Domains are simple. Mostly. Beyond the innate advantages it provides, the types are unique. Automatics assure a strike from one’s Tide or Stigmata while Reactives protect and rejuvenate the bearer. Golden Domains amplify one’s Tide explosively, while a Fused Domain combines the Tide and Stigmata into one force.

Mystique Domains, however, are different. Their wills reflect the hearts of their creator. They are as fickle and complex as the movements of stars.

* Yarnen, Anomaly 0, Year 3031, in her Codex Of War.

Behind Melody stood an Araki, his mouth tendrils splayed outwards while his two hands sat in front of his chest. He had run past Sonna and Joan, leaving them behind as he felt Dante was in danger. Somehow, through the fog, he had a sense.

A sense that proved right. Seers were not the only beings that could pierce the hidden. Children, animals, and… the insane possessed such charms as well. It had been that way since the dawn of mankind, and nothing had changed since.

The shifting trees still overwhelmed the man’s vision. One even swung at him within his gaze, but Rejo cared not for anything but the voice in his head. He had been asked, ordered, begged, by his captain. The demand overpowered all else that could remain in his mind.

One second, he saw Astraeus, Hana, Melody, and Dante alongside the endless horde. Then, he was beside only Dante, looking out onto a vast field. Grass, springy, and waist-height blew in the wind on the cool summer day.

This scene lasted for only the time it took for Rejo’s imagination to speak, “Kill. Do what you do best, my friend. Kill.”

Just as quickly as he arrived in that inner world, his fingers touched each other in front of his chest. They clasped lightly, tapping the tips of fingers against the wrist of the opposite hand. And then he spoke, once with his mouth and again with his soul.

“I got this. I’m your Vice-Captain, after all.”

“Domain Collapse: Sailor’s Idle Prayer.“

A string of shocked faces shifted to the otherwise meaningless Araki. One moment, he didn’t matter, just another body for Melody and Hana to remove. But as the Lightsea collapsed and rippled beneath his hands, they realized Rejo Avan Reiche Teiane Loupel, while boasting few talents, was exceptional with what little he had. His madness was laser-focused, concentrating every bit of himself into that which he saw as real.

The edge of his Domain grew slowly, and it did so under the strain of Astraeus. The conflicting pressures made it even more difficult of a feat. Still, the Frigo swiftly pulled his back Domain Collapse, reducing its range at great difficulty.

Instantly, Melody, the closest to the Araki, fell into its trap. And when she did, it ceased growing. The walls of the Domain became natural, a genuine barrier of space. It was both a sign of his naivete and his instincts. While this aspect strengthened his Domain, it also limited its size and hindered its movement.

But Rejo knew none of this. He simply did as he was told by the ‘Dante’ in his head, following his gut along the way. He only had to deal with one. One betrayer. One enemy. That was all his captain needed.

Inside his Domain, he met Melody’s dumbfounded face with a reveling grin. Her eyes dropped to the center of the Domain Collapse, beyond confused, as she found a long table filled with varying pieces nearing the thousands.

Though she wasn’t confused for long.

Rejo didn’t know what was happening either, but a voice spoke within its bounds before he could move. It froze both combatants for the entirety of its words, leaving them unable to move, only listen.

“A game of Kregchei commences. The forces of Dante Penance against the universe. Should Dante win, a Prayer will be granted. Should Dante lose, a Penance will be paid.“

Melody’s eyes widened in horror as she realized not only was she within the bounds of a newfound Domain Collapse, but it was a Mystique one. These held great power but, more often than not, had some massive downside with their bizarre effects.

Almost every creature with one of these rare Domains either became absurdly powerful or died early. Few wanted such unpredictable beings in the universe.

The Anathema opened her lips to begin her Trifecta, yet the Araki was already rushing for her with his gun drawn. The radius of the Domain was hardly thirty feet, and the table took up much of that space in the center.

Ticking game pieces shifted in the background as Rejo spoke to his prey that he had been ordered to slay, “I don’t know what is happening, but... this sounds fun. Kregchei was the only thing my people ever got right.”

The board game behind him vanished in the wind while the first note rang into the air from Melody. Just as it hit him the first time weeks ago, the Araki buckled, his muscles giving out.

Melody lurched forward, reaching out with a thin wire to slash open Rejo’s throat, but the man had already vanished, replaced by a falling rock. Then, under the discombobulation of the first note, he raised his rifle and pulled the trigger.

With the caliber of his firearm, gunpowder detonated into the confines of the Domain, filling the space with a cloud of light smoke. Though, that was not all, of course. Weighty lead split the air toward Melody’s skull. She remained unscathed only by the grace of a second note from the woman’s chords that diverted the steel.

Rejo fell to his knees as the clacking of the Kregchei grew more animated, more chaotic. The Seafarer’s gun rose again, his teeth gritted in determination. However, the motion was slow; it was aggrieved, brought down by the tremors in his skull and bones.

The third note came before the barrel reached halfway from the ground to Melody’s face. Blood spurted from his eyes and nose, trailing down in terrifying amounts. Still, the woman didn’t say a word of detestation. With a quick kick behind her, she sent the dirt flying and lunged at the helpless Araki.

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Her open fingers reached for his gun, taking it with one hand while the other grasped Rejo’s heart through his chest. The bulging eyes of the Araki told a quiet story to Melody.

It was a beginning. And it was an end.

The body collapsed behind her, soon to die in the next few seconds as the blood failed to pump throughout his body. But just as Melody weighed the rifle in her hands, surprised by its power and ability to work under a Domain, a shiver entered her spine.

A high-pitched ding resounded from the table behind her. In response, she swung the rifle backward like a club, hitting nothing and only hearing that disembodied voice once more.

“Victor: Dante Penance. Time: One Minute and eleven seconds. For the next two-hundred-and-twelve seconds, the Sailor’s Idle Prayer shall be heeded. The Sailor shall be his King’s Vessel.”

With the simple yet incomprehensible words, the barrier around Melody receded, giving her a sliver of false hope. Then she heard the body behind her rise.

After a panicked turn, she found the Araki with one hand twisted into a finger gun. Her mind raced with alarm, and she ducked to the side, evading the burst of water. But as she watched it soar behind her, it vanished, with Rejo appearing in its place.

Melody pulled the rifle’s trigger toward the man, blowing another hole in his chest, yet her vision splattered with blue.

She tumbled head over heels, the burst of water from Rejo swapping with his location but keeping its momentum. Blood dribbled from her head, and even as she looked up, expecting the Araki to be dead, she found him unharmed.

Just like the human.

Melody’s gaze skipped to Astraeus and Dante, who cornered Hana. The woman wasn’t yet set in her grave, but things weren’t looking good. Still, Melody knew what their only chance was. It was no longer possible to scramble numbers before entering.

They had to retreat or plunge.

Rejo noticed the Anathema’s desire to run and sprinted after her, rushing with the inhuman speed that Dante possessed. Unfortunately for him, Melody was a Miro specializing in physical enhancement.

The two rushed back into Astraeus’ Domain now that Rejo's had fallen, where a burst of water crossed, striking Melody in the shoulder as she tried to dodge. Then, a rock soared past her head. Her eyes followed it, and she aimed the rifle at it, just waiting to fire.

Only Rejo didn’t teleport. He simply leaped into the air and drop-kicked Melody in the back. Before he struck the ground, he activated his Mojo. The woman stumbled forward, falling straight to the ground.

As Rejo twisted in the air, he drew another weapon, a revolver, and shot the woman six times with his precision long trained by a human's annoyance at the shortcoming while she darted toward Hana on all fours.

The Araki kicked the ground to follow, only for his lower half to evaporate, a standing, armless Hana being the reason. The Anathema grinned, happy to remove one nuisance.

Then Rejo’s legs returned.

Dante’s Stigmata appeared on another being’s figure, and all of Rejo’s injuries vanished. He still had work to do for his captain. So while Hana dodged Astraeus’ space slash and shots from the near-immobile Dante, the first-mate kneeled and picked up another rock, tagging it with his Stigmata. Blood dripped from his nose, tangling with his mouth tendrils.

The use of the Lightsea eroded his spirit in little time at all. Still, the madness glimmered through, sparking a thread of fear within the two women.

Hana and Melody reunited, falling back to back while Rejo and Astraeus stood on opposite sides. Dante limped toward them, just barely keeping up from his exertion. Both sides took a moment to breathe, all demonstrably worse for wear.

Hana whispered to her temporary partner, “We need to get out. They’ve wasted their Domains. Recover and attack again. I just need water to heal. After, my Domain finishes it all.”

“Yeah, but how? The schizophrenic can teleport. And Astraeus isn’t slow, either. You’re out of attacks without sacrificing mobility. I can use my Trifecta for distance, but two can heal. Who knows how long until another wakes up,” Melody uttered with a heaving chest.

Geist’s ace sighed, pulling out an object from her pocket with the remnants of her Hydro. It was a shrunken, malnourished ghost made of devouring mist. Then, she crushed it.

The instant the creation of the Anacrux shattered, an otherworldly howl filled the plain at large. Beneath the howl, Hana clenched her jaw, “I hid the ghost from him. Now he’s rushing here at any cost.”

Geist was a little different from the other Caesars. He had mastered his Arido to the point wherein he could conjure miniature ghosts to perform his bidding. Under the enhancement of a Golden Domain, even if only for a moment, he created far more formidable wraiths. These individual ghosts of devouring mist could be tossed inside the dimension, allowing him to battle for the Inferose alongside Hana, as was the original plan. Nevertheless, he had to know its location, and he couldn’t search with the other Caesars on his ass and Praetor Sun.

Hana didn’t want to reveal it to him for her own greed, but she knew when to call it quits.

With every breath, Dante teetered on the edge of collapse, yet he still pulled the trigger, signaling that the fight would continue. Astraeus took a step to follow them, but his leg twisted, nearly giving out. He stumbled while Rejo rushed after the duo.

Astraeus had been shot a few minutes ago by Dante and took several injuries from Hana. He was not in any condition to be running at his maximum speed. All he could do was fling his Frigo out to slow the escapees while Rejo sailed after them. They were too far for his Stigmata to do any real damage.

Without Dante’s Tide because of Astraeus’ Domain, though, the Araki could only rely on his Mojo. After hurling another stone, the rock soared back at the two women, but Melody already knew what was happening.

Her voice echoed into the air, bursting the rock into tiny bits and the follow-up bullet into shrapnel. All three men collapsed to the ground, and the Anathemas emerged from the edge of the Domain.

Both breathed huge tufts of air, rushing toward the entrance of the Inferose. Another note sang, stopping Rejo’s last bullet as the man ceased his struggle.

Hana and Melody were gone a moment later, leaping into the crack between dimensions. Dante cursed, spitting out the blood that flowed down his nose. Then, he rolled onto his back, proud to be alive.

“We did it. Good shit, Rejo. You too, Astraeus. Good shit. I... need to sleep. I think,” Dante spoke, groaning in pain the whole while as his brain jostled.

However, Astraeus refuted him, “No. You can’t. Your crew. They are behind us. You need them, right?”

The human’s eyes opened wide in remembrance of Lucius, Joan, and Sonna. It was almost as if he had fully broken free from the Inferose. He felt some sort of tug on his body, but it quickly stopped.

When he glanced around, however, Astraeus and Rejo were both gone. Utterly gone, whisked away into nothingness.

Dante’s heart stopped in his chest, but he forced his traumatized mind to think. With creaking teeth, he sat up, slowly clawing to his feet.

Both gone. Out of nowhere. Lucius is the same. Claudius, too. Though, I didn’t see them at all. A bit of a jump, to be honest. But the dimension... Hana mentioned proving ourselves, right? Maybe that’s part of it. What about me, though?

Pain-induced tears dripped from Dante’s eyes as he wobbled over to Sonna and Joan, the latter clad in a new armor that the human hadn’t seen yet. It took him several seconds, but he eventually reached the two of them.

They were fighting imaginary enemies to his eyes, much like the newest several Dirge that had arrived. Dante even spotted Saerer, who was not far away.

With a sigh, he placed his hands on the women’s shoulders and jostled them with what little strength he still held. Both vibrated in shock, turning to face him in astonishment.

“Dante!?” both shrieked simultaneously, though one was more horror and the other was a pleasant surprise.

The human let out a pained smile, pointing toward the distant rift. He could have done this earlier, but without seeing through the trees, both would be useless in a fight. At least Rejo and Astraeus seemed to break through it with their Domain Collapse, something that Dante was still reeling over.

“Yeah. It’s me. Please, just trust me. All the trees are illusions. Walk past them. You’re only tiring yourselves out. It’s safe all the way there. I have one more person to grab. If you know where Claudius or Lucius went, please tell them, too,” Dante asked the two with a kind temper before limping past them, hardly able to walk.

However, Joan slid a needle into his back mid-step and nodded, “Okay. Will do. Here’s a pick-me-up. Remember, you still have two of my Hemomarats. Don’t die with them. They’re expensive. As for them… I don’t know. I thought they were here.”

Dante’s whole body lurched as adrenaline shot into his system. His every cell thrummed with delight, and he disregarded Sonna’s panic while he hauled the Weren through the horde. She resisted the movement, and even Joan did to a degree, their instincts warring with every step.

The human didn’t wish for Claudius’ death, but with the man’s disappearance alongside Lucius, he could only shake his head. The Judge had his own secrets, and Dante could only hope that they were indeed pulled into the Inferose. He had no time to boast concerns at this moment. Hana had notified Geist of their location.

With the little time he had, Dante would focus on the person he left behind. Saerer. She wasn’t part of his crew, but that promise held on, regardless. He wouldn’t settle for anything other than perfection from himself and the jobs he took. Not anymore, at least.

As such, he went after the last person he needed to help enter the Inferose, but the Geist’s damned army turned up on the boundary of the plains. Dante paused, his foot still hovering over the grass.

An agent of chaos slithered into his ear at the perfect time, “You don’t know her. Just turn around. Anathemas are rushing toward that entrance. They’ve made progress during your fight. If you’re any slower... you’ll have to fight again. And you can’t do that.”

Dante’s pride battled with his own sense of self-preservation and his logic. Despite the ego’s recent victory, he knew he was pushing his luck.

His gaze met Saerer’s through the walking trees in her sight. She was pleading, begging even. Just as any other, she wished to live. Dante fought to walk forward, yet his legs shifted in the other direction. Something had taken control of Dante’s movement, leaving Saerer to drown in the tsunami, as the rift in space beckoned him onward.

As the human turned around, a lone tear fell from the Dirge’s face, drifting to the floor without any eyes to witness her rejection.