Failure was only a small part of my existence. Funnily enough, succeeding in my mission was what brought me to this terrible end. To this dilemma I now face. It was succeeding that brought me to Gehrman, only to lose. It was success that brought me to slaughter even more of my fellow hunters who were maddened by their insight. It was success that brought me to this very situation.

Failure, despite being something I'm not very used to, I now find myself yearning for. Thinking back, to maybe if I didn't stumble upon the Hunters Secret. Perhaps if I didn't fight Ludwig I wouldn't have been terrified by his monstrous figure every night. Death to us Hunters is not swift, but a long, agonizing act of torture. Can I endure?

I hope so.

Maria approached Celestia and Luna, her face showing no emotion. Celestia and Luna stared at her with curiosity. Maria looked at Celestia's injured wing, and pulled out a small vial filled with blood. "Drink. It will make you feel better."

"I don't think-"

"DRINK!" Maria yelled, forcing it further into her face, causing Luna to flare her wings slightly. Celestia hesitantly grasped it in her magic and sipped it, immediately feeling the burning sensation on her wing. Small bits of it began to grow back already, though in a much more diluted white color than before. "I sense his presence nearby."

Luna wanted to ask many questions; but knew she would be unable to at the moment. The immediate problem was Anon, and defeating him. "My sister and I have had a run-in with him, possessed by a Nightmare demon. He is no longer himself."

"Whether or not he is possessed, his fate will remain the same." Maria said, holding both of her blades at her sides, looking up. "He's hiding nearby. He is not moving. He is waiting for us."

"How can you sense him?" Celestia asked.

"It's not that I can sense him, but I can smell his blood. A stale, burnt smell. That of a traitor."

Celestia and Luna shared a look before Maria whipped around the corner and began to run down the street, forcing both Princess' to follow. Maria was halfway down the street before she stopped suddenly, readying her blades. Celestia and Luna stopped just behind her. Celestia opened her mouth to speak before Maria immediately shushed her.

"Traitor! Where are you?!" Maria yelled, before a blood-stained Anon appeared at the end of the street, slowing walking towards them.

"Traitor? That's no way to greet an old friend, Lady Maria."

"You spoke." Maria said, pointing one of her blades in a confident stance. "You spoke about the Hunters secret. Your traitorous words emanated throughout time itself. What normally should be a job for your worlds Guardian of the clocktower, is delegated upon me. Why is that, Anon?"

Anon held his sword in his right hand, blood dripping off of the tip, his pistol in his left hand. He stopped, scratching his chin with his pistol. "Well, killing you the first time was decently easy. I mean- you were a corpse at the time. I'm sure you wouldn't be that hard to kill now. The two bitches in the back are just a minor inconvenience at this point."

Celestia growled underneath her breath. "To think we didn't kill you when we had the chance..."

"That's what this world has done to you Celestia." Anon said, twirling his sword before pointing it at Celestia. "You've become too trusting of people. Too... kind. Filled with 'friendship' and what-not. You've become naïve. Your world could do with some bloodshed."

Luna shook her head. "We've had generations upon generations of war. We made sure to end that!"

Anon chuckled. "Why? It would've taught your young ponies so much more. They're ignorant. The first thing they did when I came here was to run! Why?! They would've died anyways, why didn't they just try to fight? Instead they begged for their pathetic lives because they were taught you were going to save them! Which you CANT! You're not perfect."

Maria took a step closer. "Nobody is perfect, Anon."

"I am."

Anon aimed his pistol in one straight swift movement, firing off two bullets towards Maria, to which she reacted by rolling underneath the bullets. Celestia had managed to pull up a shield just in time to protect herself and her sister. Maria ran towards Anon, both blades at the ready. Anon stood there, waiting for her.

As soon as she was within thrusting distance, Anon lunged at her, causing her to shift off balance and fall to the floor. As soon as he was on top of her, he forced his pistol to her head, and his sword to her throat. Luna and Celestia, for whatever reason, stared at the two.

"You see Maria, you are still in training. You're not even a fraction as good as you were when I fought your corpse. Your nothing. Pathetic. You'll end up killing yourself because of your poor master, your poor mentor. He'll later use your body as inspiration for a doll that will serve his every need!"

"YOUR WRONG!" Maria yelled, trying to move underneath him, yet was unable to. Luna could not stare at the two any longer and began to run at them, before being stopped in her tracks as soon as Discord appeared in front of her. Discord licked his lips, staring at the two sisters.

"I'm not, dear Maria. You're a tragic case. A case of suicide. Depression. What it's like to be an imperfect woman in an imperfect world. To the point where the only thing you were useful for was sexual pleasure by your own MENTOR!"

Maria stared at him, searching for any hint of lying in his eyes, yet saw nothing, sensed nothing. "Y-Your lying! Your possessed- you're a damn traitor! Traitors lie!"

"DO THEY?!" Anon yelled as he knee'd her in the stomach, causing the air within her to push out. "I am nothing but a truth-giver. I speak what nobody else wants to hear. Your going to die like every other version of yourself. Your going to suffer the same fate- unless you help me."

"...W-...what?" Maria asked, her eyes turning from rage and sadness to confusion.

"Help me kill these two. Help me reap this world of happiness and show them the bloodiness that places like Yharnam have endured. If you do this- you will learn so much. The ability to finally surpass your mentor and stop that bastard Gherman from ruining your life. Let me help you."

"Your a traitor!" Maria repeated.

Luna and Celestia were still locking eyes with Discord, who smiled down at them. "Two little cockroaches scared of the shoe." Discord said to them, knowing that his presence alone was enough to scare both Princess', especially noting his now violent attitude.

"I might be a traitor- but your a coward. We can cure both of our problems right here, right now." Anon said, stepping off of her, and holstering his pistol. He offered her a hand to which she stared at, looking towards the two sisters before pulling herself up with Anon's help. Anon, with Maria now standing beside him, looked at the two sisters. He chuckled, taking a few steps towards them. "Funny how all it took was a bit of pushing to topple your world. I didn't even rampage cities- just one town. When your both in the ground, i'll salt the land that your corpse will be buried under, so not even the precious plants this world has can use you for fuel. I want you dead. I want you dead to the point that you will never be remembered. I want your history to be wiped. I want people to forget you exist. You won't be some child's nightmare fuel, you wont be some sort of story. You'll be GONE."

Luna glared at Anon whilst Celestia seemed taken aback, fear hidden behind her features. She was unlike her sister who hadn't lost her ways of war. Luna stepped forward, snarling towards Anon and Discord. "You both are going to die by my spear. You'll fade into nothingness like the pests you are! Nightmares are fueled by emotion, but they can only manipulate it. They can't generate more. My anger will match my will- and with that, I will make sure all of you never come back to destroy this world!"

Anon looked to the right, the sky showing hundreds of Pegasi in armor, whilst a wave of Royal Guard's stampeded into the town. It seemed that backup had arrived after evacuation efforts were finished, and Discord and Anon, along with Maria, were completely surrounded. The Guards kept their distance, not meaning to get in the way of the Princess'.

Anon smirked. "You think a couple hundred of your weaklings will stop anything? Their fear will destroy them alone. After I'm finished here, I'll find each and every schoolyard with your precious children playing about, and pluck them from their families to grieve over. You don't understand my motive, Luna. You never will. I'm beyond your comprehension. You are weak, and I..."

Anon looked into the sky, directly towards the sun with a smile underneath his mask. "I am a god."

Anon looked at Gehrman, his face sagging of depression. "What the fuck happens now?"

Gehrman sighed. "Fate is played out by the gods, in a roll of the dice sort of way. They dictate what will happen to you now depending on how they feel, unless they are persuaded. Persuasion is rather difficult, but I think I can find a way that might work."

"Anything! Please!"

"Our fight." Gehrman said, a spectral image of the both of them fighting played in front of them. "It was a battle of not only salvation, but persuasion. If you had won, you would've taken your place as the next of kin for the Eldritch's truth. Since you lost, you were... dealt with differently. I have the power to persuade them, but it must be fair. So-"

"If we want to win this, we have to fight again." Anon finished. "Sort of like a... Coma? They say if you die your dreams, you'll die in the real world. Is that how this will play out?"

Gehrman nodded, lifting up a finger. "Yes, but it must be fair. If they sense any holding back, or an unfair fight, it wont do anything. If we wish to hopefully save you, we must follow the rules. We first much decide what each of us winning would entail."

"Well- if I win I get to just... keep living, right?"

Gehrman shook his head. "No. It must keep within the boundaries of your current self- your possessed self. You aren't in a position where everything ends nicely."

Anon sighed, shaking his head. "So what, I just... In order for my current self to stop going on a murder spree, I have to lose this fight? To die?"

Gehrman shook his head. "Maybe you don't need to die. We can make that my wish."

Anon nodded. "So, if I kill you, I die..."

"Yes."

"And if you kill me, I survive."

"Yes."

"FUCK!" Anon yelled, shaking his head. "This- this is literal torture! This isn't a question anyone should answer!"

Gehrman nodded. "It is the gods final wish upon you. To enact a sort of... torture. They are dirty creatures, designed to make life unbearable. It does not surprise me that this is something they would force upon you in your, or my, final moments. A sad ending either way."

Anon looked out into the open nothingness for what felt like the thousandth time, and watched the clouds move slowly. He knew what must be done, and turned towards Gehrman with a nod. "Then we'll play by their shitty rules. We don't have a choice, do we?"

"Often times, we do not." Gehrman said, his scythe appearing in his hands, whilst Anon's hand suddenly gripped upon a sword. "That is simply the universe we live in. We are the true winners for bearing it for so long. They are the losers in their own game."

Anon pointed his sword at Gehrman. "Then let's be the best winners possible. Let's rewrite history."

Author's Note

To understand insanity is to embrace true insight. To embrace true insight is to let go of logic. To let go of logic, is to abandon reality. To abandon reality, is to forget who you are. To forget who you are, is to become nothing. To become nothing, is to accept.