January 2nd, 1945
Unknown Swampland, Japan

The red lighting had finally been eliminated from the soldiers' vision. They stood on the second floor of the main building at Shi No Numa. In the middle of the floor was the legendary page of the Tome of Rituals. Red chains held the book in place midway between the floor and ceiling. The group took a second to recover from the transportation before awe set in once they saw the page.

Polina walked right up to the page. She tried to shoot the chains off the page to no avail. She followed one of the chains to some red mist connecting it to a wall. Shooting that also didn't do anything. She huffed in annoyance and mumbled to herself in Russian.

Dr. Krafft spoke over the radio pieces garbled, "Wait! Radio contact seems to be fading!"

Von List, much clearer than Dr. Krafft's garbled communication, "How did you get in here?! Kortifex said he sealed this place! No matter, you will not leave here alive."

The group immediately sprang into action, Arthur and Wade headed downstairs to handle any of the zombies there. Polina took the outside courtyard near the flogger and Apollo stayed on the second level with the page from the Tome.

Soon, Kortifex was throwing everything under the sun at the soldiers. Boomshreiers mixed with regular zombies were difficult to deal with, especially in tight spaces. Apollo, using the Aethereal Haste (Stamin-Up) to his benefit, made easy work of any zombies on the top floor. The zombies didn't stand a chance. Bellekar knew she had to ask Apollo about it later.

Kortifex, quickly realizing throwing anything at Apollo seemed like a waste of time, changed his plan. Instead of dealing with Apollo first, he would overwhelm the others, leaving him vulnerable. The strategy worked. Polina, running around the courtyard, didn't realize just how many spawn points for the zombies there were. Due to the muddy ground, zombies were able to break through the ground and grab at her feet. Combined with four nearby windows, it was difficult to survive. She was holding her own with the sniper that she had, but it wasn't nearly enough to survive.

A boomshreier hopped into the courtyard from the nearby window. Arthur saw it beeline for Polina. She had already been scratched as another zombie had poked out of the ground and grabbed at her ankles.

"Polina!" Arthur shouted, "Behind you!"

Polina looked up at Arthur before recognizing the hissing coming from the boomshreier. She whipped around, rifle at the ready but by then it was too late. The beast was upon her. It exploded next to her. Polina was sent flying into a nearby wall where she was knocked off her feet. Shrapnel and red spikes were protruding from her face and chest. Dark aether energy began to seep into her open wounds. Red streaks began appearing across her body as she began to succumb to her wounds.

Arthur screamed in frustration as he began firing at the horde of zombies that had got Polina. Unfortunately, his Sten, even pack-a-punched, didn't put up much of a fight against the horde. Arthur was so focused on the zombies ahead of him, he didn't realize he began backing into a corner. It wasn't until a Sturmkreiger entered the fray that Arthur realized he was screwed.

Bullets ripped through Arthur's body as the Sturmkreiger's miniature anti-aircraft gun began firing. Arthur ducked behind a couch but was quickly dealt with as the zombies overwhelmed the Lieutenant. Arthur began to bleed out on the floor from the damage.

"Apollo! Two of your teammates are down." Bellekar gasped, "You need to do something!"

Apollo, now sitting on a barrel in the corner with all of two zombies jogging towards him, shrugged, "Nah…Wade will handle it." In his mind, round 4 wasn't something to get worked up over. There was maybe what? 20 whole zombies? Or there was supposed to be.

Apollo heard Wade sprinting upstairs. Wade made it to the top and turned around, tossing a grenade down the stairs. It exploded killing a chunk of zombies. Kortifex, sensing the time was nigh to end this conflict, doubled down on his effort to kill the resistance.

A blue and red portal appeared on the ground behind Wade. Out of the portal a woman in a white and blue dress, adorned with a mask that depicted three separate faces appeared. Wade wasn't paying attention behind him and turned around right into her. He looked up, fear on his face and let his weapon drop for a second.

That was all it took. This new fighter placed three energy mines, similar to those of Saraxis, and grabbed Wade. She held him still as the mines exploded and blue spikes were drilled into his body. He screamed in pain as his body failed on him and he collapsed. The zombies, with new orders from Kortifex, turned sights on Apollo. Apollo nodded to himself and chuckled.

"If you have a plan, plaything, make it quick. Your friend doesn't have much time before she is gone forever." Saraxis pipped up. Apollo could hear the fear in her voice, even though she was trying to act contrary.

The zombies suddenly stopped moving, "That's new." Apollo thought to himself.

"To think, you people are the resistance against the new world order Kortifex and I plan to enact is sad. To see how far the elder gods have fallen." The woman floated in front of where Apollo was seated, "Such a cute young thing too, hmm? Such a shame you chose the losing side."

"This is Zaballa the Deceiver. Don't listen to a word she says. She will manipulate everything you hear." Bellekar said in Apollo's mind.

Zaballa put her hands on either side of Apollo's face before continuing and leaning down until they were eye level, "Lord Kortifex has an offer for you warrior. He is impressed by your confidence in hopeless circumstances. You stop the fight here. I will spare you. We will spare you. All you have to do is join his army."

Apollo pretended to think for a second, "Ah…very enticing. I don't know if I'm convinced that just joining an army is enough of a benefit for me."

Zaballa was shocked. This human held confidence and a steady gaze when speaking to her. Most gods would grovel at her feet in an attempt to have their life spared. She smiled. Words from the elder gods floated through his mind. Most of which were disapproving of his actions.

"Relax y'all. This is just a game." Apollo responded, nonchalant.

In his mind's eye, the four elder gods looked at each other in disbelief. Bellekar just shrugged and shook her head indicating she didn't know what Apollo was doing either.

Apollo thought about it for a second and smiled at Zaballa. She giggled slightly. Apollo stuck his pointer finger up and wiggled it, indicating he had something to say in a whisper. Zaballa took the bait. She leaned in.

"Hook, line and sinker." Apollo said into her ear.

She looked at him, her front face turning into confusion. Apollo fired a shot at a boomshreier standing still. It, along with a few other boomshreier in the horde, set off a chain reaction that wiped the wave. Zaballa's friendly demeanor turned to fury at the bait and switch. Her face turned to anger and she whipped around to where Apollo was sitting. Except he wasn't there. She looked around frantically.

She quickly sensed the woman, Polina, being pulled from the dark aether's grasp and revived. Arthur and Wade soon followed. Zaballa screamed in frustration at being duped and embarrassed in front of Kortifex. She quickly teleported downstairs and spawned her energy mines under Apollo's feet once she felt his presence again. He dodged out of the way and ran directly to Zaballa's portal.

As soon as she appeared from the portal, he was there. This time, his trusty Mossberg emptied two shots into her face plates. Each one knocked a side face plate off. She screamed in pain and shook her head. She looked down and saw the plates disintegrating on the floor. She looked up with the meanest look her features could muster.

"Maybe next time." Apollo said with a smirk before firing another shot. This one killed Zaballa, sending her tumbling to the floor. Her body quickly disintegrated.

"No!" Kortifex screamed, "You cannot win! I will not allow it."

Krafft spoke again through the radio, much clearer this time, "My allies! I have found you! I opened a portal nearby. You need to get out now, before it is too late."

A white portal depicting Stalingrad opened next to the Flogger. Apollo pointed at it and ran over, nearly dragging the dazed soldiers along with him. The moans of the undead seemed louder than before. Apollo quickly placed his hand in the portal and activated the teleporter back to Stalingrad.

January 2nd, 1945
Stalingrad, Russia

The group reappeared in the middle of the square. Wade and Polina immediately look around before collapsing on the ground. Arthur goes back to his log and sits down heavily. He drops his gun and puts his head in his hands. Apollo looks around confused. He looked down as he heard sobbing from Polina.

"You guys alright?" He asked, hesitantly.

"I saw…visions. Wars, death…I saw my life in my eyes. I saw the lives of every soldier I killed…I saw their families…I relived Normandy…I didn't think I was going to make it." Arthur responded, weakly.

Wade had a thousand yard stare on his face. He soon gagged and threw up a mixture of the perks he had consumed before. The horrible smell from the vomit triggered a reaction from Polina and Arthur who also emptied their stomachs.

Apollo didn't know quite what to do. He decided he would open the other couple objectives while the other three recovered.

"If you guys will be ok, I'll go complete those other couple objectives and then we can meet with Krafft again?"

"No!" Arthur said with conviction, "If you go down…I don't know what we'll do."

Apollo looked at the other two portals, looking to see what the objectives were. The objective near Venomous Vigor (Quick Revive) said PURGE. The last objective, blocking the apartments building past where Fiendish Fortitude (Juggernog) resided, read TRANSPORT.

"Look Lieutenant, the objectives won't be very hard. I'll be fine doing these. Kortifex won't have the same power he did in the Void as he does here. Getting these done will give us clearance in the city. If Kortifex still lingers, we won't ever be able to rest."

"The human is right," Norticus chimed in, "Completing those objectives gives us the strength necessary to quarantine the city. Kortifex will not be able to break in and influence you."

Arthur didn't move his head from his hands. He sighed softly and waved his hand dismissively. Apollo nodded to himself. He patted Wade, Arthur and Polina once before checking his wrist to see how much essence he had left. He saw over 20,000 essence.

Apollo put his shotgun into the pack-a-punch again, and just like the game, it pulled 15,000 essence from his hand.

"Greedy bastard." He commented. Apollo then decided to use the corrupted hearts he'd earned from completing the objectives to empower Bellekar and her Aether Shroud.

"Ahhhh~" Bellekar purred as the hearts were sacrificed using the Tome of Rituals book on the pedestal, "Kind warrior. Your gift is most welcome. My abilities will only help you succeed."

Apollo smiled to himself as he used the rest of his points on the Fiendish Fortitude (Juggernog) perk. Feeling refreshed and stronger than ever, Apollo quickly cleared out the straggler groups of zombies surrounding the courtyard. The boomshreier were used as grenades and he was able to wipe hordes much easier. Using scrap metal the zombies had dropped, he finished his setup by building two monkey bombs.

Once Apollo made sure no stray zombies would attack his fellow soldiers. He made his way over to the apartment objective listed TRANSPORT. He put his hand into the portal and like clockwork, the red lightning flashed in his vision and he was sent back to the familiar farm.

"You know the drill, warrior. This head is a message into my allies in the Dark Aether. Make sure it arrives unharmed." Bellekar spoke once the floating head appeared.

It didn't take long for the moans of the undead German soldiers to pierce the peace in the air. The zombies were sprinting and came in waves. However, with the double pack-a-punched shotgun, no zombies were stronger than one shot. The zombie head moved through the farm very quickly and it didn't take long for Bellekar to inform Apollo that the head had nearly breached the interdimensional portal.

Another loud horn along with Bellekar's yellow power that eliminated the rest of the zombies signified that the head had made its way into the Dark Aether.

"Thank you, warrior. My allies will thank you." Bellekar said.

"Tell 'em I said you're welcome." Apollo responded as he was teleported back to Stalingrad.

Once he was teleported back to the square, Apollo immediately checked on Arthur, Polina and Wade. Wade was recovering quicker and Polina had found a spot on one of the logs next to the fire. Arthur was now sitting on the ground resting his head on the log he was once sitting on. They didn't respond to Apollo moving about other than Wade giving him a weak thumbs up.

Apollo quickly made sure that no stray zombie was going to attack the group before heading over to the last objective where Demonic Frenzy (this game's replacement for Speed-Cola) resided. PURGE was listed above the portal. This showed a depiction of the second floor of the apartments.

"Norticus! Strike a blow against Kortifex." Krafft said.

Apollo teleported into the second floor of the apartment area. Here, circular symbols resided on the ground. They were bright red and impossible to miss. His right arm itched for a second. He looked down seeing the bright yellow flashing numbers of a timer there. Two minutes were on the clock and below it, there were numbers that read 0/9.

Norticus chimed in, "Keep your wits, and fight like demons!"

Apollo walked to the first objective and stood on it. He saw the symbol growing brighter the longer he stood on it until red light shot out in every direction away from the symbol. A bell also rang giving an auditory clue the first objective had been completed. Apollo heard zombies once again begin to spawn. In the tighter corridor, this would be challenging as he had to stay completely still on these symbols for them to be destroyed.

"Don't hold back my puppet! Kill the intruder!" Kortifex shouted.

Zombies spawned seemingly from everywhere. Apollo was quick though. His Mossberg still tore through these zombies as he hopped from symbol to symbol, heavily irking Kortifex. Norticus watched, silent as a shadow, with awe at the prowess and confidence this warrior seemed to have facing against Kortifex's endless army. He suddenly wished Arthur wasn't the one he had become attached to.

Apollo quickly finished the four objectives upstairs and began the descent down. Zombies piled into the stairway from the bottom to meet Apollo. He chucked another gammon bomb, slowing down the horde but killing few. Apollo's shotgun roared as he quickly fired off successive shots down the stairway as he walked. If he wasn't careful, Apollo would get sandwiched from both sides and go down.

The hiss of a couple boomshreiers was Apollo's saving grace. He saw one from the bottom floor sprint directly towards the staircase into the horde of zombies all trying to climb the stairs at once. He shot the boomshreier and it exploded, killing all of the zombies on the bottom portion of stairs.

Another hiss, much louder, quickly alerted Apollo to another boomshreier coming down the stairs towards him. He looked up far too late. It exploded, sending shards of shrapnel into his side and the side of his head. He was launched into the wall on the landing in between the first and second floor. He was dazed for a second and saw impending doom in the form of a sturmkreiger rounding the corner from the bottom floor.

Thinking quickly, Apollo pulled out Bellekar's amulet, activating her improved Aether Shroud. The increased speed and invisibility allowed Apollo to quickly maneuver to the Sturmkreiger. Two shots to the face did the beast in. To his luck, the Sturmkreiger dropped a monkey bomb on the floor as it died. Apollo quickly picked it up and activated it. He twisted the screw on the top of its head and threw the bomb onto the landing.

Apollo stood on the fifth symbol and watched as every zombie in the vicinity was attracted to the monkey clapping its symbols together.

"WEEEEEEE!" The symbol monkey shouted as it exploded, killing all the zombies around it.

The symbol completed and Apollo grabbed the perk next to him, Diabolic Damage (similar in many ways to Deadshot Daiquiri). This one actually tasted similar to cherries, much to Apollo's liking.

Apollo checked his timer and saw he had under 45 seconds left with four symbol to go. He quickly tossed the cup back into the fountain and ran towards the next objective. Luckily, the next four were all in a line.

Apollo continued blasting away for the first two objectives, clearing them with ease as he felt his body push out the remnants of the shrapnel from the boomshreier explosion. He quickly hopped to the third one and listened for the sounds of the zombies. There wasn't any. Apollo quickly checked the timer again and saw that he still had time.

"Weird…" Apollo said, turning around with his back facing the last objective. He stared into the hallway as he backed up onto the last objective.

Apollo bumped into something where the objective should've been. He quickly turned around and was face-to-face with Zaballa the Deceiver. She sported a wicked look on her face as she was blocking the last objective.

"We do NOT have time for your games now. Kill her quick." Norticus spoke through Apollo's head.

Apollo quickly raised his shotgun only to have it smacked out of his hands by Zaballa. It clattered against a wall nearby. Zaballa then punched him in the chest, launching him back a few feet. Apollo quickly checked his wrist and saw he only had 15 seconds left before he failed the objective. Zaballa, not hesitating, spawned three energy mines around Apollo.

Apollo quickly got up and sprinted directly at Zaballa. The energy mines went off, missing Apollo just barely as he ran. Zaballa wasn't expecting Apollo's move and didn't get off any energy mines quick enough to stop Apollo. He ran directly into Zaballa, dropping his shoulder like he was a linebacker. He speared her onto the last objective. As the objective began to fill, Apollo beat Zaballa with no remorse.

He kept dropping punches and punches, denting and knocking off her other two faces. She was stunned from the turn of events and could barely breathe as Apollo had his knees on her hands and had locked her from getting up. Left, then right, then left, then right again Apollo kept punching. Zaballa finally had the wherewithal to teleport away from Apollo. He quickly grabbed his shotgun next to him without getting off the point.

The final objective shot red light away and disappeared from the ground. Apollo stood up with bloody knuckles, clutching the shotgun for dear life. Zaballa reappeared in front of Apollo. She was leaking some type of purple fluid from her face and neck and looked terrible.

"You-YOU!" She screamed, "I have HAD IT with your stupid, pathetic human games. You will die, right here, right now. I will revel in your blood as it pours from your worthless flesh body."

"Damn, here I thought you were going to let me take you to dinner." Apollo responded, chambering a shell into the barrel of his shotgun.

Zaballa raised her hand as Norticus's blue light exploded over the surrounding area. It knocked Zaballa back. Her head clipped a support beam sticking out of the wall down the hallway, killing her. Apollo laughed to himself and pointed as her body ragdolled next to the perk.

"Well done, soldier. I will bring you back to Stalingrad. We must speak to Dr. Krafft about the next steps." Norticus spoke. Apollo didn't stop laughing as he was teleported all of 30 yards into the square.

Once he arrived, Apollo joined the other three on the logs. Polina had stopped crying and seemed to be in a somewhat better place. Wade seemed back to his normal cheery self. Arthur still looked defeated, but pushed his emotions down as Apollo returned back.

"How goes it?" Wade asked as Apollo plopped himself next to him.

"Zaballa said hello again. Other than that though, nothing too interesting. I heard Norticus wants to talk with Krafft now though. Get to the next step."

Arthur nodded, "He already told me. We were waiting for you to get back."

"Fair enough." Apollo responded. He looked over at Polina and gave her a thumbs up with a questioning look on his face. She gave him a half smile and stood up, indicating she would be alright.

The group grabbed their things and trudged over to the second floor office where Krafft resided. Arthur once again knocked on the door.

"Doctor? We are back…We weren't able to grab the page from Kortifex."

"What I sensed in there," Bellekar said, appearing behind the group along with the other three elder gods, "was no ordinary spell. Von List and Kortifex clearly don't want us to get near it."

Dr. Krafft finally spoke through the door, "That means the page is the key to stopping Von List and Kortifex."

"Then we must go back at once, and this time fight harder!" Inviktor said.

"Oh Destroyer," Norticus responded with his cocky attitude, "can you not recognize when we must change our plan?"

"And what do you propose, Norticus? How will the Conqueror overcome the fact that mortal flesh is weak?" Saraxis said.

"If you think so little of them Saraxis, why do you crave their attention so much?" Bellekar retorted.

"Stop! Bickering gets us nowhere. Just… just give me some time to think it over. Go clear, more obstacles, my allies. I will find a way to attend to the Tome page." Krafft said.

"We already did." Apollo responded.

"I see…Well then, find some way to keep yourself busy. I will radio you when I find an answer."

The group looked at each other and gave a collective sigh. Apollo walked back to the hole in the second floor and dropped down to the street below. Wade followed him while Polina and Arthur chose to use the stairs. Once they regrouped outside with their elder god companions, Norticus was struck by an idea.

"Humans…let us head to the apartments. I sense a speaking stone there that will serve as a place to communicate freely. Meet us there."

As Norticus disappeared, Apollo looked around, "The middle of the street is a problem? Didn't seem to be when you appeared."

Saraxis snorted before she spoke, "Ah, plaything. You will find out quite quickly that the Conqueror likes to hear himself talk…and boss people around. That is all this is."

"Bah, I actually want to hear what he will say. Military genius as he is." Inviktor growled.

Apollo rolled his eyes and began walking off to the apartment building. He pointed it out to Wade, Arthur and Polina. They soon followed.

Once the group reached the speaking stone on the second floor of the apartment building, Norticus reappeared, "You're here, good, at least you can follow orders"

"Don't flatter yourself. All you do is like to hear yourself think." Saraxis responded.

The soldiers found a comfortable spot to sit as the elder gods bickered.

"Hush, Shadow, I want to hear how he intends to shield these humans from certain death." Inviktor added. It was now Saraxis's turn to roll her eyes.

"As a matter of fact Inviktor," Norticus interrupted, "A shield is exactly what I propose."

"Hrrr…it would have to be stronger than anything a mortal forge can produce - even in this age." Inviktor said.

"I believe Norticus speaks of another shield that you may remember from your service, in Kortifex's armies." Bellekar responded.

"You mean the commander of the night legions don't you? What was his name again?" Saraxis asked.

"His name is forgotten. Kortifex made sure of that as part of his punishment, but his shield is still somewhere in the Dark Aether." Bellekar said.

"Oh sure. The Decimator, I think his name was." Apollo said, remembering the shield with eyeballs sticking off of it in Egypt. Apollo found he remembered the one-liners from the character far more fondly than how much he enjoyed actually playing that map. Once to get the calling card was more than plenty with how boring that easter egg was to complete.

The four elder gods looked at Apollo. Apollo looked back, realizing that there shouldn't be a possible way for him to know about the Decimator.

"Fuck. I gotta shut up." Apollo quickly scolded himself.

"Yes…I remember him now." Saraxis said, narrowing her eyes at Apollo, "Kortifex put him into his shield as punishment."

"Finding him may take more power than us four combined." Norticus warned.

"We wait, then. Vercanna will inform me when it is time to meet. She will surely know what to do next." Bellekar responded, not taking her eyes off Apollo. He stared back into her yellow orbs.

"Whew," Wade said, wiping sweat off his brow, "I could really use a good night's rest, I'm beat. I'm heading upstairs to hijack a bed. I'll see you all, tomorrow." Wade saluted the group before he quickly walked out of the room so that the elder gods wouldn't try to stop him.

Once Wade left, Norticus rolled his eyes and Inviktor grumbled. Inviktor quickly disappeared. Norticus sighed and too disappeared into thin air.

"Well that's that I suppose. Reconvene at sunrise?" Arthur said.

"We will reconvene whenever Vercanna is done with her work in Egypt." Bellekar responded, "Time is of the utmost importance in stopping Kortifex. The longer we wait, the more powerful he and his human puppet get."

"If we don't get enough sleep, surviving this whole ordeal will be impossible."

Bellekar nodded in understanding, "Very well. You shall have your rest."

Arthur nodded in thanks. He and Polina got up to move while Apollo stayed put. Polina noticed this and turned around with a questioning look on her face.

"You coming?" She asked.

"Little later…I want to finish spending my essence first. No point in sitting on it if we have to leave in the morning." Apollo replied.

Polina nodded in understanding before disappearing with Arthur. Saraxis, Bellekar and Apollo were the only three left in the room. Saraxis sighed and shook her head, sitting down on a table pinned up against the wall.

"Explain to me, plaything, how you knew the name of the Decimator, hmm? Kortifex wiped his name from our history books." She spoke up, returning her attention to him.

Apollo sighed and rubbed his head before speaking, "Look…I figured with you all having already had some type of moniker attached to your name - you with Shadow, Bellekar with Warlock, Inviktor with Destroyer - I figured a shot in the dark might be right. I mean, come on, someone in your history had to be named the Decimator."

Saraxis just nodded along, buying the story that Apollo spit out, "I see…well my memory is terrible thanks to that red prick so I'll play along. I trust you not to betray us, plaything…Konstruct knows what it'll do to the rest of us." She mumbled before disappearing too.

Apollo looked at Bellekar and she began to laugh. She doubled over and could barely control herself. He too, began to chuckle along.

"Shot in the dark?" She laughed, "That was the best you had? Some 'savior of the Dark Aether' you'll turn out to be with lying skills like that."

Apollo gave a questioning look still trying to play along with the story, "What do you mean? It was the truth."

"You're a terrible liar." She accused, "It's amazing that Saraxis somehow bought that bullshit."

Apollo sighed, knowing his jig was up, at least with Bellekar, "Let's walk and talk, yeah? Last thing we need is someone else hearing something."

"Certainly."

With that, the soldier and companion began their walk. With around 23,000 essence again to spare, Apollo immediately grabbed two more swigs of the Diabolical Damage (Deadshot Daiquiri) before exiting the apartment building. The two didn't say a word as Apollo had one more sip of the Fiendish Fortitude (Juggernog) before beginning the trudge over to Demonic Frenzy (Speed Cola).

"So must I ask all the questions?" Bellekar began.

"Depends…nobody else spying on us?" Apollo replied.

"You have my word."

"Alright…where do you want me to start?"

"With your lying, preferably. I will write down what you say so it better be truth." She answered.

Apollo walked over to the brick wall next to the entrance to the perk, brushed off the snow, and sat down. He patted the spot next to him and Bellekar sat down opening up a different book than one she had before. She nodded at him to begin.

"If I told Saraxis the truth - or any of you, for that matter - I'd eliminate all senses of reality from your minds. I am lying because I want the path that is meant to happen to stay unaffected by my knowledge. Telling you puts the path in jeopardy." Apollo said, looking at Bellekar as she scribbled away.

Her brows… "Wait, does she even have any hair?" Apollo thought to himself.

"Plenty." Bellekar replied not looking up from her writing.

"...If you could read my mind…Why are you asking me all this? And why didn't you tell Saraxis I lied?" Apollo asked.

"Unlike my counterparts, who frankly could care less about any of you humans other than as meat sack killing machines, I find joy and curiosity bonding with humans. Your vast knowledge of the sciences, math, architecture, war…It is all so intriguing." She said, continuing to write in her notebook, "I am NOT, however, a prude. I will not dig into your subconscious for the fun of it. It ruins the sense of discovery and surprise. That is why I must ask. But I do like to mess with you…Humans are terribly gullible."

"I don't think many of us are accustomed to having elder gods stuck in our heads." Apollo retorted.

She waved him off, "Back to the topic at hand. Do you know the future?"

"Sorta? Right now everything is going according to plan for what I know. However, your messages sent into the Dark Aether were meant to retrieve Vercanna, not have her already here." He replied.

She nodded along, writing down everything in her book. Apollo snuck a quick look at her notes to find the most immaculate cursive handwriting he had ever seen.

"That's spectacular handwriting. I've never seen anything that good." He complimented.

Bellekar seemed to blush slightly. She shot him a glance before continuing to write, "Being an elder god and scholar alike allows me time to do frivolous things like calligraphy."

"I don't think it's frivolous."

"Hush." She replied, "Next question…Does Kortifex win? In your future that is?"

Apollo raised an eyebrow and looked at her, "You gotta promise me-"

"Yes, yes, nobody will know." She interrupted excitedly.

Apollo chuckled before thinking of the best way to answer, "Kortifex is killed…He gets dropped into that bottomless pit in the Wilds or whatever they're called…But I have a theory they're not actually bottomless. Story for another time, though."

Bellekar continued to write as he spoke, happy with the knowledge that Kortifex doesn't kill them all, "Theory? Oh please do tell."

"Wait, hold your horses. I'm not telling you everything at this point. I've yet to see what else might change in this…universe. I don't want to jinx anything." Apollo responded, putting his hands up.

Bellekar huffed in annoyance, "I will dig into your memory and find out myself if you don't tell me."

"And ruin the curiosity?" Apollo said. Bellekar seemed to think about it for a moment before sighing again, "You win, human."

"Another question," She continued, "Where did you find this information? If I can show -"

"Nowhere. I believe that me being here is a complete mistake and it shouldn't be possible." Apollo interrupted.

Now it was Bellekar's turn to be confused, "Nowhere? That doesn't make sense."

Apollo sighed, thinking to himself again. Bellekar elected not to listen to his thoughts this time.

"If I tell you…I have two demands." Apollo said.

Bellekar was surprised and showed it on her face, "You are making demands of an elder god?"

"I'm not asking you to turn water to wine. They're just a couple of insurances." Apollo responded.

Bellekar thought for a moment. She looked down at her book and put a hand to her head, scratching at where her mask met her ear. She continued to think before giving up.

"Fine human, make your demands."

"First, none of what I am about to say I want in that book or told to anyone." Bellekar sputtered but didn't have time for a response before Apollo continued, "Second, that is the last question you ask about the future and anything else until I feel comfortable sharing."

Bellekar looked at him, stunned. She took a second before speaking again, "If you feel it is that important…I suppose your demands are fair. I accept."

Apollo stuck his right hand out to shake. Bellekar seemed unimpressed but decided to shake his hand regardless. Apollo had big hands as an athlete, but Bellekar's hand completely enveloped his.

"I will state this and explain if you have questions. In my world…you and everything around here - not including Stalingrad or World War II - isn't real. Not zombies, not Dr. Krafft, not Wade and certainly not you. You are the…creation of a story with you and the elder gods being only a minor piece of a very large and confusing puzzle."

Apollo was met with stunned silence, "...I'm…not real?" Bellekar choked out.

He rolled his eyes, "If that is the only thing you heard from what I said, we need to work on your ego."

"No, no…I heard it," Bellekar said, turning her attention to the pouring blue fountain of demon blood in front of her. She gave a meek "What?" As she tries to wrap her head around the bombshell she just heard. Her mind was drawing blanks.

"Am I allowed to ask questions?" She asked once she recovered.

"Of course."

She sighed in relief, "You said…we are only part of a story?"

"I won't go into detail right now, because the story is both really confusing and long as a motherfucker, but the story is the tale of four heroes against the forces of evil, who you may be familiar with, the Apothicon. It was a story between the Dark Aether and Agartha with these four heroes being the center of a perpetual cycle. Breaking the cycle created this timeline. It was said that there were no more alternate universes, but obviously, that is not the case." Apollo said.

Bellekar just put her head in her hands, "Was that english that came out of your mouth?"

"I hope so." Apollo responded, "Like I mentioned, long and confusing."

"I trusted you…But I was not ready for the fucking Apothicons. Those bastards were sealed away long ago by our second Archon…They wreaked havoc across our lands. Constant war for control, constant death…They plagued the Aether for millennia." Bellekar said, "I honestly didn't even know Agartha was still around. It was supposed to have been ruined by the Apothicon long ago…I could see a world where Dr. Monty still ran around, though. He is near impossible to kill."

"The Apothicon shooting their element 115 through meteors into Earth is how anyone found out about them. Remember that swampland building where the Tome of Rituals page was? One massive meteor landed there, turning the dead soldiers into zombies…I think one landed somewhere in Germany or Ukraine? I know that the discovery of these space rocks, in the timeline I'm talking about, was before the First World War. This world isn't affected by it I don't think."

"That is good to know…It doesn't answer my main question though…How does a soldier like you end up with knowledge?" Bellekar asked.

"First, I'm not a soldier. Second, remember the part about you not existing? A company created a series of video games that has spanned over 20 years. They released a new game every year. Every two or three years, this story would continue. Fans of the game loved the Zombies so much it became a staple piece for other games in the line as well. Those versions of Zombies received mixed reviews. People either loved 'em or hated 'em."

"Right…I won't ask about the video game thing, or inform your humans how obscenely stupid it is to play with zombies…but I will ask about why the story is so confusing?"

"I think originally, the game mode was an…achievable bonus piece that was unlocked from completing the campaign of the base game. Fans fell in love with the game. They started theorizing the story behind the zombies and the four random characters the studio chose. Soon, the creators of the game mode, made a story with completable easter eggs and everything in between. If the story is correct, which is still up in the air, we may meet two of the characters from that original story." Apollo said.

Bellekar looked at Apollo with wide eyes, "That means the Apothicons?"

"No," Apollo quickly shook off, "Just those two. To break the cycle of fighting the Apothicons and zombies, the original four characters had to die."

Bellekar breathed a sigh of relief. She shook her head as her mind and spirit digested bombshell after bombshell that her human had dropped on her. She heard him hop over the wall to go grab the demon blood before walking back once he was done spending his essence.

"Do you know what happens to me?" Bellekar weakly asked, insecure about her future.

"...Yes." Apollo responded

Bellekar looked at him, pleading look on her face, "Will you tell me?"

"Absolutely not. Remember, this world is already unlike the one I know. I can't say if your future remains the same."

Bellekar looked away before nodding in understanding, "Very well, human. I expect to know when the time comes."

"Sure."

Apollo stood up from his seat on the brick wall and stuck his hand out for Bellekar to grab. She looked at his hand, then looked at him before slipping her book back into the Dark Aether and grabbing her soldier's hand. Apollo pulled her to standing and patted her on the shoulder. Without saying a word he began walking back to the apartment building to find a room and relax.

Bellekar watched him go, opting to disappear finally when Apollo rounded the corner out of vision. Apollo quickly found an empty room on the third floor and organized his stuff for the next morning.

Apollo took a shower and went to bed. Luckily the building still had running water. Apollo wasn't going to question it.

"At least none of this is real. Must've had a mushroom in that stupid forest." Apollo thought to himself as he drifted to sleep.

Hello again. One of the main things that I want to do moving forward is finding a consistent way to delve deeper into each specific character and their thoughts being in these predicaments. Writing a zombies story and trying to find a consistent POV is damn near impossible while still giving enough detail of the surrounding area to allow the reader to be immersed in the story. For this reason, I will likely stick with the actual act of fighting zombies in the maps to being a moving 3rd person perspective that can shift between characters. This allows me to keep consistent with timings on events that happen during zombies maps and keep all the characters from randomly disappearing. I plan to have respite chapters that will be more first-person to help give character development. Those will also be the longer chapters. Zombies maps, depending on how time consuming the easter eggs are, will be split into 2-3 chapters most likely. R&R chapter will be 1. I also plan on adding cannon or non-cannon bonus chapters that are either for fun or will give a little extra to the story to help build upon the world I want to create.

If you think of a fun idea for a bonus chapter, feel free to send me your idea and I will definitely take it into consideration, whether cannon or non-cannon. If I can write it and post it with the next mainline story chapter I definitely will, otherwise I will add them once the end of the story is around. The one thing I hate is adding non-cannon stories or filler chapters without a story chapter as well. That way I don't upset you or myself.