Midus walked along the mansion, Jenna had always kept this place rather tidy, though he never could figure out why.

  He looked down to his chest, his armor was still broken of course.

  But his wound was healed, he couldn’t recall when that happened but he surmised it must have been while he went through the portal.

  But his thoughts drifted back to the mansion.

  To him, it just looked like any other dirty building… albeit, one with strangely long hallways.

  He paused as he saw Jenna appear in front of him, “You know why you're here?” Jenna said with an arched brow and scowl.

  Midus said nothing at first, he hated answering to this girl after all.

  But soon enough he spoke, “Because I tried to kill the Shadewalker.” he uttered the only logical answer, “And because you owe me a favor.”

  Jenna closed her eyes, “While I’m not thrilled about your little bout with Skylar, she’s alive. And that’s good enough for me at the moment, as for the favor I owe you… I’m sure I don’t need to tell you why my hands are tied at the moment, I can drop you off somewhere but that’s about it.” Jenna declared as the hallway behind her began to melt into a staircase, the same staircase that led into her dining room, she was famished after all.

  Midus nodded, walking down the stairs alongside Jenna, “In that case, you can drop me off at the Empire, particularly the airship docks.”

  Jenna arched a brow at that, “Oh? And here I thought you’d want to see your empress right away…”

  Midus glared at Jenna even as she sat down onto a chair and uncapped her dinner, it was a set of fingers, ripped right off the hands of children this time around, Midus wasn’t the least bit disturbed by the sight, “Don’t be absurd, I’ve been bested by this Shadewalker twice now… And if I can’t beat her, there’s no way Lust can.”

  Jenna reached forward grabbing her fork and forcefully stabbed it into the flesh on the fingers, “Yeah that never made any sense to me… Why serve someone who’s weaker than you? Seems like a stupid choice.” Jenna started waving her fork around the air, “Or did you have something planned with her? Maybe you were hoping to drag her into bed and get the good stuff eh?” Jenna smirked suggestively trying to evoke some sort of reaction out of Midus.

  She was met with disappointment as he simply walked up to Jenna and spoke, “The portal please.”

  Jenna looked up to him with a frown before sighting and extending her free hand the portal opened up just behind Midus, “You're no fun.” she muttered with a bored expression as she stuck the severed finger into her mouth biting down upon it.

  Midus didn’t respond, instead he started to walk forward towards the portal, “Ah, one more thing.” Jenna spoke with her mouth still full, she paused for a second before swallowing, “I’m sure this isn’t something I need to warn you about, but I’ll give you the courtesy nevertheless, next time you see Skylar… She’ll kill you.”

  Midus stopped at those words before walking forward though his portal, uttering his response, “We’ll see.”

  The portal closed behind him, Jenna sighed looking down at her plate, “You try to give a man a warning and he just ignores it… Maybe that’s why I’ve never been fond of men.” Jenna then squinted at her plate, “Course women aren’t much better in that regard… Seems to just be a human problem.” Jenna then closed her eyes for a moment, “... Eternals are the worst in that regard, at least humans can change their views.”

  Jenna then looked up to the roof of her building, “Humans, Gods, and Eternals… Light, Dark. And All in between… The one true struggle.”

  Chapter 7: Reset

  -Where…? Where am I? Am I falling?

  Skylar was indeed falling into an inky black void, faster and faster, yet there was no ground in sight.

  She looked around where she could, but no matter how far she looked the darkness was all that remained.

  -Am I going to be falling forever?

  As soon as the thought entered her mind, a speck of light appeared ahead.

  A small blue crystal flew past her, but she saw a glimpse of it, it was Tetra’s face that was reflected in it, another crystal flew past, this one had Leo’s face, “Let the winds guide your blade.” his voice echoed.

  Then another crystal flew by, Greed’s face.

  One after the other the crystal’s flew upwards each with their own memories.

  Skylar watched the sight for a moment, her mouth slightly open as the crystals flew upwards past her.

  She then winced, not out of pain, but a sudden contact of light.

  Down below, she was falling right towards it.

  Though she didn’t know what it even was, and that was a little concerning to say the least.

  Especially considering she was falling towards it at breakneck speeds, Skylar’s eyes widened and she screamed throwing her hands downwards and she cast a wind spell, and as soon as she did her fall came to a halt and she landed with a little thud on this platform made of light.

  Skylar groaned as she began to sit up, “Where… Am I?” she muttered the question as she dusted herself off and got to her feet.

  Slowly she walked forward, taking three steps, as she did so the edges of the platform shot upwards consuming the darkness in the skies much to Skylar’s surprise, “This is the duty of the just, to slay the dark, to destroy all who’d oppose us.” A voice called out.

  Amidst the light it spoke, Skylar recognized it as her own, “Who… Who’s there?!”

  There was a pause at first, nothing happened…

  The voice echoes out across the white expanse, “Wonderful wonderful! Long have I awaited you to acknowledge my existence and here you are at last!” The voice declared booming across the expanse, Skylar looked around as clouds began to form in the skies above her, “I am Amatsu! And It is I who shall rule this expanse!”

  Skylar quickly reached up for her blade leaping backwards as the skies parted and down in the center of this arena…

  Came a white light, when that light vanished there stood a perfect mirror of Skylar.

  “Come! Let us see the resolve of this girl who’d claim to be a god!” Amatsu declared unsheathing her blade and blasting forward.

  Skylar’s eyes widened and she reached for her own blade, only for her gaze to quickly shift over her shoulder.

  -It’s not there.

  A brow of sweat began to appear on Skylar’s face as she realized that she turned to Amatsu who had yet to stop her assault, “Ah… Shit…” Skylar summoned a blast of wind magic from below her to launch herself out of Amatsu’s way, only for Amatsu to leap into the air, the wind compressed under her feet and launched her higher.

  “Can’t we just talk about this!?” Skylar shouted as she summoned forth a fireball in her right hand, throwing it down in a mild panic.

  Amatsu chuckled, slashing upwards the fireball consumed her blade, but instead of burning it away, it looked as though the fire and steel became one, “Sure! You are a worthless piece of shit, and I want you dead! Talk over!” Amatsu had closed the distance at this point.

  And Skylar threw her arms up in an X, lighting coated her body in an effort to protect her from this monstrosity.

  Amatsu slashed forward, cutting through Skylar’s chest, they both fell down Skylar hit the ground back first, while Amatsu landed behind her chuckling, “Come on! You're supposed to be better than that aren’t ya?” Amatsu questioned turning around and putting a hand on her hip looking down to the bleeding Skylar.

  Skylar gasped and coughed sputtering out blood as she rolled to her side, “What… are you?” She couldn’t place it. This person seemed human, but she fought more like the gods Skylar has seen, but at the same time…

  Amatsu looked down to Skylar and paused, she seemed to be considering how best to answer that question, she looked to her blade and down to her hand before uttering these words, “I am you.” she settled upon the answer at last, “the side of yourself that you refuse to acknowledge, the side that deserves to ascend into godhood.” Amatsu declared as she put the sword in her hand next to Skylar’s neck, “Tell me, why is it you let these mortals around you cling so desperately to their lives? Surely you must know how much stronger you’d be if you simply consumed them.”

  Skylar looked up to the blade ahead and growled, “People are not food.” She countered instantly.

  “But gods are? You slaughter them, without a care in the world, and feast upon their strength to grow stronger.” Amatsu’s eyes flared with irritation, “You act as though you are the only one suffering, and yet here you are, a righteous bastard upon a throne and blood and skulls, calling it ‘Justice.’ The queen of hypocrites that is all you are.”

  Skylar never let her eyes leave that blade, “I do what I have to…” she utters the word with a grimace.

  Amatsu frowned at that, “That doesn't mean you have to like it.” she took a step backward, and snapped her fingers crystals descended from above, large crystals that showed a reflection of Skylar covered in blood smiling that fanged smile, “Why is it, that every time you find a god who stands so far beneath you, struggling like a beast against the storm, why is it that you always smile? Do you enjoy their suffering that much?” Amatsu questioned.

  Skylar looked at all of the crystals with wide eyes seeing her reflection, “I was… smiling…?”

  Amatsu scoffed at the question, “Of course you were, because you're a monster, a monster who’d spend all this time struggling against a foe to gain more strength.”

  “T-they are monsters, they’ve killed millions! They wouldn’t understan-” Skylar was cut off as Amatsu slammed her fist into Skylar’s gut making her stumble back in pain.

  “And there it is.” Amatsu growled, “There’s the reason I can’t stand you, the reason I will never accept that we are the same person,” Amatsu pointed her blade forward, “You can’t accept the simply fact that you are one and the same, Skylar Shadewalker, and the gods of this world doing what they must to survive, because if you ever accepted that fact, it’d go against all your morals.”

  Skylar looked to the ground, she opened her mouth to speak, but no words left her lips, after all, what could she say to that? Amatsu was right.

  She was just trying to survive, to save those around her and keep them safe.

  But so were the gods, she can’t… she can’t justify killing them and follow her own morals.

  “...What am I?” Skylar questioned suddenly.

  Amatsu looked down at her with a frown, “A monster, a monster that gods talk about around the campfire, a monster that would slaughter them senseless in a bid for more power… But if that is too much for you to accept… then I shall be glad to take the reins.”

  Skylar said nothing to that looking to the ground once more, that was until something entered her gaze, a crystal.

  A crystal that rolled up to her boot, she blinked looking at it, there in its reflection.

  Was Anarchy, giving her advice, lifting her up when she was down, and just… being kind.

  Slowly she reached out to that crystal, lifting it upwards, “...” she took in a shaky breath, and began to stand, “No.” the crystal began to shine and it shattered in Skylar’s grasp becoming a sword of crystal for her to fight back with, “I won’t let you hurt any of them!”

  Amatsu’s eyes widened and she quickly raised her blade in defense of Skylar’s oncoming assault.

  Skylar slammed her blade against Amatsu, “You are everything I hate… Someone who’d turn their own allies into ash for the sake of their own goals!”

  Amatsu, narrowed her gaze at Skylar, “What a coincidence, I’d say the same to you… You who’d use your own life as a tool, throwing yourself into dangerous situations just for a chance to die… Acting for the selfish whims of there’s without ever even considering what you’d want!”

  Amatsu suddenly pushed forward gaining ground on Skylar, “You’d live life as a tool! Not as a human! Whereas I’d live it as we were meant to live! As gods!”

  “And that is where we are different.” Skylar declared slamming her boot into the ground, coating her blade in flames as she pushed back against Amatsu, “You'd never understand the whims of a human, because you’ve never lived as we do! You’ve remained trapped here in your own self conceited views of my actions, but I’m not done! I’ll live, and I’ll see this path through to its very end!” She shouted once again on even footing with Amatsu.

  Amatsu however bared her fangs growling, “You would continue to walk the path of hypocrisy? Knowing well that your actions, and morals could never aline?! That path leads to only one ending, damnation!”

  So she shouted trying to push back against Skylar, only for the girl to respond, “Our morals are not absolute! They are shifting and changing constantly! Just like the spirit of mankind!” she shouted as Amatsu's blade began to crack as she listened to Skylar’s words.

  “So you’d abandon your morals and the ideals you hold so high in your mind?” Amatsu questioned as her arms began to shake.

  Skylar closed her eyes for a second before opening them, a crimson red glow appeared in her gaze, “If that’s what I must do to continue along the path I’ve chosen then I would. I would make this choice a thousand times!” she roared, the flames along her blade grew brighter by the second, sending cracks along Amatsu’s blade, “That is my wish, a selfish wish, born of pride and ignorance, but it’s mine! AND MINE ALONE!” she roared, shattering through Amatsu’s blade and cutting through her. Skylar stood there, arm outstretched and blade dripping with blood right behind Amatsu.

  Amastu stood there for a moment eyes wide as she looked to the hilt of her sword, then down to her chest she put a hand on the slash mark on it, it was parallel to Skylar’s.

  They were complete opposites.

  Just like the duo themselves, Amastu sighed, turning around, “I was hoping that we could have done this together.”

  Skylar lowered her blade, turning around to lock eyes with Amastu, “No way in hell will I ever work with someone who’d hurt my friends.”

  Amatsu frowned at that statement, “I see… Then I suppose I’ll just have to wait, bide my time to take control…”

  Skylar blasted forward ready to slash at Amatsu once more, “Like hell!” Amatsu smiled at the sight, not bothering to defend herself as Skylar cut through her neck.

  Skylar once more stood behind Amatsu, she turned around and watched as Amatsu’s head began to fall from her body, her eyes widened in surprise however when Amatsu reached out and grabbed her falling head by the hair, “Have you not figured it out yet? You can’t kill me, Skylar.”

  The blood dripped to the floor, and Amatsu lifted her head putting it back in between her shoulders, “And I can’t kill you.” The wound around her neck began to seal, and she turned back around to face Skylar, “So sadly for you, I’m here to stay. You're stuck with me.”

  Skylar stood there bathed in the light as she locked eyes with Amatsu, “You're not going to take my body. I won’t ever let you.”

  Amatsu smiled softly as her blade vanished and she put her hands behind her back, “I suppose we’ll see.”

  ***

  Skylar’s eyes snapped open and she blinked, her body ached and she lifted her left hand up putting it to her head, it was pounding.

  She looked to her right and saw white curtains obscuring her view, slowly she moved her body, forcing herself to sit up in her white bed.

  She looked to the right of the bed and saw a set of boxes with potions in them, “An infirmary…?” She muttered the question as her head began to clear up. Her eyes shifted to her hands and she narrowed her eyes at them, remembering the sight of Striga she sucked in a shaky breath and ran a hand through her hair, “She probably hates me now huh…” She came to the conclusion by herself, I mean she had wounded Striga pretty badly, she wouldn’t be surprised if she hated her.

  But even so, she certainly didn’t like that idea.

  Their time together was short, but she had come to enjoy Striga’s presence.

  Skylar sighed and started to stand. She was a little wobbly at first, but she managed to stand with little issue, that said…

  She started to move, “And where do you think you're going?” A voice suddenly called out, causing Skylar to turn to face it.

  It was a woman wearing a white lab coat, she had purple hair and azure eyes, she stormed up to Skylar, “Er, outside…?” Skylar offered meekly.

  The woman folded her arms and bent down to be at Skylar’s eye level, “Like hell you are! You came here practically teetering on the edge of death! Look at you, your wounds have only just begun to heal, so get back into that bed and rest.” The nurse hissed.

  “But I-”

  “Did I stutter?” The nurse questioned her eyes glowing with fury, Skylar had begun to sense the danger this woman presented if she was angered so instead of resisting she did an awkward scooch back to her bed and flopped onto it.

  Skylar then glanced up at the nurse with a nervous expression, the nurse walked over and lifted Skylar’s arms upwards then lowered them down to her chest, “Try moving your fingers.” The nurse commanded, and so Skylar complied moving each of digits one by one, it stung a little.

  But besides that it was fine, this went on for a little longer, moving through each of Skylar’s limbs, ensuring that everything was working as it should.

  After a bit the nurse turned her cold eyes to face Skylar, “...Everything seems to be fine with you, at least fine enough to walk…” The nurse then glanced to the side, “Though considering the state you came in here with… That should be impossible.”

  Skylar blinked at that, she had always been a fast healer, she smiled slightly at that looking to the side, “So then…? Can I go?”

  “You can.” The nurse at last spoke, before folding her arms as she started to walk off, she stopped, “Though if you wouldn’t mind, could you indulge a curiosity of mine?”

  Skylar paused, confused as to what a nurse would want to ask her, “Well, that wholly depends on your question…”

  The nurse frowned for a moment before turning around, “How did you end up in that state in the first place?”

  Skylar blinked before she sputtered, “Heh…” that sputter turned into a laugh. She was expecting a worse question, “Guess I got to that point because I don’t know when to quit.”

  The nurse looked to Skylar before sighing, “Then I guess I might be seeing you around more often… unless I do something about it.” The nurse reaches into one of the many boxes pulling out a brown bag, it’s a satchel small enough to be attached to the side of anyone’s pants, but it contains about 7 of the potions within the boxes.

  The nurse turned around, and handed the satchel to Skylar, “There, take those and make sure to put them to good use.”

  Skylar looked at the potions confused, “But why…?”

  “Because you're going to leave no matter what I tell you, don’t bother giving me payment…” The nurse then started to walk away, “But do try to make up with Julieta would you? You both look miserable.”

  With those words the nurse left, and Skylar frowned looking down at the satchel, she opened it up and examined the potions, they were blue instead of the red ones that Passer had given Skylar, perhaps because they haven’t been perfected yet?

  Skylar closed the satchel and attached it to her side before standing up once more, she began to make for the exit of this large tent.

  Now was the time for the talk, because if she didn’t do it now.

  She’d never come back.

  ***

  Striga sat in a booth in the cafe tent, at least she thought it was a cafe? She wasn’t really sure what else to call this place, Shina was brewing cups of coffee for both Striga and Julieta.

  Julieta still had bags under her eyes and as she sat in front of the counter, she let out a sigh, “How am I supposed to talk to her…?” Julieta muttered the question.

  Shina set a cup down in front of her, “I’m sure you have a lot you want to say, and as much as I want to hear you say it, I do believe I owe them both an explanation first, so once Skylar gets here, just let me start with the talking ok.”

  Julieta scoffed somewhat at that, looking to the side, “After what I did? I doubt she’d even come here, she probably wants nothing to do with me.”

  “Show’s what you know.” Striga interjected, “I’ve only known the girl for a few days myself, but I know for a fact she’ll come to see you.” She then blinked looking at the entrance, “Granted it might just be to punch you in the face…”

  “You know the fact that you are calling out my violent tendencies doesn't make me feel much better.” Skylar stated as she walked into the tent, with a very forced smile.

  Striga blinked looking at her, she glanced to the side for a moment before muttering, “...Glad you're okay.”

  Shina looked to Striga smiling softly before looking back to Skylar, “We’ve got a lot to talk about I’m sure, so why don’t you take a seat.”

  Skylar nodded and in a bold decision she walked right up to where Juileta was sitting and sat beside her, Julieta tensed up of course not entirely sure how Skylar was going to react, Skylar however didn’t even turn to face her, she looked to Shina and signaled for a drink.

  Shina looked forward with concern but decided to leave Skylar to her devices, Julieta opened her mouth to speak, only for Skylar to start talking first, “Icon and Tetra both told me stories about you. Said you were one of the best Executioners, damn near unmatched in the field, but… you left the Executioners because you got tired of all the killing.” Skylar looked to Julieta, “That’s the official story anyways, but they always implied there was something more to it.” Skylar frowned suddenly, “So? Why not tell me about it?”

  Julieta blinked at that frowning, “...Has anyone ever told you about Sara?” she questioned suddenly.

  Skylar frowned, “Tetra mentioned the name once in passing… That’s all I really know about her though.”

  “She would have been about your age by now.” Julieta muttered, “She had silver hair, and was a rather skilled wind mage like her father.” Julieta closed her eyes putting her hands around her cup, “I think that was half the reason why Tetra was so fond of you, he looked to you and saw you as a second chance… But you're not her.” Julieta’s eyes darkened as the image of her daughter impaled on that ice spike surfaced through her mind, “she died. Because we were weak.”

  Skylar said nothing to that, as Shina finally set down Skylar’s drink she reached out and grabbed it putting it up to her lips, she took a swig, “...I see…” she looked to the table and tapped her fingers on it impatient for a moment before sighing, “I…” she bit on her lip glancing around as she worked up the courage to make her request, “I want you to join me, in my next battle.”

  Striga nearly spit out her drink when heard that, she quickly stood up, “Skylar! Come on now, you know that request is completely unreasonable, you can’t just ask someone who’s not involved to join in a wa-”

  “But she is involved, if she wasn’t involved, why was Midus here?” Skylar eyes flashed red, a hint of rage showing in her gaze, “That alone is enough reason for me to want to keep Julieta close.”

  Julieta frowned, finding herself at a loss for words, it was then that Shina let out a sigh, “Ahem, if you three are done… Then perhaps we can start with… explaining things.”

  Skylar turned to Shina, “And what is there to explain?”

  Shina smiled softly, “Are you ready for a long story?” Shina walked around the counter, “As you're aware, I’ve… lived here my whole life, but… I wasn’t born here. I’m a citizen of Babylon.”

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Skylar’s eyes widened at that, “Seriously?”

  Shina put her hands behind her back smiling, “Despite where I was born, I hold no loyalty to that nation… But a year ago, we received reports of a nasty type of god in that nation… so Julieta and I went to investigate.”

  Julieta looked at her cup, “It was… hell. People were being slaughtered, anyone who wasn’t loyal to their new empress would be destroyed.”

  Shina nodded with a scowl, “And so Julieta went to confront this empress, Lust she called herself, while I went to find survivors.”

  “Everything afterwards is kind of a blank for me…” Julieta confessed.

  Shina sighed, folding her arms, “I ended up having to come find you, only to see that you wrapped around Lust’s arm like a lost puppy…” Shina looked to the ground with a frown on her face.

  Skylar paused at that, “Midus also seemed to be fascinated with this Empress… to a point where it almost seemed like an obsession.”

  Shina nods, reaching into her pocket pulling out a pink crystal, “That brings me to this, whatever this is. It is the type of magic that Lust used on Julieta.”

  Skylar looked at the crystal with a frown, “And that type of magic would be…?”

  “Mind control.” Julieta growled out, “Or something very close to it. Its range is large, about 200 meters give or take…”

  Skylar blinked and turned her gaze to Striga, “Striga… How long do we have until the forces of Jubilee are supposed to march upon the Empire?”

  Striga paused at that before her eyes widened in realization, “Oh. Oh god no…”

  Julieta narrowed her gaze, “I’ll join the fight, I set my blade aside a long time ago… but this Empress Lust has screwed with the people I hold dear to me, as such I would see that justice is paid.”

  Shina folded her arms, “That’s all well and good, but it won’t help anyone if you get put under her control again, we need some kind of plan. Some way for us to get close.”

  All four of them sat there in silence racking their heads for ideas, Striga groaned, “If only we could enlist the service of a Dark Knight…”

  Shina’s gaze turned to Striga with a small smile, “That old tale? Dark Knights are a myth.”

  Julieta folded her arms, “About as much of a myth as S rank gods, and if Dark Knights are real, do you think they’d want to make themselves known?”

  Shina blinked, considering the question for a moment, “Er, no I suppose not…”

  Skylar at last butted in, “And uhh? What is a Dark Knight exactly?”

  Julieta sighed, “Right, you weren’t in the business of Executioners for long so I suppose you never got told about them…”

  Striga leaned back in her chair and hummed in thought, “...The Empire has always been a fickle state, their leader is almost always shifting, as such so does power. The Dark Knights existed in a place where they could ensure that power is always where it belonged.” Striga explained, “Of course now that Lust is in power… it’s probably safe to assume most if not all of these Dark Knights are dead… as for how they get the name? It’s because of a particular type of magic they use, a type that has no element but threatens to drive the user mad…”

  Skylar’s eyes narrowed when she heard that description.

  “You know that type of magic?” Alma asked the question, noticing the change in Skylar’s attention.

  -Void magic perhaps? Anarchy mentioned something about it… but there seems to be something close to it… Whatever was in this gauntlet seems to have something close, but not quite Void…

  Skylar looked at the gauntlet in question and clenched her hand into a fist, “So that’s a no go then?”

  Striga paused at that, “There is… one place that might still have a Dark Knight… the only village that’s remained away from The Kingdom. Babylon Garden.”

  Shina folded her arms, “I was close to that village about a year ago, that’s where I met Ignas… though I was too late to save his sister…” she rolled up her sleeve and a large scar was on it, “I made a pact with him there… In exchange for being able to feast on my flesh he’d help me save Julieta…”

  Julieta’s eyes widened at the scar and her lip trembled, “You got that because of me…?”

  Shina’s eyes shined with determination as she responded, “I got it because of how much I admire you.”

  Skylar looked to Striga for a moment before gesturing to the door, this wasn’t a conversation for the both of them.

  So for the time being Skylar and Striga stood up and left the tent.

  Leaving Julieta and Shina alone.

  Shina stood there in the silence while Juileta looked at the table frowning bitterly, “...I was right… I really am unfit to keep this place in order…” she muttered, running a hand through her hair.

  Shina looked to the tent’s exit for a moment before closing her eyes, “But you stepped up. When nobody else would, you took charge because you knew it had to be done… I just wish there was more I could have done to help.”

  Julieta’s eyes settled upon a glass in front of her and she reached out slowly, “...It’s the job of a cafe to provide a safe place to relax, for old souls wanting to rest their weary bones, for the young who want an excuse to smile. And the workers who want to take their minds off things. Draco wasn’t fond of the idea of this place, but I was the one who pushed hard for it.” Julieta explained as she picked up the glass and began to examine it.

  Shina looked at the glasses in the back, “Sounds like you… You always have been the type to look out for others.”

  Julieta looked at the glass, it was all specially made by her, “I suppose I have…” she set the glass down slowly, “As much as I want to assist Skylar and her allies, I have people here to look after… and I won’t let you do it alone.”

  Shina said nothing to that at first, instead she glanced at Julieta's face, she was biting down on her lip, Shina then uttered the words, “If that’s your desire, then so be it.” she started to walk towards the tent’s exit, “But, if it isn’t… then you’d best consider other options.”

  With those words she left the tent, leaving Julieta alone and with a frown Julieta looked towards the top of the tent, “Other options…?”

  Outside of the tent Skylar and Striga stood a fair distance away discussing some other matters, “For real… Where the hell did they put my shit.” Skylar sighed, putting an irritated hand on her hip.

  She had her sword and outfit, but she was missing the items that were within her pockets.

  Striga sighed, “Did you even check with the main nurse in the medical tent? They normally empty out their pockets before they put someone in a bed… so it’s probably still in their possession.”

  Skylar frowns, “And how was I supposed to know that?! There’s not a warning or anything.”

  Shina walked up to the duo, “To be fair, it’s just common knowledge here… And we hardly have visitors due to the whole, ‘dangerous monster island’ thing we have going on.” Shina said with a light smile.

  Skylar glared at her for a moment before turning away, “Fine fine, I’ll be back in a moment.” with that Skylar walked off.

  And Striga at last spoke up, “...You don’t seem to be remorseful about what happened to Ignas.” she glanced at Shina, her own frown upon her face.

  Shina paused at that, “I am.” she countered, “but there are other people who need me at the moment… And while that remains to be the case, I can’t afford to cry.”

  Striga frowned at that, “How old are you?”

  “14.” She responded flatly.

  Striga folded her arms and glanced to the side, “Either my youth was weird… or kids have started to grow up a lot earlier.”

  Shina chuckled a little, “Truth be told, about a year back I was shy around people… And a little full of myself, but that started to change when Skylar came. It was only for a few short days, but she taught me a lot… About people, and what real strength is.” she looked to the tent Skylar was at with a reminisce expression before blinking, “Ah, but I’m forgetting why I even came over here. I’ve got a favor to ask you.”

  Striga blinked, unfolding her arms, “A favor?”

  ***

  Origin watched the show from his grand theater, the drama that had occurred in that place filled with monsters served as no end of amusement for him, Wrath’s voice echoed across the theater, “You have a fascination with that girl, sometimes I start to wonder if you have perhaps fallen for her?” Wrath stated as he made his way to the front of the theater where Origin sat, for once Draco was not at his side, he had other business to attend to.

  Origin tore his gaze from the screen and looked to Wrath, “And what of you? Your bloodlust towards her only grows stronger. Does it not?”

  Wrath frowned looking at the screen, “She’s already slayn one of my kin, and nearly defeated Pride… What’s more, you’d send more of mine to fight against that monster… If my wrath cannot be directed towards you, then she will have to bear the brunt of it.”

  Origin smirked somewhat at that, “Adding additional fire to the flame are we?”

  Wrath tore his gaze from the screen, glancing over to Origin, “The girl grows stronger with her every battle, given enough time she’ll even grow to slay you.”

  Origin looked to Wrath and then back to the screen, a smile growing upon his face, “That would be a wonderful outcome.”

  ***

  “What…” Skylar muttered as she looked forward.

  “The…” Striga continued tilting her head to the side.

  “FUCK!” Julieta shouted as she threw her hands into the air.

  Straight ahead, in front of the dock was the largest airship the trio had ever seen.

  One made of pure white metal, red stripes adorned the sides of it and several hundred workers ran along the bow working on its final touches.

  Shina chuckled as she walked over, “Quite the sight isn’t she? I had the idea while watching Skylar’s battle against Alma a year ago. The plans I drafted up took some time to get sorted out… but right now she’s the best airship on the market.”

  Skylar turned to Shina and shouted, “Okay, but when in the flying fuck did you become a machinic!?”

  Shina tilted her head to the side confused, “Huh? Oh I don’t know the first thing about machines, I just found some workers and told them to make it happen or I’d dock there and pay by 50%.” She said all that with a wolfish smile.

  A bead of sweat formed on the back of Skylar’s neck, “Remind me to never work under Shina… she whispered to Julieta.

  Julieta just nodded in agreement, “The girl’s a devil.”

  Shina ignored their comments, and then turned to look at her airship, “It’s fast, not as fast as the one you two came in here on, but it’s up there… It makes up for all that, in its offensive and defensive capabilities.” Shina then turned to Skylar, “so you better take good care of Excelsior.”

  Skylar blinked at that, “Excelsior?” she asked, confused.

  Shina smiled, holding her arms out, “The name of my airship, and my gift to you! …Or rather my apology.” her smile dropped along with her arms, “It hardly makes up for everything you went through here, but I hope you’ll accept it all the same.”

  Skylar looked to Shina then glanced over to the ship before chuckling, “Throw in a free cup of coffee when I come back. And then I’ll call us even.”

  Shina blinked at that, she had honestly thought Skylar was going to give her a harder time, but if that was all…

  She smiled softly and then chuckled, “Sure thing, I’ll be sure to give you the best ones I’ve got!”

  ***

  Midus walked forward. There was a small village to the right of the airship docks, it wasn’t often visited, and it was mostly used to have soldiers and miners restock their supplies.

  So it was a rare treat indeed when the commanding general of the Empire’s army decided to drop by, the ground was made of rough dirt, the houses that were there remained cheap and barely stable.

  The civilians wore naught but tattered rags and bruises could be seen upon their flesh.

  In this place there was no law, nobody who enforced it anyways, these people were masters of their craft.

  Potions, herbs, blades, you name it they’d make it.

  And like always…

  A young man came from behind blade in hand yelling, wielding it with no training or skill, he tried to stab Midus through the back.

  Only for Midus to turn around and with the back of his right hand shatter the blade, shards flew across the air as the young man stared forward with fear.

  Midus looked to the young man over, he had two bottles of blue liquid attached to his belt.

  And here was how business was conducted, Midus lunged forward grabbed the man by the head and threw him to the dirt, the man moved to get up only for Midus’s blade to enter his gut

  Midus narrowed his gaze at the young man who squirmed for his last moments.

  “What a waste of time.” Midus muttered as he reached down to grab the two blue bottles, he’d need every edge he could get against the Shadewalker, “Next time… I shall not lose.”

  So said his resolve, but fate would see if the results were different.

  Midus then turned his gaze to the center of the island, there the castle stood tall, he frowned for a moment.

  “So many enthralled by her presence… and yet I remain acutely aware of their situation.” There was only one reason for that.

  One that Midus knew all too well, the others were enslaved by Lust’s power, whereas Midus was enslaved by his own love for Lust.

  …

  He was a monster in every sense of the word, letting a war start just for a chance to be with her.

  Skylar’s hate filled eyes entered his memory for a second and Midus blinked looking down to the potions with his grasp, he attached one to his side and downed the other, any remaining cuts and bruises he may have had sealed away.

  He started to walk towards the castle then, he had a goal in mind.

  It would take time, and he had no doubt the invaders would arrive by the time he started to act on it, but that was fine.

  There was only one person in this world who could ever face his master on even ground, “Skylar Shadewalker…” he uttered the name with a frown, his hatred for the girl still burned of course, but there was a deepening respect for her as well.

  There was more to that girl than meets the eye.

  ***

  “She’s doing quite well… Not quite perfect, but no one ever has been perfect… I think you could look down upon her and be quite proud.” Passer uttered, she was kelt down into the dirt, a frown upon her face, “Of course, I never did expect your descendant to actually appear. But… I suppose now that she has I do have to make good on that promise of ours… Though. I’m sorry to say that I’m not sure how possible that’s going to be in the coming years.” As for who Passer was speaking to?

  A tree.

  A tree that had long since died.

  Passer then sighed, closing her eyes for a moment, “Regardless, I had better get back to work. See you soon Anarchy.” She uttered the words as she got to her feet dusting the dirt off her knees, sure enough a name was carved into the tree.

  ‘Here Lays Anarchy Shadewalker, may the shadows ever protect him’

  It was the only dead tree in this forest so it stood out like a sore thumb, there was a path to the left of it of course.

  Passer walked back to the path and started to walk north, she always made a habit of visiting that grave when she could, as she started to walk she frowned letting thoughts run through her mind.

  She had made a promise to protect any of The Shadewalker’s kin.

  Though Skylar seemed to have a tendency to find danger all on her own… So this promise was proving rather troublesome to keep.

  Passer stopped along the path suddenly blinking as she stared ahead, A man stood ahead on the path he wore a black jacket and brown pants there was two satchels attached to his pants, one on his right leg, one on his left, his red shoes were covered in dirt and mud his jet black hair was combed back and he was knelt upon the ground staring upon a spider with his crimson eyes.

  He reached out grabbing the spider within his hand and shattered it letting its blood drop through his fingers.

  He then began to speak, “You’ve been leaving the island a lot lately… Not that it’s any of my business, but I do find myself intrigued.”

  Passer scoffed as she continued to walk forward, “What I do in my free time is none of your concern Gaia.” Passer declared as she started to walk past the man.

  “A new Shadewalker has been tugging on your curiosity, is that it?” Gaia’s eyes darted onto Passer, they were cold and empty, and in this light, you could see the bags under his eyes, “are they Sinthos?”

  Passer said nothing at first, instead she smiled brightly and put a hand on her hip, “A new Shadewalker? You must be mistaken, if that were the case then I’d be rushing on out of here.” she uttered the lies letting them slip past her lips as she had done a thousand times before.

  Gaia tilted his head turning his gaze instead to the direction of the dead tree, “Over my lifetime, you have never once deigned to visit his grave. And now out of nowhere, for no reason in particular you visit it daily. Is that what you want me to believe? Do you think I'm a fool Passer?” Gaia questioned with his own eyes narrowed in disgust.

  Passer flinched looking to the left nervously, so Gaia once more began to approach, “Are. They? Sinthos?” he repeated the question once more a name that held no meaning to anyone outside of these two people.

  The wind blew gently then tossing leaves from the trees, a single leaf fell between Passer and Gaia and at last Passer responded, “They’re strong… But I’m uncertain of if they are The Child Of Fate…”

  Gaia frowned at that turning around he started to walk down the path, “Then I shall see who this new Shadewalker is for myself.”

  Passer’s eyes widened at that and she stepped forward, “Y-You can’t! If you meet them now, then you’ll kill her!”

  “‘Her’ So it’s a female I’m after.” Gaia noted, unconcerned for the safety of the girl he was about to hunt. As he reached for the satchel on his left leg, unhooking the clip on it and pulling out a journal, he began to write down the name ‘Shadewalker’.

  Passer grits her teeth clenching her hands into fists, “I-If you don’t stop what you're doing right now… Then I’ll stop you!”

  Gaia stopped in his tracks then, the wind died when he turned his gaze over his shoulder, his gaze was enough to make Passer shiver with fear, but even so, she clenched her hands into fists raising them.

  Gaia sighed, turning around lazily, slowly he began to raise his right hand, “Very well then, if death is what you seek… then that is the gift that I shall grant you.” black lighting began to crackle around his hand.

  Passer grit her teeth, “Just walk away Gaia walk away and give her time! That’s all you need to do!”

  “You misunderstand.” Gaia declared suddenly as a black sword manifested within his grip, there were specks of gold on that blade, “I seek to do battle with Sinthos, not out of some twisted desire to face an equal, but instead… for the will of the Divine… So that I may hear his voice once more, so that he may guide us to salvation!” he declared suddenly, for the first time his eyes shined with the light of life.

  Passer frowned at that, “...So there is truly no reasoning with you.” she took in a shaky breath before blasting forward trying to strike down Gaia.

  A bored look entered his eyes as he slashed through the air. His blade hadn’t even made contact with Passer. And yet…

  Passer stopped halfway, her body began shaking, her eyes were wide, “Now where did you think that was going to get you Passer?” Gaia questioned with his head tilted slightly to the right as he watched a drop of blood hit the soil.

  She stared forward and suddenly she lurched forward coughing blood leapt from her mouth onto the soil itself, this was in addition to the blood that was leaving her chest from the giant cut upon it.

  Gaia hadn’t even approached and yet he managed to deal a near-lethal blow.

  With that Gaia turned around and began to walk off, his blade vanishing from view.

  “What a bore.” he uttered the words as Passer fell onto her back trying desperately to reach for the satchel on her side.

  Gaia then spoke up though he cared not what Passer did, “You should simply lay there in the dirt and bleed out, unless you want to repeat the mistakes of that hero of eld. The Freelancer would be so disappointed in you.” Gaia chuckled taking his next steps with an eger grin.

  ***

  Skylar frowned as she sat upon the edge of the ship, she was on the railing as the wind blew her hair. They had set off just a moment ago, Skylar wasn’t too concerned about falling off, if she did she could fly back up easily in this kind of weather.

  In her hand was a picture of a corpse, “Mili was her name…” she looked at the girl with a frown, despite her questions in Jubilee she wasn’t able to find anything else out about her.

  It was an annoying bit of information that was still niggling in the back of her mind, one that she’d be hard-pressed to figure out.

  Striga walked up to Skylar with an arched brow, “You doing all right over there Skylar?”

  Skylar blinked, putting the photo back into her pocket for the moment before looking over to Striga, “Yeah? Well… Not really, but I’m doing about as well as I could be. Why?” she asked the question as she spun around leaping back onto the ship.

  Striga sighed, putting a hand on her hip, “Because Julieta just woke up, and she is pissed!” Striga frowned as she uttered those words.

  This only prompted a smirk from Skylar as she started to walk towards the entrance to the cabins, “Well that was about what I expected, I’m still a little surprised that Shina’s favor was to perform a kidnapping.” So Skylar declared as she opened the doors, she could already hear the faint sounds of Julieta yelling down below.

  Striga folded her own arms following behind Skylar, “You got any plans on how to make her listen to you?”

  Skylar stretched her arms upwards, her shirt lifted slightly showing her waist as she smiled wide, “We were both Executioners at one point, and despite us both being retired I was made aware of one custom that even us retired Executioners follow.” Skylar lowered her arms looking over her shoulder at Striga, “Assuming you’ll be our ref of course.”

  Striga sighed heavily, “Must you always resort to violence?”

  In response to that Skylar spun around on her heel leaning forward with a beaming smile, “Oh just trust me, this will be good for the both of us, Julieta still harbors some doubts about me, and I wanna prove to her that I’m good enough to take on Tetra’s legacy. As such, a duel is the only logical method.”

  Striga stared forward not entirely believing Skylar, “And you're sure this isn’t just so you can whet your blade with more blood?”

  Skylar blinked, putting her hands on her hips as she stood to her full height, “Alright fine fine, I’ll fess up to my real motives.” Skylar reaches up and pulls out her blade looking it over, “I’ve got a lot to think about, and my thoughts are always a jumble, but… when I’m fighting? Everything just becomes so much clearer you know?”

  Striga frowned at that, “Not really? I’m not that fond of battle myself.” she shrugged, “and that’s not exactly a healthy way to deal with your thoughts Skylar, at some point, you really do need to find another way to deal with your thoughts.”

  Skylar arched a brow at that, “Weren’t you the one who literally set up a spot to fight against people to take their money?”

  Striga turned around then looking out to the vast sky, “...It was a method to stop people from fighting me, every day I’d receive a challenge, and if I refused then my reputation would be in risk, so I had people put their money on the line, turns out when you're putting something like that on the table people are a lot less likely to challenge you.” Striga then put a hand over the back of her neck, “Course then there are people like you, battle-hardened junkies…”

  Skylar sheathed her blade before folding her arms and narrowing her gaze, “I’m choosing to take that as a compliment.” She then turned around and walked down the staircase into the lower layers of the ship.

  -Still…

  Skylar stopped right in front of a door leading to the cabins, a frown on her face

  She blinked and looked up those stairs, upon the steps leading forward she saw silhouettes, Leon, Tetra, and Anarchy all staring down at her.

  -Why does it feel… Like when I open this door nothing will ever be the same…?

  She turned her gaze back to the door, closing her eyes once more, in the darkness of her own mind she felt those gazes still upon her, looking on with pride.

  And she opened her eyes with pride reaching out and swinging that door open walking forward through the hall, a worked was suddenly thrust out of the farthest door down this hall, “M-Miss Julieta, please calm down!” he cried out in fear before yelping as a glass was thrown into the wall just above him.

  “Calm down!? You kidnap me and then ask me to calm down!? You’ve got some fucking nerves bo-”

  “Yo Julieta, chill,” Skylar shouted out with an amused smirk, “Or are you just gonna keep taking out your anger on the attendants?”

  Julieta blinked looking over to Skylar, her sword was still upon her back, the fact that she had yet to draw it was likely an act of mercy on her part, “Wha-” she suddenly narrowed her gaze, “You did this?”

  Skylar glanced to the side, “Technically, I just carried you over here, it was Striga who knocked you out.” she then locked eyes back onto Julieta, “But that part doesn’t matter to you does it.”

  Julieta growled, taking a step forward, “Take me back.”

  “Why?” Skylar asked the question simply, “I mean sure the monsters in that place are pretty bad, but… Shina can handle them just fine.” Skylar then dropped her smile, “And you know that way better than I do. So I’m only left to surmise one thing.”

  Julieta said nothing, waiting for Skylar to continue with her deduction, so Skylar looked down to her left hand, “It’s me isn’t it, you still can’t stand me.”

  Julieta flinched at that, looking to the ground, “I know you didn’t kill him… I know that but…”

  Skylar’s eyes shined with emotion but she sighed, turning around, “Let’s take this to the deck then, I’m not great with words… I’ll let my sword do the talking if that’s all the same to you.”

  Julieta frowned at that, though she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t itching to duel Skylar, “Fine by me, what are the terms?”

  She asked the question as she started to follow Skylar up those stairs, “Simple stuff really, just a duel till one of us can’t fight anymore, and I’ll be restricting myself to wind magic alone.” Skylar explained as she stopped just in front of the door at the top of those stairs, “Course if I do win then I’ll at least want you to get a drink with me.”

  Julieta blinked at that, “That’s it? I thought you were going to ask me to stay with your crew…”

  Skylar shook her head, “Nah, that’d defeat the whole purpose of this fight frankly if after this fight you still wanna go back, then we’ll turn around and drop you off no questions asked.”

  Of course, she would, it’d defeat the whole purpose of this otherwise, “That said, I’d appreciate it if you came at me with everything you’ve got regardless.”

  Skylar stated as she walked out onto the deck, Julieta smirked at that as she walked onto the deck herself, the door closing behind her, “Of course. I’ll stake my pride on this fight just as you will.”

  They stood there, the wind blowing past both of their faces for a moment, and in sync they reached up for their swords upon their backs, drawing them there and then.

  ***

  Lust sat upon her throne looking down into a glass of wine in her right hand, “A sizable force is coming, one that even I may be hard pressed to combat against…” Lust frowned at that, she was prepared for a rather sizable battle that much was true, but her forces on the other hand were only made of flesh and bone.

  They’d fight till their bodies could do more, she knew that, but if she had to take on a force of a few thousand then she may be in a greater deal of trouble than she’d care to admit.

  She lifted that glass to her lips and then downed its contents before setting it to the side of her chair standing up, there was nobody else in the room besides her, but she’d be damned if she called on the other Eternal’s for reinforcements.

  So then in her eyes, there was only one other logical idea, she’d invoke a skill that only the Eternal’s were privy to.

  She reached out her right hand and thrust it into her chest, blood dropped from her chest as she grasped out her heart, “Pull forth, and make yourself known.” She growled despite the pain caused by such a gesture, her body glowed with mysterious red energy before that energy shot forward.

  Landed upon the ground in front of her, four silhouettes appeared kneeling before her.

  Lust then let out a sigh removing her hand from her stomach as he wound began to seal, “Well then, make yourselves known.

  The first silhouette came into view, it was a young man wearing a blue robe with a Japanese-styled smoking pipe in his right hand, “I am Seiryu, and through my righteous judgment shall the sons of man know fear.”

  The second silhouette then came into view, unlike Seiryu this one was wearing a fair finer set of garments, a white set of clothing, it shared a fair bit of skin, but the black gloves upon his hands stood out to most, he spoke up, “I am Byakko, and through my rage shall the sons of man know the meaning of suffering.”

  The third silhouette was next, this one was female and her eyes were red with a small fire burning within them, she wore a set of red and orange armor, and there were yellow lines around the edges of her battle gown, she at last spoke her voice was filled with something far more gentle than the two men before her, “I am Suzaku, and through my love shall the children of man know heartbreak.”

  At last the final silhouette began to form, it’s form was interesting to say the least, it was the oldest of the group it had a long white beard and wrinkles all over, but it wore the outfit of a master martial artist, “And I, am Genbu, and through my leadership shall my brethren ensure the children of man never reach our original form.”

  Lust looked to the four of them, she was rather dizzy at the moment so she turned to her throne and took a seat, “Heh, Wrath mentioned severing one’s soul was draining… but even so, I had expected to be left with a bit more energy…” she looked up to the four chosen ahead of her, “You four know well what I have planned, go forth and see to your duties, ensure that The Shadewalker receives our warmest of welcomes.”

  The four nodded before turning around and walking to the exit of the castle.

  “Hmm, though I do hope she survives… if she made it this far just to be defeated by shards of myself I’d be oh so disappointed….” Lust looking upwards let out a sigh annoyed by the current circumstances, however that annoyance turned into intrigue as she heard a set of footsteps in front of her she smirked, “And to what do I owe this visit?” she asked this question lowering her head just slightly, enough to acknowledge this person’s presence, but not enough to look them in the eye. They were still far beneath her after all.

  “It was my house that first created that device, yet you would sow the chaos to rebuild another?” A male’s voice echoed across the room as he entered this room unafraid of Lust.

  She chuckled a bit, grabbing hold of her glass and lifting it upwards, “Stella is the ultimate goal of man, and yet your clan would hide the secrets of how to build it, knowing well that while it’s mankind's goal, it is also the cause of their greatest sins… But I am no man, my wish is not one of Greed, Nor of Pride, not even Lust…” So Lust herself declared as she threw her cup forward shattering it upon the wall, “You can have it if you want, would that satisfy you? A wish to ensure your beloved Striga never leaves your side?”

  Delish stood at the far edge of the room with a frown, “My wish is none of your concern, so long as you ensure that the device is built to its precise specifications then all shall be well.”

  Lust nodded at that, “Yes yes, of course, I am not that much of a fool… Still, I’m impressed with you, to betray your people and country all for the sake of one girl? You are quite the bastard aren’t you.” Lust started resting her head on her hand as she kept her gaze on Delish.

  He however scowled, “I won’t take judgment from someone like you.”

  “Hm, then leave me, I may not look it, but I’m a rather busy woman.” Lust declared suddenly standing up and making her way to the exit, she stopped just behind Delish, “One last thing, should you make any move to betray me, death will not be a kindness I offer you.”

  With those words, she left the throne room, closing the doors behind her and leaving Delish alone.

  He looked up to the roof, “Stella… The almighty wish-granting device, and the original sin of mankind…” he closed his eyes and took in a shaky breath, “No cost too great.”