Serena had always hated darkness. Especially the kind lingering around her in the empty, desolate lands. The kind that carried a strange, irritating feeling, as if someone was always watching her from a distance. Even though she knew that it was most likely just her imagination, she could not let her guard down.

“How are their injuries, Nia?” she said, still staring into the distance, as if trying to peep through the chaotic mix of Mysteries lingering in the air. In vain. The Thrall Domain would not let her have her way. Not through her Spirit, or through any Arcanas or Martial Styles. Even if she tried to blend her senses into the darkness itself, all she would see would be just some hallucinations conjured by the chaos lingering around her. Though it was not as if the Chaos would spare her just because she did not take the initiative to provoke its majesty.

“…Everyone else is fine, but Jill,” said the black cloaked woman, kneeling next to Serena. “We tried to treat her as soon as possible, but her lungs… It was exposed to Chaos for far too long. I am afraid that Chaos has already spread into her blood—

“Can she be saved?”

“…I am afraid not…”

…She never liked the darkness. Or the chaos. Especially the Chaos. Putting aside the illusions that it threw at her, trying to make her slip up, within the bounds of the Grand Chasm, just breathing in the air itself was dangerous for her. Or for any Wanderer for that matter. Exposing their wounds to the chaotic air though…

“…How many does this make?”

“…It is not your fault, Lady Serena. We—

“I am not so fragile to need your consolation yet, Nia,” Serena said, tearing herself away from the darkness, turning back towards her guards… towards her sisters. Seventeen in total. Huddled together in the forsaken lands of the Grand Chasm, they had formed circle of sorts, with the more injured lying towards the inner side of the circle, groaning in pain, as a couple of her sisters tried to save them. No, they had already been saved. Except for Jill… They had been twenty when they had set out from Rianra. They were going to become sixteen…

Serena walked past her tried and exhausted sisters, trying their best to sit up, and offer their respects to her, before stopping in front of woman lying right in the centre of the circle. Her cloak, soaked in her blood, had been removed, and placed beside her, revealing the dark green robe she wore underneath, and countless holes it was adorning. Especially the one near her chest, roughly four to five fists wide…

Tearing her eyes away from her robe, Serena looked at Jill herself. She looked so pale and thin… Nothing like how a Warrior of the Serpia clan should be. And the way she was scrunching her brows… Her sisters were the best of the Serpians, trained from a young age to bear all kinds of pain and sufferings. To make her furrow her brows… The pain she was suffering from must be agonising. Even though all her wounds had already been treated…

“Wake her up.”

“…Lady Serena, we can do—

“Wake her up.”

“…As you wish, Lady Serena.”

Rhea, one of the only two in their team to know Healing Arcanas, bowed her head while biting her lips, before squatting next to Jill, and placing her right hand on the latter’s head, releasing a green glow that stimulated Jill’s Spirit, and woke her up in a few moments.

“Our sleeping beauty is finally awake,” Serena said, forcing a smile on her face.

“…Lady Serena—

“No need,” Serena said, waving her hand to dismiss Jill’s superfluous actions. Not that she needed to. Tired, and exhausted as she was, Jill was not even able to lift her hand, let alone get up by herself. “…How are you feeling?”

“…Better than ever,” Jill said, forcing herself to smile, just as she forced herself to speak. “I am ready to resume my duties any moment, Lady Serena.”

“In your state? Just look at how pale, and thin you have become.”

“…Are you getting jealous of my natural beauty, Lady Serena?”

“Natural beauty my foot. Can you be more beautiful my little Lia?”

“…But I can be more beautiful than you.”

“…It looks like you are in need of a beating.”

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“If only you could bring—

Pangs of pain, euphoria, madness, despair, joy, relief, and all other sorts of emotions, and sensations, swept through Jill, forcing her to stop mid sentence. It was not just Jill who stopped talking though. Serena, and all her sisters did the same, waiting for Jill to recover. Waiting for…

“…My apologies, Lady Serena. It looks like I cannot follow you anymore…”

“There is no need for you to apologise… If anyone, I should be the one apologising. I dragged you here because of my selfish reasons. I—

“You did not drag me, Lady Serena. I followed you because I wished to do so. And I am sure that it is true for all of us. We are your guards. It is both our duty, and our honour to follow you, and give our lives for you… My only regret is that I cannot follow you anymore.”

“…Foolish little girl…”

“…I will have you know that I am ten years older than you, Lady Serena.”

“…That still does not change how foolish you are.”

“…Not as foolish as you.”

“…Is it Death, that is giving you the courage to talk back to me? Are you not afraid that I will drag you back from Death just to beat you up?”

“…Somehow, I get the feeling that you might really do that.”

“You bet, I will.”

“…Yet it is also because of that reason that I must say a few things before I leave.”

“Tsk… Fine. Say what you want to.”

“…You are the heir to the Serpent Throne, Lady Serena. The chosen leader of the Serpia clan… How can you put everyone’s life above yours? How can you so careless about your own safety? How—

“Stop! If you are just going to use this chance to scold me, then let us stop right here. Poros knows how much of this heir nonsense I have heard back in Rianra. I did not come to the Grand Chasm to listen to more of the same nonsense.”

“…I knew that you will not listen… Still, I hope you will take care of yourself, Lady Serena.”

“…I will.”

“…You too, Nia… You must ensure Lady Serena’s safety…”

“…That is my honour, and duty.”

“Honour indeed… I will have you and the rest bear my part of the honour from now on…”

“As we should.”

“…Lady Serena…”

“…What is it, Jill?”

“…My little sister… Vin. Let her follow Lady Cecilia… Let her be her guard…”

“…You know the rules, Jill.”

“…I know… Vin… she will not refuse. Lady Cecilia…”

“…I will deal with things on her end…”

“…Thank you, Lady Serena.”

“…No. Thank you, Jill. Thank you for everything that you have done.”

“…It was my honour… And if I get the chance… I will gladly do it… once again…”

“…It was my honour to have someone like you serve as my guard…”

“…I… My Aspects… My Domain… Before it is too late… Lady Serena… Please…”

…Serena stared at Jill in silence for a few moments, before urging her Aspects to gather around her right arm, and wrap it in a layer of greenish black light, forming a claw of sorts. A claw formed through just pure brute strength, involving no Martial Styles. There was no need for such extravagancies. Jill… she was not an enemy. She was just a victim. One of many. In her state though…

Serena pushed her hand into Jill’s chest in one swift motion, and took out her heart, trying to keep her pain to a minimum. If she did feel pain though, she showed no signs, always wearing a smile. Even as the dark red and black smoke seeped out from her body, stripping away all her senses and reason, merging back into the air around them, she never stopped smiling…

“…May Poros guide you on your next journey, Jill Serpia.”

Her sisters chanted in a low voice, withdrawing their Aspects back into their Spirit World, leaving the world to be illuminated solely by the dim reddish black lights of the chaotic Mysteries lingering in the air. Not enough to let them see anything of detail around them, but just enough for Serena to see life drain away from Jill’s eyes, just as the heart in her hand stopped beating.

“May you be…”

She never liked darkness. Especially the kind that came with death and despair. The kind that came with partings. For a moment though, she was glad for the presence of the darkness. Glad for the cover it provided. For the things it helped her hide… But only for a moment.

“…Take care of her body, Nia,” Serena said, tearing her misty eyes away from the cold body of her sister, turning towards the hazy black clouds covering the sky, hiding any and all traces of Enn and Orn, while urging her Aspects to Devour the heart in her hand. Another sister dead. Another sin she must carry. “We will give her the funeral she deserves later. Right now, we must prepare for the next attack.”

“…But we just defeated a detachment of Thralls… There should not be any other Thrall teams nearby…”

“It is not the Thralls,” Serena said, as she used her Roots probe their enemies. “It is the Rats…”

“Again? They are being irrationally aggressive…”

“…Beasts are always irrationally aggressive when they are cornered… But it also means that they are at their end.”

“Still, to chase after us into the Grand Chasm…”

“…This just goes to show exactly how desperate they are… Forget it. It does not matter why they are chasing us. They are just some rats anyway. We will squash as many of them as they come.”

“…That does make sense.”

“Get the girls ready. It is time to give a grand farewell to our sister.”

“…Yes, Lady Serena.”

“…Now,” Serena said, staring into the direction where the rats were swarming from. “How are you going to entertain us, little rats?”