In a numb haze, Yuriko walked towards the wounded. Out of habit, she used her Enhanced Sight and surveyed the field. The air smelled of ashes, burning meat, and charred clothing. There were other unpleasant smells, too, that she did her best to ignore.

She wasn’t sure how many she killed, personally. A quick survey had the bodies numbering at a hundred or so, those she could see anyway. Most of them had been used as nothing more than a distraction while the Sorcerer cast his spells. Why they tolerated it, Yuriko didn’t know.

She came upon the bodies. Without the heat of battle, the sight of the blood, mangled body parts, and assorted fluids made bile rise up her throat. These were humans, not beastkin. She suddenly realised that as much as she thought of Otlaca and the others as fellow humans, there was still that primal difference to her mind.

They didn’t look like her and were thus the other, but these people were as human as she. And that difference meant being unable to put aside the disgust and remorse she had for killing a sentient being and becoming sick to her stomach.

‘Why, I killed Tiathans before?’

Was it because she didn’t see their corpses up close? Or was she too busy protecting herself?

She was shaking.

“Yuriko,” Riley’s voice came from behind her. “Tears?” he started when she turned around.

“Oh.” Her fingers brushed away the warm drops flowing down her cheeks. “I.. uh.”

“Hmmm, no need to explain.” He grunted. “Come on. Let’s gather them quickly. We don’t have that much time.”

“I…yes.”

She shook her head and clasped her hands tightly, hoping to control the tremors. They tried to kill her. They tried to kill…

There were only a few wounded, now that she got a better look. The Davars’ attacks were strong enough to easily bypass their armour and protective Animus, if they even knew how to use such a technique. Perhaps a few did, hence the wounded instead of dead.

But no, not all of them were dead by her hand or by the superheated plasma generated by a Caster or Lancet. That man looked like he had tripped while fleeing and his compatriots trampled him in their haste.

She approached one of the wounded who whimpered in fear. The stench of urine and feces wafted from his trousers even as he clutched at the burnt stump of his right forearm. Blood still oozed.

The man reeled back when she approached. The look of naked fear on his face took her aback, but then again, why wouldn’t they be afraid? She killed their leader and none of them even managed to wound her.

“May I aid you?” she said in Wojan.

“St…stay away!”

He scooted backward, scrabbling over a couple of bodies. He staggered to his feet, collapsed and proceeded to crawl, heedless of using the stump of his arm. Even as she watched, dumbfounded, a couple other wounded screamed and crawled away from her.

“Why?” she muttered.

“Because they see you as a monster,” Riley said dryly. “Leave them be and help me move these. Chaos! Aidan! Wake up, you lazy bones!” He glanced back at Yuriko. “Aidan’s inlaid Strengthen Physique.”

“Ah. Da also did. Is it a Davar tradition?”

“More of us inlay it than otherwise.” Riley shrugged. “The full technique isn’t really widely used, and our Heritage seems uniquely suited to make use of it. Heh. I’ve got a modified version of it that increases steadiness.”

He grabbed a corpse by the leg and dragged it over towards the side. Yuriko did the same, though she didn’t drag the body. Instead, she carefully picked each up in her arms, using her Anima to keep the blood and dirt from touching her, then carried them towards where Riley dumped them. She lined them up properly but gave up when Riley just tossed them over each other.

“I’ll go dig their grave.”

“Don’t bother. Let Aunt Layla do it.”

“Oh.”

The two of them worked in grim silence. After a minute, Aidan followed them, rubbing his eyes and yawning. He followed suit, except he dragged two corpses by their legs instead of one. In short order, all of the dead were in a neat little pile.

“Au…er, big sis Layla!” Riley yelled.

“Right. I’m coming,” the woman grumbled.

She stared at Yuriko in the eye and said, “I’m only doing this instead of burning them because you asked. Now, are you performing their last rites?”

Yuriko nodded, cleared her throat and said solemnly, “Return to the earth from whence you came. Walk in the darkness, and emerge in the light of renewal. Farewell.”

She was too tired to say it to each of the bodies though, but she hoped that was enough. Layla nodded thoughtfully, then she brandished a deep bluish stone, irregularly cut. Yuriko could see it gleaming with Animus though.

Her aunt held it up, and her violet Animus covered it. That same light, in turn, shone over the corpses, and they started to sink into the ground as if it were water. In a minute, all of them were under the muddy looking mound that was about a pace high from what had been flat ground.

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The light disappeared and sweat broke out of Layla’s forehead.

“There, that should prevent wild animals from digging them up. As for whether they turn into Kathari…well, hopefully, your benediction worked.”

From her expression, Yuriko thought the other woman doubted it.

The idea of corpses rising to turn into Chaos warped monstrosities sent a shiver down her spine. Yuriko both wanted to learn more about them, and at the same time, didn’t want to give herself nightmares.

The Kathari weren’t mentioned in any of the books she read, and for a moment, she half thought that Layla was just pulling her leg.

They should be real. Damien said thoughtfully. Kathari… Katha... Yes, I think, I remember that name.

When her Ancestor said that name, a strange feeling came over her, but before she could blink, it disappeared like mist on a noonday sun.

‘Who was it?’

Nothing you need learn. Not right now. It would be…dangerous. His mental voice was obviously shifty, and he made no attempts to hide it.

‘More secrets?’

Knowledge in an unprepared mind is like giving a toddler a wood axe to chop down a tree. Even if he manages to swing the axe, and even if he manages to cut down the tree, the fruit of his burden is more likely to fall and crush him than aid. You’re not ready, and you aren’t strong enough yet.

‘When will I be strong enough then?’

When you have your Dominion.

‘Eh? Knight Dominus?’

That’s the closest analogue but far weaker.

“Yuriko?” Layla interrupted her conversation. Yuriko blinked and realized that all three of them were looking at her worriedly. “Do you need to talk? You look troubled.”

“Um, perhaps later,” Yuriko muttered. “Let’s get out of here first.”

“Very well.”

The whole ordeal with the corpses took less than an hour and she was honestly still exhausted. She returned to their campsite and put away her bedroll and things. In short order, they were ready to go. But, just before they left…

“Yu…Yuriko.”

A feminine voice came from the bushes a dozen paces away. Riley whipped his Plasma Caster off his back and had it at his shoulder in less than an instant while Aidan drew his Lancet. As for Yuriko…

“Masa?”

The catkin had changed greatly since Yuriko saw her a few weeks ago. Her face was pale and gaunt, and the hand she used to hold her cloak closed was thin and crooked.

“What…what happened to you?” Yuriko gasped.

“They attacked us,” Masa whispered. “The snakes. Dai… he died. I don’t know what happened to Anda. I ran for weeks until I saw my people.” She shivered. “Why?”

She stared at Yuriko’s eyes, ignoring Riley and Aidan who stood like statues, though their fingers were inside their weapon’s trigger guard.

“Who?” Yuriko swallowed audibly. “Otlaca gave his word.”

Masa looked away. “He lied. No sooner were we out of sight that we were ambushed.”

“Oh.” Yuriko felt something squeezing her heart. She had promised to keep the catkin girl safe. But she thought it was discharged when the woman had met with her team and they were safely at the surface. What was Otlaca thinking? “How did you get here?”

“Lardell Keep. My people were there, but also that man.” She looked at the Colossus. “He…he wrung everything he could from me. I’m sorry.”

“So you betrayed confidences?” Riley cut in, voice hard. But Masa ignored him. Riley’s face twisted in irritation.

“I wanted to see you,” Masa whispered.

Yuriko nodded. Masa wore a cloak with Vizugmon’s crest near the lapel. “You were part of that army.”

“I had no choice.”

“So, what now?”

Masa gave a wan smile.

“Nothing.”

The woman bowed her head then spun on her heels and started to walk away. Yuriko watched her numbly. Masa glanced back just before she could disappear into the shrubbery then mouthed a question.

“Are you going to kill everyone?”

Yuriko shook her head, and for a moment, she saw the disappointment in the other woman’s eyes. Then Masa was gone.

“Who was that?” Riley grunted.

“Masa of the Kutin,” Yuriko said slowly, “She was the first person I met in this plane, in the Labyrinth, as a matter of fact. We aided each other.”

“She’s…she felt strange,” Riley muttered. “Come on.”

Aidan grunted in agreement.

“What was that?” Layla asked. Her aunt had been busy with her backpack and hadn’t been in sight for the entire thing.

“One of the attackers was someone I knew.” Yuriko shook her head. “She brought strange tidings.”

“She felt strange.” Riley repeated. “I’m not sure what it was though.”

“You just let her go?” Layla asked, eyes narrowing dangerously.

“She was a friend.” Yuriko shook her head. “And it looked like she was here not entirely of her will.”

“Well, no matter.” Layla sighed, then muttered half under her breath. “I hope this won’t lead to something.”

The four of them hurried along the road. Yuriko’s sandals were already starting to wear out and she glanced at the other three’s forceweave gear with envy.

“You lost your gear, right?” Riley asked though Yuriko thought he was doing so just to fill the silence.

“No, they’re still here.” She patted her backpack.

“So…?”

“I outgrew them.”

“Oh. Right.” Riley chuckled.

“There are supplies in the Ebon Horizon,” Layla said. “We’ll get you new clothes then.” She gestured at Yuriko’s dougi and hakama. “No need to keep going native.”

“Well, they are flimsy,” Yuriko agreed.

Her Anima protected her clothes in battle too, but it also degraded the material afterwards. The cloth already looked like it was more than a couple of years old, with constant abusive use, instead of nearly brand new. It was an aspect of her Anima use that she didn’t realise until now.

Forceweave shouldn’t degrade like that, right? Well, she expected she’d find out.

They walked for about a longstride before they stopped and took shelter under a weeping willow tree. The long and drooping leaves served as both privacy screen and windbreak. They unpacked the bare necessities and turned in. It was Aidan’s watch just before the battle so he resumed his turn.

Yuriko yawned and fell asleep almost as soon as her head touched down on the bedroll.

______

The wind blew Masa’s cloak off from her nerveless fingers, making it flap furiously. The ragged edges of her consciousness barely held on. Her sight wavered between the forest and a black abyss that called out to her Anima.

She could barely understand what went on. She met Yuriko, didn’t she? The light of the girl’s golden flames made her skin itch and crawl. It didn’t before.

Her hand wandered over to her belly, or rather, the hole that was wider than her fist. Blood had stopped oozing out of the cauterized wound.

The pain had been a haze the entire time. Her days in the joint Vizugmon-Tiath army had been an ongoing nightmare that culminated in her getting shot. She was dead, only her Anima refused to let go.

She knew it.

The thing that had crept into her Anima after the battle’s end had a firm grasp of her core and whispered nauseating things. She could barely stand it. The thing’s presence. It burned her Anima when it had its focus on her too much.

“Who are you?” she asked, perhaps for the hundredth time. “Let me go…”

The thing’s name burned. She couldn’t understand, couldn’t remember. She had asked dozens of times, and every answer was the same.

“Nyako,” she muttered. Her Geist, a white kitten, had changed into the thing, or maybe it was Nyako all along.

“Let me go. Let me die,” she sobbed.

“No.”

The word scoured her Anima and brought blissful oblivion. Just before her consciousness faded out, she heard the thing say one last thing.

“Seek out the Pure.”