The chopper's blades thundered against the gray dawn, slicing through the air as it carried Ace and Mai westward from Site-19. The blood-red moon had sunk below the horizon, leaving a sky bruised with streaks of purple and ash, a fitting shroud for the hunt ahead. Ace sat by the open door, her long, lush black hair whipping in the wind, her European features—sharp cheekbones, a straight nose, and dark eyes glinting like polished obsidian—set in a mask of quiet determination. Her katanas rested across her back, their reinforced sheaths gleaming faintly under the cabin's dim lights, the seals pulsing with a subtle rhythm that matched her heartbeat. Beside her, Mai clutched her disruptor pistol, her silver hair tied back in a tight ponytail, her jacket patched and stained from their last encounter. The trauma kit hung at her hip, a lifeline she'd grudgingly accepted from Dr. Kessler.
The pilot's voice crackled through their headsets, clipped and mechanical. "ETA twenty minutes. Target: abandoned compound, coordinates locked. No heat signatures yet—stay sharp."
Ace adjusted the tactical scanner on her wrist, its blue hologram flickering to life. The screen displayed a live feed from Foundation satellites—grainy images of a sprawling, decrepit structure nestled in a sea of overgrown fields and skeletal trees. The Midwest compound of the Order of the Verdant Flame, Bright had called it—a relic of a cult that had toyed with forces beyond their ken, leaving behind ruins and whispers of power. The scanner pinged faintly, a ripple of energy signature too weak to pinpoint but enough to confirm something lingered there, waiting.
"Bright's intel better hold up," Mai said, her voice low over the rotor's roar. "This place looks like a graveyard."
"Graveyards are my specialty," Ace replied, her smirk a thin, dangerous curve. "If Violet's here, I'll find her."
Mai shot her a sidelong glance, her expression a mix of worry and resolve. "And then what? She's not just some demon you can cut down. She's… something else."
Ace's smirk softened, but her eyes stayed hard. "She's a lead. Answers about you, about me, about whatever's been stalking us. I don't care what she is—I'll make her talk."
The chopper banked, descending toward a clearing a mile from the compound. The pilot's voice cut in again. "Drop zone ahead. No landing—too hot. Rappel down, and we're gone. Good luck."
Ace nodded, grabbing a coiled rope from the cabin wall. She clipped it to her belt, her movements fluid and practiced, and tossed the end out the door. The wind howled as she gripped the rope, her boots braced against the edge. "Ready?" she asked Mai, her voice steady.
Mai holstered her pistol and clipped in beside her, her jaw tight. "Ready."
They slid down in unison, the rope burning through their gloves as the ground rushed up—a tangle of dead grass and cracked earth bathed in the dawn's weak light. The chopper lifted off the moment their boots hit dirt, its roar fading into the distance, leaving them alone in the silence of the Midwest wilds. The air was cold, sharp with the scent of decay and rust, and the horizon stretched flat and desolate, broken only by the compound's jagged silhouette in the distance.
Ace activated her scanner, its hologram pulsing as it swept the area. "Energy spike, half a mile north," she said, her eyes narrowing. "Faint, but it's her signature—same as the forest."
Mai drew her disruptor, her posture tense. "Let's move."
They set off at a brisk pace, the grass crunching underfoot, the wind whispering through the barren trees. The compound loomed closer with every step—a sprawling ruin of crumbling brick and rusted steel, its walls pocked with holes where time and neglect had eaten away at its bones. Towers rose at odd angles, their tops shattered as if struck by some unseen force, and vines snaked across the ground, their thorns glinting like tiny knives in the dim light. The air grew heavier, charged with a static that prickled Ace's skin, a sensation she'd come to associate with the unnatural.
The scanner beeped louder as they reached the perimeter, its hologram flickering with erratic spikes. Ace crouched behind a collapsed wall, peering through a gap at the compound's courtyard—a cracked expanse of concrete littered with debris: shattered statues, overturned pews, and what looked like the remains of an altar, its stone blackened and split. Symbols glowed faintly along the walls, the same green runes from the warehouse and Harrow's End, pulsing in time with an unseen rhythm.
"She's here," Ace whispered, her smirk returning. "Feel that?"
Mai nodded, her grip tightening on her pistol. "Like the air's alive. What's the play?"
"Straight in," Ace said, rising. "She knows we're coming—hiding's pointless. Keep your eyes peeled; she's slippery."
They moved into the courtyard, Ace leading with her katanas drawn, their blades catching the faint glow of the runes in a dance of silver light. Mai flanked her, disruptor raised, her steps cautious but steady. The silence was oppressive, broken only by the crunch of gravel and the distant howl of wind through the ruins. Shadows stretched long and jagged across the ground, twisting unnaturally as if alive, and Ace's scanner buzzed with increasing urgency, its hologram a chaotic swirl of data.
A flicker of movement caught her eye—a pale shape darting between two broken pillars at the courtyard's far end. Ace's pulse quickened, her smirk widening into a predator's grin. "There," she said, breaking into a run.
Mai followed, her boots pounding the concrete as they closed the distance. The figure vanished around a corner, leading them into a cavernous hall—its roof half-collapsed, its walls lined with faded tapestries depicting cloaked figures and writhing shadows. The air here was thick, humid with the scent of mold and something sweeter, fouler—decay masked by honeysuckle. Light streamed through the broken ceiling in dusty shafts, illuminating a floor strewn with shattered glass and rusted candelabras, their wax long melted into grotesque pools.
Ace slowed, her senses on edge, her katanas held low and ready. The scanner pinged wildly, its hologram locking onto a point twenty meters ahead—behind a toppled statue of a robed figure, its face eroded to a featureless mask. "She's close," Ace murmured, her voice a blade in the stillness.
Mai swept her pistol across the shadows, her breathing shallow. "Too quiet. I don't like it."
"Quiet's her trick," Ace replied, stepping forward. "Come out, Violet. I know you're there."
The air rippled, a distortion that made the dust dance, and the girl emerged from behind the statue as if stepping through a veil. She was small, fragile-looking, her white hair a tangled cascade that glowed faintly under the light, her violet eyes piercing the gloom with an otherworldly intensity. Her tattered cloak hung off her frame, patched and stained, and the cracked pendant at her throat pulsed with a sickly green light, its rhythm syncing with the runes along the walls. Her face was gaunt, her skin pale as moonlight, but there was a sharpness to her—a coiled energy that belied her childlike form.
"You're persistent," Violet said, her voice soft but carrying a weight that pressed against Ace's chest. "I didn't expect you to follow me this far."
Ace's smirk didn't waver, though her grip on her katanas tightened. "You've got answers I want, kid. About Mai, about your little summoning games. Start talking."
Violet tilted her head, her violet eyes glinting with something unreadable—amusement, perhaps, or pity. "Answers? You think I owe you something because you broke my chains?" She stepped closer, her bare feet silent on the glass-strewn floor. "You're a blade, nothing more. Sharp, yes, but blind."
Mai raised her disruptor, her voice steady despite the tension. "You knew those demons were coming for me. Why?"
Violet's gaze flicked to Mai, a flicker of recognition crossing her face. "You were a message," she said, her tone flat. "A warning to her." She nodded at Ace. "They wanted you distracted, broken. I didn't choose you—I just lit the spark."
Ace's eyes narrowed, her mind racing. "They? Who's pulling your strings?"
Violet laughed, a sound like breaking glass, sharp and brittle. "Strings? No one pulls mine anymore. I'm free—thanks to you. But you're still tangled, chasing shadows you don't understand."
The hall trembled, a low rumble that shook dust from the rafters, and the runes flared brighter, their green light casting jagged shadows across the walls. Ace's scanner screeched, its hologram fracturing as energy surged around them. "Enough games," she snapped, shifting into a battle stance. "You're coming with me—one way or another."
Violet's smile widened, a feral edge to it, and the pendant flared, its light blinding. "Try," she whispered, and the shadows erupted.
The hall became a battlefield in an instant, shadows twisting into solid forms—clawed hands, writhing tendrils, eyeless faces that shrieked with voices not of this world. Ace moved like a storm, her katanas flashing as she sliced through the first wave, their microfilament edges cutting shadow as easily as flesh. Black ichor sprayed, sizzling against the stone, filling the air with a stench of sulfur and rot. Her semi-shadow form pulsed, the black aura flaring around her like a living shield, her speed and strength tripling as she danced through the chaos.
Mai fired her disruptor, the rounds bursting in crackling arcs of energy that shattered the shadow-beasts into mist. "Ace, behind you!" she shouted, ducking as a tendril lashed out, its tip grazing her arm and drawing a thin line of blood.
Ace spun, her katana severing the tendril mid-strike, its severed end wriggling on the ground before dissolving. Violet stood at the hall's center, unmoving, her violet eyes glowing brighter, her pendant a beacon of green fire. The shadows flowed from her, an endless tide of nightmare, each form more grotesque than the last—hulking brutes with claws like scythes, serpentine shapes that slithered across the floor, winged horrors that swooped from the rafters with piercing shrieks.
Ace carved a path toward her, her blades a blur of silver and shadow, her smirk replaced by a grimace of focus. A brute lunged, its claws raking the air, and she ducked low, slashing upward to split its torso in a spray of ichor that coated her face and arms, burning where it touched. She didn't flinch, pushing forward as the creature collapsed, its form melting into a puddle of black sludge.
Violet raised a hand, and the floor cracked, jagged spikes of stone erupting in Ace's path. She vaulted over them, her boots skidding on the slick concrete as she landed, her katanas slashing at a serpentine shadow that coiled around her legs. The blade bit deep, severing its head, and it shrieked—a sound that clawed at her ears—before dissipating into mist.
Mai flanked left, her disruptor firing in controlled bursts, each shot staggering the shadows long enough for Ace to strike. A winged horror dove at her, its talons glinting, and she rolled aside, the claws gouging the floor where she'd stood. She fired upward, the disruptor round exploding in its chest, sending it crashing into a tapestry that caught fire, the flames licking at the shadows with a hungry crackle.
"You're good," Violet called over the chaos, her voice eerily calm. "Better than they said. But you're still too late."
Ace reached her, leaping over a final spike to land within striking distance. "Late for what?" she growled, her katanas raised, their seals blazing with silver light.
Violet's smile faded, her violet eyes narrowing. "To stop it," she said, and the pendant pulsed, a shockwave of green energy blasting outward.
Ace braced, her aura flaring to shield her, but the force threw her back, her boots skidding across the floor as she fought to stay upright. Mai cried out, tumbling into a pile of debris, her pistol clattering away. The shadows surged, a tidal wave of claws and teeth, and Ace roared, her katanas slashing in wide arcs to hold them at bay. Ichor rained, pooling at her feet, its heat searing through her boots, but she pressed forward, her eyes locked on Violet.
The girl stepped back, her pendant glowing brighter, and the air warped, a portal of green light tearing open behind her—a swirling vortex of shadow and flame, its edges crackling with raw power. "You want answers?" Violet said, her voice rising over the din. "Follow me—if you can."
She stepped into the portal, and it snapped shut, the shadows collapsing into silence, leaving the hall a ruin of broken stone and smoldering debris. Ace stood panting, her katanas dripping with ichor, her face streaked with blood and ash. Mai staggered to her feet, retrieving her pistol, her breathing ragged.
"She's gone," Mai said, her voice hoarse. "Again."
Ace's smirk returned, slow and dangerous. "Not for long," she said, wiping her blades on her sleeve. "She's baiting me—and I'm biting."
They searched the hall, the scanner guiding them to the spot where the portal had vanished. Its energy lingered, a faint hum that set Ace's teeth on edge, and the runes along the walls pulsed weakly, their light fading. She crouched, running her fingers over the cracked floor, feeling the residual warmth of Violet's power. "She's close," she muttered. "This wasn't a retreat—it's a challenge."
Mai holstered her pistol, her expression grim. "To where? That portal—Foundation's got nothing on that, right?"
"Bright'll know," Ace said, standing. "Or he'll figure it out. Either way, I'm not waiting."
She activated her comm, the device crackling to life. "Bright, you there? Got a situation."
His voice came through, tinny but sharp. "Ace? Thought you'd be knee-deep in Violet by now. What's up?"
"She's gone—portal trick, green light, whole nine yards," Ace said, her tone clipped. "Left a mess and a taunt. I need your eggheads to trace it—now."
Bright whistled, a low, impressed sound. "Portal, huh? That's new. Alright, I'll get Tech on it—scanner's got data, right? Send it over; we'll crunch it. Where are you?"
"Midwest compound," Ace replied. "It's a warzone—your cult's leftovers are active. Symbols, shadows, the works."
"Fun times," Bright said, his grin audible. "Sit tight—chopper's inbound, ETA thirty. We'll pull you back to Site-19, figure this out. Don't die in the meantime."
"Too late for that," Ace shot back, cutting the line. She turned to Mai, her smirk unwavering. "We've got half an hour. Let's see what this place is hiding."
They moved deeper into the compound, the scanner guiding them through crumbling corridors and shattered rooms. The air grew colder, the shadows thicker, and the runes followed them, etched into every surface—walls, floors, even the rusted pipes overhead. Ace's katanas stayed drawn, their blades glinting in the dim light, while Mai swept her disruptor across the darkness, her senses on edge.
They found a chamber at the compound's heart—a circular room with a domed ceiling, its walls covered in a mosaic of green-glowing symbols that pulsed like a heartbeat. At its center stood an altar, its stone cracked and stained with dark, congealed blood, surrounded by a ring of shattered skulls, their eye sockets empty and gaping. The air here was wrong, heavy with a malice that pressed against Ace's chest, and the scanner screeched, its hologram fracturing as it overloaded.
"This is it," Ace said, her voice low. "Where they made her."
Mai stepped closer, her pistol trained on the altar. "Made her? You think she's not human?"
"Human's just a shell," Ace replied, circling the room. "Whatever she is now, it started here. That pendant, the symbols—they're tied to this place."
The floor trembled, a faint rumble that sent dust cascading from the dome, and the runes flared, their light blinding. Ace's aura pulsed instinctively, her katanas raised, and Mai braced beside her, disruptor ready. The altar cracked, a jagged fissure splitting its surface, and green light poured forth, coalescing into a figure—Violet, her white hair glowing, her violet eyes blazing with a fury that shook the chamber.
"You don't quit," she said, her voice a whipcrack of sound. "I gave you a way out—why follow?"
Ace stepped forward, her smirk a challenge. "Because you're not done with me, and I'm not done with you. What's your game, Violet? Who made you? What's coming?"
Violet's pendant flared, its light searing, and the chamber erupted into chaos once more. Shadows poured from the walls, their forms grotesque—hulking beasts with claws like scythes, serpentine tendrils that lashed with venomous speed, winged horrors that shrieked with voices from beyond. Ace charged, her katanas slashing in a whirlwind of silver and shadow, her aura flaring to shield her from the onslaught.
Mai fired, her disruptor rounds bursting in crackling arcs, staggering the shadows as Ace carved through them. Ichor sprayed, coating the walls in a black, sizzling sheen, its heat burning through Ace's sleeves, blistering her skin. She gritted her teeth, pushing forward, her blades finding flesh—or whatever passed for it—again and again, each strike a thunderclap in the confined space.
Violet raised both hands, and the floor shattered, jagged spikes of stone erupting in a deadly maze. Ace vaulted over them, her boots skidding on blood-slick stone, her katanas slashing at a tendril that coiled around her arm, its barbs digging deep. She severed it, ichor gushing in a hot spray that stung her eyes, and rolled aside as a winged horror dove, its talons raking the air where she'd stood.
Mai ducked behind a spike, her disruptor firing at a brute that lumbered toward her, its claws gouging the floor. The rounds staggered it, and Ace leapt, her katana plunging into its skull, splitting it in a spray of black mist that coated her face, its taste bitter and metallic on her tongue. The brute collapsed, its form melting into sludge, and Ace turned, her eyes locking on Violet.
The girl stood atop the altar, her pendant a blazing star, her violet eyes glowing with an intensity that pierced the chaos. "You want truth?" she shouted, her voice echoing with power. "It's bigger than you—bigger than me. They're waking, and you can't stop it!"
Ace dodged a tendril, her katana severing its tip, and charged, her aura pulsing as she closed the distance. "Who's waking?" she roared, leaping onto the altar, her blades aimed at Violet's throat.
Violet's pendant flared, a shield of green light snapping into place, deflecting Ace's strike with a force that sent her skidding back, her boots grinding against the stone. "The Verdant Flame," Violet said, her voice trembling with something—fear, rage, despair. "They burned me into this, and now they're coming back—through me, through you, through everything."
Ace's smirk returned, feral and unyielding. "Then I'll cut them down too," she said, lunging again.
The clash was brutal, a dance of steel and shadow under the green-glowing dome. Violet's power surged, tendrils of light lashing from her pendant, each strike a whipcrack of energy that burned where it grazed Ace's skin, leaving red welts that smoked faintly. Ace countered, her katanas slashing through the light, their microfilament edges carving arcs of silver that shattered the tendrils into sparks. Ichor and blood mingled on the floor, a slick pool that reflected the chaos above, its surface rippling with every impact.
Mai fired from the sidelines, her disruptor rounds punching through the shield in bursts of static, weakening it just enough for Ace to press forward. A tendril caught her leg, its barbs sinking deep, and she snarled, severing it with a downward slash, the pain a white-hot flare she shoved aside. She reached Violet, her katana striking the pendant directly, its edge biting into the cracked surface with a sound like breaking bone.
The pendant shattered, green light exploding outward in a blinding wave that threw Ace back, her body slamming into a spike with a sickening crunch. Pain lanced through her ribs, blood trickling from her mouth, but she forced herself up, her smirk blood-streaked but unbroken. Violet staggered, her violet eyes dimming, her white hair falling limp as the shadows dissolved, the chamber falling silent.
Mai rushed to Ace's side, her pistol trained on Violet. "You okay?" she gasped, her voice tight.
"Been worse," Ace grunted, spitting blood onto the floor. She limped forward, her katana raised, its tip hovering an inch from Violet's throat. "Talk," she said, her voice low and deadly. "Everything—now."
Violet sank to her knees, her pendant's shards scattered around her, their light extinguished. Her violet eyes met Ace's, hollow but defiant. "The Order," she whispered, her voice raw. "They forged me—child of their rituals, vessel for their gods. The Verdant Flame's not dead—it's waking, piece by piece, through the shadows I call. You've stopped nothing—just delayed it."
Ace's grip tightened, her blade steady. "Where are they?"
"Everywhere," Violet said, a bitter smile twisting her lips. "In the dark, in the runes, in me. You'll see."
The chamber trembled, a distant roar echoing through the ruins, and Ace's scanner beeped, its hologram flickering with a dozen new signatures—energy spikes, closing fast. She lowered her katana, her smirk returning, sharper than ever. "Then I'll hunt them too," she said, stepping back. "You're coming with us—Foundation's got a cage with your name on it."
Violet laughed, a weak, broken sound, and the air warped, a faint green shimmer enveloping her. "Not yet," she whispered, and vanished, leaving only the echo of her words and the shattered pendant in her wake.
Ace cursed, her katana slamming into the altar, splitting it in two with a crack that echoed through the chamber. Mai grabbed her arm, steadying her. "She's gone again," she said, her voice tense. "What now?"
Ace wiped blood from her lip, her smirk unyielding. "Now we call Bright," she said, activating her comm. "And then we hunt harder."
The chopper's roar sounded in the distance, its lights piercing the dawn as it descended. The compound was a ruin, its secrets spilling forth, and Ace stood amidst the wreckage, her katanas dripping, her resolve a fire that burned brighter than ever. Violet was close—closer than she'd ever been—and Ace would track her to the ends of the earth, through shadows and blood, until the truth was hers.