Paradise Lost: Daughter of Terra

by Maziodyne

Rating: mature
Tags: Profanity, Adventure, Violence, Crossover, Death, Human, Anthro, Touhou, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Other, Starlight Glimmer, Changelings, Original Character, Sex
Length: 57540

After finally getting settled in Ponyville and making many new friends, Alexandria's drive to help others pushes her to leave it all behind. Little does she know just how unforgiving the world outside of town can be. Displaced.

A Displaced story.
This story is a direct continuation of Paradise Lost: Daughter of Gensokyo. This continuation follows the events of another story, Paradise Lost: Kill the Memory (which takes place in the same Equestria), after the main character passes through Ponyville, but from the perspective of my character, Alexandria. My reasoning for making this instead of just continuing the first part is because there will be some themes that are severely more mature than what has been in Daughter of Gensokyo.

Update: I regret to inform anyone who wishes to read this, but... Two of the other people that were writing this alongside me have cancelled any further involvement with Paradise Lost for their own personal reasons. As such, as much as I want to, I have no choice but to also cancel mine. Again, I apologize to anyone who enjoyed this story, but life happens to even the best of us.
Update: Some kind of good news. Some circumstances may have allowed for this to keep going, though the plot line will be changed, detaching from Pyro Mance's Kill the Memory again. Also, I'm not yet sure if this will come through, though the chances are high. Until details can be confirmed, I've upgraded the status of the story to "Hiatus".
Cover Image: The cover image I added is Shanghai. It's a new design I found which I've decided to use for her. I think this new design makes her much cuter~

Published 2017-09-18 17:50:06 UTC
Last updated 2018-02-07 19:42:44 UTC

Chapter 2: Heated Feelings and a Heated Battle

Author's Note

Grab your popcorn, find a comfy chair to sit in, 'cause chapter 2 is finally here, and holy shit it's every bit as long as chapter 1. Also, I hope a certain scene or two in this chapter doesn't pass the line, since Alexandria's still only 16... I'm only just getting started on chapter 3, but I've got a couple things planned for it that will resolve the issue. Not to mention some other very interesting developments, so look forward to that!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 2: Heated Feelings and a Heated Battle

…I begin to come to, a faint sensation of warmth in my body. After a moment, the sensation fades. I slowly blink my eyes open. I don't recognize this room.

“W-Where…?” I start slowly.

“Did you actually heal her?” Starlight's voice says, clearly bewildered. “Like, completely heal her?”

“Um, it looks like it…” a young girl's voice that I don't recognize answers.

“Woah…” the unicorn breathed. “Even master unicorns struggle with healing spells that advanced…”

“Spell…?” the young girl repeats. “I didn't use any magic… I just healed her, that's it.”

I sit up and look around. It seems to be an apartment. “Where am-” I begin, looking around the room to see Arela, Starlight - who appears to be preening Arela - Gaelle, a Fairy I don't recognize and Marisa. (…Wait) “…Marisa? What are you doing here?” I look around the apartment again. “And where is 'here'?”

“I'm sure you've met Gaelle already, right?” Marisa asks, and I nod. “Well, this is her apartment. We brought you here to rest up after Hikan introduced your head to a brick wall at high speeds.”

“…Oh yeah…” I say quietly, dropping my gaze as memories of last night come back to me. “…I'm really sorry about that… I honestly have no idea what came over me…”

“Nah, it's fine,” Marisa says with a dismissive wave of her hand. “You're back to your usual self now, so don't worry 'bout it. Anyway, I'm here 'cause I started to have a bad feelin', so I came to check things out. I found you actin' all weird, so I'm stickin' around to get to the bottom of it.”

“…Alright,” I say before turning to the Fairy, both curious and confused. “And who's the Fairy?”

“Um, I'm Daiyousei,” the Fairy answers. “It's nice to meet you.”

('Big Fairy'… What a simple name) I give a light smile back. “It's nice to meet you too, Daiyousei,” I say. “My name is Alexandria Kijin.”

“If it weren't for Dai here healin' you,” Marisa starts. “You'd still be out cold recoverin'.”

“Healing me…?” I repeat, putting a hand on my chin. “Is that… Her ability…?”

“Apparently so,” Arela says, then wincing as Starlight accidentally plucks the wrong feather. “Careful, Starlight. I don't want to have my wings ruined.”

“Sorry,” Starlight apologizes before she seems to have a thought. “Wait… could you heal someone that's been knocked out from exhaustion?”

“Um, someone that's tired…?” Daiyousei asks, receiving a nod from Starlight. “I don't know… I don't think I've ever tried…”

“Could you?” The unicorn asks, a bit of a hopeful tone in her voice.

“I guess so…” Daiyousei responds. “Is there someone like that here? Where are they?”

Starlight nods her head. “He's through that door there,” she says, giving a little nod towards the guest room.

“Here, let me show you,” Gaelle says, getting up from the loveseat before walking towards the guest room.

I realize that someone had placed Shanghai in my lap, and she wakes up as I go to stand. “I'll go too,” I say to Daiyousei and Gaelle as they head towards the guest room. “I… want to apologize to Hikan anyway…” With that, I follow Gaelle and Daiyousei into the guest room. The griffoness leads us into the room and steps to the side and out of the way to reveal Shell and Hikan still in the bed.

Shell is curled up near the edge while Hikan seems to take up a lot more space, his breath a little more labored than the Changeling's. Daiyousei's gaze immediately goes to Hikan as she watches his ragged breathing.

“That doesn't look very good…” she says, likely referring to his breathing. “I'll try my best to help him.” She then approaches Hikan and puts her hands on him. I watch this with interest.

Recovery「Healing Power」

A green glow flows from Daiyousei's hands, spreading throughout Hikan's body before fading before Daiyousei steps back from Hikan. Slowly, the man's face scrunches up and his eyes blink open. He groans as he sits up in the bed. “What… what day is it…?” He asks, looking up at us.

(Was that what Daiyousei did to me…?) I wonder. “Um, it's the morning after our fight…” I say slowly to Hikan, looking down at the floor. “I'm… really sorry about yesterday… I have no idea what came over me… I shouldn't have said the things I said or done the things I did… I'm just… so sorry…”

Hikan blinks at me for a moment before he sighs. “I forgive you, Alex,” he says. “Whatever happened last night, I don't blame you for… but… I am sorry for my actions. I shouldn't have let Hikan influence my actions so far as to hurt you like that.”

“Sounds like you both have regret for last night,” Shell suddenly mutters, rolling over and opening her eyes.

“Oh! Uh…” I say in surprise. “Did we wake you…?”

The Changeling shrugs before giving a yawn. “Not really,” she answers. “I woke up when Lady Arela got out of bed.”

“Ah, alright then…” I say.

“So, how are you feeling?” Daiyousei asks Hikan. “Did I help you feel better?”

“Actually,” the hunter answers, stretching his arm over his head. “Yeah, I actually feel like a hundred and ten percent for once in a long time.”

“That's good,” Daiyousei says with a smile, relief in her voice. “I don't like seeing people hurt…”

“Certainly noted,” Hikan answers, giving a little smile before he looks to me. “Are the others up yet?”

“Except for Garrick,” I say before noticing the Fallen Angel from yesterday in a sleeping bag on the floor of the room. “…And her, yeah. Everyone's awake.”

Hikan nods his head before looking to the sleeping angel, noting the many scrapes and scratches on her cheek. His face forms a sad frown. “...I don't even want to think about what they did to her in that damn pit,” he mutters quietly.

Daiyousei finally takes notice of the Fallen Angel. “There's another one?” she says. “Well, if she's hurt, then it's wrong for me not to help.” She then approaches the sleeping bag and puts her hands on the angel's arm, which is hanging outside the sleeping bag, before using the same ability as twice before. This time when the green glow fades, we all watch as the scrapes on her face close up and vanish completely right in front of our eyes. Then, the angel groans and her heterochromatic eyes flutter open.

As soon as they do, they widen, and she jumps out of the sleeping bag, a flash of purple and white light coming over her as two sais appear in her hands, only to quickly disappear. Noticing this, she backs herself to a corner of the room. The sight reminds me of when Shell first woke up in Patchouli's library. I also notice two things: 1) she has what appears to be an awning wrapped around her; 2) she and Daiyousei are the same height.

“St-Stay away!” she cries, shielding herself with her large, black wings.

Daiyousei's eyes widen. “I was only helping you…” she says, confusion in her voice.

“We don't want to hurt you,” I say gently. “Please, we're trying to help you.”

The angel lowers her wings a bit, looking nervously between them all. “Y-Y-You're not gonna rape me until I'm u-u-unconsious…?”

“No, we're not,” I answer, trying to keep as much anger out of my voice as possible as my brows furrow. “We took you away from the people that were doing that to you. We're going to treat you like a respectable angel.” The angel looks between us all again, then slowly lowers her wings completely.

“O-Okay… B-But who are you?” she asks.

“My name is Alexandria Kijin,” I say, introducing myself.

“I'm Daiyousei, a Greater Fairy,” Daiyousei says.

“I am Shell, a Changeling,” the insectoid adds, getting up from her side of the bed and giving a little wave.

“Hikan Kanshi,” the hunter greets, standing to his feet and taking off his coat. “And you are mostly naked.” He holds his coat out to her at that. She graciously takes it and covers herself with it, looking between us again before clearing her throat.

“I-I'm Ayis Filya VII,” the angel, now known as Ayis, says, trying to sound confident but failing.

“Nice to meetcha Ayis,” Marisa suddenly says, stepping into the doorway with her usual grin. “The name's Marisa Kirisame, and I'm just an ordinary human magician. There're a couple other folks out here for you to meet. Why don'cha come say hi?” The angel flinches, but manages to regain her confident composure.

“S-Sure, I guess,” she says, following the woman out the door.

“Marisa's gonna be a handful, I can already tell…” I mutter, shaking my head, though the small smile on my face tells another story.

“Tell me about it,” the hunter mutters as he gets up and walks after them. “Does that girl have no sense of tact?” Shell follows him wordlessly into the living room.

“We should go out there too,” Daiyousei says. “Everyone else is out there, and being with lots of friends is always better.”

I smile at that. “You're right Daiyousei,” I say. “It is nice to have a lot of friends.” I turn to Gaelle as Daiyousei and I start to leave the room. “C'mon, no point in staying in here alone.”

“Ain't that the truth,” Gaelle replies, pushing her shoulder off the wall to follow me.

As we all walk into the main room, Arela looks to see Ayis, who looks back and promptly scowls.

“Who's the high and mighty bitch?” Ayis asks. Arela frowns.

“For your information, I helped save your hide,” Arela shoots back.

“It's true,” I say with a frown. “Her and I had to work very hard to get you out of there. The two of us ended up fighting a tank alone.” Ayis blinks, and her scowl falters, until she sighs, crossing her arms.

“Fine… Guess I should say thank you, then, even if one of you is a filn,” Ayis acquiesces. I raise an eyebrow at Ayis' attitude. It seems like it might be fake or a front, but… Now probably isn't the time to dig deeper into that topic.

“Now that you guys are done with the verbal catfight,” Hikan says, stepping forward. “We need to make a plan. Primarily a place to house all of us and,” he looks down and pokes his finger through a burned out hole in his shirt. “Some of us need new clothes.”

I look down at my own slightly torn dress. “I'm kind of fond of my clothes,” I say. “If possible, I'd rather just get them stitched up. They're not really that damaged anyway.”

“New clothes sound wonderful. I don't like showing off my goods to everyone around me,” Ayis agrees.

“I think we could all use some, yes,” Arela winces again as Starlight plucks the wrong feather. “Please pay attention.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Starlight says with a grimace. Then, all of a sudden, Ayis begins to look sick, and rushes to the bathroom, the sound of vomiting coming from within a moment later.

Hikan looks after her with concern. He then looks to Arela and I. “…She said she had been raped…” he says, pointing a finger to the bathroom before going quiet again. “…Add that to the list, she needs a doctor to check on her.”

I look towards the bathroom in concern for a moment before heading in. I find Ayis bent over the toilet, her hair hanging down. “Here,” I say, lifting Ayis' hair back and out of the way. “Wouldn't want to get your hair all dirty.”

“Th-” she starts, cutting off as she throws up again.

“You're welcome,” I say. “Take your time.” After a short while, her vomiting stops, Ayis panting a little. “You okay now?” I ask her.

“Y-Yeah, thanks…” she stands up, going over to the sink to wash her mouth. She seems shaken by a realization as she does so.

“Yeah, you said you were raped,” I say, understanding what Ayis realized. “We were thinking of having a doctor take a look at you to be sure.” Ayis is quiet for a bit.

“I… I don't know if I could handle being a mom. I'm still a teenager, how can I possibly handle a kid?” Ayis says, voice and body shaking. I'm caught a little by surprise. Ayis is completely different from the tough punk she'd been in the living room.

(I guess this confirms my suspicions from a couple minutes ago…) “…Well…” I start a little hesitantly. “What if I offered to help you raise the child?” Ayis stops at that. She slowly turns to me.

“You'd do that? For someone you don't even know?” Ayis asks, looking into my eyes. I nod.

“Yeah,” I answer. “Being nice to others is just the right thing to do, whether you've known them for years or if you've just met them.” Ayis blinks at me, then smiles, the first time since waking up.

“Thank you,” she says as she wraps me in a quick wing hug. I note that the wings are warmer than the angel's arms… I also experience an oddly pleasant sensation I've never experienced before for a couple moments before the angel lets go and coughs into her fist, a small blush on her cheeks. “A-Anyway, let's get back to the others.”

I pause for a few moments before a smile spreads across my face. “Yeah,” I say. “We'll want to break the news to them, you know?” I add with a wink as I leave the bathroom. Ayis blushes a little more before following.

“-nd a place on Halter Street,” Gaelle just finishes saying when the sound of our footsteps draws her and everyone else's attention.

“Everything okay in there?” Hikan asks, worry in his voice.

“Yeah, everything's fine,” I respond, the smile still on my face. “We're pretty confident that Ayis is pregnant, since she's been showing a couple of the signs already. We'll have the doctor confirm that, but…” I glance at Ayis quickly, who's continuing to blush a little as I explain everything. “Ayis says she's too young to raise a child on her own.” I pause for a moment as I turn back to everyone else in the room again. “So I offered to help her raise it,” I finish. There are a few moments of silence as everyone lets that sink in.

After a moment, Gaelle gets up from her resting position on the arm of the loveseat and walks towards us, a strange look in her eyes. She stops in front of the angel, looking down at her with that still foreign look in her eyes… just before the griffon wraps the dark angel in a hug, tears building in her eyes. “H-Hey,” Ayis stutters as her brows furrow and the blush on her cheeks grows, somewhat flustered as she squirms a little. “I-It's not that big of a deal…”

“Yes,” Gaelle says, letting go before backing up. “Yes, it is.”

Hikan smiles at the little scene before his face screws up and he looks towards the ground. “Let's get one thing straight,” he suddenly says, looking up. “From here on out… not a single one of us is alone. Not now. Not ever.”

“Mm-hm,” Daiyousei hums, nodding her head. “I like being with other people more than being alone…”

“Sounds good to me,” Marisa says. “Havin' allies that've got my back definitely eases my mind, that's for sure.”

“And I really don't want to have to fight my friends again,” I add. “If I start acting strange like I did before, then feel free to knock me out without hesitation.” Marisa grins at this.

“Alright,” she says. “If you start actin' up again, I'll just give you a good smack in the head with my broom and knock some sense back into you.”

“W-Well you'll need a good Elemental Channeler if you want to survive, and I'm the best around!” Ayis says confidently, hands on her hips.

“Ah, so you're one of those. I'm a Tactical Fighter myself,” Arela comments.

I'd fallen silent after Ayis had spoken, my brows furrowed and my hand on my chin as I look down at the floor, deep in thought. “Actually, that gives me an idea,” I say, looking up. “Maybe we could assign everyone roles, or 'classes' if you will. Doing that could help keep us organized during operations.”

Hikan nods at that. “That's how we ran Night Raid,” he says. “Each of us had a specific role to play so when it came to enact a plan, we all knew where to be and what our jobs were. I didn't bother with us because there were only five of us.” A little rumble sounds out as Cataclysm pulls himself from under the loveseat. “…Okay, six of us.”

“Um, what about me?” Shanghai pipes up from my shoulder. I grin a little at this.

“Okay, there were seven of us,” Hikan says, before wavering his hand. “Give or take. But the point is, right now, we actually have a team of capable individuals that can actually get something done.”

“Alright so, what roles will we need filled?” I ask Hikan. “Before everyone can choose roles, we'll need to know what they are.”

“Well, if I had it my way,” the assassin starts. “We'd have a team of eleven. Seems big, but when it comes to a job, specialists are what's needed. The roles should be scout, soldier, element manipulator, demolitions, tank, trap-artist, healer, sniper, spy, mage, and, of course, a public face.”

I look at Gaelle. “If it's okay, I want to nominate Gaelle as the public face,” I say. “She seems like the best fit for it.”

Gaelle looks up in surprise. “Wait, what?” she questions. “Why me?”

“Well…” I start. “Just look at everyone in the room. Most of us will stick out like a sore thumb. The only potential candidates would be Starlight and Shell. Shell doesn't do well with strangers, and I don't think Starlight would be the best choice here. You seem like you're good with people, so it just seemed like a perfect fit in my mind.”

Gaelle is quiet for a long moment before she sighs. “You guys would have a hard time getting anywhere in this city,” she says. “And you wouldn't be able to find a place to stay either, unless you went to the sleazy part of town… and you've all seen what that's like…” I shiver slightly, remembering what happened in that part of the city last night.

“Yeah,” I respond with a slow nod. “That would not be very pleasant…”

“I agree. The only question is, will you join us, Gaelle? We can assure you safety, along with your adorable tylin, but the choice is still yours,” Arela points out.

Gaelle looks at each of us before giving a smile. “You know, I always kept myself guarded,” she says. “I lived like that for ten years… never letting anyone in. …I think that it'd be a nice change to have you guys around.” Arela smiles at this.

“Damn straight!” Ayis concurs. “I'll take the elemental manipulator spot.”

“I'll take the tank role. My armor gives me quite a boost to defense, after all,” Arela says.

“I could take the role of scout,” I offer. “I'm quick, and out of everyone present, I'm probably by far the best at dodging.”

“I can definitely attest to that,” Marisa says. “Alex might be outta practice recently, but in her prime, she was practically impossible to hit. I'll take demolitions. That sounds like somethin' I'll enjoy.”

“I'll be the healer,” Daiyousei speaks up. “That's what I do best.”

“If Arela's going the way of the tank, I guess I should be the mage,” Starlight says.

Shell starts to raise her hand. “…Yes, Shell?” Hikan questions, looking towards her.

“Um, the role of spy sounds an awful lot like an infiltrator,” she says. “I think I'd be more than able to take the position.”

Hikan nods before looking to us. “I've always played the role of soldier, so I'll take that position,” he says.

I'd been staring at Shanghai silently since claiming the role of scout. “…I'm stumped,” I suddenly say after several more moments, turning to look at Hikan.

“What's up?” The hunter asks.

“I've been trying to think of what role to give Shanghai,” I answer before shaking my head. “…I can't do it.”

“I'm not sure there is one,” Starlight says quietly. “She's small enough to infiltrate, could set numerous traps, and even take a huge hit, but… that doesn't really put her in any one category. More like all of them…”

“And even in regards to the roles she can't fill right now,” I start. “She has the potential to inherit abilities that would allow her to fill them in the future. She's like a little bit of everything.”

“Hey, here's an idea,” Marisa jumps in. “If she can do a little bit of everythin', why don't we make her a support? Then, dependin' on the mission, she could be assigned to help one of us.”

“That sounds like how the hive would choose what class a Changeling would become,” Shell mutters before looking up. “It was effective.”

“That sounds great to me,” Arela agrees.

“Eh, sure. Couldn't hurt to have the little squirt help out,” Ayis says. “And since I'm staying with Alex here so she can help me raise my kid, I might as well tag along on the missions you guys have. Sounds fun.”

Hikan grins. “Well, then,” he says. “It's settled. Now, we just need a home base…and a preferably endless supply of clothing…”

“I know where we can find a top-notch builder,” Ayis offers.

“You know a builder here in Canterlot?” Starlight asks. Ayis nods.

“He's one of the few people the Great Being allowed to come here, and he was here long before me. He helped plan the Garrison in downtown. I was taken in by him when I first came here,” Ayis explains. “I… Well, I kinda need to see him again anyways, because he doesn't know that I made it back from the Circle. I was taken from him a few months ago.”

Hikan nods at that. “It's always good to have friends in overlooked places,” he says. “But I'd still like you to go see a doctor, just to make sure you're okay after everything.” Ayis nods.

“I'd like to as well, if only to see the kid's gender,” Ayis concurs.

“I know someone,” Gaelle speaks up. “He helped me out after… well, you know.”

“I'll come too,” I offer. “If I'm going to help raise the child, I'll want to know if it's a boy or a girl too.”

“Okay,” Hikan says. “That sounds like a plan. As it stands, we probably shouldn't all be in one place in case the Circle shows up. I'm pretty sure we got everyone in the warehouse, but just to be safe, we should go in groups. I'd like to take another group to get us some less… morbid attire.”

“I can stay and watch the apartment if you'd like,” Marisa offers.

“I think I'll stay and keep Marisa company,” Daiyousei adds.

“And we'll go and see a doctor,” Ayis says.

“We'll join you guys to get Ayis a proper outfit once we're done at the doctor's,” I say. “She can't just go around in Hikan's coat forever.”

“Yeah. It's not exactly easy on the nipples,” Ayis admits. Arela groans.

“Can't you have some decency?” she asks, hand on her head.

“Oh shut up,” Ayis shoots back.

“Anyway…” I start, looking at Ayis and Arela pointedly. “That'll be the plan. We'll meet up with you guys once we're done with the doctor.”

“Sounds good,” Hikan says, looking to each of us. “Anything we need to do before we head out?”

“I just need to get dressed and get Garrick up,” Gaelle answers before looking towards Marisa and Daiyousai. “No offense to either of you, but I think it's best if he sticks close to me after last night.”

“Nah, no offense taken,” Marisa says, putting one hand up in front of herself and shaking her head. “If I were in your shoes, I'd be hesitant to let my kid outta my sight too.”

Gaelle nods her head before turning back towards the master bedroom. “We'll be right out,” she says before walking off into her room.

“While she's doing that,” Hikan says, looking at the group. “Anything else we need to talk about before we get on our way?”

“Not really. But before we go, I need a good preening, too. Bastards kept using them for…” Ayis shivers. “...Wingjobs, so they aren't in good condition. Alex, mind helping me out?” Ayis sits down on the couch, displaying her large black wings that are matted together by some white substance and the feathers out of place.

“Alright, I'll try,” I say, stepping behind Ayis. “Any tips on what needs to be plucked and what just needs to be straightened?”

“Well, a rag will be needed as well. A wet one, so that we can get this filthy seed off of my wings. Just pluck the ones that look weaker and less healthy, and straighten the ones that are bent,” Ayis tells me.

“Okay, thanks,” I say with a nod before glancing at Shanghai. “Shanghai, could you please get a wet rag while I start this?”

“Sure,” Shanghai answers before heading to the kitchen area. I begin to focus intently on the preening. I get the hang of it rather quickly, and I finish the majority of it by the time Shanghai comes back with a wet dish cloth. Shanghai holds the dish cloth out to me. “Here you go,” she says.

“Thanks Shanghai,” I say to her as I take the rag. “Now, let's get all this gunk out of here,” I mutter to myself as I carefully begin to clean Ayis' feathers. I lose awareness of most of the room as I focus intensely on doing the job right without hurting Ayis. Starlight's shouting voice then breaks into my concentration.

“Hikan, even I know the Circle has roots so deep in Canterlot that if you go after them, you turn the capital of Equestria against you!” She says. “And even if we do beat them, it could topple everything!’

“Not the first time I've done it,” Hikan says. “And the group that did it wasn't nearly as talented as our group here.” Before Starlight can argue back, I interrupt, a little frustrated.

“Do you mind putting that on hold until later?” I ask, not looking up from Ayis' wings. “I can't concentrate properly with you two arguing a couple feet away.”

“You're not the least bit afraid of what might happen? To any of us? To you, to Shanghai, to the city? This is like starting a war by ourselves! Getting back a kid or an angel is bad enough from the ponies that run this city. Now… we want to go to war with them on their own turf?” Starlight retorts.

“Seriously, I can't focus at all right now,” I say, admittedly tunnel visioning pretty badly. “I'll think about it later, I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment.” I then return to cleaning Ayis' wings.

“Mmmm…” I hum as I look over Ayis' wings one more time a minute or two later. “That should about do it. How do you feel? Better?”

“Huh? O-O-Oh, uh, yes, very much so,” Ayis stutters, looking anywhere but at me.

I grin at that, beginning to figure something out about Ayis. “Glad to hear that,” I say. “Now then, I think we're ready to head out to the doctor.”

“R-Right,” Ayis says, standing up.

“Alright, since you're the one who knows the doctor,” I start, turning to Gaelle. “How about you lead the way?”

Gaelle looks between us, a small smile growing on her face before she walks towards the door. “Right this way,” she says, opening the door.

“We should get going, too,” Hikan says, straightening up. “Especially if we all want to meet up on time.”

“Hang on,” Marisa speaks up just before I step out the door. “One last thing before you leave. Got a spare key you could leave with me? Y'know, in case I get bored and decide to leave.”

“Oh, yeah,” Gaelle says before kneeling down and pulling a bit of the carpet in the hallway next to the door frame up, slipping out a small silver key. “Here, but remember to put it back when you're done. It's the one the landlord uses on his… surprise inspections.”

“Gotcha,” Marisa says, taking the key. “Anyways, you guys have fun now!”

“Yeah, I'll see you later Marisa,” I say over my shoulder with a wave.

“And please stay safe,” Daiyousei adds.

Hikan's eyes suddenly widen and he rushes to the door. “Alex, wait!” He says urgently, one of his wisps forming over his hand.

“Huh?” I ask, stopping short. “Why? What's wrong?”

He stops and a click sounds out from the will-o'-wisp before a small black device falls into his hand. He lifts it up to show off a small earpiece. “We should probably keep in touch just in case,” he says, offering it to me.

“Ah,” I say simply. “That probably would be a good idea.” I take the earpiece and put it on. “Alright then, we'll meet back with you once we're done.” With that and a wave, Ayis, Gaelle, Garrick and I leave to see the doctor.

After several moments, I hear Daiyousei's voice come over the earpiece. “Um, so I should be able to talk to Alex now, right…?” she asks. I reach up and press on the earpiece.

“Yup, I can hear you loud and clear Daiyousei,” I respond through the earpiece. “If you get into any trouble, just shout, and Hikan and I will come to help you out.”

“Okay, thank you,” Daiyousei says, sighing a little. Then the earpiece went silent again.

Out in the streets, Ayis and I get many odd looks from other pedestrians. “Keep walking pal,” Ayis says to a staring unicorn as we pass him. She's been saying similar things to anyone else who had stopped to stare the whole time we've been walking so far. I shake my head slightly, a small grin on my face.

“Anyway, I've been curious for a little while now,” I say, turning to Gaelle. “Do you think you could tell me a bit about this doctor we're going to see?”

Gaelle smiles at that. “Dr. Seer is one of the kindest ponies I've ever met,” she answers. “He runs a clinic for the less fortunate down near Halter Street. Not only that, but his equipment is almost up there with high end offices thanks to him. There's honestly no one else I would recommend.”

“Sounds good to me,” Ayis says.

“Yeah, he sounds very nice,” I agree.

“Though I am a little worried, since most times I went to the doctor was for a physical. Always hated those,” Ayis says with a shiver. “Cold hands and creepy smiles. Not fun.”

The griffoness chuckles a bit. “While I admit it will probably be uncomfortable,” she says. “There really is no way around it with this sort of thing. But he does try to make it less so.”

“Yeah…” Ayis says, hugging herself a little.

“Don't worry, you'll be fine,” I tell Ayis. “…I'm here for you,” I add teasingly, giving Ayis a quick hug. Ayis blushes a deep red, but otherwise says nothing as she tries to look anywhere but at me.

Garrick looks back and forth between us. “Why are we going to Dr. Seer's office?” He asks before shivering. “We're not going for another vaccination are we?”

Gaelle smiles down at her son. “No, not this time,” she says. “This time, we're going so Miss Ayis can make sure she and her baby are healthy.”

“Ohhh…” the young hippogriff breathes before giving a smile. “So no shots?”

Gaelle laughs and shakes her head. “No shots,” she confirms.

“Is this the place?” I speak up, pointing to the building we're about to pass. There's a sign that says 'Halter Clinic' on the door.

Gaelle nods. “That's the place,” she replies. “We should hurry before he starts to get really busy.” Ayis nods slowly, walking inside with me.

The inside looks like any other clinic waiting room, with individual chairs in the room and a clerk sitting behind a glass pane. The portly mare behind it simply slides a bit of it open near the bottom without looking up. “Welcome to Dr. Seer's office, how can we help you?” She greets in a sort of bored, sing-song tone as she continues writing on some document or another.

“I uh… Need to be checked for a baby, and uh…” Ayis gulps. “…A physical.”

“It'd be a good idea to check her for STDs as well,” I add. “Just in case.”

The mare brings her gaze up with a critical look before starting at the sight of Ayis and I. “It's alright, Ms. Touch,” Gaelle says, coming forward. “She had a run in with… them.”

The mare looks up at the griffoness before giving a breath and taking out a clipboard with a sheet of paper on it. “Here you go, dearie,” she says, sliding the document under the gap. “I'll go tell Truth what's going on.”

“Thank you, Ms. Touch,” Gaelle calls after the mare as she disappears through a door. Ayis takes the document, giving it a once over.

“What's it say on it?” I ask, peeking over Ayis' head. It looks like a typical clinical document, asking for contact information, insurance, current doctor, etc. “…Well, I guess you should fill out what you can.” Ayis stares at it for a moment in confusion, before slowly sitting down and filling out what she can. I give the document a once-over once Ayis finishes. Most of it is blank, only basic information such as name and occupation being filled in. I notice there's a species field which is filled with 'Fallen Angel'. “If that's all you can fill, then I guess all that's left is to wait for the secretary to come back,” I say, sitting down next to Ayis with the clipboard.

“I wouldn't worry too much,” Gaelle assures. “When I first came in here, that's about as much as I was able to fill in, too. Truth gets a lot of patients like that.” The sound of a door closing announces the return of Ms. Touch as she sits back in her chair.

“Dr. Seer will come get you in a moment,” she says through the glass. “He just needs to get a few things ready. Did you finish filling out the form?”

“Yeah,” I answer, getting up and walking to the glass, sliding the clipboard back under. “Gaelle told us that Dr. Seer gets a lot of patients that can't fill out much of the form.”

Ms. Touch nods her head. “That he does,” she answers looking over the document. “But he never turns anyone down. It's almost gotten him into trouble a few times…”

“I don't know why he would get into trouble for that,” I answer as Ms. Touch continues to read over the document. “Helping people is the right thing to do, so I don't think he should be getting into trouble for helping the people who need it.”

“Oh, no,” Ms. Touch says, looking up. “He's never been in trouble with any sort of authority. It's the ponies he sometimes helps that aren't always… appreciative of what he does for them.”

I'm silent for a few moments. “…Ah. Well, that's even worse if you ask me,” I say. “Helping someone and then having them punch you in the face is never fun.”

Ms. Touch gives a sarcastic chuckle at that. “If only a punch to the face was the worst he's ever taken…” she murmurs before the sound of a door opening in the waiting room catches her attention.

“Friend of Gaelle?” The stallion calls out. He's wearing basic blue-green scrubs with a white doctor's coat, his eyes giving off a friendly shine. But the surprising part is his coat colour, or rather, his species. Truth Seer is a zebra.

“That'd be me,” Ayis says, standing up. “I've had some real quacks in the past. I really hope Gaelle's telling the truth, and you aren't another one of 'em…”

“Ayis, don't be rude,” I scold her.

“Hey, it's the truth,” Ayis shoots back defensively.

The zebra only gives a gentle smile at that. “Well, I'll certainly try to live up to Ms. Bludedge's compliments,” he says before turning to grant us entrance into the back of the clinic. “If you would please.” Ayis gets up from the chair and tries to look confident as she enters the hallway, but I can tell she's nervous. Shaking my head with a grin, I follow Ayis into the hall, but Gaelle and Garrick stay put in their seats.

“I hope you don't mind me coming back here too,” I say to Truth as he leads Ayis and I down the hall. “I've offered to help raise the kid, so I can't help but be curious.”

“Not at all,” he answers. “I actually usually have to recommend that the partner come back with us. I'm glad to see I did not have to do the same for the two of you.” I consider what Truth said. The child probably would see me as a second parent in all honesty. Ayis simply blushes, following along silently. Dr. Seer leads us down the hall before reaching a door on our right and stepping to the side.

“Here we are,” he says, holding a hand out to the open door. “Go on in and get settled. I'll send Nurse Red Cross in here to help you get ready.” Ayis and I step in the door and look around the room. A large examination chair with plenty of padding takes up the center of the room while a corner desk sits pushed into the corner on the same wall as the door, a computer, viewing screen, and transducer sitting on it alongside some small filing cabinets and document baskets. A couple of seats sit against the opposite corner from the desk, just under a few heavily curtained windows. After we've stepped in, Dr. Seer leaves to send the nurse.

“…Do you, uh, think it'll be a boy or a girl?” I ask awkwardly, trying to make idle conversation while we wait. “I'm personally hoping for a girl. No particular reason why to be honest.”

“I'm hoping for a girl, too. That way I can teach her the vilan,” Ayis admits.

“The 'vilan'?” I repeat. “What's that?”

“It's the Fallen word for a certain style of fighting, reserved only for females of the race,” Ayis explains. “It roughly translates to, 'Swift Enticement'.” Ayis further adds, “another would be, 'Quick Lure'.”

“…Hmmm, that sounds interesting,” I say. “I'd like to see you use it in a fight eventually.”

“I uh… Kinda don't feel all that comfortable with mine, to be honest. Mine is somewhat rare in that it's like a… striptease, but without the stripping... It uh…” Ayis seems a little sad now. “It's one of the reasons those assholes used me like they did…”

“Ah, um…” I start, feeling really awkward now. “I, uh, didn't mean to upset you…”

“It's… Fine, I'm just still getting over the shit they did,” Ayis admits, shivering a little. “I'm just hoping the kid isn't the same as me in terms of the vilan.”

“I'm sure the child will be fine either way,” I say comfortingly.

“I hope so…” Ayis concurs.

Suddenly, the earpiece crackles to life before Daiyousei's voice comes through. “Um, hello?” the Fairy asks a little hesitantly.

“You've got Hikan,” Hikan's voice responds over the earpiece. “What's up Dai?” I press on the earpiece.

“You've got Alexandria too,” I add.

“Um, I thought I would just tell you that me and Marisa are leaving the apartment,” Daiyousei answers. “Marisa locked the door and put the key back where Gaelle got it from.”

“Okay, Dai,” Hikan acknowledges over the earpiece. “Just make sure you guys get home before dark and if anything happens, let us know.”

“And tell Marisa to try and stay out of trouble,” I add.

“Um, alright,” Daiyousei says before the earpiece falls silent again.

“Was that Marisa and Daiyousei?” Ayis queries.

“Yeah,” I answer. “No issues have come up yet. Daiyousei was just letting us know that they were leaving the apartment.”

“Oh, good,” Ayis says, hopping up on the table.

A knock on the door alerts us to the appearance of a light blue pegasus with a red mane. She walks in wearing pink scrubs and holding a clipboard. “Hello, I'm Nurse Red Cross,” she greets with a smile as she closes the door behind her. “Which one of you is Ayis?” Ayis raises a hand.

“Me,” she says simply.

“Her,” I say at the exact same time, pointing to Ayis.

Red Cross gives a little smile. “Well, Ms. Filya, have you ever undergone an ultrasound or been checked for any sexually transmitted diseases?” She asks. Ayis shakes her head.

“Don't know what an ultrasound is, but I haven't been checked for sexually transmitted diseases because I'm only 538 years old, and…” she looks down. “...Used to be a virgin.”

Red Cross gives a sad frown. “I'm sorry,” she says, putting her clipboard down. “I heard what happened. But know that here you're safe, and we will take care of you.” Ayis nods slowly. Nurse Cross clears her throat before taking a breath and looking up. “The ultrasound is noninvasive, though we will need you to undress and put on a gown for us. The other testing will be a bit uncomfortable, but you can request that I take care of it instead of Dr. Seer if that helps.”

“Okay. Let's just get it done with,” Ayis says, a little impatient. I simply sit patiently in one of the chairs.

Red Cross nods before going to one of the mini filing cabinet and opening it up. She reaches inside and pulls out a plastic package containing a folded up bluish green gown. “Right, first things first,” She says, opening the package and pulling out the gown. “I'll need you to strip down and put this on. I can step out of the room if you want.” She holds the gown out to the Fallen Angel. Ayis looks at it, blushes, but takes a deep breath and nods.

“I'll be okay, I'm n-not made of glass,” she says taking the gown.

“Of course not,” Red Cross says, nodding her head. “We just want you to be comfortable.” Ayis nods, and pulls off the coat and then the awning that had been wrapped around her, revealing her pale, nude body and E-cup breasts. There are a few scars, but otherwise she looks like a model. I… can't help but stare, the same unfamiliar sensation from earlier welling up again… but a bit stronger this time. Ayis notices me staring and blushes brighter.

“C-Could you not stare, please?” she asks. “Please?”

“Forgive me, Ms. Filya,” Red Cross says.

“Ah…” I respond, looking away quickly, blushing deeply in embarrassment as well. “S-Sorry…” Shanghai is giving me a quizzical look. I… think I'm starting to figure out what the sensation is. Ayis simply takes the gown and quickly puts it on, blushing madly.

“I-I-I'm done,” Ayis announces.

Red Cross turns the swivel chair around and stands to her hooves. “Alrighty, just go ahead and take a seat on the exam chair and I'll go get Dr. Seer,” she says, flashing a smile before picking up her clipboard and leaving the room. Ayis silently does so, not looking at me. I turn forward again, though I keep my eyes off to the side, a blush still on my cheeks. I'm pretty sure the sensation I've been feeling… I'm pretty sure it's arousal.

“S-So… You uh… saw my tits…” Ayis begins, chuckling nervously. “Kinda grossly large, h-huh?”

“Huh…!?” I ask with a start, my eyes snapping to look at Ayis. After a moment, the blush on my cheeks deepens a bit as I press my index fingers together and look awkwardly to the side a little. “O-Oh, uh… Y-Yeah, I guess you could p-put it that way…” (I don't really think 'gross' fits them at all though…) Shanghai continues to look at me, though her quizzical expression has evolved to a look of outright confusion at this point. Ayis smiles lightly.

“I uh… Kinda get it from my mom, she was two cup sizes bigger,” Ayis explains. She chuckles again. “According to mom, dad wasn't too shabby either, hehe…” My eyes widen and my blush deepens even further, though I continue to look away.

“T-Two cup sizes…” I mutter under my breath. Ayis nods.

“Yeah, mom was a knockout,” Ayis says, growing more comfortable while I'm definitely growing less comfortable in comparison. Ayis blushes a little as she looks around the room. “I uh… Well, to be honest, as long as it's you, I uh… Don't mind you l-l-looking all that much.” My eyes widen a little further, my blush reaching a near-crimson colour.

“U-Uh…” I fumble out, seeming very flustered now, drawing a slightly confused look from Ayis. (W-Why does hearing that make me so happy? A-Am I…? Am I a-)

“Alexandria,” Shanghai suddenly speaks up. “I've been feeling something really weird from you for a bit now. What's wrong?”

I remain silent for a few moments, not moving. “I, uh…” I start, still really uncomfortable. “I think… I might be, uh… I might be a lesbian…” Ayis blinks at this.

“You didn't realize that sooner? How old are you?” Ayis asks.

“Uh…” I start, feeling really awkward, knowing that Ayis is 538. “I'm, uh… Six-... Sixteen…” Ayis' eyes widen.

“Holy shit! You're still a baby!” Ayis cries.

“Y-Yeah…” I answer with a small nod. “Even by Yokai standards, that statement is still true…”

“Wait, Yokai? You mean you aren't Divlan? As in, half demon, half human?” Ayis says, growing more confused.

“W-Well, I am half human…” I answer, slowly becoming more comfortable again. “But I'm not half demon. I'm half-human, half-Yokai.”

“Huh…” Ayis says, seeming to be considering something. It looks like an intense thinking session, if the furrowed brows and slight frown on Ayis' face are any indication. Finally, she sighs and looks me in the eye. “Fuck it,” she says, before jumping off the padded chair and walking over to me. I blush at the Angel's intense gaze and how close she gets, before Ayis plucks a feather from her wing and places it on my forehead. A white glow overcomes the feather, and it gains a more lustrous look. Afterwards, Ayis takes my hand, and places the feather in my palm. “This is a token of my…” she blushes a little. “…Affection. We Fallen Angels aren't like our brethren in terms of love. We date while they skip straight to the Angel equivalent of marriage, so, think of this as a sign that I… That I want to try a relationship.”

I once again blush deeply. “U-Um…” I begin. “This is, uh, going to be a new experience for me…”

“Sooo… Is that a yes?” Ayis asks hopefully.

“S-Sure…” I stutter, my half-assed answer coming nowhere close to the full-on yes I wanted to give.

“Awesome!” Ayis cheers, pumping a fist and making her assets bounce under the gown. She then hugs me to her tightly, and, in a very forward move, kisses me on the lips. My eyes widen at the suddenness of the action.

“…Th-That…” I start after the kiss ends. “Th-That wasn't… Entirely u-unenjoyable…” I'm silent for a few moments before squeezing my eyes shut and blushing deeply. “I-I really enjoyed how they squished into me…!” I squeak to myself, barely loud enough for Ayis to hear. Ayis giggles, pressing her breasts into me more.

“You mean like this, cutie~?” she purrs. My eyes snap open as I squeak cutely in surprise, my blush deepening as I feel Ayis' E-cups spread over my own washboard chest as they're squished into me. After several moments, I slowly nod my head as I squeeze my eyes shut again. Ayis quickly retracts herself from me. “Well, too bad. You'll have to wait 'till you're of age~.” My eyes snap wide open, the cherry red blush still on my cheeks.

“Ah, um…” I stutter awkwardly.

There's a knock on the door before Truth Seer's voice comes through. “Ladies, is it alright for me to come in?” I jump as I turn to look at the door.

“Yup, go ahead,” Ayis calls to Dr. Seer with a grin and a wink at me as she hops back up onto the examination chair. I notice the wink and blush again as the door to the room opens and the zebra steps inside.

“Alright, Ms. Filya,” he says, closing the door behind him and taking a look at his clipboard. “Has Red Cross explained what's going to be happening today?” He puts his clipboard down and gives her his complete attention.

“Yeah,” she says, sounding more confident than before. “You're gonna do something called an ultrasound and then check me for STDs. The nurse said that the latter might be a bit uncomfortable, but I'll be fine.”

Dr. Seer gives a little frown before reaching for the swivel chair and pulling it to him. He takes a seat and lifts it up so he's eye level with Ayis. “That is the basics of it, yes, but this does get more than a little private, so, I'll ask one more time and let it go. Are you one hundred percent okay with me doing this? If not, I can get Red Cross back in here instead.”

“Well, like I said, I'm not made of glass, so let's just get it over and done with. Besides, it can't be worse than what those assholes did to me before,” Ayis replies.

Dr. Seer's eyes turn sad at that. “No… it won't be…” he mutters in a sad tone, but something akin to rage edges it. He slides back in the chair and opens one of the cabinets, pulling out a bottle and a pair of rubber gloves. “What I'm going to do now is quite simple,” he starts to explain as he pulls the gloves on. “I'm going to lay you back a little and apply some of this gel to your abdomen. After that, I'll run the transducer over the area and whatever is inside will appear on the screen over here.” He pauses and points to the screen in question before turning back. “Any questions?” Ayis shakes her head.

“Nope. Sounds simple enough to me,” Ayis says.

“Extremely simple,” I agree.

“Good,” Dr. Seer says, scooping up the bottle of gel and sliding over to the exam chair. “Okay, just lean back for me….” His hoof taps on one of the pedals at the base of the chair, the seat beginning to lean back. Ayis nods, leaning back a bit as instructed. Once the chair stops moving, he rolls a bit more towards her midsection before reaching for a flap in the gown and raising it up, revealing Ayis' belly. He brings the bottle up and flips the stopper off before upturning it and squirting the gel onto the Fallen Angel's skin. After a moment, he stops and uses his gloved hand to even out the layer of gel. Once he finishes that, he leans back and looks towards Ayis. “Still good?” Ayis nods.

He nods in return and rolls back over to the desk, taking his glove off and throwing it away before replacing it and lifting the transducer from its resting place. He rolls back to her and gives the Fallen Angel a look. “Moment of truth time,” he says before focusing on her stomach and gently touching the device to her slick stomach and moving it over the area. After a moment, he looks back to the screen and gives a little smile. “Ah, there we are….” He says gently.

The screen is showing a fetus in the five week stage, only with two large bumps on the back and, to all of our surprise and confusion, a bump on the head.

“I'd imagine the bumps on the back are for wings,” I comment. “But I don't know what the one on the head would be for…”

“Me either,” Ayis adds.

Dr. Seer stares at the image for a moment before speaking. “If I may… that looks an awful lot like the start of a horn….”

“A horn?” Ayis says, before she seems to remember something. “…I guess that makes a little sense…” she says slowly.

“I guess the child is half unicorn then?” I ask.

“That could be an accurate guess…” Seer murmurs before looking towards Ayis. “Well, good news is, it looks like everything is okay with the baby, at least as far as I can tell at this stage.” He moves the transducer away before rolling back to the desk and setting it down. He opens a drawer and takes several paper towels before rolling back to the Fallen Angel and wiping her belly clean before lowering the flap of the gown back down and throwing the paper towels in the trash can.

“And now, we get to the more uncomfortable part,” he says. “There are multiple different ways we can test you for any sexual diseases, but the most accurate is a blood test. I leave it up to you to decide how you want to proceed.”

“Blood test sounds fine to me,” Ayis answers.

Truth Seer nods. “Blood test it is then,” he says before rolling towards the desk and standing up. “I'll go get what I need and be right back.” With that, he leaves the room once more.

“It's a shame that it's too early to tell the gender, huh?” I say after the doctor's out of the room.

“Yeah… I'm really hoping it's a girl,” Ayis says with a nod.

A moment later, there's a knock on the door again. Ayis and I glance at each other.

“…Yeah…?” I ask slowly after a moment.

“Just me again,” Dr. Seer's voice comes through the door. “May I come in?”

“Yeah, go ahead,” Ayis calls.

The zebra walks in carrying a syringe and a couple of alcohol swabs. He makes his way back to his chair and sits down in it, sliding back towards us. “Arm please, Ms. Filya,” he says in a calm tone, gently holding a hand to her as the needle and an alcohol swab sit in his other.

Ayis gives him her arm, a curious look in her eyes as she looks at the syringe. Truth Seer tears the packet in his hand open before wiping the disinfectant over her arm, just under the crook of her elbow. He raises the needle before he catches her gaze. “Have you ever had blood drawn before, Ms. Filya?” He asks, pulling the syringe back a little.

Ayis shakes her head. Seer gives a little frown before explaining. “I'm going to stick this into your arm, and draw out some blood. You're going to feel a small pinch and a little tug, but as long as you stay relaxed, it won't be any more than a little uncomfortable.”

“Ah. Well, get on with it, then,” Ayis says, motioning to her arm with it's counterpart. Dr. Seer nods. With adept movements, he inserts the needle into her arm before pulling back on the plunger, drawing out blood. Within a few seconds, he draws the needle out and puts the protective cover back over it. He swabs the area one more time before covering the small prick in her arm with a bandage.

“And that's that,” the doctor says, rolling his chair back to the desk and standing up. “I'll run this down to the lab and take a look at it. I'll be right back with the results.” With that, he nods and leaves the room. Ayis simply lays back on the table, rubbing her stomach.

“I really hope you don't have any STDs…” I say to Ayis. “That wouldn't be very pleasant…” Ayis nods.

“Yeah, not terribly happy about the fact I might have some. Pretty sure it'd be a miracle with how…” Ayis shivers. “...Disgusting, they all were.” I just frown and nod. After that, we end up waiting in an awkward and nervous silence for what seems like an eternity before there's a knock on the door again.

“Ladies,” Seer's voice comes through. “I've got the results.”

“The moment of truth…” I breathe quietly.

“Well, c'mon in so we can see 'em,” Ayis says.

Seer opens the door and there's absolutely no other way to describe the wide grin on his face asides from completely beaming. “I have some very good news for you, Ms. Filya,” the zebra says, pulling the chair to him and sitting down in it. “You are completely clean.” Ayis blinks before she sighs in relief.

“Thank Triyte…” she breathes.

“Ah, that's incredible Ayis!” I say, overjoyed as I jump from my seat and hug Ayis tightly without thinking. Ayis blushes and freezes for a second, before slowly reciprocating the gesture. After a second, I realize what I'm doing… But continue to hug Ayis anyway.

Truth Seer smiles warmly at us before standing to his hooves. “Someone must truly be looking out for you,” he says gently. “I'll leave you to get redressed. When you're done, just throw the gown in the waste bin and head on back up front. It was a great pleasure meeting the two of you.” He bows his head a bit before turning and starting to leave the room. “Oh!” He says suddenly, turning with one hand still on the handle. “And it seems we've somehow managed to misplace the billing for your visit.” He gives a warm smile and a wink before slipping out of the room, closing the door behind him. I smile, knowing that he essentially said he's waiving the bill.

“C'mon Alex,” Ayis says, having gotten dressed quickly as she casually tosses the gown into the bin. “Let's go give the others the good news.” I nod and we make our way up front again where Gaelle and Garrick are still waiting.

Gaelle's head looks up from her magazine and she gets up from her seat, putting the reading material aside. “How'd it go?” She asks, stepping up to us with a worried tone and look.

“I'm all clean,” Ayis says with a grin. “And the baby's apparently half unicorn, judging from the bump on its forehead.”

Gaelle lets out a breath of relief. “Oh, thank goodness,” she says, a happy grin on her face. “I was so worried it would be so much worse…”

“I'm happy too,” I say. “Though it's too early to pin a gender unfortunately.”

“Ah well, surprises are the spice of life, right?” Ayis answers with a grin. “Anyway, we should go get me some clothes. This coat is starting to chaff, and it's not fun.”

“Right,” the griffoness answers before turning to where Garrick is entertaining himself with a puzzle. “Let's go, Gar,” she says, the hippogriff getting to his hooves quickly and following after his mother as she makes to walk out the door. “Thank you, Gentle,” the griffon says, looking over her shoulder at the mare behind the desk. “Give Dr. Seer our thanks as well.”

“You're all welcome,” the mare answers, waving them out. “Don't come back too soon, now, okay?”

The griffoness chuckles. “You know we can never make promises,” she answers over her shoulder before leaving the building, Garrick following close behind her. Ayis and I follow, and I glance back into the clinic as I leave, hoping we won't have to come back for a long while.

“I remember Rarity saying at one point that she's got a Boutique here in Canterlot,” I say outside. “We should go there to do our shopping. It's highly likely that Hikan's lot will be there too.”

“Alright, just follow me, dear tourists,” Gaelle says with a grin, beginning to lead the way towards the Canterlot Boutique.

It takes us a good while to walk all the way to the Boutique, but once we finally approach, we see Hikan standing outside. “Hey, guys,” Hikan greets as we get close, pushing himself off the wall. “How'd it go?”

“No STDs, thank Triyte,” Ayis answers.

“Even though it's too early to tell the gender, the baby's healthy,” I add. “And apparently half unicorn.”

Hikan blinks at my final addition but shakes it off and grins. “Well, that's the best news I think I've ever gotten,” he says, looking between us before nodding his head to the door. “The others are inside doing some… extracurricular shopping. Go on in and get yourself something that's actually comfortable. I'll take care of the expenses when everyone's done.”

“Alright, cool,” Ayis says, heading inside. I simply follow. Starlight isn't anywhere to be seen, but some rustling in the back gives away her position. Meanwhile, a blue unicorn with a ginger mane is standing off to the side. She's wearing a dark gray top with short black sleeves and a short black skirt with large triangular cutouts on the edge. Each point of the skirt has a gold button on it, and she has a gold belt around her waist. She's giving Shell a worried look every now and again as the Changeling seems frozen in place. “Helloooo?” Ayis calls out to the unicorn as she enters. “Could I maybe get some service?”

The mare jumps a bit and turns to face us. “Oh, sorry,” she says, walking forward a bit. “Just… she's been standing there like that for a while now. Anyway, how can I help you?”

“Well, as you can plainly see,” Ayis starts, gesturing to herself. “I need an entire outfit, underwear and everything. I had a bad run-in with some unsavory types. Anyway, think you could hook me up with some clothes?”

“Of course,” the blue unicorn answers, giving a bit of a smile. “If you'd follow me I can get you something just right for you.”

“That'd be great,” Ayis says with a nod, following her behind the curtain at the back of the shop. After the two disappear, I look to Shell, who's still frozen. I approach the motionless Changeling.

“Hey Shell, you okay?” I ask, giving her a nudge. The Changeling eeps loudly and jumps, almost hitting the ceiling above her before she lands on her hindquarters.

“Oww…” the disguised mare mutters, sitting on the ground before she looks up. “What happened?”

“…I don't know, I only got here maybe a minute ago,” I answer, giving Shell a look and raising an eyebrow. “But it looked to me like you were frozen up. I wanted to make sure you were doing okay.”

Shell blinks before a much smaller blush lights her features. “Oh, u-um,” she stutters for a moment. “Y-yes, I'm fine…”

“If you say so…” I respond slowly before turning back towards the curtain, waiting for Ayis. After several moments, the curtains open up and the unicorn walks out with Ayis not far behind.

The Fallen Angel now sports a black vest with a navy blue hood, her dual tone long sleeve undershirt having black, silver studded belts wrapped and buckled loosely to her navy blue sleeves in a zigzag pattern and the black collar that comes up to her chin. A short, three layered skirt is held to her waist by a black belt with a large silver buckle, the layers on her frilled skirt alternating between black and navy. Black fingerless gloves cover her hands while black stockings with violet longways stripes cover her legs up to her thighs, two more black and silver buckled bands wrapped around each thigh to keep them up. Black, heavy-looking combat boots finish off the punk goth look.

“Wow,” I comment, eyebrows raised. “You actually look pretty threatening like that.” Ayis grins.

“Heh, I always do. Gotta give our enemies something to be scared of, ya know?” Ayis replies, doing a little pose.

The rustling in the back of the shop comes to a stop and Starlight comes out of the back, something in her hands. Upon noticing us, she quickly hides whatever garment she has behind her back. “O-Oh, hey girls…” she greets with a nervous chuckle. “Uh… when did you guys get here?” Arela comes out as well, but hasn't noticed us as she looks at her set of lacy golden underwear.

“We arrived just a few minutes ago,” I say before looking to Arela. “…And what would those be for, huh Arela?”

“Huh?” Arela looks to see us there, and blushes a bright, cherry red, quickly stowing the underwear behind her. “N-N-N-N-Nothing! Nothing at all!”

(Yeah, and the Hell of Blazing Fires is the best air conditioner…) “Riiiiiiiight…” I say. “Anyway… If we're all done here, we should probably go find Marisa again, make sure she isn't causing too much trouble.” Suddenly, at that moment, a loud scratching and fumbling comes over my and Hikan's earpieces. After a few moments of that, Marisa's voice replaces the noise.

“I need a big open area that we can meet in, like, now,” she says quickly.

“What about our base-?” Ayis begins to say. I put a hand up to interrupt Ayis.

“Nevermind that,” I sigh in exasperation. “It sounds like Marisa's gone and found herself some trouble already…”

The bell over the door bangs as Hikan rushes in, hand already coming out of his pouch. “For whatever they picked up,” he says briskly, his 'dark' tone back in full force as he hands the ginger-maned unicorn some gold and gems before looking to uss. “Give whatever you bought to Gaelle and let's go.” He doesn’t wait for an answer from anyone, simply turns on his heel and leaves the store in a hurry, the door barely having time to swing shut before he swings it open again and presses a hand to his earpiece. “We're on our way, Marisa, just hold on.”

Ayis is still holding Hikan's coat and hands it off to Starlight, who's the nearest to her. “Finally, some action,” she says, quickly leaving the shop as Marisa's voice comes over the earpiece again.

“That's great and all Hikan, but I still need an open area to head towards,” she says. “Preferably right now.” I frown and follow Ayis and Hikan out of the shop.

Hikan tsks and summons a will-o'-wisp to his hand as he runs, the orb giving a faint glow that shows him a map of the city and three orange dots, two of which are extremely close to one another. His other hand waves over the map for a few seconds before zooming in on what looks like an abandoned construction zone. “Marisa, to the southeast of your position is a construction zone. Head there and we'll meet you.”

“Gotcha,” Marisa answers. “And when you get here, be ready for a tough and unpleasant battle. Trust me, this ain't gonna be fun.”

Hikan falls silent and looks back at us. “...We'll be ready,” he says into the communicator. “For right now, don't worry about us, just keep yourself safe.”

“Yup, one step ahead'a ya,” Marisa answers before the earpiece goes silent.

“Where to?” Arela queries, eyes hardening.

“There's a construction site a few blocks to our northwest,” Hikan answers, his wings unfurling as he runs. “Marisa's in trouble and we have to hurry.” With that, he jumps into the air and takes off towards the construction.

“Marisa sounded unsettled,” I add. “Nothing has ever unsettled her before. Whatever it is, it must be nasty. Be prepared for the worst.” After giving that warning, I also take to the air, following Hikan. Arela and Ayis do the same.

“Hope it's big. I like killing big guys. Lots of places to stab 'em,” Ayis says eagerly.

Shell flies after Ayis, giving a little shudder. “Let's just hope they're not very powerful…” she murmurs.

“Agreed,” Arela concurs.

“If they weren't very powerful,” I comment. “Then Marisa wouldn't be worried. She's more than capable of taking on some really powerful opponents on her own, so something that forces her to ask for help must be incredibly powerful.”

“Sweet~” Ayis says with a cocky grin.

Hikan just frowns at this, a whirring sound filling the air as Dorkifu's clawed gauntlets form. “We need to hurry,” he says again before adding on an extra burst of speed. I raise an eyebrow before silently accelerating in order to keep up. Arela and Ayis do the same, speeding up and following after us.

Within a few minutes, we fly into view of the construction site. We see Daiyousei standing in front of Marisa, facing a strange woman that none of us have seen before.

The woman's hair and eyes are a similar green to Daiyousei's, her hair almost down to her thighs. She's wearing a long, dark blue robe that has a white band along the skirt hem and long, white sleeves as well as a long cape of the same dark blue colour. She has a dark blue, conical cap on her head which has a large, yellow sun design on it off to one side, the design partially cut off by the bottom of the hat. In her hands, she's holding what can be described as a scepter with a large, silver crescent shape attached to the end. It also seems like the woman is floating above the ground, and we can't see her legs.

After a few moments, the woman then takes her scepter and swings it towards Daiyousei. A beam fires from between the points of the crescent and, to the other's horror, pierces straight through Daiyousei's abdomen. After a couple moments, Daiyousei explodes into millions of tiny, white particles of light which disperse into the air and vanish. I know that Daiyousei will be just fine; as a Fairy, she'll simply reincarnate soon enough. Unfortunately, I'm the only one present - besides Marisa - who knows that.

A roar of rage rips through the air alongside the sudden sound of boosters as Hikan rushes the green haired woman, claws reared back. The woman's head whips towards the sound and she then dodges to the side. “Oh my,” the woman says, turning to Marisa. “Are these the kind of people my apprentice is associating with?”

“I ain't your apprentice anymore Mima!” Marisa shouts back to the woman as I land behind Marisa. “I haven't been for a very long time. I've taken my own path in life.”

“I guess so,” Mima - who's without a doubt a Gensokian - responds with a smirk. “No apprentice of mine would ever ask for help.”

Another growl rends the air as metallic ringing fills it, Hikan's claws flashing towards Mima's smirking face.

“Impatient whelp,” Mima snarls, pointing her scepter at Hikan, a very forceful blast of magical energy erupting right in front of him a moment later. “Learn your damned place!”

“LEARN YOURS, BITCH!” A voice suddenly yells from behind Mima before a beam of turquoise magic explodes into her back.

“URNK-!” Mima grunts as the force of the attack pushes her forward. “I already know my place!” she growls as she turns quickly to face Starlight, raising her scepter over her head. “And it's far above mortals like you!” She then brings the scepter down, the ground under Starlight's feet exploding violently.

Arela rushes forwards, halberd poised to slice Mima's head clean off. When the woman dodges the attack, Arela smirks, and the woman screams in pain as two sais enter her back.

“Take this, bitch!” Ayis growls as Arela makes to charge once more, this time determined to slice off Mima's head.

“Get off me!” Mima shouts, blindsiding Ayis with her scepter, knocking her away before pointing the scepter at her and swinging it to point at Arela, tossing the one angel into the other, the two sais still sticking out of her back the whole time.

Green light fills the air before bolts of condensed eldritch flames slam into Mima's back, using the sais as conductive rods for the magic. Mima winces as she waves her scepter, the sais ejecting from her back. “Pest!” she yells, lunging at Shell and bringing the scepter down on her head.

A loud crack sounds out before the Changeling can react, her eyes rolling up before she slumps to the ground. “Hmph,” Mima says, pointing her scepter at the unconscious Changeling, tossing her to the side like a ragdoll.

“Stop it, now!” Marisa shouts, stepping forward. But before she can do anything, white light begins to coalesce between her and Mima. After several moments, there's a small flash, which fades to reveal Daiyousei, perfectly unharmed.

“Oooooow… That really hurt…” Daiyousei whines, clutching her stomach, her eyes squeezed shut and her brows furrowed. Hikan groans as he gets to his hands and knees.

“Dai…? How…?” He questions as he gets up to his feet.

“She's a Fairy,” I answer. “Fairies don't die permanently. Instead, if they die, they reincarnate after a minute or so.”

“It still really hurts though…” Daiyousei adds, taking her hands off her abdomen and opening her eyes to look at Mima angrily. “I'll teach you for messing with a Greater Fairy! Take this!” She then throws her hands up, a flurry of bright green kunai-shaped objects spurting out towards Mima.

“A Greater Fairy is no different from a normal Fairy in my eyes: neither is anywhere near a match for me,” Mima retorts simply, swishing her scepter in front of her, all the kunai getting swept aside.

“Unfortunately, she's right Dai,” Marisa says, stepping in front of Daiyousei. “Let me handle this.” Daiyousei nods and steps back.

“Finally. Let's see if you've managed to surpass your mentor,” Mima starts with a grin. “…Or if you're nothing but a weakling still.”

“I ain't no pushover!” Marisa shouts, immediately firing several small beams at Mima. Mima threads between the beams.

“We'll see about that,” she says. She then retaliates with several orbs of condensed magic, which home in on Marisa. Marisa hops on her broomstick and takes to the air, the orbs following her. As she flees from the orbs, she fires some quick blasts of magic back at Mima.

“Take this!” she shouts. Mima takes her scepter and catches the magic missiles in the crescent before flinging them back at Marisa.

“Sorry, they're yours,” Mima states tauntingly. Marisa dodges her own magic missiles, Mima's orbs dissipating a moment later.

“Urgh, I'll just have to get serious,” Marisa says, pulling out her Mini-Hakkero from under her hat. It begins to charge up as she points it at Mima.

Mima simply laughs loudly at this. “Do you take me for a fool?” she asks. “There's no way I'll let you get that attack off!” She then points her scepter at Marisa, who promptly gets blown out of the sky by a blast of magic.

“Gah!” Marisa screams as she's knocked off her broomstick, the Mini-Hakkero falling from her hand to the ground.

A blur of motion and the sound of flapping wings meet Marisa, catching her midair. “Need a hand?” Hikan questions, hovering in place.

“Thanks…” Marisa says, her broomstick clattering to the ground next to the magical device. “I didn't expect her to interrupt my Spark like that.”

“Hmph, it seems you are just a weakling still,” Mima taunts. My eyes narrow and my brows furrow.

“Fine,” I say. “My turn.” I turn to Shanghai. “Shanghai, HDD please.” Shanghai nods her head before activating HDD. After the light dissipates, she draws her broadsword… Except for the first time, I notice that it isn't a broadsword in her HDD form. Instead, it appears to be a long rapier with a fancy, intricately styled guard curving over the pure white grip. Meanwhile, the blade, guard and pommel are all a lustrous silvery colour with a golden tinge, resembling white gold. The shining metal that catches the sunlight is a massive contrast to the dull iron of the unremarkable broadsword she has in her normal form.

“I will strike you down for hurting our friends,” Shanghai announces to Mima, tightening her grip on the rapier she holds one-handed in her right hand. “Take this!” She then rushes Mima, rapier reared back, point twinkling in the sun.

“Idiot…” Mima mutters, quickly flicking her scepter to cause a small magical explosion on Shanghai… But Shanghai simply charges through it, utterly unaffected. Mima's eyes widen, caught by surprise and she fails to avoid Shanghai's flurry of strikes.

Shanghai strikes Mima several times in quick succession with her rapier before rearing back. “With my Aku no Tsuihō, I will banish you to the netherworld!” Shanghai shouts before lunging forward with a powerful jab, striking Mima before she can recover from the previous assault.

“Urk…” Mima grunts. “Damned pest… Why won't you just die!?” Mima sweeps her scepter at the Fairy, a series of magical explosions erupting on Shanghai. However, Shanghai is completely unfazed by them.

Meanwhile, I notice the dropped Mini-Hakkero. I go over and pick it up. Remembering something from a while ago, I have an idea. I whisper into the device and point it at Mima before bracing myself as power begins to build in the device.

“What are you!?” Mima snarls in frustration at Shanghai.

“A Fairy, plain and simple,” Shanghai answers.

“Impossible,” Mima says, shaking her head. “A mere Fairy can't possibly be unaffected by my magic.”

“I'm not a 'mere' Fairy,” Shanghai retorts. “Now, prepare yourself!” Shanghai then continues to attack Mima with her rapier, Mima attempting to dodge the strikes, but Shanghai is surprisingly adept and swift with the weapon, landing blow after blow.

After a good thirty seconds or so, I shout at the top of my lungs. “CLEAR OUT!!!” Shanghai ignores me, continuing to assault Mima, which prevents the green-haired woman from making an escape. Arela and Ayis look to the glowing device in my grasp, and promptly move out of the blast range.

Hikan turns and his eyes widen before he flies off, still holding onto Marisa. “Star, grab Shell!”

“Rodger!” The unicorn answers, teleporting to the Changeling's side and grabbing her before another blink makes the pair disappear.

Just as everyone clears out, the Mini-Hakkero explodes with power.

Lightning Sign「Mighty Thunderbolt」

A massive, 2-foot thick lightning bolt fires from the Mini-Hakkero - just like the last time I'd used my lightning magic with it - and passes through Shanghai straight to Mima where it hits hard.

“HRAAAAGH!!” Mima screams as the bolt strikes her.

“Ouch…!” I say, dropping the searing hot device after the bolt dissipates.

“Damn you…” Mima snarls darkly as she gets back up. “You messed with the wrong spirit…” My eyes widen in surprise as Mima swings her scepter to point at me. “I'll bury you where you stand!” Mima shouts, unleashing a beam not too dissimilar from Marisa's Master Spark. I'm too surprised to avoid it in time.

“Agh…!” I shout as the attack hits me, and I fall to the ground, losing consciousness.

For the next little bit, even though Alexandria is no longer conscious, I'll continue in her perspective, only because I don't want to cut out the next series of events.

“Ngah…!” Shanghai grunts in pain, flinching and recoiling from the blow I take.

“Alex! Squirt!” Ayis cries, and before anyone can stop her, she summons her sais once more, and rushes at Mima. When the spirit turns to stop her, Ayis crosses her sais together, and magic Mima's never seen before glows around the sais, building rapidly. “JUDGEMENT OF THE WASTES!” Ayis roars, and a gigantic sword of edged bone, held by two phantasmal, skeletal hands, slams down towards the spirit, erupting in a shower of blackish purple magic.

While Ayis is doing all this, Shanghai shakes her head, regaining her focus. “You…” she growls, sounding genuinely pissed off as she grips her rapier and holds it vertically in front of herself. “I will damn you to Hell myself!!”

Aku no Tsuihō「Doll's Judgement」

The blade of the rapier erupts with both flame and electricity. Shanghai then lunges at Mima, slashing her with a renewed vigor and swiftness, striking hundreds of times in a matter of seconds, each blow simultaneously exploding and erupting into sparks on impact. Shanghai then draws back and strikes one final time with extra force, the attack coinciding perfectly with Ayis' spell.

“AAARGH!” Mima shouts, falling to the ground. It's at this time that everyone finally notices that she doesn't have legs, but rather a spectral tail under the robe. “This… Isn't the last you'll see of me…” Mima mutters in a strained voice. “I'll be back… To get my revenge…” With that ominous threat, Mima slowly fades away.

After completing her powerful Spellcard, Shanghai reverts to her normal form, her broadsword in its sheath. She puts a hand to her head and wobbles in midair dizzily before dropping to the ground unconscious. Ayis rushes over to her, looking her over and sighing in relief when she finds that she's unharmed. She then looks to Arela.

“Take her, please, I need to see my girlfriend,” she says. Arela nods and does so as Ayis briskly moves to me, checking me over. While Ayis is looking me over, I come to, putting a hand to my head as my eyes scrunch and my brows furrow.

“Uuuuuugh…” I groan. “That hurt pretty bad…” I then open my eyes and start with a sharp intake of breath when I see someone over me.

“Calm down, Alex. It's just me,” Ayis says softly. “How do you feel?”

I pause for a moment before sighing. “To be honest?” I begin. “Very very sore.”

“Anything else? Any stinging pains in your body?” Ayis asks next.

I shake my head as I sit up slowly. “Just a lot of soreness.” Ayis breathes a sigh of relief.

“Thank Triyte…” she says, before placing her hands over my chest. “Stay still, I'm going to give you a little pick-me-up.” I remain silent and still. Then, a greenish-golden glow surrounds Ayis' hands, and then me, and the soreness in my body dies down. I give a breath of laughter.

“I'm sure Daiyousei could have easily done the same thing…” I comment in good humor. Ayis gives a cocky grin.

“I'm still sexier than her, though. Like a hot nurse,” Ayis says, winking at me.

“Riight,” I say with a smile, just a little teasingly before I realize something and look around. “…Where's Shanghai? She should have been right on me, worrying her little guts out by now.”

“Over there with Arela,” Ayis says, pointing to the two. I stand up and make my way to Arela quickly. I notice that Shanghai's unconscious as I approach.

“Shanghai…!?” I say, my eyes widening as I grab the little Fairy and hold her carefully. “W-What… Happened…!? Is she going to be okay!?”

“She's fine, just tired. She used a lot of power to help Ayis finish off Mima,” Arela explains. I let out a huge sigh, tears of relief coming to my eyes.

“Thank Heaven…” I whisper. “If I'd lost her, I… I…” Ayis puts a hand on my shoulder.

“Don't worry about it. It's over now,” Ayis says warmly.

“…Right,” I say, gently placing Shanghai into the pocket on my dress and wiping the tears from my eyes. “I think we should go about building our base then. Shanghai needs somewhere to rest.”

“Hey, why don't we build it right on this very plot?” Marisa says, her hat off her head. She's using it as a basket to carry the Mini-Hakkero which is undoubtedly still hot to the touch. “It's big, flat, and nobody else's usin' it. It's perfect, ain't it?”

“Hmmm… We'll likely have to ask the city planners if it's okay first, since this is a construction zone, but I'm sure Ronzul will be able to work it out. He has a lot of friends up in the construction business,” Ayis says.

“Guys!” Hikan's call rings out over the abandoned zone.

“What is it, my love?” Arela asks, walking over. Starlight's cradling Shell's head in her lap, a stream of green blood flowing from her forehead and down her face. Hikan's standing over them, his eyes going over the silk like purple mane that flows from the Changeling's head where Shell's now broken helmet used to rest.

“We need to get her out of here,” Hikan says dully, much of the emotion gone from his voice.

Arela and Ayis rush over. “By the Gods…” Arela breathes, tears forming in her eyes.

“What are we standing here for? Let's get her to a doctor quick!” Ayis urges.

“I-I'm supposed to be the healer, right?” Daiyousei says. “I've never tried to heal anything this bad before, but… Let me try first.” Without waiting for an answer, she kneels down next to Shell and puts her hands on the Changeling.

Recovery「Healing Power」

As the familiar green glow spreads onto Shell, we watch as the blood flow slows and the large gash partially coagulates. It doesn't heal completely, but it isn't as bad as it had been.

“She still isn't fully healed. She needs a doctor,” Arela affirms.

“I, uh, I made things better though, didn't I…?” Daiyousei asks hesitantly. Hikan nods his head and bends down to lift the Changeling, cradling her gently as her head rests against his chest.

“You did,” he says quietly. “But she needs help now.” He starts moving away. “Ayis, Alex, do you guys know the way to the clinic you guys went to?”

“Yeah, follow us!” Ayis says, taking off into the sky, and I nod as I follow suit, giving the 'come on' hand gesture. Hikan activates his boosters and raises into the air gently before hovering after them, trying to keep the flight as stable as possible for his ward.

It isn't long before Ayis and I land on the street just outside the clinic. “Here we are,” I say once Hikan lands next to me.

Hikan only nods in response before he starts to walk forward, only to meet Truth Seer exiting the building with his keys in hand. The good doctor jumps a bit when he looks up to see Hikan. The zebra looks at him, then to the Changeling in his arms before looking back up at the man. “Bring her inside,” he says simply, turning and opening the door once more.

“Thank you,” the hunter replies, quickly moving to head inside, Starlight following after him. I go to enter, but am stopped by Seer.

“Sorry, but could I please ask you to wait outside?” he asks. “I know you're worried, but I can only allow two to accompany the patient.” I'm silent, nodding slowly after a few moments. Seer then enters the clinic, the door closing behind him. Ayis and Arela look on with worry and concern, but concede.

“…Looks like we're stuck playin' the waitin' game, huh?” Marisa says, making her landing next to me, Daiyousei also touching down nearby.

“Apparently, yes,” Arela concurs. There's an awkward silence after that for several seconds. Marisa goes and sits on the ground, her back against the building.

“Sooooo…” she says slowly. “Got anythin' interestin' to talk about?”

“No, but I know a game we can play as we wait,” Ayis offers.

“I like games,” Daiyousei says. “What's it called?”

“'Charmed Hands',” Ayis answers.

“Ooh, that's a good one,” Arela comments.

“Of course it is. It's a game of my people,” Ayis says proudly. Arela rolls her eyes at this.

“How do you play?” I ask. Ayis waves her hands, and a small box of cards appears in her hand.

“Well, first, we each take a deck of ten cards,” Ayis says, pulling a stack of cards out of the box. I notice that the covers on the cards all have various pictures of handsome men and women, either in armor or scanty clothes and robes. A few have more respectable clothes, but all of them are very attractive. Marisa raises an eyebrow.

“That's an… 'interestin’' set of cards…” she comments.

“It is called Charmed Hands,” Ayis points out. “Anyways, it goes like this…” Ayis says, beginning to explain. After a good while of explaining, we all play a game, then two, then three. We end up getting really engrossed in the game, and at this point, we end up having to start making bets with more than just money, as the game requires some form of betting.

Ayis had bet me a favor, whilst Arela had bet the last coin she has from Erevale, as she doesn't want to bet anything else. Hence why she said she's going to stop playing after this round.

“Come on, just bet your clothes or something. Or even some gems. I know you High Angels can make them on a whim,” Ayis urges. Arela shakes her head firmly.

“No way am I betting my clothes, much less using my magic just to keep playing. That's just low,” Arela says.

“Ugh, fine,” Ayis turns to me. “So, whatcha got, babe? Any Temptresses?”

“Yeah…” I answer, eyeing the two Temptresses in my hand. Ayis grins.

“Guess I win then, because…” Ayis shows us her hand. “I got a Tribunal Crusade!” She cheers, referring to the three paladin cards she has. Arela groans at this.

“Lithg dammit…” she curses.

“Oh hush. I won fair and square, so cough it all up, ladies! Oh! And you owe me a favor, Alex,” Ayis says, grin growing.

“I'm… Oddly okay with that,” I respond, laying down my hand. “Though I guess it depends on what you mean by 'favor'.”

“Heh, the two of you're suppose'ta be datin', right?” Marisa asks, paying up as I nod. Marisa's grin widens as she helps Daiyousei count out the money she owes. “Then I guess the question is… Is it a favor or a 'favor'?” Marisa makes air quotes on the last word. Ayis giggles.

“We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?” Ayis says teasingly.

The bell over the door to the clinic rings out as the door opens up and Starlight walks out, eyes on the ground. She lets the door swing shut behind her. “...Arela… Hikan wants you in there…” she says quietly, not letting her voice above much else than a whisper. Arela nods, placing her cards down and walking inside.

“Uh, hey Starlight,” I greet awkwardly.

“So, you got kicked out in favor of the angel, huh?” Marisa asks bluntly.

Starlight shakes her head numbly before sitting down, not saying anything else and not lifting her head.

“Um…” Daiyousei starts, giving Starlight a worried look. “Are you okay…?”

Starlight's quiet for a moment. “...Shell's really hurt…” she says quietly. “Dr. Seer says she may have a major concussion and… he can't take care of her here… And he said that the hospital might not help because… because…”

“Starlight, calm down,” I say. “I'm sure everything will end up alright.”

“So the ponies at the hospital might be racist, and won't help,” Ayis sums up. I look at Ayis.

“That's right, the ponies have some… bad views of the Changelings,” I say. I then turn back to Starlight. I'm silent for several seconds, trying to decide whether or not I should say what's on my mind. Finally, I speak up again, making my decision. “Well, if they won't do their damn job, then I say fuck 'em. We'll just treat Shell ourselves if we have to.”

“We can take her to Ronzul. He was a field medic back in the War on Mt. Saintkiss in Lleiya, I'm sure he could help,” Ayis offers.

Starlight's quiet for a while before she looks up slowly towards the Fallen Angel. “…Dr. Seer wants to keep Shell for the night,” she says quietly. “He has a place inside where he and the others can rest… but thank you, Ayis. We'll… we'll have to come back tomorrow and make sure Hikan and Arela know…”

“Ah, the doc's keepin' her for the night,” Marisa says. “Then I guess we're stuck goin' back to Gaelle's place, huh? We'll haffta tell her that Hikan and Arela're stayin' here at the clinic tonight.”

Starlight nods her head, getting back to her hooves. “Yeah, Cat's probably freaking out by now, too,” she says.

“Alright then,” I say, getting to my feet as well. “Let's get going to Gaelle's.” I then look down at Shanghai, who's still out cold in my pocket. “Hopefully Shanghai will be feeling better in the morning…” I add worriedly.

“Yeah. I miss the Squirt's voice already,” Ayis agrees, standing up as well.

Starlight nods her head before she starts down the street, her head bowed towards the ground.

Marisa, Daiyousei, Ayis and I follow her. I run to catch up with her. “Don't worry,” I say to Starlight. “Shell's going to make it through this, okay?”

The unicorn looks up to me before giving a small nod and an even smaller smile. “I hope so,” she says, looking back down the street. “I really hope so…”

End of Chapter 2

Paralogue 1: When a Being of Immense Power is Bored

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 3: Lapse

Author's Note

First of all, I'm super sorry for the wait. A lot of things happened, and then I got all out of it, and I started to forget and procrastinate... Basically, I have no excuse and I'm really sorry. Anyway... A couple things about this chapter. It's going to be an exception to the "first-person present" style, for various reasons. On top of that, there's a certain scene I've decided not to include for the time being... I may add it in at a later date, or maybe as a bonus... Anyway, I'll have chapter 4 up for you guys very soon, probably tomorrow or the day after. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this one!

Chapter 3: Lapse

The next day, after Shell had been taken by Dr. Seer, Ayis and the others went to see her friend, Ronzul. She took them downtown, where they found a tunnel in an alleyway, which Ayis explained lead to Ronzul's home. The tunnel was masterfully made, and had seemingly no flaws in the stonework.

“This ain't creepy at all…” Marisa muttered sarcastically.

“No kidding…” Alexandria agreed.

“Alexandria, I'm scared…” Shanghai said, clutching tightly to Alexandria's shoulder.

“I'm scared too…” Daiyousei added, clinging to Marisa.

“Oh hush, Ronzul's a really nice guy. He just likes his privacy is all,” Ayis said as they arrived at a stone door, carvings of a stone and chisel on it. Ayis knocked on the door. “Hey, Ronzul, you in there?”

The door slid open to reveal a stocky, stout dwarf with a black beard and slight mullet, the beard braided thrice over. He looked up at Ayis, and the group noted he had tattoos on his arms, both of some strange form of runes.

“Ayis? What're ya doin' 'ere, lass?” he looked to the others. “And who are they? Friends?”

“It's a long story, but yeah, they're friends,” Ayis explained. Ronzul stroked his beard before shrugging.

“Well, git in 'ere, then. Jus' don't touch tha' soil samples,” Ronzul said, stepping aside to let them in. Ayis entered, the door just tall enough for her. Daiyousei stepped inside too, having no trouble due to being the exact same height as Ayis. Alexandria and Marisa looked at each other, both being taller than the doorway. Marisa shrugged and ducked inside. After a moment, Alexandria also ducked in. Starlight, hanging in the back and having stayed silent for most of the trip entered behind Alexandria.

Inside was a room made of concrete, though not a kind of concrete Starlight, Alexandria, Marisa or Dayousei were used to. For one, it was a much darker gray, and two, it had a much smoother feel to it. The concrete walls were decorated with intricate carvings and murals, and on a table in the middle of the room was a collective pile of soil samples, all of semi-differing shades of brown, with flags in them.

There were two other doorways on the left and right sides of the room, and straight in front of the group was a large number of stone shelves with glass jars of more soil samples. Ronzul walked over to the left doorway.

“This way, lassies,” he instructed, descending yet another staircase. Alexandria, Marisa, Daiyousei and Starlight were a bit hesitant, though Ayis followed without question. Alexandria looked at the other three standing with her before descending the staircase.

“Ugh, this just keeps gettin' creepier and creepier…” Marisa muttered as she entered the doorway and followed Alexandria down the stairs. Daiyousei continued to cling silently to Marisa's arm, shaking a little as she glanced around at the dark and gloomy concrete that comprised all the floors, walls, ceilings and even the stairs of the staircase. Starlight pulled her cloak tighter to her and felt Cataclysm shift on her back, the Nil Dragon reassuring her as she followed.

Ayis kept her wings close to her as they descended the stairs, and while they did, the smell of fire and the feeling of intense heat started to make them all sweat profusely. They arrived in a room with smelters pouring some kind of silvery metal into kilns, which had cement in them already. Ronzul walked past them and towards the door on the other side of the room, walking down a small aisle between the two channels of which the mixed minerals were flowing beneath and to some other room, behind another wall.

“Don' mind tha' Mixers, jus' try ta' stay in tha' aisle,” Ronzul instructed. “Don' want ya gittin' yer feet burned beyond repair.”

“Yeah…” Alexandria answered quietly as she cautiously walked down the aisle, eyeing the molten substance. “I doubt touching molten metal and rock feels all that pleasant…” Marisa carefully walked down the aisle behind Alexandria in silence. The aisle was too small for Daiyousei and Marisa to walk side by side, so Daiyousei had to let go of Marisa's arm. Instead of walking, Daiyousei used her wings to hover just above the floor of the aisle and crossed quickly, grabbing Marisa's arm again as soon as she was across. Starlight looked from one side to the other as she made her way across, still holding her cloak tight as her horn began to glow, followed soon after by the rest of her body and the outline of Cat on her back.

They descended another set of stairs, and arrived at what could be called a living room. There were polished black and white tiles with a loveseat sitting by a fireplace, most likely a gas one. The floor in front of the fireplace had a unique and slightly unsettling rug, made of the hide of some unknown beast. It appeared to be gray and fuzzy, yet there were craggy parts as well. There was a number of family portraits on a shelf above the fireplace, although they were of Ronzul and a few different ponies instead of more people like him.

There were also more loveseats around the back of the homey looking room, and a couch next to the one nearest the fire. On the far wall was an armor stand with very well decorated armor on it and a greatshield hung up next to the stand, as well as a very unsettling looking mace in a display case on the other side of the stand.

Ronzul gestured to the couch. “Have a seat, tell ol' Ronny whatcha need,” Ronzul said, sitting down on the loveseat nearest the fire. Alexandria took a seat on the couch, eyeing the odd rug in front of it. Marisa remained standing, and Daiyousei continued to cling to her, giving the mace a scared look. Starlight found a shadowed corner of the room and went to stand there only to shift as Cataclysm jumped from her back. The demon beelined for the fireplace as he came into view and jumped in amongst the flames, curling up happily.

“No, Cat, get back here,” Starlight said worriedly, taking a step forward. “I'm so sorry Mister Ronzul….” Ronzul simply laughed.

“It's fine, lass. Ah don' mind the lil'un sleepin' in the fire. Long as 'e's comfortable,” Ronzul assured. He turned to Ayis. “So, what trouble didya git inta' this time? Didn' see ya for months!” Ayis rubbed her arm nervously, looking to the others.

“About that…” Alexandria started. “A couple months back, Ayis happened to get herself, uh… 'Angel-napped' by a large-scale crime organization called the Circle of the Hightower. Just a couple days ago, Starlight, a few others who aren't here right now and I went to one of the Circle's complexes to complete an unrelated objective. While there, we discovered Ayis there and we busted her out.”

Ronzul closed his eyes as he stroked his beard, deep in thought. A tense silence filled the room, none of the girls sure what to say as Ronzul thought to himself. Finally, he opened his brown eyes once more.

“Yew have a kid in ya, dontcha?” he asked out of nowhere. Ayis sputtered for a moment and flailed a little, more than a little surprised. He sighed. “Figured.” He stood up, walking over to the armor stand. He stopped in front of it. “So, those lil' kucknas really want to start a war…” He growled, lashing out at the wall with a fist, instantly cracking it and making a dent. “...Then war it is.”

“Please, calm down Ronzul,” Alexandria said. “We can worry about declaring war on the Circle soon enough, but first we need to talk to you about the real reason we're here: we need to build a base of operations to stay in, and Ayis told us you're the guy to ask.”

Ronzul stood there, fist in the wall, for a good minute just seething with rage. Finally, he removed his fist, leaving behind the dent, and walked over to the fireplace, casually placing his hand inside and petting Cataclysm.

“Yew'll git one and more,” he said simply. Ayis' eyes widened.

“Ronzul, you don’t mean-” she began.

“Ah do, lass. Yer gittin' the Imperial Bundle. Fortress an' all. Ah'll cover half o' tha' expenses,” he turned to face the group. “Long as y'all tell me tha' next time yew go ta' fight those bastards, yer gittin’ all Ah can give.”

Ayis got a little teary eyed, and couldn't help but rush over and hug the dwarf. He simply smiled and rubbed her back as she cried into him.

Alexandria smiled. “If you're offering to fight alongside us, we'd be more than happy to have you, Ronzul,” she said. “And thank you for your offer. We'll need everything we can get our hands on if it'll help us take down the Circle.”

“Anythin' for the lil' Feather,” Ronzul said with a smile as he patted Ayis’ back.

“I'm only 36 years behind you!” she said with a laugh.

“Still a young'un to me, lass,” Ronzul said good naturedly as Ayis stood up and smiled down at the dwarf. “Now, let's talk about tha' specifications. Yew'll be gittin' ma' patented Supreme Dozer, which Ah'm thinkin' Ah'll put at tha' top o' tha' fort. But first, where do ya plan ta' build?”

“Heh, as it happens, we were in a pretty big and abandoned construction site just the other day,” Marisa answered. “It was real flat and everythin'. Seemed perfect for buildin' a base.”

“Where exactly was this?” Ronzul queried.

“It was near the shopping district,” Starlight answered, stepping up. “Northwest of Rarity's Canterlot Boutique.”

“Really? That ol' place?” Ronzul queried. At her nod, he hummed in thought. “Ah'd hafta' git some legal permissions, but ya got a real good spot there, lass.”

“Hah!” Marisa laughed. “Well, lucky me, huh?” Alexandria rolled her eyes.

“If you need time to get everything sorted out, then that's fine,” she said. “We'll need to relay the news to the others anyway. We'll let you work out all the legal details, and then we'll meet with you at the site with the rest of us.”

Ronzul nodded. “Understood, lass,” he said as they all moved to leave the room. When Alexandria passed by him, he stopped her with his arm. “Oi, keep an eye on li'l Feathers, will ya? She's like ma' own daughter.” Alexandria laughed a little.

“Don't worry, Ronzul,” she answered. “I don't plan on letting my girlfriend die.”

“Good, now, git goin'. Ah have to go polish ma' gear and git in touch with tha' legal boys,” Ronzul said, making a shooing motion.

“We're goin', we're goin'...” Marisa said as they were shooed back out into the tunnel outside Ronzul's front door. “Yeesh…” she added after Ronzul had gone off ahead of them to go do what he needed to do.

“Don' go touchin' ma' soil while I'm gone! Tha' Minotaur Ambassador wants tha' best 'e can git for 'is new fort!” Ronzul called as he climbed the stairs.

“I don't think we'd have any reason to touch 'em anyway!” Marisa called back.

“Alright, we should probably get going to Dr. Seer's so we can get Arela and Hikan,” Alexandria said. “They'll want to hear about this, I'm sure.”

“I know Hikan would,” Starlight said, stepping out the door with Cataclysm cradled in her arms. The little demon had not woken up and Starlight was softly stroking the feathers of his head with a worried look. “I'd… also like to know how Shell is doing.”

“Yeah, same,” Ayis agreed as they all walked up the steps.

Once at the clinic, Alexandria was the first to step inside. “Hello Ms. Touch,” she said to the receptionist behind the reception window.

The mare looked up from some paper work. “Oh,” she said in surprise before giving a small, tense smile. “It's nice to see you again. How can I help you?”

“We're here to grab Arela and Hikan,” Marisa said before anyone else could answer.

“We were also hoping to maybe see how Shell is doing…” Daiyousei added.

“Ah, you're here for the bug,” Gentle Touch said tersely. “The doctor is finishing up taking care of your… friend.”

Alexandria glared at the mare. “That's right, she's our friend. And I'll have you know that she's one of the nicest people I've known. In addition to that, it's the clinic's job to aid people when they're hurt, isn't it? I don't think you should be letting racial prejudice get in the way of your job.”

The mare looked up at the Yokai and returned her glare, starting to get out of her seat. “Look here, missy-”

“Gentle,” the low, dark growl made the mare jump a bit as the door swung quietly shut behind Dr. Truth Seer. “Sit back down.” The mare gulped and sat back down quickly, the doctor's gaze following her. Once she was seated, Dr. Seer looked up at the group and his scowl turned into a gentle smile. “Unfortunately, I can only let two of you back with the others, though that shouldn't be a problem. Your friend pulled through the night just fine and should be able to return home with you all.”

“That's great news,” Alexandria answered with a sigh. “And it's fine if not all of us can go back there to see Shell. As long as we can talk with Arela and Hikan.”

“I'll be sure to send one of them out,” the zebra said with his kind smile. “If two of you would please meet me at the waiting room door, I'll bring you right back.” With that, he turned and left through the same door he had entered the clerk's booth from. Before the door had even closed behind the stallion, Starlight was rushing to get to the waiting room doors. Alexandria went to follow her, but she stopped when she felt a tug on her dress. She turned to look behind her.

“U-Um…” Daiyousei stuttered, glancing away a little as she clasped her hands behind her back. “I-I'm really worried about Shell too… I was really hoping I could see her…”

Alexandria was silent for a few moments. Then her mouth turned up into a soft smile. “Alright Daiyousei,” she said. “I'll let you go see Shell.” Daiyousei looked up at Alexandria.

“Really…?” she asked. “You're okay with that?” Alexandria nodded. “Thank you!” Daiyousei said, a big, bright smile on her face as she gave Alexandria a quick hug before rushing to join Starlight by the waiting room doors. The door creaked open and Dr. Seer walked out of the way, letting Hikan step out of the door. He had bags under his eyes and his hair looked a mess.

“Hey, guys…” he greeted before letting out a long yawn. “Mm, sorry….”

“Triyte's Orbs, you alright there?” Ayis asked with concern.

“Hm?” Hikan hummed, looking to the fallen angel. “Oh, yeah. Just didn't get a lotta sleep last night, that's all.”

“You look like a vitelin for crying out loud!” Ayis cried.

Hikan blinked for a second before shrugging. “I'm going to assume that's a compliment,” he murmured before jerking his head back the way he came. “You guys better get going. Arela can catch you up once you get back there.”

Starlight looked worriedly at the man before she simply nodded and walked forward. She stopped only momentarily to give him a quick hug before disappearing into the depths of the clinic. Daiyousei followed Starlight silently, but glanced at Hikan with a worried look as she passed him. The man flashed her a tired smile and a thumbs up before Dr. Seer led them down the hall, the door to the waiting room swinging closed.

At the far back of the clinic, Truth took a right turn and led them down to a room. In the center was a full on medical bed, Shell being its current occupant while the futon had been pulled out into a bed, pillow and a blanket sitting on top of it.

Arela was standing right by the edge of Shell's bed, looking worse for wear than even Hikan did. Her wings had lost the luster and sheen to them, and her brown hair was frayed and looked oily. Her eyes were puffy and red, and she was staring straight at Shell's wound. She didn't seem to notice them.

Starlight stopped for a second, looking the angel over with a worried look before walking over to her side and stopping. “…The doctor said she's going to be fine…” she said quietly. Arela simply nodded. If she was affected by Starlight's presence, she didn't make any notion of it.

Starlight looked at her for a long moment before putting a hand on the angel's shoulder, and, a moment after that, wrapped her in a hug. This whole time, Daiyousei had been silently looking at Arela with a great deal of worry in her eyes.

Arela couldn't help but cry into Starlight's shoulder, body being wracked with sobs. Starlight rubbed her back, letting her cry as she held back her own tears. “She's going to be okay, Arela…” she said again, her voice tighter. After a moment, she started to hum a little tune. Something her mother used to sing to her and her sister when they were ill….

Arela cried harder for a little while, but slowly calmed, and, to Starlight's light surprise, passed out in her arms. It would seem her lack of sleep caught up with her.

“Ah…!” Daiyousei said in surprise, quickly running over to Starlight and Arela. “I-Is she okay?”

Starlight gave a soft smile as she held Arela and slowly and gently levitated her onto the futon, pulling the blanket over her. “She's just tired,” the unicorn answered quietly, gently brushing the angel's hair out.

“O-Oh…” Daiyousei said, though she still eyed Arela with worry.

After a few moments, Starlight got up from Arela's side and instead made her way over to Shell's, but an indent stayed on the couch as Cataclysm came into view, asleep next to the angel. The Changeling was sleeping soundly with bandages wrapped around her crown, a small barely visible stain a little ways over her right eye. Daiyousei turned to look down at Shell.

“I'm really glad Shell will be getting better soon…” she said. “I was really, really worried…”

Starlight nodded. “Yeah, me, too…” she said quietly, tears forming in her eyes before she squeezed them shut and grimaced. “How could we let something like this happen?”

“It wasn't our fault…” Daiyousei said. “That spirit lady was the one that hit Shell… And she did it too quickly… None of us could do anything about it… But I do wish I could have stopped her…”

Starlight was quiet as she let her tears fall down for several minutes before she opened her eyes. “...I'm going to make sure that never happens again,” she said quietly, her hands gripping the railing of the medical bed until her knuckles turned white.

“I… I agree,” Daiyousei said. “No matter how many times I have to sacrifice myself, no matter how much it hurts… I won't let this happen to anyone anymore.”

Starlight nodded her head and dried her tears before straightening up. “No matter the cost,” she said. “This won't ever happen again.”

Shell did eventually wake up, surprised by her new mane and went home with them. She spent the next month recovering in Gaelle's apartment alongside the others. But, nearer the end of the month, Ronzul found them and took them back to the construction site… only, it wasn't exactly an empty lot anymore….

The once empty lot was now a full on fortress, albeit not as big as the Castle in the upper district, but still bigger than what Hikan had seen. Arela and Ayis had seen forts of this like as well, but even they were a little blown away by the sight. Alexandria, Marisa and Daiyousei had never seen anything quite like it, and were speechless at the breathtaking sight of the building.

The walls and ramparts were lined with steel spikes, a few ballistae on each wall. The walls themselves were made of bricks of dark, almost charcoal color brick and mortar, and it was all masterfully done.

At the top was a small tower with what Hikan and Alexandria figured was a mortar, the large, quadruple-barreled hunk of metal standing proud as it's orange paint gave it a golden glow. At the entrance to the fort were banners with a symbol Hikan had specified he wanted. The black silhouette of a wolf head snarled towards the ground, it's yellow eye burning with the red cross pupil, the shape resembling something of a sword.

There were a number of smaller towers along the walls where archers could set up, and the fort had more than a few arrowslits all along the walls.

“It's…” Shanghai began before trailing off, unable to find any good words to describe the fort. Alexandria, Marisa and Daiyousei continued to remain silent, still stunned speechless.

“It's amazing,” Hikan finished, a bright grin on his face before he looks down to the Dwarf. “Thank you for this Ronzul. We really appreciate this.” Ronzul grunted.

“Long as ya give those Circle bastards what for, Ah don' care what Ah have ta' do. Jus' remember ta' pay tha' bill later, aye?” Ronzul said, looking up at his work. “Oh, and be mindful o' tha' walls inside. There're secret passages for ya.”

Starlight looked down from her gazing with a surprised look. “Um… maybe you should give us a tour…” she said, giving a nervous chuckle. Ronzul chuckled.

“Ah figured yew'd say that, lass,” Ronzul said as he began walking towards the doorway. As he walked, he called back. “Oh, and ma' pal in tha' Royal Guard said she was gunna send some o' her boys yer way.”

Hikan pauses for a moment at that and looks at the dwarf. “No offense, Ronzul,” he starts. “But are you sure that's a good idea? What we're doing here isn't exactly legal by any means. Not only that, but I can almost guarantee that some of the Circle's members will be nobles from the royal court.”

“Weren't ma' call, lad,” Ronzul replied, stopping at the doorway. “Was ol' Huey's idea. Crazy bat's been tryin' ta' find and stop these Circle clowns 'long as Ah've been 'ere.”

Hikan was quiet for a moment before he looked to the doors. “So long as none of us end up in handcuffs,” he muttered.

“Huey'll worry 'bout that. Now, let's git this show on tha' road, eh?” Ronzul said, walking through the doorway. Hikan nodded his head and followed after him, Starlight and Shell going behind him. After a moment longer of staring up at the building's outside, Alexandria, Marisa and Daiyousei also followed after them.

Ayis was close behind as Ronzul, much to the group's surprise, pushed the fifteen foot tall - and likely reinforced - iron doors open all by himself. He turned to their shocked visages and chuckled.

“What? Ne'er seen a dwarf push a door?” he asked.

“Well, I mean…” Alexandria started. “That's not it. It's just that I've never seen someone so small push something large and heavy with so much ease.”

Hikan laughed at this. “Seriously?” He asked, looking back at her. “You guys really are going to have to work on your physical strength if that's the ca-” A quick thud cut him off as Starlight chopped him in the back of the head. “...Ow… What was that for?”

“Be nice,” the unicorn answered. “They've all seen combat and know what we're up against… but they haven't seen the other things we've seen. The things on the flip side of the coin….”

Hikan was quiet for a moment before he let out a sigh and looked at the group. “She's right and I apologize,” he said. “But at the same time, we're not stepping into a game. Whatever or whoever the Circle is, expect feats of strength like that to become a norm. Not only that, but we'll have to be even stronger than that. Do you guys understand?”

“Got it,” Ayis said with a nod.

“Understood, my love,” Arela confirmed.

“I'll do whatever needs to be done,” Alexandria stated with conviction.

“Amen,” Marisa agreed.

“I may not be a very good fighter, but I'll do what I can to help,” Daiyousei said.

Hikan nodded before turning back to Ronzul. “Sorry for the interruption,” he apologized with a little bow. “Please, continue.” Ronzul nodded, guiding the three around the fort. He showed them the barracks where the, as he put it, 'Blind Guards', would be staying, the kitchens, the mess hall/dining room, the ramparts, and much more, like the bunker. In time, he showed them the rooms they would be staying in, along with the private bathhouse. Then, he brought them to the main tower where the mortar was, and explained how it worked, including how to make the special ammunition for it.

“And that 'bout sums it up,” Ronzul stated, looking back at the group as he turned from the mortar.

“You really went all out, didn't you Mister Ronzul,” Shell breathed, still looking around in awe. Ronzul grinned.

“Yer damned right, lass! Ah'd do anythin' fer Feathers 'ere,” Ronzul said, patting Ayis' side. Ayis smiled at this and gave the dwarf a brief hug. When she released him, she looked to her friends.

“So, who wants some Fallen cuisine?” she asked.

The base completed and the new Night Raid finally moved into their new home, time marched on. Hikan began to organize training regiments for them all, wanting to make sure they could all overcome their weaknesses before any real danger hit them. It was on one night while he was finishing up the last of the routines that the sound of someone pounding on the front door reverberated through the base.

“Hm?” Hikan looked up tiredly from the paperwork laid out before him as the loud banging seemed to pierce into his sleep-deprived head. “Now who could that be?”

“Sir! Somepony is here to see you! She has a young Hippogriff with her!” came the feminine voice of his personal guard, Little Locket.

“A…?” Hikan questioned before his eyes widened. “Thank you for reporting, Locket.” He got up from his seat and quickly ran to the front door. Locket nodded as he ran past her and out the door. The man stopped in front of the door before pulling it open.

Outside, in the cold and rain, Gaelle stood with an umbrella over herself and Garrick. The griffoness looked up from the ground, her eyes red. She'd been crying…. “Gaelle?” The assassin questioned before coming to stand beside her and usher them both inside. “What are you two doing out at this time of night? And in the rain, no less.”

Gaelle remained quiet as she and her son were led inside and Hikan closed the great door behind them. When he turned back to look at them, the griffon almost broke down into tears once more. “They found us, Hikan,” she said quietly, drawing a look of surprise from the hunter. “They… burned down the apartment we were staying in. Luckily, we weren't home… but when I saw the flames and smoke, I… I….” The griffoness' body shuddered and her voice broke as tears flowed down her face.

Hikan watched her for a moment before wrapping her in a hug. “It's okay…” he said quietly. “It's all going to be okay….”

The griffon sniffed and looked up at him. “How can you be so sure of that?” She asked, her voice tight.

Hikan looked up into Gaelle's eyes with a gentle smile. “Because I'm inviting you to stay here with us,” he said simply.

The griffon stared up at him in shock. “You… there's no way you could-”

“Of course I can,” he said. “After what you did for us, of course you can stay here. No charge and indefinitely.”

Gaelle stared up at him for a long time before her eyes teared up once more. “Thank you…” she breathed, holding him tight once more. “Thank you so much.”

Hikan smiled as he hugged her back. “It's no problem…” he said quietly. “No problem at all… not for our friends.”

And so, the Bludedges joined the Night Raid base, finally free of the nightmares that had plagued them for many, many long years. But, for a long time after that, everything went on normally. It wasn't until many months later that the group was given their next big shock….

“VYLASIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!!!!” screamed Ayis as she was on a bed, trying to push her baby out. Alexandria was next to Ayis, holding her hand.

“Just hang in there Ayis,” Alexandria said. “It shouldn't be too much longer.”

“Just keep breathing, Miss Filya,” Dr. Seer said over the sound of screaming. “You're almost through the worst of it.”

“Vilas kan til ghu!” Ayis roared at him in her native language before screaming again as she pushed.

“Just a little bit more Miss Filya,” the doctor said calmly. “Miss Kijin, if you would please help to keep her calm.”

“Come on Ayis,” Alexandria said. “The doctor unfortunately can't just do that. It'll just take longer and hurt longer unless you just grit your teeth, push and get this over with.”

“AAAAAAHHH!” Ayis screamed louder, until finally, the sounds of a newborn crying filled the room.

Dr. Seer let out a breath as the crying continued. He reached over to a table next to him and after little bit more shuffling, he stood up holding Ayis' new baby girl.

The little girl had pale skin, black wings with two-toned black and red feathers that faded into the other color across the length of each feather, a small horn on her forehead that was black with a red tip, the colors also forming a gradient in the middle like her feathers, and purple hair like her mother, but with black fringes.

She opened her eyes to show them all the heterochromatic orbs of green and blue that she had. Ayis panted, but smiled as she held her arms out to receive her child. The zebra gave a little smile as Nurse Red Cross handed him a blanket with which to swaddle the baby. With that done, he stepped over to Ayis and gently held her out. “Congratulations, Miss Filya,” he said gently. “You're officially a mother.”

Ayis took the child and looked down at her with a tired but warm smile, brushing the hair from the little girl's face. She held her close to her chest as she panted a little more.

“Yis…” she said softly. “Yis Vyala…” she said, nuzzling the child a little. Alexandria smiled.

“'Night's Splendor',” she said. “A beautiful name for such a beautiful baby.”

“Mother would have liked it,” Ayis said softly, giving her child a kiss. The child was asleep in her arms, but cuddled her head into Ayis' bosom at the action. Ayis looked up at Alexandria.

“Want to hold her, babe?” she asked. Alexandria looked down at the baby.

“I do want to,” she started. “But she looks really comfortable right now. I can always wait until later.”

Ayis smiled and shrugged, nuzzling her child more. “Suit yourself,” she said.

A new member of the family certainly did wonders to brighten up the mood, everyone pitching in whenever Ayis would let them. For two months after the birth of little Yis, things were pretty quiet, or at least as quiet as it could be with a team of assassins hunting down an evil organization. However, the turn of the third month gave the team something new to look forward to….

Alexandria was taking a moment to relax between training sessions when Marisa came up to her.

“Heya Alex,” Marisa greeted. “Got somethin' to ask you.”

Alexandria looked up at Marisa and noticed that she was carrying a doll. The doll looked exactly like Shanghai with a few differences. Notably, the irises of the eyes were red, the dress had a red colour scheme as opposed to Shanghai's blue dress, and the hair was just a little longer, with two long locks hanging down in front of the shoulders. Finally, the doll had been made with its mouth turned down in a frown. “…What is it Marisa?” Alexandria asked, not sure what to think of the doll.

“Well, a while back I thought it'd be cool if I could get a Fairy for myself, so I ordered one of Alice's dolls for delivery,” Marisa answered. “It finally got here today, but last week I remembered that it's not that easy to make a Fairy outta it. It was too late to cancel the order, so I thought I'd ask you if you knew what I should do with it.”

Alexandria was silent for a while, thinking of what to do with the doll… And also of how exasperating Marisa was being. “Just give it to me,” Alexandria finally said. “I'll figure something out.”

“Cool,” Marisa said, handing the doll to Alexandria. “Thanks Alex.” With that, Marisa left.

Alexandria spent another ten minutes thinking of what to do with the doll. Finally, she had an idea. She got up and went looking for Ayis. She found the Fallen Angel in her room with Yis, playing with the child and cooing at her. Alexandria smiled at the scene.

“Sorry to interrupt,” she said to Ayis. “But I just wanted to speak with you for a quick moment.” Ayis turned to Alexandria, cradling Yis in her arms.

“What's up, babe?” she asked, curious. Alexandria walked in, doll in hand.

“Well, I got this from a certain magician who acted before she thought,” Alexandria started, holding up the doll. “I don't feel the need to have another doll - Shanghai is plenty enough for me - so I thought to give it to you as a gift.” Ayis looked at the doll and hummed in thought.

“It would be nice to have a Squirt of my own…” she mused. After a short while of thinking, she smiled and nodded. “Alright, I'll take it. Thanks, babe.” Ayis took the doll from Alexandria.

“No problem,” Alexandria said with a smile. “Though it's still just a doll for now. But giving it a name will help you grow more attached to it. So, why don't you do that now?”

Ayis hummed in thought as she kept it out of Yis' reach. “Hmm… Nyilla.”

“'Peace'?” Alexandria said. “That's not a bad name. I hope that Nyilla does eventually become your very own 'Squirt'.” Ayis smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, same here. Can you imagine the pranks we could do together? It'd be priceless!” Ayis said with a mischievous grin.

“Hah, you sound just like a Fairy yourself, getting so excited over pranks,” Alexandria said in good humor. Ayis giggled before Yis started to cry.

“Well, looks like my kid's hungry,” Ayis said, making to move her shirt so her child could latch onto her breast. Alexandria checked the clock.

“Aaaaand, I'm about to be late to my next training session,” she said before going to leave the room. “Remind me later to thank Marisa.”

“Will do. See ya later, babe!” Ayis called as Yis started to suckle on her mother's breast. Ayis smiled down at her child as she looked to the doll in her off hand. “This should be fun.”

Everything seemed to calm down after that and many long months passed. The Night Raid members trained and continued to dig into the Circle, though couldn't get very much farther than simple drug busts and other minor crimes. The team's time at the base slowly approached the one year mark before the next big event rushed to meet them. Only this time… it wasn't anywhere near as positive as the previous encounters….

Hikan slammed his fist into the concrete block once more, making the block shudder as he paused and took several breaths to relax his muscles. He straightened up and let the sweat drip off of him as he turned and grabbed his towel, quickly wiping his face and arms down before wrapping it around his shoulders and picked up his water bottle. He popped the cap off the bottle and lifted it to his lips.

“HIKAN!!!” Starlight's scream ripped through the base, making the assassin jump and pour the contents of the bottle over himself. He stopped and looked towards the living areas and listened to make sure his tired mind wasn't playing tricks on him.

“HIKAN HELP!!!” The second scream was more than enough for the man to dart towards the rooms, slamming the door open to the unicorn's room.

“Star!? What's going-” The man stopped as he saw Starlight sitting in the corner, cradling Cataclysm's head in her lap.

The mare looked up at him, tears streaming down her face. “He… He won't wake up…” she said quietly, her voice tight before she looked down at her familiar, stroking his feathery mane gently as sobs wracked her body. Arela came in the room and noted Starlight's tear filled visage and Cataclysm's still form, and gained a concerned look.

“What is wrong? Did something happen to your familiar?” she asked.

“I-I don't know…” Starlight said quietly. “He's been sleeping more and more, but he always wakes up when I come in…. But… But he won't wake up….”

Arela frowned, walking over to check the small dragon's pulse.The pulse was there… if only barely. The demon's chest didn't even move up and down as he took breath.

“This… Is bad. We need to do something!” Arela said, turning to her Devoted.

“But what?” Hikan said, stepping forward, a sad frown on his face. “We don't know any veterinarians, let alone anyone that knows anything about Nil Dragons.”

“Yukkuri shiteitte ne,” came Marisa's voice from the doorway. She was leaning against the frame. “Take it easy. If there's nothin' you can do about it, then there's no use worryin'. I'm sure everythin'll work itself out fine.”

“How on earth could you possibly be so sure of that?” Hikan questioned, turning to her with frustration in his voice.

“To be perfectly honest, she can't,” Hikan took a step back at the new voice even as Starlight's ears swiveled a bit and she looked up and around. “Excuse me.” A finger tapped Marisa's shoulder. Marisa turned around.

Behind her was a silver-haired man with deep purple eyes wearing a black trenchcoat. A constant half-smile lay on his face even as the hilt of his broadsword gleamed over his shoulder.

“Who're you supposed to be?” Marisa asked.

“A friend,” the man said with a twinkle in his eye. “May I enter?”

“Ah, right, sorry,” Marisa said, entering the room and stepping out of the man's way.

“Thank you,” he said before stepping in, Starlight giving him a confused look.

“Soldier? What are you-”

“Doing here?” Soldier finished, stopping just short of her and kneeling down to rub his hand over Cat's mane as well. “I heard from a little bird that you were worried and came to lay your fears to rest.”

“Milord?” Arela queried. “Did milord send you?”

Soldier shook his head. “Not this time, I'm afraid,” he answered before straightening up. “But the reason for my visit is no less important.”

“And what is that purpose?” Hikan asked, his voice suspicious.

“Simply put, delivering a few things,” Soldier said, throwing a smirk at the assassin. “Think of me as an overqualified mailman.”

“And what exactly are you here to deliver?” Marisa asked, her tone curious as opposed to suspicious.

“I'm glad you asked, Marisa,” Soldier answered with a little grin. “Mostly information, but with that information, a few gifts.” With that he reached to the inside of his coat and pulled out a small, blue crystal on a black leather cord, and a much larger dark red crystal.

“What-” Starlight began before she was yanked out of the way. Soldier moved in a blur and before anyone could stop him, plunged the dark red crystal into Cataclysm's side with a sickening squelch.

“Whoa, what in Hakugyokurou are you doin'!?” “What in Lleiya are you doing?!”

Marisa and Arela cried out in unison as they both moved to stop Soldier.

Soldier straightened up. “No need to worry,” he said before he found a blade at his throat.

“You have three seconds to convince me not to cut your fucking head off,” Hikan growled.

Soldier looked over his shoulder with an amused look as the crystal began to spread out and cover the Nil Dragon's body. “The crystal is cut from the original, a large column of gemstone from which this species of demon was first born. It is the only thing that allows them to metamorphose into their adult phase.”

Hikan’s confused look was more than enough for Soldier to chuckle.

“Something going on here, guys?” came the voice of Ayis as she walked in with Yis in her arms. She then noted the new arrival and how Hikan had his blade at Soldier's throat. “I'm guessing this is an intruder?” Ayis asked, eyes narrowing as she held Yis closer for protection.

“He's apparently tryin' to help,” Marisa said. “Or at least, that's what he claims. It's kinda hard to believe him after he shoved a large crystal into Cat's side.”

“Believe me or not,” Soldier said, bringing his finger up and pushing away the blade of Hikan's knife before turning around. “It is for his own good, but in order for it to do any good…” he paused and stepped towards Starlight before holding up the other crystal. “You'll need to wear this.” Hikan took a protective step back towards the unicorn before the necklace was enveloped in Starlight's aura and floated over to her.

The mare took it in her hand and looked between it and Soldier, to which the man nodded. Starlight looked back down at the crystal, took a breath, and slipped the cord over her head. The moment the gem made contact with her chest, her eyes flared up bright red and she collapsed. “What the hell!?” Hikan yelled, catching her before turning a snarl on the man. “Arela! Marisa!”

Arela immediately summoned her halberd and pointed it at Soldier, a scowl on her face. Soldier felt the octagonal face of Marisa's Mini-Hakkero press into his back at the same time.

“Jumpie bunch, aren't you?” Soldier said nonchalantly as Starlight began to stir.

“Wha… What happened?” The unicorn asked, putting a hand to her head.

“What did you do?” Marisa asked him in a flat tone, not moving an inch.

“I simply completed the mental link that should have formed between them at Cataclysm's birth,” Soldier answered without falter. “Now, she can keep tabs on his mental state as he grows. She can hear his thoughts, know his dreams. And, someday, he'll know hers as well.”

“I dunno…” Marisa said, slowly lowering her arm. “Sounds like a load'a hooey to me.”

Starlight was quiet for a moment, staring up at the man before looking towards the crystalline cocoon that now covered her familiar. “He's… not lying....” She said quietly. “I can feel… something… like the edge of a word….”

Soldier smiled a bit at that. “It will grow to be more than that, I assure you,” he said before clapping his hands together. “NOW! For the other reasons I came here.” He opened his trench coat once more and reached inside. Arela sent her halberd back to her pocket dimension, but kept a close eye on Soldier. Marisa kept her Mini-Hakkero in hand as she watched to see what Soldier pulled out of his coat.

The Displacer withdrew his hand and pulled out a black coin. It was about an inch in diameter, one side having the imprint of a wolf's head with intricate engravings and the other having the image of an owl, wings spread wide and talons outstretched. “This is for you,” he said, flipping the coin to Hikan, the assassin catching it with cupped hands.

The younger man stared at it for a long moment before he looked up with a confused look. “What is this?” He asked.

“That,” Soldier answered as he took his sword belt off his shoulders and swung the scabbard into his other hand. “Is your Token. You'll have to ask Alexandria about that later. Would you hold this for me please?” The question was directed at Marisa as he pulled his sword free and held the hilt of it out to her. Marisa grabbed the hilt of the sword and almost immediately began inspecting the weapon in obvious intrigue.

“Try not to drop her,” the man said as he overturned the sheath in his hand and started shaking it. “She's rather sensitive about that sort of thing.” As if to accentuate his point, the blade glowed an esthetic gold color, a serpentine hiss sounding from it. Marisa jumped, and the others present expected her to drop the weapon in surprise. On the contrary, however, her grip on the weapon tightened, Soldier's point having gotten through.

“A hissin' sword…” Marisa said. “That's a new one for me…”

“She does a little more than hiss, I can tell you that,” Soldier said with a chuckle putting his hand inside the scabbard. “…Ah! Here it is!” He pulled his hand out of the sheath and with it came a long, slender box. It appeared to be made of polished red wood, with a handle and a pair of silver clasps holding it closed. “I took the liberty of snatching this as it made it's way to this world. You all might find it useful someday.” He held the case out and Hikan took it.

“What's in it?” He asked curiously, his eye scanning over the case.

“A Teigu,” Soldier said shortly, causing Hikan to pause. “Specifically, L'Arc Qui Ne Faut.”

“That's an odd name,” Marisa said, looking at the box. “What is it, and what's it do?”

“I imagine it's like my love's weapon, but as a bow?” Arela surmised.

“A bow, huh?” Marisa said, a twinkle in her eye. “Though… I'm not sure what it'd do to be honest.”

“L’Arc is the bow that doesn't miss,” Hikan began to explain. “Even the worst bowman in the world could pick it up and hit their target, so long as they knew their name.”

“Really now?” Marisa asked, handing the sword back to Soldier and swiping the box from Hikan, catching the man by surprise. “Well, ain't that nifty?”

“I wouldn't,” Soldier warned, putting his sword back into its sheath and throwing it over his shoulder. “Teigu are known for their pickiness in choosing a partner.”

“Well, we won't know if I can use it unless I try, right?” Marisa countered as she undid the clasps and opened the lid. Inside was a bow with flat, curving arms and a strange ring around the grip, and what appeared to be a normal quiver, though the quiver was rather small in order to fit in the slim box, only capable of holding about ten arrows at most. Marisa picked up the bow while slinging the quiver - which already had five arrows in it - over her shoulder. She then drew an arrow from the quiver and nocked it.

“Alright, let's see how well this works,” Marisa said, drawing the bowstring. “Shanghai!” she announced loud and clear… Though she then just stood there for several seconds, not letting go of the drawn string.

“....Marisa…?” Starlight asked after several more moments. “Are you okay…?”

Marisa hesitated a little longer before gently letting the bowstring go loose. “Gah, I suddenly hurt all over…” she muttered, wincing. “What in Hakugyokurou is this all about…?”

“I did warn you,” Soldier replied, gently taking the bow from her. “Being rejected by a Teigu can be very painful… and sometimes lethal.”

“Well I ain't dead… Nor do I plan on dyin' anytime soon…” Marisa answered, wincing again as Soldier took the quiver off her shoulder. “But damn, does this hurt… I think I'd better be off to the infirmary, make sure I get properly looked at…” Marisa then left, clearly in a great deal of pain.

“And that, my love, is why I do not wish for a Teigu,” Arela told Hikan.

Hikan shrugged. “They're not for everybody,” he said simply. “I've seen people who were just as powerful without a Teigu as those who had them.” Arela turned to Soldier once more.

“So, is there anything else you came here for?” she queried.

Soldier seemed to think for a moment before something flashed in his eyes and he frowned a bit. “...Do any of you know any Displaced named Sam, Chris, or Amelia?” He asked, a somber tone in his voice. Arela shook her head.

“I know of only the few milord kept eyes on, like Herobrine, Alonne, Kalt, and a few others,” Arela answered before shivering. “The first of which is not my favorite.”

Soldier frowned a bit. “Would Alexandria know about them?” He questioned. “What I have to say is very important, but I'm running out of time.”

Hikan and Starlight shared a look before turning back to the man. “Of course we can,” the assassin said. “What is it that's so important?”

The man was quiet for a moment before he sighed. “I've… made a mistake,” he said quietly. “I Displaced someone I shouldn't have, and now many worlds are suffering for it. But I fear it could get worse. There is another Displacer whose sole goal is to destroy the lives of those he thinks have wronged him. I fear he set his eyes on my mistake… and the three I mentioned will be in grave danger.” Arela looked to her Devoted, worry etched on her face.

“...What can we do to stop it?” she asked.

“Yeah, I'd rather my kid doesn't get thrown into this crap, especially at her age,” Ayis concurred.

“I doubt any of you would get directly involved,” Soldier assured. “I simply need you to pass on the message.” Arela looked to her Devoted once more.

Hikan shared her look for a moment before he sighed and looked to the Displacer, nodding his head. “We'll pass it on,” he said. “One way or another.”

Soldier smiled a bit, the desperation leaking away from his eyes. “Thank you,” he said before turning towards the door. “I should be off now.”

“Thank you for what you've done,” Arela said politely, watching him go.

“Anytime,” the man said, giving them a smile before he stepped out the door. “Stay safe. All of you….”

“We will,” Ayis affirmed. With that, Soldier left, and the group was somewhat more at ease. Ayis looked around at her friends. “So… Anyone wanna help me find more outfits for little Yis here?”

With their fears laid to rest, time continued on its march and soon, two years had flown by since they had begun their crusade against the Circle. Frustratingly, they hadn't made as much progress as Hikan would have liked, but the day wasn't a day for fighting or death. Instead, it was a time of celebration….

Today was the day of Ayis and Alexandria's wedding. Or, as Ayis called it, 'Devotion Ceremony'. It was late in the evening, and the moon was a bright, blood red, the perfect time and only time that the wedding could take place.

Alexandria was wearing a beautifully pristine, white, sleeveless gown with a large, puffed out skirt that had many frilled layers. Her hair was glossy and brushed, a white rose in it off to the side. Needless to say, she was quite stunning as she stood in the atrium, waiting for Ayis. Floating just behind her shoulder was Shanghai, wearing an identical - if much smaller - dress. Alexandria gazed around at the numerous empty chairs, only a few of them filled with her friends in Night Raid. Alice and Medicine had also come to attend. Alice had been overjoyed to see that her best friend was okay. According to her, Patchouli had also wanted to attend, but couldn't make it due to her asthma acting up.

Alexandria had been told by her lover that the rest of the seats were for her ancestors, though Ayis had never explained how they would possibly attend, instead focusing more on the decorations. This brought a smile to Alexandria's face as she remembered seeing her love get fired up over something as girly as a wedding, and thus her attention to the decorations.

A number of banners with Ayis' family crest on them hung from the walls, the crest itself being of a black rose dripping with blood on one side and the other dripping black liquid. Ayis had gone through many arguments with those who made the banners about getting it done right. The rest of the atrium was decorated with black streamers and ribbons, and there were even an assortment of black roses along the corners of the room. An organ player patiently sat to the side, his massive organ at the ready. Numerous other musicians with various other instruments were also standing at the ready.

“I can tell you're excited to see what Ayis looks like in a wedding dress,” Shanghai said to Alexandria with a smile and a slight giggle. Alexandria blushed a little at that comment.

“Y-Yeah, I'll admit I'm curious…” Alexandria answered.

“This should be interesting,” Arela whispered to Hikan, head on his shoulder.

“It really should,” Hikan answered just as quietly, a smile on his face as he rested his hand on hers.

“Just wait until ours,” she said with a smile.

Hikan's smile widened and he squeezed her hand gently before planting a kiss on her forehead. “Can't wait,” he said softly. Then, the doors to the atrium flew open, and out walked Ayis, wearing a black and red wedding dress with black frills and dark red trim. A black veil covered her face and sparkled with small gemstones, courtesy of Rarity. Her ears had two red roses tucked behind them, and the dress accentuated her figure quite well, her large, raven black wings tucked behind her as her bridal train, covered in more roses, slid along the floor behind her.

Alexandria was silenced, her face awestruck. “Wow, that dress is beautiful…” Alice murmured, staring at the dress with wide eyes.

“I must admit she's got a good taste in colour,” Medicine agreed, referring to the fact that her own clothes were also red and black.

Starlight stared at the dress with a happy smile on her face, her hand going to the jewel that had embedded itself into the center of her chest. She didn't say anything, but the look on her face showed just how happy she was for her friends. Arela smiled widely at Ayis, who quietly walked up to her lover and stood beside her. She then smiled at Alexandria, and turned back to the altar, which had a small basin with a prong in the middle.

Ayis quickly pricked her finger on it, letting the blood flow down and into the basin, before beginning a chant.

“Oh Hallowed fathers, brothers, mothers, and sisters… Denizens of Triyte's holy kingdom of gentle light… Come to see your child begin a life anew with her partner…” she chanted, and the lights dimmed until all that was visible was thanks to the light of the blood moon. After that, a number of winged, transparent forms appeared in the room, each one smiling at Ayis. Two in particular walked up to her and smiled.

“My little vintala…” the female said softly, gently stroking Ayis cheek.

“Hey mom. Glad you could make it,” Ayis replied back just as softly.

“You've done us proud, sweetie,” a tall, bulky man said with a smile. He turned to Alexandria, smiled at her and winked, then turned to the woman. “Come, my dear. We shouldn't cause too much of a scene. This is a Devotion Ceremony, after all.” The woman nodded and the two took their seats, many of the others doing the same. An elderly looking man walked up to the podium, and began the procession.

“We are gathered here today, under Our Lord's holiest of nights, to bring these two lovely women together in matrimony. We are here, for a Devotion Ceremony,” the man spoke, voice like rolling gravel. Ayis reached over and grasped Alexandria's hand, squeezing affectionately. “Should any of you wish to object to this hallowed proceeding…” the man's ghostly eyes glowed red for a split second. “Then damned to the Wastes you shall be.” His eyes returned to normal. “Now, let us begin. Ayis Filya VII, do you take this woman to be your Devoted? Do you vow to protect her from all harm, to help her through life, to hold her and care for her, until Triyte takes you both into his sweet embrace?” Ayis nodded firmly.

“I do,” she said with conviction. The man turned to Alexandria.

“Alexandria Kijin, do you take this woman to be your Devoted? Do you vow to protect her from all harm, to help her through life, to hold her and care for her, until Triyte takes you both into his sweet embrace?” he asked. Alexandria nodded without hesitation.

“Of course,” she answered. The man smiled.

“Then commence your vows. As is tradition, the proposed shall do so first,” he gestured for Alexandria to speak. Alexandria turned to Ayis and cleared her throat.

“Ayis,” she began. “I promise that I will love and protect you, help you up if you feel down, to care for you when you're sick, and to stand by your side for all my life and beyond.” Ayis wiped a few tears from her eyes, and cleared her own throat as the man turned to her.

“Alex, you are my moon, my vyala, my everything. I promise that I will always be there for you. That I will always be a shoulder for you to cry on, that I will always be there with you, like a blessed shadow. I promise to hold you and love you like a dragon does it's treasure,” Ayis said, taking Alexandria's other hand and staring into her eyes. “This, I vow.” As Ayis was finishing her vows, Shanghai came around and wiped some of the tears from Alexandria's cheek. Shanghai had a few joyful tears of her own running down her face.

“Then, by the power invested in me, I declare you both Devoted. Present your tokens of love,” the man said. Ayis plucked a feather from her wing, whilst Alexandria presented a lock of her hair. Ayis placed her feather to Alexandria's lips, then removed it and kissed Alexandria on those very lips. She withdrew, smiling widely as tears of joy ran down her own face. Alexandria then took the lock of hair and pressed it to Ayis' lips before removing it and returning her kiss, tears streaming from her eyes the whole time. “And thus, by the holy decree of Our Lord so long ago, is this Devotion Ceremony now finished! Devotees, feel free to mingle with everyone now!”

Alice was the first to reach the two of them. “Congratulations Alex!” she said. To those who paid attention, she was trying to hold back the tears of joy in her eyes. “I'm so happy for you!”

“Yeah, congrats,” Marisa said simply with a large smile.

“Indeed,” Shell said, making her way over. “It's nice to see you both express your love for each other openly like this after these last few years.” Ayis grinned, wrapping an arm around Alexandria's waist.

“Damn straight!” she concurred. Arela walked over, Hikan with her, as she smiled broadly at the new couple.

“It's great seeing that you two finally made it official,” Arela said.

“It definitely took long enough,” Hikan joked.

“Oh shut up,” Medicine said, taking it a bit too seriously. “They couldn't do something like this until Alex turned eighteen anyway.”

“I see you've made some good friends, sis,” came a male voice from behind the group. Ayis quickly turned to find a transparent, ghostly man with a broad grin and wild, untamed long hair and what must have been some form of officer's getup.

“Arn!” she cried, rushing over and, to the group's surprise, hugging him. The man laughed, patting her back.

“Calm down, sis. Jeez, you're gonna embarrass us both,” he joked. Ayis released him, then turned to the group.

“Guys, this is my older brother, Arn Filya II,” she introduced. The man waved.

“Heya,” he greeted.

“Hello Arn,” Alexandria said. “You have a wonderful sister.”

“Don't I know it,” he said, ruffling his sister's hair. “She saved my skin more than once back during the Cataclysm. Of course, I died in the end, but hey, I'm here now, yeah?” He told them, smiling. “Did she ever tell you guys about the time when she tried to eat a-” Ayis elbowed him in the gut, blushing madly.

“Don't tell them that!” she said quickly. Arn just laughed as he recovered from the blow to his gut.

“Now you've gotten me curious,” Alexandria said with a grin. “Maybe you could tell me about it later?”

“You'd have to perform a ritual, buuut-” Arn began, starting to stand back up straight before Ayis stomped on his foot with her high heels.

“No! Absolutely not!” she said, blushing more. Arn just laughed the pain off.

“Still as fiery as ever, sis,” he chuckled.

“Um, anyway, congratulations!” Daiyousei said, trying to divert the conversation from the subject of whatever Ayis once tried to eat.

“Yeah,” Ayis said, before grabbing Alexandria by the waist again. “I can't wait for tonight~.” She purred, squeezing Alexandria's rear. Alexandria blushed but smiled.

“Neither can I,” she answered.

With the two newly Devoted, the group spent many hours dancing and enjoyed a wonderful banquet afterwards. The Devotion of Ayis and Alexandria was one of the best moments the Night Raid group shared together. The bonding of two souls was one that warmed their base, turning it from being the simple headquarters of a group of assassins into a home they each cherished. And over time, the little mix matched family grew….

Ayis was playing with her daughter, Yis, in her room, throwing up unwanted trash that had been left around the fort, while her daughter changed them into stuffed toys in mid-air with her magic, clapping and giggling all the while.

“Amazing that such a simple activity can bring so much joy,” a voice suddenly said from behind Ayis. The voice sounded very much like Shanghai's, if only a tad deeper… And maybe more passive-aggressive.

Ayis looked around in surprise, turning to find that the doll Alexandria had gifted her, Nyilla, was standing behind her, arms crossed and brow furrowed slightly, watching the angel play with her baby.

“Well I'll be damned. You're awake and alive now, huh, Shrimp?” Ayis said, picking Yis up and cradling her in her arms.

“That's Nyilla to you,” the now Fairy retorted, puffing out her cheeks as she frowned. “You gave me that name. The least you could do is use it.” Ayis blinked at this.

“Well, alright then, Nyilla,” Ayis said. “Can I ask how long you've been watching?”

“About a few minutes or so, not too long,” Nyilla answered.

“Huh,” Ayis said simply. She then noticed how Yis was reaching for the doll, and smiled. “Why don't you come over here? Yis seems to like you.”

“Oh, I'd love to,” Nyilla answered in a sarcastic tone. “Except that you're all the way up there.”

“You can't fly like Squirt?” Ayis asked, a little surprised at this.

“If I could fly, why in the Wastes would I be standing on the floor like this?” Nyilla shot back. Ayis blinked again, before giggling a little.

“Oh by Triyte, it's so adorable hearing you attempt to swear at your size,” she said, hiding her giggles behind a fist. Ayis noticed as Nyilla blushed.

“I-I am not adorable!” she stuttered. Ayis giggled uproariously, and Yis joined in.

“Oh Gods, oh Gods… You,” Ayis devolved into a fit of laughter. Nyilla blushed even more.

“V-Valas!” she shouted in embarrassment. Ayis laughed harder. After another moment, just as Nyilla was about to say something else, Alexandria came into the room.

“What's going on?” she asked. “What's so funny?”

“Can you please just make this zil stop laughing at me!?” Nyilla shouted. That stopped Ayis' laughter dead.

“…Did you just swear in front of my kid?” she asked in a low voice. “Using a word even I rarely use? Because if you just called me what I think you did…” Ayis began. Nyilla was silent for several moments.

“…Yeah,” Nyilla answered. “Yeah I did. What are you going to do about it?”

“Oh, I'm not going to do a thing…” Ayis said as she slowly placed Yis down, who spread her wings. “My kid, is.” Then, before Nyilla knew it, her head was in the child's mouth. To Alexandria and Ayis' surprise however, Nyilla didn't struggle. Not even in the least. She simply let the baby have her way with her. Ayis watched this with a frown as Yis continued to slobber all over Nyilla. After a good minute, she sighed and picked Yis up, pulling Nyilla out of the child's mouth. “Look, I don't want to make an enemy of you, but I would like it if you keep the swearing to a minimum around my kid. Capiche?”

“…Fine,” Nyilla said.

“Um…” Alexandria started awkwardly. “Con… gratulations on your Fairy…?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Ayis said, her child gurgling up at her. Ayis looked to her Devoted. “You wanna hold her? She doesn't see you all that often with how much training you do.”

“Alright, sure,” Alexandria answered.

The family grew evermore, even as the present day caught up with them. Gaelle and Garrick still made their home with them, the young ones grew, Cataclysm still slept, Nyilla was integrated into the home, and the bonds amongst them became stronger. Even now, those bonds were being reinforced….

Arela and Hikan's Devotion Ceremony was almost larger than Ayis and Alexandria's, if it weren't for the fact that they did not have as many guests as the previous Ceremony did. There were golden water fountains lining the walls of the atrium, something that Hikan had to pay many expenses for, gold and white streamers and ribbons, and sunflowers in pots placed between each row of seats whilst the fountains were placed between the pots.

Like Ayis, Arela's family crest hung up on golden banners, a white flame with a golden blade inside. The flame itself had been given much detail, really making the banners stand out.

Hikan was currently waiting for his bride at the altar, where Ronzul was, taking the place of Priest in place of another High Angel. Hikan was wearing pitch black slacks with a matching jacket, an amber tie sitting over his slate silver shirt, his wings held tight to his back as his tail mirrored the butterflies in his stomach. Then, the double doors opened, and the harp player began to play as Arela walked down the aisle, her white and gold dressing shocking all present as it looked like it was a complete piece of art.

The flowing, intricate golden patterns of flames, swords, and fleur de lis' were expertly woven with gold thread into the dress. Her head was adorned with a golden circlet made up of small golden leaves, and the train looking like golden fire with how the light caught it just right. She held a bouquet of morning glories in her hands, and she stopped at Hikan, blushing madly with a smile as she looked up to her love.

Hikan returned the smile, albeit a bit nervously. “Are you ready?” He asked quietly, joy springing through his voice. She nodded, turning to Ronzul.

“Well, let's start the proceedin's, then, aye?” he said, opening his tome. “First, ten moments o' silence, for tha' fallen brothers and sisters that once made up tha' Biore family.” Arela immediately closed her eyes, clutching her bouquet tightly. Alexandria, Marisa and Daiyousei all complied as they looked to the floor, Marisa going so far as to remove her hat in respect. Hikan bowed his head and closed his eyes as Starlight also closed hers. Shell looked to and fro for a moment before she followed the example of those around her.

A solid ten minutes of silence followed, and when they all opened their eyes, Hikan looked to Arela to see that she was fighting back tears and losing. Ronzul noticed this as well.

“Do ya need a bit, lass?” he asked. She shook her head, wiping her tears.

“N-No, I'll be fine,” she said reassuringly. Ronzul looked at her for a good second before nodding.

“Right then,” he said, turning back to the tome. “Before we continue, are there any objections ta' this Ceremony?” Ronzul asked. At the silence that ensued, he smiled. “Good. Now, Hikan Kanshi, do ya take this 'ere lass ta' be yers? Ta' hold 'er and love 'er, ta' keep 'er safe from all harm, e'en beyond yer death, should it be ta' pass? Ta' nurse 'er back to health should she fall ill, 'till Triyte takes yer souls ta' Eyther?”

“I do,” Hikan answered without pause, his voice unwavering. Ronzul smiled, turning to Arela.

“Arela Biore, do ya take this lad ta' be yers? Ta' hold and love, ta' keep safe from all harm, e'en beyond death, should it be ta' pass? Ta' nurse 'im back to health should 'e fall ill, 'till Triyte takes yer souls ta' Eyther?” Ronzul asked the Angel. Arela nodded firmly.

“Yes, I do,” she said resolutely.

“Then commence yer Vows,” Ronzul told them.

Hikan looked towards the dwarf for a moment before he took a deep breath, looking back to the angel he loved. “The day I met you,” he began. “Was the day I got my wings. That morning, I woke up not knowing what to look forward to. Just like the rest of my days in this world, I woke up dead to what was to come, so grounded that the only things I felt were anger… and numbness. …And then we danced. We danced to a song that I still remember in the hall of a god, beneath the stony gaze of a deity… and for the first time, I felt happy again. That day, it wasn't my wings that allowed me to soar. It was you…. And so, from this day into the rest of eternity, I vow to stay by your side. To protect, to love, and to care, for the rest of my days… and beyond.”

Arela cried tears of joy as she heard those words, and took his hands in hers. “Throughout all my years, I was told to find a suitable husband. One who would sweep me off my feet without a second thought, one who did so selflessly. I was told by my grandmother that the day I met that man, I would know true bliss.” She looked up to her love. “Even after all I knew was in ruins, and my body was violated, you appeared in my life. The handsome, dashing rogue of my wildest dreams, come to steal me in the broad light of day. I swear to always love you, to care for you as you have me and more, and to protect your honor and spirit for as long as I am allowed to live.” Arela was crying throughout all of this.

“That…” Ronzul drew all attention back to him as he sniffled and pulled out a handkerchief, blowing his nose into it. “That was beautiful, yew two.” He shook his head. “A-Anyway, present yer tokens of love.” Arela gladly did so, taking one of her feathers like she had all that time ago, and placing it against Hikan's lips. Then, she removed it and kissed him swiftly but passionately. Hikan smiled gently as the kiss ended before he brought up the lock of his hair, a swirl of honey blonde and chocolate brown. He put the lock tenderly against her lips before pulling it back and returning the kiss with all the love he could muster before pulling back. Shortly after this there was a shout from outside.

“Everybody come outside!” came Shanghai's voice. “There's a surprise for all of you!”

“Trust us!” Nyilla's voice added. “You won't want to miss this!” Alexandria turned to Ayis with a knowing smile as the two got up and left. Marisa got up as well.

“Now, what's this all about?” she asked as she stepped outside as well. Daiyousei followed her, a look of curiosity on her face. Gaelle nudged her son gently and the two got up from their seats, making their way outside as Starlight and Shell followed them out. Arela looked to her official Devoted, grabbed his hand, and led him out, Ronzul following closely behind.

Once outside, they found Shanghai and Nyilla. Nyilla, being flightless, was riding piggyback on Shanghai. Meanwhile, Shanghai was holding one of Die Leaguer's Orbs, the Explosion Orb, while the Ice Orb and Flame Orb both floated near her.

“Hee hee, are you ready Nyilla?” Shanghai asked with a smile.

“Go for it, just like we practiced,” Nyilla answered.

With that, Shanghai then tossed the Explosion Orb upwards, and Nyilla caught it, passing it back to Shanghai. Meanwhile, the Flame Orb lunged at Nyilla before bouncing off her. Shanghai then threw the Explosion Orb up again, Nyilla catching it and passing it back, followed by the Ice Orb striking Nyilla. This pattern repeated several more times before Shanghai stopped. Everyone present noted that none of the Orbs were going off even though all three should have gone off upon contacting Nyilla.

“Heh,” Nyilla chuckled. “Prepare to be amazed.” With that, she then raised her hands above her head. Suddenly, a large fireball shot from her hands, shooting high up into the air before exploding beautifully in midair. Then, an iceball shot up and shattered, the shards of ice in the air catching the sunlight and sparkling brilliantly. Nyilla then continued to fire off more of the fireballs and iceballs in varying combinations and frequencies, putting on a beautiful fireworks display. Soon enough, the makeshift fireworks stopped.

“Looks like I'm all out,” Nyilla commented, lowering her arms. “We hope you enjoyed that. A lot of work and a lot of practice,” she looked at Shanghai pointedly who blushed a little in embarrassment and looked away. “…Went into making that possible.”

“Wow…” Arela breathed, leaning against Hikan. She smiled up at the two dolls. “Thanks, you two.”

“You're welcome!” Shanghai said cheerfully.

“That was really somethin',” Marisa said.

“It was amazing…!” Daiyousei said, her eyes shining in awe.

Hikan smiled up at the Fairies before turning the smile to his Devoted. “The perfect way to kick off a new beginning, don't you think?” He asked softly, wrapping an arm around her before kissing the top of her head and holding her close. Arela nodded, nuzzling into her love's embrace.

“That was downright beautiful, yew two,” Ronzul applauded, drawing everyone's attention. “But Ah think we should git on with tha' event, aye? Specifically, tha' dance,” Ronzul reminded.

Hikan nodded his head before starting to lead Arela back inside. The others joined them as they arrived in a small makeshift ballroom. The man smiled a bit before looking to his Devoted. “Almost like the day we met, isn't it?” She nodded, smiling up at him.

“I think we both know the right music for this, too,” Arela told him.

The hunter's smile widened a bit. “I think we do,” he replied before his four will-o'-wisps formed in the air and each floated to a different corner before music began to play. The entire group danced for what must have been hours, Hikan and Arela too lost in one another's eyes to notice anything but themselves as they danced beautifully.

Night Raid only grew stronger with this, the family of assassins only forming greater ties to one another as their strength grew and their hunt for the Circle continued. However, it wouldn't be for another month or so before the group was given the breakthrough they needed….

Starlight and Shell were in the meeting room, waiting for Hikan after he had summoned the team. Starlight leaned back in her chair, fingers rubbing against the gem in her chest while the Changeling tapped the tips of her fingers together.

Alexandria was also present, leaning forward in her seat, head resting in the palms of her hands, elbows on the table as she waited patiently. Marisa was standing in the corner of the room, leaning against the wall as she looked over her magic device - which she had finally explained to the group only last week was called the Mini-Hakkero - making sure everything was in working order. Daiyousei sat quietly and patiently in her own chair, her hands resting in her lap.

Ayis was holding a sleeping Yis, rocking her back and forth gently, Nyilla sitting on the tabletop nearby, cross-legged with her usual surly expression. Arela hadn't arrived yet, as she was likely with Hikan.

The door opened with a knock as Hikan pushed it open at a brisk pace, Gaelle following behind him and Arela at his side. “Alright ladies and gents, we caught ourselves a big one,” he said only to be met by a cacophony of groans from Marisa, Starlight, Ayis and Nyilla. He lifted his hands in surrender as he took his place at the head of the table, Gaelle taking her seat near the end while Arela sat next to her Devoted. “Okay, okay, I know I've said it before, but this time it's for real.” More groaning was met by the hunter rolling his eyes. “Gaelle has brought us a lead. The Circle has been picking up where they left off. We've been waiting two years for a break like this. There's rumors of a meeting going to take place for the drug running sect of the Circle. Our mole has dug up a time and a place… and we're going to take it.”

“Alright, so we go to the appointed place before the appointed time and camp out there,” Marisa started. “If this exchange happens, then what're we gonna do next after campin'?”

“What we've trained for,” Hikan said, putting his elbows on the table and lacing his fingers together before his voice took on a dark tone. “We take them all out except the one in charge. I'll take care of him….”

“Awww… I wanted to be the one to torture 'im…” Ayis whined.

“Relax,” Alexandria said. “There will be plenty of mooks for you to torture. Besides, the leader probably won't be any different from the mooks.”

“We're not here to torture ponies,” Hikan said firmly. “We're assassins. Not murderers or monsters. We're not here to send a message. We're not here to get even. We are here to wipe out a disease. We kill quickly. We kill efficiently. In… and out.” Ayis groaned.

“But efficient is so unfun!” Ayis complained.

“Ayis, maybe you should tone it down when your child is present. You could wake her,” Arela scolded.

“Yeah, you complain whenever I swear in front of your kid, but then you go and say that kind of stuff right in front of her,” Nyilla added before muttering 'Hypocrite…'. Ayis flicked Nyilla in the head.

“I didn't use any swears, Pipsqueak,” Ayis reminded.

“You're talking about torturing people,” Nyilla shot back, the flick to the head having done nothing. “I'd think that's just as bad as swearing.”

“Guys,” Hikan said, trying to reign everyone back in. “This could be our chance. It could be our only chance.”

“Every time is our 'only chance',” Marisa sighed. “Shame we're obligated to follow through with all of 'em anyway just in case it's not another false alarm…”

“What do ya expect, lassie?” came the rumbling tones of Ronzul as he entered the room, wearing the armor that had been in his home. It was a slate gray, much like his house's foundations, but decorated with intricate carvings that most smiths would kill to be able to do. It held carvings of what must have been an ancient war, and this was further added to by his shield, which was the same color as the armor, but had a black gem in the middle, of which there were carvings of dwarves worshipping.

His mace, the unsettling, sleet black, spiked and pronged weapon made more than a few of them sorry for any whose head was whacked with it, as it looked like it would not only bludgeon, but rend and tear out flesh.

“Those Circle vykals are a buncha cowards. They like ta' hide,” Ronzul told them.

“Ronny, please don't swear in front of my kid,” Ayis warned the dwarf. Ronzul chuckled.

“Right, right, sorry Feathers,” he apologized.

“You're right though,” Hikan said as he got up from his seat. “They do enjoy hiding themselves away. If we're going to do this, we need to go. Now.”

“I don't care how many false alarms we have to go through,” Alexandria said, also standing. “I'll keep going until we catch them.”

“Alright, fine, let's go,” Marisa said without much enthusiasm as she pushed off the wall. Daiyousei simply stood quietly, not having been one to talk much at these meetings. Starlight and Shell rose to their feet, the unicorn summoning her staff.

“If this does turn out to be a dud,” she said, looking towards Hikan. “Y'know we're screwed, right?”

Hikan was quiet for a moment before he nodded. “I know.”

The unicorn nodded in return. “Good,” she said before turning and summoning her hat to her head. “Let's be on our way then.”

“Awright, let's git goin', li'l roofies!” Ronzul cheered, marching out the door. Ayis sighed and shook her head.

“He gets way too excited sometimes…” Ayis said with a smile. She turned to Gaelle. “Can you keep an eye on my little one?” She asked, holding the sleeping Yis to the griffon.

“Of course,” Gaelle said with a grin, taking the child in her arms. “Stay safe. All of you.”

“We always try, Miss Gaelle,” Shell said as she got up and followed after the unicorn. Ayis kissed Yis' cheek before turning to leave.

“Make sure to keep an eye on her. She likes to teleport around, and she has a lot more magical power than unicorns,” Ayis warned.

“Of course,” Gaelle answered before turning her attention back to the child. Yis was still asleep, thankfully, cuddling into Gaelle's bosom.

Hikan smiled gently at the sight. “We'll be back as soon as possible,” he told the griffoness as she cradled the baby. “Don't wait up for us though. Asap may be longer than we think.” With that, he tapped the table and walked towards the door with an air of optimism. Marisa and Daiyousei left the room after him and Arela. Alexandria also made her way to the door. Ayis came back into the room.

“Oops,” she said as she grabbed Nyilla. “Sorry Pipsqueak.” With that, she walked back out as Nyilla muttered 'You'd better be sorry…' with her arms crossed and a pout on her face.

“…Uh… See you later Gaelle,” Alexandria said after a moment, waving to Gaelle as she left. The Griffin briefly raised a hand to wave them off.

“Okay, guys,” Hikan said as the group made their way to the door. “Here's what I've been thinking. The place is a warehouse with a basement level and two entry ways. The first is a large bay door that's locked from the inside. The second is a tunnel that leads from the warehouse into the city maintenance tunnels. There are six guards on the ground and three more on the roof. Arela, Ayis, Shell, I need you guys to take the three on the roof. The rest of us will take the other six. Take them down quiet and meet back at the bay door. Our informant told Gaelle that they would be leaving the door open a little before taking off. Once inside, divide and conquer. We hit fast and hard and take out as many as we can before they regroup.” Alexandria nodded.

“Ooh, so we're actually gonna hit a base this time?” Marisa said. “Wonder what happens if this turns out to be a dud… 'Cause I don't feel like killin' innocents today.”

“Stop it Marisa,” Alexandria said, punching Marisa lightly on the arm. “We should be able to tell if it's a dud long before we have to kill anyone.”

“She has a point, though. I don't like killing innocents, either,” Ayis agreed.

“Indeed. It would be very bad if we killed innocents. I shudder at the thought,” Arela concurred, proceeding to shudder.

“Our Intel has never led us to innocents before,” Hikan said assuredly. “A few empty buildings, but never any innocent people.”

“Yes… Thankfully…” Daiyousei said.

Shell nodded her head in agreement and Hikan gave a little sigh. “C'mon, guys,” he pleaded as they reached the door. “This could be the big one. Couldn't you try to be a little more optimistic?”

Marisa rolled her eyes. “It's kinda hard to be optimistic about this when every other mission we've been on could've also been 'the big one',” she said pointedly.

Hikan looked towards her for a moment before giving another sigh as he opened the great doors. She was right after all. The group all stepped outside. However, before they could go much further, something happened which caused them to stop short. A spot in midair about fifteen feet in front of them opened up. It was as if the fabric of space itself tore open. The strange opening was somewhat oval-shaped, with tapering points at the two ends of the oval. Meanwhile, on these tapers were… What appeared to be red bows, almost as if they were preventing the tear from widening by holding the ends closed. Inside the tear seemed to be a strange, indescribable space, beyond the fact that it appeared to be a flat, purplish-red colour. Marisa instantly recognized this tear.

“Hey, it's one of Yukari's gaps!” she said in surprise.

It was at this moment that a woman came out of the gap, a young girl in tow. The woman had long, blonde hair that was tied at the tips with the same red ribbons as the bows on the gap. Her eyes were a deep purple colour. She was wearing a white dress that had a tiered, frilled skirt, and a wide purple strip down the front. She was also wearing a white cap that had a large, thin red bow on the front.

The girl had blonde hair that was done up in very long, loosely coiled pigtails, thin, pale purple streaks spiraling down them. Her eyes were a bright violet colour, several shades brighter than the woman's. The girl was wearing a black dress with a short skirt, the whole dress having pink trimming and highlights on it. The abdomen of the dress was covered by a grey material that was thicker than the rest of the dress, seeming like leather. She also had on long, black gloves as well as long, black stockings, the stockings having pink ribbons wrapping around them in a criss-cross pattern. On the sides of her head were large black bows, one at the base of each pigtail.

“Let me go, you hag!” the girl shouted in a high-pitched voice, struggling to get away from Yukari.

“Oh my,” Yukari responded with a grin on her face. “What are they teaching royalty these days? You should learn to respect your elders young Elise.”

Hikan's eyes narrowed and he dropped into a ready stance. “Guys, what are we looking at?” He asked, his eyes darting back and forth between Yukari and the girl.

“The woman's Yukari,” Marisa answered. “Dunno about the girl though.” Marisa shook her head before speaking up again, addressing Yukari. “Yukari, what in Hakugyokurou did you do now?”

“Oh, nothing special,” Yukari answered, still grinning. “I simply met Elise here in her time of need and thought I would offer my assistance. Now that my work is done, I'll leave her with you and be on my way.” She then let go of Elise's arm.

“'Assistance'!? Yeah right!” Elise shouted. “You creep, bring me back!”

“Sorry, but that was a one-way trip,” Yukari said. “Perhaps I'll see you again another time.” Yukari then turned towards her gap to leave. She was going to leave when an orange orb with eight, purple stars in it dropped on her head hard, rolling to the ground.

“Ouch,” Yukari muttered as her gap closed and she turned to watch the orb roll. She then walked over to it and picked it up, examining it, her grin having been replaced with a frown. A voice spoke in her head then, mature yet smooth, a hint of an Italian accent in it.

“To any who find this orb of wishes, I am Asala, an Arcosian or, Frost Demon, freed from my previous ties. Should you have need of a gentleman, call upon me by saying the name of the sacred dragon whilst holding this orb.”

Slowly, Yukari's grin returned to her face. “This 'Frost Demon' sounds like they could be interesting…” she said out loud. “The name of the sacred dragon, was it? Hmmm… If I remember correctly… Shenron!” With Yukari's shout, a portal opened, the howl of a blizzard emanating from it as a tall, alien creature stepped out and floated down.

It seemed male, and wore a suit that was so skin tight it could be mistaken for its actual skin. Parts of it were a purplish gray, seemingly made from a bone-like substance, whilst the rest was black. On its forearms, shoulders, ankles, and head were blue, gem-like substances, completely opaque but shining in the light nonetheless. There was even one in its abdomen. It had a mask of that same bone-like substance fitted onto its face, and reptilian, purple eyes that gazed around with interest. It had two horns protruding from its head, both curved upwards, but one smaller than the other, creating a strange lopsided look. Its tail swished back and forth as it gazed around, then looked to Yukari.

“Greetings, young lady. Might I ask why you summoned me?” the being spoke in a male voice, one that was mature and smooth, with a hint of an italian accent.

“I summoned you because I felt that it might be interesting to battle a 'Frost Demon',” Yukari answered truthfully. “I have a lot of trouble finding people who are strong enough to fight me properly. It's quite boring.” The alien blinked at this, then sighed.

“Young ones nowadays, always raring to go without even a proper introduction…” he said with a shake of his head. He looked to her again. “Might I at least know your name, before we fight?”

“I suppose I could share it with you…” Yukari said. “I am Yukari Yakumo.”

“I see…” the alien looked to the others behind him. “Could you all stand back? I'd rather not harm innocents. Already have to deal with that enough back home.”

Hikan, thoroughly confused at what was happening in front of him, slowly started to step back towards the Night Raid base, putting his arm out in front of Arela protectively. Alexandria, Marisa and Daiyousei all backed away as well. Ayis did the same. Elise, unsure of what else to do, made her way around to the group and stood awkwardly to the side, a few feet away from them.

The alien looked back to Yukari. “Let us fight up there,” he pointed to the sky. “At this distance, they will still feel the shockwaves.”

“I suppose collateral damage would be unfortunate,” Yukari said, rising into the air. The alien floated up after her, then, after rising a fair height above the city, the alien did a duel bow.

“I, Asala, humbly accept this challenge,” he said, before rising and taking a stance, hands outstretched and feet somehow finding purchase in the air, one foot in front of the other. It almost seemed mocking. “Come, let us begin.”

“Hmph.” Yukari brushed her hair out of her face as one of her gaps formed under her and she sat on it cross-legged. “I again sincerely hope that this is at least a little interesting…” With that, another gap appeared next to Asala without warning, a large bundle of street signs erupting out of it, slamming into Asala before retracting as the gap closed again. She blinked when he disappeared and reappeared behind her, slamming a fist into her back, the sheer speed of it knocking her nearly a hundred feet away and making her reel. Asala simply stood there, waiting for her physical retort.

Yukari fell into the gap she had been sitting on, the gap closing behind her. After a moment, another gap appeared to Asala's left, and Yukari fell out of it, stabilizing in the air. “It appears I've underestimated you,” she said. “Fine. Make your next move. I dare you.” Asala shrugged, disappeared once more, but not behind her. Above her. The moment Asala vanished however, Yukari did something.

Boundary Sign「Border of Fast and Slow」

Yukari declared a Spellcard… And manipulated the boundaries of speed. Asala's movements became sluggish, his every move playing out almost in slow motion. His eyes began to widen, but that too had been slowed. Before his eyes had even widened a fraction of an inch, Yukari had summoned a parasol from another gap and struck him with it. He grunted, trying to do a stance, but it was still too slow. Yukari smirked as she began to literally fly circles around him, continuing to strike him with her parasol, and also summoning those ridiculous street sign gaps as well. After a good minute, she stopped, and a large gap opened above Asala. Yukari then moved out of the way as a train whistle sounded from deep within the gap. Asala attempted to move away, but Yukari's Spellcard rendered him too slow and he couldn't move out from under the gap. After a few moments, a subway train came barreling out of the gap, falling straight onto Asala.

It didn't seem to bother him all that much, but it certainly hurt if how he grit his teeth was any indication. The subway train fell to the ground where it crushed him with a violent shaking. After a second, before the train could fall over, a gap opened in the ground, and the train fell inside, taking Asala, who was under it, with it. Then, Yukari opened another gap in the sky, letting Asala out.

“Had enough yet?” she asked.

“You… Are more powerful than even he…” he groaned out, then stood up, brushing himself off. It surprised her that he wasn't bleeding or even really mangled. Just scraped slightly. He bowed to her. “I admit defeat.” He looked up to her. “I hope to one day fight you again.” She could tell he was smirking under his mask. “And win.”

“Well, you'll still have a long way to go if you wish to accomplish that,” she said. “Though, your particular skills and your hardiness are rather intriguing… And you are the first person to push me so far. As such… For the time being, I will be satisfied with that battle. I will also be looking forward to our rematch. Good day, Asala.” With that and a curtsy, Yukari disappeared into one of her gaps. Asala stood back up, looking down to those below and floating down. Once he landed, he looked up at the group that had been watching.

“Terribly sorry to make you wait like that. Now, is there anything I can help you all with before I go? I have a lot of time on my hands,” Asala offered.

“Gah, that stupid hag really did leave me here!” Elise suddenly said, drawing everyone's attention as she crossed her arms and scowled up at where Yukari had vanished. Asala turned to her, gazing at her for a good moment.

“Hmmm… Might I ask your name, young lady?” he queried.

Elise turned to look at Asala. She was silent as she glanced to the others, who had heard Yukari call her Elise. She turned back to Asala sighing. “I guess you can call me Elise,” she said. “And I may look and sound young, but I'm technically an adult.”

“Elise, hm? A fitting name for a lady,” Asala appraised. “I assume you are the same as that man and young woman over there,” he pointed to Hikan and Alexandria with his tail. “A Displaced. Correct? I can feel the energy of the Void on you three.”

“I'm sorry, a 'Displaced'?” Elise asked, a confused look crossing her face. “I'm not sure what that is.” Asala hummed in thought.

“Well, I suppose I might as well be the one to explain this to you,” He cleared his throat. “A Displaced is a being taken from their home world and placed into a new one, typically Equestrias like this one. They are usually brought to one as a character they dressed up as, and sent to an Equestria by a higher being, known as a Displacer or Void Dweller.”

“Well, the part about being changed into a character I dressed as would explain why I'm shorter than I should be and also why I've got Elise's voice…” Elise said.

“Indeed. You remind me of an old friend, in fact,” Asala said. He gained a distant look in his eyes, before shaking his head. “Anyways, let us move on to the subject of what you wish to do now. It is unlikely you can return home, that much I can tell you for certain. Thus, you will have to find a new one.” Elise was silent, and she didn't turn. After a few moments, Alexandria turned to Hikan.

“Hikan, do you think we could…?” she began. Hikan glanced back at the Yokai, still trying to process what he'd witnessed from the two fighters. After a moment, everything seemed to click in his head and a thoughtful look took hold.

“Well… there is plenty of room in the base,” he admitted. “I don't see why not.”

Elise's eyes widened as she heard this, and she turned to look at the group. “You mean…” she started. “You'd take in a complete stranger?”

“Kindness is in our nature,” Alexandria answered. “You're in need of a home, we have space that we can provide. So, we'd be happy to let you stay.”

“As long as you're comfortable staying with a bunch of assassins, of course,” Hikan said idly before wincing as Starlight elbowed him and shot him a warning glare.

“Sooooo… You're all assassins, but kindness is in your nature…?” Elise asked, raising an eyebrow. After a moment she shrugged. “I guess that's not necessarily the weirdest thing I've ever heard… But I'm just wondering, if you're assassins, who do you assassinate?”

“We were actually off to kill a bunch of drug runners,” Shell answered, lifting a finger and giving a bit of smile.

“Ah, I see now,” Elise said. “You're a group of assassins that work to end illegal activities, is that it?”

“A noble thing to do,” Asala commented. “Although, I am curious, what exactly are two angels doing in your care? It seems strange for such holy beings to be killing others.”

“I believe you might have us confused with a different kind of angel,” Arela said. “We are from Lleiya.”

“Yup. Born and bred,” Ayis concurred. Asala nodded.

“I see…” he said, looking around. “Well, is there anything you all need me for? I cannot exactly go back home unless my work is done.”

“I think we're short on instructors right now…” Alexandria said in thought. “I'm pretty sure many of our instructors in the base that have been helping us with training are currently away sick…”

“Yeah, that's right,” Marisa said. “Heh, I remember Dai bein' upset that she couldn't cure a common cold.”

“I-I'm still kind of embarrassed about that…” Daiyousei said, blushing slightly. “I'm supposed to be the healer, but I couldn't even cure a cold…”

“Nah, it's fine Dai,” Marisa said before turning to Asala. “Anyway, we could use another instructor 'till some of the sick ones come back.” Asala looked at them for a good long minute.

“I suppose I can do that. Just know this…” his gaze hardened, and all present felt chills go up their spines. “…The training shall be hell on earth.”

“Heh… Heh… Yup, that sounds like one of our instructors…” Marisa said, sweating slightly.

“Um… I'm sorry to say this, but…” Elise started. “I can't actually fight. I may have Elise's body, but I don't have her skills. I am an excellent tactician though, for however much that's worth.”

“This training does not require innate skill. What it involves is possible for any living being to do,” Asala explained, raising a hand and creating a small orb of purple, swirling energy. “In time, you will all be able to do this.”

“Well, either way, I don't have any combat ability right now,” Elise said, turning to the assassin group. “So I can't exactly go with you guys to stop the drug runners. I could offer some radio support if you'd like.”

“Well, we don't have any computers or anything of the sort,” Hikan said before he lifted his hand and formed one of his will-o'-wisps. A pair of the earpieces formed in his hand before he picked one up and rolled a wheel on the device's side. It glowed a faint blue color, the wisp's color changing to the same before the hunter held the earpiece out to Elise. “But we have these.”

“Alright, looks like I'll be playing it by ear if I can't see the goings-on,” Elise said, taking the earpiece and putting it on.

“I believe I shall remain here until you return. I do not want to deprive you all of your fun, after all,” Asala said.

Hikan nodded as the wisp floated over to Elise. “I appreciate that,” he told the alien. “After seeing your abilities, I believe you'd be more useful in a more direct assault. And luckily, you won't have to play anything by ear,” he said, turning to Elise. “The wisp is synced to your earpiece and so long as you're wearing it, you should be able to access any information that mine gathers as we go.” He put his hand underneath the sphere and a glowing map of their current location appeared, showing one orange and one blue dot. “Once we enter the combat zone, I'll activate the scanning mode and the wisp will generate ally and enemy signatures, plus give you a perfect three-dimensional map of the warehouse.”

“Perfect, a map with all enemy and ally positions,” Elise said with a grin. “Now that's what I'm used to working with.”

“Well, shall we be on our way, then? We don't want to waste time,” Arela pointed out.

“Yeah, our chance could be gone if we don't get going,” Ayis added.

“Yeah, you guys go,” Elise said. “I'll be good from here.” With that, Elise entered into the base, the blue wisp following her.

“Good luck, everyone,” Asala said, following after Elise.

“Thanks,” Hikan said after the Arcosian before turning back to the rest of Canterlot as his wings flared. “Okay, guys, let's get going.” With that, he launched into the air, Shell transforming into a Pegasus and Starlight using her levitation magic to follow him. Alexandria took to the air as well, with Marisa following on her broomstick. Daiyousei also leaped into the air as her wings flapped, the three all following the hunter. Ayis and Arela were close behind, Nyilla holding onto the Fallen Angel's shoulder.

The group's flight took them to the warehouse district at the edge of the city. Hikan dropped onto the roof of one of the buildings across from and several buildings down from their target. “Alright, Elise,” he said, pushing the button on his earpiece. “Activating scanner mode now. What can you tell me?”

There were a few moments of silence, presumably while Elise looked over the map on her end as it loaded. Finally, there was a response. “Well, you can probably already see this, but there're six enemies on the ground. Three're patrolling outside, and three inside on the ground level. There're another three guards on the roof of the building. Also, there appears to be a large basement level under the warehouse… Down there I'm getting… A lot of enemy signatures. And I mean a lot. So much, that it's kinda difficult to count them all right away…”

“We didn't get that in our intel…” Hikan muttered, rubbing his chin before turning to the others. “Looks like a change in plans is needed. Nyilla, Shanghai, I need you two to find a way inside and take the guards there. Starlight, go with them if you can. The rest of us will stick to the original plan.”

“…Woah, hang on,” Elise suddenly said, sounding as if she was caught off guard. “I just got three other signatures in the basement. They're different from the enemies, but… They're extremely high energy. One of them appears to be fragmented, but be careful anyway.”

Hikan frowned and turned back to look at the building, Dorkifu's visor forming over his eyes. He scanned the building, his gaze lowering towards the basement until he found out what Elise was talking about. Six enemy signatures sat near each other, four in a circle while two of them stood behind them. One of these two had something strapped to their sides but the energy reading was so high that whatever the readings were looked like a blur to Hikan. One of the four standing in the circle had a much larger signature emanating from their back. Inside the circle was the weakened and broken object that Elise mentioned, but still what it was exactly couldn't be made out.

The visor deconstructed itself and Hikan frowned. Alexandria looked at Hikan. “Everything okay?” she asked.

“No,” Hikan answered, a hand over his mouth as he thought. “This is way more complicated than we were led to believe…. Maybe we should turn back.”

“We've finally found an actual enemy stronghold,” Marisa said. “There ain't no way we can just turn back now.”

“Agreed. If need be, I'm sure Sir Asala can help us out,” Arela said. Ayis nodded.

“Yeah! And besides, I want to get back at those bastards for what they did to me. Preferably by sticking my sais in their eye sockets,” Ayis concurred.

Hikan was quiet for a minute. “....Okay,” he finally said, squaring his shoulders and forming Dorkifu's claws. “We go in. But… we go in quick and quiet. Take these bastards out before they get a chance to fight back. That means no games. No stopping to take pleasure in the kill. No torture. Kill and move on. Everyone understand?”

“Yeah, of course,” Marisa said while Alexandria nodded silently.

“Aww… Fine, party pooper,” Ayis pouted adorably.

“Very well, my love,” Arela conceded.

Hikan nodded his head. “Then let's get to it,” he said before vaulting over the ledge of the building and landing on the ground silently. Shell's disguise disappeared and Starlight faded from view as they followed, the changeling taking to the air while a soft clip-clop echoed over the roof before disappearing. Shanghai flew over to Ayis, allowing Nyilla to climb onto her back. Shanghai then flew towards the warehouse, Nyilla riding piggyback. Alexandria then quietly flew down to the ground, Marisa not far behind. Daiyousei remained on the roof. She wasn't yet cut out for fighting, so Hikan rarely asked her to fight.

Ayis muttered a phrase in what the others recognized as Mana script. “Valaten,” she said, and the light around her bent, making her nearly invisible. Her outline was still faintly there, but she was mostly invisible to the naked eye. After that, she moved towards the building, flying as silently as she could to a window, and then to the roof.

Arela muttered a similar phrase, and swept her hand in a circle as she did, “Valasen,” she said, and she disappeared in a flash of golden light. Then, all of a sudden, she was on the roof, appearing right where the light shone down on the mooks, and, with a coordianted attack with Ayis, the two angels eliminated the targets, Ayis thrusting her sais in their throats, and Arela just decapitating them before they could make a sound. As the final guard turned to face them, Shell dropped from the sky and slashed downwards, claws drowned in green flame.

Inside the building, Shanghai and Nyilla had slipped inside through a window. Nyilla was still riding on Shanghai's back as Shanghai hid in the shadows cast by the rafters. There was a brief spark of electricity before Shanghai went to float above one of the guards, who had stopped to look around for a moment. Nyilla dropped from Shanghai's back and landed on the guard. “Surprise, bitch,” she said, and before the guard could react, she electrocuted him with hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity, directly to the spinal cord. Meanwhile, Shanghai had gone and snuck up on another guard with her broadsword drawn. Without a sound, she swiftly jammed the weapon into the unicorn's back with a practiced hand, targeting a very specific point and killing the guard near instantly. The final one's head suddenly fell from its body, but before either could hit the floor, they were slowed and gently set on the floor. Starlight reappeared moments later, straightening up in her armor, sword dripping blood.

Outside, Alexandria had decided to hide in the shadows of one of the alleyways next to the warehouse. As one of the guards passed her, she did a small hand motion - one for her flip ability -
causing the guard to stop short as his hand suddenly shot to his heart. The guard was about to start coughing, but Alexandria leapt from the shadows and put her hand over the guard's mouth. The guard struggled in her grasp for a couple seconds before going limp, and Alexandria gently laid him on the ground. Around the back corner of the alley, behind the warehouse, there was a brief flash of light, signifying that Marisa had done something to another guard. A moment later, Marisa turned the corner, dragging a badly charred corpse. A thud sounded out from the other side of the building and Hikan came around the corner not much later. “Everything good?” He asked in a quiet voice.

“Yes,” Alexandria answered. “Both of our guards went down without trouble.”

Hikan nodded his head before Shell flitted down to the ground next to him. “The roof is secure,” she reported. Arela and Ayis slowly glided down beside the changeling, Ayis giving a thumbs up and a grin while Arela simply nodded. Daiyousei then came down to join them, seeing that they had finished. She looked down at the dead guards, a hint of sadness in her eyes.

“Good,” Hikan said, before starting to head for the door to the warehouse. “Let's hope the others cleared the-” He stopped as the door to the building swung open and Starlight stepped out, Shanghai floating out behind her, Nyilla on her back again.

“What're you slowpokes waiting for?” She questioned before disappearing back inside.

“Guess that answers your question,” Marisa said with a shrug as she passed Hikan and entered, Alexandria following. Shanghai deposited Nyilla with Ayis before following the Yokai. Ayis went after Alexandria, Arela looking to her Devoted before following the others.

Hikan and Shell followed quickly, the man bringing a hand to his earpiece. “Any sign of trouble, Elise?”

“Nope,” Elise answered. “The nine enemy signatures that weren't in the basement all disappeared, and if anyone in the basement noticed, there's yet to be any movement to suggest so.”

“Good,” he said before looking at and nodding to the others. “Let's go. Quick, just like we planned.”

“You got it, soldier boy,” Marisa said. Alexandria was silent as she nodded.

“Understood,” Arela replied.

“Got it, hiln,” Ayis said with a nod. Hikan nodded one more time and headed towards the back of the building, Starlight and Shell following. Alexandria, Marisa and Daiyousei followed as well. Arela and Ayis were close behind them all. The group came to a metal door and Hikan pulled it open to reveal a staircase leading to the depths of the building.

Hikan looked towards the group before letting out a breath. “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here,” he said quietly, turning his gaze from them and starting down the stairs. Arela was the first to go after him, Ayis looking to Alexandria, smiling, and then following after the other two. Alexandria grinned and shook her head, following Ayis. Marisa and Daiyousei were the next to descend. Starlight and Shell shared a look before they followed the rest of the group.

The stairway led them deep underground, until it opened up onto a metal catwalk, Hikan suddenly stopping and throwing his hand out as the sounds of voices reached their ears. The others stopped when Hikan did this.

The hunter slowly motioned for them to come forward, walking onto the catwalk on silent feet as the voices below continued. Arela was right behind her Devoted as Alexandria silently stepped out of the door onto the catwalk, Ayis not far behind her. Marisa and Daiyousei followed them, as Starlight looked out over the room and Shell stuck close to her. The room below was filled with tables, at least four stallions of varying races sitting at each one. Between the tables walked mares and females of other races, carrying trays and if they listened carefully, the sound of rattling chains could be heard over the sounds of conversation. Near the end of the great hall, a table sat on a raised platform, four stallions standing around it while another stallion and what appeared to be a human woman stood behind the largest of the stallions, a large dark blue pegasus. Marisa made her way up to Hikan.

“Hey, do you think that big blue guy is the leader?” she whispered to him, pointing. Hikan nodded his head.

“He's gotta be…” he muttered before looking to the rest of them. “Find a position and wait for my signal. Then, we drop these assholes, but don't hurt the hostages.”

“I have a spell that can do just that, but it will leave me open for a bit,” Ayis offered. “It could also compromise the structure, but I'm sure it won't. Sort of.”

“We're not going to risk crushing the hostages,” Alexandria whispered to Ayis. “Or ourselves for that matter.”

“She's got a point,” Hikan muttered before walking further down the catwalk. “But if it comes down to it, Shell, you cover her.” The Changeling nodded and Hikan turned his eyes back on the raised table. “Now, let's get to work.” With that, he threw himself over the railing and fell silently into the shadows of the next platform down. Starlight raised her staff and soon disappeared once more. Alexandria crouched near the edge of the catwalk, prepared to attack when the time came, meanwhile Marisa pulled out her Mini-Hakkero. Marisa then whispered into the device like she always does just before-

Love Sign「Master Spark」

Marisa's Master Spark then shot out of her Mini-Hakkero, blasting straight into one of the men standing around the raised table. The woman immediately looked up before turning and swiftly leaving the room.

Ayis twirled her sais, then spoke a phrase in Mana script, “Vin tin gyn!” she cried, and a number of hands made from the cement of the floor sprung up, grabbing two of the stallions at the raised table - one of which had already been subjected to Marisa's Master Spark - and crushing them effortlessly.

Arela summoned her WarSuit and halberd, then charged in, a whirlwind of limbs flying and metal slicing through flesh and bone emanating from her side of the room. The hostages were left unscathed, although they did scream and run away. Arela was precise and efficient with how she moved, whirling over the heads of hostages if she had the need to.

As the stallions around the room started to get up from their seats, each reaching for their weapons, the occupants of one table suddenly found themselves without their heads as Starlight manifested on the table, her blade glowing in turquoise aura. The mare lifted her blade and thrust it forward, unleashing a beam of magic that cut through a unicorn that had drawn their crossbow.

Alexandria then unleashed a bolt of lightning which struck one of the henchmen, who dropped dead on the spot. She then had to instead focus on moving as a few of the stallions turned their crossbows on her.

Arela destroyed a volley of crossbow bolts out of the air by twirling her halberd, making the stallions who fired them at her step back in fear, until she cut them in twain.

Ayis was all over the room, moving with the help of her magic and blocking bolts of magic and crossbows with the cement from the floor, moving it as if it were clay. She crushed or smacked the stallions and Circle goons with little effort, and when one got too close, she cut off their heads or stabbed them with her sais.

A number of stallions backed up to a corner, their eyes wide at the chaos around them. A small click on the floor made one of them spin around on the spot to stare into the shadows. Nothing could be seen… until Shell jumped out in a flash of claws, cutting deep trenches into his chest. Before the others could react, she turned on them, picking up the fallen one's spear and thrusting it into the chest of one before shoving him into the unicorn behind him. She jumped and flipped backward as a crossbow bolt embedded itself into the ground where she'd been standing. She spun in the air and her sharp claws flashed in green fire. When she hit the ground, so did the bodies of the other three, throats oozing blood onto the ground.

Shanghai and Nyilla were working together as a team. Shanghai would hit Nyilla with an ability, and then Nyilla would release that ability on one of the goons as Shanghai released another on the same goon. Their progress wasn't quite as fast as the others', but it was fast for just two Fairies.

Arela saw a number of stallions charging her, and she grinned as she charged them as well, running towards them with her halberd pointed at them, the spear impaling them and creating a pony shishkebab as their attacks deflected off her armor. She raised a hand religiously, and the bodies turned to ash on her halberd.

Ayis was now launching spears of cement at every stallion who tried to get her, one managing to get through her barrage, only for her to take a javelin made from the cement and toss it at him, nailing him in the throat and stretching his mouth more than was possible for him, ending up with a torn jaw as he was nailed to the wall, hanging there as other stallions looked at the Fallen Angel with fear.

A barrage of orange shots suddenly rained down from the shadows on a platform under the catwalk, scorching smoking holes into the heads of many unfortunate souls. The firing stopped and Hikan lifted the smoking cannon on his wrist. A whistling sound caught his ear, his eyes widening before he jumped backwards, going horizontal as a flying blade spun over him. He leaped off the platform and to the floor as the blade boomeranged back to the raised platform where a dark brown earth pony caught it, a stark white pegasus coming to stand beside him with his scythe drawn, the blade looking suspiciously like a bat's wing.

Shanghai then stopped to have a quick tête-à-tête with Nyilla. After a moment, the two nodded, and Shanghai tossed Nyilla at one of the stallions before quickly rushing after her. Before reaching Nyilla, Shanghai struck her with a lightning bolt. Nyilla seemed to absorb the electricity, and then a moment later, Shanghai grabbed Nyilla's hands and swung her up behind herself, and over her head, flames igniting over her hands. The stallion finally turned and saw the two and raised his sword to strike them. At that moment, Shanghai tossed Nyilla again, and Nyilla fired the lightning bolt she'd stored, while Shanghai released an Agni Shine. The lightning bolt and the fireballs both struck the wide-eyed earth pony, frying him well-done. Shanghai then rushed forward and caught Nyilla, the two high-fiving each other, Shanghai smiling wide and Nyilla with a huge grin as Nyilla got herself positioned on Shanghai's back again.

Arela took a free hand, raised it, and summoned a bolt of lightning in her hand, then tossed it down at the ground. When the goons laughed and tried to charge her, they paused when they heard the rumble of thunder, and suddenly a number of smaller bolts of lightning struck them all, flash-cooking them.

Ayis slammed two final goons into each other, mashing their brains together like paste. She then turned to face the remaining enemies, grinning like a maniac.

Starlight and Shell backed into each other as a mob of the stallions surrounded them. The two looked over their shoulders at each other before giving twin smirks. Eldritch flames lit up the Changeling's arms before she extended her hands, a stream of flames hitting the ground between her and the ponies in front of her. As she did this, Starlight's horn, hands, and sword glowed in her magic aura before she raised her free hand. Magic swirled around the pair, picking up the flames to become a green and turquoise fire whirl. The stallions stared up in horror before screaming as columns of fire shot out of the top of the fiery tornado and slammed down over them, roasting them alive.

Hikan slashed through another mook, dropping them to the floor before the sound of slow clapping drew his attention to the figures left on the platform. “My, my, my,” the big stallion from before said as he lowered his hands into his pockets. “So, you're the ones that have been making a mess of our business. To be perfectly honest I was expecting some individuals that were a bit more…” he paused and took out one hand to roll it through the air, as if searching for the right word. “Well… more.” Alexandria and Marisa both leapt down from the balcony.

“You'd do well not to underestimate us,” Alexandria said.

“My thoughts exactly, vyls,” Ayis concurred, the slur shot at the pegasus. Arela simply stomped near Hikan and glared at the stallion through her visor.

The stallion gave a puff of laughter at that before his hand went back into his pocket and withdrew a cigar and lighter, raising the cigar to his lips and lighting it. He took a long drag from the lit cigar before pulling it away from his mouth and blowing out the cloud slowly. “Kill them,” he said evenly. The two stallions raised their weapons and Hikan's eyes widened before they rushed forward.

“RUN!” Hikan roared, rushing to meet the pair as Dorkifu formed the rest of the armor's arm and chest plates. He threw his claws out and slashed at the two only to have the stallion holding a double-bladed ax dodge under his attack and continue on as his partner clashed with the hunter with a slash from his strange scythe.

“Woah, what's going on!?” came Elise's shout through the earpiece as the others stood, wide-eyed from Hikan's sudden shout to run. “I just received two energy spikes!”

Hikan grit his teeth together before lifting his leg and kicking out at his opponent who spun his scythe, the blade folding in like a wing and taking the kick. “They have Teigu!” The assassin shouted, turning and rocketing after the other stallion as the scythe wielder slid backwards. The stallion turned and seemed to break his ax in half, throwing one side at the hunter. Hikan lifted his arm and the blade clinked off his wrist, the man continuing. Behind him, the ax head turned in midair and flew back towards him. Hikan swung his claw, the stallion lifting the other ax and catching the blow before Hikan yanked his head to the side, the flying blade cutting his face before it was caught by its owner. Behind the man, the scythe wielder straightened up as his blade folded out and extended out more than it had originally before he rushed Hikan from behind. Arela blocked him with her halberd, pushing him away with a swift kick.

“Stay away from my Devoted!” she cried. The stallion slid back, slamming his blade into the ground to bring himself to a stop. The pegasus looked up with a smirk and spun his scythe to hold his polearm over his shoulders.

“Well, aren't you the feisty one?” The stallion questioned, starting to stride forward with a sort of swagger. “Eh, sympa?”

Arela growled at the term, not knowing what it was, but hating it all the same. Her anger caused her armor to glow more, blinding all present as heat built in the room. Suddenly, the stallion felt his arm go limp and burn like hell, and then, the feeling of limpness faded, and all that was left was burning.

When the light faded, his arm was gone, cauterised, and Arela was panting heavily, but still standing.

“Hil na san cro vin,” she rumbled, the last word echoing as a blade of light stabbed his other arm, right in the shoulder. At his scream of pain, she stumbled back, then fell to a knee, panting even more heavily. She was trembling.

The stallion turned his shades on the collapsed angel, his teeth grinding against themselves. “Sale salope!” He shouted, before rushing forward, scythe blade carving through the concrete as he aimed for her neck. The stallion slashed upwards only for the attack to get blocked by something. The stallion looked up to see Shanghai in her CPU form, Alexandria standing just behind her, the two between him and Arela.

“I don't think so,” Alexandria said.

“En garde!” Shanghai shouted, drawing her rapier and pointing it at the stallion.

“Vas te faire foutre!” The stallion shouted in response, spinning his scythe in one hand and knocking the rapier out of the way, slashing at Shanghai. The blow had absolutely no effect on the Fairy. Shanghai didn't even flinch. She simply gripped her rapier with a grin.

“Is that all?” she asked. “You'll have to try a little harder than that.” Shanghai then lunged at the stallion, slashing her rapier across his already impaled shoulder.

“Gah!” The pegasus shouted, taking a step back as he raised his blade, the scythe folding back in on itself before he switched up his stance. Shanghai took notice of this. She glanced to Alexandria, who nodded back. Shanghai then turned back to the stallion.

Aku no Tsuihō「Agni Slash」

Shanghai rushed him, her rapier bursting into flames. She deliberately made for one specific side of the stallion. The pegasus widened his eyes, letting the staff of his weapon slide a bit as he spun it, the thickened blade acting as a shield in front of his unprotected side. Alexandria, thinking quickly, made a few hand gestures, and suddenly the stallion felt an extremely strong force resisting against the scythe. As a result, the spinning slowed considerably, just enough so that Shanghai could pass through and she brought her weapon down on his shoulder. The attack burned, and the rapier cut through his flesh like a hot knife through butter.

The stallion screamed in pain before twisting the staff of his weapon, the blade jumping out to full length before he swung the scythe towards Shanghai's throat. But to his horror, the scythe did nothing on impact as Shanghai continued to gouge through his shoulder, reaching the bone and pushing down hard. After a moment, there was a sickening crack as his shoulder joint dislocated and Shanghai finished chopping the arm off, blood spurting from his partially cauterised shoulder.

The stallion's eyes went wide as his scythe clattered to the ground. He looked in fear at his wounds before he looked up at Shanghai… and gave a shaky smile. “Well played, mon amie,” he murmured before taking the knot of his tie in his teeth. “But let's see you take this!” Shanghai's instincts told her in that moment that whatever the stallion was doing was not good, and she rushed forward, hoping to stop him. She clearly wasn't worried about herself, she was invincible after all, she wanted to prevent this last-ditch attack from hurting Alexandria. Unfortunately, she was too slow. Just as she grabbed the stallion, a click sounded out and an explosion erupted from under his shirt.

But no worries were needed, as a dome of concrete rose over Alexandria, the blast washing over it, and when the blast faded, Ayis growled and rushed over to the ashes of the stallion, eyes glowing with rage. She raised a finger, muttering one word in Mana. “Vin.” She said lowly, and the ashes were absolutely gone. She then turned back to Alexandria, worry etching her features.

“Til la fita cun tu De?” she asked worriedly in her native tongue, having been so worried she naturally slipped into it.

Alexandria went and hugged Ayis tightly. “Te De V'i fi. Fan la,” she answered in the same language, Fallen, which Ayis had taught her over the months since they'd become Devoted. Ayis breathed a sigh of relief, kissing her Devoted deeply as she hugged her to herself.

On the other side of the room, the ax wielder swung his dual blades at Hikan once more. The hunter jumped out of the way, dancing back in as the blades slammed into the floor, the man twisting and swinging a spinning back kick at the stallion's head. The earth pony raised the ax blades quickly in front of him, the flat of the blades catching the kick. He threw the blades out, staggering Hikan before swinging one blade up and the other down in a scissor motion. Hikan moved his armored arms in front of him, intending to block the attack. “ARGH!” The man shouted in pain as the blades sank into the armor, the axes biting into his flesh underneath.

“Hey! Hands off!” Marisa shouted, swinging her broomstick and catching the stallion in the chest, staggering him away from Hikan. The stallion came to a stop and lifted his gaze to the witch and let out a growl before slamming the two halves of his ax back together and rushing her. He lifted the ax over his head and swung it down towards her, deadly intent oozing from him. Marisa swiftly sidestepped the attack, a grin on her face. She then gripped her broomstick and slammed it into the back of his head, turning his momentum against him as he was hurled face-first into the floor.

The stallion's hand and ax scraped against the floor as he pushed himself up from the floor. “I'mma make you pay for that,” he growled before lifting his ax and splitting it once more to be thrown at the witch, the blades spinning through the air as they rushed her. Marisa deftly dodged the two blades, remaining aware of their positions as she jumped onto her broomstick and accelerated towards the stallion. The pony grinned as he flicked his wrist, three blades ripping through his sleeve before he slashed forward with them towards the speeding witch, the blades of his ax turning in midair to rush at her back. Marisa grinned as she ducked on her broomstick, stars beginning to emanate from it.

Comet「Blazing Star」

Marisa then slammed into the stallion at an incredibly high speed. So high, in fact, that it seemed as if she passed straight through him and his arm blades' slash, decelerating rapidly behind him to avoid crashing into the wall. The stallion gripped at his stomach feeling the full force of the impact. Then the two ax blades reached him, and he wasn't ready to catch them. The stallion lifted his gaze only for his eyes to widen as a pair of sickening squelches filled the air. The stallion groaned as he fell to the floor, the ax blades protruding from his chest and stomach.

Hikan took several deep breaths as he looked at the pool of blood forming under the pony. “Thanks,” he muttered, looking towards Marisa.

“Heh, no problem,” Marisa answered with a grin as she hopped off her broomstick.

A soft thud jerked the hunter's gaze back to the platform where the boss stood, his suit jacket and shirt on the floor as he pulled on a pair of heavy metal gauntlets, the knuckles spiked. “Seems I have to do everything myself,” he muttered around his cigar before he took it from his mouth and dropped it to the floor, stomping on it with a hoof that left a small crater in the concrete. He jumped from the platform, his landing on the ground below sending out a tremor before he started to stalk towards them. “What a disappointment….” Alexandria eyed the pegasus carefully, Shanghai hanging back as well. Marisa decided not to make any rash decisions.

Arela was too exhausted to fight or move, and Ayis was protecting her Devoted from any harm, wings spread in front of her protectively. Starlight and Shell glanced towards one another before nodding. The two rushed towards the large stallion in a pincer maneuver. They quickly closed in on him as he stopped in the middle of the room, the unicorn swinging her sword towards his head while the Changeling aimed her flaming claws at his abdomen. Hikan blinked and a metallic clank and shink sounded as they opened again. Starlight was stopped against one of his metallic gauntlets, grinding sparks off of it as Shell stumbled from her claws sliding off the other. The stallion didn't even seem phased as he brought his knee up into Shell's stomach, the Changeling's eyes widening as air rushed from her lungs. He brought his hoof back down and planted it as Shell tumbled away, his fist rearing back and slamming into Starlight's torso. The mare's eyes bulged as she folded around the punch before being thrown across the room by the force.

Arela made to move, but couldn't, collapsing back to her knees. Ayis' eyes widened at how easily the pegasus dispatched Starlight and Shell, and backed up a bit, keeping Alexandria close behind her. Alexandria looked on in surprise, deciding that it would be best to remain behind Ayis for the time being. Marisa rushed over to Starlight.

“You okay?” she asked, giving Starlight a worried look as she crouched next to her.

Starlight winced and put a hand to her stomach before pulling it back to find blood dripping from her robes and hand. “Sh-Shit,” she gasped, folding over herself as she held her wounds.

Marisa's eyes widened. “DAI!” she shouted over her shoulder. Almost as she began to shout, Daiyousei rushed over.

“J-Just hold on Starlight,” Daiyousei said, slightly panicked. “I-I can't fix it all the way, b-but I think I should be able to stop the bleeding…” Daiyousei then gently put her hands on Starlight's stomach, the green glow of her healing ability flowing over Starlight. The pain eased a little, and the bleeding stopped, but Starlight was definitely still severely injured. She'd need medical attention later.

“Thanks…” Starlight muttered before her eyes widened as a shadow fell over them. The unicorn jerked her head up to see the boss standing over them with his fist already reared back. He threw his fist forward and Starlight squeezed her eyes shut as a blur moved in front of them. A loud bang sounded out as the spiked fist met with the flat of a large, wide-bladed sword with orange accents. Hikan glared past the sword at the stallion, arms still bleeding.

“My love…!” Arela managed to say, but couldn't move due to her exhaustion. Ayis watched this go on as she kept Alexandria safe, her wings around the girl. She looked worried, but knew she couldn't do anything to help. Alexandria looked on, wishing she could do something.

Hikan's gaze darted towards Arela before he looked back at the stallion once more with a snarl. “…What're you going to do? Little man?” the boss taunted.

Hikan pushed violently on his sword and shoved the pony back before lifting a leg and kicking the stallion in the chest. “You're dead,” the hunter said before Dorkifu started to glow brightly and buzz loudly. “Ace of Spades.” Armor spread over the man's chest and forearms, the sword growing longer and losing some of its width. Hikan looked up at the stallion before his visor formed. “Let's see you handle this!” He shouted before rushing forward and swinging out.

The boss jumped back to avoid the horizontal slash before Hikan lifted the blade and slashed down. The stallion lifted his gauntlet and diverted the sword, punching forward with his other fist. The hunter quickly took one hand off the hilt and lifted his arm to block the punch, crunching sounding out and the man wincing as the spikes once more tore into his armor.

“Hikan!” Alexandria shouted as she rushed forward, only to be stopped by Ayis' arm. She glanced at Ayis, who shook her head.

“No,” Ayis said. “I will protect you.” Alexandria turned back to look at Hikan again, a pained look in her eyes… Before she remembered that there was something she could do. She then reached down to her waist where her pouch was. She then pulled out one of Die Leaguer's Orbs, then threw it past Ayis straight at the large pegasus. The Orb found its target, who promptly burst into flames.

The boss roared in pain, tearing his gauntlet free from Hikan's arm as he stumbled back, trying to slap out the flames to little avail. “OI!” The stallion turned his eyes just in time to see Hikan's blade flashing towards him. The sword passed through his throat effortlessly, body slumping to the ground as the head rolled away. Hikan was left panting and holding his injured forearm. “Heads up, bitch,” he said. Arela panted as her armor disappeared, her halberd being used by her to keep herself up.

“Is filt la ta Graan,” she muttered, making Ayis chuckle.

“Damn Ar, didn't know you could use such language,” Ayis said.

“He deserves said language though,” Alexandria said before turning to Hikan. “Are you okay?”

“Banged up,” Hikan grunted as he straightened up and cancelled out the Ace, leaving him armorless, blood seeping from his puncture and slash wounds. “But I'll live.”

“Thank Lithg…” Arela managed, before collapsing to her face, knee no longer able to support her as she fell unconscious.

“Shit,” Hikan said, rushing to her side. “Dai!” Daiyousei quickly made her way over and swiftly inspected Arela with a trained eye she'd acquired working as the healer these past years. After a few moments, she pulled back, most of the urgency gone from her movements.

“Um, I think she's just tired…” Daiyousei said. “I don't think it's that big of a deal…”

Hikan let out a sigh of relief. “Thank god,” he muttered, bowing his head and slumping a bit.

“Hey Hikan, what's all this stuff?” Marisa called from the raised platform, standing over the table on it and looking over something on the tabletop. The man looked up to her before letting his head fall down again. With a grunt, he gets back to his feet and trudges over to the platform, taking the steps up to stand next to Marisa.

And his eyes widened. “…That's not possible,” he muttered. On the table sat an open briefcase, inside of which was a belt with a large, round buckle with an octagonal indent in it. Around the buckle sat some sort of metal or stone fragments that might have gone in the indent at some point.

“What is it?” Ayis called to him.

Hikan ripped his gaze from the belt and looked towards the angel. “It's another Tei-”

“WATCH OUT, BEHIND YOU!!” Elise suddenly shouted through Hikan's earpiece.

“HIKAN!” The man spun around with just enough time to spare to see a flash of turquoise light shine in front of him. Starlight's body jerked and everything stopped. The man's eyes widened and he looked down to see a column of red protruding from Starlight's stomach and stabbing into his. Insane laughter filled the air before the red spear was pulled from their bodies with a sickening suction noise. Hikan started to fall forward, but had just enough wit left to reach his arms out and catch Starlight as they fell, putting his body under hers when they hit the ground.

The man looked down at the unicorn, tears forming in his eyes. “Star…?” He said quietly. The mare didn't move for several moments before she lifted her eyes to look over her shoulder with pain filled eyes and a fake smirk on her face.

“Told you I'd… save your ass… someday,” she gasped out between breaths before laying her head back down and going still. Hikan stared at her for several moments before black spots started to take his vision. Soon, his eyes closed and his head hit the ground, unwept tears falling down his face. Manic laughter once again filled the room as the blood spilled under the two began to collate to one position.

“Star! Boss!” Ayis cried in shock. Alexandria gasped, putting a hand to her mouth.

“No…” she whispered. Marisa was shocked speechless. Daiyousei began to tear up and turned to Marisa, grabbing the witch's dress and burying her face in it as she began sobbing. Marisa put her arms around the Fairy, but was still dumbfounded as she continued to stare at her two friends' corpses.

“Seems the mighty hunters aren't so invincible as the bug claimed!” A high pitched voice said cheerfully, followed soon by mad cackling. “Maybe the council will reward me for bringing back their heads! Let's start with the angels!” The sound of rushing liquid filled the air again before shadows fell on Ayis and Arela.

But just then, a massive shockwave and woosh of wind knocked the forming blood spears away like they were nothing, and all present turned to see Asala standing there, purple reptilian eyes filled with icy rage.

“I see some filth has decided to torture my pupils,” he said in his smooth, Italian voice. Gone was the warmth and politeness in his voice. All there was was ice. Literally. The ground was freezing over. “How despicable.” Asala looked to Starlight and Hikan, then, in another shockwave and woosh of wind, they were gone, and Asala was still where he was, as if he had teleported them away without any light. “So, shall we see who wins this bout?” he asked.

“Ohhhh, how sweet!” The high pitched voice echoed out, before a clip-clop from the corner of the room announced the presence of the new player. A mottled gray and white stallion stepped out of the shadows, wearing a dapper little suit with coat tails, a black diamond plastered to his right eye. “A hero comes to save the damsels in distress! Oh, it's almost like a fairy tale come true!” The pony paused to throw his head back and laugh maniacally at his own joke… only to cut short as the floor shook.

From the wall behind Asala, a monstrous, glowing head forced its way through the concrete. The beast stepped fully into the room, towering over the Arcosian as it solidified. Smoke gray feathers on off-white scales, four wings spread out over its head as red crystals jutted from its shoulders. The demon reared up on its hind-legs, freeing its four forelegs to show off the pair of hands that were more claw than hands, red orbs pulsing in their palms. Cataclysm let out a roar that shook the building, the jester actually balking a little.

“...Oh, dear…” he muttered. Asala was suddenly in front of him, and the next thing the stallion knew, there was a gaping hole in his knee. Alexandria and Marisa blinked in surprise. “GAH!” The stallion screamed, dropping back onto the hard floor. He looked up at the alien before scooting back a little and raising his fingers as if to snap, a snarl forming on his face. “Big mistake!” He hissed before snapping his fingers… and going wide-eyed as nothing happened. He looked up at Asala and gulped. “Uh-oh.” Asala leaned down to the stallion, letting him take in his full icy rage.

“You know… In my day, I was known by many fearful names, all told to children to scare them in the long winter nights,” Asala swiped his fingers, chopping the other stallion's raised digits off, only for the blood spurting out to painfully freeze over. “Chilled Soul…. Demon of the Tundra… The Coldest Wind…” he said, each title ending with a lower voice, before Asala pointed a finger at the Stallion's elbow, and a beam of purple energy shot out, creating another gaping hole in his elbow. The wound, like his fingers, froze as well. “I despise them to this day. But, for these short few moments of your life…” Asala's eyes glowed with baleful light, “...You shall know why they called me such.” Asala then proceeded to litter the stallion with holes, until most of his body was frozen over. He was still alive, but barely. Holes riddled his arms and legs, all the holes frozen over, the same able to be said for his chest, but nothing hit his heart or neck. “Now, worm. Do you understand?” Asala asked, pointing a finger straight at the stallion's head, but waiting for a reply nonetheless.

The stallion stared up at the alien, fear replacing the mad joy that had filled his eyes only moments ago. His lip trembled as he tried to form his last word. “M… Mommy…” He squeaked. Asala laughed, the sound cold, like the rumble of an avalanche. Asala leaned over to the stallion's ear.

“No mother would love a son such as you,” he whispered, before blowing a hole straight through his skull, the hole immediately freezing over. The stallion's eyes glassed over as the life faded from him. The ground shook as Cataclysm walked up behind the alien.

'You didn't save any for me….' A voice suddenly boomed out into the minds of all present.

“Apologies. My anger got to me,” Asala said, straightening up as he turned to the others. “Come, everyone. It's time to leave this nest of filth.”

“Woah, just a moment,” Marisa said. “Did Cat just-”

'Yes, Miss Marisa, I did,' the demon answered, whirling in place and putting his foreclaws back on the floor to walk towards the unconscious Arela. 'At the moment, however, I'm worried about getting everyone else home, not the fact that you can hear me.'

“Right,” Alexandria said. “We should take the Teigu from the guys here on the raised platform too. It would be a bad idea to leave those out in the open here.” Alexandria then walked to the table and closed the case before picking it up. Marisa had already been searching the corpse of the stallion that had made the blood spears.

“Hello, this looks interestin'…” she said, coming to the stallion's finger. On it was a silver ring with an ornament shaped like a dragon's head on it. There was a blue gemstone embedded into the dragon's forehead. Oddly, this ring was the sole object on the stallion's body that had escaped Asala's icy wrath. “This thing is probably a Teigu. Even if it's not, it's still pretty cool lookin',” Marisa said to herself as she took the ring.

Shell slowly picked herself up off the ground, eyes glued to where she had last seen Hikan and Starlight. She made to step forward only to stumble as her hoof clipped something metallic. She looked down to find the scythe laying at her hooves. Slowly, she reached down and picked it up in her hands, her knuckles going white in her grip.

Asala scanned the room, noting the disarray it was in. He sighed, shaking his head, before walking over to one of the bodies and picking up the ax. He gazed at it for a long moment, then sighed once more and began walking to the entrance of the room, muttering phrases in a language none of them fully recognized. Alexandria looked at the rest of the group. She closed her eyes and exhaled heavily. When she opened her eyes again, they were much more determined.

“Alright guys, let's get this stuff back to base and safely locked away,” she said, taking charge in Hikan's absence. “It seems like Asala has taken care of the hostages anyway.” Cataclysm walked past her, Arela cradled in his less feral arms before they glowed in a golden light and became slightly transparent as the Nil Dragon walked into and through a wall. Shell nodded her head numbly and made her way to the stairs, still clutching onto the scythe. Asala followed after them, Ayis doing the same. Alexandria let Marisa and Daiyousei leave ahead of her before taking up the rear.

Once outside the warehouse, the group saw the familiar form of Ronzul, who had mysteriously disappeared on the way to said warehouse. They saw him planting cylindrical, cloth covered and metal filled objects against the supports of the building. After planting one more, he noticed them and waved.

“Oi! How'd it go in there? Sorry Ah weren't with ya, Ah found a group o' Circle mooks hanging 'round mah favorite drinkin' hole. Couldn't have that, ya know?” he told them.

“Wait, you weren't with us?” Ayis queried, then blinked. “Oh. Huh. Can't believe we forgot you. You were so silent on the way here that we must not have noticed.” Ronzul laughed heartily.

“Probably comes from bein' part elf on me Mam's side, lass! And yew know those elves, always sneaking and lurking,” he said. He shook his head. “Anyways, Ah was jus' finishing with these charges.”

“I see. Then it seems we shall be getting fireworks,” Asala said, a grin likely under his mask. Shell simply kept walking. If she heard the conversation, she didn't show it, simply… kept walking home. Marisa grinned.

“Shame I don't know how to set that kinda stuff up,” she said. “As the supposed demolitionist, I'm obligated to blow shit up. Mind if I push the button?” Alexandria just shook her head at that with a grin. Ronzul grinned, gesturing to the string of fuses that were tied together, leading a good twenty feet back to safety.

“Be mah guest, lass,” he said, stepping back to where the fuse ended. Marisa followed him, rubbing her hands together giddily.

“Alrighty, looks like a fire's gonna be needed,” she said. “Good thing I specialize in heat magic.” With that, Marisa brought her hands together and placed them a foot above the fuse ends. After a few moments, the air near the ends seemed to begin shimmering, and after several moments more, the buildup of heat caused the fuse to ignite.

“Git back e'eryone! Place is gonna go kablooey!” Ronzul yelled, rushing for cover. Asala did so, Ayis grabbing Alexandria and flying for cover with the others. Marisa peeked around the cover and watched as the fuses burned up to the building.

“Aaaaaaaaand…” she said quietly in anticipation. A moment later and the building went up in a glorious fireball.

“HAHAHA! Take that, ya right kilvas!” Ronzul laughed. Asala watched the flames engulf the building for a while with the others, and then looked to where Shell was, seeing that she was farther from the group than she should be. He floated over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder whilst the others enjoyed the sight of the flaming building.

“Miss?” he queried.

Shell jumped at the contact and swung her wide and frightened eyes to look at the alien. “O-Oh… I'm sorry…” she said quietly, gaze going to the ground. Asala shook his head.

“No need to be, Miss…?” he began, raising an eyeridge.

“Shell,” she answered quietly, hands wringing the staff of the scythe.

“Yes, right, Shell. Apologies, I realized I did not know any of your names,” he said, before shaking his head once more. “But back to the matter at hand. You're leaving the safety of the group. Are you alright?”

Shell looked up at him and stared before her lip started to tremble and tears flooded her eyes. Silently, she closed her eyes and shook her head as she looked down.

Asala's mask retracted into the sides of the bone-like substance framing his face, showing his frown. He wrapped his arm fully around her, then looked to the sky.

“...This is about the two who fell, yes?” he guessed. The Changeling nodded her head slowly. He was silent for a while. “They should be fine, so do not worry. All we can do now, is hope for the best, and keep moving forward.”

“B-but,” Shell stuttered, looking up at him once more. “H-Hikan always knew what to do, a-and Starlight, she-she-” The Changeling had to stop as her throat tightened up, making it impossible for her to continue.

“Life does not care for feelings. It is unwavering in its resolve. So, in turn, so we must be,” Asala said sagely, squeezing the Changeling's shoulder. He looked down at her. “Hikan and Starlight, while bearing grievous wounds, are being treated as we speak. Once they wake up, which they will, you must be ready to continue.”

The Changeling sniffled and looked up at him. “H-how do you know all this?” She asked in a hoarse whisper. “One second they w-were on the floor bl-bleeding out and the next they were… they were just gone….” Asala simply smiled at her, though she could feel it was sad.

“Do you recall the names and titles I listed off earlier?” At her nod, he continued. “I have seen much death, Miss Shell. I have seen ponies, malnourished and broken bodied, force themselves to stand up through sheer force of will. With the resolve I have witnessed in those two, I have no doubts they will make it out alive.” He winked at her. “Not to mention I can sense their life energy. It's dim, but slowly regaining its ground.”

Her eyes widened at that and her hand shot up to grab his arm. “Where?” She asked frantically. “Where are they?” Asala gently moved her hand off his arm.

“At the fort. Do not worry, they are safe,” he assured her. The Changeling hadn't even heard the last part as she immediately turned and started running through the streets of Canterlot, forgetting to even put on her disguise as she sprinted through the city. Asala chuckled, and flew after her, easily matching her speed. “Why don't I take you there? I can go much faster.” He offered, opening his arms to her as he flew while she ran. The Changeling practically jumped into his arms when he said this, her eyes flaring for a second in green flame.

“Hurry,” she said, her voice far more demanding than anything she'd used before, but the fear and worry tinging it gave her tone another meaning. Asala smiled and nodded, zooming off at insane speeds, making the Changeling clutch his body to keep from falling or slipping.

Elise was near the front door of the fort, waiting somewhat nervously. The wisp and earpiece she'd been given had both vanished suddenly shortly after the surprise spike in energy she'd tried to warn Hikan about. Not too long after that though, a strange pod of sorts had appeared in the base. She didn't know what it was for, but it worried her somehow. She was also worried about the safety of the others. After all, if they all died… Then where would she go? She didn't have anywhere to stay except this place the assassins had generously offered her.

Suddenly, and without warning, the doors to the base slammed open as Shell stood in the doorway, eyes flaring with green flame. “Where are they!?”

“JESUS CHRIST!” Elise shouted in surprise, jumping a good seven inches off the ground, and moving backwards a few inches in the process. The Changeling marched through the doors, eldritch flame jumping from her hooves with every step until she was face to face with the young woman. The short princess leaned away a bit, her personal space violated.

“I said,” the Changeling growled. “Where. Are. They?” Despite the flames in her eyes and aggression in her tone, the echo of worry and fear that still permeated her voice were still there, if not magnified. Elise guessed that she was probably really worried about Hikan.

“Uh… I dunno for sure, but shortly after I lost contact with you guys, a weird-looking pod appeared in the medical room, maybe you'd wa-” Elise began to say before Shell was gone like a rocket, leaving scorch marks on the floor behind her. Asala walked in the door then.

“Sorry about her. She is quite worried,” Asala said politely.

“I, uh, figured as much,” Elise said, staring after the Changeling with a raised eyebrow. She then turned to Asala. “What about the others? Are they okay, or is it just you two that're left?”

“They are on their way, so do not worry,” Asala told her. He patted her shoulder before walking further into the fort and past her. “I will be in the training room, should anyone have need of me.” With that, he left.

After a little more time, Alexandria and the others came through the front door. “There you are,” Elise said.

“Yeah, sorry, we were watching some fireworks, hehe,” Ayis said with a manic yet goofy grin.

“Quite the amazin' display too,” Marisa added with a similar grin.

“I… see,” Elise said. “Anyway, I don't think you've introduced yourselves yet. You probably already heard this from that hag from before, but you can call me Elise.”

“Yeah, Yukari did say somethin' like that,” Marisa said. “The name's Marisa Kirisame, a human magician.”

“My name is Alexandria Kijin,” Alexandria said. “I'm half human, half Yokai.” She then gestured to Shanghai. “And this is Shanghai,” she added.

“I'm Alexandria's Fairy,” Shanghai said cheerfully. “Nice to meet you!”

“I'm Daiyousei,” Daiyousei spoke up. “And I'm a Greater Fairy.”

“Ayis Filya VII, Fallen Angel,” Ayis introduced, waving to Elise. She then gestured to Nyilla, who was on her shoulder. “This is Nyilla, my little Fairy.”

“Hey,” Nyilla said dismissively with a half-hearted wave.

“'Ello, lass. Name's Ronzul. Ah helped build this 'ere fort. Hope it's to yer likin',” Ronzul introduced himself, giving a little bow of his head.

“Yeah, I looked around a bit,” Elise answered. “It's well-built. Anyway, glad to finally know all your names.”

“Yeah. Say, where's Gaelle? I wanna see how my little girl is doing,” Ayis queried.

“Ah, yeah, I met her while exploring,” Elise said. “Last I saw her, she was in the common area.”

“Sweet,” Ayis turned to Alexandria. “You wanna come with me to see her?”

“First I need to make sure these Teigu get stored safely,” Alexandria said. “I'd be happy to go see Yis afterwards though.”

“Alright then,” Ayis gave her Devoted a quick kiss on the cheek and a slap on the ass. “See ya there.” She then walked off, a sway in her hips.

“'Teigu',” Elise said. “The winged man mentioned that word too, but I dunno what it means.”

“Hikan,” Alexandria supplied. “And Teigu are really powerful tools, often weapons, that can be extremely destructive in the wrong hands. We're keeping the ones we find locked up tight so that the Circle, the organization we're fighting, doesn't get their filthy hands on them. Hikan has his own Teigu that he uses, and I've got one too.”

“I see…” Elise said. “So, are more of you gonna start using the ones you just found?”

“Not necessarily…” Alexandria said. “Teigu can be very picky about who uses them. If rejected, it's extremely painful, and sometimes deadly.”

“That's… Definitely something,” Elise said. Alexandria and Marisa moved to leave. After a few moments of silence, Elise chased them and stopped them. “W-Wait,” she said.

“Yeah?” Alexandria asked.

“I, uh, wanna look at the Teigu you've got,” she said. “With Hikan gone, I won't be able to offer support… So I won't have anything to contribute. I don't wanna be a mooch, living here without doing anything in return, so I wanna see if one of your Teigu will accept me.”

Alexandria was quiet for a few moments. “…Alright,” she finally said. “Just as long as you know that you're risking death if one rejects you.”

“I'll be ready,” Elise said, determined.

“Alright, come with us,” Alexandria said. Alexandria then lead Elise to the armory. Once there, she went up to a large safe. She inputted a combination and the safe opened. Inside was the ax and scythe from before, presumably put there by Asala, and also L'Arc Qui Ne Faut.

“Is that a bow?” Elise asked, referring to L'Arc.

“Yeah,” Marisa said. “But I wouldn't try it if I were you. It's notoriously pissy to us, havin' rejected everyone.”

“Alexandria said these things're picky, right?” Elise responded. “It'd make sense for it to reject everyone then; it just hasn't found the owner it wants yet.” Elise turned to look at the bow Teigu. “I've always been fond of Archers,” she said. “Can't say I'm good with a bow, but…” She hesitated for a moment, as if thinking deeply about something. “I'd be willing to try using it. Does it have a name?”

“Hikan called it 'L'Arc Qui Ne Faut',” Alexandria said.

“Hmmm…” Elise hummed. “Does it do anything special?”

“You're supposed to be able to call a name, and then the arrow'll hit that target, guaranteed,” Marisa said.

Elise was silent again for a few moments. Then she walked into the safe and picked up L'Arc, slipping the quiver onto her back. She took an arrow and nocked it. “Now what?” she asked. “Who should I call out?”

“Go for Shanghai,” Marisa said. “She'll be able to take it.”

“Yeah,” Shanghai said. “It won't hurt me.”

Elise was a bit hesitant. “…Okay, if you say so…” she said, stepping out of the safe as Alexandria and Marisa put the case and ring inside. The two stepped out of the safe as well, and Marisa stepped away from Alexandria. Elise went and stood about twenty feet away from Alexandria, and turned to face away. She took a deep breath, then drew the bowstring, aiming for the wall in front of her. “…Shanghai!” she shouted, letting the arrow fly a moment later. The arrow flew straight… for half a second before suddenly redirecting in midair and whizzing past Elise's ear. The arrow then made a beeline for Shanghai, who was still on Alexandria's shoulder. The arrow made solid contact, striking Shanghai right in the face, the only part of her exposed over Alexandria's shoulder. Elise turned just in time to see this. Shanghai shook her head as the arrow clattered to the floor.

“See, I'm perfectly fine!” she said with a cheerful smile.

“So, how excruciatin' is the pain?” Marisa asked.

“Uh…” Elise said hesitantly. “…There's no pain.”

Marisa was silent for a good five seconds. “…What. Are you tellin' me the infamous L'Arc Qui Ne Faut, the pickiest Teigu we've seen so far, accepted you?”

“Yes, Marisa, it looks like that's the case,” Alexandria said in a slightly exasperated tone as she closed the safe. The safe locked itself with a deep, echoing clunk. Alexandria then turned to Elise. “Which means… Congratulations on your Teigu.”

“Ah, um, thanks I guess,” Elise said, not sure what to think.

“You said you weren't very skilled with the bow, right?” Alexandria said, receiving a hesitant nod from Elise. “Then maybe Asala would be able to tutor you. You'll need to get better now that L'Arc chose you. Anyway, I'll be going to see Ayis and Yis now.” Alexandria then waved to Elise and left.

“Ugh, no use standin' around here,” Marisa said to Elise. “C'mon, let's go find somethin' to do.” With that, Marisa left the armory, Elise slowly following a few moments later.

Within the infirmary, all was calm… for a grand total of three seconds before Shell came rushing in, flames practically pouring out of her hands, hooves, and eyes. She peered inside, chest heaving before she suddenly straightened up and the flames died in an instant. Her eyes stared straight ahead as she stepped forward shakily, walking towards the black pod in the corner of the room. The orange glass at the front of the chamber showed the inside where Hikan sat in the back, his arms wrapped around Starlight. Their wounds still bled, if the reddish liquid floating from the holes to the top of the pod were any sort of evidence. Hikan's Dorkifu was the only answer to the sudden pod, as his wings seemed to have been bent and wrapped to form part of it while the gauntlets on his arms seemed to be connected to the walls from where they were wrapped around the unicorn's torso.

Shell stopped mere inches from the chamber and put her hand to the glass. They both looked… so peaceful. Tears welled up in the Changeling's eyes once more and she broke down again, falling to her knees as her head bowed and hand stayed pressed against the pod.

'...Mother really cares about you.' The sudden voice had the insectoid gasping and jumping up, whirling around to see Cataclysm's ethereal form lay Arela on a medical bed, her body becoming solid once more. The Nil Dragon didn't glance her way as he seemed to shrink down. The reduction in size didn't stop until the demon stood at about nine feet tall, slowly lowering himself down to stand on all six claws as he, too, returned to solid form. He turned to face the Changeling to show off the brilliant emerald irises in his once solid red eyes… and the tears that stayed trapped in them. 'She loves all of you very much….'

Shell could say nothing as the demon bowed his head and walked over to the side of the pod, lowering himself down and curling up beside it so that his side was pressing against the container. It was only then that Cataclysm allowed his tears to run down the side of his face.

“Il sangue non c acqua,” came the words of Asala. The two turned to the door to find him there, wearing a suit and slacks with a red undershirt and bolo tie, along with white glasses. “In other words, 'Blood is thicker than water.'” He approached the pod, gazing inside. “I'd say you all are quite a good family. Your worry is proof of that.” He glanced to Shell, then back to the pod. “I am sure your family members will survive, and when they are back in shape, you can rest easy.” He tapped the side of his head with a finger. “Trust the teacher. I've been at this longer than most.”

Shell was quiet for a long while, staring up at the Arcosian before she looked back to the pod. “…How long do you think it will take?” She asked, her voice still constricted from her weeping. Asala looked back to the pod, humming in thought.

“…I'd say about three days, give or take,” he surmised. Shell glanced at him for a moment before taking one last look at the figures behind the orange glass. She gave a sigh and stood to her hooves.

“Anyone hungry?” She asked, her voice quiet. Asala chuckled.

“My dear girl, I am famished,” he told her. Shell nodded her head to him before looking towards the demon still laying against the pod. Cataclysm glanced up at her before slowly nodding his head a few times and curling in a bit tighter on himself.

Shell looked sadly at the Nil Dragon for a moment. “…I'll be right back, then,” said in a hoarse voice before turning and making her way towards the kitchen.

Asala watched her go, frowning as she was obviously still distraught. He looked back to the pod, and hummed in thought. He then placed his hand on the pod, and a purple energy flowed over it briefly, before he retracted his hand.

“There. Now they should waken by tomorrow,” he said, before his stomach growled. “Although that just made me infinitely more hungry…”

Not much later, Shell came back with a tray of sandwiches of different varieties… and a large side of meat that looked like it had been taken straight off a meat hook. “I didn't know what you liked, so I just made whatever combinations I could think of,” the Changeling said, coming to set the tray down on an empty bed before dragging the meat over to Cat. “And this of course is for you.” The demon's tail thumped against the ground a few times before he lifted his head and pulled the morsel to him, biting into it and tearing out a large chunk.

Asala gratefully took the tray. “Thank you, Miss Shell,” he said, before his mask retracted and he took one sandwich and inhaled it, then another, and another, and another, until the tray was empty. He lifted it. “Might I have seconds?” he asked politely.

Shell blinked for several moments. “…Tell me truthfully,” she said. “How many more trays could you eat?”

“About fifty,” Asala answered without a beat. Shell blinked again before turning towards the door again.

“I will probably be a few minutes more,” she said as she walked away. “I'm going to see if I can't recruit some of the guards to sandwich duty… and perhaps get someone to run to the market….” Cataclysm looked up as the Changeling left, licking some of the blood from his maw before he looked towards Asala. Ever so slowly, the Nil Dragon drew his meal closer to him.

“What?” Asala queried at the dragon's action. “I'm not going to eat your meat. I am not some impolite barbarian.”

'Merely a precaution…' the demon replied before returning to his meal.

Asala sighed at this and quietly waited for Shell to return.

Just as promised, the wait was noticeably longer before the Changeling returned, this time carrying two trays. “Luckily, there will be more where these came from,” she said, setting the trays down before moving off to take her own seat. “However, we did have to send a few guards off to run some errands.”

“Apologies for any trouble caused,” Asala said as he ate two sandwiches in seconds. “To be honest, I am normally not like this, as I do not usually use up as much ki as I did earlier.” He swallowed two more sandwiches in one go. “Using my innate Frost Demon abilities is more draining than some of my other skills and abilities, and thus I have gained a good appetite.” He sighed. “At least this isn't like back then…”

Shell looked at him before closing her eyes for a moment and reaching her senses towards the Arcosian, using her Changeling abilities to read his emotions. She felt a load, nay, a tsunami of sorrow from him, along with regret and guilt. There was also rage. So much rage.

Shell let go of her ability as if dropping a hot iron, letting out a pained gasp as she did. Asala looked to her with some worry, the previous thought disappearing from his mind.

“Are you alright, Miss Shell?” he queried. The Changeling looked up at him with wide eyes before shaking her head and clearing it.

“I… I tried to…” she stuttered out before looking up at him again, her eyes softer. “I tried to read your emotions….” She fell quiet and waited for his response. Asala's eyes widened slightly, and he glanced to the entrance of the room, then scanned for anyone else. When he found no one, he sighed and put the tray of sandwiches down, walking over to Shell and sitting by her.

“…So you saw my rage and sorrow, then,” he surmised. The Changeling nodded her head at that and looked away ashamedly.

“I'm sorry…” she said quietly. “I was curious… it… I shouldn't have done it….” Asala was quiet for a long time. When Shell made to further apologize, he surprised her by wrapping an arm around her.

“…My youth was not pretty. I was treated as a glorified machine of war, and nothing else. I received no freedoms save for what I wished to eat, and at times, even that was taken from me,” Asala began. He was shaking a bit now. “…The things I was forced to do… They can never be taken back. I can only hope God can forgive me for my sins.” He released her. “Do not worry for me. And next time, please, ask before checking my emotions.” He walked back over to the tray and continued eating in silence.

Shell stared at his back for several minutes before looking down at the floor in front of her. Hesitantly, she made her way to her hooves. “Please excuse me,” she said quietly. “I need to ask Ayis and Alexandria if I can feed off their love…. I will return… eventually.” With that, she made her way towards the door again.

“A final note, Miss Shell,” Asala said suddenly. She stopped. “…Thank you for your concern. It is appreciated.” The Changeling looked at him for a moment before she nodded her head in a pseudo bow before turning back and walking out the door.

'…That went well.' Asala sighed deeply.

“It could have gone better, yes,” he admitted, eating another sandwich. “…But even a gentleman has his flaws. Mine is my rage.”

The demon gave a soft rumble at this. 'Everyone has rage inside them,' the Nil Dragon said, chewing on the end of a bone. 'Some simply have more of it. I believe you and Hikan would agree on that.'

“…A wise statement,” Asala replied simply, eating two more sandwiches.

Cataclysm rumbled again, deep in his throat. He chewed on the bone for a few more bites before it snapped, the demon starting to suck on the marrow. Silence reigned for several long minutes before he suddenly paused and looked towards Arela's resting form. A breath blew itself from his nose and he looked towards the ground. 'Who will tell her when she wakens?'

“…I believe that should be left up to the others. I am not in the right position to be doing so. I don't even know most of the names of those who call this place home,” Asala said. He stood up. “With that said, I believe I should go remedy that.” With that, he left, taking the trays with him. Cataclysm stared after him as he went before laying his head down and slowly moving his tail so that the feathers at the end rested over the angel.

End of Chapter 3

Chapter 4: Power Levels Rising

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 1: Chaos and Havoc

Arela points to a word and an accompanying diagram in the book she'd given to Starlight and I. “Try again. Alos,” she says, a small rune appearing in her palm before a storm appears in its place, dissipating quickly. “Channel your inner frustration, your confusion, into the rune lattices as you make them.”

Starlight nods her head before she holds up her palm and tries it once more. “Alos,” she says, the rune forming before repeating what had happened with Arela's spell… only it's smaller.

“Good, good, but try and keep the lattices more precise. That way the spell is more powerful,” Arela explains.

I've been observing both Arela and Starlight as they performed the spell, wanting to see some examples before trying it. Seeing Starlight succeed, I finally make my first attempt at the spell. I hold up my palm and read the rune. “Alos,” I say. The rune appears in my palm, glowing brightly before disappearing, and… nothing else happens.

Hikan's sitting nearby watching the little lesson with a smile on his face. He glances at Shell as she sits next to Arela, jerking her hand and saying, “alos” over and over again, but having no luck at all with it. He grunts a bit, looking to his shoulder and seeing Cataclysm with his four front legs on the back of the bench, watching the landscape go by. He shakes his head again and settles back in, closing his eyes.

“Hmm… That's strange, it should have worked. You did everything perfectly from what I can tell,” Arela says, humming in thought as she looks at me.

I think it over for a few moments. “Well, the magic that I can already use is purely inherited,” I start, half talking to myself as I think out loud. “I haven't had to practice it at all… Maybe my body isn't used to learning new magic somehow, if that makes any sense?” Arela hums in thought.

“I suppose…” She looks to Starlight, seeing her practice over and over. She giggles. “Don't get too magic happy, Starlight. You could accidentally create a real storm.”

Starlight's latest attempt fades and she clenches her hand and pulls it back into her lap. “Sorry,” she says, giving a sheepish grin. “I just get a little too into learning new spells.”

“It's fine, really,” Arela says. Starlight smiles before her head turns to look at Cataclysm as his claws start to click against the window, the outskirts of Canterlot coming into view as we start to pull into the mountain city.

Hikan opens his eyes and leans his head back to look out the window. “Ladies,” he says. “Welcome to Canterlot.”

I look out the window and am awestruck by the large city. “Wow…” I say quietly.

“It's huge…!” Shanghai adds from my shoulder.

“Wow… It's almost like Koganusan…” Arela breathes. Hikan looks at her. “A very famous dwarven city, known as the Capital of Trade and nicknamed 'The Laboring City' by Lleiyans back in the day. It had large statues of the twin ancestors, Rickul and Grosh, on either side of it's gilded gates.”

“Oh,” Hikan says, blinking before giving a smile. “That sounds a lot like Canterlot. Certainly a place for the hustle and bustle of trade and economy, though, here, Celestia and Luna rule the heavens.”

“That sounds like Triyte and Litgh,” Arela notes, before shaking her head. “Either way, I loved Koganusan. My mother used to take me there for the famous Dwarven treat, rsiuli. Gods, I loved that stuff.”

“Well,” Starlight says, getting to her hooves and letting Cataclysm jump up onto her shoulders. “Let's hope you enjoy it here, too.” It isn't long before the train pulls into the station, brakes screeching as we come to a stop. We make our way off the train, stepping onto the platform as the sun is starting to make its descent in the sky.

“Alright, guys,” Hikan says, taking in a breath of air. “First things first, we need a place to st-” A loud growl interrupts him and, as he turns his head to follow its direction, Shell puts a hand to her stomach, eyes wide in embarrassment.

“U-um,” the disguised Changeling stammers before giving a nervous smile. “Excuse me…?”

“Seems like someone's hungry,” I note with a grin. Shell gives a nervous breath of laughter. Hikan watches for a moment before he puts his hand to the pouch at his hip.

“Hm…” Hikan hums, thinking for a moment. “There should be enough for us to get a good meal before we start trying to ration…. Any preferences for what we eat?”

I shake my head. “Don't worry about me,” I say. “Being half Yokai, I don't need to eat as often as humans.” I then glance at Starlight. “Or ponies, I guess,” I add.

“I'm curious if they have something that milord had me try once, I believe they were called… donuts?” Arela says, finger to her chin as her brow furrows in thought adorably.

“I do remember Twilight telling me about her favorite pastry shop,” Starlight says. “I could actually go for some Bitalian food right about now….”

Hikan is quiet for a moment before he lifts a finger. “How about… we find a Bitalian place for dinner, then go to Donut Joe's for dessert,” he says, ignoring the surprised look from Starlight. “How's that sound to you guys?”

“Again, I won't be eating, so I'm fine doing whatever,” I answer.

“I love it, let's do it,” Arela says with a smile.

Hikan nods and smiles before turning and pumping his fist into the air. “To food!” He says excitedly before heading towards the platform booth to get a map of the city. With the map in hand, and several odd looks in our direction, he begins to lead us through the city, following the route the ticket pony had provided us. Shanghai is looking around in awe, oblivious to the surprised looks she's getting.

Arela is likewise looking around in awe, although she is noticing the stares. She shivers as the few pegasi around stare at her wings in particular. Hikan mostly ignored the crowd before the angel shivered.

“Hey,” he says softly, slowing down to keep pace with her. “What's wrong?”

“J-Just a few lustful stares, I-It's fine, I got a lot back home, too,” she says unconvincingly.

Hikan raises a brow before looking out at the crowd. He lifts his hand and puts his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in protectively. “C'mon,” he says quietly. “Let's just find that Bitalian joint.” She nods, leaning into him as they walk. After a few more minutes of walking we find our way to the front of a mostly white building with a deep purple roof. Gold cursive writing above the door spells out, “La Mela Dorata.” We go inside and find that the line, though moving, is rather backed up. Arela frowns, but continues leaning into her Devoted.

“I'm glad I don't need to eat yet,” I comment, eyeing the line with a small frown. Then, out of nowhere, a small, heavy bronze looking box falls on Hikan's head. A note is attached to it.

“GAK!” Hikan starts, his head falling forward as the box falls towards the ground before getting caught in a turquoise aura. Starlight levitates the box up into her hands as the man rubs his head. Taking the note in her other hand, she starts to read it out loud.

“Hello, young Hikan. This is Stateran. I nearly forgot to give this to you. It is a Bali, a great weapon of the dwarves. It only requires you to fill it's cartridge with magic to reload. As for the appearance of it, on your head, I figured it would be easier to displace it with my temporal magic. Sorry if it hit you on the head, I was aiming for in front of you. The magic must be raw alone. Any kind will work, as long as it is raw. It refines it itself. Also, this is a top of the line model, from the peak of the dwarven empire, so treat it well. Signed, Stateran.” Starlight looks up with a confused look. “Why on Terra would he give you a weapon of mass destruction?”

Hikan looks up with an annoyed look. “Why would anyone ever give anyone else a weapon of mass destruction as a gift?” I ask, an eyebrow raised. Another note falls, this time landing on Hikan's face. The assassin pulls the note off, his brow ticking a little before he reads it out.

“This item has been given to you because I have seen your future, and it is not pretty. You will need this weapon. I cannot say when, but it will happen. Know that I never give these out anymore, as the war during the Cataclysm of Lleiya saw so many of these in bandit hands that I had to intervene. Don't make me come down there and retake it. Sorry that I didn't explain this on the first note, there was little room. Stateran,” Hikan finishes, putting the note down with a pat of his hands against his sides. “Well… I'll just take that and put it somewhere safe.” He plucks the box from Starlight's hand and sticks it into the pouch on his belt.

He looks up to see several ponies staring at them, some putting a protective arm around their children. “...What, you guys don't get gifts from Gods?” The man asks the crowd, looking around. Some seem even more worried and others just roll their eyes, but the effect was the same as they all look away. The rest of the wait is much less eventful and eventually we make it to the podium to be seated.

“Welcome to La Mela Dorata,” the hostess greets, looking at her chart of open tables. “How many are in your-” she looks up and goes wide-eyed when she sees us. “...party?”

“Um,” Hikan hums, looking around and doing a quick head count. “A table for five please.”

The mare blinks for a few seconds before tearing her eyes away and looking towards her chart again. “Uh, t-table or booth?” She asks, looking up again, albeit nervously.

“Hm… guys?” Hikan questions, looking at each of us.

“Again, doesn't really matter much to me,” I say.

“A booth sounds good to me,” Arela says, nuzzling Hikan's arm.

“Definitely booth,” Starlight agrees.

The hunter nods before giving a smile and looking back to the hostess. “Booth, please.” The mare nods her head and grabs some menus and silverware rolls.

“If you'd please follow me,” she says, before leaving the podium and walking further into the restaurant. Hikan nods and follows after her, putting a hand over Arela's as Shell, Starlight and I follow. She leads us through to the back of the restaurant to a booth that hugs and curves with the corner of the building. She sets the places before stepping back to let us take our seats. Hikan moves out of the way to let us take our seats first. Arela pulls Hikan with her to the back of the booth, then pats a spot next to Hikan for Starlight, giving her a knowing smile. Starlight gives her own smile before she slides in next to Hikan. Shell takes the chance to slide into the booth on the other side of Arela. I sit down on Starlight's other side, deciding to give Shell some space, knowing she's still bad with being near people other than Arela.

Arela smiles, wrapping a golden wing around Shell comfortingly. Shell lets out a small breath and relaxes before the hostess speaks up again. “Your server will be with you shortly,” she says, giving a small bow of her head before scampering away a bit more quickly than was necessary. I watch the hostess leave, a small smile on my face, though with a hint of embarrassment in the expression.

“I think we, uh… 'surprised' her,” I comment.

“Well, to my knowledge, most High Angels or angels in general in other worlds don't have golden wings like me, much less as large as mine,” Arela notes. She lightly runs a finger down one of Hikan's wings. “And my Devoted is practically in the same boat.”

“That's… not what I meant…” I say.

“It's because we're not ponies,” Shanghai pipes up, my cheeks burning slightly as my Fairy reveals the blunt thoughts I was trying to convey in a more friendly manner.

“I think it may be a bit more than that…” Shell says, pressing her pointer fingers together nervously.

“Like the fact that three of us aren't native to Terra at all?” Hikan asks jokingly, lifting up a menu as he tries to play off the shiver that had run down his body at Arela's touch. Arela grins a bit at this, making a glance to Starlight and subtly motioning for her to try it. Starlight frowns a bit at this before picking up a menu… but then she glances at Hikan's wing. After trying to hold it, she smiles mischievously before doing the same as Arela had before. The man's entire body arches and shivers, a chattering noise coming from him. “Chchchch- Would you two cut that out? That is so weird!” He says, not agitated or angry, but definitely weirded out by something.

“Hello, my name is Gaelle, and I'll be your waitress for the night.” The sudden statement has the young man looking up to see a griffoness that resembles a blue jay standing at the front of the table with a pen and pad. “Can I get you guys anything to drink?”

“No, I'm okay, thanks,” I say, shaking my head.

“Water, please,” Arela says politely.

“I'll take water as well,” Starlight says with a smile. “But could I get some lemon with that, too, please?”

“Of course,” Gaelle answers, scribbling in her notepad before turning to look at Hikan and Shell. “And for you two?”

“You don't happen to have any green tea, would you?” Hikan asks, giving a little grin when the griffoness nods. “Great, I'd like a cup, please.”

The waitress nods her head before looking at Shell, the disguised Changeling shrinking back a little. “U-um,” she starts, looking at each of us. “I-I'll take, um… green tea?” The griffon smiles at her reassuringly before scribbling down Shell's order.

“Alrighty,” Gaelle says, giving us a smile as she puts away her pen and pad. “I'll be right back with your drinks and I'll get your orders.” With that, she nods her head, turns and walks away. She walked with a certain practice, something small but noticeable that turned more than a few heads in the restaurant.

“She seems to like the attention of men,” Arela notes, watching her.

Hikan watches her go with a critical eye. “She certainly does…” he murmurs before his eyes travel to other patrons. “...The mares don't seem too deterred either, though….”

“Hmmm…” Arela hums in thought.

I watch Gaelle leave. “It doesn't seem like she's trying either,” I comment. “It seems to come naturally to her, almost as if she put a lot of practice into it…” I'm quiet for a moment as I begin to faintly feel a sensation that I've never felt before. Then I add very quietly, under my breath so that not even Starlight next to me can make out the words, “though it's oddly effective…”

Hikan's eyes narrow for a moment… before he picks up his menu and starts looking through it. “What she does on the side is her own business,” he says quietly, Starlight blinking at him.

“Are you saying she's a-” she starts only to be stopped by his look. “Right, her business, not ours.” She picks up her own menu and looks through the dinners. Arela frowns at this.

“Reminds me of one of my old friends who taivente,” Arela says with a shiver. “She was sent to Triyte's Wastes for almost killing a man from not stopping.”

Even Hikan shivers a bit at that. “It's probably best we don't bring it up,” he says quietly, eyeing a picture of stromboli.

“I can't sense any lust from her…” Shell suddenly speaks up in quiet whispers. “In fact… she seems genuinely happy to be here…”

My brows furrow in confusion at that. “What do you mean she seems 'genuinely happy to be here'?” I ask.

Shell flinches a little. “I-I mean, she wants to be here,” she tries to explain. “It feels like she wants to be here rather than… somewhere else….”

“Well, why don't we ask her about it?” Arela suggests.

Starlight winces a little. “Maybe we shouldn't,” she says slowly. “Sometimes… ponies run from the pasts they're ashamed of… Prying isn't really polite anyway….”

I'm quiet for a moment, looking down at the table. “But sometimes bottling up your feelings and just running away from your problems can be just as bad…” I say a little quietly. “Sometimes it's better to tell someone and seek help instead of hiding…”

Hikan is quiet for a moment before his eyes catch a flash of blue coming towards them. “Not a word to her,” he says definitely. “Her business is hers and hers alone until she invites us in. That's how it's always been and how we should remain moving forward.” Arela shrugs and lays against her Devoted.

“Alright,” I say simply, pushing the dark thoughts from a few moments ago out of my head. Starlight and Shell nod their heads just before Gaelle stops in front of our table, carrying a tray with our drinks on it.

“And here you are,” she says before reaching up to take one of the glasses. “Water for the angel, water with lemon for the unicorn, and green tea for the, um…” she pauses at Hikan, her eyes resting over him. “Um, dra- for you sir, and for the mare.” She finishes serving the drinks before straightening up and smiling once more. “Are you guys ready to order?”

Arela nods. “I'd like the… Kenoli?” Arela shakes her head. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

Gaelle nods her head with a smile. “Trust me, it's a lot better than it sounds,” she says, giving a little wink before looking towards me.

I smile sheepishly as I answer. “Actually, I don't need to eat very often, so I'm not having anything,” I say to Gaelle. “Unless you want to try something Shanghai?” I add, turning to look at Shanghai.

Shanghai thinks for a few moments, looking at Hikan's menu. “The, um… rahv… eye-all… Um…” Shanghai struggles to pronounce 'ravioli'.

“You want the ravioli?” The griffoness asks the Fairy, giving her a patient smile.

“Um, yes, that looks nice,” Shanghai says with a smile. “I'll have that, please.” Arela smiles at Gaelle.

“Alright, sweetie,” Gaelle says, scribbling in her pad before returning Arela's smile and looking towards Hikan. “For you, sir?”

“I'll have the stromboli,” he says, giving a small smile as she nods and writes his order down.

Finally, the waitress looks towards Shell, the mare shrinking a little. “U-um, I'll have the… pasta sampler…?” she says quietly before she receives a warm smile from the griffoness.

“Coming right up,” she says, flipping her notepad closed and slipping it into her apron before taking our menus. “I'll be back with your orders ASAP. If you need anything, don't hesitate to wave me down!” She smiles one more time before turning and leaving towards the kitchen.

I watch her leave again. “She seems like a nice person,” I comment. “And she didn't seem to have been fazed by our mish-mash group either.”

“I think I could allow her in, if that's okay with you, my love,” Arela tells Hikan.

The assassin blinks at the sudden suggestion before giving a little chuckle. “Where did that come from, Arie?” He asks in good humor. Arela blushes.

“I-I well, Starlight opened me up to the idea, s-s-so…” she explains.

Starlight blushes. “D-don't drag me into this!” She says hastily, holding her hands up. “That was totally just an observation.”

“H-Hey! Don't leave me with this!” Arela says. Hikan looks to each of them before giving a little laugh while Shell looks thoroughly confused.

“Oh, I can see it now,” Hikan says before taking on a joking stage voice. “'Hey, miss waitress, do you want to join me and my Devoted as a part of our herd? It'll be great and we have cookies!'” The hunter snickers a bit at his own joke.

“Well, I do like cookies,” Hikan's eyes shoot open as he looks up to see Gaelle refilling Starlight's water glass, looking at him with a smirk and mischievous eyes.

“I-I-I-I-” Hikan stutters out before I speak up with a grin of my own, feeling a little mischievous at the moment.

“You did technically offer it to her out loud,” I start. “And she did technically accept the offer. I think it would be rude to not let her join us at this point.”

“I think it would be interesting, at least. Besides, another avian would be comforting,” Arela points out.

Hikan looks to each of us before his head sinks down and hits the table. “How do I get myself into these things?” Comes his muffled voice as he shakes his head into the table. I try to hold back a small snicker at his reaction… The key word being 'try'. Starlight's eyes jerk towards me before her lips puff out and she puts her hand up to cover her mouth as a small giggle escapes her.

Gaelle smiles at us before putting down the unicorn's now full glass. “Thanks for the offer,” she says with a simple smile. “But I've got my own little family to take care of.” Her head jerks a little towards the kitchen. “That's your order. I'll be right back.” With that, she turns and starts to walk back to the kitchen.

Arela sighs, but leans further into Hikan. Hikan lifts his eyes, but leaves his chin on the table. “These things really do just keep happening,” he mutters.

“You know,” I say. “She does seem like such a nice person. I honestly wouldn't mind if she were to join us.”

Hikan looks up to watch the griffoness disappear around the corner. “She does seem to lighten the room,” he says before he leans back and shakes his head. “But you heard her. She's got her own family to worry about, and have you guys forgotten why we're here? Juno could attack at any moment and we can't stop to watch out for someone else. She'd just end up getting kill-” A loud crash from the front of the restaurant interrupts him before a feminine scream fills the air. Many of the restaurant's patrons jump to their hooves and rush to the front of the building.

“What the hell…?” Hikan mutters, Starlight and Shell already moving to leave the booth.

“I have a feeling that's our cue to do something…” I said, getting to my feet quickly.

“I was looking forward to trying that… Um, 'ravioli',” Shanghai says, her voice slightly disappointed. “But if someone's in trouble, then the best thing to do is help them.” Arela nods, flying out of the restaurant to the front of the building. Starlight, Shell, Hikan and I join her not long after and Starlight's eyes quickly widen alongside Shell's before the unicorn throws her eyes into Hikan's side, trying to make her forget what she'd seen. I simply stare, wide-eyed, unable to look away.

A bright blue pegasus mare with a soft green mane is lying in the street, her body twisted, broken, and naked, blood pooling out from the dozens of stab wounds in her abdomen, but her face is the most nightmarish of all. Her eyes and ears had been removed and her mouth gapes, gasps, and chokes as blood pours out from between her lips. The hunter stares at the scene before we're all pushed out of the way by a blue blur.

“Gentle Breeze!” Gaelle shouts, running forward before she kneels over the mare. Her hands hover over the pegasus as tears well up in her eyes. “Oh… what did they do to you…?”

The mare jerks her head a bit towards the presence before her lips start moving and unintelligible groans escape her lips, weak and strained as they are. Gaelle breaks. She lets her tears fall and sobs start to wrack her body. “What happened…? Ge, who did this to you? Where's Garrick? Ge… where's my cub!?”

The mare stops her groaning and coughs, black ooze spurting from her mouth before she lays still. Gaelle's eyes widen and she puts her hands over her friend's shoulders. There's no movement for several moments before Gentle Breeze's arm begins to move. It raises up before her fingers press into the pool of her own blood that had formed around her head. Her hand comes back down, her clean palm brushing the ground until it feels a space big enough for what she needs… and begins to write.

The griffoness' eyes stare as the message forms before her… until the pegasus' hand suddenly convulses and rubs one last line before lying still for good. Gaelle stares at the message before tears well up in her eyes once more and she shakes her head. “No…” she says quietly, her arms wrapping around her friend. “No. NonononoNOOOO!!!” The waitress' pained scream fills the air as she throws her head back and flares her wings before dropping her eyes to cry over the dead mare. I finally manage to tear my eyes away now that my view has been obstructed. I hesitantly look at the scribbled message on the street. It reads 'CHT' with an awkward arrow pointing down to the word 'Garrick'.

“…'CHT'…?” I say out loud in confusion. “Is that an acronym for something…?”

Hikan's eyes narrow. “Shell,” he says sharply, jerking the disguised Changeling's gaze to him. “Scan the crowd for emotions that don't match the situation.”

The mare stares at him for a moment before she nods her head and closes her eyes. Her ears swivel and her eyes scrunch and relax for several moments before they fly open. “Down the alley, across the street,” she says, not looking in that direction. “There's a stallion watching. He seems… almost giddy.” She shivers at that. “And on the other side, at the edge of the crowd, there's another that feels… relieved. …They're starting to move away now.”

Hikan nods his head. “Starlight,” he says quietly. “Use your staff and go after the one in the alley. Arela, follow the other one from the sky. It's important that neither of you are seen.”

The unicorn stares at him for a long moment before she wipes her eyes, hardens her gaze and nods. She summons a small portal and pulls out her staff before she disappears completely from sight. Arela wipes her own tears and flies up, muttering, “Falis,” and disappearing as well. Hikan takes a deep breath before he looks at me. “Alex… could you talk to Gaelle?” He asks. “I'm… not exactly gentle.”

I look at Hikan for a moment. “S-Sure,” I say. I take a deep breath before approaching Gaelle. “Excuse me, Gaelle,” I say gently, carefully putting a hand on Gaelle's shoulder. The shaking griffoness suddenly stills before lifting her gaze, the feathers on her face soaked and eyes red.

“O-Oh, it's you,” she says, rubbing her eyes and standing up as the guards start to rush through the crowd. “Y-You're that girl from earlier… What… What do you want?” She isn't being rude but she definitely isn't doing well.

“This pegasus here,” I start, gesturing to the corpse. “It seems like she was a good friend of yours. Also…” I pause for a moment, having a bit of trouble figuring out exactly what to say. I'm not sure if I'm any better than Hikan for this type of thing, but I do know that either way I'm definitely rather blunt at times. “It seems like your child is missing. I can tell that you're really upset about it. Me and the rest of the group I'm with would be willing to help you, but… Only if you're willing to accept our help of course. We can't force it on you.”

Gaelle stares at me for a moment before giving an extremely shaky breath. “...I don't think anyone can help now,” she chokes. “The only thing left is to… go back….”

My brows furrow a little stubbornly. “It's never too late to try and get your kid back,” I say firmly. “If we know where to look, I'm sure we'll be able to do it. If you know where to start, then please tell me. I can't just ignore something like this.”

Gaelle looks at me for a moment before she takes another breath. “...Not here…” she says quietly.

My eyes narrow a little. “What do you mean by that?” I ask. Before Gaelle answers though, I realize something and look at the message on the street. “…Does it have something to do with this message?” I ask. “Maybe you know what 'CHT' means?”

Gaelle stays quiet but she nods her head. “Just… follow me,” she says before she starts back towards the doors of the restaurant. I follow, giving Hikan and Shell a glance and a 'come on' gesture with my hand as I pass them. Hikan follows after us, nudging Shell gently to make sure she's with us.

The griffoness leads us back inside and to the back of the restaurant, through the kitchen and into the storage room. She turns and looks at us before she lets out a sigh, sinking down to sit on a box with her head in her hands. “What am I doing…?” She mutters quietly.

“Just relax,” I say, putting a hand on Gaelle's shoulder. “We're going to help you, alright? If you know what 'CHT' means, then you need to tell us. That'll make it easier for us to track down Garrick, I just know it will.”

The waitress turns her gaze up to me before she takes a deep breath. “CHT stands for the Circle of the High Tower,” she starts. “They're an organization that started in Canterlot's underground hundreds of years ago. They control just about every branch of crime in the city. Drugs, theft… prostitution…” She stops and looks towards the ground. “They run the entire underworld…. Years ago, when I was young and desperate, I… approached them. At first, I just danced in a few clubs. Y'know, just sort of showed myself off for a few extra bits… but it didn't stop there. They… they approached me and told me to stand on a street corner. I… I didn't want to, but… it wasn't a request. I was forced to go out, night after night, and do… such horrible things… I eventually got another job that paid enough that I could quit, so… I just stopped showing up. They tried to contact me but I ignored the messages… and so they decided to be more… direct. One night, after work, I was kidnapped and they… they tied me to a bed in some warehouse somewhere. The Circle hired a local gang to watch over me for… Gods, I don't know how long… and they… they-” She stops and looks towards the ceiling, trying to hold back her tears as she tries to gulp in air. “They… took turns on me… One after another, they raped and tortured me, always driving me just past the point of breaking before they stopped… I don't know how long they held me there, but it didn't stop until the warehouse was raided by the guards… The Circle didn't contact me after that but… They had achieved what they wanted… I got pregnant. Garrick was born, and for the longest time, I thought we were safe… but a few weeks ago, they sent another message.”

“They wanted Garrick… They said he was their creation, their property… They wanted me to give them what was rightfully theirs… but I refused. And now… now Gentle Breeze… They must have ambushed her while she was bringing him to me… Don't you see now?” She looks up at us with a desperate look. “I can't escape. The only thing I can do is go back to them and hope they have mercy on me and my little cub…”

I'm silent for a few moments, a mixture of anger and determination on my face. The word 'scum' just repeats in my mind over and over. “No,” I suddenly say firmly, getting a surprised look from Gaelle. “Hikan,” I continue without turning. “We're going to topple a criminal syndicate. And I refuse to change my mind. I'll do it myself if I have to. This is outrageous. I refuse to let this scum remain in Canterlot.”

“I wouldn't have it any other way,” the hunter answers, barely contained malice in his voice. “Starlight, what did you find?” He turns to look towards the cracked door before it opens and the unicorn shimmers back into existence.

“Aw, I thought I had you…” she mutters before her face turns serious. “I followed him for quite a few blocks before he got into a carriage and took off. I couldn't keep up with them after that.” Arela comes in next, seeming to be holding back her own anger. It's obvious she'd heard the news.

“I know the pain of rape well, Gaelle,” she says, wrapping an arm around the griffoness. She looks to Hikan. “The stallion I followed got into a carriage as well. However, I was able to keep up with it. It arrived at a dilapidated, two-story house alongside another carriage, presumably the one Starlight mentioned. The two stallions got out and were greeted by a dark gray stallion with a scar over his left eye that went down and through his lips. After that, the three went inside. Because I had already been gone so long, I decided to return and report my findings instead of following them inside.”

“Probably for the best,” Hikan says before looking to us. “We go in and see what we can find. Our primary objective is Garrick, assume everyone else is hostile.”

“Wait,” Gaelle interrupts, drawing the hunter's gaze. “You actually plan on going in there and fighting the Circle? You're either stupid or have a death wish.”

“Pretty sure he does,” Starlight says with a shrug, drawing an annoyed look from Hikan. “Besides, we can take care of ourselves.” The griffoness gives her a look of disbelief before the assassin notices and gives a chuckle.

“Trust us, Gaelle,” Hikan says. “This isn't our first rodeo.” To make his point, a whirring noise sounds out and the black and orange clawed gauntlets form over his hands and forearms. Taking his cue, Starlight summons her armor and sword, Cataclysm coming to peek out over her shoulder.

“The last thing you'd want to do is underestimate any one of us,” I add. I pause for a short moment before suddenly unleashing a two-Spellcard combo in order to prove my point as well.

Reverse Sign「Turn Over」

Bolt Sign「Lightning Strike」

Gaelle is caught off guard as the first Spellcard suspends her upside down before a lightning bolt shoots from my hand… and strikes right next to Gaelle's head. After giving Gaelle a couple moments, I return her to the floor, right side up. Arela simply summons her WarSuit and halberd, blinding everyone for a moment and making the griffon's eyes widen at the armor's size.

Gaelle blinks for a few seconds. “O-Okay, point made,” she mutters. “You… can you guarantee I'll get Garrick back safe…?”

Hikan gives a sad frown and looks to the floor. “I'm… sorry, Miss Gaelle,” he says quietly. “But… nothing is ever guaranteed in situations like this. I won't sugar coat it… I'm not good at it. We will go in, and we will get you answers… but I don't know what those answers will be…” In response to this, I roughly punch Hikan across the face.

“Don't say that, dammit!” I shout at him, extremely agitated. “The whole point of doing this is to get Garrick back! If we can't get the kid back safely, then everything we're about to do will have been pointless! I refuse to tolerate that!”

“Agreed. I won't allow a child to die,” Arela concurs.

Hikan puts a hand to his face as he stumbles a bit. He rubs the spot for a moment before he looks up at me. His eyes aren't angry, not violent or wrathful… but sad and knowing, showing years on years of horrible experience. “...Guys, you need to be just as ready as I'm trying to make her,” he says, nodding towards Gaelle. “His chances are extremely high but… we're going into unknown territory… I'm hopeful but… it's the truth.”

I remain silent, a defiant expression on my face. After several moments, I cross my arms and turn to face the door of the storage room with a 'hmph'. (Literally the only reason why we're doing this is to save this kid Garrick) I think to myself. (Letting the kid die is stupid, wrong and completely against the fundamental goal. Idiot…) Arela gives him a sad look, as well as Gaelle.

“I know war, and I know it well. Even if this isn't a full fledged one, I know how it works. They will use any edge they can. If it means killing innocents, they will do it. I have seen countless peoples fall to fire and brimstone, to becoming naught but slaves, whether for sex or otherwise,” Arela's look is full of fire and steel as she turns to Gaelle. “But I will do all in my power to save your child.”

“I won't accept any harm coming to that child,” I say darkly, not moving or turning an inch.

Hikan's gaze looks between each of us before giving a sigh. “...Let's… get going,” he says, turning to exit the storage pantry. “It'd be best if we could fly. Starlight-”

“Yes, Hikan,” she says, coming up behind him and patting the back of his shoulder. “I can keep up.” She flashes him a reassuring smile. He hesitates a moment before giving a small smile of his own.

“Let's get this show on the road,” he says before looking back and hardening his face. “And let's show these bastards a good time….” With that, he leaves the pantry and starts on his way out of the restaurant.

Hikan kneels down on a rooftop three buildings down from the dilapidated two story that Arela had led us to. An orange visor covers his eyes as he scans the building. “What's the situation?” The visor raises up and he looks behind him to Shell and Starlight, the unicorn tapping her finger on her sword blade after asking her question. Hikan turns back around and puts his back to the small wall before answering.

“The building is just a cover,” he says. “There's an entire complex underneath it, spreading out underneath the buildings to either side and the street. Four rooms, the biggest being a storage room and the others housing several heat signatures. I count seven up in the house itself and I counted a total of forty-two on the lower levels. ...This isn't going to be fun.”

I then speak up suddenly, having been quiet the whole way here. “I was thinking on the way here,” I start. “I realized that, yes, several Yokai from Gensokyo appeared in Ponyville, but…” I pause for a moment and give Hikan a look before continuing. “That's not to say that Ponyville is the only place they've appeared in. I'd recommend caution as we proceed. We have no idea who or what we might encounter. Who knows? It's not outside the realm of possibility that the Circle could have picked up a Gensokian whose skills happened to interest them.”

“If they have, then the threat level goes from being two to three, and not a low three either,” the hunter mutters, scratching his chin.

“Indeed, and there's something more going on. A child of Triyte is near. Not a blood relative, but a creation… I sense occult magic,” Arela says, shivering next to Hikan.

“'A child of Triyte is near'…?” I repeat, somewhat confused. “What do you mean?”

“A Fallen Angel,” Arela replies with a quiet growl.

Hikan raises an eyebrow before he lets his gaze fall towards the rooftop. “...Anywhere near our target zone?” He asks. Arela hums in thought, wings glowing a little.

“...No, in some kind of dungeon, further below,” Arela informs.

My eyes widen and my brows furrow. “In a dungeon…!?” I say. “I'm not sure what a Fallen Angel is, and even though it sounds like it could be something unpleasant or even unfriendly… Putting anyone in a dungeon is wrong.” I then turn to the building. “I'm personally making it a secondary objective to free them.”

Hikan thinks for a moment before he lifts his hand and rubs his face. “This is quickly starting to become a level four mission…” he mutters. “Maybe even five…. Not something I wanted to drag you guys into on the first go around….”

“I'm sure we'll be fine, my love. This isn't my first battle or infiltration,” Arela assures, hand on Hikan's shoulder. The assassin looks to his Devoted with a worried look before he lets out a relaxing breath.

“You're right,” he says calmly before going back into tactician mode. “Alright, first, we need to take down those seven guards and find a way down to the sublevel. Shell,” the undisguised Changeling looks up, “you're going to play the distraction.”

“Um…” the Changeling hums, putting her index fingers together. “H-how would I do that?”

Hikan grins. “Easy,” he answers. “Walk right on up and sway those hips a bit.”

Shell's face and fingers fall at that. “I, um…” she says hesitantly.

I'm silent before speaking up hesitantly. “I mean… if it works, then…”

Hikan smiles at the Changeling. “You'll be just fine, Shell,” he says. “Because while you're outside, Starlight and Shanghai will infiltrate the top floor and take out the guards.”

The suggestion catches me by surprise and I'm about to protest… before I stop and think about it. “…I guess that would be fine…” I say hesitantly. “I just hope it isn't so far away that Shanghai gets hurt. I'm still not sure how far she can go while retaining her pseudo-invincibility that comes from sharing my life force. There might not even be a limit, but still…”

“She still has that combat mode, right?” The hunter questions.

“Yeah, but…” I answer. “You remember what it looked like, don't you? I'd think the Circle might try to capture her if they saw that. I can't say how successful they'd be, but I still wouldn't want to take my chances.”

“Just checking,” Hikan reassures. “Just in case they get into a tight spot.” He looks towards Starlight and Shell. “No mercy. None at all. These guys are killers. Murderers. We take them out, all of them.” The unicorn stares for a moment before her eyes narrow.

“Right,” she answers, her voice taking on a darker tone as she draws her sword off her lap. Shell simply nods her head.

“I'm not sure how comfortable I am with Shanghai potentially… killing people, but…” I say slowly before steeling my gaze. “In a situation like this, I guess I have to be ready for extreme measures.”

Hikan looks to me before giving us a sympathetic look. “I'm sorry, Alex,” he says. “I know you're a pacifist… but this isn't a game. These guys won't give us a second chance or hesitate, so neither can we…”

I'm silent for several seconds. “…I know,” I finally say. “Alright Shanghai, you heard everything Hikan said, right?” Shanghai nods. “Then go with Starlight. Don't show any mercy, but save your HDD as a last resort, okay?”

“Okay,” Shanghai answers, drawing her broadsword.

Starlight gets to her hooves as a portal runs over her sword, exchanging it for her staff. “Let's get going,” she says, holding a hand out and helping Shell up as she takes on her mare form. With the Changeling disguised the mare activates her magic and her body starts to disappear starting at her hooves.

“Um, hang on…!” Shanghai says quickly, causing Starlight to stop, returning to being completely visible.

“What's wrong?” Starlight asks Shanghai, a little confused.

“Um…” Shanghai hums. “If you go invisible, then I'd lose you and wouldn't be able to follow you. I don't think that would be a good thing.”

Starlight is quiet for a moment. “Maybe if you hold on to me, I can get us in close,” she suggests.

“Okay,” Shanghai answers. “That would make it easy. If I'm holding you, then there's no way I'd lose track of you.” Shanghai then grabs onto Starlight's shoulder in the same way that she does with me.

“Alright,” Starlight says before her horn lights up again. “Let's do this.” her body slowly fades away and disappears completely. It looks like Shanghai is grasping the air itself. After a few moments she suddenly vanishes as well and Shell blinks.

(Amazing) I think to myself, staring at the spot where Shanghai had vanished. (Looks like she can even pick up abilities tied to unique items)

“I-I guess that's my cue…” Shell says before going to the edge of the building, wings flaring into being in green flames before she jumps over the barrier and floats gently to the ground in an alleyway. The Changeling smooths out her clothing for a moment before walking out of the alley and starting towards the hideout, adding a sway to her hips. After a minute or so, I notice as Shanghai becomes visible again and slips inside a window, entering the second floor of the target house. After another couple of minutes, the windows of the second floor light up with a faint flash of bluish-white light. Shell had managed to lure the two guards from the ground floor out front, and has them distracted with her… wiles. One of Hikan's gauntlets then begins to whir as it forms a sort of sniper rifle on the end of his arm. He then takes aim down the scope and…

Thump! Thump!

He fires two shots, the silencer on the rifle reducing the bangs to dull thuds. The two guards fall to the ground dead, a hole in each of their heads. The gauntlet returns to normal and his wings unfurl as he then silently jumps off the roof and heads for the two dead guards, Arela quickly following suit. After a moment, I simply follow them. At the building, Hikan drags the two bodies inside. I follow him inside as he drags the first in, standing to the side just inside the door. Arela summons her armor and halberd, standing by another doorway, making sure we aren't disturbed by any other guards. Shell's disguise fades away, standing off to the side, out of the way. As Hikan drags the second guard inside, Shanghai and Starlight come down the stairs. Shanghai flies over to me quickly, a big smile on her face.

“Hehe, guess what Alexandria?” she asks, clearly excited. She then continues without waiting for an answer. “I beat up all the guards upstairs all on my own!”

“Really?” I answer. “Well, good for you. That's really impressive.” Shanghai's smile is absolutely beaming. Starlight's eyes look to the little Fairy, but she quickly looks away, going to stand next to Hikan as he closes the front door.

“Did she take care of it?” Hikan asks, his normally warm tone gone and replaced by the voice of the assassin.

Starlight only nods her head. “Y-Yeah, she got'em,” the unicorn says, drawing the hunter's eyes to her. He takes one look over her then glances at Shanghai, before he turns back and nods his head in understanding. His gaze jerks away from her and down the hall.

“Okay, guys,” he says, drawing our attention. “This is where things get dicey. From here on out, no more stealth. We get in, we hit hard, we get out. That's the plan. Any questions?”

“Just one,” I say. “What's our first target? Garrick, or the Fallen Angel?”

Hikan's visor reforms in response and he looks towards the floor. “...I think the cub is in one of the back rooms on the first sublevel,” he mutters. “At least, that's where the smallest heat signature seems to be tied up. If I'm reading this right, there's a ton of magical energy being dispersed around down there and every line leads back to another heat source farther down on a second level, albeit it's just the one room.” He looks back up after the analysis, the visor lifting up. “The cub's closer than the Fallen Angel, but there's a hell of a lot more guards between us and Garrick.” He stops and looks around to each of us.

“Wait,” I say suddenly, furrowing my brows. “You said that there's a bunch of magical energy being fed from the Fallen Angel through lines all over the complex, right?” Hikan nods. My eyes widen as I realize what's going on. “A generator…” I whisper. Then my brows furrow even further in anger. “They're using the Fallen Angel as a damn magic generator…!”

“That's… That's despicable! A filthy tila they may be, but being used as a living battery…” Arela growls.

Hikan looks towards Starlight and Shell, and the unicorn doesn't look happy. “I think we may have to split up for this one,” Starlight says. “As much as I hate to say it, that seems like the best option.” she looks at Arela, Shanghai and I. “If you three go after the Fallen Angel, the rest of us should be able to grab Garrick.”

I look at Arela. “Alright,” I say. “Sounds like a solid plan to me.” Arela nods.

“It shall be done, my love,” she says resolutely.

Hikan looks at each of us in turn before his armor whirs to life onto his arms. “Then let's do this,” he says before starting down the hallway until he stands in front of the wooden door under the stairs. He pulls it open to reveal an elevator on the other side. He looks to us and perks an eyebrow. “Who wants to go first?”

“I think you guys should go first,” I say. “Your elevator ride will be shorter, and you'll still have to navigate to Garrick's room after that. We just have to ride the elevator down to a floor which is just a single room. Doing it that way should maximize efficiency.”

Hikan nods before looking at Shell and Starlight. “Let's go, then,” he says before stepping into the elevator. Starlight nods her head and enters the elevator, Shell right behind her. Hikan closes the door and a soft rumbling sound fills the air.

After a few minutes of waiting, the rumbling sound returns, something clinking and banging into place behind the door several moments later.

“These land transportation methods are so primitive…” Arela groans.

“Well, it's all we've got to work with right now,” I tell her. “Don't worry, you can just let me work the elevator if you want. Though it's really simple. All you have to do is get in and press the button for the floor you want.” With that, I step into the elevator, Shanghai having taken her usual spot on my shoulder.

“Ugh, fine…” Arela groans again, stepping inside. I look at the panel inside the elevator. There are two buttons: 'storage level' and 'generator room'.

“Well, it can't be any more obvious which one we're going to…” I mutter as I hit the latter button and the elevator jerks as it starts to descend. Arela's wings fidget a little in the small, cramped space.

Soon enough, the elevator shudders to a halt and the doors screech open to reveal a large room. On the far wall is what appears to be a girl suspended in a strange machine.

A young woman with charcoal black feathered wings and pale as snow skin is wrapped in chains and connected to a bunch of tubes, sprouting from her back and the rest of her bare body. There are cuts on her cheek and abdomen, but otherwise she's perfectly clear skinned.

She has deep purple hair tied in a wild set of pigtails, so long as to touch the ground. I realize in surprise that her eyes are just like mine, only the colours are reversed, like if I were to look in a mirror: her left eye is crimson red, matching my right eye, and her right eye is a vibrant purple, exactly like my left one. She looks like she's running on fumes, and, upon closer inspection, she has signs of being raped, if the dried white stains on her face are any indication. The smell of it can be smelt from even where we stand. Arela growls under her helmet at this.

This growl catches the attention of the other person that was already in the room. This other woman turns around to look at us. She has shoulder-length brown hair with two long pigtails that go down to the small of her back, and brown eyes. She's wearing a white button-up shirt and a red ascot as well as rolled-up, beige shorts. Finally, she has brown loafers and a piece of chalk behind her ear. “Oh…?” she says. “What do we have here…? Intruders in my personal workshop?”

I furrow my brows. “Who are you?” I ask her. “You seem as if you're… human.”

“My name is Rika,” the woman answers, introducing herself. “I seem like I'm human because I am human. And by the looks of things… you're a Yokai.” My eyes widen at this.

“Are you…” I start, knowing that it was possible, having even brought it up to Hikan earlier, but I'm dumbfounded regardless, not having expected to find someone so soon. “A Gensokian!?”

“Oh!” Rika says. “So that means you are too. That's perfect actually. I've been trying to find someone that could even be remotely strong enough to test my newest creation on.”

“I take it you're the one who took this girl and used her as a battery?” Arela asks, tone like ice.

“Hmmm…?” Rika mumbles, finally taking full notice of Arela. “Ah, you look rather impressive. But you don't look like any Yokai I've seen before. Anyway, to answer your question, no. I didn't do this. I just so happened to be passing through the area with one of my prototype tanks when one of the members of the Circle stopped me and offered me to join. I initially refused, but then when they mentioned about such an advanced and unbeatable power source that I could use to make tanks to my heart's content… Well, I simply couldn't refuse.”

“Despicable,” Arela harrumphs, brandishing her halberd. “I suppose I must show you the might of the Angels of Lleiya, then!”

“I may only be half-Yokai…!” I start, shaking off my surprise before shouting as I sweep Die Leaguer out of my pouch. “But even half-Yokai can kill a human with ease!”

Rika grins. “Oh, but you won't be fighting me,” she says. “You'll be fighting my newest tank. I did say before that I'd been waiting a long time for someone even remotely strong enough to test it on.” She then brandishes a remote from her shorts pocket. “I present to you the improved version of my previous masterpiece…” she begins dramatically before pressing a button on the remote. The floor between her and us opens up and a large, winged eyeball with tentacles, an Omega symbol on its lower eyelid, comes rising out of the opening. “The Evil Eye Omega!!!” Arela growls again at this.

“Foul beasts…” She rushes forward, halberd poised to lop off one of the tentacles. As Arela brings her halberd down on a tentacle, the blade rebounds off, barely leaving a mark.

“Hahahaha!” Rika laughs. “The resilience of the Evil Eye Sigma, the previous model, was already top-notch! With this model, I've taken that resilience and cranked it even higher! Trying to damage the Evil Eye Omega is futile!”

I inspect the strange weapon that Rika claims is a tank. “Hmmm…” I hum to myself in thought, looking at Shanghai. “Shanghai, I want to try and see if we can overpower this thing. I want you to activate HDD and then attack with the strongest thing you can think of.” Shanghai nods before activating her CPU form.

“Hmph,” Shanghai harrumphs, now in her CPU form. “I'll burn you to ash!”

Shanghai「Agni Shine」

Shanghai then activates her very own Spellcard, unleashing a barrage of large fireballs. As Shanghai declares the card, I look at Die Leaguer. “I wonder…” I whisper to myself, taking two orbs - the Explosion Orb and the Flame Orb - at once. Just as Shanghai unleashes Agni Shine, I throw the two orbs simultaneously, and they fly through the air, stuck together. As they collide with the Evil Eye Omega, a massive, flaming eruption occurs, Shanghai's Agni Shine arriving and just adding to the intensity of the mix. There's a big cloud of smoke left behind when all the flame dies down. Rika is staring intently as the smoke clears, evidently wanting to know how her tank fared in the face of the attack.

As the smoke clears, it reveals… That the Evil Eye Omega still stands. It's badly charred, and its wings are a little torn, one tentacle even having been burnt off, but it's still very much functional. “I see, I see…” Rika mumbles to herself. “So there are still attacks that are capable of doing heavy damage to the Omega… Hmmm… I'll need to continue my research on defensive measures then. Anyway, let's now test the offensive capabilities of the Evil Eye Omega. Attack!”

The Evil Eye Omega complies to the command immediately, closing its eye and folding its wings over the eye for a few moments before flaring its wings again and opening the eye wide, a large, blue beam of pure energy emitting from its pupil, directed straight at Arela. My eyes widen. “Move!” I shout as I tackle Arela, somehow managing to shove her out of the way despite her heavy armor… Only to take the full force of the beam in her place. “Ngah!!” I shout in extreme pain as I'm slammed against the elevator door from the power of the attack. My consciousness begins to fade a little, and all sound becomes vague as my vision darkens. I fight to stay conscious, but that last attack really was nasty… And then I feel an odd pushing at the back of my mind as I slowly come to again.

“Hmmm… That's no good…” Rika says, looking at the damage the tank had just sustained. “Though the offensive capabilities seem to be in working order. It may just be a half-breed, but it's still impressive to take down a Yokai in one-”

“You son of a bitch…” I growl murderously, cutting her off, rage beginning to flow through me. “Don't ever call me a half-breed!” I then get to my feet, a look that could almost literally kill on my face. “Shanghai, Perfect Freeze the tank.” Shanghai, still in CPU form, complies.

Shanghai「Perfect Freeze」

The tank freezes solid before I throw the Flame Orb and Storm Orb at it together. The two orbs collide with the frozen tank, causing a violent, whirling cascade of fire. I then take the Lightning Orb in my hands and charge it with as much lightning magic as possible. I then grab the Explosion Orb and throw it along with the charged Lightning Orb.

Electric Sign「Ultimate Discharge」

As the orbs come into contact with the thawed and now badly damaged tank, a massive explosion of pure lightning erupts, electricity arcing across the whole room, centered around the tank. It takes several minutes for the electricity to die down, leaving nothing but smoldering remains where the tank used to be. Rika stares at the remains, eyes wide.

“Buh… Wha…?” she utters incoherently. She then looks at me, fear clear in her eyes. I simply glare at her, my eyes shooting daggers.

“Your tank is gone,” I say flatly. “Do you want to try a direct one on one with me, or will you release this girl right now?” Rika stares at me.

“I-I'm just a normal human…” she says, fear overflowing in her voice.

“Right. Now,” I say much more forcefully. Rika immediately disengages the machine, the girl in it falling to her knees in front of it. “Now, GET OUT!” I scream at Rika, who immediately bolts to an emergency staircase in the corner. A sign on the door states that it goes to the storage level. As the rage fades along with the faint urging sensation at the back of my mind, my actions from the past ten minutes finally register with me. I stare down at the floor, wide-eyed, and start shaking. Arela says something to me, but I don't hear her.

“What the fuck came over me…?” I whisper to myself. “I… I've never been like that before… Never, for any reason… Wh… What the fuck happened…?” I wrap my arms around myself, beginning to shake more violently, wide-eyed gaze fixed to a point on the floor just in front of my feet. Arela places a wing on my shoulder and I freeze up.

“Alexandria, calm down. We don't have time. Any minute now someone could bust through the door and kill us,” Arela urges. I barely register her words after several moments and I slowly and distractedly nod my head, still staring at the same point on the floor. “Good. Now come on, let's go.” Arela says, pulling the unconscious Fallen Angel with her. I mindlessly follow Arela into the elevator, staring off into space through the floor about a foot in front of myself, thinking about what I'd just done.

(What the actual fuck came over me…?) I think to myself. (Am… Am I starting to lose it…? Am I… succumbing to my Yokai half…?) Once the elevator doors open, I step outside and sink to the ground, my back against the wall next to the front door. (Am I really just like my mother after all…? Am I really just another… Seija Kijin…?) As my thoughts sink into the deepest depths they can possibly reach, my awareness of what's been happening around me having been lost a while ago, a very strong urging sensation suddenly pressures me within my mind. Too depressed and self-doubtful to even worry about it, I don't even try to fight it.

…

……

………(Heh)

“Ah…!?” Shanghai utters suddenly, startled, letting go of my shoulder.

“Shanghai? Alex?” Hikan asks. “You guys okay?”

I remain silent. “Ah, um…” Shanghai stutters, clearly distraught. “Alexandria's mind started to feel all weird suddenly.”

I feel a hand on my shoulder. “Hey… you doing okay?” Hikan asks, a worried tone sinking into his voice.

After a few moments of silence, I finally speak. “…Awww, you're worried about me?” I say, incredibly mocking.

Hikan's hand leaves my shoulder. “Yeah,” he says shortly, suspicion in his voice. “Why wouldn't I be?”

“Ooooh, I don't know…” I answer, still mockingly. “Maybe because…” I then lift my head to look Hikan straight in the eye, revealing the mischief in my eyes and the shit-eating grin on my face. “…All the women you care about seem to end up dead?” I finish standing up.

Hikan's eyes widen and he steps back. After a moment, his eyes narrow. “Measure your next words very carefully, Alex,” he says in a low tone.

“Just think about it,” I say. “It's true, isn't it? Can you remember any women that you've cared about that are still alive?”

“Alexandria-” Arela makes to say.

“Maybe you're next?” I say to her, cutting her off. I then begin to casually inspect my nails as I continue. “If you think about the trend, it's a certainty that you'll die prematurely… And it's all because lover-boy fell in love with you.”

“That's enough, Alex,” Hikan growls, stepping forward as his eyes harden in the sign that the actual Hikan is coming forward. “I don't know what you had to do or see down there, but whatever it was does not, and will never give you the right to bring up things like this.”

My grin widens. I'm having a lot of fun right now. Stabbing Hikan right where it hurts most… Never before have I enjoyed anything this much in my life. “Who knows?” I start. “Maybe your little angel will die today? Maybe even…” I suddenly rush behind Arela, grabbing both her arms and pulling them behind and up, preventing Arela from being able to do anything. All this happens impossibly fast, surprising everyone present. “…Right now.”

Hikan is in front of Arela in the next instant, his arms wrapping around her as his wing blades form and press against my throat. “…Let go…” he says, his murderous intent so clear that any doubt in the air shrivels up and dies.

(Perfect…) My grin widens and my eyes sparkle. “Ah, the rage and hatred filling your voice…” I say. “It's music to my ears.” As I finish speaking, I release Arela.

Hikan drops his blades and puts his hands on Arela's shoulders. “Star, Shell,” he barks, the two mares rushing me to stand behind and in front of me. He lets his gaze go back to his Devoted. “Are you okay?” He asks, voice shakey. She nods numbly.

“Y-Yes, I'm fine,” she affirms. He lets out a heavy sigh and hugs her tight.

I laugh darkly. “Are you maybe naive or something?” I ask. “I don't necessarily need to be close to someone if I want to kill them.”

Reverse Sign「Turn Over」

Suddenly, Hikan finds himself between Starlight and Shell, and I'm standing next to Arela, lightning sparking from my hands. Hikan's eyes widen in surprise. “Alex, stop!” He shouts, stepping away from Shell and Starlight. “I don't know what you're playing at, but stop it, right now!”

(Finally. Exactly what I wanted to hear) My grin widens greatly as I show off my teeth. “Make me,” I challenge. Hikan steps forward, reaching me in what seems like two steps.

“You do not want to do this, Alexandria,” he says darkly.

“Maybe I do,” I answer a little teasingly. “How do you know what I do and don't want to do? Maybe I'll just keep trying to kill your little angel until you kill me instead? That sounds like it could be kind of fun.”

“No, it doesn't,” Hikan says quietly. “Dying is not something you want to do, and I don't make a habit of killing my friends. Now, cut. This. Out.”

“I see,” I say, a small grin still on my face. “So the reason why it's so hard to frustrate you is because you see us as friends? Alright then, if that's the case…” I glance over to Shanghai, who's behind Hikan, off to the side. “Shanghai, could you be a dear and stab Hikan in the back?”

“N-No!” Shanghai shouts. My expression falters for a split second. “You're suddenly acting all weird! Please, snap out of it!”

I pause for a moment. “Fine,” I say, shrugging. “I'll just do it myself.” With that, I jump into the air, quickly flying behind Hikan before firing a bolt of lightning towards his back. Dorkifu revs to life, and he turns, throwing up his arm-wing, tanking the lightning bolt with the glowing orange sail before he jumps after me, his back wings flaring. “Arie, you and the others get Garrick back to his mother!” He shouts as he flies at me.

Arela stares for a bit, before quickly grabbing the other Angel and taking Garrick's hand. “Come on!” she cries, rushing down the streets. Starlight and Shell run after her, Starlight throwing a look over her shoulder as Hikan reaches me.

The assassin blinks out of sight before appearing over me, twisting his body to bring his leg down in an axe kick. I notice him appear over me, and I effortlessly avoid the attack.

“Too slow!” I taunt, retaliating with a tightly compacted pattern of small sparks. Hikan draws his arm wings together and lets the bullets slam into him, grunting a bit as they detonate. He throws his arms apart before boosters form on his back and launch him forward, his fist reared back.

I fake a yawn, moving to the side lazily. “Are you even trying?” I ask almost genuinely incredulous… Almost. The man comes to a stop and swings around, his leg coming up to shoot towards the side of my head. I simply duck under the painfully predictable kick before retaliating instantaneously with a lightning bolt to Hikan's stomach as I shout at him. “Stupid!”

The assassin is pushed back from the blow, his abdomen smoking as burn holes sizzle. And he looks up with a smirk. “Only if I was fighting alone.” A buzzing sounds out next to me and a bright flash and a concussive blast detonates next to my head. My eyes widen in surprise, and I try to quickly move away from the noise… Only to be partially successful as the blast clips my head, the force of impact causing my vision blur.

“Finally getting serious, are we?” I say after a few moments, shaking my head as my vision clears. “Good.”

Thunderous Sign「Thunderbolts」

Suddenly, many lightning bolts begin to rapidly strike random locations in a 25-meter radius around Hikan. “…Now I can too,” I finish with a smirk. Hikan lets his visor form before he starts dodging the bolts.

“This is ridiculous,” he mutters before his other three wisps form. “Take her.” The four wisps buzz around me, keeping just out of reach before one of them rushs my face and the others keep me mostly contained. I do a stationary midair backflip to avoid the rushing wisp.

“Are you trying to make things difficult?” I ask him mockingly. “I do love a good challenge.” I then start adding a ton of sparks into the mix for Hikan to dodge as I continue to effortlessly dodge each wisp as it charges at me.

Hikan rushes out of the way, raising his wing-blade to tank whatever he can't dodge, wisps suddenly rushing at me much faster from every angle. The moment one passes or glances off me, another zooms in.

“What pests,” I say, no longer able to shoot sparks, being forced to focus on dodging the wisps. “Don't you understand the concept of personal space?”

Repulsion Sign「Push Away」

Suddenly, the wisps are very forcefully repelled away from me by my magnetism magic. “Finally, I can breathe,” I joke as I resume my assault of sparks, the lightning bolts from before still striking around Hikan.

Hikan lets out a growl before he looks up, one eye turning orange. “I've had enough of this,” he mutters before his back wings form a shield over him. “Trump Card; Dragon's Rule.” Dorkifu whirs to life like never before, his wisps suddenly disappearing in dust as burning orange lines start to dart over his form. Black armor starts to pour over his body like waves until it covers his body completely. Two amber orbs burn on his chest plate as twin cannons form on either side of the growing wisp extensions on his wrist. Claw-like armor forms over his boots, vicious armor going up his leg to form into spikes that jut out and away from his knees. Boosters form on his back as more cannons take shape on the arcs of his wings, the last wisp extensions forming on his shoulders. A draconic helm forms over his head before his orange visor materializes and slams down over the helmet's red eyes.

“Fancy~” I say mockingly. “Where'd you buy it? I think I-” I'm cut off as Hikan's clawed gauntlet grabs me by the face, his boosters flaring as he slams me into a brick wall, the force of impact causing it to crack. All this happens in the span of a split second. Shanghai's blood-curdling scream of pain is the last thing I hear as I black out.

End of Chapter 1

Author's Note

Here it is! My new story, which is technically part two of my first story, Daughter of Gensokyo. Expect some dark themes and otherwise mature content throughout this one. Hence the tags. Anyway, for those of you who decide to continue on from Daughter of Gensokyo and read this one, I hope you enjoy! Chapter 2 is underway.

This story in its entirety is in collaboration with Pyro Mance. Please go check out his stories, especially Paradise Lost: Kill the Memory, which is the story that this one is in collaboration with.