A/N: Welcome back~ Time for a lil bit more action this time~

Do enjoy~

Light

Chapter 4: Unto Death

How was it back?

That was the prevailing thought echoing in Caelus's mind as he gazed into the enraged eyes of the Something Unto Death. How had it come back? From the way Black Swan talked about it it sounded like they had actually killed it, despite her words about it being unkillable. Had she been right all along? Considering what Welt and Himeko remarked on, that it could just keep coming back, that sounded plausible... yet the way Black Swan had looked at Acheron when she remarked on its death, made it seem otherwise.

As the entity emerged fully from the smoke though Caelus spotted differences from before. For one its left wing was smaller, having less eye-scale-things and looked as if it wasn't fully grown, whilst the eyes on its main body were visibly scarred – the ones he'd popped, he realised. One of them was still a mish-mash of turgid purple flesh, wet and glistening in the gloom, whilst the others were blinded by the scar tissue covering them.

'It hadn't fully healed?' He was struck with the thought. Was it not an instantaneous resurrection then, but a gradual healing process? Had they caught it when it was still weak?

And most importantly, why was Robin here... and why did it seem to be protecting her?

Caelus pursed his lips. Thinking wouldn't get him any answers. Actions would. ''March?''

''I've got your back.'' His companion answered without hesitation, bow raised but not outright pointing at the entity. ''That's the thing that tried to hurt Firefly right?''

''Yeah.'' He glanced Firefly's way at that, relief filling him when he found her taking cover behind a chair, keeping out of sight. Good. That way it won't target her.

However last time it took him, a Memokeeper and a Galaxy Ranger to take it down, and even that seemed to be surprising. What chance did the two of them stand?

'I need to get in contact with Black Swan at least.' He didn't dare take his eyes off of the Something Unto Death but reached down slowly, palming at his pocket. His phone was still there. 'Firefly, she can-'

His thoughts were shattered as the entity tensed – and then it was coming, its central eye burning a hole into his soul. Instinct took hold and he raised his flaming lance not a moment too soon; terrible gold claws carving through the air and catching on his weapon, the sheer momentum behind the attack sending his feet skidding back a step, but he held firm, glaring back at the unholy entity before him.

The clawed hand retreated only for the entity's tail to come swinging his way. March leapt over it and he ducked, the air displaced violently over his head and blowing wind through his hair as he lunged back to his feet, thrusting the tip of his lance into the entity's hip. Just a stab from the Preservation was enough to make it shriek and violently recoil, hurling over itself and landing in a low crouch not unlike a pouncing predator. A very angry one.

''Take this!''

Which was when a bunch of ice bunnies fell around it, clinking as they bounced across the hard surface of the lobby – before exploding into puffs of freezing vapour. Instantly ice crystals erupted across the Something Unto Death's right arm and wing, the large chunks of ice seeming to weigh it down.

''Alright!'' March cheered.

A cheer that withered as the beast shrieked and flexed its limbs, shattering the ice containing them. It showed no pride nor pleasure, however; only malice and hate in its numerous eyes – before it lunged, stabbing out its larger ocular wing to pierce March, missing only because the archer threw herself to one side with a yelp. The entity didn't let up, however, claws touching carpet as it skittered closer.

Only to stop and jerk back, evading Caelus's downwards bat swing – the flooring cratering under the end of is bat and leaving a fizzle of destructive energy behind. He found himself having to use his bat as a crude shield not a second later, wincing as a clawed hand smashed into it and sent him flying backwards into a trolley and over it, tumbling until he managed to roll back into a crouch. He'd no sooner done that when his instincts wailed a warning and he listened, throwing himself to the left.

Not a second later an ocular wing stabbed itself into the spot he'd previously occupied. But there was no time to stop, to think, as a tail came sweeping for him. He leapt and narrowly evaded but it opened him up to a the beast's claws; golden talons stabbing for his chest.

Which was when a translucent, almost icy-blue sheen flashed across his form – and the claws impacted the body-wide shield covering him.

Though they didn't harm him the shield didn't negate the force behind the strike, sending him into the ruins of the receptionist desk. Caelus grunted as he landed but didn't waste the opportunity March provided; rushing back towards the beast and yelling as he swung his bat for its head. It jerked back as expected but he didn't stop moving; one foot touching the desk as he kicked off of it and spun with the motion, bringing his bat around in another, wider swing.

One that made contact, an implosion of destructive force jerking the Something Unto Death back. It let out a terrible shriek as it recoiled over itself, its claws digging into the ground – and then it leapt, taking flight. His eyes darted about for something to jump off of but nothing provided itself; everything was too low and he wasn't about to jump over a massive drop just on the chance of hitting it.

However he needn't have worried as a purple-black fog enveloped the creature... and it vanished, sinking into the dark.

'What?' It had them on the defensive. Why would it flee now?

''Is it over now?'' March sighed, lowering her bow cautiously. ''That was too close. If I hadn't covered you then you would've gotten badly hurt.''

''Probably more than that.'' He grumbled, glancing first at Firefly with a smile before levelling his gaze at Robin.

Why had it protected her? Not outrightly so, no, but it had shifted itself to get between them and her. Was it related to her somehow, a spirit lost that made its way back to her, the sort of thing you heard about in fairy tales and whatnot? Or was there a more sinister reason for protecting it – something that forced it to protect her?

''You wanna try waking her this time? I'll text that Memokeeper lady to come check this out.''

Caelus nodded – when he realised something.

Robin was still singing.

As if the thought was the trigger the ominous pressuresoared and he spun, throwing his baseball bat in a fit of instinct – and striking the ocular wing that went for March's upper back, the resulting implosion knocking it off-course and sending it stabbing into the carpet instead. March yelped and fell back but Caelus didn't stop to check on her, eyes ablaze as were his fingers, a flaming lance summoned between his digits once more and thrust out.

The Something Unto Death yanked its wing back. Caelus didn't let up; swinging and thrusting his lance out and forcing the beast back, using its fear of the Preservation to force it back – but alas that only worked for so long before the entity lost patience and lashed out, its tail narrowly missing him but opening him up to a slash from its claws. They met their mark and Caelus winced as bloody gashes were ripped across his chest, but he didn't falter. Not now.

Not while Firefly was somewhere behind him.

Impulse overcame him, a foreign aggression filling him – one that made him grab onto the entity's arm. It retracted it immediately and he was pulled with it, a yell escaping him as leapt with the momentum before bringing his lance down, stabbing it into the meme's chest. The entity shrieked so loud it felt like he'd go deaf, his weapon sinking deeper into its leathery flesh even as the meme slashed down his back, its claws carving through his clothes just as easily as his own flesh.

''Flaming lance...'' His grip tightened on the handle, ''...forwards!''

His arm jolted as the lance sunk deeper, and then a roaring pyroclasm engulfed him. Even then he could hear the meme's pain-filled scream as it thrashed about and pulled him with it, his eyes screwing shut as he was yanked left, right, over and right again. It was only when the flames petered out that he pulled on his weapon and ripped it free, only for gravity to assert itself and sending him falling onto his back, the world spinning slightly from the vertigo.

The Something Unto Death rolled away from him, one clawed hand scratching at the hole in its chest. He smiled tightly at that, though it weakened as his own wounds flared in pain, his own hand gingerly touching his chest. The wounds were bleeding a lot. Not frighteningly so, but they weren't shallow gouges. The big red stains forming on his white shirt told of that... except, he felt a weird tugging sensations in his wounds. Like tiny stitches slowly weaving through the gaps and closing them up, little by little.

And as he stared at his foe, he noticed the wound in its chest slowly closing up too. Little by little. Something was healing them.

Or rather, someone.

He didn't get the chance to act upon the information before the Something Unto Death came at him again, using its ocular wing like an oversized knife to stab at him. He rolled out of the way and backed up but the entity pursued him, thrusting and slashing in an unrelenting barrage, throwing in the occasional tailspin to try and catch him out; each hit blocked or dodged through the narrowest of margins.

When an icy arrow struck one of the eyes. The meme covered the eye but March didn't stop; her fingers drawing another arrow and then another one after that; her potshots weak but precisely timed – until soon the Something Unto Death shrieked and rushed at her. Thinking fast he manifested his bat into his left hand, wielding both it and the lance at the same time, the mere act sending uncomfortable spasms through his arms and up his neck, like his veins were swelling from wielding two opposing Paths at the same time.

Not that it stopped him from cocking his arm back, and with a yell he threw his baseball bat. The entity noticed and aborted its attack, swinging its ocular wing out instead and deflecting the attack – giving him the time to get in close, thrusting his flaming lance at it and forcing it back, away from both March, and Robin.

''Hit it now March!'' Caelus barked out.

March shouted an agreement, drawing her bow and letting a particularly iridescent arrow loose – one that broke apart into countless bunnies once more. The Something Unto Death tried to dodge but they imploded mid-air too, forming ice crystals on contact with not just its body but the ground and floating objects too, forming a miniature forest of ice that, if only for a few seconds, immobilised it.

He grabbed Robin and shook her hard but frustratingly she didn't snap out of it – her singing voice wobbling slightly but otherwise continuing on. Even a light slap to the cheek didn't get her to wake up, and as he heard ice begin to crack, he was out of options.

'Sorry about this.' Caelus cocked his fist back, destructive energy sparking across it.

Right before he punched Robin in the stomach.

Instantly her singing cut short and she gasped, eyes snapping open and hands clutching onto her stomach reflexively. Alas he didn't have the time to check if she was okay as the ice finally shattered, the Something Unto Death's shriek one of fury. It took flight once more and glared mightily at them, purple-black smoke beginning to form around it.

'Oh no you don't!' Caelus summoned his bat back to his hand and, ignoring the spasming jolting through his arms, raised his right weapon. ''Flaming lance, forwards!''

The weapon obeyed and launched like a missile towards the memetic entity, pulling him up with it, gravity seeming unimportant as the distance between them closed. The meme began to sink into the darkness but he was quicker, releasing his lance and letting his momentum carry him forth, both hands grasping his bat.

'Rules-'

He swung down.

'-are made to be broken!'

The declaration, one spoken so many times before, brought forth the full might of the Destruction he could muster – all of which was brought smashing down on the Something Unto Death's face.

A potent shockwave ripped through the air around him, wallpaper stripped free from the walls and walkways losing chunks of masonry. None felt the brunt of it more than the entity itself, however; its whole body knocked out of the ethereal darkness and sent plunging straight down and smashing into one of the higher walkways; soon sliding down the wall behind it and landing on the floor below.

It wasn't enough. With a single command his flaming lance returned to his hand and he aimed it down – and this time he didn't even say the command, his weapon heard it in his heart and launched them forth. The entity barely had time to react before he was upon it, his weapon stabbing it through the gut with the force of a falling anvil.

Right before baleful, vicious flames shrieked to life, hotter than ever before and incinerating the surrounding walkway. The meme's terrible wails echoed off of the collapsing masonry as they fell, his eyes stinging from the heat even as the flames petered out, his weapon impaling the entity and freeing his left hand, allowing him to bring his bat to bear. A bat he swung, his muscles straining against the spasms within them as he struck the entity across its head, shattering two of its face-claws and smashing its head back against the wall, sparks flying as it grinded and bounced against the hard surface.

They hit the walkway below a second later, the ground cracking but not breaking apart. The sudden stop jolted up his legs and he nearly fell, wobbling, and it cost him – a clawed hand slashing into his side and sending him tumbling down the carpeted walkway, gasping as he tumbled to a stop.

His weapons fell from his hands just so he could push himself up but his muscles protested mightily, his whole body shaking as he staggered to his feet, gold eyes flitting about until he spotted the entity.

He'd done a number on it. Without Robin's singing to heal it the hole in its stomach hadn't fully sealed up and he'd given it a new one just beneath it, alongside adorning its head with numerous small cracks and broken claws. It wasn't dead yet, far from it, but he was getting there. He could beat it. He was sure of it.

Yet the moment he dared take a step towards it his own wounds made their presence known, a sharp wince twisting his expression as he struggled to inhale a deep breath. His arms wouldn't stop shaking either and his neck was stiff, his fingers equally so as he clutched onto his weapons and made the slow march towards his enemy. It glared with its many eyes back at him, staggering to its feet and seeming ready to lunge at him – when it stopped, looking past him.

Then not a moment later it folded its wings inwards

Caelus raised his lance but he could barely hold it steady, his limb shaking too much to aim it – and then the meme was gone, fading into the fog that in turn dissipated, no trace of its presence remaining.

''Dammit...'' He breathed – coughing then as his chest ached. He'd taken more than a little abuse, he could only muse as he stabbed his lance into the ground and used it to steady himself. He needed to get back to Firefly and March to make sure they were okay, and check on Robin too and contact Welt and-

''Urgk-!'' Another step nearly proved too much, the wounds on his side bleeding crimson down his side.

How long had it been since he'd been hurt so bad? Since the fight against Phantylia?

He could only ruminate on it with a grimace as his arm quaked, his body at its limit – and he fell.

Only to be caught by a pair of arms.

''I've got you.'' A familiar voice called out from behind, easing his arm over their shoulder.

Purple hair tickled his cheek as he looked up, meeting the electric purple eyes of his saviour.

''Acheron...?''

And then unconsciousness claimed him.

X-x-X

Darkness.

That was all he saw, all he felt, all he knew.

Adrift in a sea of black, his consciousness coming and going like the ebbing flow of the tides. Sluggish thoughts stirred his mind about but coherency was in short supply, like he was just waking from a long dream only to fall back asleep once more. Instinct made him shift, squirm, writhe; the movement helping wake his heavy mind from the uneasy slumber it found itself in.

Then all of a sudden clarity struck, like a hammer to the chest that knocked the air of him, his gasp sharp in the silence. Caelus clutched at his chest, feeling it rise and fall violently, shudders echoing across his form from the sudden awakening. Yet with awakening came coherency, and with coherency came curiosity; his eyes flickering left, right, above and below, seeing only an infinite dark vaster than his mind could possibly perceive.

'...where am I...?' He looked around slower, hoping to spot something, but it was just a void. 'Did I die?'

No, surely not. Memories filtered in slowly as he caught his breath, of protecting March, of fighting against the entity, of... the more he focused the harder it became, his face scrunching. He fought the entity, that much he knew, but the details became muddied. Was it because he'd used two Paths at once, maybe? He was never told not to do it, but common sense suggested using two opposing Paths wasn't a good idea. Then again, it had let him hold his own against the entity, weakened though it may've been...

Such thoughts, however, fled his mind. Because the hairs on his arms stood up, his spine chilled and a tension froze his neck, his brain prickling from the presence that washed over him. One beyond the physical sense, beyond mortal minds, beyond the grasp of his understanding. A presence he'd felt twice before. Once on the Herta Space Station, and once at the summit of Belobog. The presence of a higher being.

An Aeon.

Bells tolled around him, their dull gongs deafening. Chimes jingled in a chorus of titters and a red glow bathed the darkness, preluding the clitter and clatter of numerous objects raining around him, unseen by his eyes but perceived all the same. The pressure on his shoulders grew as his throat convulsed, a sudden urge to laugh welling within him, irrational and senseless – and then in a flash, they were before him.

Masks, floating around a jumble of jack-in-the-boxes and purses lined with teeth. Playing cards that fell like cherry blossoms. An obscured humanoid figure hidden behind it all, imperceivable yet all too real as they held a giant mask in one hand.

Aha, Aeon of Elation.

''Akivili, Akivili, you've gotten yourself into so much trouble!'' The Aeon laughed – numerous, countless masks all mimicking in unison like a crowd. ''You just don't know when to quit! You go off and die, you come back and live, you do what you want – it's so frustrating!''

The masks switched; laughs and smiles replaced by angry scowls and frowns. ''You just came back and you didn't say hi? What happened to all the good times? You know blowing up your train was just a joke, right? Take a joke!''

The impulse to laugh made his chest spasm painfully, jaw taut as he tried in vain to restrain the sound. He failed.

The masked frowns became smiles. ''That's it! Laugh, laugh Akivili! Nanook can wait, he doesn't care!''

''But a certain someone does.'' Aha's voice dropped suddenly, his masks all recoiling from him in fear and looking at one another. ''No no, lots of people are watching! That old blacksmith, even he's paying attention! You must really love that lance of his huh? Since when did you rely on others?''

That's right, when did he? He fought alone. Just like how he fought the Something Unto Death by himself-

-no, March was there. She saved him from more than one deadly blow. If it wasn't for her, he'd have died long before he beat it back.

Bells tolled around him and Aha laughed; their shrill, raspy laugh sending chills up his spine and forcing him to laugh with it, even as he clutched at his head in some desperate attempt to control his own body.

''You hear it don't you?!'' Aha guffawed, their masks all giggling with rictus grins. ''She saw you too! No, no, she did more than see you – you made her angry! Pissed her off! You should see it, it's hilarious!''

He laughed by compulsion, his brain feeling like it might burst with the act. Was he even standing anymore? He didn't know. He couldn't stop looking at Aha.

''Who-'' He managed to rasp out between wheezing laughs. ''Who did I-''

Another bout of laughs forced themselves out of him, his ribs hurting so bad he wished he could rip them out. His throat convulsed and breathing was hard. He felt like he might faint from lack of air, if his brain didn't implode first.

''You don't know?'' The slow lilt to Aha's multitude of voices sounded almost curious; wonderment in its many faces. ''Akivili, how could you not know! You never liked her, she was always getting in your way! How could you forget her – oh she'll be so upset, I'm sure!''

Blackness teased the edge of his vision as the Aha wept, his own eyes stinging as tears fell – a deep, pervasive sorrow suddenly in his heart. How could he forget her? What was her name? She was-

A shadow flickered through the back of his mind, blurred as if by static.

Purple. Purple eyes.

''Yes, yes, that's it! You remember her don't you?!'' Aha's masks crowded around him, surrounding him, smothering him. He couldn't look anywhere but the masks. ''Oh but her name, you've forgotten haven't you – how shameless! Shameless!''

The masks were angry. Sneering. Murderous. All around, ready to rip him to pieces. A mob of anger with him the target.

''Hey, how about this – I'll do you a favour and remind you? For old times' sake!'' Aha gleefully announced.

One mask larger than all floated above him, and with what little strength Caelus had he raised his head to look at it.

It grinned back with all the elation of a friend spilling a secret.

''Her name-''

The bells tolled.

''-is Terminus!''

[END]

A/N: Oh dear, Caelus is in a bit of trouble~

See you next time~