the pressure in my body increase, and my vision started to fade. I choked and coughed as I collapsed. I couldn't even keep myself up anymore. This entire time, that feeling... was malevolence? Izayoi... had already been corrupted by malevolence before making her pact with me?

"Damn it!" I heard the familiar rough voice of Kain as warmth spread throughout my body. "I hate it when this happens to old friends. Sorry, Izayoi."

But before I passed out, I saw Sorey and Mikleo move in front of me. Protecting me...? I...

I don't understand.

"Fylk Zadeya!" I called out, armatizing with Zaveid almost immediately. Water was weak against Earth, but I couldn't use Eizen against her. Another sendoff... was it? First the past Sorey, now Izayoi. Seeing the drake manifest where Izayoi was, it roared and came at me. I used the power of wind to fling myself into the air and twisted, throwing the wing blades at her. Landing behind her, I dodged out of the way of her tail and felt my eyes burn with tears. I couldn't just kill her. No matter her obsession with Lailah, I couldn't just kill her. She was the first Seraph I'd ever pacted with.

Her claws sliced at the space I was in, and I narrowly avoided it. The ground broke with the effort of her attack, and she took off into the air. I flew up, following her, throwing the blades at her as best as I could. There was no way I could cast a spell in midair, so I had to go with trying to go with ranged attacks. As she attacked, I dodged and released the armatization. Feeling myself start to fall towards the ground, I called forth Zero.

"Fethmus Lkwi!" The divine artifact appeared in my hand, and I drew back the bow string. Aiming the arrow towards Izayoi, who gathered malevolent energy in her maw. I focused on that, and used it as my target as I fired the arrow towards her. Izayoi spit out the malevolent energy towards me, pierced through and dispersed by the arrow I shot. Watching as it hit her, I heard her scream as the silver flames burned bright and purified the malevolence. Not through with me, Izayoi dove and I released my armatization.

"Ufemew Wexub!" Her hammer appeared in my hands, and I gripped it tight, swinging it in an arc. It hit her directly on her dragon snout, knocking her sideways and into the nearby battalion. Landing on my feet with some difficulty, I walked over to her. Tears streamed down my cheeks, knowing I would have to put her out of her misery. I couldn't enter a pact with her to keep her safe, so I had to do the next best thing. Before things got worse. Before everything got out of hand at Goddodin.

"Why... Why can't I be... with Lailah?" Izayoi sobbed, returned to normal.

"...the same reason I can't be with Rose." I responded, letting the hammer rest on its head with my hand on the handle of it. "It's not possible. We can't be with those we love because they no longer exist as we knew them. So we have to move forward, continue to walk despite our feelings."

"That's easy for you to say! You've never actually been in love, have you?!" Izayoi stood up, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You just had a crush on this Rose!"

"She was my girlfriend." I snapped. "Rose was my girlfriend, and she was murdered. You think that your little... obsession with Lailah will ever triumph the pain and suffering that I've been through?! This body isn't even mine! IT'S HERS! This body is Rose's, and it's all I have left of the woman I loved!"

"Easy, Rani, easy. Don't go overboard." I heard Zaveid say, tugging at my coat sleeve. I yanked my arm away, gripping the hammer as tears continued to stream down my cheeks as well. "Rani!"

"She's not going to last much longer, Izayoi. Maybe a week at most. Look how far she's deteriorated just from being in a pact with you!"

"I-I know, I just..." Izayoi's voice was thick with grief. "I don't want to leave Lailah unprotected!"

"I don't care about your perceived feelings for Lailah. Instead of letting them go, you choose a human vessel not even two months after the previous one died because of you." Wait, what? "Now you're killing another because you want to be close to Lailah. I won't be able to save her unless you undo your pact now."

"I can't! Lailah needs me, and I-"

I heard the sound of a hand meeting someone's face and uncover my face, sitting up. The seraph had slapped Izayoi, who was holding her hand against her cheek. Her eyes were filled with tears, and she looked back at the seraph.

"Kain, you know that I have to be with Lailah..." Izayoi said, causing the seraph to grab her shoulders.

"You're killing this innocent human in the process! Didn't you learn about the Oracle Rules?! Dissolve the pact, or she'll-"

"Wait..." I stood up. "...I'm dying? Izayoi, is... the pact killing me?"

"No, of course not!" Izayoi said, lying to me. "You're just having some problems adjusting to being my vessel!"

"It is," Kain said bluntly, letting go of Izayoi and walking up to me. "With how far you've deteriorated, you only have about a week or less left to live unless Izayoi dissolves the pact with you."

"You're more than willing to kill anyone as long as you get to stay with Lailah. You killed my predecessor that way, and you almost succeeded with me."

I was going to die without being able to go back home? My vision blurred as tears filled my eyes. I wouldn't be seeing anyone at home again, would I? Not my friends, my family... or my pets. I'd die in Glenwood, never being able to go back home and... It was just too much, so I left the two of them there as I ran off towards the camp. If I'm to die, then I'll do it with the others.

Not alone. Never alone.

"You were more than willing to sacrifice me and use Aevar until you killed him too!"

"I have to do whatever I can to stay with Lailah!" Izayoi shouted. I heard screaming again, and found myself knocking her over before starting to stab her. Again, and again and again- Until I felt someone screaming at me, felt myself being pulled away as Izayoi turned into nothing but a puddle of water that muddied the ground. I screamed and screamed as someone struggled to keep me held.

I screamed until my world finally turned dark.