Avaria fell to the ground with a gasp as she felt the blood seep from her chest. The crystal slid out of the wound as she tried to make her hands work. Her veins bulged as she felt bile build in her throat and her nose begin to bleed. Through her blurred vision, she saw her almost completely black and purple hands. Luckily, she was feeling enough pain to numb her senses. The familiar warmth of Merrick’s hands wrapped around her body and lifted her off the ground as she groaned in agony. He hastily walked backwards and away from the constant explosions from the flameticks. The nauseating sensation of teleportation pulsed through her body as the light enveloped her.

Merrick grunted as the light disappeared, almost dropping her. She looked up to him, wanting to be able to heal him more. “D-did it work?”

“You’re going to kill yourself.” He muttered to her as he set her body down, holding onto his blackened arm. She sadly looked at him and shook her head. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Merrick didn’t respond and gripped tightly to his forearm, his face agitated, but not in pain. He slowly stood up straight, scanning the surroundings. “We need to keep moving, it was a blind jump and he’ll catch up.”

She cried out as he put an arm around her shoulder and under her knees, the pain now noticeable through the shock. His touch burned and her blood started to boil. She looked over to him, fear in her eyes, her mouth frozen and trembling. He muttered out loud. “You should’ve left her.”

She would’ve argued with him if the pain wasn’t so unbearable. The wound on her chest was already closing, but the agony worsened the more it healed. Her ether was almost completely burnt, and once that ran out… She forced her lips to move, barely able to manage a whisper. “Y-you need to leave me.”

“No.”

“I-I won’t be-” She coughed, feeling her throat close up. He didn’t listen as she started to panic more. Her senses were starting to dull as her vision began to blur. She strained to remain conscious, and was only able to remain in a semi-lucid state. A whisper floated through her mind as she felt Merrick move with her in his arms.

You care about her, why?

Avaria tried to look around, but failed to move.

Realistically, I know why, but I still can’t understand it. She’s tried to kill you so many times.

“W-what…” Her words came out in an exhale as Merrick tried to lean close to listen.

And him, what about him has you so attached? Isn’t he stopping you? So counterintuitive.

She saw his emerald eyes through her deafened eyes as his black hair brushed over his eyebrows.

Do you want a reminder?

Before Avaria could think about it, an image was shoved into her mind, causing her to shudder. She watched a familiar town through her own eyes as storm clouds in the distance gathered in the air. It was Steeltusk, a small mining town in the mountains, and she wasn’t welcome here anymore. Her breath shook as a mob moved towards her. She scrambled back on the ground, her arm broken from a previous engagement. “P-please, stop-”

A boot flew into her stomach, sending her back to the ground. Hands grabbed onto her arms, lifting her to her knees. A piercing pain shot through her back as her flesh was carved away. She screamed as a shatter echoed behind her as another fist knocked her to the ground. Blow after blow slammed into her body as she slowly started to feel numb. Everything started to blur and she coughed up blood while trying to protect her head. She lay bloodied and bruised on the dirt, every breath paining her.

The blows slowly stopped as her body shook in pain. Through her vision, a cloaked figure slowly walked forward and drew his sword. She tried to tell him to stop as he swiftly cut a man's throat and advanced. Another fell to a stab through the chest, and another lost their arm. Avaria helplessly watched as blood flew through the air and Merrick stayed completely calm, cutting down one after another. A head rolled in front of her as she tried to move herself, only managing to curl her fingers slowly. She listened to the cries as the slaughter continued.

Avaria screamed out and fell out of Merrick’s arms, shaking. “Why? W-hy did you make me relive that?”

Merrick quickly supported her head and checked her breathing. “What are you talking about?” She let tears roll from her eyes and tried to forget the pain.

You were about to think about it on your own. Hm, maybe I made a misjudgement. You don’t hold anything against anybody, do you?

“N-no, I…” She grimaced as Merrick’s arms picked her up again, sending a shock through her. He flicked his eyes from the empty road ahead to her. “Who are you talking to?”

I was made similarly to you, as a conduit I mean.

“H-huh?”

I don’t know if I wanted this or not. You, on the other hand, at least remember that you were forced, or maybe that’s because others told you that, right? How much of your past has been told instead of lived in?

“Wait, w-what was-” She couldn’t finish her sentence and ended up in a fit of coughs as Merrick slowed his pace, giving her a moment.

You don’t understand, maybe as much as I don’t. This pain is your choice, futile hopes can’t solve your problems.

The voice dissipated as she looked upwards with bleary eyes. Merrick grunted and let her rest against a wall. They now were in a garden with blooming flowers surrounding them, but somehow they all had the same muted blue grey colour. She took a second to marvel at it, with an oddly familiar feeling of sad reminiscence washing over her. “Where… are we?”

He shook his head and quickly flicked his eyes around, scanning the area. “I don’t know, who were you talking to?”

“The voice, from when we first came here.” She watched him closely as he grimaced and looked away. “I remember.”

She returned her gaze back to the garden, watching the leaves from the small rounded bushes softly sway back and forth. It had a calming beauty to it. “Where are we?”

“I don’t know.” He repeated himself and moved to pick her back up, but she stopped him and slowly pushed herself to her feet, feeling her legs wobble as she stood. He lent her his arm and she rested on his shoulder and began to walk with him, her other hand clutching onto her head as the pain crawled through her. The sensation clawing at her mind told her that her eyes were probably still red. She didn’t have a lot of time left. “Merrick, I can’t hold on forever, you need to leave.”

“I won’t.”

“Merrick please-”

“No. It’s too dangerous to leave you alone.” He looked at her and shook his head, muttering to himself. “We need to get out of this mess.”

She carefully stepped over a small flower bush, trying to not damage it. This place sent mixed feelings of peacefulness and wariness, and she tried her hardest to force herself to remember why. Through her confusion, she slowly realized she wasn’t moving with Merrick anymore. Her legs were carrying her forwards, slowly dragging and stumbling across the floor. Something was pulling her away, something that she needed to be closer to. A distant voice called through her foggy hearing as a hand grasped at her shoulder. She gasped and fell to her knees, the pain returning to her body. “W-what just happened?”

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“Come on, we need to go.”

“I’m losing control-”

“Which is why we need to go, come on.” He helped her up and started to move again, quicker than before. She was slipping, and it was only a matter of time. If she could just prolong it a little more, then maybe Merrick could… She slowly realized that the pain was gone again, and that she was moving on her own. There was something closeby, something so potently alluring. It felt cathartic to move closer as she felt something brush against her arm. She kept moving forward, breathing evenly as her thoughts drifted. She couldn’t see, but that didn’t matter. Suddenly, something jerked her backwards, pulling her out of her trance. The pain returned, worse than it ever was before.

An arrow whizzed forward, burying itself in her shoulder. She screamed and collapsed as voices murmured in her dulled hearing. From what she could see, it was no longer a garden that she was in, but a sparse forest. How long had she been walking? What shot the arrow? A voice cut through the murkiness in a low growl. “Focus.”

She struggled to move herself as she recognized the gruff tone. “Merrick, I can’t-” She cried out as everything darkened. The burning pain shot through her, coating everything in a tingling agony. The only thing she could see in front of her were grey and blue lights, with one shining so much brighter than the rest.

~

Kashire hissed to Felicia as Raynauld watched the dark haired man with the sparsely bandaged and blackened arm draw his long curved sword. “Whatever you’re seeing, that’s not a human.”

“But-” Felicia tried to start but stopped as a grating scream echoed along with the sound of slowly ripping flesh. Raynauld paused, his glaive pointed forward. The woman cried out and leaned forward, black and jagged crystalline bones erupting from her back. The crystal took the shape of skeletal wings as they flared outwards. It was like an abbadon, just somehow more unnerving. Their cries slowly stifled as they moved upwards. The man in front of them quickly glanced back, gritting his teeth.

Raynauld barely was able to process what was going on as the woman shot forward, their silver hair a blurred streak as they moved at blindingly fast speed. Kashire cried out as he was slammed into a tree, a hand on his throat. The woman’s expression was completely calm, but the intensely glowing red eyes sent a shiver down Raynauld’s spine. The wings flared again, sending small spikes outwards towards everybody around, forcing them to cover themselves. Kashire choked as the woman’s hand buried into his stomach, sending a squelching sound echoing outwards. Aldrich’s greatsword moved towards the monster, but she was already off of Kashire who slumped down to the ground.

A flash of a blade swung towards Raynauld’s neck, forcing him to dodge and back away. Felicia tried to move towards the man, but was forced to move back as he threw a thin needle towards her. Raynauld blocked a swift blow from the man and tried to do a swing of his own, only to find the man had already moved out of the way and was preparing an attack. Blocking the upwards strike, Raynauld caught sight of Aldrich visibly struggling as the monster pushed against his arm and helmet, their face still the exact same expression as before. The crystals flared again, sending a barrage of spikes out once more. The man was forced to break off from Raynauld to dodge some. One hit Raynauld’s chestplate, deflecting off and then shattering. He had never seen something like this before. That thing had to die.

Another strike from the man’s sword flew towards his throat, pushing Raynauld back while blocking with his glaive. A small vial flew out of the man’s hand and towards him, which he dodged, letting it hit the wall behind and explode into a purple mist. The cloud burned Raynauld’s eyes and throat as he tried to maintain his focus on the man who was still attacking him. Floyd moved in from behind, distracting the man long enough for Raynauld to get out of the cloud with a cough. Felicia ran up to him, worry in her eyes as she looked from him to the battle around her while trying to heal him.

Aldrich slammed the crossguard of his sword into the woman’s head, to which she smashed his helmet into a tree, cracking the wood. Floyd cried out as his arm was cut and the man readied his sword to decapitate him. Raynauld stabbed at him before he finished the motion, forcing him to jump to the side. The man backed away from the flurry of jabs as Raynauld kept advancing, his eyes focused. They locked their blades together and tried to maneuver their weapons into each other. A scream cut through the air, one that made Raynauld’s eyes widen. Felicia fell back and braced her sword with both hands as the monster pushed against it, one of their hands clawing towards her throat. Raynauld’s eyes flicked to the man who he was still locking blades with, and to his surprise, he grit his teeth and cursed, breaking off.

Felicia whimpered as her sword was pushed to the ground and the monster’s eyes burned crimson. The man ran towards them, his sword pointed away. “AVARIA!”

The monster turned and stared at him, their face slowly reverting from the dead look. The reds in their eyes seemed calmer as they recognized the man as he drew nearer. Then, they turned to fear as they looked around. Her hands quickly grabbed onto Felicia’s sword. They picked it up, one hand on the handle and the other on the blade as they placed it against their stomach. With a quick thrust, the blade pierced their body and went out their back. They cried out and pushed it even further inwards up to the handle of the blade. Everything seemed to stop as she choked, slumping down to her knees with trembling hands. “Merrick… it’s not enough.”

The man slowly walked forward, nodding grimly. “... I know.” He placed his sword on the back of her neck, carefully positioning it.

“W-what?” Felicia’s voice was weak as she lay still on the ground on her elbows, looking up at the woman’s still red eyes. A quick crack and spurt echoed as the man’s sword pierced her neck, severing the spine. A somber look stayed on her face as she stared at Felicia, the red fading from her eyes. The man caught the body before it hit the floor and the crystal wings started to dematerialize into a purple mist. He removed Felicia’s sword from their abdomen and let it clatter to the ground, slick with blood. Felicia stared at the body silently, her mouth quivering. The man slung the body over his back, one leg over one shoulder and the arm over the other. He then pulled his sword out and placed it to Felicia’s chest.

Raynauld bolted forwards but stopped as he saw the man keep his hand steady. “Let us go, and I don’t kill her.”

Felicia barely moved and kept her breathing shallow against the tip of the blade. She took a shaking inhale as the sword was removed, but her eyes remained unfocused, staring into the distance. The man sheathed his sword and with a sudden flash, teleported away. Raynauld quickly started to run to Felicia, his voice low. “Floyd, check on those two.”

He moved close to her, putting a hand out for her. “Are you okay?”

She shook her head, breathing rapidly. “No, I-oh god.” Her vision slowly shifted to the nearby tree and she pushed herself upwards. She stumbled towards Kashire, who was still slumped over on the floor. Felicia collapsed to her knees beside him and placed her hands onto his stomach, which was still ripped open. Blue light streamed from her hands for half a second before she suddenly stopped, lurched over, and vomited blood, collapsing to her side. Raynauld rushed forward, panicking. He reached her side and flipped her upwards, staring at her bloodied face. She had a wound on her shoulder, presumably from the woman, which still wasn’t healed. “Felicia, stay with me.”

“Don’t worry, she’ll live.” Kashire’s voice was ragged and quiet, still muffled from his mask. He started to laugh but degraded into a cough. Raynauld slowly moved his hands to Kashire’s mask, removing it. He laid the mask on the floor as Kashire smiled. “How long have you wanted to do that?”

“For a while.”

He snorted and blinked with his milky white eyes. “It was fun you know, while it lasted.”

Raynauld wanted to tell him that he was going to make it out, that everything would be fine if he could push through, but Kashire knew about his own ether more than anybody else.

“Take care of yourself Raynauld, and her as well.”

“I will.”

“She shines the brightest next to you.” His words trailed into an exhale as he rested his head back against the tree, slumping down. Raynauld reached out his hand but stopped as Kashire’s head lolled down. Aldrich slowly moved over, leaning on his sword. A small groan came from his side as Felicia stirred, rolling over slowly. Her eyes fluttered as Raynauld placed the mask on Kashire’s lap. She slowly sat up, wiping the blood from her mouth while staring at Kashire. Her hand reached out to him and her fingers touched his neck, trying to find his pulse. “No…” She put her hands to the sides of her head, breathing rapidly. “Oh god.” She started to slowly rock back and forth, her hands clutching tightly onto her temples. “It’s my fault.”

“Felicia-”

“I couldn’t do anything.” She sank lower and stared blankly. Her bright hair flowed gently, bits of it stained red. “Ray, back there, that…”

He moved his hand towards her, but hesitated as she shivered and kept slowly rocking herself. She whimpered and shrunk into herself, hiding their face from him. Raynauld lent her his hand and started to stand up. “... Come on, it’s not safe here anymore.”

She slowly looked at him and then back to Kashire. Her hand slowly wrapped around his, barely grabbing on. She stumbled to her feet and quickly let go of him. Raynauld stepped toward her, but she retreated backward, wrapping her arms around herself. Floyd walked forward, muttering somberly. “Where do we go now?”

Raynauld glanced over to Felicia as she slowly picked up her blood stained sword, her hands gingerly wrapping around it and cleaning it. He watched her hold onto the blade and shudder as she smeared the blood in between her fingertips. Raynauld shook his head and looked up to the sky. “I don’t know.”