Four years gone, and I run, running to escape the Tigers that keep clawing at you.

At us.

Four years gone, and I fight, fighting until my body breaks for my freedom with you.

With Vox.

Four years gone, and I dream, dreaming to have a taste of normalcy with you.

A desire.

Is it so wrong to want to be your lover? To be your protector? To live a normal life?

I want nothing more than to leave this nightmare behind and lead such a life. But I know we will not be granted these aspirations. Not as long as those dreaded Tigers remain alive.

Haunting us.

Hunting us.

Mocking us.

Strafe, I will never forget the day we ran away from it all. The day I took you and our daughter away from that wretched house and ran as far as our legs would carry us. And we kept running still.

I could not bring myself to see those bastards treat you as if you were a mere punching bag. Those 'training exercises' they had you undertake were nothing but mere torture. A twisted merriment they wanted to pursue.

And for what?

Your brother was disillusioned. He believed you had the same Seedling within you that gave way to his Miracle. But nothing came about the beatings you took. The abuse that was said to be necessary to sprout this 'Miracle' within you.

If pain was the only way to make your power come into fruition, then I say let it stay dormant. Let it never rear its head so that you can come to know peace. So that you can finally have a night of rest without being covered by the cloth that stopped your bleeding wounds.

There is no reality where I can find myself giving the Tigers an inkling of forgiveness. To call them anything more than the beasts they are would be just another lie we tell ourselves to mask the pain. Another miserable attempt to not stand eye-to-eye with that harsh maiden we reluctantly call truth.

The Tigers call themselves our family.

They are not.

The Tigers say we owe them our lives.

We do not.

The Tigers tell us you have to go back to them.

You must not.

Strafe, I had vowed to end our nightmares, to end your suffering. The promise I made to you when we first ran away still rings out in my mind during every second I spend awake. And I have no intention of breaking that promise.

You are my love. The only one to soothe my heart that beats with a burning, wrathful hatred. The only one to have me realize the sweetness in feeling one's warmth against my cold, scarred body.

And so, I will not let them take you. I will not let them take my one and only love, not when they have betrayed your own compassion before. If I must still the hearts of the ones that continue their endless hunt, then so be it.

I will yield my blade, my Miracle, and my screaming heart to end those who choose to keep tormenting you. I am your lover. I am your protector. I am their executioner.

And so, I find myself chasing after the first Tiger to be executed. The one that took sickening joy in having his 'pets' maul you as you desperately fought back. Your pleas for help only falling on deaf ears, ears that only found amusement in hearing his own laughter overpower your own cries.

Alfie...

Alfie.

"Alfie!!!" Razel screamed out, wildly charging through the rubble ladened floor of the bridge the escalator had led to. Her silver, hate-filled eyes trained on the pudgy man at the opposite end of the bridge.

Alfie did not turn to face her despite hearing the hatred in her voice. No, his focus was elsewhere, his eyes looking onto the summoning ritual he performed with an enraptured gaze. A manic smile carved on his face.

His playing deck, fat with the sheer number of cards he had in his possession, swirled about in a violent maelstrom. Streaks of verdant Radiance jolted between each card, constraining them to form the shape of an archway as a magicked portal filled in the space the cards had created.

"This will be my magnum opus!!!" Alfie cried out joyously, his cloak billowing behind him from the pressure the Radiance exerted outward. "Otsu, to me!"

His demanding voice caused one of the cards to fly from the arch and into his opened hand. His back was still turned on the encroaching Razel, but she did not matter. She had no place in his grand scheme.

"Face me you bastard!!!" Razel roared, raising her nodachi to split the man before her in two. Her heart pounded against her breast with rage, bitterness, and exhilaration. She was close to taking the first life of many to earn her peace. So very close.

And then, a gunshot.

She came to a skidding stop once she heard the shot, feeling a bullet penetrate the bill of her hat and sending it tumbling to the lower levels. Her squirrel-like ears were now put on display as she turned her head to face the lone monkey who took aim on the western walkways adjacent to the bridge.

"Luanne," Razel cursed. Luanne was a relatively new addition to the Tiger's Guard when she, Strafe, and Vox left. She never really got to know the markswoman, but seeing her here, protecting Alfie, had only solidified her thoughts on the Astral. "Anyone who stands between us and our peace is to be cut down."

Cass finally caught up to Razel after her blitz, the loss of Radiance, pain, and exhaustion taking a toll on his staggering body. With an enraged scowl, Cass threw off his coat. His runeweave, now stripped off, returned the Radiance he had allocated to it to keep its protections maintained.

Razel looked on for a moment, seeing his trained, battered body standing before their shared opposition had her heart stir for a moment. Forgoing one's protection, one's livelihood, in one last defying act of violence to secure the promise of witnessing the morning light had filled her mind with clarity.

"You're right, Cass," she uttered, following his example. She threw off her own runeweave, letting her beloved jackets grace the littered, ruined walkway of the bridge she stood on. The surge of Radiance she felt return to her body was euphoric. She didn't have the control that Cass had, let alone the raw output Oriol and Isles' had, but to feel this much energy flow through her was enough to make her feel as if she was floating.

Unfettered. Unburdened. All for this gamble. The gamble of life and death.

"Hmph, not going to use runeweave, are we?" Alfie questioned with an annoyed frown. "Oh well, your funeral. I hope you don't think your earlier excursion with Otsu was all he was capable of."

Dread crept into Cass's mind upon hearing this, "He's going to resurrect his Starkin!"

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"His wha--?"

"By using the talisman card: Refire a Dying Star, I can summon Otsu, Prince of the Four Winds from the graveyard!" Alfie announced as a card was played. With a flash of light, Otsu materialized once more before the duo as Alfie held up a different card, its face bordered with a gilded trim. "And with Otsu on the field, I will activate his Constellation Evolution! Come forth! Otsu, Wretched Soul of the Four Winds!!!"

Otsu's visage became suffused in a brilliant light. His illuminated silhouette grew, his already tall and impressive frame growing larger and stronger still. Razel, who has long become fed up with Aflie's games, charged the transforming beast in an effort to destroy him then and there.

However, her efforts were stopped by a menacing blade, one whose width and length equaled her body in size. She raised her nodachi to deflect the strike, watching with raw, violent hatred as the edge of Otsu's sword clashed with the flat of her weapon.

With her saya gripped in her other hand, she moved to jab the end of it towards the morphing rabbit's abdomen, hoping to break free from their bind. Otsu then grabbed hold of the wooden scabbard, his face becoming the first visible part of his body that broke free from the light that veiled his appearance.

A large scar was seen dashed across his face. His eyes that once shone like rubies, were now dulled in their colorization; the little aspiration he had being utterly consumed by his silent wrath. He stepped forth, pushing his larger, burlier frame back against Razel as his body shed free from the light.

His fur was longer and wilder. Old wounds covered his arms and torso, taking the place of the gilded accessories he once wore. His light and flowy clothing was now replaced with a heavier and drab set of coat and pants made from thick leather layered over a cotton inlay. The regal, flowing scarves that once adorned his neck were now tattered and stained. Their luster gone.

Cass shifted his gaze to the west, desperately looking if he could spot the sniper. But much to his relief, he saw Oriol confronting Luanne. And after seeing what Oriol was capable of, he knew she could single-handedly take down Luanne.

He then trained his sights on Alfie as he grabbed hold of his yo-yo and whipped it in a curved shot straight for the summoner who watched from the backlines. He hoped this was enough of a diversion to get Otsu to come to his aid and create an opening for Razel. But he also knew what Otsu was capable of, his hand resting on the hilt of Tizona as a precaution.

"A yo-yo?" Alfie noted, watching the perceived toy with great disinterest as it ripped through the air. Otsu's gaze flicked over to the yo-yo that shot past him and Razel as Alfie confidently raised a hand to catch the toy.

A whistle rang out, the foreboding melody that was paired with Otsu disappearing with the breeze. Alfie looked on with bemusement, unsure as to why Otsu elected to perform his patented 'wind-step'. But Razel and Cass knew.

Cass was unsure as to where Otsu would reappear. All signs pointed to him appearing before Alfie to deflect his yo-yo and to intercept the charging Razel that headed straight for the summoner, but he could do a repeat of their first fight. The mere thought of Otsu going for him instead of Alfie and Razel made his gut flare with pain, pain that was stomached down with the adrenaline that coursed through his body.

"Cass!!!" Razel shouted out, her determined voice resounding within his mind. Once more, she closed in on Alfie, her nodachi readied to cut down the first of many Tigers. "Live wild, my brother! For their funeral will be a toast to our survival!!!"

With her echoing words, Otsu appeared before her. And in one broad cut, sliced through the thick string of Cass's yo-yo and knocking aside Razel's nodachi.

But Cass's assault was not stopped. Not after being accepted by Razel. He will not falter now.

"I will not betray your faith in me," Cass uttered, his golden gaze sharpening in their focus. All he needed was a little imagination to create a new interpretation of his power, and grab hold of it. Then, he realized it.

"The Miracle to Unify our Heartstrings."

The yo-yo that would've veered off-course from its target suddenly curved vertically, delivering an upper-cut to Alfie's jaw that defied all laws of physics. The sheer force of the impact had swept him off his feet and his teeth slam shut against one another, causing them to bleed as some cracked from the upheaving pressure.

"Master!" Otsu cried out in shock, stepping away from Razel to rush to his summoner's side.

The yo-yo responsible for Alfie's writhing pain was quickly reeled in by a strand of shimmering, prismatic string that stemmed from his middle-finger. The self-same string that has been stitching Cass's wounds autonomously. He never had this much control of it, watching zip back to his palm in utter amazement. He weaved the shimmering strings between his digits, letting the yo-yo spin endlessly in the center of the entwined string as its metal plates easily began to spark. The sparks then turned into flames, flames that reflected off the lens of his glasses with a warm hue.

Razel took this window to blindside Otsu who turned his back to the woman whose heart raged with her overflowing hatred. In a decisive strike, she thrusted her nodachi forward, piercing Otsu through his spine and out through his stomach.

Otsu looked down, his wavering eyes staring at the wicked blade that skewered him. His hands reached to grab hold of it, hoping to wrench his body off of the weapon. But that's when he felt the back of his head cave in. Caved in by a flaming yo-yo that blew open a cavity on his skull from its destructive force.

Once more, Otsu perished not in a display of viscera, but ash.

Alfie, who grabbed hold of his bleeding mouth, attempted to stand. An effort that was stopped as he was pinned to the bridge by the nodachi that stabbed through his right thigh. Gritting his teeth to withstand the pain would only heighten it, so instead, he wailed. Wailed like the coward he was.

She watched in silent disgust. Her silver eyes peering down upon Alfie like the garbage he was.

"Razel," Cass called out reluctantly, seeing her ear swivel his away in acknowledgement. "You aren't planning on killing him, right? Oriol told us to detain the Proxies. It doesn't feel right killing him, not when he's like this..."

Alfie was defenseless as he was. His life held at the mercy of Razel.

"Who cares if it's right or wrong, Cass. This bastard made his choice, he knew what he was doing when he had his beasts assault Strafe and calling it 'training' all the while. Don't make me think whether or not I am justified, Cass, because it really doesn't fucking matter," Razel reasoned, her voice becoming more and more unstable the longer she let her mind flow unchecked through her words.

"Do you think he was in the right for doing that? For continuing that torment on my poor love for years? No. There's no reality where he was ever in the right for doing something so heinous. So cruel. And yet, he has the audacity to start fucking crying!!!" Razel raged, stomping upon Alfie's gut, stomping the wind out of his system to silence his weeps and sobs for a moment.

"And do you think Otsu, his prized possession, wanted to live that life? To be chained to the twisted entertainment of a sick man who derives pleasure from having power over others? No. I don't think anyone, let alone any thing would want to be shackled to the perverse merriment of this miserable fuck!!!" Razel screamed, stomping down once more, slamming the heel of her shoe against Alfie's mouth.

"Right or wrong, it doesn't matter. It never did. It never will. Not when you've been cursed like we have, cursed to fight and to kill just to see another damn day," Razel lamented, raising her leg to stomp down on Alfie once more, but hesitated. Seeing one of the beasts responsible for her misery be rendered into a sobbing, bleeding lump of beaten flesh that cowered beneath her darkened her mind.

She did not feel cathartic. But, did she think she would feel joy in this?

No. She could not. For this simply was not her cutting off her past.

This was an execution. A necessary execution to usher her and those she holds dear into a new future. One stained with the blood of those who wronged her and her family.

"Razel," Cass called out once more. "I promised to fight for all of our success with everything I had at my disposal. And I don't know the full story behind you and the Tiger's Guard, but know that I have your back. No matter what. So...do what you must. To survive."

Razel thought for a moment. Her silver eyes, once shining with unrelenting hatred, now shone with determination. She reached for her nodachi, pulling it free from Alfie's thigh as she leveled the blade's tip over his breast.

"Right or wrong, it never mattered. This is for our survival," she resolved, plunging the blade through his runeweave, and piercing his heart. Their ears were forced to hear the disgusting, meaty shattering of Alfie's core. His sobs died down, dying alongside with him. And Razel watched every slow, agonizing second of his life slowly leaving his body.

The gateway that was conjured by Alfie's power quickly grew unstable before its form crumbled. Numerous cards then littered the bridge as Cass walked over to examine and gather Alfie's treasured deck. His eyes then fell upon Otsu's card as he gingerly plucked it from the ground.

"Put those down, Cass. No good will come of those cards," Razel said in a low, exhausted tone. "You can't use them like he did anyway. It's best they remain forgotten here."

"And what if someone else finds them? He wasn't the only one who could use the cards," Cass said, his digits carefully tracing over the texture of Otsu's card, the laminated parchment feeling smooth as silk. "Besides, I want to find a way to break Otsu out of that cycle. If I have to destroy his card, then so be it."

"Just don't say I didn't warn you," Razel retorted, her hands reaching into her pocket to pull out a smartphone device. She unlocked it and moved through its various menus to pull up an application. One of which she had alluded to having days prior, one that was able to pinpoint Vox's location via GPS.

"Status...offline," Razel read, her digits gripping the edges of the device with growing intensity.

Cass looked up at Razel's trembling form, one that shook with her growing fury. His ears then drooped, flattening against his skull as he heard let out a cry filled with her resentment and despair. A cry that resounded throughout the corridors and floors of the desolate mall that surrounded her.

Luanne, who was now apprehended by Oriol, looked up alongside her captor, looking onward at the woman who howled from her pain.

Vox, her only daughter, was dead.