What can I say folks? Finals. Lots of them. Since I've changed my major, I'm having a lot of fun now with college, but the only downside is that there's a bit more work involved since courses in my major are more project oriented and take a lot of time. Hence why updates since after December have been a bit slower. And basically, finals for me this time has been half exams and half projects. Which again, was fun, but really time consuming. So yeah, basically I'm done with that, and the only thing really that'll get in the way is my summmer job. That's about it.

Okay, it was also the new God of War game, but hey, if you guys played that game for yourselves, you'd be as drawn in as I was and captivated entirely. Never have I praised a game as heavily since Nier, and Nier Automata (which I still think to this day deserves better attention than what it got) but God of War is an outstanding game. As someone who spent a week straight only playing it, and practically completing it, I can personally guarantee you all it's a good buy. So go for it if you'd like.

Last thing, the new Destiny 2 dlc isn't that bad. The raid is espeically fun and challenging. Might want to revisit it in case.

Anyway, with that all done, let's begin the show.

Chapter 34: A Shadow of Regret

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"What do you mean the truth?" Ciel asked, keeping her scythe blade around the back of Sca'âtha's neck.

"What do you mean what do I mean? It's exactly what it sounds like."

Sca'âtha, who had reverted to his more human form, shifted himself to stand, but Ciel tugged the blade of her scythe firmly against the name of his neck, reminding him that she had him where she wanted, and if he made any stupid moves, he'd without a doubt lose his head.

And Sca'âtha was keen on keeping it on his shoulders.

To make it a point he wouldn't fight any longer, he made his weapons disappear in a burst of black and aqua colored Aura.

"That dragon girl's got the wrong story… I didn't kill her father just because."

"You killed him anyway, so what does that change exactly?" Ciel asked, feeling as though her hand might make a sudden twitch any second now.

"It was a mercy killing."

A mercy killing..?

"Don't bullshit me lizard brain, you can't possibly expect me to believe-"

"It's truth shortstack." He said, unknowing that he hit a nerve of Ciel's by calling her short, "See that tower? That's part of the reason why it was a mercy killing."

…

How could the tower do anything like that?

"If you don't start making sense, I'm taking your head." Ciel threatened.

"Something… Something came outta that tower… A shadow or something, I don't know… That old lizard came to check out this tower last when he was here, and a shadow came out and attacked him. He got caught by surprise and the shadow just… seeped into him."

That sounded like Possession…

Dante had told Ciel all sorts of stories and bits of information about spirits and the like that could directly take control of people or manipulate them mentally to do their bidding.

Could something like that have happened? Could Sca'âtha be telling the truth? Or was he saying all that to save himself?

"He didn't look normal at all, and even tried attacking me. The old man was tough, so it wasn't easy trying to fend him off. In the end, I didn't have much of a choice… and ended him. Once that happened, that shadow crept out of him and went back inside the tower."

Ciel hates to admit it… but his story was lining up a bit with a potential possession case. But there was something else bugging her…

Why was he putting up such an act with Musashi?

"Alright, I might take what you're telling me as the truth. But I've got a question for you. Why'd you provoke my friend over there with that shitty acting of yours?" Ciel asked.

He seemed hesitant to answer that question. But he was hopefully still smart enough to tell the truth.

"I knew her old man. That's why I was here with him when he got…"

He knew him..?

"You expect me to believe-?"

"It's the truth, shorty. It's why I did it myself and then came back to check out whatever shit's going on inside this tower. Maybe even wreck it down if I could. But that fledgling dragon gave me more of a beating than I expected… She definitely hits harder than her old man…"

That was definitely true. Ciel saw Musashi fight numerous times, and she was an absolute hurricane of pain whenever she attacked an enemy. But when Ciel saw her fight Sca'âtha… she was just completely blown away. And mesmerized too.

"Say I honestly believe all of this, and that you aren't bullshitting me to get away from me next… What's your next plan?"

"For starters, get the hell out of here and find something to eat. I'm too damn hungry right now to care about anything else. Plus, picking a fight with you wouldn't be in my best interest, so I'd rather you cut me loose and we go our separate ways. Do we got a deal, shorty?"

"Keep calling me shorty and I might kick your ass afterall…" Ciel stated with a rather menacing grin as she tugged her scythe once more to get a wince out of Sca'âtha.

"Alright alright, sorry… Look, will you let me go? Or what?"

Ciel was still having a hard time believing everything she was told. When she was out in the wilds like this, of course she had to be skeptical of everything and almost everyone, that way she shouldn't get stabbed in the back.

She was hoping this wouldn't be this case now, otherwise she'd be seriously angry.

And no one would like her angry. Not even herself.

With a heavy sigh, Ciel removed her scythe from Sca'âtha's neck and took a few steps back to give the man some space as he stretched himself out a bit.

"I'm not taking care of a mess like you, you know."

"I don't expect you to." Sca'âtha replied as he turned to look to the tower a final time before moving towards the wooded area above the chasm, "What about you? Gonna leave the dragon brat lying around while you go in?"

"Unlike you, I'm not a douchebag, so obviously not. I'm taking her back to her village first. Then… I'm coming back here to see what the deal with this tower is."

Ciel got chills looking at the tower. But it wasn't just looking at it… it's what she felt inside. It felt… familiar… but there was such a sense of dread to it that Ciel was hesitant to come back and enter inside by herself. She was hesitant regardless if she had someone with her.

What could've possibly been inside the tower that was freaking her out so much?

"Feh… For someone so tiny, you're actually pretty brave…"

"Dude, I will seriously freaking cut you if you call me small, short or tiny again." Ciel threatened raising up her scythe.

"Take care of yourself." Sca'âtha said with a nod before he leapt up into the clearing above.

Now that she was alone, Ciel hurried back over to Musashi and looked her over. She wasn't anywhere near as good as Inuba when it came to checking for wounds or anything like that. As far as she could tell, the only major wound Musashi had was the stab wound to her abdominal area from her fight with Sca'âtha. Everything else was just minor cuts and bruises.

So...she had to be exhausted? Maybe? The more she thought about it, the more she panicked that she didn't exactly know if there was anything seriously wrong with Musashi, like if she were in a coma, or something like that.

Sitting around and panicking wasn't going to solve anything either. With her thoughts gathered, Ciel lifted up Musashi with ease and carried the much taller dragon Faunus in her arms. She felt so light in her arms…

Or maybe it was because Ciel was ridiculously strong for someone of her stature.

"Okay… Let's get you home pretty dragon lady… And then… we see what's up with this tower."

Ciel opened up a circular rift of black and white Aura, stepping inside shortly after as it closed behind her.

However… she was unaware of the shade that watched the young girl from the distance, it's lips curling up into a smile.

Ciel stepped out of her portal once more, letting out a sigh as it closed up behind her. No matter how many times she used her portals for traveling, it always felt… weird. More than nauseous, she felt like her blood sort of went cold a brief moment each time she stepped in and out of one of her portals. It's always been a freaky side effect of sorts, but she got used to it after a while.

Maybe not entirely used to it, but enough that it didn't bother her as much when she first started training her powers years ago.

Thinking about that time though… that made her blood run much colder than her ability did.

She shook it off, and looked to the colossal ivory tower that overshadowed her entirely. It had weird circuit like patterns across the entire span of it that glowed with traveling patterns of black energy. Some cubes of various sizes sort of stuck out, contradicting the "perfect" part of this tower.

But Ciel wasn't here to appreciate art, or the designs of a fancy building. She was more focused on what was inside rather than outside.

From her careful strides forward, Ciel didn't notice any reinforcements of machine units, or anything that could've been an enemy. It was… oddly vacant for a place that was heavily saturated with killer robots. All the broken and cut up machine bodies still remained where they were too.

Was there no one inside the tower? Or was everything waiting inside in preparation for Ciel to enter? Not that it mattered, but Ciel wanted to be more cautious about matters this time than usual.

Especially with the creepy vibe she was getting from inside.

Surprisingly, they were unbarred, and there didn't look to be any surprise defenses…

Even weirder, as soon as she approached, the doors slid open like elevator doors, revealing a small room inside that did resemble the inside of an elevator.

That obviously wasn't suspicious in the slightest. Not even by the slightest bit. Potential kill box? Sure chief, walk right in.

Not that anything would work, but she liked her clothes as they were and didn't want them cut or to have holes in them. She didn't have too much of them that were similar, and she liked her outfit as is.

Factoring in her reaction time, she'd be able to pause time the moment she'd notice something strange going off and make a quick escape through a portal. So she stepped inside, and watched the doors close.

Stuck inside the white room of the elevator, she felt the box moving up, and kept her eyes moving from place to place, looking for anything that might've been off or cautioned her to action.

Surprisingly, nothing shot out of the walls to absolutely murder her.

The doors opened up, and Ciel stayed inside a moment, carefully peeking her head out to take in the sight before her, eventually stepping out all the way.

It… looked like a town, or a village of sorts… Everything structure had the same design as the tower itself. Everything was white, and had the circuit like patterns of black energy flowing through them. Some irregular blocks of white stuck out from the structures at points, but there was absolutely nothing inside that looked like a defense mechanism, or even showed any signs of more enemies lurking within.

For now.

But this… fake, or replicated city wasn't the strangest part of it.

Ciel recognized this place. The homes. The various shops and stores. Even the two pubs.

Why did this place look like the village she left last year..?

The more she walked through the countryside-like village that was… changed because of the design of this tower, the more she couldn't deny this was the village she came from. The one she left a year ago after…

…

Ciel wasn't a coward. She never shied away from a fight or confrontation if someone had a bone to pick with her or her brothers. But she wanted to leave, and she wanted to leave now.

This wasn't a memory she wanted to wander through…

But it couldn't be helped…

The shop she walked past… It more or less looked like the shop that the sweet baker-lady Ciel knew used to work in, and always gave Ciel a free pastry whenever she came by.

Not too far along was ramen shop where the two brothers she knew served some of the best ramen in all of Remnant. They gave Ciel a free meal on occasion on the account of help she gave them with their shop some days.

The bookstore with the old lady where Ciel and friends went to read for fun sometimes, or when they had long nights of homework. Not too far along was the fairly large shop that a man ran alongside with his daughter that was a few years older than Ciel. They had some of the best sweets and drinks available, especially since they made all the food and brewed all the drinks themselves.

Then there was the pub, which was always open and rowdy from dusk till dawn. It was a place of great joy where many went to celebrate on the weekend after a fruitful week of work. For those that worked daily, it was their place of celebration every day. Ciel would go there with friends on occasion and take some of the men's money when she beat them at darts, poker, or pool. Even so, it was all done in good fun, and never did anyone bear ill will to the other if they lost.

Some of the homes of other villagers were along the way as Ciel quickly walked through the "fake" village of pristine white, eyes darting about uncomfortably from one place to another as the memories of this place all too quickly began to sink back in.

But nothing felt worse than what she dreaded to see up the street towards where the it ended.

The school.

Some of the children without homes stayed there in the dorms, which was well over thirty-two percent of the children, whereas the other sixty-eight went home everyday to their parents, siblings, or caretakers.

Even so, that still didn't save any of them from their inevitable fate…

The memory of the village had to be affecting her, because she swore she saw smaller sized specters running around the expansive yard of the large school. She knew everything was fake given glaringly obvious design, but the memories were so powerful in the worst possible way that it felt like she was there again, reliving that terrible night.

It hurt all the more as she watched the specters of children conjured from the depths of her mind playing about the yard, their laughs echoing through her head.

Like her brothers, she couldn't physically feel any pain. At least, she thought she couldn't.

The painful twinges in her chest seemingly proved that she was feeling something indeed.

Then her eye caught something; a shine near the steps of the entrance to the school. She certainly wasn't in a hurry, and practically dragged her feet closer despite them wanting to go in the opposite direction.

When she got to the steps, her heart sank lower than it ever did when she saw what gave off that shine.

It was a small necklace of sorts that had a black chain. And on the end of the chain… was half of a tiny heart of the same, black metal, no bigger than her eye. There was an etched gap of sorts on the backside, looking as though something could interlock with that half of the heart.

Ciel had that other half.

She knelt on the ground, digging into the pocket of her black vest with thin, sharp coattails, pulling out a tiny, white metal heart of a similar size. Hesitant as she was, she brought the two pieces together and fit their interlocking parts together perfectly to complete the heart.

Part of her wanted to toss away the thing. But the other half of the girl had strongly urged her not to, promoting her to clutch the completed heart tightly to her chest, closing her eyes and grimacing at the painful memory of the other half's owner.

"So… After all this time… you still remember…" a voice had called.

It was a voice she recognized all too well. A voice she hadn't heard since the night she left the village.

It was the voice of the person who died to allow Ciel freedom, making her the sole survivor of the terrors of that night.

The young girl's eyes opened slowly as she stood back up, hesitantly turning herself around to the source of the voice.

It was there, right in front of Ciel, stood the source of her ultimate regret, something the girl had never shared with anyone, not even her brothers.

A few yards away stood a girl about Ciel's age, fifteen or so, and was about as tall as she was, 5'4. Her skin was pale, moreso than Ciel's light skin tone, and had short, chin length lilac colored hair that was slightly messy. There was a black hair clip that resembled something of a cute devil's head with horns that kept her bangs out of her eyes, and parted towards the right side of her face. A light blue, sleeveless dress with thin shoulder straps adorned her body, the hem of her frilled skirt reaching to the center of her shins, showing her cork, sandals with one inch heels.

Perhaps more bone chilling for Ciel than seeing this girl again was her eyes. Her irises still retained their lilac color, but her sclerae were as pitch black as the night sky.

It almost reminded Ciel of her own Shadow Eyes, only her irises changed to a glowing white when she took them on.

The unnamed girl remained where she was, staring and smiling at Ciel warmly.

Ciel herself only looked back with a sorrowful, downtrodden glance, something none would ever really see with her constant wellspring of happiness.

Now?

It felt like the world had gone cold and dark, that there was not a single scrap of joy left.

"What's wrong Ciel?" The girl's soft voice called out, "After all this time, you're not happy to see me? You're not happy to see your dear Luna again?"

She didn't speak, rather, Ciel couldn't, no matter how hard she tried to get her voice to say something.

"Nothing at all? I'm a bit hurt Ciel…" Luna said, her glance growing more serious and her smile a bit more twisted, "But you'd know all too well about hurting me."

She flinched hearing that, shaking slightly under the pressure of the situation as she brought her hands over her ears and shut her eyes closed, trying her best now to hold back her tears.

This wasn't real…

It couldn't be…

"Oh I see now… You don't think this is real, do you? That I'm a ghost haunting you. But that's a bit far fetched, don't you think?" Luna stated as she slowly walked closer, "Why now of all times? Why not anything before now? Why am I seeing her now?"

She had to be fake..! She had to be a fake like this whole place..!

"Let me clear up one thing before we go any further…" Luna said stopping and raising up her hand towards Ciel, "This is all very much real."

Once again, the young girl opened her eyes, but did nothing. All she did was stare at Luna in shock as a javelin of shadow had dug itself halfway into Ciel's shoulder, pinning her to column of white material.

It took the girl a moment to register what happened, her head moving towards the large, thin spine of shadow that impaled her to the column.

It… stung…

No, it was burning..!

It..! It hurt!

Why did it hurt?!

Ciel only cried out in pain as her tears flowed, trying to grab the spike and yank it out and unable to do so in part of the burning pain coursing throughout her entire body.

"Eh~? That actually hurt Ciel?" Luna asked with her mocking smile, stepping closer to the girl, "I'm surprised… I thought you couldn't feel pain. Maybe… I'm just special?"

That smile of hers… It was so twisted and sadistic… it couldn't be her! Luna was never like this!

Ciel wrestled with this thought in mind, unable to block the swelling pain she felt.

"Come on Ciel~! You're not supposed to be this easy to beat you know?"

Luna's mocking was accompanied by a grab of Ciel's head as it was smashed into the the column of white, another shock of pain now present in the back of her head.

"Really? Nothing to say to dear, old Luna?"

What could she say? She didn't have the words. It just completely escaped her…

This whole situation was just…

Luna let out a sigh, "I guess you aren't as invincible as I thought you were… Ooh! I know! How about you and I play a game?"

A game..?

"First one to die, loses. Alright?" She cheerfully announce beaming another smile at Ciel.

The young girl was already at a loss. She was already defeated as was at this sudden shock of what she thought previously to be a really bad illusion. But this… all of this…

It was real. It was actually happening at the moment.

And that hurt Ciel more than anything. Especially since she that more or less…

It was her fault Luna…

The shadowy spike dissipated, unpinning Ciel from the column of white material to allow the girl to fall to her hands and knees. Weakly she raised her head with her defeated glance, staring blankly at the once dead Luna as she finally spun around, still keeping her smile about her, unmoved and undeterred by Ciel's sorrow.

"Now then… let's begin the game, okay~?"

Luna's eyes briefly changed color, keeping the black sclerae and shifting from purple irises to blood red as sharp pointed, jagged tendrils of shadow emerged from the shadow she made beneath her, whipping about and eager to attack the young immortal just a ways away.

When she extended her hand outwards, Luna's tendrils of shadow shot forward in straight lines with blinding speed, almost piercing Ciel's chest and neck had she not opened a portal beneath her and let herself fall into it just before she was hit.

Luna chuckled to herself as her tendrils retracted back to her and whipped about slowly yet again, "You can't run forever Ciel~!" she called out turning around and looking towards a building not too far away, "You've had your time to run… Now, there's nowhere to run to.

In the distance, Ciel remained huddled together behind a building, clutching her legs tightly as she buried her face into them, still thinking this had to be some sort of bad dream, one that she wasn't waking up from.

The tears wouldn't stop, neither did the shivering.

She saw a shadow amass between the gap of her legs, and quickly spread them out whilst leaning back against the wall to avoid the spike of shadow that almost pierced through her neck. Barely any time to think, she spun around the spike and kicked off the wall, bouncing off the other to get into the air and off the ground.

But only for a moment.

A sharp pain dug into the back of her leg, making her turn her head to see a new spike had embedded itself in her right leg, wriggling around slightly before it extended itself slightly and coiled around her leg tightly.

Ciel was then forcefully pulled from the air and slung into ground, shattering and cracking apart the ground beneath her, then slung into a building, then another and then another as they fell apart one by one.

The young girl was then yet again flung into the ground forcefully, the wind being knocked out of her for a few moments as the shadow retracted itself from the girl's leg. Although the wounds healed immediately, the pain continued to linger.

It was still all too much for her to take in…

Ciel let out a few gasps as she recovered, weakly looking up to the person overshadowing her, still keeping that twisted smile about her face.

"Hey, does it hurt? It looks like it hurts…"

It did hurt. It hurt so much it was hard to breathe, much less move even with the injuries gone.

Why was all of this happening?

"Maybe now you'll understand how I felt… You'll understand how it feels like to die…"

…

…

Ciel was beginning to understand now.

This was ultimately her fault. That whole night… Everyone dying in that peaceful town…

It was all because of her…

Ciel heard a light tap of the foot, and then felt something sharp dig into her stomach while lifting her off the floor. A sharp column of shadow had pierced her stomach to bring her up to Luna's eye level, the young immortal painfully grasping the shadowy appendage that was stuck in her.

Luna still offered the girl her twisted, yet sweet smile as she moved her hand underneath the young girl's chin as she whimpered in pain, and grabbed Ciel's cheeks with her hand so that she could raise her head up forcefully to lock eyes.

"Still having trouble remembering? Or do I need to give you some more to work with?"

Another stabbing pain hit Ciel like a freight train, this time in her chest as another shadowy appendage had pierced through her heart.

Ciel cried out in pain once more as her blood coated the appendages and dropped down them slowly, a few bloody coughs escaping through her cries of pain and tears.

Luna's hand's were coated in Ciel's blood as she held on and kept the young immortal's eyes on her.

"Do you understand now? Do you understand our collective pain that you brought on us that night? Do you understand my pain, Ciel?"

She understood it the moment she saw her again.

She understood that this was her retribution.

"My Semblance kept me alive you know… I sat there bleeding… thinking it was the end of everything. I wouldn't see anyone ever again. I wouldn't see you again. I wouldn't be able to get back at you for what you did to us, to everyone."

I know…

"Everyone died you know? No one escaped, no one survived. All the villagers… Everyone else at the school… Dead because of you."

I know..!

"And I'm here to give you what you rightfully deserve." Luna stated, leaning in close to whisper in Ciel's ear before she leaned back, "Did you honestly think you escaped from it all? That you could just push this all the way to the back of your mind?"

…

…

She didn't…

"It's ironic really… People thought you were some kind of Angel, you know? Just appeared out of nowhere one day, and possessed such great and amazing abilities. Always nice, always helpful, always cheerful… But the reality of it is that you're a Devil."

…

That isn't me...

"You don't give joy. You take it away. You don't give life either. You steal it instead, like all the lives of everyone in that village you stole."

That isn't me..!

"And I'm here to take it all back Ciel… And to put an end to you. That way… you can't steal another life ever again…"

Luna's smile finally faded as she used the shadowy appendages that pierced into Ciel to fling the girl away, her body tumbling on the ground, leaving a large streak of blood in her wake until she lie face flat on the ground, staining the pure white floors.

She didn't have the strength to move anymore… No, she hadn't the will.

Luna was right. About everything. All of that happened because of her. Ciel had simply forgotten that fact.

The time she found Leo, and then the two of them finding their older brother and his partner, the journey they all went on together… it made her forget all of it until now.

Lingering pain burned throughout her entire body in spite of her wounds having been already healed. It was then she slowly felt herself sinking downwards, her eyes trailing to the ground to find a large patch of shadow swallowing her into its depths.

"Being trapped in my 'shadows' for too long will quickly drain someone's Aura. Your abilities need Aura, right?" Luna asked, prompting Ciel to glance weakly at her old friend, "If you're drained of Aura to the point where you can't use any of your abilities, you can't escape using your tricks, right? I'm pretty sure you can't die, given that you haven't died yet from my attacks. So I'll settle for keeping you trapped in an eternal Hell of darkness for the rest of time."

Hell… Or something of its equivalent…

Dante had only told Ciel stories of the "True Hell", and what lay inside a plane of existence like that. Normally, one would pass off such tales as just that. Stories of a dark, mythical place full of all sorts of vile creatures and powerful beings.

But this place where she was going to now… there would be nothing. Nothing but silence and darkness.

Would such a place… be so bad?

"Enjoy your new Hell, Ciel…"

Only darkness surrounded her from every direction as she floated endlessly in the pitch black space.

She was truly alone now.

"So… is this the end of it all?"

Her own voice..? But…

Ciel turned her head to the side and saw… herself?

It looked exactly like her, except the eyes present were Shadow Eyes, black sclerae with glowing white irises and black pupils.

This version of herself was the only clear and visible thing within this dark space. And it was smiling at her with a devilish grin.

"You made it this far haven't you? You gonna give up and die, just like that?" The other Ciel mockingly questioned, "Okay, so you can't die. But I know the idea of just sitting here in the dark and giving up doesn't sit well with you. Even now."

No, she really was content with the idea to sit in eternal silence.

"Have you ever known yourself for sitting still all too long? Much less not talking for a long while? I'm telling you now, it's impossible." The other Ciel waved off, "You see a ghost of the past and freeze up. I mean really, what's up with that? Do honestly believe it's your fault just because someone else strongly suggests that it is?"

How could it-

"I am you and you are me. And right now, I'm the only part of 'us' that's looking at facts correctly. So listen to the me that's you in order to educate the… you that's me. If that makes sense."

The other Ciel sat down next to the real one laying on the ground, resting her chin in her hand as she crossed her legs.

"Think about it carefully now that you have the time to actually look at events more clearly. Open up those past wounds for a few moments. You were there right? And everyone was dying around you, except for you. You were part of the cause, but you didn't directly kill anyone right?"

No… Nothing in her memories suggested anything like that. But thinking about it more carefully…

…

Of course… She'd all but forgotten… HIM.

"Yeah! Now we're getting somewhere! He had them all killed because of you, right? It was because he felt threatened by you. His experiment that had gotten far beyond his own capability of control. You should feel honored by the fact he went that far."

How could she feel honored by that?!

"How? It's simple if you think about it carefully… It means… he's all the more worthy to exact vengeance upon, don't you think? He's worthy of your full attention, your full wrath."

Ciel's fingers twitched for a few moments before slowly clenching into a fist.

"Whatever that Luna's on about, she's definitely got a few screws loose, right? So why don't we knock her around a bit and get some frustration out of our system yeah? Because if Luna's here…"

Then HE's here too…

"So are you gonna sit here all day? Or are you finally ready to bury this shit in the grave today?"

She was ready.

Her hand moved up into the air, joining hands with her other "self" as it became but a shade of darkness, slowly blanketing Ciel's body.

"Now then… Let's go kick ass…"

"Still struggling? It looks as though she got a second wind… That won't matter. She'll wear herself out soon enough. Then, she's trapped forever." Luna said, smirking as she sat down on a pile of ruble.

The patch of shadow that had swallowed Ciel had violently began to sputter and bubble, rising from the ground. Luna was shocked, and jumped to her feet, taking a few cautious steps forward. Within the depth of the shadow, she felt an overwhelming Aura Signature, violently shifting about.

"No way..! She's been in there for ten minutes already! She can't have this much Aura left! It's..! It's gotten exponentially stronger!"

Bursts of black and white Aura began to traer through the shadows as something rose, attempting to break free of the veil until finally… something broke out.

A hand, layered in twisted, black, segmented armor shot through the darkness of the patch of shadow. Faint glows of white emerged from the decorative line gaps in the armored hand as it grasped the earth, slowly pulling out the rest of what the arm belonged to. A body emerged that had been similarly wrapped up in twisted, black segmented armor, that had similar decorative line gaps that glowed white. As the rest emerged, it was evident that the armor was wrapped tightly around the body, as if it were a bare, second layer of skin.

The head was enshrouded in a black mask-like helmet, the faceplate covering the entirety of the face to resemble a skull with sharp teeth, white glows emerging from the rhombus-like side gaps that spanned from near the jaw to the front row of sharp teeth. Slanted eye holes shone a fierce white glow, with white lines trailing down from the bottom center of the eyes.

Two black twisted horns that curved outwards before curving inwards slightly rested on the sides of the head, diagonally slanting downwards towards towards the face.

Luna was utterly shocked by what she saw had emerged from the patch of shadow, and was further surprised when the figure let out a loud, hollow, echoing roar that resembled Ciel's voice.

That couldn't have been Ciel… could it..?

But no matter how much she pushed back the thought, she couldn't deny it.

It was Ciel that emerged from the shadows, only now much more menacing than she was previously.

"Hmph… Don't think a little change of appearance is enough to scare me!"

Extending her hand, the shadowy tendrils that danced behind Luna shot forward like bolts of lightning. All Ciel did was raise her right hand, and swipe it outwards, shattering all the tendrils that made contact with her hand.

Luna took a step back and shot two separate pairs of tendrils at Ciel, but she simply stood her ground and reached out with her armored hands, grabbing hold of the tendrils mid flight and pulling on them tightly. Deciding to cut her losses, Luna disconnected the tendrils and led with a powerful forward stomp.

A sharp column of shadow jutted out from beneath Ciel's shadow, but the now armored girl jumped back quickly to avoid the column.

"Alright..! Try this then!"

A few more rapid stomps and more large columns of shadow began erupting from the ground wherever Ciel's shadow was, but she quickly dodged them one after the other. Even with her increase in speed, the shadows caught up, but instead of piercing through her, the sharp columns of shadow acted as stepping stones that she stood upon as they rose into the air, surprising Luna even further.

Ciel stood atop the spikes of shadow motionless. A single huff of breath unleashed a large but brief wisp of black Aura that hung in the air for a few moments, contrasting the white shine of the "fake" village.

"What the hell..?! Her Aura Signature's spiked tremendously..!"

Luna's eyes were kept on Ciel the entire time. At this point, briefly looking away would cost Luna her life. Even the idea of blinking was somewhat intimidating.

But her Semblance offered her an excellent balance between defense and offense. She'd be alright so long as she was careful.

Ciel was never able to beat her whenever they had combat exercises. In fact, their mock scraps usually ended up with Luna tying up Ciel using her shadows. Why should this be any different because she was a little stronger or because she looked any different?

Luna slid her foot forward and thrusted her hand outwards, the shadows beneath Ciel's feet dancing to her command, whipping about to grab hold of the armored girl. She moved like the wind, weaving in between the superb accuracy of the shadowy points trying to skewer her.

Even without her weapon, Ciel's armored claws were enough to counter and tear apart the spines of shadow. To compensate, Luna kept upping the speed of her strikes, trying to catch Ciel off guard, maybe even trip her up a little.

Her chance came when her shadows managed to wrap around Ciel's arms, and began flinging her about like a toy, tossing and smashing her through the buildings and streets of pure white material, laughing all the while.

A final slam into the ground kicked up a large cloud of dust, putting another twisted smile on Luna's face. She tried to pull her tendrils of shadow away, but they wouldn't budge at all. Instead, Luna herself was pulled towards the location of her tendrils, seeing herself nearing an armored fist aimed right for her head.

She brought forth the shadows behind her to form a shield to guard her front. But the shield only cushions part of the blow, the fist managing to sink into the shadows far enough to lightly touch Luna's stomach. The punch had barely made contact, but the force behind it was tremendous, as was the pain despite how much of the attack was softened. As a result, she was sent flying, forcing the shadows behind her to cushion her back as she crashed through a building.

"Damn her..! She's not supposed to be this strong!" Commented as she rose from the rubble, "That form of hers… That's definitely something she never had… Who would've thought she'd get this strong in the end…"

Strength didn't necessarily hand Ciel the victory. Physical methods of attack that involved up close combat was Ciel's forte. Luna was more or less ranged, but she could transition in and out of close combat and ranged. Though, it remained known she was heavily range focused, which meant she had the overall advantage.

But still… given Ciel's nature, she didn't have to worry about matters like that all too much… which made this all the more difficult for her to take a Ciel down. Trapping her didn't work. And killing her was definitely outside the realm of possibility.

Was wearing her down even an option at this point in time? Her Aura Signature was so overwhelming powerful it felt as though Ciel herself had become an endless well of energy and power.

Was there no victory to be had from this?

Luna was disrupted from her thoughts when she saw an armored fist fly towards her face to cave it in. She ducked down and sank into her shadow on the ground.

The girl found herself floating in a space that seemed as though she were submerged underwater. Beneath her was the wide expanse of the fake city, which she took a brief glimpse at below before returning her eyes to the surface above her.

This was getting out of hand. If Ciel hadn't transformed, this fight would be Luna's, unquestionably. But what made her transform? Was there something in this tower that aided her transformation? Or was it the extreme levels of emotional stress?

Another interruption in thought was brought on when a hand colder than ice reached down from above and grabbed hold of her face. She tried to pull away with all her might, using her shadows to lash like a flurry of swords as she screamed, trying to get the arms to let her go. But those shadows where like dull blades, simply bouncing off the arm, unable to make any dents or scratches. And then, a forceful pull and she was dragged out of her world of shadow.

Luna's body emerged from the pit of shadow by the strong pull of Ciel's armored hand, and then tossed into another building with great force, sending her completely through the white structure and tumbling onto the streets.

Her body felt terribly weak. So much so it was hard to stand up any longer.

Luna spun around in panic when she heard something farting through the air like a cannon, and found herself forced onto ground again on her backside, Ciel sitting atop the girl with her blackened, armored hand on her neck, another wisp of breath releasing a cloud of black Aura.

"You're..! Going to kill me… Ciel?! Again?!" Luna asked struggling as her shadows mercilessly attacked the transformed girl, sparks flying around her as they had no effect, "Kill me again… if you can! But no matter what… our lives, the lives you took..! We'll still weigh heavily on your mind however long you live!"

A blunt column of shadow struck the armored Ciel in the face to send her on her back, allowing Luna to climb atop with a hand cloaked in shadows and mercilessly beat Ciel.

"You… damn… devil!" She spoke in between blows, "You took… everything from us! EVERYTHING! OUR HAPPINESS! OUR JOY! OUR LIVES! GIVE IT BACK!"

She did nothing to fight back, but the blows, no matter how powerful, barely dented the armor as she struck repeatedly.

Her punching was halted when Ciel heabutted Luna and rocked her head backwards, allowing the immortal to pull a reversal, with Luna now on the ground and Ciel on top.

The blackened devil had caught her prey.

This was it. This was the end.

The last thing she saw was the curled up, black armored fist rushing down towards her face.

But… she opened her eyes once more.

Looking off to the side, she saw the fist about to cave her head in buried in the ground next to her, just barely missing her head. Luna's eyes slowly trailed back to meet the devil's own glowing white eyes, but her armored head lowered itself as she began shivering, her demonic second skin armor creaking as a silent, hollow, echoing voice barely squeaked out.

"W-What..?"

"I'm sorry…" Ciel said in a silent voice, "I'm so sorry… I'm sorry for everything..."

A silent, high pitched ring sounded throughout Luna's head as she grimaced momentarily, her sclerae changing between black and white like static as Ciel continued sobbing.

Her black second skin of armor began to slowly dissolve and reveal Ciel as she was, only now, her long hair tied up into a ponytail was pitch black, and her Shadow Eyes remained, black sclerae with glowing white irises that were flowing with tears as she stared deep into the lilac colored eyes of her friend.

There were stirrings deep within Luna as the shadows receded from her eyes, returning them to normal as she felt droplets of Ciel's tears fall onto her cheeks. By now, the rest of Ciel's "invincible" armor had melted away into nothing wisps of black Aura as she continued her sobbing, lowering her head further down until it touched Luna's stomach.

Her expressions had changed from anger to surprise and regret, as she too began to tear up, shame washing over her like a cold splash from an ocean wave.

This wasn't her. This wasn't what she wanted when she thought of seeing Ciel again. She wanted to run up to her and embrace her like they did so many times before but…

Something had changed her. It twisted and distorted her love for Ciel into a dark hatred that was never her own, a hatred that Luna never harbored in her heart, no matter the circumstances of the past.

And realizing how she had must harmed Ciel… made her heart ache greatly.

In spite of Ciel resting her head against her, Luna sat up and quickly embraced Ciel, wrapping her up tightly as she too began sobbing.

"My little devil… Just what have I been doing..? You've nothing to be sorry for… Don't apologize… Don't…"

No other words could be spoken between the two of them. Words wouldn't be enough for either of them for the moment. But one thing was certain.

Things were as they were now. They were as they should be.

(Omake: Skyla's Reckoning part 4, by Xera Stark)

Two hands. Two legs. Four ears. One tail.

Skyla tickled all of them.

And now Irene was all tuckered out.

One sleeping wolf girl sat nestled in Skyla's arms like an adorably dangerous baby, breathing softly in that lethal, oh so cute way.

The small girl exuded positive emotions through her powers of cuteness, an ability Skyla wished she had.

Never underestimate the power of the cute. It is too much.

Too much for one soul to ever face.

"You are too munchkin," Skyla muttered, making a face of adoration as she peered down at the wolf girl. Cute black ears twitched in her sleep as they sat around a campfire, two tents set up and four chairs on their feet.

"I thought a munchkin was food?" Musashi sat down in the chair to Skyla's right, resting her weapon down on the ground just at her side.

"Nah, you're thinking of a cinnamon roll," Ciel commented from Sky's other side.

The white-haired fighter made her way around Skyla's left, the brunette watching her move around her chair to scratch between Irene's ears.

Her lil foot thumped in response to it and her tail wagged in her sleep, Skyla cooing at the sight.

"I contacted big bro and his floofy partner. Turns out they have no idea what's going on either, but are working on finding a way to get you home." Ciel pinched playfully at the tips of Irene's ears before moving to Musashi's other side, taking the chair there and moving it right next to where Musashi'schair was positioned.

Skyla watched the way Musashi's eyes watched the action with careful regard, almost happy to see it taken in the light of the campfire.

They are so a thing…

Sky used her advanced mindreading tactics and stared intently at the side of the girl's face, Musashistill watching Ciel as the girl situated herself comfortably in her white camp chair.

And then Skyla used her ultimate move.

The 'blunt as a sharpened drum' move.

"Are you two a thing?"

"W-Whoa, hey, Skyla-?!" Ciel's exclamation cut short as the girl's chair toppled back, hitting the ground hard as the girl in a heap on the ground glowered embarrassedly at Skyla's smirk.

Musashi just looked confused. "A… thing?"

"Don't explain what that mea-!"

"It means that you two are dating," Skyla explained, watching as Ciel scurried up out of her entangling, folded up chair to get to her feet. "You know, lovey dovey, smoothy groovy, corny horn-"

The duelist's voice grew muffled behind a clasping hand as Ciel planted herself next to Skyla's chair.

"Enough out of you!"

Skyla's smile beamed through her eyes as she met Ciel's gaze, peering past it to see Musashi trying to connect the dots just behind the girl.

Unfortunately…

She was denser than a metal brick glued to a Jaune Arc.

"I'm sorry, Skyla. I still don't follow. What does it mean to be… smoothy groovy?" Musashi asked softly, watching Sky's eyes go wide in disbelief for a moment before rolling in exasperation.

Then more muffled words crashed against Ciel's sealed hand, still placed securely over the girl's mouth.

"J-Just that we're partners who get along. That's all it is," Ciel explained instead, casting a casual smile back to Musashi before dropping a death glare onto the girl holding the wolf child.

If Skyla hadn't been holding that little girl, Ciel probably would've tackled her to the ground.

"Why don't we make s'mores? Do s'mores sound good?" the white-haired girl asked instead, looking back at Musashi now as Skyla started licking her hand.

"I can go for one of those treats." Musashi smiled slightly at the way the two girls in front of her were interacting, standing herself up before delicately picking up her weapon from the ground. "Shall I go find a couple sticks for us to use?"

"Please. If you wouldn't mind," Ciel spoke back lightly, giving Musashi another casual smile.

The dragon clan member smiled in return and turned on her heel, disappearing out of the light of the campfire.

After a few seconds ticked by, Ciel let out a heavy sigh and turned her gaze back to Skyla.

"Can you stop licking my hand?"

A muffled no came as Skyla's muffled response.

"Okay… how many s'mores will it take you to not ask any more questions like that?" Ciel bargainedinstead.

Sky's eyes looked like she took a moment to think about that, casting her gaze to the side as she scratched softly at Irene's ears.

After a moment, the girl pointed to Ciel's hand still clasped over her mouth, wanting it removed.

Ciel's own face turned into a warning look before slowly, ever so slowly, releasing the girl's ability to crash trains with the sound of her voice.

"Just a question I want an honest answer to," Skyla said, her usual playfulness going away for the time being as she gave Ciel a serious look.

Ciel knew that look meant business, so she didn't question it. "Within reason."

Sky nodded to that, keeping her gaze on Ciel as she adjusted Irene in her lap, moving her head to nestle up against her chest and shoulder.

Then she asked her question.

"Do you like her?"

Semblance Encyclopedia 14

"LLLLLLLLLLLLadies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome... to another episode offfffff... Semblance Encyclopedia!" Ciel yells as she stepped out onto the stage with multicolored fireworks popping off behind her, "Last week big brother talked to you about the lovely lady of bronze, Musashi Ryūjinhonō!"

Silence fell on Ciel as Leo sighed behind her.

"Okay, so he didn't talk about our lovely dragon lady, but he did talk about her weapon pair. And I'm not talking about the 'weapons' just a little ways below her neck if you know what I mean." Ciel said quirking her eyebrows.

"Ciel-"

"Yeah yeah, I'm done I'm done." Ciel said as she cut off Leo, "Alright. So this week, we'll be talking about Musashi's Semblance, Black Dragon's Royal Roar. A freaking cool name for a freaking cool Semblance."

The monitor display emerged from the ceiling, coming to life with a display of a small, cartoonish Musashi facing an equally small and cartoonish humanoid with six arms.

"It's a pretty simple mechanic to understand really, but by the time an enemy realizes what's going on, it'd be too late. From what Musashi's told me, her Semblance works five different ways, but today, we'll only be focusing on the one, Royal Roar."

The screen showed the six armed humanoid and Musashi engaging in combat, each exchanging blows with the other.

"In combat, Musashi basically just absorbs damage from her enemies and stores it up. When she stores up enough energy, she releases it all in a single devastating blast, like how a dragon's roar unleashes all sorts of devastation in the area."

"I see..." Leo commented looking at the monitor, "When she releases the blast, does she release it as a blast of her own Aura?"

"Good question Leo! Yes and no."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Yup. So, when Musashi reaches the threshold of storable energy, she basically converts it into a large burst of Aura. But upon release, that huge burst of Aura gets converted into fire so hot it can melt steel!"

"Impressive..." Leo commented in both awe and terror.

"This Semblance works well with her given she's a dragon Faunus. And because she's a dragon Faunus, that beautiful tan skin of hers is not only super smooth, but super durable and highly resistant to the elements. She's also pretty warm too, so it's nice to cuddle up with her."

"Ciel..."

"Get off my case Leo." the sister commented slapping the backside of her brother's head, "Musashi's durable skin works well with her Semblance because she doesn't really have to expend Aura to create shielding for her body, so she doesn't end up wasting a lot of Aura to defend herself from bodily injuries."

"She truly is a terrifying combatant..."

"Yup. Word to the wise, don't piss her off." Ciel cautioned.

"Noted..."

"Right, so that's it for this week folks. We'll see you next time. Bye bye now!"

Goodness me... I don't know why, but this chapter took freaking forever to write. Even when I had time, there were moments were I just had... blocks, I guess? I don't know.

But yeah, Luna folks. One of Ciel's "old friends". You'll understand more when we come back to her and our little devil Ciel. Next week, Leo's back in the spotlight with Bailey to give chase to Alice, hopefully to find much needed answers to the mystery behind the towers.

That's all I have to say. So with that...

I highly recommend you all go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.

Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!

Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.

Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it. With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!

Bye-bye now!