"You know I'm starting to get bored Korvin." I tell to the shadow in the cage in front of me.

Again I had been brought into Korvin's prison within my mind. Yes it was creepy as hell and I wasn't totally unafraid of the shadow locked up inside me, but after dealing with it for several months it'd become more of a annoyance than anything.

"THAT'S NOT MY FAULT. I'M NOT TRYING TO FRIGHTEN YOU, THAT IS NOT MY ASPECT."

The blood red eyes make me shiver as I hear his chilly metallic voice. However his comment makes me curious. "So what is? I know nothing when it comes to even what you are. Care to enlighten me? I'm sure you know Bael is like a steel trap when trying to pull conversation from."

"THAT A SOLEST FOR YOU. THEY'RE UNBENDING IN THEIR DESIGN, IF YOU WEREN'T USEFUL TO HIM THEN I'M CERTAIN YOU WOULDN'T EVEN KNOW HE WAS THERE. IF YOU WANT INFORMATION, THEN YOU MUST DO SOMETHING FOR ME."

"Depends if I decide your information is worth it."

"HAHA, YOU HUMANS ARE MORE LIKE MY KIND THAN YOU BELIEVE. FINE, YOU MUST CREATE EYES FOR ME TO SEE OUTSIDE THIS CAGE. YOU'LL KNOW HOW WHEN YOU WAKE."

"That's all? I'm certain that knowing you that's not a totally harmless request, but of what you can do without my letting you out of this cage I think I can agree to that." I agree to his condition.

"EXCELLENT. THEN I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT YOU WISH."

His body swirls into a cloud of smoke before playing out a scene in the red lightning within. His voice seem to play straight into my head as I watched.

Long before time itself, when the multiverse was still dark and silent, two races were made. These two races only had ten members each, undying indestructible beings, we called ourselves the Umbrans and the Solest. The Umbrans loved the darkness, to us it was familiar and it was our home, but the Solest didn't share in our belief. They created light, and called that their home, they SHUNNED the dark. This is when we knew the two would never agree, each race held what you call magic in amounts unimaginable, and with these powers we unleashed war upon each other. The backlash of our fighting was the spark that ended up creating the known multiverse. We destroyed many universes in our war, however the Solest took interest in one that they came across. The human universe was not the first one with life that we had visited, but there was something different. The Solest thought that your kind held promise and that you did. Using your kind as vessels their power was amplified and allowed for them to overcome my brothers and sisters. To prevent any more harm to either side, a truce was made. Only one of each race now remains free from bonds, the others are bound like I am along with a Solest to make sure that we are held responsible. Most Solest are limited but not how I and the others are, caged like beast. That is because most of the Umbrans, like myself, did not want the war to end. The humans offered their blood as the chains to hold us and so we have had to remain like this for so long. Though some of my kin have found loopholes there has been no true way to break free yet.

I watched as the story unfolded before my eyes. When it concluded I asked a few questions, "It sounds like you guys are basically angles and demons. Where did your names come from? Who are the two still free? And what made you in the first place?"

Curious aren't you... Legend has often portrayed us as your 'angels and demons' though our numbers are greatly exaggerated. As for our names, they are words from our original language, they hold great power and are our identities. The ones still free are 'Justice' of the Solest and 'Pride' of the Umbrans. The closest thing you'd understand to what created us would be the being some of your race view as God. What else do you wish to know?

"Well if you're giving me the option, what are all the names of the Solest and Umbrans?"

The Solest took a liking to your human concept of virtue while the Umbrans enjoyed to the ones known as sins. The ten virtues that describe them are: love, honesty, loyalty, generosity, kindness, happiness, patience, bravery, hope, and justice. We Umbrans can be linked to: fury which is mine, sloth, hunger, lust, envy, greed, sorrow, fear, indifference, and of course pride. You want more, then I'll be wanting more in return.

"I'll keep my promise. You know for the personification of negative emotions, you Umbrans sure are chatty."

The shadow just seemed to shrug at my comment. Before I could continue the environment around me started to waver, signalling the ending of my dream. I nodded to the thing in the cage before opening my eyes.

When I opened my eyes I was still laying in bed, Vinyl was curled into my side snoring lightly. A fairly normal morning, a rare occurrence indeed. As I continued to lie in bed information suddenly seemed to flood into my mind.

"Runes huh? Funny, Korvin might have just given me something more useful than that little history lesson." I whisper softly to myself as not to disturb Vinyl. "But if I'm going to practice any of this, or my magic, I'm going to need to find somewhere that I can be a little destructive."

With that settling my inner monologue I gently shook Vinyl to wake her up. Vinyl was by no means a morning pony, neither was I a morning person but we still had things to get done.

"Nhhg, five more minutes~." Vinyl groaned out before trying to burrow deeper into my side.

"Babe, you know I'd love nothing more than to just sleep the day away with you, but remember what day it is?" I continued to prod my marefriend as I spoke.

Vinyl pushed herself up quickly, eyes near fully alert, "Has it already been three months? Faust knows it's felt like forever~." She groaned before flopping back on the bed, but was smiling all the same. "Octy is going to be so happy when we tell her."

I smile back before a thought crosses my mind, "Do you think she'll say yes? I know it seems silly, but I'm kinda nervous about it all the same."

"Relax, I've known Tavi sense we were foals. If there is only one thing I'm certain about, it's knowing my best friend. Though I've met quite a few humans before you, are you going to be ok with this babe?"

"Yeah, most people would have a hard time about it but I've seen examples of it here and I've yet to hear about them causing heartache specifically because of that." I reassured her, and a bit to myself.

"It's hard to believe she got hooked on surge, she's usually the careful one of us." Vinyl said with a sadness in her eyes.

"Nobody's perfect Vinyl, and it's not like it's really her fault. If anything I beat myself up for not catching it before it became a problem."

"Well then we're both at fault for that one. I know it's hard to concentrate when dealing with something this hot." She flirts while running a hand down her bare chest.

I roll my eyes before pushing her off the bed, she yelps as she hits the floor. I chuckle as I get out of bed on the other side, "Come on miss thang. We've got stuff to do before tonight."

Vinyl pouts cutely before getting up with a huff, "Fine. When did you get so good at resisting my flirts anyhow?" She says with her back to me while throwing on a t-shirt.

"I don't." I whisper in her ear as her head pops through the shirt. She 'eeps' cutely as I kiss her neck gently as she melts into my touch. However I pull myself away and go back to getting ready like nothing happened, "I've just learned it's so much more fun to tease you back and make you hot for me instead."

I hear a growl behind me as I'm about to finish buttoning my shirt, I look over my shoulder to see Vinyl glaring at me with her ruby irises. The thing that worried me however was the fact that her horn was glowing. "I pushed it I little far didn't I?" I asked with a slight waver in my voice.

My answer came when I suddenly was pulled off my feet by my shirt and tossed onto the bed, I looked up to see Vinyl slowly approaching with lust filled eyes. "And that would be a yes." I answered my own question just before Vinyl lept at me for a morning tryst.

...After I was raped, Vinyl and I went about our normal routine. I walked her over to the club as she needed to get set up for the night, but that's when we parted ways. I have an appointment with Luna today, while the nightmares are more or less gone now she still has me do a 'check-up' every now and then. Really though it's just an excuse for her to get out of some of her duties and enjoy time with a friend. The reasons the nightmares disappeared is really unknown, Luna likes to say it's because I accepted love, but I think it was Korvin the whole time, and now that he can talk directly to me he had no more use for the nightmares. Whatever the actual reason is though I don't really care, the fact is they no longer plague me and that is the true blessing.

Octavia after the event with Fine Point was placed into a recovery program. She left a week ago as part of the retreat for those that completed the program, and tonight is when she finally will be home and certified as cured from her addiction. It's had been a hard three months for the three of us. The challenges we faced together were difficult at times, Octavia tried to sneak off several times, she experienced heavy withdrawal episodes, and moods swings with such frequency and severity that I didn't think was possible. This past month is when she started to return to the mare we all knew, which was great for her but also for us in that we could start trusting her again. We have a special surprise in store for her when she gets back tonight, though I have no idea how she is going to react to it. I start to get nervous whenever I think about what could happen, but enough about that.

Anyway that's not the most pressing concern at the moment, I've walked my way to the palace and entered like normal. Now I stood at Luna's door which wasn't guarded like usual, that's certainly unusual. I didn't think much of it as I walked in like the room was my own and I saw Luna out on the balcony. She was resting with her arms on the railing as her mane fluttered lightly in the breeze, if I didn't have Vinyl I might have actually considered asking Luna about a relationship, though thinking about it she's way out of my league. I walked over to Luna and when I got close she spoke though she didn't turn to face me.

"Hello friend, it's quite the pleasant day out isn't it?" She asked as I joined her on leaning against the balcony's railing.

"It's a bit bright for my tastes but it does feel pleasantly cool today." I replied calmly. "So what was the plan for today's 'session'?"

She chuckled at the emphasis I placed on session, "What, do you no longer enjoy the time we spend together like this?"

"Don't go twisting my words, you know quite well I enjoy the break from my housemates once in a while. The reason I ask is that there was some business I needed to look into after we're done here." I explained

"And what business what that be dear friend?" Luna ask while turning to look me in the eyes.

"Oh nothing to worry about if that's what you're thinking. Just wanted to find a place that I could practice my martial arts, like an old warehouse or something. A place that was large and no one would care if I put a few extra holes in the walls." I passed off casually. There was truth in what I said, though I did leave out the part of practicing magic that shouldn't even be possible along with the runic summoning rituals. Those probably wouldn't go over well.

Luna seemed to understand, and she even gave a suggestion, "Well it would only be for a couple months, but you could use an old legion warehouse that's a couple miles from here. It's going to get repurposed, however currently it is barren and empty. From what you described it sounds like just what you're looking for."

I looked at her with surprise, "Really? Well yeah, that actually does sound fairly perfect for my needs. Thanks Luna, that solves the most major thing I had on my mind. You think you could give me directions when I leave?"

"Of course, Andrew." She replies with a smile, before it turns into a grin. "Now how about we go kill some hive?" She asks while making to PS4 controllers appear right in front of us.

"You're on." I say grabbing one of the controllers and walking back inside with Luna.

After my fun with Luna, she gave me a list of directions of how to get to the old legion warehouse. I walked for about twenty minutes from the palace until I arrived at the old building. It was about what you'd expect an abandoned warehouse to look like, I was no longer in the upper district so it wasn't made of crystal like so many are used to seeing. I walked inside to see the bare metal skeleton that lined the insides of the building, the roof was a simple sheet metal construction and the outer walls were concrete. There were a couple skylights to help the windows that lined the upper part of the walls, each one spread out about a window length from each other, to provide light for the building. A few large electric lights hung along the middle of the building, but sadly none of the bulbs were intact. Thankfully that wouldn't be much of a problem, seeing as it was only about three in the afternoon, I had about four to five hours of light to work with until it became troublesome.

As I walked to the other side of the warehouse I noticed several old rusted pieces of metal scattered around, some I could tell used to be parts of weapons but that didn't mean much now. I'm sure I could find a use for it, since I could super-heat metal I could basically make my own forge here. Other than the metal there was broken glass in places, and... yeah that's pretty much it, metal and glass, it's an empty warehouse for fuck sake.

"Oh I wouldn't say empty." I feminine voice spoke from behind me.

I was certainly startled, I actually unleashed my magic to increase my speed to burst away from the voice before turning and charging a bolt of lightning. As the I got set to throw the spear I saw who spoke to me, and their presence made be wonder why I hesitated in throwing the lightning at her.

"I.D... or would you prefer Nanal." I spoke the words like poison.

She wore that same green cloak that I saw her in months ago when we first met. Though this time the hood was down. Was a youthful Asian girl, who looked no more than sixteen. Her hair was a raven black and her eyes a bright emerald green. Though those eyes were far from normal, they looked reptilian in nature and gave off a soft glow that I could tell even though the warehouse had quite a lot of light coming in. She spoke again in a monotone, almost offhand manner, "Do what you want, I don't care at all."

I relaxed a little, not enough to release my lightning spear, but I wasn't prepared to throw it anymore. "Well guessing by your demeanor, I.D. must stand for indifference. Korvin is quite the chatty demon, I think he might just be lonely." I said sarcastically.

"Fury has no regard for tactics, he does what he wants. The only thing he listens to is anger." Nanal spoke while starting to walk on a circular path, slowly getting closer to me.

"Well that is kinda in his name. To the point, why are you here?" I start to walk opposite to her so she can't get too close.

"You think we ever let you out of our sight? You should be smarter than that, or don't be, it doesn't matter." She seemed surprised at first but quickly went back to her neutral expression.

"I should have guessed that. You'll find I'm plenty smart, I could deal with you if I wanted."

She points at the lightning in my hand, "With that? You underestimate me Winter Wolf. I'm not that weak."

I stiffened at hearing the meaning of my last name, "How do you know that name. The meaning of my name has been pasted down only by my family, it doesn't appear anywhere else. That I know, I've looked."

"Where do you think that meaning comes from? It's old language, your ancestors chose names that defined their clan. Though those words have power, it's probably what made your ilk perfectly suited for being the vessels for the aspects you have." Her lips turn up into a small smile for a short moment before going back to normal.

"Why are you here Nanal? I'm certain it's not because you enjoy my company."

She shrugged, "I felt like talking to you. Unlike the other aspects you haven't tried to kill me on sight, that and Fury is special in a way."

"Well I haven't needed to kill you yet, so live and let live at the moment. And what's so special about Korvin?"

"It doesn't matter really, and it's not really Fury in a way but more about Loyalty."

"Bael..."

"Huh, oh yes that is his ancient name. You really shouldn't say those words so flippantly, they do hold power. Anyway, Loyalty and Fury have a unique bond compared to our brethren." She explained.

Her voice was so nonthreatening that I didn't notice that we had closed the gap between us by more than half of what we started at.

"Care to explain further?" I asked as the lightning reduced to just an orb in my hand, though I made sure to not let it disappear completely.

"Fury's anger was so strong and chaotic that a normal seal wouldn't work back when your ancestor first created the pact that you now hold. To ensure he would not overwhelm his host Loyalty committed an act that neither side would have allowed if they could have stopped him in time. He fused with Fury, they are one and the same."

"What!? How is that possible, I've seen the cage. How can Bael talk to me outside the dreamworld when Korvin can't?"

Nanal finally got angry me, but it was gone soon after she spoke, "Stop saying their names out loud! I might not want to end you, but I am one of few who share in the indifference to the state of you being alive." With that burst of emotion out of the way she returned to her monotone. "As for your question, I don't know. Probably something to do with the pact, they were very intricate spells with many loopholes. Though if you want a clearer answer ask Loyalty."

Stop filling the boy's head with ideas. I have enough trouble with him asking questions about things he doesn't need to know.

Oh, I have so many things to say to you, asshole.

Are we moving the conversation here? Fine by me.

Why is everyone talking in my head?

Stop your whining, I've been teaching you to control your magic like you wanted.

Loyalty stop being so stiff, it amazes me how you and Fury are still so separate after sharing a body for so many ages.

Indifference just because you voted for the ceasefire doesn't mean I trust you. Now if you are done corrupting my vessel... Leave.

Stop ignoring me Bael. Nanal isn't the problem here, you are. I've learned more from the 'demons' in a few days than you've given me in six months.

That is because you have no need of this information, having that knowledge well only make you hesitate if you need to kill one of them.

Why do I need to kill them in the first place!?

BECAUSE I SAID SO! Bael screams in my head, the force makes me drop to my knees in pain.

I clench my fist and grind my teeth. No.

I DID NOT GIVE YOU A CHOICE BOY!

Nanal chose this point to intervene, a blue orb of magic appeared in her left hand before she threw it at me. I would have dodged but my body was unable to move due to the mental war happening. The orb simply passed through me but I felt it pull something from me as well. I looked behind me to see a white wolf with blue eyes made of lightning standing there, and it didn't look happy.

Nanal stood by me but when I looked at her this time her eyes were a brilliant blue and the glow was much brighter. She appeared sightly older now, as though her other appearance was only an illusion.

"Bael you have been tainted by the anger of Korvin. I, Nulys the Winds of Hope, will not allow you to dishonor the name of the Solest any further!" Nanal, or Nulys I guess, spoke in an imposing two-toned voice.

She raised her hand and a pulsewave of blue magic came out and covered the warehouse before fading. "There, a barrier is now in place. We can do what we want in this place."

I stood up to face Bael along side Nulys when I heard another voice in my head.

Damn does it feel good to be awake during the day.

Korvin?

Who else boy. That stupid Solest has been repressing my voice during the day for so long that I never thought I'd do it again.

Well, any suggestions for me? I'm pretty pissed right now, something I'm sure you relate to.

I could feel him grin in my head. Well now, you're actually asking me for help? How about this, magnetize some of the metal around you, and I'll give you a weapon to deal with that stupid half-self of mine.

Half-self?

When we fussed, I gave him hatred, and he gave me loyalty. We are two halves of a whole now, we can't destroy each other without killing ourselves. So if you'll trust me to help you, so I'll trust you with a little of my power. Now...I want my hatred back.

Fine by me.

With that I unleashed a pulse of my own, the electricity flowed into the air around me, which caused the metal shards and scraps to become attracted to each other and me. They suddenly flew at me with great speed and just before I was to impale myself I brought the energy to an orb in front of me, the metal contained within.

This enough?

Plenty.

I felt information flood my mind much like it did this morning, guiding me in what I needed to do. Nulys saw what I was doing and called out to be as she fought with Bael. "Complete that as soon as you can, I'll hold him off until it's done. Though don't make me wait."

She was certainly more lively than Nanal, "I'll do what I can." I replied as I created the forge of runes out of midair.

I felt myself chanting words, but I could neither understand or repeat what I said inside the forge. Probably part of the magic taking over and running its course. I could see the rusted metal glow and become free of the oxidation that clung to the metal fragments. The orb of liquid metal soon split into two before it began to take shape. The shapes were mirror images and I could tell they would be blades of some kind. I reached out on instinct and when my hands touch the metal two runes appeared, one on each hand, and these I could read. They said 'fang' and 'howl', ironic given the animal that I'm fighting, though it is fitting as well. I swung my new weapons around for a second before focusing on the forge.

Third-Person POV

Bael and Nulys clashed again, with torrents of wind and lightning exploding from their contact. Bael knew what the orb of runes meant, and that he had to stop it. However, each time he'd be within a claw-length of reaching it he'd be swatted away by a blast of wind. Nulys was being quite the problem, especially since she still had a vessel to draw power from. While he was still drawing power from Andrew, having to maintain this form was keeping him from gathering more energy. Though if his vessel succeeded in completing the forge's purpose then he would have little chance at standing against the combine strength of him and Nulys.

Bael snarled at his sister that continued to impede his efforts, "What reason do you have with interfering, sister? What we do with our vessel was always to be left alone from interference."

Nulys stood steadfast between him and the rune forge behind her, "That may have been true in the past, but there are forces acting that requires breaking of that rule."

Bael didn't know what she was talking about, and he didn't care. No doubt Andrew was nearly complete with creating something that would defeat him, and he couldn't allow that. His anger for the Umbrans must be fulfilled, his loyalty demanded that it must be done and he could not disobey his aspect. His talking wasn't just to demand answers, he was buying time. In the time he spent talking he also was building energy, one he'd use to finally break past Nulys' defense of the forge.

The energy crackled around Bael as he prepared to strike, Nulys noticed this and leapt in an attempt to stop him but it was too late. Bael leapt at her and with a shift of his body turned into an arc of lightning and twisted right around Nulys, heading for the forge.

I've done it. Bael thought to himself. Just as he was about to reach his goal, he heard a sound that caused his instincts to kick in. He twisted to arc above the forge just as a blade sliced at where he just was. When he landed on the other side he stared with hate at Andrew who stood with Nulys by his side.

First-person POV: Andrew

The weapons still glowed with energy from the forge. They were tonfa, but not typical ones. Instead of a short 16" pole with a sideways handle, the pole was replaced with a one-sided blade. I spun them deftly around myself, getting a feel for their balance. I always enjoyed tonfa as a weapon, and I felt they suited me well.

Nulys glanced over at my new weapons before focusing back on Bael, "A little gaudy, aren't they?" She asked.

"I don't really think so. It's more of tribute to the fact I'm a showoff." I replied with a smirk.

"Lets just hope they can do their job." She said before charging Bael and resuming the fight.

"Lets find out shall we?" I said more to myself than Nulys as I joined the fight.

I lashed out with tonfa trying to cut Bael. Since these weapons were an extension of myself, if I managed to destroy his manifestation then it would purge him of the hatred that had tainted him.

How do I know that?

You have limited access to our knowledge, it will help you when you most need it.

Hmm, that's handy.

Just focus on the fight.

Right.

As I focused back Bael leapt at me with such fury in his eyes that the blue energy that made them up was tainted with red. I flipped the tonfa to defend myself and caught Bael's claws. He attempted to snap at me with his maw but I held him off, thankfully Nulys saved me by blasting Bael off of me with a burst of wind. I'd like to say we were winning but Bael's frenzy of rage filled attacks brought it more to a stalemate. If I could manage to land just one solid hit this fight would end, but the flurry of attacks didn't leave an opportunity to strike.

Nulys went in for a strike to Bael's left while I kept his attention, but apparently not well enough. Bael reacted with such speed that he made it pass her defenses and landed a punishing blow that sent her flying. She flew right into one of the metal supports and slammed her head, she slumped to the floor, out of the fight. Bael began to chuckle until it was a roar of laughter at his success.

"Don't you see, even with two of you I am the most skilled fighter. Now that you are alone I will finish this quickly, and you will no longer get a choice in what is done with your body." Bael roared at me.

At seeing Nylus' unmoving body I began to get worried, we were merely holding our own before, now I felt fear. As I kept taking glances at Nylus my mind began to imagine another person laying there, Octavia. I started thinking about not getting to tell her how I felt, about not ever knowing her answer, and about losing her and Vinyl... and I wasn't about to let that happen.

I felt energy course through my body and sparks jump across my skin. I began to see lines appear on my skin in yellow energy, crossing and twisting across my body. Even when the marks continued under my clothes the glow shown through, until it correlated into a triquetra in the middle of my chest. I looked at Bael who stood watching the event transpire to its completion before preparing to strike. This spike in energy seemed to heighten my instincts to unnatural levels, as I saw a twitch in Bael's shoulder I immediately moved to guard my back where a moment later I felt Bael's claws collide with my blade before I parried him away. I actually closed my eyes because I knew they couldn't keep up, I felt where Bael would be and moved my blade to counter. When the attacks paused I opened my eyes to find Bael staring me down about a body length away.

"What's the matter Bael, not fast enough?" I smirked at him.

"ENOUGH!!! I WILL NOT BE STOPPED BY YOU, OR ANYONE ELSE! His roar shook the building.

"Then enough of this." I said while dropping down into a low stance, "Lets end this nonsense."

I felt the energy rise between us to the degree that the air around us was arcing with electricity. One was just waiting for the other to make the first move, whoever did would decide the fight. I let go of a breath that I was holding as I relaxed my tensed body, knowing one move would require speed and tenseness wouldn't benefit that effort.

It would take just...

one...

blin-!*Clash*!

Time slowed to a stop for me. Bael had leaped and was blocked by one of my blades, but he was simply pushing through that defense and it wouldn't stop him. I knew that the other use of my weapon was needed to end this. I twisted the pommel of the handle initiating the change, the handle slide up to the short end before pivoting to where the blade was straight with the handle before locking back in place. With a shift of my body I was now out of the way of Bael's path, I had shifted my other tonfa when I did the first so I now I held two short swords in a reverse grip. I continued with the twist of my body and my swords and made a scissor slice. The result was now we ended with our backs to each other with my arms across my chest. I saw the markings recede until they disappeared, all except the triquetra on my chest.

I heard a ragged cough behind me so I turned to see Bael's form desolving. "It appears I've lost. Amazing how clear my mind is now that hatred has been purged. I'll just... rest, for a little while."

When his outer form was gone all that was left was a small glowing orb. It floated over to me before absorbing into my chest, I felt a rush of energy when it happened, like regaining a part of myself that had been taken.

Aah~ that's more like it. I'm now whole. I will remember this boy, do what you wish for now, I'll summon you when I next require you.

Fine, I'll deal with you then.

With that Korvin's presence in my mind receded, I looked over to where Nylus/Nanal still laid still before walking over to her. I propped her up which caused her to groan before she groggily opened her eyes, which again had changed, now the glow was gone and instead of blue or green they were a dark brown. Once she focused on me.

"Ohhh, can I get the name of the locomotive that hit me?" She groaned out.

"There's only one train that comes up to Canterlot, and I'm fairly sure that isn't what knocked you out." I replied sarcastically.

Her eyes finally focused on me before she spoke again, "Oh god, they went after you again. What the hell happened this time?" She asked with a role of her eyes.

Now that response confused me, "Uh well, you found me, pulled out a tainted part of the spirit inside me, it knocked you out, I cleansed it, and now everything is back to normal...ish." I quickly explained. She tried to stand up but I put my hand on her shoulder and kept her down. "And you are still in bad shape. Just sit down for a while longer. Now for a couple questions of my own, what's your name, your real one, how much do you know about the spirits, and I want to know how long you've been keeping an eye on me."

She groaned again, "Seriously? Uh whatever, fine if it gets me out of here faster then I'll tell you what you want to know." She shifted up so she was sitting more comfortably. "Well if you want to know my name I assume you don't want to hear Nanal or Nylus. The name I was given is Mizuki, Mizuki Tenmei. Yes, I'm Japanese if you hadn't guested that by now. As for the spirits, probably not any more than you. I've made a pact with Nanal and Nylus, they can take control if I allow it, and they can only do it for an hour at a time. Many times I wake up with not a clue how I got there until I ask whoever was in charge. Now for your last question, those two have been watching over you since you first exhibited signs of your powers."

"You mean a few months ago?"

Mizuki laughed at my straightforward question, "Oh come on, I know you aren't that oblivious. Try more like three years ago. You know... a certain fight that ruined say... your whole familial connections." She smirked evilly.

My heart turned cold at her words, "If you've been following me for that long, then why did you only make yourself known so recently?"

"Oh don't start the edgy antihero bullshit with me. You've only started developing your powers in the last ten months, I've been doing it since I was ten. You wouldn't have believed us before now anyway, and even if you did accept that Solest and Umbrans existed that would have just made you a target. Our other brothers and sisters don't really like us. The only ones that probably wouldn't outright kill us would be Love/Lust and Happiness/Sorrow, and even then that's just a best guess. You are the only other of us I've ever talked to, and I'd like it if we didn't have to start trying to kill each other." She explained before shakily getting to her feet. Once she was standing she reached out her hand, "So come on, can we be on the same side?"

"I don't feel you have the right to ask that of me right now." I say before taking her hand, "But I will agree to a truce. We can meet in this warehouse for the next month or so, we'll deal with our problems over that time. Now I've got a meeting to keep, I've been gone much longer than I intended anyway."

With that we left our separate ways. I collapsed my blades into a easy carrying mode that a couple people gave an odd look at, but I was ultimately left alone. I really hope Vinyl doesn't kill me for being late, it's not like the truth is an acceptable answer right now. I'll just have to apologize and make it up to them... which just gave me an idea.

Author's Note

Guess what...

This story is still alive, chiennes!

Thank you everyone that has kept with me through this, I love writing and I have a lot of stuff planned to write for this story over the summer. This story is almost at 45k in words, and I hope to come close to doubling that by the end of August.

Other than that, since I am going to be working on this story through this summer when I'm not working there will most likely not be much if any progress on Wolf Loves The Winter. If you haven't checked it out and you've read up to this far in STANT(acronym for the story you're reading) then you seriously need to take a look. Shameless marketing out of the way, hope you guys liked the chapter. I was planning on including sexy times, but the chapter ended up being to full of other ideas that if I had I felt it would have detracted from either the sex or the exposition that I gave before it. But do not be discouraged, I guarantee that there will be some in the next chapter. As such don't expect a long chapter, but I will do what I can to satisfy my readers.

Thanks to everyone of you.
Stay awesome everyone, Lyruil out.

P.S Here is a picture I made of how the tonfa are designed