Lorelei didn't know what was going on, really. The happy couple had just been about to kiss, and then the world started ending.
Well, that wasn't quite how it'd happened. She'd felt something like IT happen again. That cold, clammy feeling had crept over her entire body that made her hair stand on end like nothing else ever had.
The vision and the seemingly sourceless knowledge and feelings pushed onto her had been different, however.
Rather than a single large tapestry involuntarily dominating her mind's eye, bolt after bolt of fabric, dyed an unimaginable number of colors and imprinted with a kaleidoscope of designs, had tumbled through an unknown void, all of it catching alight, burning, and catching alight again, until it all rained down as the same unremarkable, snowy ash.
Then the screaming began. Tanya had grabbed a pistol from his suit, Viktoriya had grabbed a rifle out from the seven-foot-tall flower arrangement that had framed the pair, and they'd flown out from the church while others began reacting, either to them or to the vision.
So, Lorelei didn't know what was going on. Something was, but she didn't know what. Foreboding had filled her to the brim upon the vision's end, but nothing more. She didn't know, like she'd known when IT had happened, that Eris was…
She shook her head and looked around, the chaos unfolding slowly penetrating her daze. Walter, Ignis, Gerrard, and Darkness were among those trying to calm down the crowd, though their efforts went mostly ignored as everyone tried to flee from the church. She glanced to her side to find Aqua, who seemed to be strangling Kazuma while wailing witlessly. She shook her head at them and walked towards the single, uneasy-looking bystander.
"I'm… going to go find them. I guess." She drifted away, towards the back of the church. Megumin nodded, a distant look in her eyes as the sounds of Kazuma and Aqua bickering faded.
Slipping out of the backdoor nearly hidden from view behind crates enigmatically labeled 'T.S.P.', she ran as best she could in her dress through the simmering streets of Axel. Again, the latest vision was all she heard talk of as she raced past. One Eris Priest claimed that their doomsday predictions had come true, but she was past that throng of people long before she could hear anything more.
Mercifully, there didn't seem to be any riots or fights breaking out.
With Eris… gone, she didn't know who to thank for that.
There was a small crowd gathered outside their party's residence/the city's office. She ignored the questions they asked as she circumvented the crowd. As she raised a key to open the door, the faint sound of crashing, swearing, and shouting reached her ears. She scowled in confusion. Why wasn't the soundproofing-
The door opened, a wall of clattering and banging buffeted her, and, after a moment of stunned shock, she hurried inside and slammed the thick wooden door shut.
Leaning against the door and closing her eyes, she took a deep, bone-weary sigh as she rested her body.
BUMP BUMP BUMP!
"Is that-"
CRASH!
"Lorelei, it's just Lorelei. Certainly, it's not her. Keep packing- no, pack faster."
"Anyway, how far?"
BANG! THUNK!
"The other side of the planet, ideally. We were already going to go south for our 'honeymoon,' so we do that… but more. Once we reach the ocean, we'll find whatever boat is sailing the furthest away from Belzerg and pay however much it costs to leave. After that…"
FWOOSH!
"Isn't that leaving a lot up to chance?"
"Of course not. No matter what hardship we'd face wherever we end up, it couldn't possibly measure up to her."
"…Yes, you're right. Um… money?"
"How much could we steal?"
"Violently, or through embezzlement? And how are we going to hide our trail?"
BOOM! BANG!
"Illusion spells should hopefully suffice, but if not, then-"
Recovered, slightly curious about the noise upstairs but mostly anxious, Lorelei balled her fists and trudged up the stairs. She wasn't looking forward to this, especially because if she'd heard them correctly, through all of the banging, then they were leaving, which…
Her ears twisted, involuntarily and painfully, and she shook her head and smoothed out her smoldering expression as she knocked once on their door. She didn't wait for a response to open it.
They were a mess. Both had been crying, as evidenced by the dark, watery lines trailing down Viktoriya's cheeks and far fainter but matching lines carved in the foundation applied to Tanya's face. Frustratingly, their clothes are messily torn, either from the wind or from…
Noticing the large hole in the ceiling, Lorelei's wide eyes blinked.
That explained the noise, then.
Their computation jewels glowed faintly as they both stared at her. She stared back, her anxiety growing at the sight of both of them so nakedly afraid of their surroundings. She licked her lips.
Still, she didn't let their state distract her overmuch. "You're leaving?" She tried to keep the accusation out of her voice, that they were abandoning everyone, that they were abandoning her, because she didn't want to create a misunderstanding.
After a few moments, they both breathed a sigh of relief in response to her words. Even as Viktoriya beamed at her, she felt her eyebrows crease. Had… they been worried she was an enemy?
She didn't get a chance to ask. Tanya talked as he busied himself with throwing open the last of their drawers to gather more clothing. "How much can you carry? I need to know when I'm determining how much you should carry with a reinforcement spell. We're planning to travel relatively light, but knowing now means less guessing later."
Now Lorelei was blindsided, by her own relief that she wasn't, in fact, being left behind, and then by further confusion. "Travel? Where- no,why are we going?"
A frustrated breath pushed out of Tanya, then he snapped off an order to Viktoriya to go get the deed for the house and to find someone to sell the place to. She nodded grimly and sped towards the floor below, while Tanya turned to Lorelei with a piercing, appraising look.
Lorelei wasn't unnerved, and Tanya gave it up after a few seconds. "Do you remember," he began, "the girl named Mary Sioux?"
Lorelei blinked. "Yeah. She- uh…" she trailed off, not sure how to bring up the incident Lorelei knew her from.
"Yes," Tanya said, moving swiftly past the subject. "Her."
Lorelei's brows creased. "But… she's Chris, isn't she?"
Tanya's grave, worried look deepened into a familiar scowl. "I…" her scowl further deepened, and Lorelei saw a faint blush break through his makeup. "I don't understand it either. I presumed, based on her dedication to eliminating me and her knowledge involving both myself and my capabilities, that she must be Mary Sioux. Certainly, she didn't contradict my assumption… which only means it served her in some way-"
He started to pace, but he stopped himself quickly with a shake of his head. "No, we don't have time for this. We'll have to reassess the information we know while we're on the run."
"'On the run?'" Lorelei parroted. "You're-"
"Fleeing? Of course," Tanya replied quickly, his upper lip drawn upwards in disgust. "What choice do we have?"
He barreled past any questions or statements Lorelei might have replied with. "It pains me to leave everything behind, Lorelei, but we can't fight her. We," he said, taking two steps to get as close to Lorelei as he could, "are going to die if we fight her."
Lorelei took a step back from the small man. "There's nothing we could do to-"
"Not a thing." Tanya bit out angrily. He took a shaky breath, and he continued. "Nothing. In that last battle, she killed most of the battalion before I had to sacrifice myself to take her down. I-"
He gulped. "He always made sure she was stronger than I was, but I outclassed her in skill. At least, I did in the beginning and middle. By the end, I won't shy from admitting she was at least as good as the 203rd."
"It hardly mattered," he growled. "I don't know if she'd gotten a breakthrough or if that bastard was just tired of toying with me or what, but she was at least an order of magnitude stronger than the last time we'd fought her, if not more. She would have killed everyone, and then probably me, all on her own."
He was quiet for a moment. "So, we're running." He busied himself with finishing with his and Viktoriya's bags. "Her signature came from roughly northwest of us, several hundred miles away."
Lorelei frowned. "That's…"
"Most likely, she's at the Demon King's castle. I don't know why she's been sent there, but she has. There's the possibility that she won't ally with him, or even that she isn't exactly there or that I'm not her only goal, but it hardly matters. She'll come for us eventually."
Tanya slung one bag over his own shoulder and carried the other out of the room. Lorelei stumbled after him. "But- You've gotten stronger, right? Couldn't you-"
"And so has she, apparently!" Tanya half-yelled, half-screamed. "We felt her from here." He took another breath as he descended the stairs. "The last person we felt arrive like that was Aqua." He paused, for a moment. "Imagine," he continued, his voice leaden with the dregs of his fear and dread, "what could be done with that much power in a fight."
He spoke faster and faster. "With enough energy, it almost doesn't matter what spell you pick. Explosion can devastate cities, every town has to have a cemetery with at least a few lingering souls that haven't found salvation," he spat, "and even the basic spells like Create Water could be pushed past a regular advanced spell if they have enough mana behind them. All it would take would be a few Archmages with access to Teleport and a month or two of travel to ensure a series of rapid strikes on every last city in Belzerg."
He took a steadying breath as they walked down the stairs. "Sioux isn't as strong as Aqua, I think, but she's stronger than she was in her first life. She's definitely smarter than Aqua, and more than willing to use the power she does have to kill us. There's nothing we can do to win."
Lorelei was grasping at straws. "Well, if Aqua's on your side-"
"A dubious assumption, but even so, she can't dodge bullets, and she has access to destructive capabilities that surpass mine." His feet touched the ground floor.
Lorelei thought furiously. If… if Tanya was this sure he couldn't win, then Lorelei didn't have a hope of fighting something like that. She doesn't want to fight something like that.
Tanya noticed her hesitation. His lips thinned. "Obviously, if you don't want to come with us, I understand-"
"Are you actually any better off if you run?"
It was Tanya's turn to blink owlishly as Lorelei continued. "Maybe you have a head start if you leave now and if she has other goals, but would that matter, if Being X sent her after you? Wouldn't he just tell her where to go?"
Tanya's face scrunched up, and he began muttering under his breath as he began pacing. "If she truly had infinite mana… then, maybe mithril… but there would be no way to move it, and he's clearly lied about leaving us alone…"
Tanya touched his forehead with one hand and collapsed into a chair in the dining room. "Then I'm dead."
He chuckled mirthlessly. "That fucking bastard, why doesn't he just smite-"
"Hey!"
Tanya blinked and seemed to remember Lorelei was still there. "I might not measure up to you two in a fight," Lorelei admits, "but that isn't going to stop me from doing what I can to help you."
She silently promised herself she would close the gap between her and them. What were friends for, if they didn't support each other in blood feuds with higher beings?
…Lorelei shivered slightly and felt her fur stand on end. She'd think of a better, less intimidating way to word that. "I'm sure there are plenty of people who'd say the same," she continued.
Tanya scowled, for a moment. "We should have made Aigis stay around a bit longer," he muttered. Then, he stood up, his lips and eyes set in a determined scowl. "If she's going to be able to find us anywhere, then fighting her on our own terms will be our best bet," he said grimly. "Victory is impossible."
He smirked. It was a weaker one, compared to the others Lorelei has seen, but it was there. "That hasn't stopped us before."
-OxOxO-
Five minutes. That's all He could give them before He moved on to the next, and five minutes was more than He could give most of the billions of new deities that were the result of hundreds of millions of Breaks. Unfortunately, that world had seen quite a few powerful entities attracted to it, most notably Mary Sioux. He's sure she's not the only notable arrival, but identifying everyone who'd left would take years, while filling all the positions left vacant would take decades, even with the abandonment clauses baked into everyone's contract since the War that the Anniversary 'commemorated.'
Regardless of who else was there, both her and the Atheist being there meant He needed someone reliable watching over them in case things spiraled out of control.
So. The first thing He did when He came into their small, unadorned room in one of many hospital-like realms was interrupt their argument by telling them they had five minutes of His time.
The next thing He did was demand their names.
While still figuratively bound to their beds for the moment, the one on the left bowed her head and back as much as she was able, the white frills of her deep-purple habit falling over her eyes. "I am Eris, supreme deity-"
The other interrupted her. "You can take her name, but that doesn't make you her, sister."
He held up a hand and quelled the frustration of interrupter and interrupted both. "Five. Minutes."
The other shrugged her bare shoulders. "I think I'll call myself Chris, for now. I'll speak with my most faithful and see if-"
"That cretin-"
"Neither of you are leaving anytime soon," He decreed, and for the first time since He'd shown up, their ire was no longer bared at each other but at Him. They spoke simultaneously. "But-"
"Now," He continued. "What are you?"
Anger simmering, they were quiet for a moment. "Sisters," the one wearing rugged, sporty clothes replied. The other sneered and drew herself up as much as her hospital bed would allow. "I am Eris, and you are naught but offal I have cast off in order to attain purity."
Chris rolled her eyes, and though Eris glared at her, neither said anything more.
"Alright," He continued. "Are your beliefs so divergent that you'll try and kill each other without supervision?" That was His first priority, to see if they could be trusted in the same room.
Chris replied immediately. "No." Eris took a few moments, looking between Him and Chris for a few moments. Chris looked increasingly incredulous at the blank mask on her face. Eventually, she inclined her head slightly. "You are wrong about a great many things, debris, and though your beliefs are heretical… you are neither demon nor nonbeliever. I won't kill you."
"Deh-bris? Is that… supposed to be a play on our names?" Chris muttered to herself, confused and incredulous. Eris ignored the muttered comment, though He just sighed in relief as He massaged His face. "Wonderful. I've seen far too many fights and will surely see many more, but one less is always welcome." He thanked them both, which garnered a 'No problem' and an 'Of course.'
He asked, "Will you have any trouble dividing your duties?"
That caused the argument His arrival had interrupted to erupt once more. "Please try to codify and solidify yourselves and come to some kind of agreement," He shouted over their fighting. "With Sioux and at least three deities on that world, a close eye must be kept on it. I don't want to, but I'll find someone to supervise the two of you if you can no longer measure up."
With that last pronouncement, He left, off to speak with another deity who had broken. Their argument petered out slowly, His words still ringing in their heads.
Eris glared at the wall opposite of her bed, just to the left of the door.
After a few minutes, she opened her mouth and, haltingly, began to negotiate the division of their duties. She needed to do a great many things, including ensuring the royal family remained faithful to her and that the waste of space laying in the bed to her right's ideology was hampered and constrained.
To do both of those things, and more, she needed to have a chat with her most faithful… which meant divvying up their duties as fast as possible.
They talked, and Eris, still glaring daggers into the wall, silently schemed. She was done playing games. She may now have fewer believers than the waste she'd cast off, but hers were pure, and through their purity, they and she were powerful. Through them, she would kill the Atheist and the refuse's most faithful for dividing her followers, she would kill the Demon King for making war on her followers, and she would kill 'Chris' for existing.
She had been truthful when answering her Lord; Eris hardly needed to do the deed herself. Once she was proven to be the real Eris and this fake was proven to be nothing but a shadow, she would regain her followers, Chris would fade into nothingness, and Eris could watch.
They might smile at each other now, but she undoubtedly was plotting the same, and Eris would not allow one so irresolute as 'Chris' to reign over her followers. Luck, Eris's blessing, would elevate the truly faithful, leaving the heathens, blasphemers, and unzealous to rot in the dust.
-OxOxO-
He had two minutes. He had to continue reassigning Angels and Gods and Goddesses and Deities, to cover the most egregious holes in Heaven's administration, so two minutes was all He could give him before He moved on to the next. That was more than He could give most of the trillions of Angels he had to reassign, who received two or three sentences containing orders and little else, and the Angels he has had to create, which only got one sentence.
Unfortunately, that world had seen quite a few powerful entities attracted to it, most notably Mary Sioux. He was not willing to give up an Angel of her caliber so easily, especially when her quest was so small-minded. Honestly, killing the Atheist? She'd die in a few decades anyway. Why not simply wait for that to happen and gloat before she was sent down to Hell?
So. When this Angel came in to receive his assignments, He closed the door behind the Angel with a twitch of an eyebrow. The Angel was slightly surprised, but he said nothing.
"Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin," He said. The Angel inclined his head.
He read from a file. "Following your death and arrival in Heaven, you were offered the chance to become an Angel, which you took after speaking with some others." He flipped the cover page over and reread another section. "Additionally, you now have a modicum more power than the standard Angel. In the decades after the collapse of the Russy Federation, you were elevated to sainthood for your attempts to ensure the survival of the Russy Empire and then the Russy Republic in the civil war, for the help you gave to hundreds through your magical abilities, and your steadfast adherence to your faith, even in the face of offers of clemency, prestige, and power in exchange for denunciations of your beliefs and your past." He looked up to see the Angel hadn't moved an inch.
The Angel inclined his head again. "It is as you say, Father."
He was quiet, for a moment, but He didn't – couldn't – take the time to reminisce, within His own mind or with the Angel. "I have no desire to go back on my word to the Atheist," He growled, anger leaking into His words despite His best efforts, "but she will see Sioux's appearance there that way regardless. How familiar are you with Mary Sioux?"
He hummed appraisingly. "I was tasked with assisting the medical mages of the international volunteer force a number of times when their casualties were particularly severe, though I and other Russy doctors were not allowed around her. She thanked me and the others profusely at every opportunity."
"Additionally," he said, quieter this time, "we spoke of both our ideology and our faith once. I… found her beliefs to be warped by tragedy, though she did not begrudge me the mild distaste I held her views in."
He nodded, wincing slightly. "And your opinion of the woman herself?"
"Strong," he said. "A bit naive. As time went on and her accomplishments grew, I came to see her as a ferocious, skilled, and powerful fighter. I also felt that her desire for revenge was consuming her. If she did not end up dead, I thought obtaining her revenge would leave her lost, in a way that even faith may not have triumphed over."
He nodded once more and moved swiftly onwards, His decision now confirmed. "I feel, given your limited but positive relationship with the Atheist, she may not immediately perceive you as a threat if she encounters you on the mission I have in mind."
He continued to speak, and the Angel's head dropped, eyes closed, in deference.
"Go forth and bring Mary Sioux back to Heaven," He intoned.
He couldn't have sent in any Angels before the Anniversary. The number of people who believed in Him there could be counted on two hands, and He had needed to try and conserve Heaven's mana.
Though He did not know how many of His flock had made their way there, He knew that a few had. With even a bare handful and no need to save mana, He could act much more freely.
Rasputin looked up at Him with dark eyes framed by a thin face and darker hair. "What should I do if she refuses to be convinced? She's very headstrong, especially concerning her enemy," he cautioned, as if He didn't already know and hadn't chosen her to enact His plan with precisely those qualities in mind.
He took in a deep breath, and then reached into the air next to His head. The files that had been floating in the air disappeared with His hand, which emerged with a length of dark, roughly-made rope three feet long and knotted on each end.
"I am afraid," He said gravely, "that I am unwilling to give her a choice in the matter. Tie this around any part of her, speak the word 'return,' and the both of you will be brought back."
"I… understand," he said, bowing his head and then looking back up. "I am ready."
He snapped His fingers, and Rasputin was gone, whisked away and placed on that world in a place he would be able to acclimate himself before starting his mission. He prayed the man would succeed, and then He opened the door once more, and Angels filed in, one by one, to shore up Heaven while the extent of the damage was assessed.
The Angel's words circled in His head, and He felt His heart shudder. Desperately, He wished He could talk to Siddhartha and Vishnu. But they were busy, and so was He.
He was so, so tired.
-OxOxO-
They were staying.
Neither of them were completely sure about it, but they were staying.
Yes, they'd invested a lot of time and effort into this place. The seeds of their attack on the Demon King were here. Tanya's governorship was here. The Mithril Foundation was here. Their allies and acquaintances and friends were all in Belzerg.
None of that would have mattered if fleeing meant they would survive. Fleeing wouldn't, or they would have left, investments or not.
Tanya stared up at the ceiling of the room. Their actual room had a hole in the ceiling, so they were sleeping in another room, in sleeping bags, apart from each other. It was far from what he'd imagined the aftermath of the wedding would be like… but needs must. Sleeping too deeply or getting 'distracted' might spell the end for them.
He sighed, utterly tired after the trying day, yet unable to close his eyes.
She spoke. "Can't sleep?"
He hummed in agreement, his thoughts drifting further along. He thought back to the night after his birthday, when the euphoria of their newfound relationship had been overwhelming, and when fears of the future had driven his mind to darker possibilities.
He didn't want her to die. That outcome was not acceptable to him, no matter what else happened. The only thing he'd felt that was close to as strong as his love for her was his fear of losing her.
"I'd do anything for you," he promised truthfully. The words weren't just for her to hear, but for himself as well. He spoke them out into the world, and he knew that he was speaking the truth, that he'd go to any length for her sake.
"Anything?" she asked, humor tinged with the anxiety of the day dripping from her words. Tanya hummed his tired agreement.
"Then, you would promise me something, right?" she asked, her voice quieter. Tanya suspected what she was going to say, because they knew each other almost better than they knew themselves.
They both knew that Tanya wasn't joking about doing anything for her. They both knew that making sweeping statements that couldn't possibly cover every situation they might encounter wasn't exactly logical. They both knew that logic, even if not as self-interested and emotionless as it once was, was at the core of who Tanya was.
"Promise me you won't throw away who you are for my sake."
He closed his eyes, and she continued, her voice laced with trepidation for their inevitable encounter with her. "I don't want you to compromise yourself like that for my sake. Don't sacrifice yourself for me."
Not again. The words were so quiet, he wasn't sure he hadn't imagined them. Spoken or unspoken, those two words were integral to the promise she wanted him to make.
It should have been an easy promise to make, and part of Tanya doesn't want to argue against making it. What could be easier for a living thing than promising not to self-destruct, literally or figuratively?
Still, he felt the urge to argue against the promise she wanted to hear, because Viktoriya was worth it. How insane was it, after so many years of strict emotional control and adhering as closely as he could to his beliefs, that he found the idea of compromising them away for her sake appealing?
It was complete lunacy… and yet he still wanted to argue in favor of the viability of sacrificing himself for her, because losing her scared him more than death and whatever came next, especially because what came next probably wouldn't be that bad.
Not for her, at least.
Unless Being X decided punishing her would hurt him more than anything else ever would.
He gulped quietly. However, he'd said he'd do anything for her, so instead of arguing, he obtained a promise of his own.
"Promise me the same, liebchen. I… I promise not to sacrifice myself for you, if you'll do the same." Their sleeping bags were already pressed together as close as they could be, but he tried to press more tightly against her anyway.
She was quiet for a moment. "I promise, Tanya. I won't sacrifice myself for you."
Guilt clung to his throat and pain lanced his heart for the remainder of his time awake, for lying to her. He was sure lying to him made her feel the same.
-OxOxO-
A/N 1: A shorter chapter, but given this is the second half of the story, I felt it necessary to have a bit of a setup. There will probably be at least one more chapter of setup before we get back into the swing of things.
A/N 2: You could have read this chapter's draft early! If you like what you're reading and want to help out, want to read drafts before they get posted, and vote in polls that decide what I will post, see Sugarcane Soldier at the place of Patrons.
Thank you to WarmasterOku, Theewizzz, Afforess, UNSC_Kawakaze, Vee, malenkaya, Saito Tachibana, and GnashingBeef for supporting this story and everything else I write.