~~~Bradley~~~

Bradley wanted to turn and see what was behind him, but he couldn't move. He couldn't even breathe. His heart pounded in his chest faster than he thought it should be able to without exploding, and terror thrummed through him like liquid ice through his veins.

This wasn't like all the times he'd been afraid. For the first time in his life, Bradley understood something absolutely and unequivocally.

Sometimes fear is the appropriate response.

Because whatever was behind him was not something that could be overcome with courage or strength of will. It was power. Pure power. Power overwhelming. If he'd been a religious man before this, Bradley imagined that this is what it would feel like to meet God. An indifferent God. A God that saw you as little more than an ant beneath his thumb as he pushed down and watched you squirm...

Darkness crept into the edges of his vision. Unfortunately, it wasn't the sweet release of unconsciousness coming to save him. It was something so much worse.

He dearly wished he could close his eyes as the darkness rolled inexorably in. As it slid over his shoulders with caressing claws that left frostbite in their wake. As it brushed past his ribs with bone-cracking gentleness. As it whispered past his ears with the screams of a million tortured souls. As it coalesced before his eyes into something that should not, could not, be.

Bradley's mind screamed where his voice could not at what he saw in that darkness. Impossible geometries. Unfathomable depths. Incomprehensible heights.

Those were the gentlest and kindest visions that he saw in that darkness. They only fractured his mind. They didn't crush his soul.

The nightmares did that.

Every nightmare he'd ever had came to life in that darkness. Every dark thought he'd ever had. Every intrusive thought. Every fear. All of them became real. Everyone he cared about died. Over and over, with each death more gruesome than the last. Until he was the one killing them.

He felt the hot blood on his hands, heard the agonized screams howling in his ears, and something inside him died. A spark of innocence that he knew he would never get back.

Then it all faded. As if it had never been. As if it was all a dream. Because it was.

Bradley blinked at the figure standing before him but couldn't understand what he was seeing. His heart was pounding, but he felt... numb. He felt... hollow. Where was he? What had he been doing? What had he seen? There had been something...

"Such fragile little things," a voice said, and Bradley blinked again.

He saw... himself? Standing on nothing in front of him was... himself. It looked off, but he couldn't deny the likeness. Why did it look like him? Where had it come from? There had been something else here a moment ago... a darkness...

Bradley shuddered involuntarily as a flash of memory returned, yet his body didn't so much as twitch. The overwhelming power and pressure were gone, as if it had never been, but he still couldn't move. Which meant he could only watch helplessly as the reflection of him stretched out a hand toward him.

A single finger touched his chest, and Bradley felt his sternum crack. The facsimile of himself frowned. "You are not the one who created this place."

His mind still felt thick, but Bradley understood well enough what was happening. It wanted Lee. They always wanted Lee. Instead, it had found him, and now he would die because of that. He knew there was no fighting this thing. For all of his new D-grade power, he was an ant compared to it. No, he was even less of a threat than that. An ant could bite a man. An ant could inflict pain. He was completely and utterly powerless compared to the creature before him.

"None of these are the one," it said while it turned slowly in place, and Bradley saw everyone who had come into this nightmare world with him all arrayed in a circle around the pit in the courtyard. All of them were equally motionless, and all the faces he could make out were full of the same terror that he knew must be on his own face.

He'd suspected it was dangerous to stay near Lee and he was right. If only he'd understood how dangerous. Except he had. Deep down, he'd known it might end up like this. But he'd chosen to stick around despite that. Partly because he wanted some of that power, but mostly because of Mar.

Bradley didn't regret his choice. Mar was the best thing that ever happened to him. He especially didn't regret his choice to take the core. He would die here, but Mar wouldn't. She would live, and really, what more could he ask for than that?

The creature finally finished its inspection of the others and faced him again. Probably because he was the strongest person here. For whatever that was worth. "You know the one I speak of, don't you?"

It didn't speak with his voice, despite looking like him, so small mercies. Of course, its actual voice only reminded him of the nightmares and made him want to rip out his own ears rather than have to hear it.

"Speak, human!"

Bradley's mouth popped open. "Yes."

"Another human?"

"You'll never get to him." Bradley surprised himself. He didn't see the harm in telling it Lee was a human, but why should he? They were all going to die in here, no matter what he did. Three was a pretty smart building, sometimes, but there was no way it hadn't noticed this creature. Three would never let Lee come back, but maybe... "Three, take us all back!"

Nothing happened.

Well, nothing besides the disturbing smile growing on his reflection's face. "Who is Three?"

Bradley kept his mouth shut. He couldn't turn his head, but his all too brief hope died when he realized that none of the others were actually touching the floor. Presumably, he wasn't either. He didn't know all the rules for how Three moved them back and forth, but the building only took away the dead monsters that were touching it. If he could move...

The mirage of himself abruptly shot out tendrils of darkness, and Bradley had an instant to see them heading toward everyone before the one coming his way collided with his chest. He didn't see anything after that, because the tendril didn't collide so much as rip and tear its way inside him.

Except it was so much worse than that. It didn't tear his flesh. Instead, it felt like it went right through his flesh and stabbed directly into his soul.

It hurt. A lot. But there was something else alongside the pain—a terrible feeling of violation. As if someone had pried him open to peer in at all of his most private places. His hopes and dreams. His fears. His love. All of it lay bare before a callous, uncaring, and hungry monster.

"You all have oaths to the same soul," a voice was saying when he came back to himself, and Bradley saw the monster looking toward Z. "Except that one. You also have links in your souls. Links that resonate with this place."

"So..." It looked back at Bradley with a wide smile. "Which of you is the favorite? Which of you will your master come for?"

Bradley couldn't help the tears welling up in his eyes. They were going to die here all right, but he had a terrible feeling about exactly how they would die. Or when. If ever. His only consolation was that Mar wasn't here in his place, and he clung to that thought with everything he had.

"Or," the monsters said, still smiling as it drifted lower and finally touched down onto Three. "Is this structure more precious than any of you?"

Bradley felt the mana surging through the building below the monster—more mana than even his D-grade body could ever hope to channel—and then that part of Three was just... gone. He didn't see the creature move. He didn't even feel it use any mana.

"Do you think your master noticed that?"

Lee probably did... but he wouldn't come back, would he? That would be insane, right? Three wouldn't be stupid enough to let him come back. It would be suicide. Lee wasn't that stupid.

"You don't want to answer?" the monster said. "Hmm, perhaps I'm using the wrong face?" Its body shifted, morphing into someone else... into a face he knew. A face he loved.

"How about this?" it said, from Mar's face and with her voice.

Oh god, no.

Mar smiled at him and drew her twin blades. "Oh yes. You care about me, don't you?" She drifted closer, and Bradley closed his eyes, only for them to snap open again. "Don't you want to look at me? We're going to have so much fun together!"

He knew it would be suicide for Lee to return, but Bradley still hoped he would. Lee had pulled off some crazy stunts before. Maybe he could do it again?

"You know I never actually cared about you?" Mar's voice said as it smiled with a cruel grin. "I just thought it was fun to watch you follow me around like a desperate little puppy!"

"You... you're not her," Bradley said.

"How could you say that!?" She... no, it pouted. "I mean, you always knew I was way out of your league, but I needed someone powerful to help me. Now that you're D-grade..." She slid a knife across his cheek, and it burned like acid as it carved into his skin. "I can just take your core and finally be done with you!"

Bradley forced himself to smile. "You're not Mar. She's safe, and you'll never touch her!"

"Is she?" Her face twisted and then the creature abruptly looked like Bradley once more. It waved a hand, and Mar appeared beside it.

"Bradley?" Mar looked at the monster in confusion. It wasn't her... It couldn't be her! "How did I get here?"

"It's an illusion," Bradley said, and she didn't even look his way. It was obviously an illusion. The monster was trying to trick him.

"I brought you here because I'm tired of dealing with your drama," fake Bradley said.

Mar flickered in and out of sight. "You... what?"

"She's not real!" Bradley screamed. She couldn't be real.

"I found someone else. Someone better." The monster pulled a knife from somewhere and twirled it between its fingers. "Only thing is, she could use some more skills, and since I'm done with you..."

"But..." Mar took a step back and stumbled on the rubble strewn across the floor. "But I thought you loved me?" It looked so much like her... sounded so much like her... but it couldn't be. Could it?

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"Because I wanted you to think that," the monster said, laughing as it reached down and dragged her back to her feet by her throat. "Now I want you to die."

"It's not me, Mar!" Bradley screamed. "Get away from her! I'll tell you anything you want!"

"No..." Mar gasped as tears ran down her face. "You can't be..." Her voice cut off when the monster rammed the knife into her gut.

Mar screamed. Then she kept screaming as the monster stabbed her again. And again.

"No! Stop, damn you!" Bradley fought against the force holding him in place. He threw every scrap of mana he could toward the earth and met only an impenetrable wall. "Please stop! I'll tell you anything... please..."

Then, all at once, everything changed.

Mar froze mid-scream, and the monster wearing his face was once again radiating with suffocating power as it stared off to one side... and up... toward Lee's apartment.

Lee! Bradley felt a sliver of hope even as that crushing power beat against him and drove him toward unconsciousness. Save her, Lee! Forget me, save Mar!

His world was going dark, but he fought against the dying of the light, his gaze locked on Mar. Nothing else mattered.

Darkness swallowed the world, but distantly, he felt something... shift. Then light bloomed into blinding brilliance and air rushed into his lungs as he fell to the shattered ground. No, not shattered. It was smooth... tiles?

He opened his eyes, squinting against the glare, and saw the smooth, unblemished tiles of Three's courtyard. He looked up and saw a blue sky overhead. He was back...

~~~Lee~~~

Lee flipped back into reality, and for the first time that he could remember, he was alone inside his apartment building. He could see his runes scattered all over, and Three was there, still humming along beneath the surface, but it wasn't the same. Three wasn't what made this place feel truly alive. Or at least, not only Three. Now it felt far too quiet... and lonely.

It didn't help that there were piles of corpses strewn all over the building.

He was glad they'd evacuated, at least, but that was going to be a bitch to clean up... then he saw a few more monsters appear. Then one more, and another on the other side. It was working. Though they might need to have a designated spot to send the bodies... something to worry about later.

Amy appeared in his apartment. "Guess it worked?"

Lee nodded. It was bad enough that he left the others to clean up his mess, but at least they weren't trapped in there while he was gone.

"Come on, we've got a huge mess to clean up. I just hope Saira's plants can eat these monsters." At the very least, Bradley could simply bury it all when he got back. Or they could throw the dead outside the walls and use them as bait to clear out the surrounding area around the fort.

Or maybe the crafters could use the bodies because Lee saw a trio of them dart into the garage and drag a corpse outside. They started taking it apart almost before it crossed the threshold.

Lee left Amy to go update the others while he grabbed the nearest corpse and dragged it toward a door. It was the least he could do. Plus, he was full of nervous energy and had to do something.

He'd made a handful of trips when something made him stop in his tracks. He wasn't sure what. Only a feeling. But after everything he'd learned today, he was definitely going to pay attention to his feelings.

"What is it?" Amy asked.

"Something..." Lee frowned and closed his eyes. Not that it helped much with Mana Mind. "I don't know." He glanced toward his apartment and saw her frown even before he said, "We should go back. Just to check on them."

"I'll go," Amy said. "Alone," she added. Because, of course she would.

Lee sighed but opened his eyes and kept dragging the corpse toward the nearest door. "Go. Hopefully, I'm just being paranoid."

She went, and Lee watched her go with Mana Mind. Or at least, he watched her go stand in his apartment, but that was it. Was she only pretending to go? To appease him? But she knew he could see mana... and he could tell that she was saying something up there.

The feeling that something was wrong only got worse, especially when he realized there were no more new corpses appearing inside Three. He'd seen how many were scattered around right outside in that dark place, never mind all the still-living ones they were supposed to be killing. Lee headed upstairs after tossing the corpse. Amy met him at the door, blocking his path. "Three won't send me back."

"Let me try."

Amy didn't move, a stubborn glint in her eyes. "Did you tell it not to send me?"

Lee glared back. "This isn't a game, Amy! It feels like... I don't know what it feels like! But I know it's bad!"

As if to punctuate his statement, he felt a very definite flicker in Three's runes. It came from the courtyard... and the entire rune throughout the building dimmed. "I don't care how dangerous it is in there. I can't and won't abandon any of them! The same way I wouldn't abandon you!"

"Send. Me. First. We don't know what's happening. What if the door is open? What if you showing up is the last thing they need?"

He closed his eyes in frustration. Not because she was being stubborn, but because she had a valid argument. Instead of agreeing, Lee dumped his mana into Three. All of it. Until his Mana Mind vanished back into his head. Then he focused wholly on the sensations that were coming from... his soul. It was the soul-link! He was hearing echoes from the linked souls... except he couldn't feel the souls anywhere.

Because they weren't in this reality!

He wasn't hearing echoes, either. He was hearing screams. Their souls were screaming in pure, unadulterated terror.

Lee snapped his eyes open as mana flooded back into him, and Amy must have seen something in his expression because she didn't protest when he pushed past her into the apartment. She only drew her sword and followed on his heels.

"Three, bring the others back through." He tried, even though he fully expected the result. Or lack of one.

Amy's soul was resolute when he met her gaze. "Three, send her through."

She vanished.

Lee waited for one long second. "Bring her back."

Amy reappeared, except she came back beside one of the front windows. She was unharmed and somehow less worried than when she'd left.

"What did you see!?" Lee demanded when she took more than a second without speaking. The souls were still screaming!

"I looked through the window and saw a few of them standing around in the courtyard. But it didn't look like anyone was fighting." She shrugged. "I think slightly more of the building was destroyed than previously. Maybe they had a fight, but finished it already?"

Lee wasn't buying it. The souls were still screaming! "I'm going in!"

She frowned at him but didn't protest. Not until he told her to climb on his back. "What? Why?"

"Just do it! Now!" She jumped on, and Lee dropped a speed bubble over them both. "Take us in, Three."

Nothing happened.

This was bad. Even if Amy saw nothing, he knew something was wrong. Now that Three hesitated... No, the only thing he could imagine causing Three's reluctance and this feeling in his soul was if they woke up one of Z's so-called sleepers. If that had happened, then... well, they would all die. Lee wouldn't even be able to save them. If Bradley and Z couldn't handle it, then did he have any chance?

Did it matter?

No. It didn't. He had to try.

But why hadn't Amy noticed? Was his apartment still safe? Then why the reluctance if that was the case? Except none of that mattered anymore. Three, I know you are trying to protect me, but I'm ordering you to take me through!

Reality flipped, and to his surprise, the speed bubble went with him. It was a good thing too, because it was likely the only reason he didn't immediately die when a black hole of nightmares and misery tried to eat him.

Lee flipped right back out into the light and then fell on his face. He was sweating and gasping for air as he dragged himself up, and this time Amy was far less blase about everything.

"Holy fucking shit, what the fuck was that fucking..." She stopped swearing from the floor and pounced on him an instant before the speed bubble went up. "No! What are you..."

Lee sent the order, and Three took him back into the dark, except this time he stayed standing, barely, and growled out, "Try that again, and I'm gone for good!"

He didn't worry about the speed bubble surrounding him or the closed door and windows between them. He knew that bloated and swollen thing out there was far beyond such minor impediments, and he was right.

"You," a terrible howling chuckled in his ears. "You are the one I've been waiting for!"

"Back off," Lee hissed. Then half of his Mana Mind vanished into nowhere, and he was screaming in agony when he landed back in the light. That one hurt, and he hadn't even known it was possible... Still, it didn't matter, and he choked down the sobs as he crawled away from Amy's grasping hands.

"Please don't..." She was crying too. Had she shared in the pain just now? Or was it simply the crushing pressure of the monster's presence?

Lee wasn't feeling much better himself. Yet he also knew it didn't matter. "I have to save them."

She made it to her hands and knees. "You can't!"

"I will, and I can!" He knew he could, but he also knew she wouldn't like his plan for how to go about it.

She stared at him as he finally stood up, then grimaced and jumped onto his back. "God damn it!"

Lee was more prepared when the darkness slammed into him and he barely swayed. Mana Mind was almost back to its full range again, but he almost wished it wasn't. He didn't need it to know what lurked outside this room. A darkness so deep he imagined even a real black hole wouldn't escape its depths. Mana Mind only made it worse. Only made it more real.

He spoke to the darkness. "I can leave faster than you can touch me."

"But you keep coming back!"

"Because you have something I want." It was the only upside to his Mana Mind at the moment. That he could see his friends and family were still alive. Though he couldn't imagine how much worse it must feel up close. Because some of their souls felt like they wished they were dead... especially Bradley's.

"Oh?" The creature seemed confused, then disbelieving. "These humans?" Disbelief turned into greed. "Which one!?"

"All of them." Lee sent a silent apology to Amy and added, "In exchange for me."

Fortunately, Amy didn't believe him, though her arms still tightened around his throat. Unfortunately, neither did the monster of hunger and darkness outside. He could feel it furiously analyzing each human, zhint, and anubian for clues, as if trying to figure out what his angle was.

"I don't believe you," it finally grumbled. Then lied. "But come out and they go free!"

"They go free first. Decide quickly." His time bubbles were getting better, but he couldn't keep it up forever, and he really didn't want to face something in real time that could talk to him through the bubble.

"Half. Then you come out."

"I know you can see my soul," Lee said. "You know I'm not lying when I say I'll stay."

Amy's grip tightened as she finally started believing. "You're serious?"

"You... are!" The monster was even more incredulous. "Why?"

"I don't want you to knock down my house." Lee told the truth and hoped Amy would understand. He had no choice but to stay. Three was hiding him from the universe. If it fell, then they would come for him, for the source, and he would still die. Except then he would take everyone else down with him.

"Also, I'm planning to kill you once we're alone."

It laughed, as he knew it would. The idea was obviously ridiculous, and it knew that. "Deal!"

Lee saw his friends and family sink slowly toward the floor in the courtyard, each of them vanishing the moment they touched any piece of Three.

Alejandro vanished, and Lee felt a weight lift from his shoulders when he did. Gabriel might lose his apprenticeship, but Lee expected he would find the class again once he was older. More importantly, he would do so with his father still around to look after him.

Trak vanished, and Lee wished him well on his future journey to find his family. He was a good person, and he deserved to find happiness.

Bradley left, a young man with his whole life ahead of him. A strong young man. He would help keep the others safe.

Z left, and Lee watched him go with mostly indifference. Though the zhint had helped him a lot, with cores if nothing else. Maybe even enough to let him survive what was coming.

Eventually, all of them vanished back into the world they belonged in.

Then it was only him and Amy, with her holding onto him for dear life. Perhaps literally. He would fight his damnedest, but he knew the odds were beyond bad. He still didn't know what Amy's class was, but given all he'd seen so far, if he died here, then he might take her down with him. Even if he figured out how to use the source to kill this thing, it might still mean her death, or at best, years of her life burned away.

"Amy, you have to go."

"I'll fight with you!" she pleaded, almost crushing him with the strength of her grip. "Don't do this!"

"Get to Saira," Lee said, glad that he kept his voice steady. "She's my only hope." She's your only hope as well. Because if anyone could keep him or her alive, it was Saira.

"No! I'll..." Amy vanished when Three took her away.

Lee stared into the darkness and gathered his courage for the coming fight. He didn't have to wait long.