The Grand Crossover RP - Pathway to Origin [IC/PG-13/Moved to NCM for Finale]

[Love of Ghibli]

Dorian and Gyokuen: Path of Death

Oh time seemed to have completely stopped as the group was waiting on whoever this medieval character was dealing with his werewolves. Unfortunately the novelty of having to wait on the good guys had simply worn off. It was about time someone actually decided to make some progress down this pathway. Especially since this was their last one. Gyokuen and Dorian nodded at each other and they simply proceeded to walk forward. Gyokuen had knew that Tenco would naturally get the hang of this Rukh thing without her. The lady was a natural. Though in her brief time with Ms. Tenco she realized that Tenco has the innate ability to manipulate Magoi and not the Rukh which made a lot of sense. Magoi is the energy given to "Magi" from the Rukh and for regular people, some would call that lifeforce. While she was sure that Tenco would no doubt master the techniques she didn't have time to actually sit there and hold her hand through it. She did actually, but a large collection of these overly positive humans was not something she cared to deal with much longer. 

Dorian's thought process was simple. Any act of violence against anyone and all of team Waste-of-Space would jump him. Granted he would love to set all of their faces ablaze, but with the addition of this new boy with the over sized shoes and this medieval man things just looked bleak. Dorian turned to Tenco and simply shrugged. Call us impatient, but we better get going. If Protheus has to take the same paths as we do then he'll probably blitz through them. If that's the case then this could all be over before anyone gets a chance to do anything. You're free to come along if you want, but if not TTFN. Dorian said as he and Gyokuen flew over the medieval man and his wolves.

[Dad]

Kenpachi, Kratos, & Revy

 

"I think they pissed it off.  Get back, get back!" she yelled, now running in the opposite direction of the Avatar.  Kratos followed suit ducking, dodging, and rolling out of the way of the massive roots that threatened them.  Kenpachi took several large leaps at a time, snatching up Revy out of the way of destruction, and leaving Kratos to fend for himself.  When they felt that they were out of reach of the Avatar, they stopped to catch their breath.  Revy, panting, looked to Kratos.  "We can't go on like this," she said slowly.  Kratos nodded, as Butlerok and company caught his eye.  "We should help them.  What we discussed, Kenpachi--"

 

"Not a problem," the Soul Reaper said right away.

 

Kratos and Kenpachi made a mad dash towards Butlerok and Rhadamanthys, and did something reckless.  Kenpachi began to compile his aura in front of him, into a mass of energy.  He launched it at Kratos, who turned his back now to Butlerok and Rhadamanthys, and flipped backwards.  As the blast reached him, Kratos raised his wrist and deflected the blast at Butlerok and Rhadamanthys, amplifying it by 100%, and hoping they would get the idea.  "Butlerok!"  "Rhadamanthys!"  "Catch!"

[Love of Ghibli]

Butlerok and Rhadamanthys: Prologous 
 

As the two fighters were unleashing their own onslaught on the whole creature of origin they heard a loud noise come at them from the back. Rhadamanthys was the first to turn around and he looked on in shock as it seemed like an attack was coming his way. How dare you fools attempt to combat us at this time! He exclaimed. It took him a literal second to realize this wasn't an attack it was an attempt at a combination attack. Oh, that makes more sense. He quickly glanced back at Butlerok and the Kishin nodded. 

Butlerok set up three magical arrays directly behind Rhadmanthys who was in the trajectory of the blast. Rhadamanthys clapped his hands and like crackling lightning, his cosmos sparked in the space between his hands. He quickly grabbed the blast and over head tossed it behind him so it would fly into the magical arrays Butlerok created. The blast the two CC members had launched turned into a multi colored dragon and that dragon flew through each array being infused with a different kind of power and doubling in size. Butlerok and Rhadamanthys nodded at their efforts as a massive wyvern charged directly at the Avatar. 

 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Tenco"

Pathway of Death C7-C8

 

"Call us impatient, but we better get going. If Protheus has to take the same paths as we do then he'll probably blitz through them. If that's the case then this could all be over before anyone gets a chance to do anything. You're free to come along if you want, but if not TTFN."

 

"I-I'll come along, wait for me!"

 

Seeing Arthur's group leaving, and with that, Dorian and Gyokuen preparing to leave, Tenco readied herself to go follow them, while still trying to keep her focus up to keep the sphere up as Gyokuen had ordered her too. Running towards the direction they were going, she passed through the knight that seemed to be Arthur's friend and his wolves. She smiled at him as she passed the man, but didn't do much else while she continued her attempt to catch up for Gyokuen and Dorian, who had flown ahead before her.

 

"Dorian, wait for meee...!"

 

 

"One week...huh? It's not one week, I'm sure of, but it has indeed been a while."

 

The trains Yukari just chucked didn't seem to do much damage to the...thing, whatever it was, and it responded by talking directly to Yukari's head, a process that was uncomfortable since it reminded her of the unpleasant time when she had to share her body with Koishi. However, what happened next was more concerning. The thing shook the ground under her, and from there giant tentacles appeared, whipping at anything that they could reach. And then suddenly, before Yukari could react to it, she notified the existence of some odd...liquid flooding the immediate area around her. In response to that, she summoned her gaps around her and Koishi, and pulled the two of them inside, getting out not far away from the area to see that the liquid had formed many tentacles to combat the tentacles that the thing summoned. Yukari was half-tempted to order Koishi to go there too, but decided not to in the end.

 

"Ah, so you've reached this place, eh? Nice to meet you again, Yukari." Hearing that, Yukari turned around to see that Reimu was greeting her. The girl was definitely not looking tired at all, and she noticed an odd, third sphere floating around her aside from her two yin-yang orbs, but other than that she looked like the same Reimu that she met on Death. Yukari only smiled at the sight, while still thinking about the best way to attack the thing now, with the others seemingly firing an amplified dragon-shaped energy blast at the thing.

 

"Been a while, yes. How was your pathway experience? Nah...not now.

 

So...what it that thing?"
 

Reimu shrugged.

 

"Have as much knowledge about it as you."

 

"Well then...if that's the case, then I'll just..." Yukari's eyes glowed purple as her gaps manifested on the tentacle-infested area, swallowing all of them, either the ones from the Avatar or the ones made from the liquid. And then, after finding the right boundary between the place and the thing's insides, Yukari tore open a gap inside of the blob, and let all of the tentacles she trapped with her other gaps rage on from the creature's insides while the dragon approached the thing in the meantime.

 

---

[The Warden]

[[Another Time, Another Place: Prologuous]]

 

As the Cosmos hurtled towards the Avatar, it wondered to itself if it was even worth guarding. It's not as if it could cause significant harm, so, the best action would be...? The Avatar, in a rather absurd action, split itself vertically, the two flaps falling to the wayside to allow Rhadamanthys' attack to fly between the two, missing them completely. The Avatar rejoined itself as the attack hit the tree behind him, the great thing suffering no damage whatsoever. 

 

Nice try, I suppose?

 

The Avatar was starting to feel a bit of a collection of confused feelings. It was almost... amusing to how hard they were all struggling, but at the same time it was infuriating that they refused to lay down and die. At least, that was his opinion on the matter until he started to pay attention again. For a being without a means to even remotely look expressive, the Avatar was certainly showing how blasé he was at the combo attack headed right for him. It would be so simple to annihilate it with Desperate Space. Truly it would, but perhaps it's time to show them how powerless they were. Taking a quick duck into Origin, the Avatar leisurely looked through the infinite number of possibilities that had ever existed ever. His mind was working at 1000x normal perception, so seconds were like hours as he gazed through the pool, until he found what he was after.

 

DARK REFLECTION!

 

Forming in front of the colossal plant was an enormous shield almost as tall as it was, the perfect silvery metal polished to perfection. An extravagant green and red pattern lined the trim of the shield as it hung in the air. The combo attack of the quartet sank into the surface of the mirror, the surface rippling until the attack shot out of it, now coated in a dark aura as their attack was sent right back at them. The enormous shield shattered like glass once its duty was done, and the Avatar noticed something. The two brutes had left that girl alone in a rather vulnerable position. She seemed awfully distracted too, intriguing. As the Avatar focused much of his roots on the more powerful players, a thin root rose silently out of the ground behind Revy. The tip bloomed into the shape of a ragged cloak, hiding a shady phantom beneath its cowl. The terrible geist was holding a large sickle, one big enough that it could have been a scythe had its handle been longer. Without a word it lashed out, aiming to cut Revy down where she stood while she was none-the-wiser.

 

If the Avatar had physical sense, it would be feeling incredibly uncomfortable with his own roots and the Mad Blood fighting within him. In truth, this pitiful assault had the exact opposite effect; he now had a sample of Mad Blood, and was very quickly analysing it as his trunk burst, allowing his roots to wriggle out like a horrid anemone... so basically just like an anemone.

[Dad]

Kratos landed flatly after launching the combined attack from himself and Kenpachi at their polar opposites.  Fortunately, they caught on right away.  They toyed with the energy for a brief moment before amplifying it and turning it into something much stronger, which was impressive to say the least.  Launching the attack at the Avatar prompted a reflection technique of his own, causing Kenpachi and Kratos to scatter.  Kratos of course could launch the energy away.  Kenpachi, however, had to cut through space and send off the energy elsewhere to avoid it.  In the time in which Kratos was saving his own hide, a sneaky tactic from the Avatar was deployed on Revy, who felt a cold chill behind her.  Her reaction time was slow, and forced Kratos to step in.

 

"Spartans!" he barked.  Kratos stomped, and a horde of 50 Spartan Warriors surrounded Revy now, barely deflecting the strike that was meant for her.  She fell backwards on to her rear, shaking her head.  "sheet!  Since when is that a thing!?" she said questioning the apparatus that had appeared behind her.  The Spartans broke their formation, but remained near Revy.  Kratos returned to her side, with Kenpachi remaining an equal distance between Kratos and Butlerok.

 

"We ain't exactly makin' progress," he called to Kratos and Butlerok respectively.  "And this thing is startin' to get outta hand like a cranky kid at a dinner party.  So.  Any more bright ideas?"

 

A sly smile crossed the face of Kratos, as Kenpachi asked this.  "We do nothing."

 

"What!?"

 

"Huh!?"

 

"We avoid everything he throws at us, with no reply."

 

"You can't be serious."

 

But Kratos wouldn't change his mind.

[Love of Ghibli]

Butlerok and Rhadamanthys: Prologous

 

The two members of the Divine looked on as their attack was reflected right back at them. Slightly deflating, but it looked like they wouldn’t have to worry about it. Kratos and Kenpachi directly intervened and diverted the attack. Rhadamanthys and Butlerok both snickered as they would expect nothing less of their C.C. rivals. Unfortunately, Kratos’ next strategy seemed to employ less violent measures.

What cowardice is this! Rhadamanthys screamed out loud. It is not cowardice it is strategy Butlerok interjected. Kratos is right in this respect. Like I said before, this creature is some kind of concept and those have to be defeated in special ways. What? For example, despair is apparently defeated with hope. This is the stupidest load of garbage I’ve heard in life and afterlife. So we either have the ability to automatically kill this thing or just die because we cannot kill this thing. Correct. Rhadamanthys face-palmed. Between the four of us at the very least we can keep all of the other combatants alive. How! You said it is forcing this “Soul Rejection” concept on you doesn’t that mean it can force “Death” on all of these other mortals! This is simply ludicrous! Do not get too angry this should balance out in the end, but for now I agree with Kratos and should wade through all of its attacks even though it doesn’t look like it attacks if it is not provoked.

I cannot wait till this is over!

 

Dorian and Gyokuen: Path of Death

 

Dorian and Gyoukuen waited for Tenco as she proceeded to catch up to them as they seemingly turned down the halls without anymore interruptions it was a nice change of pace. While they didn’t pay attention to whatever path Arthur and his crew went down they seemed to have simply vanished. Dorian didn’t even shrug as he kept moving forward. Then without any sign of a real transition the three travellers seemed to be walking…nothing. The were walking in the empty void of space. What is this? Dorian asked out loud. He looked around the empty space and then he looked to Gyokuen to get her take on this.

Much to his surprise she was actually on her knees crying. This is impossible! Is this is a dream? Gyokuen said in a rather rare moment of nervousness. Dorian looked on as this new sub space started to warp and contort in the distance. Three skyscraper sized tentacle beast that looked like cells through a microscope surrounded the trio. Gyokuen quickly gasped as she couldn’t believe her eyes. It’s “Father!” Dorian looked confused for a second and then he looked at Tenco who would know less than he did. Gyokuen started bowing and then it clicked to Dorian.

Oh my God, is THIS your GOD? He asked emphatically. Yes you plebeian, now kneel before his glory! Dorian’s eye twitched as he could never have imagined this creature would be the “Father” Gyokuen would always go on about. As he looked at the creature he noticed that all of his and Tenco’s Rukh became visible once again. This time though they were being sucked into the tentacle beast. Dorian could feel his lifeforce fading and his eyes were getting black. He looked around and he noticed that Gyokuen was still in some form of gleeful shock that all of this was happening. Ms. Tenco’s orbs were able to keep her Rukh safe, but with her still being new to the whole concept no telling how much longer she could hold on to that. Dorian had to do something.

He took flight directly in the air clapped his hands. He made 3 massive phoenixes and fired them directly at the creatures. Gyokuen looked up in horror as once again someone had threatened to harm her God! She swiped her hand down and bolts of lightning came down to try to shoot the birds of fire. Unfortunately, they were a little to late. The attack hit its mark and the tentacle creatures let out a blood curdling screech and stopped absorbing the Rukh.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE! You’re hurting them! Gyokuen shouted. Excuse you! You sick hag! They were killing us! No you insolent brat! All Rukh come from Al Thanan white or black! They are just taking back what’s theirs. Dorian facepalmed. I can’t believe for I forgot for five seconds how backwards and crazy you are! Insolent HIERATIC! I will kill you! Gyokuen readied her staff and she launched herself at Dorian. Dorian wrapped his fist in flames and punched directly at her staffs head. The resulting clash created a massive shockwave which only served one purpose. It blew Ms. Tenco and her Rukh out of the subspace and back into the actual Pathway and into another corridor. Gyokuen looked outward at the space where Tenco was and then she jumped back. Well I guess she got away. Pity. Gyokuen and Dorian then looked at each and squared off.

I had so many plans for you.

 

Ending Location: B9

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

“Tenco”

Pathway of Death C8 -> B9 -> D8

 

“Huh…you two aren’t going towards the same direction as the others?” Tenco asked Dorian and Gyokuen as she continued her attempt to catch up to them, but it seemed that her voice was drowned by the chaos happening not too far away from them. She tried to repeat herself several more times, but it was seemingly for naught – the two members of the Divines didn’t actually seem to hear her voice. Bummed, Tenco then decided to ignore it before she would get too worked up by that disappointment, and focus more in catching up to the two for now.

 

The empty void, the darkness that the three of them passed through was unnaturally thick; something so unnaturally dark, at that point the sense of sight itself seemingly had been taken away by the corridor they were in. Tenco tried to light up a fire or light up one of her orbs, but their light was miniscule at best at the vast expanse of darkness surrounding her. After a while of moving awkwardly due to being completely unconditioned to move in such darkness, Tenco had to force herself to rely on tracking Dorian and Gyokuen’s faint life signature and convince herself that she wouldn’t step or bump into something while inside of the corridor just to have a chance of catching up, since the two of them didn’t seem to be all too interested in slowing down for her – not that there’s any reason why Tenco should expect that to happen.

 

Although, not too long after, the two of them had seemingly stopped, finally deciding to wait up for her to get to their position, and once she was with the group once more, the three of them started to move again, not bothering with much else-

 

“What is this?”

 

“This is impossible? Is this a dream?” 

 

“G-guys, what’s happening?”

 

Nervously, Tenco tried to ask the two about what the hell had just happened. Dorian was seemingly as confused as she was, while Gyokuen was for some reasons already on her knees, crying. That was, for a lack of better word to describe it, baffling. That sight alone made the blue-haired girl’s jaw figuratively drop to the floor in shock, and she was too bewildered with that occurrence to notice the spatial distortion happening around the trio.

 

“It’s ‘Father’!”

 

“Oh my god, is THIS your GOD?” Those words made Tenco look around to see what Dorian was referring to, and noticed to her horror that three gigantic tentacle creatures were already nearby during the time she was too dazed by Gyokuen’s earlier out-of-character stint. She looked at Dorian worriedly, asking for explanation, but the man pretty much was in the same boat as her.

 

“Yes you plebeian, now kneel before his glory!”

 

“W-what the heck is actually going on here?” Tenco didn’t even seem to get her answer as the tentacle creature was starting to suck her life energy away from her…or was it Rukh? Gyokuen earlier said that the two were different, but so far Tenco was still unaware of their actual difference. But that was not important right now. As she struggled to keep the creature from sucking her dry, her sword glowed in response, creating a shell that encased the immediate area around her to protect her from the creature even without Tenco ordering it to do it. It just made her suspicion of the sword having some sort of consciousness within it to be validated even further. Meanwhile, Dorian cut through the chase and started to attack the creature instead using three phoenix constructs he summoned, and despite Gyokuen’s attempt to prevent him to do it, the birds hit the creatures directly, causing them to let out a blood-curling scream.

 

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! You’re hurting them!”

 

“Excuse you! You sick hag! They were killing us!”

 

“No you insolent brat! All Rukh come from Al Thanan white or black! They are just taking away what’s theirs.”

 

“I can’t believe that I forgot for five seconds how backwards and crazy you are!”

 

“Insolent HIERATIC! I will kill you!”

 

Well…so much for being a group. As much as Tenco wanted for them to stay together as a group until the end of the pathway, since push had come to shove, there’s no reason for her not to side with Dorian, especially since she’s…not exactly fond of Gyokuen in the first place. Even if she taught her a bit and gave her some very useful insights so far, if the choice was between Dorian or Gyokuen, then Tenco would-

 

Before Tenco could enter the fight proper, a really strong magical shockwave blew her away from the two’s position. The shockwave was strong enough to cause her to break through the walls of the corridor, and kept on going at high speed. As she passed through the adjacent corridor, she thought that she passed momentarily near Eria as she faced someone. Who was it? Tenco had no idea, and not long afterwards as she bumped into the next corridor wall, she lost her consciousness completely and blacked out.

 

 

“…Urf, that hurts like hell.

 

…I’m not dead this time, right?”

 

As soon as she regained her consciousness, Tenco found herself in the midst of a pile of rubble near a wall, completely alone. She tried to look around her amidst the darkness frantically, hoping to see Eria, Arthur, Dorian, Gyokuen, or anyone else, really, but was disappointed when she realized that she was completely alone. She didn’t really expect to get hit that hard during the earlier battle, and while she couldn’t exactly be sure yet whether it was the case or not due to the concussion she suffered, she believed that she was thrown into another corridor, probably one that was beside the corridor where her group originally were in. That would normally mean that she could just return through the hole and regroup with them, but when she looked at the direction again, she couldn’t find the hole where she came from, much to her dismay.

 

Grumbling as she got up from the rubble, Tenco admitted to herself that she was getting a bit too distraught with the fact that she was alone once more. Worried about having to face something like she faced on the bridges, she still tried her best to be strong on the inside so she could face that kind of thing. It’s really safe to say that something like that would definitely, undoubtedly happen again, however Tenco was unsure whether she was going to be able to handle it this time, especially if she was alone. She’s physically and mentally exhausted, especially after getting knocked out cold earlier, and right now she’s too tired to even continue. Her condition right now was slightly reminiscent of the time she almost died in Truth, but Tenco doubted she would be saved by a divine intervention once more if something bad happened to her again this time.

 

“Ugh, why the hell am I thinking about this like that? No use in negative thinking! 

 

And to think that I’m supposed to play the role of the resident wide-eyed optimist…”

 

Slapping herself as that realization it her, Tenco acknowledged how silly it was for her to think much about those thoughts right now, which wouldn’t help her situation at all. And thus, Tenco buried those thoughts away, and then she tried to focus herself on her effort to find a way for her to be able to advance as fast as possible to the end of this pathway, no matter how scared or tired she was, and even if she couldn’t find anyone else to pass this pathway with. 

 

However, moving proved to be a task her body was not fully ready to do yet. Tenco considered using the energy reserves stored on the Scarlet Sword to help her with this goal, although after a while of thinking she ended up discarding those thoughts. She still didn’t really feel like touching the sworrd, especially after what happened earlier with the thoughts inside of the sword almost controlled her once more, which really worried her. She still had no idea on what exactly was lying dormant inside of the sword that managed to control her again and again, though she suspected that it’s just the remains of Tenshi’s malice or something similar. Whatever was the case, using it again might prove to be dangerous. Even if the sword was the reasoning why she still survived her crash by instinctively creating a barrier to soften the impact between her and the wall, she definitely wasn’t really looking to take that chance right now.

 

Although…

 

“…Oh right. Why didn’t I think this through? I can just use it as a way to indirectly to help me gather life energy from around here all this time.

 

…Yeah, that’d definitely help me more rather than only having it as a simple hairpin.” 

The blunette placed her right hand on her face in exasperation as she realized that she could simply use the sword as a sort of medium for her to draw in those energies to rejuvenate her, which shouldn’t pose too much of a problem to her since she’s not directly wielding it that way. Most of her abilities were already a smaller degree of what the sword was capable of on the first place, and with the actual sword itself in her possession, the process should become even simpler. Focusing her mind for a short while, she then used her sword to channel her thoughts as she scoured the nearby area around her in search of energies she could use to recover herself. It was a slightly tedious process to look at the signs of temperaments of the people in the pathway, and recovering herself using their energy somewhat felt like stealing, but since she was only taking a really small portion of energy from each of them, Tenco didn’t feel like she’s troubling anyone with this.

 

Letting her consciousness roam free, Tenco looked for the traces of life that she could utilize. She found several strong traces seemingly on the corridor next to hers, so she believed that those would be from Eria’s group, and proceeded to channel some of the fluttering qi towards herself. After gathering small amount of energy from everything that she could get ahold of, small enough from each to be unnoticeable, Tenco almost called the process off, but then she felt the presence of some sort of disturbance near her. It was like an overpowering aura and a ridiculous amount of pressure coming from a seemingly bottomless well of qi. However, the most intriguing part was that Tenco felt that she was pretty familiar with the source of this disturbance, like if she had actually seen this kind of life signature before even if she’s not sure about whom was it yet. For some unknown reasons, whoever the source was reminded her of Tenshi, but it was definitely not her, that alone was something Tenco could be sure of. Even discounting the fact that she’s deader than dead, the downright regally intimidating aura was definitely not something that girl would ever possess during her lifetime. However, thankfully Tenco didn’t have to speculate any longer…mainly since the source was already in front of her.

 

“It seems that you have been doing decently so far, Tenco.”

 

The voice rang as clear as a church’s bell in Tenco’s ears. It was the familiar, charismatic voice that she had kind of longed to hear after a while, and even more so now that she was alone without anyone to accompany her. Even if it was a woman’s voice, it was the voice belonging to a king, great ones at that. Tenco was perfectly familiar with the warmly distant voice, but she couldn’t really understand the feeling inside that there’s something off with the voice.

 

“Why are you not continuing now? The pathways are merely a distraction from the goal in the end. You must always remember that, otherwise you’d be sidetracked and lose sight of why we’re here in the first place.” And then, the voice sternly scolded Tenco, who blushed slightly in response. A bit embarrassed that she’s in a weak condition when she was being inspected by her, of all people, Tenco struggled to stand up from her position, and after keeping herself steady enough to not fall down again, she slowly walked towards Arturia’s position, who was not far in front of her, using her conjured blade as a walking stick in the meantime due to her unsteady body condition at that moment. 

 

When she was closer to the king’s position, she tried to put her best smile on her face for her. The smile soon wore off a bit when she noticed that the king’s expression was completely flat and distant even more than what was normal for her, and the king didn’t even seem to actually care about Tenco’s presence there. Even if that was really the case however, Tenco did not really seeing as a problem. From what she had seen so far about Arturia, she knew that it’d still be reasonable enough for her to act that way. And that was not the important part, after all. The blue-haired girl was just glad that she’s finally able to meet the king again, during the time where she really needed a companion to finish the pathway, even. 

 

After what she had went through, being together with the only person she ever truly respected and looked up to finally made Tenco feel like she had managed to be safe and secure in the pathway that had been scaring her again and again with what it held in store, where her anxiety almost ran wild at her expense. Despite their short time interacting with each other before, the blue-haired girl saw herself as already idolizing the legendary King of Britain, admiring her sense of leadership for one. And, she also saw her as an archetypal knight in shining armor on top of that, a role Tenco had been a fan of for as long as she could remember, and something she wanted to emulate, despite herself knowing that it’d be impossible for her to.

 

A bit of an awkward silence later, the blue-haired girl realized the fact that she was behaving completely awkwardly in front of Arturia while her thoughts ran wild, and as soon as she realized it, Tenco immediately tried to suppress the obvious fangirling and awe from her expression to barely any avail at first. After a while later however, she did manage to compose herself enough to look and act at least slightly normal to not embarrass herself further in front of her idol. Somewhat satisfied with that, Tenco then tried to speak to her leader, in her attempt to apologize to her for the cause of why Arturia scolded her earlier.

 

“You’re right…I’m terribly sorry for slacking off like this. “

 

“Do not repeat it, and never thought about making excuses regarding it. Learn from your past mistakes, and use that knowledge from your experience to not fall in the same hole again. Merely apologizing will not change anything for the better.” The king huffed slightly, finally showing a sign of discontent on her expression as Tenco’s own face continued to redden in shame. After a while, Arturia then finally looked at her, and sighed at what she saw. “And knock it off, Tenco. It is improper for a member of the Counter Corps to visibly overreact to being scolded like what you did just now. You are here as a proud member of the Corps tasked to save the multiverse, not a teenage girl in search of love. So I would rather you keep the blushing and awkward expressions to a minimum.

 

And furthermore, for someone with a royal blood flowing on her, you definitely in dire need to fix your mannerism to fit your position better.” Another stern scolding coming from her, and Tenco could only respond to it by nodding in agreement. She then sighed in her attempt to remove the rampant blushing from her own face, mainly because she still felt really embarrassed at how much she screwed up so far, and in front of Arturia of all people, to boot. Arturia’s mention of her supposed royalty reminded her about something however, and Tenco then in a rush felt that she should tell her king about her actual circumstances to make things clearer between them.

 

“Although…Lord…I-I mean Lady Arturia…regarding that, I…” However, the continuation of those words were stuck on her lips as Tenco suddenly became unsure on what she’s going to say, or whether she should say it in the first place. After a little bit more of thinking and musing regarding the topic, Tenco decided to stay silent regarding that issue, deeming it as something that’s irrelevant to their current situation, and she shouldn’t bother Arturia with irrelevancies like that. “Nevermind.”

 

“Go wrap your words with some tone of dignity for once, Tenco. No one would respect someone if they stutter or take that long to think about what they’re going to say. This goes double for you due to who you are, princess.”

 

“Yeah…I guess you’re right.” 

 

“For starters, knock off the breaks from your sentences. If you don’t think you can finish a sentence just yet, think about it more before saying it. Then inject some self-confidence on your words. Use a less fragile tone when you’re speaking. You’re not a peasant girl, so do not talk like one. Aim to instill awe and reverence to others when you speak. Or at least, aim to keep your dignity intact when you speak by removing any signs of vulnerabilities from your voice. There’s no way the masses will follow you if even your voice can’t convince them.

Come, I would like to hear you try. Talk about something, and use what I’ve told you to make you more convincing.” And what was once started as a scolding session went on and turned into a full-blown lecture about Tenco’s way of speaking; something the girl didn’t really expect to happen. The embarrassment and shame that she tried to hide became apparent once more on her face, on which the king before her could only respond with a sigh of displeasure. “How long are you going to stand embarrassed there? We shouldn’t even waste our time here with this in the first place, so let’s make this quick. You’re the heir to the throne, so try behaving like one for once.”

 

“…Right. Once again, I’m deeply sorry for that, Lady Arturia.”

 

“Knock that break off.”

 

“…”

 

“What is with that silence and expression? Answer me.”

 

“…Pardon me, Arturia, but I’d rather to just ignore this issue for now.” It was the last straw. Nothing against the person talking to her, but Tenco felt that for a position she wouldn’t fulfill in the first place since she’s not even an actual heir, all of this was starting to be pointless, and to tell the truth, the blue-haired girl didn’t even think she physically could talk in the way Arturia told her to. It felt out of character for her…much to her own chagrin, but there’s not much she could do to fix it up right now. And it’s a problem this impromptu schooling session in the middle of conflict wouldn’t be able to solve, really. It’s not that solving it would actually matter or be useful enough to warrant trying right now, but...

 

“It’s just…I can’t even see myself as a ruler, actually. I’d rather be out there, as far away as possible from my palace, experiencing the world and its people myself in person rather than being restricted to my throne, and I can’t handle the responsibilities for it, not at all. And I doubt that it something that could change in the future. I wouldn’t be a good ruler, and that much is certa-“

 

That was the moment Tenco’s words were interrupted by a cold, menacing glare from the king, and Tenco immediately regretted a bit regarding about how much she had said regarding the issue, which could probably have offended Arturia personally. That death glare immediately softened however, as Arturia turned around to the other direction without much fanfare not long afterwards, letting Tenco to relax a bit after getting the shock of her lifetime.

 

“I reckon that you might be right. It’s an improper time for us to dwell longer with that relatively unimportant matter, and I believe that even if I continue, that would simply be a waste of time with how badly you’re taking your lesson so far. 

 

Now that I look more closely at you, as you’ve said, you don’t have what it takes to lead your people. You even put up your personal desires over your people’s desires. Someone as selfish as you would definitely be better as far away from power as possible.” 

 

In one breath, the king finished her summation on the blue-haired girl. That assessment was harsher than what Tenco expected to hear, and while it was ridiculously blunt and a bit painful for the girl to take, it did hammer its supposed point towards her, no matter how uncomfortable she was with the message itself. Even then, the girl was glad that Arturia openly told her off like that honestly instead of attempting to sugarcoat her words, and she believed that the king said it out of good will as a critic to her character rather than something outright malicious like openly insulting her. It could be yet another thing that the young girl could learn from her leader, who then walked away nonchalantly away from her without even giving any warnings or signs beforehand. Seeing that her leader was starting to leave her behind, Tenco shook off those thoughts from her head and went on to follow Arturia’s steps as they continued their way through the ridiculously dark corridor.

 

“We have wasted a lot of our time here. Let’s move on and finish this pathway. We shouldn’t let Protheus get any chance to get a lead over the Corps.”

 

 

“Lady Arturia…may I…?” As the two walked further, Tenco couldn’t help but wanting to ask things at her, both as a way to stave off boredom from walking through the darkness, and to know her more as a person. Staring at the king and her grey combat dress as she waited for her to respond, Tenco still found it hard to believe that Arturia was actually several centimeters shorter than she was, and she was still looking like a lithe teenager, just like her. Yet, despite of that, the king still had that overwhelmingly strong air of authority and charisma on her, which should instill a great deal of reverence from the people working under her. That was the biggest difference that separated the two of them. 

 

One minute of silence passed, and Tenco’s thoughts started to roam freely as she thought more about the person she idolized. Tenco was already aware by then that the king had been forced to do some less than ideal acts in this conflict, mainly regarding the annihilation of each of the Counter Corps’ home worlds during their recruitment. Though, as much as she thought about it, for a reason that should be obvious by now, Tenco had to admit that it didn’t affect her at all, but she still kind of off-put by that information even now. It’s not really the king’s direct fault – it was just the latest reaction in the chain of events caused by Isamy’s distortions on her plans to get to the Door, and due to that Tenco couldn’t bring herself to blame Arturia at all about what she had done in the end. And moreover, as far as she knew it, it was something that Tenco believed the king had no choice but to do, a risk she’s forced to take in the face of the imminent threat of Protheus. So, in the end, it did not hurt the king’s image in her eyes at all no matter how much she looked at it.

 

Two minutes had passed without Arturia responding to her in any way. As Tenco was drowned deeper and deeper inside of her thoughts, she was starting to get a bit ashamed about herself since a lot of her knowledge regarding the conflict itself came from this pathway, from a member of the Divine to boot. Which kind of made the entire thing even more awkward in context, especially since she did also participate in that one confrontation between those Divines and her Counter Corps teammates as a confused participant, even if it ended well enough, at least the last time she saw them. 

 

“Hm?” After that long silence where Tenco’s mind drifted away, the king finally responded to the blue-haired girl calling her name, all without even turning around or slowing down her steps. That utterance snapped Tenco back down to earth, and as she prepared herself to actually ask the question, her eyes started to brighten up once more since she had finally been noticed again by Arturia.

 

“This place…shouldn’t there be a construct made by the pathway to attack us here?” Tenco finally uttered her question in full. “This place” on her sentence was of course referring to the dark corridor itself, and while Arturia might also just arrived on the place, Tenco felt that she should have more knowledge about it than her. What Gyokuen had said earlier, and the things she helped the others facing before she was thrown into this corridor immediately came to mind, but it had been a while for her since she was on this corridor, and she hadn’t seen one of those constructs confronting her so far. Arturia stared at her questioningly at first, but not long after she started to speak.

 

“Ah, so you are referring to those things. If you haven’t encountered one, I believe that you should be facing one sooner or later while still inside this corridor. I already faced mine alongside a fellow Counter Corps member a while before you arrived here. The only reason I stayed behind while he continued towards the end was because I felt the presence of someone dangerous nearby. There is no guarantee that it would be Protheus however, but at a time like this, it’s better to be safe than being sorry.”

 

“I see…so…what kind of foe did you face here?”

 

“He was simply an unpleasant person from my past, to put it simply. It’s not something to be talked about right now.”

 

“Aah…then, about your past…can you tell me a bit more regarding it? You as the king of B-“

 

“It’s not something to be talked about right now.” Arturia repeated her previous words, this time with a clearer emphasis on each of those words to indicate how much she meant each one of them. Fearing another one of her cold glare, Tenco decided to stop pushing for more questions for now. The impersonal, cold tone that Arturia used to talk to her still intimidated the blue-haired girl deeply, and while she thought she understand the reasoning behind why Arturia had to keep her tone and demeanor to be like that, Tenco somewhat wished that she could act warmer towards her followers, including her. It might be just her…but it could be said that the king was a bit…inhuman. Not that she respected her less due to it, but it did bug Tenco a lot so far. It made her feel really uncomfortable just to walk beside the king and to talk to her directly like what she did.

 

“However, your questions did remind me of something important I was going to ask you earlier.” 

 

“What it is?”

 

“Who are those people you’re going along with earlier? I am not referring about Arthur and his friends.” 

 

And Tenco was very surprised that the question was the one asked by Arturia, even if she already subconsciously half-expected her to ask about it sooner or later on the off-chance that the king had been watching over her for a while. Tenco didn’t really want to tell the king about that in the first place to avoid disappointing her more, even if she herself didn’t really find any actual reasoning to make enemies with the two Divines. Alright, maybe it’s another case entirely with the creepy woman Gyokuen, but aside from the things Dorian allegedly did in the past, his general attitude, his tendency of lying, and his indirect insults, Tenco didn’t feel like that he needed to be opposed. And even Gyokuen, despite how insufferable she was being, still helped her a lot in the end to learn more about her abilities, and taught her a lot in general. At that moment, the only Divines Tenco had met were just Tenshi and those two, and that made her felt that the other side wasn’t really as bad as she thought at first. Just selfish-ish and bad at picking sides. But that’s maybe not really a valid conclusion to draw. And with Arturia asking the question directly, there’s no point to lie to her face unless she really wanted the situation to get worse.

 

“Well…they’re members of the Divines, actually. I stumbled upon them in this pathway, and ended up going with them until I accidentally got blasted to unconsciousness.”

 

“Why do you stay at their company, and why do you choose them over the members of the Counter Corps you encountered on the pathway?” Arturia continued to ask her, her tone became more and more interrogative as she did that.

 

“Because…because…I don’t know.

 

I just…I just think that they’re not really bad, and I’m scared to go alone. Even if they’re from the other side, I feel that they’re not really too bad, if at all. Even if we then almost gotten ourselves into a conflict with some other members of the Corps due to some past bad blood, it ended in a good note as far as I’m aware since we ended up going to finish this pathway together, up until I was thrown here.

 

There’s not really any reason for the two sides to fight each other, right?” She answered, silently hoping that this time she didn’t screw up on her answers like last time. Seeing Arturia’s expression, however, it was made pretty clear that she was not really amused by her answer once more.

 

“…

 

Why do all of you keep on meddling on each of your own personal issues with yourself or each other rather than moving along the pathway to prevent Protheus from achieving his goal?” Arturia asked, her tone was slightly raised indicating the rise from her pent up emotions, as if the subject was something that she took quite personally. Tenco softly yelped, anxious about the fact that she had made Arturia be like this for the second time in just a short time span. It was somewhat baffling however, that the issue that Arturia needed to be put an emphasis on was not how Tenco stayed on Dorian and Gyokuen’s side.

 

“W-wait, what do you mean?” Tenco asked.

 

“I’ve said it to you earlier. The pathways are merely a distraction, and there’s honestly no reason at all for the Divines and Counter Corps to fight, just as you said. Especially not just due to personal vendetta between them. We’re here going against one of the most dangerous and least trustworthy person in the multiverse, and the Divines should’ve picked up that they shouldn’t trust that person in the first place.

 

Ugh…things like this are what making this infinitely harder for me to do my job here.”

 

“…I see.”

 

“And people are just too busy with their own pathway experiences for now, ignoring the fact that their own worlds are at stake here. Even knowing that, people didn’t focus on the important thing. For example, you. You are one of the biggest offenders here, actually. The fact that you’ve been too drowned in your own insignificant personal problems with that one Divine girl, in the face of this dire danger the multiverse is facing now is to put simply, very disappointing.”

 

“..E-eh?” Tenco was deeply surprised with Arturia’s reply. Both on the fact that the king was somehow aware of her personal conflicts with Tenshi, and with how…even more increasingly distant and impersonal her tone was despite how much emotion was put into it. Tenco tried to rationalize the first as just her being able to read the atmosphere really well, but as for the second, after a bit of thinking, she felt that it should be understandable for her to speak in that kind of tone, as right now, her position was as a leader that was being completely disappointed by her follower, but the impact of the tone was still very real on Tenco’s self. Before she could react, however, Arturia continued her sentence, still with her cold tone, but the slight hint of anger or other emotions had disappeared completely from her voice now.

 

“Do you even realize the true scope of this conflict’s severity? All this time, you’ve been only locked inside of your sphere of non-perception, being too self-absorbed by your ultimately-insignificant personal conflict to notice that people are dying all around you. We’re not talking about merely individuals, groups, cities, kingdoms, or even worlds that would get affected here. Possibly, the entire multiverse itself would be at stake here, so consider that fact before your personal conflicts distracted yourself again from the true conflict.” Still with her cold tone, Arturia repeatedly hammered the point to Tenco’s head, and the blue-haired girl bitterly realized that her leader was pretty much right. She had strayed for too long from the right path, pursuing and be disturbed by those conflicts of hers, to the point of forgetting that she’s currently fighting in the battle with the multiverse as the stake.

 

“…Yeah. You’re right that I’ve been way too distracted by those things. I’m really sorry for messing up this much…and I promise I will not repeat it again.” She couldn’t really hide her expression of embarrassment and remorse as she said her apology to her leader. Yeah, Tenco felt that she had enough conflicts and personal issues already, and maybe focusing herself to the end goal would help her overcome her uneasiness and worries regarding things that had happened, and more importantly, regarding the things to come. And thinking too much about them wouldn’t really do her good anyway. 

 

“Let’s wait and see whether you are actually capable of withholding that promise.”

 

 

And, around fifteen minutes later, the two could notice that the end of the corridor itself was nearby, and Tenco, who had been slightly bummed with all of Arturia critical assessments and scolding on her, felt that her good mood had returned the moment she noticed the relatively brighter area beyond them. The ridiculously thick darkness of the corridor itself was getting on nerves and making her very comfortable, and if it’s not for Arturia being around leading her…she probably would’ve gotten lost inside the darkness. As they then approached the end, Arturia turned around to face the blue-haired girl.

 

“I believe this is the point where we should start to split. I still can feel the darkness I referred to earlier linger on the pathway. I shall go now to hunt it down, and if it this really is Protheus, then we-

 

Why are you smiling like that, Tenco?”

 

“…Ah. Arturia…I-I…” Still couldn’t believe that she’d go separate ways with her idol after such a short time, Tenco was barely able to speak what she had in mind, stuttering as she tried to push herself to pour what she had in mind to words, all the while the Counter Guardian watched her, not being amused.

 

“What is it? And as I said earlier, drop those excessive breaks and stuttering from your speech, even if you refuse to acknowledge your nobility. It’s, quite honestly, grating to hear.” Still with her usual cold and impersonal tone, the king scolded her once more. But the blue-haired girl herself kept on struggling to say her sentence, and her face once more slightly reddened as she felt embarrassed about her not being able to talk normally in front of her leader. After gathering enough courage and willpower to spit what she had in mind, the blue-haired girl finally started to talk.

 

“..Ar-Arturia…T-thank you.” Some other words finally came out of the girl’s lips, but the king herself didn’t really seem to respond in any way to those words. But it’s alright. As long as Tenco could have herself be honest to herself and say what was on her heart to her leader, she’d be fine. Even if she didn’t care…as long as she didn’t get angry from her words, it’d be alright for the young girl. 

 

“…T-thank you for telling me all these things. Thank you for all of your scolding to me. Thank you for wanting to walk together with me on this corridor. Thank you…thank you for leading us so far in this conflict.”

 

A slight grunt could be heard as the response while Tenco gasped for air, her lungs getting a bit hurt due to how she spoke those words. It was hard, but being able to drop what she had been feeling right to the person itself felt satisfying enough to make it worth it. After a minute of silence between the two, Tenco continued her words, still struggling to speak clearly without stuttering to not offend Arturia.

 

“I…I used to have nowhere to go, no goals to reach, nothing to aim for, aside from fixing up my own personal problems, but you and the Counter Corps gave me something to fight for, and a hope. Even if I admittedly hadn’t interacted much with others aside from the few I’ve met…it felt good not being alone, and I think finally having something to look forward to…it is an irreplaceable feeling for me. 

 

And…I really wanted to say that…I-I am very glad that I can finally have someone to look up to as an inspiration. Even if you’re ever-distant to everyone…I want to follow you. Even if I don’t really want to be a leader myself…you’re still my idol. And…I know that I can trust you. 

 

You might think this to be very insignificant about our current struggle, and to tell the truth it kind of is…but Arturia…thank you for giving me back my long lost hope. Thank you…for giving me a chance to have a future.”

 

Uttering the entirety of her feelings towards the king, Tenco slightly limped to the side after she’s done, the struggle she had to say all of those had started to make her dizzy. Admitting all of that to her leader felt really embarrassing, but…she believed that there might not be another chance for her to say this directly to her again. After what happened with Tenshi earlier…she felt that she should be honest about her own feeling to the people she actually cared about. She…really don’t have anyone right now, and the only person she could look up to was the woman in front of her.

 

“…Aah…sorry for me acting like this, Arturia. I really need to get all those personal feelings out of the way first to clear my head. You’re right that we shouldn’t let these feelings-“

 

“A future. It seemed that you just said something about the future. Your future. ” Arturia mumbled faintly, a hint of melancholy could be detected from her otherwise usual flat tone. Shaking her head as if she was hearing an unfunny joke, she then returned to look at Tenshi directly on her eyes, the overpowering glare that she displayed earlier had returned on her normally chill blue eyes, and Tenco could only stand still in shock, unable to do anything as Arturia followed those words of hers with a question.

 

“Say, Tenco. What kind of future do you actually seek after this? Where are you going to, when this is all over?” The Counter Guardian said. Even if it was not said with any sense of hostility coming from her, the glare that she kept at her made Tenco could barely speak to reply to that question, as she was being completely intimidated by it. She kept that crushing gaze at her, and after a bit Tenco bitterly realized that it wouldn’t simply get away if she didn’t say anything. So, forcing herself as much as she could, Tenco started to speak.

 

Or not. As she moved her lips to form the words she wanted to say, Tenco…couldn’t actually think about anything solid. Once again, she was unable to answer this question properly. She couldn’t even have herself answer it like how she answered when MirageGaogamon asked her about it earlier, with a lie. Arturia would notice that lie almost immediately, she was perfectly sure of that. 

 

Even if she had persistently believed that she would end up with a future different from what was fated for Tenshi or the real Tenco, “being different” was only thing she knew about what she actually wanted. Nothing else. Her “future”, the one that she had been trying to fight for so far, the one that Tenshi died for just so she could have it, could only described by the word “different”. Aside from that, she didn’t even know about what she wanted, or where she would go after this. The statement that the pathway spoken to her earlier continued to echo inside of her mind.

 

Did she really have no future beyond this place? Tenco vehemently refused to believe that it was remotely the case with her here. With the Counter Corps and Arturia on her side, she would be able to get a future of her own. She would be able to, and thus, she would…

 

Seeing Tenco unable to actually produce an answer for her simple question, Arturia, in exasperation, continued to talk instead.

 

“You…really are selfish, aren’t you? The multiverse is at stake here…and you still dare to think only about yourself and your own future, one that you don’t even know about. It would honestly be better if you actually have any idea about what kind of future do you seek, but all you’re fighting for now is simply for the sake of an empty word, and that’s it.”

 

“A-arturia?”

 

“In the end, you’re pretty much a big disappointment, Tenco. Shame…you actually reminded me of how I was back then, and I had high expectations for you as a Counter Corps member. But my belief was wrong, it seems.

 

You’re nothing more than a big mistake right now.”

 

“Y-you’re joking right, Arturia? Tell me you’re joking, please…?”

 

No further response was made by the Counter Guardian.

 

“This isn’t funny, Lady Arturia!” Tenco screamed in frustration as she didn’t get any answers from Arturia. She knew that Arturia was serious, as there’s almost zero chance that the king would joke about something like that at a time like this, but she continued to believe for that very small chance that Arturia somehow didn’t actually mean what she said. 

 

“It’s never meant to be funny, and it’s not meant to be a joke either. You really still think that this is just a game, Tenco? In that case, you are completely beyond salvation.

 

And, about this ‘future’ you’re speaking of, it doesn’t even matter that you don’t know about what is your future beyond this point is. 

 

I will tell you what actually waited for you. 

 

Nothing. Your future is simply that, and it is something I am completely can be sure about.” Still glaring at the girl before her, Arturia once again shook her head, just as if she’s wondering why she bothered to pick her as one of her warriors in the first place. “Yes. I believe I’m aware about what you actually are for a while already, Tenco. An empty shell. Someone without an actual “Origin”, who has nowhere to return to, no one waiting for her, and nothing to look forward to.

 

You are spending too much of your time worrying about something you will never have. Stop fantasizing that I or the rest of the Corps would go out on our way just to give you your desired future.

 

What you should do right now is to accept this fact, and fight until the end despite of that.”

 

“…But-!” Tenco tried to voice her protest against what Arturia just said, but she couldn’t finish her rebuttal at all, as the budding despair inside of her started to arise once more after Arturia hammered that fact to her again, echoing what the pathway had told her over and over again, echoing the fact that she’s been trying to ignore or avoid all these times due to her knowing that it would be the case for her.

 

“I know what you are going to say. The Door can be used for this purpose, yes. However…as a Counter Guardian and the leader of the Counter Corps, I cannot let it happen. I cannot let you be anywhere near that place. And I shall not use it to give you a future or a home to return to. Even if you are a member of the Corps, I will not let you use the Door for your own personal gain, even if you saved the multiverse along the way.

 

And so, in the end, there will be no way for you to actually have a future.”

 

“…No…stop it…! Stop saying that! I still…I still can have a future!” Raising her voice in defiance to what she thought to be the inevitable end for her, Tenco stared back at Arturia, with her barely being able to hold back the tears of frustration from pouring out of her eyes. 

 

“And now…what will you do? I am simply stating the truth here, as my purpose here is to break the delusion filling your head up until now so you can be of more use in this war to save the multiverse. It seemed that once again I have to remind you that this is a war, not a treasure hunt, nor an adventure.

 

You said just now that you can still have a future, a future even you could not imagine about. I wonder, what prompted you to make that claim, with all the evidences proving otherwise? Or is it just one of your internal delusions, Tenco?”

 

“There must be a way…I…I don’t and will not accept this fate as my own yet! Even with what you said, I’ll-”

 

“What will you do? Are you going to use the Door to create that future of yours, alongside restoring the rest of the multiverse just so you didn’t feel bad about doing it? It is commendable for you to think about something as outrageous as that. However, I cannot let anyone with such a self-centered desire from using the Door. I will not jeopardize the stability of the multiverse by listening to a whiny teenager’s desires.

 

Tenco, this is not your story. You are not in a position to choose what should or should not happen, all only from your own perspective. Do you ever try to stop and think about how others, from the Counter Corps and the Divines, have their own personal wishes that they wanted to say to the Door too? But in the end, to ensure the safety of the multiverse, none of them will be fulfilled, even if I could also use the Door to fulfill all those wishes at once alongside restoring the multiverse to how it once was. Using the Door for such personal desires would be abusing its power and authority, and I would end up not being much better than Protheus. And thus, in the end, personal desires must be sacrificed in favor of the greater need, which in this case would be the betterment of the multiverse. And this is why, as I’ve said before to everyone on the Corps, I need to be the one to utilize the Door, as the one carrying the burden of everyone.

 

This…is the true meaning behind being a leader and the burden of responsibility that they carry. It is something that I doubt you would ever understand the true scope of.

 

Excuse me for not being the kind of person you expected me to be, but there’s no other ways to it. I’d rather kill your delusions about me, the war, and everything else right now before it actually becomes a problem later on.” The king closed her eyes and shook her head once more. “Though now that I think about it…this fact wouldn’t matter to you in the end.

 

I doubt a completely self-centered person like you would even get the point. Right now you’d probably think about how needlessly cruel am I, and how I have sinned for not being the perfect fit of what should an “Arturia Pendragon” be to you. 

 

Too many things had been sacrificed for the sake of this war. All those universes that had been annihilated to recruit the member of the Corps…the necessary sin that must be committed to ensure that we have a chance before the threat that is Protheus, and you wished to ignore all of that for your own sake? 

 

Once again, I shall not dishonor all these sacrifices by listening to the whining of a petulant teenager.”

 

And then, without any warnings beforehand, Tenco lunged ahead with a punch aimed at the king’s face. Without any changes in her expression, Arturia just grabbed the blue-haired girl’s fist with her left arm before turning her sharp gaze to the girl. And before her sight, she could see that Tenco was visibly in tears now, and her expression was completely chaotic and messy, a mix of anger, shock, and sadness. It was quite pathetic of hers to be in this state in the first place, but it was quite understandable for her to feel this way. The girl was feeling completely betrayed, just moments after she admitted all her admiration and respect to the king. However, it was completely necessary to say what Arturia had said, so the king could not feel bad about this. Arturia sighed at Tenco’s attempt to release herself from her grip, before she proceeded to twist Tenco’s arm with a ridiculous ease, breaking her bones in the process before tossing the pained girl to a nearby wall effortlessly.

 

“Arturia…why…?” Tenco twitched in pain as she struggled to stand up, though the most pain she felt was inside. Not ten minutes ago, she was looking at the king as an idol, as someone she could finally trust, as a paragon to follow. Yet now…all those pedestals she put Arturia on had crumbled to pieces with the things she admitted, and Tenco could only feel contempt to her now. Trying to control her emotions and holding them back, she faced the king once more. As much as she understood Arturia’s position, as much as she understood how selfish she had been all these times, something else made Tenco completely furious at the person before her. Not the completely condescending tone that she had been used to drop her sentences to her, and it also was not how Arturia completely dismissed the possibility of taking that third option she mentioned. To tell the truth, at this point the girl had barely any idea about the true reasoning behind her contempt to the Counter Guardian, who really didn’t do anything wrong.

 

Maybe she’s just projecting her frustration of the inevitable towards her. Maybe, without the ability to change what fate had in store for her, she ended up lashing out to the nearest person she could blame this to. It was childish, and it was probably the biggest reasoning of her anger right now. Not that she cared about what her reasoning at this point, however.

 

“Once again, I did what I had to do. For the sake of the entire multiverse…it is a small sacrifice. Don’t hold it personally against me, Tenco.” Sighing, the king then pointed her sword towards the blue-haired girl as she slowly recovered the damage she took earlier, before continuing to talk. “Now Tenco. If you are still going with what you’re going to do, there are only two choices of what will happen next. Either continuing on your path as a Counter Corps member to the very end, and embrace oblivion as a hero and a martyr for the multiverse’s sake, or try claiming your right for a future here before me, and die as a selfish traitor.”

 

“…There must be another way for this! Stop this sick joke now!

 

Give me my future, Arturia!” Tenco had failed to regain some sense of her rational side as she weakly rebutted Arturia’s sentence, and the king once again merely shook her head at that display.

 

“It seems with that, you are picking the second option. I’m sorry about this, but as a Counter Guardian, my job is to eliminate anything that will pose a threat to the multiverse, no matter how small.

 

And right now, that includes you. I shall end your miserable existence right now in this corridor if you kept on refusing to give up on your delusion, and with that, I’ll save you from further suffering before you could actually do any harm to anyone else.”

 

---

 

(Disclaimer: The Arturia depicted here is Tenco's ultimate enemy, though the girl is not aware of this yet. Just putting it here to make things clear.)

[Dad]

Killua, Pathway to Truth

 

He'd come across a mirror of sorts, a second time after stepping across the first.  From fields of roses and daisies, into a deserted wasteland, and now into a world of blackness.  As Killua entered it, he began to fall.  HE tumbled for what seemed like forever.  He was sure that, at this speed, he would die as he hit the ground.  If he hit the ground.   The ground?  Killua stood up.  The blackness that swirled around him had skewed his vision, causing Killua to trip upon entering this third world.  He hadn't been falling; he had already fell.  Killua carefully looked around, unsure of where he came in, or how he could get out.  He tossed a few bolts of lightning in various location to see if he could get a sense of direction, but every turn was the same.  Frustrated, Killua began to run in a single straight line, hoping that he would find something to give him direction.  But after running for what felt like hours, Killua was exhausted, annoyed, and powerless.  Until he heard a very feint voice.

 

"Killua?"

 

 

"Hmm?" he turned around quickly, in an effort to distinguish the location of the voice.  Once he was able to pinpoint it, he bolted towards the tiny voice.

 

"Killua!"

 

 

It recognized him.  Killua sped up, growing more desperate to confirm his new suspicions.

 

"Killua!  Hey!"

 

"Almost there!"

 

He finally began to slow down as the source of the voice came into view.  It was Gon.  "Gon?  Boy am I glad to see you.  How did you get in here?"

 

"What'd ya mean Killua?  I've always been here.  Everywhere you go, we'll cross paths."

 

Killua laughed, nodding in agreement.  "Yeah, that seems to be the case, doesn't it?"

 

Gon smiled, but he seemed sad.  "As great as that is, I'm not sure it will always be true."  This made Killua look up, and examine 'Gon' more closely.

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"Killua," 'Gon' said suddenly.  Gon's face began to warp, distort, and his voice became deep and twisted.  "You can't keep saving me.  And I can't keep saving you."

 

"Gon, what are you--"

 

"You never could seem to get things right," said another familiar voice, as 'Gon' vanished before Killua's eyes.  "Gon!"

 

"Gon?  Gon!?  Is that the only person you care about now!?  That boy!?"

 

Killua recognized that rage.  It belonged to possibly the most wicked person he knew.  As evil as Hisoka, as demented as Neferpitou, and in a psychotic league of his own.  "Illumi.  You bastard," Killua said balling his fist.  Illumi was not smiling his usual disturbing grin.  He was frowning, in obvious irritation and disappointment.  He approached his younger brother cautiously, walking around him and observing some new changes he had not been aware of before.  Putting that out of his mind, he completed his circle around Killua, who's eyes had followed him the entire time.  "Bastard, am I?  Says the younger brother who has strayed furthest from his family.  And for what?  A night out with his best friend?  In the end, you have but one place you can return.  And it isn't to this Gon."

 

Killua chuckled.  "Isn't that ironic, Illumi?"

 

The shadow said nothing.

 

"I stray from my family and they're the first ones to find me.  It seems like--"

 

"No matter how far you run, we will always find you."

 

"Exactly.  Which is what bugs me the most.  I'm not running from all of you, however."

 

"Oh?" Illumi was suddenly interested.  "And pray tell who it is you are closest to?"

 

"Alluka of course.  She's the only one who actually seems to give a damn."

 

Illumi was suddenly filled with disgust.  "Him?  That brat is as spoiled as you are.  But you'll be glad to know he won't be much of anything, anymore."

 

Killua shot Illumi a dirty look, as if to threaten him.  "You wouldn't dare."

 

"Dare?  It's already done."

 

Killua clenched his fist tightly.  "You're bluffing.  Mom and dad wouldn't let you lay a finger on her!"

 

"What!?" Illumi said laughing.  "Are you ill!?  Have you forgotten that they were the ones who locked him up!?  Face it Killua!  You can't--!"

 

"Save everyone.  I know."  Killua sat down, folding his legs.

 

"So that's it, little brother?  You're just going to do what you do best?  Give up?  You're a waste of space.  This is pathetic!  You are the most disappointing--"

 

"No, I'm not giving up.  In fact, I'm actually more determined now.  I mean, why wouldn't I be?  What with you, mom, dad, and Milluki telling me what I can't accomplish."

 

"Oh, shut up!  The sooner you realize your faults and return home for your punishment--!"

 

"You don't seem to get it, Illumi.  None of you do."  'Illumi' had a crack appear in his face now, with a dim glow of light piercing through it.  "Your threats can't trip me up.  Your bluffs are easy to see through."  The crack expanded, rippling down into the chest of 'Illumi'.  "The difference between, me and Alluka, and you, mom, dad, and Milluki, is our hearts.  Our hearts are still beating.  I can't say the same for yours."  The light grew brighter, causing the shadow to collapse to a knee behind Killua.  "And what you don't seem to understand is, no matter how often I'm put in an impossible position, I'll keep trying.  I'll keep fighting.  I'll keep getting back up.  I may not be able to save everyone.  But I can damn sure try."  The shadow Illumi erupted in light, as this truth overwhelmed it, and Killua was bathed in the explosion, causing him to turn around in surprise.

 

"Eh?  What the hell?"  He stood up again. looking around for his older brother, but he was nowhere in sight.  Sighing Killua, made off in a single direction in the darkness, which began to slowly disperse behind him.  "I guess I should keep going, then," he said softly to himself, as he stepped back onto the Pathway to Truth.

[Love of Ghibli]

Dorian vs Gyokuen: Path of Death

The random void of infinite space constantly echoed with the sound of the two power houses clashing. Dorian and Gyokuen were busy throwing everything they had at each other. BURN SHE DEVIL! GET STUFFED YOU HIERATIC! Dorian proceeded to barrage her with fireballs and pillars of fire but she was easily dodging all of them. Dorian was clearly getting annoyed but it didn't look like she was making any headway on her end as well. Maybe this wouldn't be as hard as he thought it was going to be. It's a pity that you chose to attack Al Thanan, your Rukh are pitch black. Clearly you are an embodiment of his teachings and ways. What are you talking about? The tentacle rape thing doesn't talk its just death! Do not denounce my God as something so trivial boy! Your GOD is porn in another universe! What is this "porn" you speak of? You stupid woman...wait...you don't know what porn is? There is no porn in your world? Gyokuen looked up and shrugged. Nope I do not know of what you speak. Maybe we have a different word for it. That is odd...like really odd. I guess, after taking a glimpse around your demon servants mind I noticed that you would describe the world where I come from as "medieval." A world without perversion though...sounds innocentish. Oh we had plenty of brothels and sex slaves though! Gyokuen interrupted. Oh. Yeah I guess that makes since, no TV no porn,...but brothels would be a loophole around that. Those were the times. You should've seen it when humans weren't the dominant species roaming the Earth. Plenty of weird things were going on in those days. Ah...such fond memories. Dorian could only twitch his eye as his imagination went a little wild with the images of Gyokuen. Yeah this is nasty. 

After an odd second of silence both fighters looked back at each other. Back to fighting. Back to fighting. Dorian had launched himself at Gyokuen prepared to take her on hand to hand. He then discovered that would be the biggest mistake he could've made. Gyokuen was put energy into her staff and the top of it started to glow like a beam saber. She proceeded to beat the mess out of Dorian. He could barely lift a finger as she effortlessly dodged all of his attacks and responded with a series of acrobatic flips, kicks and punches. After about a solid minute of pure beating Gyokuen gently placed her fist on his chest and then thrusted forward. Dorian felt a sudden impact that sent him flying backward. Dorian came to his feet coughing blood and looking at his confident opponent snicker. Did not see that coming. There are may be...3 magicians in all of my universe who could say they are stronger than I, but I am by far my universes strongest swordsman. So yeah that probably wasn't the best move to get within' my striking range. Actually, to be fair you aren't safe at any distance. Gyokuen raised her hand and swung down! Medoun-Al Samm!! From her seemingly nowhere black lightning rained down and completely blanketed Dorian in its malice. Gyokuen snickered a triumphant snicker until she saw Dorian's Rukh float away from the smoke. As the smoke cleared Dorian was standing tall but this time he had dawned his surplice. Oh I forgot you wore armor guess that will make this a tad harder. Well it never really was my aesthetic, but it does come in handy. 

Gyokuen scoffed as the two combatants disappeared into a series of clashes again this time Dorian was somehow keeping his own. Gyokuen jumped back and laughed. Oh, that is some mighty dense armor you have there. Thanks its made to take a lot more than you can dish out so I think I got this win you psychotic squid worshiping witch! You know that is going to be the last time you insult my God! His proper name is Ill Ilah and I usually avoid trying to use his name in vain. Dorian just raised his eyebrow as he couldn't figure out what she was going on about. But in his presence I believe he will not be mad as eradicate your face from this plane of existence. She put her hand on the top of her staff and she made an energy blade on top of it Dorian smirked and surrounded himself in fire and launched himself directly at Gyokuen. She calmly placed both hands on the staff and seemingly swung straight through Dorian. She cut through the flames like butter and she smiled a wicked smile as Dorian's body just rolled past her. She turned around to Dorian's unconscious body. I think you would call them helicarriers or airships...whatever. I used to take out multiple of those with that slash. So while sure your armor can take the hit it doesn't look like you can come on now. You have to know that energy will travel somewhere. Aww, I think all of your organs exploded, poor baby.

She laughed and as soon as she turned around she would notice that Ill Ilah was already healed and welcoming her into the next phase of life. Blessed are the chosen. As soon as she let her guard down, the massive Ill Ilah caught fire and was screaming in pain once again. She turned around to look at Dorian's unconscious body and she noticed that it wasn't so unconscious. Dorian was sitting and stretching his neck. OH GOD that hurt a lot! He said wiping the massive waterfall of blood coming from his mouth. What! What? Soft weak me didn't mention I'm kinda pseudo-immortal? Gyokuen looked shocked as she didn't understand what she just heard. That's impossible! I can see your Rukh if you were immortal you would clearly have a lot more. I'm not 5,000 years old or anything I'm just immortal he said with a laugh. All specters are! Why did you say pseudo then? Well I can die ,like when you killed me just now, I just reset after a couple of seconds. So do you see why I say this match is over? I have you beat in the long game. Gyokuen looked agitated but she was determined she could take this cocky little boy down. And if I cut off your head? Trust me that's happened before...I'll still keep going. Fine then a seal it is then. HA, if you think you could manage it. 

Gyokuen's eyes started to glow pitch black as she summoned forth a maelstrom of Rukh! I will end you. The path has already decided that I will meet Ill Ilah in the future. I cannot be distracted by a puny force like you. Dorian started laughing as his body was slowly being covered in embers. HAHAHA that's not how this works love, that's not how any of this works. See I don't know if you've realized, but behind that tire fire of a God of yours is one of our future enemies. The truth is that the path realizes that our future opponents are each other. Gyokuen looked confused. Yeah, fun fact once we discovered the whole Rukh thing we realized that it we killed you and fed you to Butler we would have all of your knowledge of the Rukh. Gyokuen looked shocked how could they have figured that...Wait my familiars! Yeah, those dudes you left to manipulate the souls inside Butlerok ,he ate them. Fun thing about this whole pathway business there is no way to communicate with people in other pathways. So you wouldn't know if they were gone until you came face to face with him. But that's not going to happen. Gyokuen scoffed as she still was determined to keep things going. Well I guess you can just sit here for all of eternity while I go take care of him then! 

No love...This is over! You made me do something that I really didn't want to do but we're here now. Dorian pointed his finger upward and from the infinite space void was a massive black sun! What is this? Gyokuen exclaimed. Oh this is my "true form" if you will. Gyokuen looked on as Dorian seemed to subtly change. His armor which only resembled a bird started to change into real feathers. The boots that were resembling bird talons turned into them and little feathers started to protrude from Dorian's face. How is this supposed to stop me Gyokuen said as she opened her third eye and sent the Rukh into a furry. Its simple you're literally standing several feet away from the sun! The only reason you're even reasonably alive is because of these Rukh shielding you from the heat. You think you can seal me and maintain that level of comfort. Let's find out. Gyokuen pointed her staff directly at Dorian and the Rukh swarmed around him. Dorian, who looked to be more bird than man. Simply flew through all of Rukh as if effected by nothing and flew directly in front of her. She looked shocked as Dorian opened his arms and gave her a very big hug and whispered in her ear. 

Thank you for your contribution to the cause. As he closed the grip the scorching heat burned through her clothes, her barriers and finally her skin. She screamed in pain and eventually passed out. Dorian looked on as her sticky melted skin was separating from her body as she fell back and laid on the ground. That is certainly not pretty. The large space dome faded away and Dorian let out a sigh. Can I just get five seconds without having to deal with you? He turned around to see the hooded figure once again waiting. 

Ending location: B9

[The Warden]

|_)Another Time, Another Place: Prologuous(_|

 

The Reaper sent to hack down Revy was met with resistance, but not much. The dreaded geist was quick to begin cutting down the Spartans wherever it could reach, despite there being just so many of the damn things. Although, what were they doing, exactly? They seemed to be planning something, but, they weren't attacking. Had they finally come to their senses and realize how pointless all this fighting was? Were they finally understanding the severity of the situation? Well, it would be prudent to find out, at least. The reaper faded away, and all of Conflictous' roots withdrew back as it took a more lax stance.

 

Do you finally understand the severity of this situation now? Do you finally see how pointless it is to try and interfere with Origin itself?

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Tenco"

Pathway of Death, D9

 

As soon as the last word of the sentence was finished being uttered, the Counter Guardian rushed towards the blue-haired girl’s position, and launched a straight slash at her. Barely having any time to respond, Tenco ended up resorting to create a barrier using the temperaments on her sword to avoid getting cleaved in two. But the blow was so powerful that it almost immediately broke the barrier, and sent Tenco flying far backwards until she hit a wall, further breaking her bones in the process of the impact.

 

The girl tried to breathe in through the pain of having her body being broken and her internal organ being punctured by the shards of her bones. Having withstood insurmountable amount of pain to stand at where she was right now, at this point these kinds of injuries only served as a distraction for the girl, for the better or for worse. Tenco coughed blood as she struggled to stand up once more all the while she’s using her healing spell to recover her own body to a somewhat acceptable condition. But before she could even draw her sword to prepare herself to combat her adversary properly, Arturia had appeared before her in almost an instant, and with such a force, released another single slash at her. The girl summoned another set of layered barriers to block the brunt of the attack as she prepared a way to not be blasted to the walls once more, but once again, the barriers she set up didn’t even last a second with the might of Arturia’s sword hitting it directly. However, this time it bought Tenco enough time to reinforce her legs with the temperaments from her sword before she could be blown away by the hit, which allowed her to rush to the side to avoid getting hit by the brunt of the slash, and proceeded to prepare the casting of her fire spell, which she aimed at Arturia almost immediately.

 

“Fire Sign: Firestorm!”

 

The spell, amplified in power with the scarlet sword’s temperaments, blazed brightly at the corridor, dispelling the darkness for a short time. Yet…she could see that the Counter Guardian didn’t even seem to be harmed by it at all, despite the spell’s already immense power having been augmented with the extra power source from the sword. Still not giving up, Tenco gathered the raging fire from her attack and shaped it into the dragon she used to bind Tenshi earlier on Remembrance, and launched it at Arturia.

 

But the king simply turned around and slashed the fire dragon into two before it even hit her, and when Tenco used the remaining fire to summon a pair of dragons to attack her opponent from behind, the king this time decided to let both hit her directly…to completely no effect, much to Tenco’s surprise.

 

“It is futile, Tenco. One should not bring fire to fight against a dragon.”

 

Those words were followed by a sudden strong gust of wind coming from the king’s position, strong enough to almost knock Tenco to the walls if she didn’t literally pin her feet down the floor using conjured swords. And then, the expected rushdown from Arturia. It was very clear that right now, Arturia didn’t even see using other tactics would be necessary to fight the girl, what with the ridiculous power gap between the two of them, much to Tenco’s dismay. Parrying her or trying to match her blows in a swordfight would be useless since as it had been mentioned, Tenco had realized that the king was on a multiple different level above her own abilities, especially regarding speed, skill, and sheer power. Dodging would also be something risky to do, as being always locked in a close-range combat, the room to dodge and to strike back was really limited for her, which pretty much required her to somehow be able to predict what Arturia was going to do beforehand or just somehow buff her own speed and reaction time to be able to get out of Arturia’s range fast enough, something she was not sure she could do right now. So far the king hadn’t demonstrated the ability to attack from a distance however, so that might be a way for the blue-haired girl to attack without retaliation.

 

She’s not even sure about the actual detail regarding the king’s abilities as of the moment, though. And she realized that if she did a misguided action in this confrontation due to this lack of information, she could very well end up as a dead parrot, and it’d be a bad way to go. Due to this, just as Arturia closed in on her, the blue-haired girl decided that she’s going to learn more about her leader’s abilities before actually mounting an actual strategy…not that she could think of any at the moment due to the condition of the battle so far really was not favoring her. She probably could still do-

 

And in the middle of thinking, Tenco was unceremoniously cut into two diagonally by the king, starting from her right shoulder and all the way towards her waist. The sheer force of the slash ended up making the entire process completely messy, however, complete with bits of her internal organs that had been utterly crushed flying around, and the blood spurts from her corpse stained Arturia’s outfit, not that the king cared. A surprised expression was locked on the corpse’s face as the king paid her a final, somber look for a second, before turning away it with a sigh.

 

“So, you do have some tricks hidden inside of your bag, it seems. Quite a surprise coming from someone such as you.

 

However, it will ultimately be meaningless if this is the extent of what you can do.” The king remarked, just as what was thought to be Tenco’s corpse exploded, being actually an explosive clone made of temperament by the girl just moments before Arturia could hit her. Not even bothering to escape, the king tanked through the entire explosion seemingly without getting much harm whileTenco watched her from afar, her heart was racing heavily from that close encounter with death she had earlier. The decoy tactic mainly worked since she used the cover of the very limited visibility on the corridor to help her make the sudden switch, but if Arturia had any kind of presence detection ability, future usage of that tactic would be too dangerous for her to rely on. Looking at Arturia from a distance using the presence detection ability she learned from Gyokuen, she thought about what she had learned regarding the king’s skill set. So far, she had only observed that earlier wind-like ability, but what that was even meant to do was lost to her. She could’ve used the scarlet sword to analyze her and get an edge over her quickly, but it was probably far too risky right now.

 

Staying too long in Arturia’s melee range would pretty much result in the blue-haired girl getting obliterated. As much as she could regenerate using the immense energy gathered deep inside of the sword, a fatal blow to the heart or head would still kill her. And even if the scarlet sword itself could handle the power from each of Arturia’s swings and thrusts, Tenco’s body couldn’t, as however strong her weapon was, she was still a human with a human body, and that limited her combat capability by a lot, especially against someone as ridiculously strong as Arturia. There’s also the fact that she’s still a bit hesitant in actually using the sword again after what happened earlier, so right now probably the safest bet was just try attacking the king from a distance. Though, now that she thought about it, with Arturia seemingly being completely immune to fire-based attacks, she now would really shift her projectiles into something else, even if her options were slightly…limited.

 

Summoning a set of four clones to her command, the five of them immediately dispersed themselves away from their current location, setting themselves up as far away from each other as possible, while having them still be in the range to detect and attack Arturia. Tenco had something in her mind at the moment, but she couldn’t really execute the plan immediately without knowing more about the abilities of the person she’s facing first. The king was now probably thinking about a strategy too, or alternatively, some plans for further attacks. Or maybe Arturia’s not thinking about the battle much since so far Tenco’s attempts and actions were pretty pathetic in itself, too pathetic to put even a scratch on her.

 

As she took in mind her completely subpar performance during the battle, her pent-up frustration that she had been trying to hold back slowly returned to her, even if Tenco attempted to push them back again so she could concentrate without those thoughts clouding her judgment. What was started as her frustrated aggression towards the king due to her not being able to accept about the inevitability of her fate had turned around in almost an instant, just after a single sentence. Tenco was still unable to believe that the king she used to revere as an idol and inspiration was now out to kill her, seeing her insistence as a threat. She also could still not believe what the king said regarding the actual nature of the conflict and her stance on it. Even right now, Tenco barely could bring herself to the thought of actually harming her, while the Counter Guardian was clearly aiming to kill her off, with all of her blows would’ve been lethal to Tenco if those were an actual, direct hit. She really wanted to survive through this, but fighting Arturia felt really impossible for her, and…even running away felt like it would just delay her death at this rate, as she’d end up meeting her again sooner or later anyway.

 

Maybe, the best thing for her to do now is to struggle. Maybe if she tried to at least try to fight back as best as she could, sooner or later she could get an edge and triumphed over her idol, however farfetched that idea was. Or at least, show her persistence to live enough to convince Arturia to let her go. Not that she had any other option than that aside from dying, after all. If she could find an opening, if she could find an error or weakness to exploit, if she could find a hole she could plug herself into, then she might get an actual chance in this fight.

 

Casting those distracting thoughts aside for now, Tenco returned her focus back to the king in the distance, both of them were still clearly scheming what their next move would be. At least, despite her horrendous performance so far, Tenco seemingly could still convince Arturia that she might be an actual threat, or at least, enough of a threat to approach cautiously at least . She knew that Arturia was neither arrogant nor reckless, even if as a king, he would uphold her honor first over reason, maybe. If she could somehow make the king allocate a lot more time to scheme instead of hunting the blue-haired girl down actively, it would maybe buy her enough time to actually think of a way to fight her more properly.

 

Seeing the king still not pressuring her with attacks, Tenco decided to act now rather than playing it passively. Conjuring a sword using her ability, she aimed it at the king’s direction, and after making sure her clones were doing the same, she had one of the clones threw the sword at first down the king’s direction. The king of course immediately noticed the incoming attack, but as she blocked the sword using her own, the conjured sword exploded, creating a field of destructive spiritual life energy around the area of explosion. It was of course not enough to put even a scratch on Arturia’s dress, but at the very least it felt like it was doing better than her fire attacks, which actually did nothing.

 

“A Broken Phantasm…? That is certainly interesting.” A voice could be heard from the distance, probably belonging to Arturia. Tenco had little to no idea on what she’s referring to, but she was still really cautious about the situation. What if she’s just playing around with her? The blue-haired girl thought as she rapidly dismissed the clone that fired the sword earlier and resummoned it to her position. It’s a big possibility that Arturia might have figured out the entire thing that she tried to do right now, and just feigning ignorance to wait for her to make a mistake or reveal herself. A bit uncharacteristic of her…or maybe not. Really, Tenco couldn’t even be sure anymore regarding that. It was as if she’s facing someone else completely, rather than the Arturia she remembered.

 

…No use in stalling for time. I should make my moves soon before she catch me off-guard.

 

Arturia was still in her current position, unmoving. Tenco was still unsure whether she’s waiting for her to make a move, or whether she’s on to something else right now. If the darkness was not obstructing her proper vision, she’d be able to discern it better, but well, reality is cruel. At least the darkness also is a cover that helped her surviving so far, since if this was a more open battle, Arturia would’ve killed her already. And then, there’s a certain issue of even if Arturia’s just waiting for her to make a move to be able to properly discern her position…Tenco didn’t really have another option that time. If she didn’t attack and utilize her advantage as soon as possible, Arturia would…she could escape.

 

Tenco quietly arranged her clones to start moving rapidly in a grand circle surrounding Arturia, as a prelude to the upcoming attack. It was the best thing she could think of for now regarding what she should do to avoid having her position immediately spoiled when she fired her attack. Tenco couldn’t simply just escape here, and she couldn’t let Arturia get away. Even if her own survival’s an important thing, Tenco still wanted to know the actual truth from Arturia. Whether she hid another thing from her or the rest of the corps, or even whether there’s something wrong actually going on with her.

 

Here we go.

 

At her command, several roughly-conjured swords appeared before her and her clones, and without wasting any further time after the swords manifested, all of them threw the swords as hard as they could at Arturia’s direction. Each of the sword, rough unstable construct that they were, were still images of her scarlet sword which contained a nice amount of spiritual energy in each, and thus, Tenco decided to use them as projectiles, as that aforementioned spiritual energy was a good material for explosives, just as her battle against Tenshi showed her. The swords travelled at the speed of a bullet fired from a railgun each thanks to her reinforcing her and her clones’ arms with temperaments to allow each sword to be fired at that much speed.

 

Even with all of that, however, Tenco still felt that it’s far from enough, a really justified sentiment. As the swords approached Arturia, she prepared her stance as a forerunner to what she would do next. She was aware of each of the sword’s properties as a projectile due to Tenco’s earlier attack to her, and she had figured out the way to handle them without any of them approaching her. Activating her Invisible Air, Arturia let out a storming wild air current to form all around her, the wind she created from the act was strong enough to scatter each projectile away from her, and all of them exploded harmlessly around her. Tenco, immediately concluding that further swords would be useless for now, immediately had her illusions stop firing the swords, and instead, each of them were instructed to prepare for an attack while they all kept on moving around scrambling to avoid Arturia realize the actual position of each of the clones and herself.

 

Now…!

 

With that mentally-assigned order, each of them fired a huge array of uncountable amount of scarlet projectiles; all of them were compressed completely to the point of looking perfectly like a continuous beam going at full speed at Arturia’s direction. The king shook her head for a bit before planting her sword before her and closed her eyes. Just as the barrages were going to hit her, something expanded rapidly from herself, and blocked the uncountable amount of projectiles from even hitting her. A simple barrier. A barrier strong enough to completely nullify four really powerful blasts just like that with no fanfare. As the attack subsided, the clones she summoned disintegrated due to overexertion after the supposedly powerful attack, and Tenco ended up facing Arturia alone once more now.

 

“So far, it was quite a nice display of power on your part, Tenco. And also hiding in the darkness like what you do right now does make things harder for me, especially when it comes to assaulting you. However…I believe that right now, I have figured out your position, largely thanks to the attack earlier.  And with that, I have figured the positions of your clones too.”

 

Hearing Arturia said that, Tenco was shocked. Had she made a mistake…? Her mind suddenly getting all screwy after the king’s statement, even when she tried to calm herself down, that statement still worried her to no end. No matter how much she tried to tell herself that Arturia might still get confused between her and her clones’ position and just said it to mess with her or doing it as a honest mistake, Tenco ended up becoming so anxious that she couldn’t help but to decide in a hurry to move out from her current position in panic, losing her composure for a bit. In a hurry she was, Tenco ended up tripping on a rock, and fell down face-first to the ground as she tried to get away from a potential strike from Arturia.

 

Just as Arturia intended.

 

“Thank you for confirming my guess by yourself. You know, you quite reminded me of someone I used to know. You’re as much as helplessly idiotic as him. That, is one thing that I can be sure of about you.” Arturia softly said as she grabbed her sword in the preparation of a swinging motion, with her eyes were locked at the location Tenco fell down earlier. Light gathered at the sword’s blade, turning it bright enough to momentarily dispel the darkness around them. Tenco, who was not in a position to avoid it in any way, could only stare in an expression that could be best described as awe as Arturia prepared her attack, but at the last moments before the attack was fired, she finally snapped out of it and formed several layers of protective barriers around her to brace against the upcoming attack. Despite knowing that it wouldn’t completely block the attack, she knew that at the very least it would allow her to survive it, since otherwise she was not in a position to dodge the upcoming attack, and she had her healing spell to fall back on.

 

However, as much as she planned for it, she was not ready for what actually happened next.

 

“I call upon your name, the radiant and brilliant!

 

Knight Sword of Order- Clarent!”

 

In the next second, as Arturia invoked her sword’s true name, the once pitch-dark corridor was completely bathed in light as Arturia finally swung her sword at Tenco’s direction, creating what could be best described as a nigh-unstoppable stream of energy beam made out of light, and that golden light travelled at a ridiculous speed towards Tenco’s position. Her barriers almost immediately got dismantled by the attack’s sheer power, and as it did so, Tenco could feel her body literally breaking apart under the sheer force of the light. However, completely determined to survive the attack, this time Tenco kept on remaking the barrier every time it fell despite knowing that it would just be dismantled again moments later, something she was doing more out of instinct rather than consciously. Meaningless-looking as it was, the gesture allowed Tenco to protect herself from the brunt of the hit, allowing her to survive. But in the end, the blast’s power was still strong enough to send her crashing through the corridor’s wall, and it was so powerful that the blast caused Tenco to keep on going backwards, crashing and breaking through walls without any signs of stopping. Her barrier somehow still managed to stay up after a while, but it didn’t really help her to not feel the pain of repeatedly being crushed against the wall, over and over again until it finally stopped somewhere.

 

When she finally could stop herself from hitting the wall even further, all of her bones had probably been completely crushed to paste, with most of her internal organs probably having been turned into pincushion at best, or liquefied at worst. She could feel a rib or three puncturing her heart and lung, and she could feel that her skull had been cracked open like an egg or something from the impact. Right now, she was not even sure how much blood she had lost just from the wounds she suffered from that attack. Lying on the rubble of her impact site completely bloodied without being able to move at all, Tenco pondered at that instance about why the hell she could even survive at a condition as horrendous as what she’s currently suffering through. She couldn’t even feel her limbs at that point, and she’s not even sure that they’re still around. She couldn’t even sigh or breathe without murdering her barely functional lungs at that point, much to her chagrin. But at the very least, to end her status report with something that sounded at least a bit on the positive side, even if she’s in a completely horrendous condition, she’s still alive. That’s all that mattered to her, with how her body worked.

 

Focusing her mind before the brain hemorrhage could actually make her lose her consciousness and her chance of survival, Tenco focused the energy from the scarlet sword she used as a hairpin to regenerate her body to a more acceptable condition. The process was very painful, but once again, at this point, Tenco had already kind of used to that kind of thing, so she didn’t mind it much, as long as she could move again. Putting the weapon’s power into overdrive, she had recovered completely thirty seconds later, having almost recreated her whole body from scratch due to how bad its condition was. Or something to that effect. She knew that it might just be a hyperbole, but with how much her body was damaged, it was something plausible. Still, she felt like complete sheet even after she recovered, understandable due to how much she had to use the temperaments from the sword.

 

After making sure that she didn’t miss anything that needed to be recoveredin the whole healing process, Tenco tried to stretch her muscles a bit to not making them sore and turned around…only to see that she had apparently crash-landed in the middle of a prologue to a fight between a little girl, a big dragon, and…a spiky haired man using a black katana that Tenco swore she had seen somewhere before. She instinctively gave the man a weird look for a split second before realizing how bad of an idea it was. With a completely panicked look when she realized how much trouble she could’ve gotten if she stayed there for longer, Tenco decided to leave the scene before things could get more awkward to her…or maybe, more dangerous, since it seemed that both of those things always happened to her almost concurrently with each other. Summoning her wings of light, she then immediately took her leave through the hole where she came from, returning to the adjacent corridor where she started before the man could do anything to her. Whoever than man is, she knew that he’s rotten to the core, and he’s ridiculously powerful. It was really clear to notice even without using anything to help her see his power level. It’s as if she’s looking at a man that physically oozed the concept of ridiculousness and evil, in a way. Reaching the next corridor following the holes she made during her impact with the pathway, Tenco stopped herself from moving further as a thought surfaced on her mind.

 

Is it even worth it putting my life to this kind of risk by fighting Arturia?

 

With her mind finally being somewhat cleared up from the shock she felt during the start of the battle with Arturia, Tenco finally had the time to think more about that question, especially since right now Arturia was nowhere to be seen. Albeit she had decided on her stance on this earlier, Tenco felt that it’d be worth it to think more about it now that her mind was not as clouded as before. After all, maybe she could figure out something that could salvage the situation from this.

 

As she stopped to think about it, more questions started to enter her mind. Was pursuing that slight change of changing what fate had in store to her really worth sacrificing her life? Why was she fully intent to overcome Arturia in the first place anyway? Both outcomes of continuing to fight would be devastating to her. If she lost, she’d die. But if she won, if that was even possible, would there even be a guarantee that her relation with Arturia would be able to be restored? Would the king still view her as a bitter enemy? And…there’s always a chance of her ended up having to incapacitate or even kill the king. The concept was almost unthinkable by her, and she kind of doubted she would even get to that point before getting another conclusion first (i.e. getting killed herself), but it’s always a possibility. Something that she’d very much wanted to avoid, but if she and Arturia couldn’t reach a common ground to stop fighting, or if she didn’t die before that, she knew that it’d be a battle until one side dropped dead on the ground, no matter how much she didn’t want to actually harm Arturia, even if she could.

 

If this confrontation ended up screwing the chance of the Counter Corps to defeat Protheus by removing their leader from the equation or weakening her by a lot…then Tenco could possibly doom the entire multiverse by insisting to finish this battle without intending to let herself die, just for the entirely selfish desire to have a future. And even if the Counter Corps still have a chance without Arturia, she would practically paint herself as a pariah if she defeated Arturia. This was probably what Arturia meant by sacrificing something for the sake of the masses. No matter what, for the sake of everyone, something must be sacrificed here. Either she should sacrifice herself if she insisted on facing Arturia in this battle for that slight chance of changing her fate, however flimsy that excuse is, or she must sacrifice her desire for that and just run away now, assuming that she could even avoid getting hunted down by her or the others after this. Those were the two choices that she had now.

 

However…Tenco then remembered about the third option. She could try talking with Arturia about this more. Maybe she could apologize to her too, for being really annoying and a big disappointment to her, but maybe, it’s possible to convince her that it’d be for the best to use the door for the sake of everyone too this time. Tenco had completely no idea about what kind of action or decision could actually end up with everyone being happy right now aside from that, but she knew that the choice to do that existed.

 

“…Ugh…I’m rambling again on my own, am I?

 

Still…there’s no way I’m going to run away after all of this. It’s never really something that I do.”

 

It had been fifteen minutes since the time she decided to stop and take a rest in that corridor before returning again to face Arturia. She didn’t even know whether Arturia was still waiting for her there, or whether she just continued on her way, thinking that she had killed her with that attack. But right now she had decided that she’d talk to Arturia about this, no matter what. Even if her track record in convincing people had not been very stellar so far, she believed that it’s the best thing she could do now. Even if she might have left, Tenco would still check her position, and if she could still be pursued, she’d pursue her no matter what. That was what she’s intending to do.

 

However…she knew that it had a huge chance of being a complete failure, so Tenco felt that she should still also craft some strategies in case that she’d need to fight Arturia further. Reviewing what had happened in her battle against Arturia so far, Tenco thought about the biggest points where she struggled against the Counter Guardian. Of course, a big thing she had been struggling with was Arturia’s completely ridiculous speed and power. Though she couldn’t really find a way to handle that for now, so that would probably be something she had to bear with for now unless she’s confident enough to try reinforcing herself to the point of her not being instantly obliterated when encountering Arturia up close.

 

And then, related to that, there’s also an issue about the both the wind barrier and the other barrier that she used, foiling Tenco’s attempts to hit her from afar. The other barrier was the one she’s worried about the most, however. It completely blocking four instances of the scarlet blasts was ridiculous, which meant the barrier was either just really that strong or it had a certain property that could completely nullify her attack. Wouldn’t be too farfetched to assume it to be one of the two or even both, but she still would like to test whether the barrier had limit by chucking more long-ranged attacks at the king, especially since it’s the relatively safer method to battle her, the sword method aside.

 

Although if her projectiles ended up being completely useless in the end…then she had no other options but to confront the king directly, something that she’s really unwilling to do right now. She couldn’t even be sure that she could buff herself to the point of matching the king enough to not be instantly slaughtered without ending up turning her body into paste due to the insane pressure the reinforcements gave to her. As more ways to do this, she did have the knowledge of several efficient self-buff spells that she got from the original Tenco’s memories, but those two were so much of a bother to use since their backlash would get really annoying.

 

Though maybe…she could also figure out a way to calculate the actual average speed and power the king possessed, just to see whether she could actually reinforce herself enough to match her. While exact math’s definitely not something she should be able to pull off, just rough estimation should be possible, and enough for her to draw a conclusion. This could be done relatively safely using her clones, but she’s really not comfortable in using more of them. Aside from the fact that they’re really taxing to make and to control, but using them too much would make Arturia way too cautious for her future plans to even work.

 

Either way, she needed to gather a lot more information safely about Arturia’s actual parameters before she could even attempt to overcome her in case of the dialogue between them failed. And to do that in the enclosed space of the corridors was, to put it in a few words, really damn annoying. There’s not enough room for her to maneuver and dodge, and even if she could use her newly-learned vision ability to figure out Arturia’s position, the almost pitch black darkness annoyed her even if it helped her immensely too. Even her wings, while would really help a lot in giving her a lot of mobility, would make her ridiculously conspicuous, and thus turning her into a big “COME AND HIT ME” sign, especially in a restricted environment like these corridors.

 

Though…after she thought about it more, Tenco then realized that the answer to this was surprisingly very simple. So simple, the only reason why Tenco overlooked it in the first place was maybe due to her thinking that it’d be implausible for it to work. However, the more she weighed that option, it became clearer and clearer that it was the best one she had right now.

 

She could just blow up the corridor’s ceiling to pieces, and soar to the skies where she could gain a major advantage over the king. She could dodge the sword beam easier while airborne, and the setup to it would be visible enough from her position so she could see it coming from miles away, even accounting for the darkness. The only way for Arturia to hit her when she’s airborne would be if she showed another, unprecedented ability (such as object conjuration or worse, the ability of flight), which while she’s aware of the possibility of the king having some unknown abilities to that effect, decided to take the risk anyway since this was the biggest opportunity she could get in having an advantage over her so far, and thus, it was her first opening to feasibly win the battle. Even if that’d still be far and away even after she could establish her air superiority, getting that edge should be worth it. At the very least, she would be able to test Arturia’s parameters and the extent of her protective abilities for a while before the king figured a way to strike her down.

 

Granted, right now the problem would be how she would actually blow up the corridors while the king’s systematically trying to put her down. There’s not enough free time or window of opportunity to have her blow the entire structure up by herself, and she didn’t really look forward in wasting that much energy to do it. Sooner or later, since she’d obviously lose in a battle of attrition against Arturia even if she tap in to the entire pool of energy on her sword, she would have to end the battle decisively, and she’d need as much energy as she could for it. At that point, she kind of wished that someone would do it for her; it would definitely be very convenient if such thing could randomly happen.

 

“…Wait, that actually could work.”

 

Shaking her head to the fact that an inner rambling session would actually have her figuring out a legitimate strategy, or at least the barebones for one, Tenco then decided that she had stayed way too long on that corridor, and proceeded to go forward to return to her battle against Arturia, hoping that the king would still be around for her to face.

 

 

Walking forward slowly to return to the point where she fought Arturia earlier, Tenco was still clearly reeling from earlier injuries. Even if the wounds themselves had been mostly healed, the pain still persisted as she took each step. Several minutes of torturous walk later, Tenco found out that her destination position was surprisingly quiet and serene when she arrived there. Fearing that the king had left the battle due to thinking that she had eliminated the blue-haired girl, Tenco tried to call for her, just to see whether she was still around or not. An admittedly reckless and forethought-less move on her part, as doing that would only expose her current position to Arturia if she’s still around, but nevertheless Tenco still did it, calling out her name as she continued to walk around.

 

“Lady Arturia…are you still here?

 

I think…this time I want to talk to you.”

 

No answers came from the dark expanse beyond her. Tenco’s fear that Arturia had left her behind magnified as seconds passed with the corridor in complete silence, but she decided to try calling her one more time before losing her hope and leaving the place.

 

“Lady Arturia…there’s something…I want to tell you something.”

 

“Speak up then, if you really wanted to talk. As a king, I give you my promise that I will not strike you down while you talk, even if right now I am capable to end this farce of a battle immediately.” After a short pause, the king’s voice could then be heard by the blue-haired girl, but Tenco couldn’t actually locate her position yet, even using her vision in an attempt to detect the king’s lifeforce. However, the fact that the king was still around was enough of a reassurance for her. Tenco sighed in relief after knowing that fact, before she stopped a bit on her tracks to recall the important points that she wished to elaborate to Arturia right now, and thought about the best way to utter it without making a fool out of herself once more like with what happened again and again before.

 

“Come on, speak now. Neither of us have all the time in the multiverse to spare.” Arturia’s reminder made Tenco realized that she had been thinking internally for too long, and that she really had to say her points to her now, or never. Still a bit anxious regarding whether she’d even utter her points correctly, Tenco in the end started to speak after another one minute pause.

 

“First of all…before I wanted to say other things, I must apologize for being really annoying to you so far, Lady Arturia. And I’m sorry for not being able to be up to the standards you set.

 

I…think I should also apologize for being way too self-absorbed and selfish until this point regarding this conflict. I realize that it’s something that I should work on to fix, and I really thank you that you chided me for that earlier.

 

But…even so...” At that moment, Tenco briefly stopped to take a deep breath, readying herself for getting into the main point of her speech. “Even if you said that doing it would only make you be the same as Protheus…won’t it be possible still to do that? Shouldn’t it do no harm to the multiverse to fulfill everyone’s wishes? And, if you still can’t, I’m sure I’ll be able to-”

 

“…Did none of my words even actually get into your empty head?” This time Arturia didn’t even try to hide the fact that she’s completely livid as she cut Tenco before she finished her sentence. Her emotions were clearly displayed from her voice. The irritation that she felt due to Tenco not getting what she’s saying, or maybe a complete disgust on how someone could be as selfish as the blue-haired girl standing before her, both were clearly displayed within each letters, each words that she spoke out. “How many times do I need to repeat to you about why it should not be done before you can finally understand?”

 

“But-!”

 

“First of all, just drop any pretense that you are pleading this to me for the sake of others, let alone everyone. If you want to be selfish, then so be it. But please, do not pretend to be a selfless person in the meantime. It disgusts me as a person, simply put.” Despite the tone, her manner of speech was still as controlled and composed as ever, calm without any signs of her breaking her composure at the surface, but there was no mistake about what she’s feeling right now from the tone. “You said that it will be alright if we are using the Door to also fulfill everyone else’s wishes when this is all done to make things fair for everyone, on top only to return things back to normal. After all, we’re not Protheus, we’re not as evil or depraved as him. That was what you’re getting at, right?

 

Who are you to judge that? Who do you think you actually are to think that we won’t end up doing the same thing as him, faced with the power to do so just before our eyes?”

 

“Even so!”

 

“No matter how much we’re pretending that it is not the case, no one would have a strong enough heart to resist the temptation to use something like this for their own purpose, and in most of the cases, it will end up in a tragedy. A tragedy caused by the innate selfishness of us sentient beings.

 

Myself, a Counter Guardian, an individual who should not have such thing as selfish desires within, could not even be confident enough that I can actually keep myself from abusing the power of the Door for my own sake if and when I pass through it. Even the notion of me using the power of the Door to return everything back to normal, like how things once were before this conflict is already a stretch, since that will still mean someone has to use the Door. What will stop me from wishing the same thing as Protheus? Nothing. At the point someone passes through the Door, the ability to reshape the entirety of the multiverse is at their hands.

 

Try thinking about it for a second.

 

This is not merely a wish-granting device from your age-old fairy tales. A fairer comparison would be if you equate the entire notion as writing your own story, with the multiverse itself is the pages of the book. You can say that you, I, or someone else, would be able to handle the temptation of power as much as you wanted, however, it will never be the case here. This is far from anything you could possibly imagine, Tenco.”

 

“But-!”

 

“Now, do you understand why I cannot let anyone else utilize the door but me? I’ve said this earlier, that as a Counter Guardian, selfish desires hold no meaning to me and what I am doing will objectively be for the purpose of the betterment of the multiverse. That is what being a Counter Guardian entails.

 

Pardon me if I’m sounding a bit arrogant here, but if I, someone people looked up to as the perfect example of a king, someone that you looked up to as the shining paragon embodying the concept of a selfless leader could barely put herself with the immense responsibility to pass through the Door and utilize it just to return things to normal, then how would someone as selfish as you even have the ability to handle the responsibility to do what you wished me to do?”

 

Tenco was silenced by those words, not attempting to reply or answer to what Arturia had just said. She knew that everything Arturia said was right, and all that her attempt to talk to her now had only been successful in making the situation even worse for her. She knew that Arturia would have no reason to lie right now, and that everything she said must be completely true.

 

However, the sheer weight of the truth dropped in those sentences completely broke the blue-haired girl, who could only scream inside of her heart in frustration. The damning truth on how far she had been misguided, and how hopeless her situation was overwhelmed her as she kept on trying to find a rebuttal. As much as she had realized how much she had deluded herself, she couldn’t still accept that it was it, and there was no way it could go otherwise. She still firmly believed that it’s somehow possible for her to achieve what she wanted without sacrificing others in the process, even if she didn’t know how yet. Even in the face of the facts that Arturia presented to her, Tenco was still convinced that what she believed in was right.

 

Even if she didn’t even know about what she actually wanted. After all, it all would be completely for

 

“The other members of the Counter Corps have been very well-aware of the fact that they would not get the chance of having what they wanted fulfilled aside from the restoration of their worlds, and they have accepted that fact gladly, and kept on fighting despite of that fact. You are the single oddity here. As expected from someone that is a derivative of a member of the Divine, even that was too much to ask from you, even if you’re supposed to be also a member of the Counter Corps. This is a real war, not a trip to the park. Cease your childish selfishness and thoughts, since they would not fit here at all.”

 

A glint in the distance made Tenco snapped from her thoughts, and she realized that the source should be Arturia’s sword. That time, as much as she had barely any reasons to continue after Arturia deconstruct her entire reasoning to fightinto tiny, unrecognizable scattered pieces, she still decided to hold her ground and continue fighting, simply since she still believed that it’s not everything yet. That it’s still possible for her to get what she wanted, whatever that thing was.

 

“Right now, I will speak about this matter more as myself, rather than as a king or as a Counter Guardian. To tell you the truth, I would rather see the Door disappear into nothingness. As long as it existed, this kind of conflict would happen over and over again. At one point, the problem stopped being the ones that tried to abuse the Door for their personal gain, and becomes the Door itself.

 

If I could, I would obliterate the door completely, even if it would mean that the damage done by this conflict would become irreparable. It would be a small cost for the sake of ending this kind of conflict once and for all.” Arturia stopped for a while after saying that, probably giving the time for Tenco to understand what she’s trying to say there. There was no response from the blue-haired girl, and Arturia could only shake her head seeing the girl being unable to reply at all to what she just said. After one or two minutes of silence, the king of knights started to approach Tenco as she continued to talk. “However, that would just be selfish of me, and we still do not have a lot of knowledge about what else would happen if the Door collapsed. Following what I wanted to do at the cost of creating that much damage for others would simply make me not better than other selfish tyrants, even with the different context here.”

 

“...Just shut up, please.” As Arturia walked towards the blue-haired girl, Tenco finally uttered her reply. It was sounding unnaturally composed for the normally speech-afluent girl, soArturia immediately strengthened her grip on her sword, making an assumption that Tenco would now start going on the offensive against her. While she couldn’t really see the girl even coming close of defeating her, the Counter Guardian still chose to be cautious.

 

The blue-haired girl lifted up her head, and turned it to face Arturia. Her striking pair of scarlet eyes shone unnaturally as she did so, and a forced smile formed on her face not long afterwards. Arturia considered the possibility of the girl to have fallen on the deep end, but decided to wait for a bit to judge the situation better. Staring at those bright scarlet eyes on the distance, Arturia prepared herself on a battle stance.

 

“Lady Arturia...you never tried. As dangerous as you’re making it to be, you never actually done it before. No...you’re too afraid to try, aren’t you?” Spiteful. Empty. While those words were intended to insult Arturia in a way, as those words were said in such a way that they were completely detached from reality itself, they ended up losing all meaning as Arturia heard it. Gritting her teeth in response, Arturia then followed Tenco’s question with a reply.

 

“As a matter of fact...yes. I have been in a situation like this before. And just as what I said here, it did not end well for any parties involved. Now, can you-”

 

“Then I guess...maybe you’re too weak? Too weak to keep yourself from falling to the temptation of power something like this possessed…

 

This would not happen if I’m the one that pass through the door. I’ll...I’ll definitely fulfill everyone’s wishes as best as I could then return things back to how it was before all of this crap. I’m sure that I can do that, and I’ll prove it to you now.” As grandiose and direct her words were, Arturia could pretty much understand that they held no meaning for both of them, no weights backing them up, nothing to carry them. Founded upon empty dreams and wishes, those words were coming from someone that desperately clung to a rope that did not even exist before they could fall into the abyss of insanity, and that someone perfectly knew about that fact. Those words were the words of a desperate girl, trying to convince herself that her delusion could still be maintained. Not seeing any hope from the girl before her, Arturia decided to drop her final warning to her.

 

“Then I believe I will need to really strike you down this time, Tenco. As someone desiring to take advantage of the Door for their own selfish desire, you are a threat to the multiverse itself. And it will be my job to exterminate you.

 

It’s nothing personal, Tenco. Just accept this as a merciful act to save you from your delusions and suffering.”

 

“But I don’t want to be saved.” It was crude attempt of a witty reply. At that point, Tenco couldn’t care less. Facing with absolute nothingness before her, she desperately clung to the only way she could continue. As selfish as it was, as unreasonable as it was, she couldn’t see any more way for her to advance. Even if she had to overcome Arturia of all people, she would still do it. After all, she had no more choice. And then, just like that, the image of the king disappeared from her vision, and just as she appeared before her while striking her with her sword, Tenco fired up a blast of temperaments which propelled her fast enough upwards to avoid Arturia’s strike and its follow-ups, and after she was fully airborne, her wings of light manifested once more, illuminating the completely dark corridor with its bright red shine.

 

While she was already airborne, with the ceiling still limiting her movement range, it was still mandatory for her to try baiting another blast from Arturia’s sword to shatter the ceiling. She had a plan already, something that she had figured out from before she returned to this corridor to confront Arturia once more, but the problem right now was to push the king to fire it.

 

“…!”

 

As she was thinking about that, she could sense a disturbance in the air around her, which she immediately responded with covering herself completely with her wings of light. It was Arturia, managing to effortlessly reach her position by scaling up the walls of the corridor to get on an even ground with her, as she once more assaulted Tenco using her sword. The first slash did not manage to break through her wings, but the king pushed on, following it with a series of slashes, intent on breaking through the wings by pure force. And…she was actually succeeding with that, as the wings covering Tenco broke apart after the sixth or so slash, and without wasting any more time, she followed it with a quick thrust towards the girl’s heart, seemingly aiming there to find out whether it would actually kill her or not. Tenco, not wanting to find out the answer herself, formed a barrier as a last ditch effort to block the sword as the two were falling. The barrier broke milliseconds afterwards, as expected, but on that instant, it gave Tenco a slight opening to create an almost instant thrust using the temperaments leaking from the sword as the force moving her. Due to her body moving in such a way, the sword was only capable of slicing through her right lung towards her waist, but it was thankfully not a fatal wound.

 

Summoning a sword to anchor herself to the wall behind her before she would crash into it, Tenco then respawned her wings once more while she used her healing spell on herself before the loss of blood from the wound would be detrimental to her. Arturia using the wall to reach her while she’s airborne was something she had feared for a while, and seeing it just happened in reality made her plan to blow up the ceiling completely be more and more urgent. If she couldn’t manage to do it on time, it would mean that she would lose her chance to make a slight advantage over the Counter Guardian, which would then translate into a guarantee of her inevitable loss at that point.

 

“You are far too slow.”

 

Hearing that voice coming from her side, Tenco turned around to see that Arturia was already there, jousting towards her after she used the wall behind her as the ground for her to push herself forward. With her sword pointed straight at her and the Counter Guardian moving at a speed faster than a bullet, Tenco couldn’t even dodge, block, or misdirect the attack from hitting her like before. And just like that, the sword stabbed her through her heart and it was then followed by Arturia pinning her straight to a nearby wall. The force of the impact of the sword to her body was so strong; it pretty much created a big hole where her chest region was not long ago.

 

“….Perhaps I claimed my victory a little bit too early.” Arturia calmly said as she watched the body she pinned to the wall with her sword exploded on her face. It barely harmed the king, but it did manage to slightly annoy her. Catching a glint at the edge of her vision, she then dashed away from her position just in time to avoid getting hit by a blast of scarlet beam coming from a certain direction. At the distance, she could pinpoint the location of the source of the attack. She could locate a heavily breathing blue-haired girl pointing her sword at the direction of the attack, no doubts being quite tired from firing the beam.

 

“You’re the one being too slow, Lady Arturia. Maybe if you’re faster you can catch me swapping with my double.”

 

“I believe you are not in a position to trash talk at me.” Arturia bluntly answered. However, the Counter Guardian this time did not immediately rush at the blue-haired girl once more and put more pressure on her, deciding that it would be best for her to calmly assert the current combat situation first. The king’s usage of prana to boost each of her swings would mean that all of her attacks would have at least as much force as a jet engine, which should’ve obliterated someone like Tenco effortlessly in most situation. Arturia silently admitted to herself that the barriers Tenco put around herself managed to soften each blows enough for her to have a chance of surviving them, however small the chance was. It also helped the girl to withstand the effect of her wind manipulation to an extent, allowing her to not be disoriented by it. After the first few attacks too, Arturia had noticed that Tenco always moved in such a way that while she would still be heavily injured by any hits, but she would always manage to avoid getting her head or heart be hit, usually using the split second of when her barriers were still up to tilt herself or push herself in such ways to avoid getting hit on her vital points. With how much she relied on healing spells and regeneration from almost-fatal injuries so far, Arturia assumed that Tenco would fall to attrition not long from now, that is if she managed to survive getting heavily assaulted by her after this.

 

The battle so far had been an unfunny joke of sort, with the blue-haired girl not even coming close of actually harming Arturia with all her attempts to get a cheap shot on her. It might be for the better that she didn’t pose any threat to the Counter Guardian, but the blue-haired girl’s insistence to keep on fighting was slightly getting on her nerves, almost. At this point Arturia was simply thinking on how to end the mockery of a battle as fast as she could. She could fire off a blast from her sword once more to decisively end the battle, but it might be unnecessarily messy and would create too much collateral damage, and she reckon that it’d be best for her to use another approach for now instead of using that. For now, she’d just need to push to hit the blue-haired girl’s vital points while keeping a close eye to prevent her opponent from switching to a clone, and that would be it.

 

At the other side, Tenco was still struggling to keep herself up in the air. As much as the temperament reserves inside of the scarlet sword helped her so far, there were still some downtimes before she could fully recuperate herself from her fatigue. She was grateful that Arturia didn’t decide to attack her at this point, since she wouldn’t be able to survive otherwise. Her wings were still slightly unstable at the moment as Tenco still channeled the temperaments to recover her body from the damage it had taken from Arturia’s assaults.

 

She realized that she should go on with her plan as soon as possible, but she’s still worried about the possibility that Arturia might not even bothering with using her sword beam again. She still had to think of a way that would force Arturia to use that attack against her. However, thinking about this too much wouldn’t do her any good - it’d probably be best to just think about it on the fly. She’d figure out something sooner or later hopefully.

 

The moment she was fully rejuvenated and her qi wings fully stabilized, with one hand signal from her, Tenco created four temperament clones of herself, which then dispersed away from her position, just as Arturia closed the distance between the two of them in a single bound. Instinctively, Tenco then channeled as much temperament as she could to reinforce her body just as the king approached her, and she was able to muster enough strength and reaction speed to summon a sword to parry the swing from Arturia’s blade. The sword she summoned immediately cracked just from that, however, and Arturia immediately followed it with consecutive strikes to take advantage of that fact. Tenco had to resort to summoning a new sword to block each attacks. The king’s movement was barely readable, if at all, and the wind she summoned to cover her attacks made it harder for Tenco to block correctly. Meanwhile, Arturia seemingly was able to predict the angles of where Tenco would block next, which pushed Tenco again and again to use her barrier to barely keep the strike away from her before she could safely block it and keep herself away from its hit radius. However, Arturia’s attack chain was relentless, and no matter how much Tenco blocked or narrowly dodged her attacks, Arturia would manage to find the weak point to her defenses, and even if she patched those weak points, Tenco knew that Arturia would just break through her soon.

Following that realization, Tenco dashed backwards as fast as she could just as Arturia would’ve landed a hit on her, and then she summoned a pair of swords that she threw at the king as projectiles. Arturia sliced them with one swing of her sword, and rushed forward just as the two broken swords exploded in a blaze. But then, one of Tenco’s clones rapidly dived in towards Arturia and slashed at her, which the king immediately parried. However, it was yet another distraction as one other clone of Tenco, similarly reinforced as the real one, appeared behind her as she fired several of its explosive swords at the king. Pushing away the clone she’s facing, Arturia then raised her prana barrier to block the swords and absorb their explosion harmlessly, before attacking the one summoning the swords just as the clone prepared another volley of swords to be fired at the king. Arturia was once again disrupted from attacking the clone as she sensed an incoming beam of light coming at her direction, and in response, she erected her prana barrier once more to fend off both the beam and the sword explosions, but this time, she decided to stand still instead of continuing her attack.

 

As expectedly, the clones decided that it would be the time for them to rush and try overwhelming the king. Not wasting any moments, all four of the clones brandished their swords and dived right at Arturia. It was then that Arturia decided to create a sudden harsh gust of wind that threw the clones all over the place, something that she planned to do. As much as she was still far more powerful than Tenco, with her sudden upgrades Arturia would be a bit inconvenienced by the fact that she was fighting using clones since she usually fights one by one. However, her sword beam would handle the problem without any hitches. She just needed to make room for herself to use it, as getting assaulted when she charged the attack would be quite bad.

 

With the Tenco clones getting thrown away and disoriented by the sudden gust of wind, Arturia prepared her sword in a swinging motion as it charged up with prana, its golden shine once again illuminated the dark corridor. Making sure that the clones were positioned correctly after the wind blew them away, Arturia chanted the attack’s name as a whisper before letting it loose not long afterwards. This time, she was swinging her sword in a circular motion, having the massive sword beam forming an arc that would hit every single one of Tenco’s clone and the real one in one go. And it did just that. The clones immediately disintegrated the moment they were near the beam, and it continued until the beam approached the position of the real Tenco, around 2 seconds after it was fired.

 

And, slightly surprising Arturia, Tenco was smiling as the pillar of light approached her.

 

Picking up the sword that she used as a hairpin, Tenco returned it to its full size before she swung the golden sword towards the pillar of light coming from Clarent, as if she attempted to parry the beam. While normally it would look ridiculously dumb, something else then happened. The golden sword’s inscription started to glow in a scarlet light as the beam coming from Clarent started to be absorbed by it. It started slowly, but the speed of absorption increased exponentially, which pushed Arturia to stop the flow of prana going from her sword just to stop Tenco from absorbing even more. And then, following that move, Tenco fired the prana she had just absorbed upwards for some reason, a reason which Arturia immediately realized. Right now, the blue-haired girl was using the energy from her attack to blast a giant hole through the corridor’s ceiling, which was probably her plan all along. Right now the girl’s sword was emitting a scarlet pillar of light, turning it into a massive blade of light as Tenco cleaved the entire ceiling of the corridor they were in to two. As that would also mean the ceiling would collapse upon her, Arturia decided to back out instead of attacking Tenco as she destroyed the ceiling, just in time before the entire structure came tumbling down on where she was just moments ago.

 

When the dust settled, Arturia watched amidst the rubbles caused by Tenco, watching as the girl had successfully removed the entirety of the ceiling atop the corridor they were in, and she now was flying freely on the sky. It was no doubts an attempt to create a strategic field advantage, as she was probably assuming that Arturia was unable to fly on her own. No doubts that she’d now rely on ranged assaults using her swords and lasers. Arturia herself was not really a long-range combatant after all, and after what happened earlier, she didn’t really like the idea of using Clarent in that way again for now. While Arturia was still unsure regarding the exact reasoning of Tenco’s golden sword ability to absorb the prana fired off from Clarent during its attack, it immediately became her biggest concern right now. Whatever was the exact nature of it, Arturia felt that she should start being slightly more careful regarding that as it was probably the only factor in this fight that would allow Tenco to have a hope of even having a chance to defeat her. Still very unlikely, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

 

Meanwhile, Tenco watched the Counter Guardian from afar on the skies as she prepared to think of her next moves. While she had managed to successfully remove the ceiling which allowed her to gain far more extra room to move around, it only barely pushed her to having a chance to win this confrontation. Victory was still a long way away from this, and she knew it. To tell the truth, she was not even sure about why she was using her sword to absorb and then redirect the swordbeam fired by Arturia earlier. It seemed that once again, the scarlet sword forced her to act according to its will. That was quite irritating, and Tenco had immediately returned it back to its hairpin form so she could get out of its control, maybe.

 

A momentary silence with neither side attacking ensued afterwards. Tenco would’ve started attacking right now, but she was barely able to move her body at that moment, thanks to the backlash that she received from using her sword’s temperaments to reinforce her own strength and speed to allow her to temporarily stand her ground against Arturia earlier. That forced her to recuperate for now as she used her wings to move around while keeping her eyes on Arturia. The buffing worked enough, at least, which was good news, but it would be completely impractical to try it out again unless she could figure out a way to do it without hurting her body in the process. Her completely human body couldn’t really stand moving at that kind of speed and handling that much power without literally breaking apart. However, it could just be that she’s not buffing herself in the right way. Or maybe she just had to get herself used to the speed and power from the buff. If she could do it again without drawbacks, it would definitely prove itself to be a great asset to have in this battle. But that’s a big if.

 

Tenco assumed that Arturia was figuring out a way to hit her up there right now. From this distance, her barriers would be enough to protect her from being blown away by Arturia’s winds, and it seemed that she had been quite cautious in using her sword beam after Tenco absorbed the attack earlier. Though, if she ended up using it anyways, Tenco would be able to dodge it far more easily if she’s given the movement room she had with her right now.

 

And then, as Tenco’s body finally completely recovered from the backlash, she didn’t waste any time as she launched off several volleys of her constructed jewel swords towards Arturia. The king sliced through the rain of swords, not even bothering to establish her prana barrier this time as she fired a rapid sword beam at Tenco’s direction just as the destroyed sword projectiles exploded around her. From the smokes, she darted out as she continued to fire the smaller beams from her sword at her opponent. Tenco gritted her teeth as she reinforced her body once more, allowing her to gain enough movement speed and reaction time to dodge the chain of rapid blasts, while following Arturia from above as she continued to fire her swords towards her opponent. Arturia continued to dodge each sword before they exploded as she continued to blast Tenco using her sword beam, each consecutive firing becoming more and more rapid. Grazing through some of the beams, Tenco persistently rained her attack at the king, even as she turned around before reaching the end of the corridor, going in circles as she continued to try shooting down the blue-haired girl.

 

The darkness of the pathway should’ve made it hard for her to fire accurately from the height she’s in normally, however, her being able to discern Arturia’s temperaments from afar helped a lot with this. Tenco was thankful that there was no one else around in the corridor, otherwise she would have a harder time pinning down Arturia. Her rapid-fire sword beam was still problematic however, as they traveled too fast for her to reliably dodge or absorb them, and she had several close calls already with these attacks. The beams had times and times again almost managing to land a direct hit on her, which would be disastrous as even if they were weaker than the one Arturia used earlier, they would be too fast for her barrier to handle.

 

At the very least, the two of them were roughly in a state of stalemate right now, as Arturia didn’t seem to be able to reach Tenco aside from using her sword beams. If she could figure out a reliable way to handle those beams, she’d be able to use them to sustain herself and to keep on pressuring Arturia. But, she then suddenly felt the urge to just leave the place and the battle at once again. This time however, Tenco immediately curbed those urges with the thought that she’s in a favorable position now, so running away would be a waste. And she reminded herself that with Arturia fully intent on killing her, running away would just delay the inevitable, and heck, Arturia would probably get the other members of the Corps to take her down later on outside the pathway if she deemed it as necessary. In short, whether she liked it or not, Tenco was stuck on the battle, and she’d need to finish it, even to the bitter end.

 

Taking a deep breath, Tenco then summoned five clones using her sword, and once again had them charge up another instance of the rapturing attack that she attempted earlier, while she herself summoned more and more blades from her wings. Diving down at Arturia at high speed, Tenco followed that by barraging the king using the explosive swords she had conjured, firing volleys after volleys of projectiles that forced the king to focus all of her attention to block them using her own sword or her barriers. Summoning her winds around her once more, Arturia then used it to build up speed as she rapidly turned around and close the gap between her and Tenco who was now at where the ceiling of the corridor used to be, following it with several slashes aimed at her vitals. Tenco, realizing that she had gone too close to the king’s position in her attempt to occupy her attention, reinforced her body once more with temperaments and parried Arturia’s attack blow to blow, once again breaking a sword to block each hit.

 

Tenco was slightly getting the hang of fending off the attacks from the Counter Guardian, but the power and skill gap between them was still immense, and Arturia was always at least one step further ahead from her when it comes to this. It was getting to the point of Tenco having to control several swords at once remotely just to be able to withstand Arturia’s attacks while still having a chance to counterattack herself. Each blow from the king was calculated, lightning fast, and hit ridiculously hard, and even with all the gimmicks Tenco had to deploy from her sleeves, she was barely able to keep up, and it was almost a miracle that she could actually able to survive the onslaught so far. Every single time Arturia had her slashes and strikes blocked, she didn’t waste any time to attack Tenco from another angle in a split second, and if those follow up were still blocked, she’d figure out another best angle to strike from in almost an instant. All the pressure at that moment was aimed at Tenco, who didn’t even get any room to actually attack Arturia in return as her mind was completely occupied by her struggle to survive the relentless assault. However, she realized that it had actually turned into a battle of attrition at that point, something she could not afford to be in at that moment. The longer she was in the state of reinforcing her body, the bigger would the backlash she received be, and she was not even sure whether her vitals would be able to keep up at this point if she went on with this longer and longer.

 

As a last ditch effort, she instinctively erected her barriers all around her just as Arturia launched a thrust at her, and used the time between the extra time provided by the barriers slowing down the thrust and it hitting her to conjure as much sword as she could, and fired them all at Arturia at the same time while detonating them a split second afterwards, using the explosion’s force to push herself away from her opponent. Her clones, viewing it as their signal, then immediately followed the attack with their charged beams of light, raining down grand crimson pillars of pure temperaments from the skies as they bombarded Arturia with the innumerable hyper-condensed projectiles that composed those pillars. Meanwhile, the completely battered and crushed Tenco, who had the backlash of her reinforcement finally kicking in to screw her body along with the wounds she caused on herself after the point-blank explosion earlier, rose up to the sky using a newly conjured pair of wings as she started to recover herself from her injuries, watching as the pillars of light created an explosion in where Arturia presumably was.

 

She doubted that even something like that was enough to defeat Arturia, but as the smoke from the attacks still persisted, she was hoping that at the very least, Arturia had taken the hit directly this time, not tanking it using her barrier again to appear completely unscratched and undamaged like before. That would just make the effort she had be completely meaningless, and it would really just dampen her motivation to keep fighting on. Still, at the very least, Tenco was sure that she managed to catch Arturiaoff-guard with the point-blank chain of explosion with her swords, so at the very least that would be decent enough even if Arturia blocked the Raptures using her barrier.

 

Her clones had wasted away after the rapture each of them fired, no doubt due to the overexertion the attack required if she didn’t use an outside source of temperaments. On that topic, as she immediately remembered about the talk about it from earlier, Tenco’s confusion about those resurfaced. She still had no idea about what actually these “temperament” or qi that the scarlet sword used were, even if she described it earlier to Gyokuen as life energy. It might be the spiritual energy of a living being or its actual spirit, as far as she knew, which would explain why it was conceptually quite similar with the Rukh that Gyokuen kept on talking about, but that hag also mentioned that her sword operated differently from Rukh which made the entire thing more complicated. It might also refer to supernatural power or energy in general, though she was kind of skeptical that it was that due to several reasons, and she had been unable to outright manipulate such, unlike with life energy that she could have more control of. However, the name “temperament” might hint that it was also related to the actual temperament and nature of people, or maybe even their emotions, which would make the sword’s nature even more confusing. Though, she’s really not in a position to test any of these hypotheses at this point, and they’re not too important to boot, so Tenco once again buried these thoughts as deep as possible, not wanting to be distracted by meaningless curiosity

 

Though, not long afterwards, while watching the dust settling down, and as Tenco prepared herself to figure out Arturia’s current condition and location, her mind drifted off again and she went into a retrospective as she thought more regarding the reason she was still continuing to fight right now. At first, she vehemently believed that it was of course to prove to Arturia that she was able to attain her future not at the expense of anyone else’s. The more though she put into this however, and she started to question that more and more. After all, she was still quite unsure about what kind of future that she actually wanted, and what kind of thing would she had to wish for at the Door in order to attain that future. The ones that seemed to be the option for her, either following Tenshi’s or the real Tenco’s supposed future, were completely unappealing to her at all, for one reason or two.

 

Consistent to what she had said to Arturia earlier, she didn’t actually feel that she would be able to take the responsibility of being a ruler like what people expected the real Tenco to be, and she was not a fan of wandering the world for the sake of wandering the world, as it felt too empty and meaningless for her. Even if she longed to see the beauty and wonders of the world, she couldn’t bring herself with the thought of going into an endless, aimless journey. A purpose would make it more appealing to her, but once again she couldn’t make one for herself, especially since the real Tenco’s own motivation to go on a journey was completely moot for Tenco to take – she had already possessed the Sword of Hisou with her, so there’s no need for her to go on a journey to reclaim it.

 

On the other hand, living a life like Tenshi, a sheltered life where all of her needs would be fulfilled easily sounded completely disgusting for her. The entire concept was something that she deeply loathed, and seeing how Tenshi ended up being and the fact that even that brat was not even a fan of that kind of like, that fact pretty much sealed the deal for her. Tenshi was, for all intents and purposes, was already at the top of the world. There’s nothing left for her to achieve, and what’s left for her to do is to enjoy her life in that paradise of hers or occasionally partying in Gensokyo, and that’ pretty much it. A life full of leisure was not something Tenco actually seek.

 

Not choosing from either of the above would mean that she had to find out a different future than what laid out before those two, however. But there lies the problem; Tenco couldn’t still figure out something that she actually wanted to do personally, and it frustrated her to no end. For the girl, it completely didn’t make any sense. It shouldn’t even be a hard thing in the first place to find out something she wanted to do. Everyone else all can do it quite easily, even without a lot of soul searching. However, for some reasons, Tenco kept on being stumped on the topic over and over again. At times, she felt complete powerless when it comes to having to answer this question that had been haunting her all these times.

 

“…I’ll probably figure out something along the way soon. Why would I be this confused on what I wanted anyway?”

 

It was silly, of course. For someone to have no idea regarding what they actually wanted to do in the future facing with infinite possibilities; heck, it might even be slightly ironic in her own case. And it’s not even due to her being overwhelmed by the vastness of the choice she had at that moment assuming she would manage to attain her future. She was simply at a complete loss on what to do. She had completely nothing on her mind to follow through. Not even any desires, as the only desire she had at this moment was to have the future itself.

 

“Dammit, why the hell it’s so hard for me to answer this! Why can’t I-“

 

“There is no time for existential musings in a battlefield, Hinanai.”

 

Almost without warning as Tenco was still musing annoyedly to herself, Arturia leaped from the darkness below and reached the blue-haired girl’s position up in the air, and then she came crashing down at Tenco using her sword. The girl, almost caught by complete surprise, erected her barriers frantically to block it along with using her wings to protect herself from Arturia’s sword, but the sheer force from the hit as Arturia brought the sword down persistently. It was an overwhelmingly strong blow that ended up sending Tenco crashing hard towards the ground below, creating a small crater around her impact area.

 

---

[Tesability Black]

~The Divine - Path of Truth (???) - Tesability's POV~

There was plenty of activity out and about in the relatively-small city. There were several buildings throughout the cityscape, averaging about three to five stories per buildings while most of the rest was either a single-story business of some sort or a small home.

Among the streets of the small city walked many different beings, with no two really being alike. At least one red mecha towered over the populace as the little beings walked around him, unflinching at his presence as if they were long used to it. Another area had visible an anthropomorphic wolf wearing armor purchasing more rounds for the sniper rifle on his back, his hackles raising themselves for a moment before turning to see a figure cloaked entirely in black walking down the street behind him and relaxing his guard.

Among all this, no one gave thought to the little black dragon with golden wings that seemed to suddenly appear, as if this was not an unusual thing to experience.

"Yui's going to kill me!" Tesability almost didn't get out of the way fast enough as a feminine human dressed in white with bluish-purple hair of a pale shade ran by her, the flash of green flying out from just past her neck being the only splash of familiar color she's seen so far in this entire place.

And almost no-one appeared to have even given a single thought to the avoided impact. She had failed to notice it at first, but she soon sensed the feeling of eyes on her, though she wasn't able to tell that the cloaked figure nearby had its hidden eyes on her from curiosity before returning to what it had been doing.

"...wewe ish Ai?" Unable to stretch out her wings wide enough to allow for her to fly over the crowd, she instead started to wander the streets, allowing the strange crowds to lead her to different places.

She finally stopped in front of one building, a two-story building simply flagged as 'Role Playing' in the front. Many of the different strange beings seemed to both enter and leave it through the glass double-doors, catching sight of a small blue cat with wings trying to fly through when the doors were open by another.

With care did the dragon manage to open the door with her paw, the blue winged cat bolting in as she did without reservation. Soon after did she close it before wandering off once more, wondering the whole time where she was.

Once she managed to find a bit of empty space near a single-story building simply named 'News', she took to the skies and flew onto the top of one of the taller buildings. It was then that she noticed that the skies were not the dark-green with neon-green lines crisscrossed with one another, but shades of a different color that she didn't couldn't identify. In fact, it looked kind of like...

"...ish dish shtewl Twuff," she asked of herself before catching sight of a simple green sign.

Welcome to YCM City.

"Wai Shee Em," she tried to repeat, though her fangs messed up her ability to do so. She didn't know why, but her mind kept trying to draw comparisons between the world she once knew to where she was, some of the strange figures being strangely familiar when they shouldn't be. It was mostly due to its large size that she spotted the red mecha moving through the streets, stopping for a few moments in front of the 'Role Playing' building before tapping something on one of its wrists and somehow shrinking in size. "Ai dink," she started as she strained her brain, wings and tail twitching as flashes of former companions that were vaguely-similar to the being crossed her mind before landing on a particular one. "Ai dink dat'sh a Gon-dam," she finally exclaimed quietly and with widened eyes.

With this did she lift her head back towards the self-perceived ceiling above, confusion lighting her features. She had always thought that the Internet had Collapsed that day. Is it possible that she had been wrong all this time...?

 

Ending Point: Last known location was in the Mirror World...though good question if she's still actually there...

[Reinforce]

Chandra

 

Pathway of Death: A1

 

"Can we leave now,"

 

The other mage seemed rather tense and annoyed, whether because of her jab or just the continued nearness of the angel he'd just escaped the grasp of. As he rushed off, Chandra took a few moments to finally laugh at the clothes he'd been wearing, now that he wasn't right next to her to get annoyed for it. Then, figuring he'd just get in trouble if she left him alone for too long, she made her way forward too, in the same direction he'd gone. Approaching the statue ahead, she could see the other planeswalker ahead, standing still and with his fists clenched tight, seemingly frustrated about something. Chandra walked up next to him, not quite sure what to say at this point, though looking at the clothes over his body, she had to suppress the laugh that wanted to emerge again. She definitely didn't intend to let him forget that clothing incident anytime soon, though she probably wouldn't need to remark on it while he was still wearing the illusion.

 

Ending Location: A2

 

---

 

Ayame

 

Pathway of Death: A7

 

The two combatants separated, both breathing quite heavily as they recovered from the exchange they'd just finished. The demon acted again first, focussing magic through the blade it wielded, to activate the power stored within. With a flare, black flames lit over the icy sword, flying forwards to strike at Ayame even as she reacted. Sparks built over her body, building up before flying forward from her outstretched left hand in a constant crackle of electricity to stop the flames coming her way. Without letting up on the flames, the demon reached into the darkness around it, causing the shadows dancing around the edges of the arena to gather and strike at Ayame from the sides. Thinking quickly, lightning built up over her body, darting out like it had earlier in the pathway to disrupt any of the shadows trying to strike at her.

 

As those two clashes continued, Ayame could finally take the time to build up a counter-attack of her own and used the end of her staff to throw a lightning bolt directly into the body of the demon. From the glower that formed on it's face, it had definitely felt that one and, while it didn't seem to do any serious damage, it had disrupted the demon's concentration enough to cause it's attacks to lapse. With all her power and concentration suddenly freed for attacking, a second lightning bolt flew down the staff even while a ball of electricity built up in her other hand, still pointing in the demon's directly from the previous clash. The new lightning bolt didn't do anything much, the demon's own corrupted lightning sparking up at the point of impact to stop the blow, but even so, the ball of electricity she'd thrown just afterwards did. The same dark lightning may have sparked out at the same point, but that only served to destabilize the sphere the lightning had been condensed into, causing it to spark outwards and expend the energy involved in the immediate area, including directly into the ashen skin of the demon. 

 

With a growl, the demon called back the black flames that were still floating around between the two, using them to briefly freeze the air between the two combatants before returning to the sword they came from. Sheathing the sword, the demon started to call on the power sitting inside it, preparing for a piece of magic that Ayame recognised in horror as it finished. With a wave of magic, Ayame was caught up in the wave of energy that emerged, changing the surroundings around her. From the outside, it would appear as if the same corrupted black lightning the demon used had formed a dome inside the corridor, leaving very little space free to get around the new obstruction to anyone trying to pass through.

 

Ending Location: A7

 

---

 

Darcy

 

Pathway of Truth: E10

 

Approaching the mirror ahead of her, Darcy got her first glimpse of what it was reflecting. The image she was looking at was some mockery of her appearance, sleek purple outfit replaced with a much lighter purple crop top and short skirt combo, with tall boots on her legs. What was worse though, were the fairy wings decorating the back in the reflecting, as well as the *shudder* happy smile she was displaying. As her smirk faded and turned into a scowl, the mirror image likewise changed expression, happy smile fading into a revoltingly cute pout. Shuddering at the image in front of her, even as she realised this was where she was supposed to go, she walked through the mirror, entering her own inner world, though she wasn't aware of that.

 

Inside, she ended up in a rather grandiose throne room, architecture formed into the imposing styles you'd expect of a dark witch. Interestingly, there were also bookshelves spanning the outer edges. Standing next to the throne was another Darcy, wearing the same clothing as her. 

 

"So what's this supposed to be about then?"

 

"This is our inner world, and the place where you'll have to come to terms with your innermost true self."

 

"That would be you then, would it not?"

 

"Exactly, you catch on just as quick as I was expecting."

 

"I'd hope so, wouldn't want to disappoint."

 

"You are definitely me, sarcastic as ever aren't you."

 

"Why of course not, what would ever give you that idea?"

 

"Yeah, exactly that sort of statement in that tone of voice."

 

Both quietened down for a moment, though both Darcy's were smirking at the increasingly sarcastic exchange that had just happened.

 

"So what happens now?"

 

"Now we see if you can continue to suppress me as you have been, or if I get to take control."

 

Ending Location: Mirror World

 

[Kingdom Xathers]

 

Team Lombax

Pathway of Truth - A7

 

The group hug had gone on for several minutes now, and things were starting to get a little awkward.  “Uhh, is this awkward for anyone else?” Ratchet questioned, still pinned under Red’s arms.

“Not sure if I care yet,” Alister uttered with his eyes closed, his face still nuzzled against Red’s neck.

“Well, I sure do, considering this is a lot more cuddling than I’ve gotten used to so far,” Gabriel quipped as with a loud *POP!* he rocketed out of Bayonetta’s grasp and landed on top of Red’s head with a *squeak*.  “Guys, as much as I am sure we’ve all enjoyed this little group therapy session, I really must remind everyone that we still have to finish this Pathway, not to mention there’s a certain psychopath that needs to be dealt with!” he announced to the group.

“That is true,” Red nodded, Gabriel getting tossed onto Alister’s head.  “And this is starting to get an eensy bit awkward now.  I’m not used to this much affection.”

“He does have a point,” Bayonetta agreed.  “Personally, I’m not used to being this affectionate.  Matter of fact, I’m starting to feel sick from the sugary-sweet feeling in the pit of my stomach,” she grimaced overdramatically.

“Ditto,” Jeanne replied as both Umbra Witches’ Infernal Demonesses nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, this is really starting to taste like diabetes,” Umbris quipped as he proceeded to pull Alexander off Red’s arm with some difficulty.

“Okay, yeah, everybody off,” Red agreed as he released Ratchet, the young lombax rolling off his body with a thud.  With some effort he also managed to pry Alister off his neck, the General being haphazardly dumped to the ground like his godson.  “Well, everybody, except you,” he added, pointing a claw at Alexander.

“Eh?” Alexander chirped with slight surprise, while Umbris’s grip on him slipped as the Neo-Spacian stumbled backwards.

“Yes, we might have spoken before, but there’s another matter we need to discuss,” Red grunted as he picked himself up.  He stumbled about as he felt for his legs, but he maintained some dignity in the act.  Well, as much dignity as you can manage after a group hug.  “Privately, of course.”

“Uhm… sure,” Alexander nodded, not sure what Red would wish to speak about but going along with it anyway.

“Wonderful,” Red muttered, shepherding Alexander a decent distance away from the others with a firm grip on his shoulder.  “One matter I was meaning to discuss a little with you more is about you having magic from my realm now,” he explained once they were well out of earshot.  “I just want to know which spells you are currently familiar with.”

“Which spells?” Alexander repeated as he thought back on all the spells he had witnessed.  “... hmm… well, there’s, uhh… “Shock”, “Disintegrate”, “Banish”, “Purify”, “Command” (although I think that one was created while you were under the Orichalcos’ influence), that one that puts you in a giant Egg, umm… I think you also have a spell called “Move”, but I can’t recall correctly… those are all the ones I can remember,” Alexander concluded.

“That sounds about right.  However, Disintegrate and Command, you’d best forget those two, as they’re more… taboo than I’d like to admit,” Red seethed, an unpleasant look on his face telling all.

“Consider them forgotten,” Alexander nodded as, mentally, he tossed the knowledge of those spells into an incinerator.  “... … wow, that worked better than I thought,” he blinked, surprised at how quickly that knowledge vanished in a puff of smoke.

“Good, now, given you could name a few by name, you’d be familiar with… hmm, where did you see Shock, exactly?” Red inquired.  “I only recall using it against Ratchet and Alister, neither fights you were present for.”

“Well, I found out about the name of the spell from Ratchet,” Alexander explained, “while Alister told me what symbol to draw in order to cast it… I can’t remember why I asked him about it, though,” Alexander uttered in a confused tone (seeing as he had destroyed the memory of the “Disintegrate” Spell and thus forgot that its symbol was a modified “Shock” Spell symbol).  “... but yeah, I learned about it from them.”

“Okay, that makes sense.  I see, I see… hmm.  You have a hold on them, and you know what they do.  Plus, I remember that shot you made during the fight.  Pretty good for someone who has never handled a Light Gem before,” Red nodded in appreciation of Alexander’s abilities.  “You have a knack for magic, which is why I want to ensure your knowledge is more or less complete.”

“Oh! Uh, okay, cool,” Alexander stammered, a rather silly smile on his face.  He was always the type who was willing to learn new things, so this was quite the bonus for him.

“I suppose it is cool. With your white fur you’d be a match as one of Glayceon’s descendents,” Red nodded, somewhat missing the context. (“But… aren’t Glaceon light blue?” Alexander thought to himself before realizing what Red was referring to: “Oh, wait, that’s one of the Dragon Ancestors, isn’t it?”)  “Well, first matter: Shock.  You know how it works, but, you still have to aim it while casting.  If you don’t, it’ll hit randomly, and almost always hit you dead on.  So, be sure you know EXACTLY where you’re going to be striking to avoid a lucrative new do.”

“G-Good to know,” Alexander replied as he subconsciously ran a hand along his recently-shampooed-and-conditioned hair.

“You have Banish and, what was it, Purify?  Hmm, a homebrewer as well.  Tomas would have loved you.  You have those, so, hmm... the “egg” spell you might want to avoid using for the sake of your spine.  It gets pretty cramped in that egg shell,” Red advised.  Alexander nodded, though was secretly considering using the spell sometime anyway, just to see what it was like for himself.  “Plus it might have some weird implications, what with you being a mammal, but I digress,” Red added.

“Riiiight…,” Alexander uttered slowly.  “... oh, that’s right!  I do remember you using a Move Spell.  Is it just used for moving objects, or can it move more than that?”

“Just objects, really.  They need to have some significance to you, of course.  Otherwise you just end up grabbing any old thing.  Speaking of which…,” Red droned off, craning his head around for something.  Catching a minor twinkle on the ground nearby, Red etched the = sign into the air.  “Move,” he commanded, his staff returning to his grasp.  “Elders created it a long time ago to deal with villains obsessed with physics puzzles,” Red explained as he gave his staff a small twirl.

“Right, ‘cuz there can never be too much of those,” Alexander quipped, remembering quite a few puzzles he had come across before.

“Tell me about it.  Like Shock, you need a focus, so the object needs to have meaning to you or at least means something to you for the moment.  The two remaining spells are Tornado and Teleport. Tornado uses a V shape, and is good if you aren’t prone to dizziness or nausea.  It requires a little practise to use since you’re the focus of the spell.  As for Teleport, that spell was linked to special pads we used in the Dragon Realms, and is utterly useless without them,” Red finished.

“Interesting,” Alexander nodded as the scene changed perspective.

The group were all watching Alexander and Red talking over something, most likely magic if his staff suddenly disappearing and reappearing was any indication.  “Okay, this might sound like a dumb question here Alister, so, bear with me but, what the hell happened to you guys?” Ratchet questioned.  “I mean, Red went from angsty to, uh... I don’t really know what to call him right now.”

“A lot happened, Ratchet.  I’m not sure where to begin,” Alister answered with an exhausted sigh.  “All I know is that Red’s mind became a sort of warzone between the memories of Red’s friends and family, and Adrastos.  Speaking of which, you were there, too, Ratchet,” Alister added.  “You, a two-dimensional Alexander, and a, er-hem, a dead me.  Anyways, with the help of the alternate Me’s in my pocket watch, we were able to storm the castle, kick Adrastos to the curb and reclaim Red’s mentalscape.  As for why he’s currently all, erm… I guess “giddy” is the best term.  The reason Red’s all giddy all of a sudden is because the bisexual version of me recreated his version of Red and used that to help rebuild his memories.”

“So…, he’s not just….  He hasn’t been mind screwed into becoming the gay you’s Red, has he?” Ratchet shuddered.

“Well, for Zayon’s sake, he’d better not be,” Alister fumed as he glanced at his pocket watch suspiciously.

“Oh, come on, Al, do you really think I’d go that far?”  Alister slapped a hand over his own mouth in shock over what had come out of it.  His hand stayed firmly pressed against his mouth as it continued to utter something muffled, until Alister’s free hand seemed to move on its own to wrench the other hand away from his mouth.  “Jesus, could you just let me explain, Al?” were the words that came out of Alister’s mouth, and yet the tone and inflection did not match those that the General was typically known for.

“... so, is this the “Zayon” you just mentioned, General?” Gabriel uttered in stunned confusion as he and the others gave Alister the weirdest looks.

“Yeah, it’s me, and Alister is getting his knickers in a twist,” Zayon declared through Alister’s maw.

“Zayon, you--!” Alister gasped as he tried to keep himself composed.  “Okay, look, can you just explain to Ratchet (and the rest of us) exactly what’s going on with Red?”

“Simple: I have no fucking clue.  From what I gather, Reid shared one of his memories with Red, that’s it.  All you’re seeing now is, well, how he is without so many doubts and fears bringing him down all the time.  For once in a long time he’s angst- and guilt-free, and he’s, y’know, happy.  I can tell you from experience that he’s a fun guy when he’s not depressed, which is what’s happening now.  I didn’t turn him into my husband, though I think Reid’s memory, or possibly memories have him more used to the concept of bisexuality,” Zayon explained.  “Possibly enough to want to try it, if you manage to get the right chain of the events for the intimate relationship route.”

“So, he’s more open-minded?  That’s good to know,” Bayonetta commented.  “Alister, dear, it may do you some good to take a page from Red’s book.”

“I-I know, it’s just… ugh,” Alister grumbled, his head slumping forward with exhaustion.  “Look, aside from that one time with Kaden, I just don’t see myself as that kind of guy--” “--y’mean me?” “Yeah, exactly.  It’s not that I have a problem with alternative sexual preferences, I just--” “--you’re just not sure if it’s right for you--?” “--yes, and could you please not--?” “--finish your--” “--SANDWICH!” “... okay, you did that on purpose.”

“Alister, please, you’re creeping me out a little,” Ratchet chimed out of concern for Alister’s sanity.

“Look Al, I’m just ribbing you… for the most part.  Naturally as an Altister, sure, I’d want you to have a happy ending, like the real me managed to get, but I have enough sense not to force it.  Thing is, I’m sure Red won’t be anything more than a close friend, unless you somehow do spark his love.  In which case, you might want to invest in a chastity belt.  He’s never been intimate with anyone before, and if he does discover his libido, he has a century of catching up to do.  He might be a uke, but if that rocket of his starts talking it’ll blow out every piece of glass in a ten miles radius due to how loud it is.  But I’m overdramatizing (kinda).  Sorry, I kinda can’t help it.  Look, Red’s just really happy now, and that’s the long and short of it,” Zayon exposited.

“... well, just so long as he’s not going to end up killing himself, that’s all that matters,” Alister sighed.

“And at least now this entire drama can be neatly put behind us,” Ratchet added.

“Yes, please,” Bayonetta chimed in.  “As much fun as it was watching a marathon of "Passions", I really rather much like to catch up on some other shows.”

“Cereza, I keep telling you; “DVR is your friend”,” Jeanne snarked cheekily.

“Well, let’s not forget that we still have much to go on this Pathway,” Alister reminded the others.  “Not to mention,” he spoke internally to Zayon, “that you and I still have a certain matter to discuss.”   (“... … … … … … …,” Zayon ellipsis’d as he strangely fell silent.)

“... this is going to be a long trial for me, isn’t it?” Jeanne asked Bayonetta.

“Don’t worry, Jeanne.  It’ll be over before you know it,” Bayonetta reassured her fellow Umbra Witch.

“Well, I don’t want it to end too quickly, either,” Jeanne added.

“You’ll be fine.  I’m sure of it,” Bayonetta once more reassured Jeanne.  “And don’t feel too bad if you can’t catch up with the rest of us at the end; it’s not a Time Trial, after all.”

“You think I’d miss the grand finale for anything?” Jeanne scoffed.  “I don’t even care if I don’t end up canonically joining in the Final Boss fight (I’m actually rather used to it by now).  I’m fine with just being there before the credits start rolling.”

“... well, that’s certainly a rather passive-aggressively optimistic way of looking at it,” Bayo noted.

“I know, right?”

“You two done?” Umbris popped in as he rudely interrupted the two Umbra Witches.

“Umbris, be nice,” Gabriel chided the Umbra Panther.  “Sometimes women just need to be meta to alleviate some stress--AYE!!” the plushie yelped as Bayonetta pinched and pulled at one of his cheeks in retaliation, emitting a *SQUEAK* in the process. “OW, sorry, Sorry~!”

“Bayonetta, why must you always handle your pussy so roughly?” Alex sighed overdramatically, having now returned with Red.

“Aww man, I was gonna say that~” Umbris bemoaned with regret.

“So~ how was your chat?” Ratchet asked Red and Alex, while also wondering why Bayonetta hadn’t reacted to Alexander’s statement.

“Delightful; we talked about what boys we liked and rated you all on a scale of one to ten,” Red grinned.  “We both agreed that you’re a five Ratchet, but once you grow into your looks you’ll probably be a seven, or maybe even an eight with proper grooming,” he added with a wink.

“Jokes aside,” Alexander interjected, snickering at the perturbed look on Ratchet’s face, “Red was simply giving me a few tips and tricks on Dragon Magics now that I’m capable of casting them.  It’s given me a few ideas I’d like to experiment with.”

“He shows immense promise, though it’s hardly surprising, given whose mana he’s in possession of,” Red boasted modestly, chuckling as Alexander lightly nudged an elbow against his shin.

“Well, Red’s not wrong; I was pretty good with magic before, but I feel my potential’s increased greatly ever since I absorbed a piece of Red’s mana,” Alexander explained modestly.

“I helped!” Alister chimed in.  “No, seriously, if I hadn’t acted quickly, Alex would be shambling about like--”

“A ReDead?” Jeanne asked.

“A Ganado?” Gabriel blurted next.

“King Jingaling?” Umbris suggested.

“... “Huh?”, “What?” and “Who now"?” Alister blurted confusedly.  “I was going to say “zombie”.  Where the hell did you three come up with those answers?”

“Actually, he wouldn’t have even been that.  If memory serves he was going to be drained into a dry and lifeless husk,” Red interjected.

“Thank you all for those rather lovely mental images, everyone,” Alexander dryly replied sarcastically.

“Perhaps you should be thanking Alister for preventing that outcome then?” Red retorted with his own dry wit.

“No, no, you’re right.  It’s thanks to him that I’m even alive right now, regardless of whatever beneficial thing occurred as a result of his help.  Seriously, Al, thank you,” Alexander nodded gratefully to Alister.

“Eh, ‘s’okay,” Alister shrugged as he patted Alex on the shoulder.

“And who knows.  Maybe after this war is over and done with… and we all survive it, perhaps we could visit my world so you could claim your own Light Gem.  Make you a proper Elder, y’know?” Red suggested in a curious tone.

“M-Me…?  An Elder?” Alexander gasped out in awed surprise, shooting quick glances between Umbris, Ratchet and Alister as if looking for an answer or support.

“Well, assuming there will be a world to go back to, of course,” Red added hastily.

“Maybe you could try and salvage what you could from your world, right?” Alister suggested.  “At least then, you wouldn’t be the only thing left from it.”

“That is true, there are many personal effects I would need to salvage.  A spare medallion, since I’ve lost mine; my research notes, my bottle of Dragonbrau.  My hoard, can’t forget that, as well as as many Light Gems I… we could carry.  Plus, there is something else that might be worth salvaging as well,” Red nodded, counting off his list.

“What might that be?” Alister asked.  “Oh, also.”  Without asking permission, Alister reached over, took hold of Alexander’s satchel and proceeded to rummage through it.  “Hmm… nope… nope… no--what the hell was that?!  Oh, nevermind--Ah!  Ha, I knew Alex couldn’t resist hoarding this either,” the General chuckled as he pulled out a large golden medallion with a purple jewel inlaid in it.  

“... oh, right, heh.  Forgot I had picked that up, too,” Alexander admitted with an embarrassed chuckle.

“Wow, Alex.  Kleptomaniacal Hero much?” Umbris tutted.  “What else did you decide to pick up off the ground? (and please don’t say “A piece of one of those orange tentacle monsters from Arc I”).”

“Well, I sure as hell am not going to say “Hapshiel’s thong” either,” Alexander snapped back.  “Seriously, it’s not in there.  We’re all still being forced to tell the truth, y’know.”

“Anyways,” Alister rolled his eyes as he handed Red’s medallion back to him.  “Here ya go, Red.”

Red silently accepted his medallion back, but you could see it in his eyes that he wasn’t too happy to see the torn leather.  Even if it were to be repaired, there was no way that it would fit him anymore.  His claw gently rubbed against the torn fabric listlessly, his eyes shifting idly about.  Wheeling about, Red ran a claw along certain key points of the strap, cutting away with the leather.  Linking them together, Red blew a gentle plume of flame, melting and adhering the two pieces back into one.  Nodding as he turned around, Red presented the greatly reduced strap to everyone, before he proceeded to place it around Ratchet’s neck.  “Now you’re a six,” he whispered into the younger lombax’s ear.

Ratchet had to shift his stance to accommodate the extra weight now hanging off of him, and felt taken aback by Red’s gesture.  “Red, I… I don’t know what to…,” the young lombax stammered as he looked down at the medallion now being held in his hands, his befuddled face reflected off the largest facet of the inlaid jewel.

“That watch of yours took a blow that was meant for me, I felt it only fair to make up for it.  The medallion is hand-crafted, as all medallions of an Elder are.  It might be a bit hefty in the start, but you’ll get used to it.  And who knows, maybe it will take a liking to ya,” Red smiled warmly.  

Ratchet looked up into Red’s face, and warmly returned a smile of his own.   His smile faltered a bit as his eyes glanced over the various injuries Red had sustained, especially the wing that now resembled a deformed hand without its membrane.  The young lombax still felt immensely responsible for essentially stripping Red of his ability to fly, and knew that there wasn’t a thing he could do to make it up to the dragon. Still, he, too, felt the need to help Red out in some way.  Noticing the Light Gem affixed to the stub of broken wood that was once a whole staff, Ratchet had an idea.  “... y’know, carrying around that stub of a stick might not be good for your hands, Red.  What if we gave you something to replace the staff you once had?” Ratchet asked.

“My staff?” Red repeated, deferring to the ruined shaft.  It had been a wonderful staff, that was for certain. Dragonwood, especially highly refined and polished Dragonwood was not something that was easy to come across, and losing it had been a big blow emotionally, and financially.  “What do you have in mind?”

“Well, we’d need something long enough to act as the main shaft.  Maybe something a lot more durable than wood,” Ratchet thought aloud as he scratched his chin.  “Hmm… hey, any of you have any ideas?” he asked the others.

“Well, unless Alexander has an industrial-strength metal pole stowed away somewhere...,” Umbris began to say as he glanced over in Alexander’s direction.

“... why would I have an industrial-strength metal pole stowed away somewhere?” Alexander retorted.

“Well, shit, I dunno!  Maybe it’s ‘cuz you pretty much hoard everything else--”

“--I got it.”  The group turned their attention to Gabriel, who was now standing over by one of the lifeless trees in the background.  The plushie briefly flashed a vivid red before the tree and the earth surrounding it began crackling with a red energy.  Within seconds, the tree vanished, replaced by a ten-foot-long metal pole standing upright within a twelve-foot-wide, 6-feet-deep hole in the ground.

“How in the…?” Red gasped, being completely unfamiliar with transmutations.

“Wow, I’m surprised that actually worked,” Gabriel uttered as he examined his handiwork.  “Okay, so now that we have a shaft, we just need something to help attach the Light Gem to it somehow.”

“Hmm, we’d need some kind of lock to help keep it in place, or maybe melt the metal and attach the gem to it,” Red noted.

“... I’ve got an idea,” Ratchet spoke up as said idea popped into his head.  Holding out his hands, Ratchet materialized a black -and-gold pincer-shaped device.  “If we attach this Tesla Claw to the shaft, we could have it grip onto the Light Gem.”

“Are you certain that is wise, Ratchet?” Clank blurted.

“Yes,” Red said quickly, giddily eying the Tesla Claw.

“Well, y’know what they say,” Alister chimed in with a shrug: “”Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained”.”

“Alright then, let’s stick this sucker on,” Ratchet nodded as he held the Tesla Claw to one end of the metal rod, while Red blew a small, concentrated stream of fire to solder the device in place (because Convection Schmonvection, Ratchet’s run around lava before).  With the Tesla Claw fused to the rod, Red proceeded to pry the Light Gem off of what remained of his Dragonwood Staff. He gave the ruined wood a sad look before he proceeded to wedge the jewel between the Tesla Claw’s pincers.

“... well, now, this doesn’t look half-bad, actually,” Red grinned as he swung the staff a few times.

As if reacting to his thoughts, the Tesla Claw crackled loudly, electricity arcing between the tips of the claw and the gem.  Aiming off in a random direction, a sphere of energy formed at the tip of the gem, and it was launched at the ground. Upon impact a large wave of static energy overwhelmed the group. Red’s eyes twitched for a moment, before eagerly turning to the group… only to burst out laughing like a whelp.

The rest of the group (at least, the ones with hair and/or fur) had all suffered from a case of (harmless) static shock; Bayonetta and Jeanne both let out a hysteric shriek as each saw the other sporting an afro hairdo, with Jeanne’s resembling a giant snowball, while Bayonetta thankfully had a more manageable “Foxy Brown” ‘fro while also getting a slightly puffier “suit” in the process.  The lombaxes (along with Umbris), meanwhile, had the misfortune of turning into large, fluffy furballs with tails, their eyes, nose and ears being the only other discernible features visible amongst the staticky fur.  Clank, on the other hand, suffered a bit from the static electricity as his movements became jerky and slightly erratic for a few moments.

Red kept snorting childishly, turning away from the group just so he couldn’t see their angry looks.  “Red, you stop laughing this instant!” Alister demanded as he hopped off the ground, his fluffy fur allowing him to hang in the air briefly as he floated around to try and give Red his most disapproving glare.  The effect was lost, however, as Alister simply resembled an irritated dandelion puff, which only served to make Red burst into an even bigger laughing fit.

“Do you have any idea how much it costs for me to get my hair done?!” Jeanne shrieked at the dragon, she herself also in danger of being carried off by the breeze getting caught in her hair.

“... … Jeanne, we just “magic” our hair the way we want it,” Bayonetta reminded her fellow Umbra Witch.  “We could easily fix it ourselves.”

“... I know, but getting this frizz out is going to be such a pain,” Jeanne grumbled as she crossed her arms indignantly.

“At least you girls can magic your hair back to how it was,” Alexander whimpered.  “... I’m gonna be re-brushing my hair for weeks…!” he added while comically sobbing.

“I t-t-t-t-t-tried to wa-wa-wa-wa-warn you-ou, R-R-R-Re-Re-Red, did I no-o-o-o-ot-t-t-t-t-t?” Clank stammered electronically, his systems having yet to fully recover from the shock.

“Hey, none of us could’ve seen this coming,” Ratchet said defensively.  “Still, Red, isn’t there something you could do to get us back to normal?  I mean, when you’re done LAUGHING AT US!” he hollered at the dragon currently rolling on the floor laughing his tail off.

Red cackled loudly, trying to compose himself as he swivelled his staff about. “Yes… actually, I do have one thing that could help” he giggled as he moved a good ten feet away from the group. “Close your eyes everyone” he called as his staff sprayed everyone with a blast of water.

“... ohhh, my gawd,” Umbris seethed as he stood limply, looking, appropriately, like an irate drenched feline.

“Good thing we waterproofed our makeup, huh Jeanne?” Bayonetta chimed rhetorically as the two Umbra Witches proceeded to “magic” themselves dry.

“Well, at least we’re not poofy anymore,” Alexander mumbled as he wrung the water out of his hair.

“At least now we know that Red needs to learn how to better control the Tesla Claw-portion of his staff,” Alister added as he tried to shake himself dry.

“Or maybe just avoid me when I use it,” Red retorted with a sly snicker.

“Red, learn to use your rod properly or I’ll--” Alister began, only halting his tirade as he realized the accidental innuendos that it would lead into, and wisely chose to keep his mouth shut as he briefly strolled off-screen.

“... I’m sure we can work this all out,” Gabriel chimed in after the brief awkward silence that followed Alister’s momentary departure.

“This Tesla Claw is rather interesting, I think it reacted with the electricity enhancement in my gem, which is why it created that static orb. It must’ve focused its energy through the gem itself,” Red surmised, a few stray giggles escaping his maw every so often.

“Let us be fortunate that we did not go with the Pyrocitor,” Clank chimed in with a disapproving glance at Ratchet.

“Because the Pyrocitor wouldn’t’ve been able to hold the Light Gem at all, Clank.  C’mon, even Qwark would know better,” Ratchet replied.

“Would he, now?”

“... good point.”

“I have no idea who this Qwark is, but he sounds like he’d be the equivalent of my world’s Gnasty Gnorc,” Red remarked.  “Disappointing and a loud mouth.”

“Don’t forget “full of himself”,” Ratchet added with a slight chuckle.

“Sounds like the kind of person I wouldn’t feel sorry about punting to the moon,” Jeanne chimed in with her two cents.

“Lady, you don’t know the half of it,” Ratchet replied, though he couldn’t help be reminded of what his “future self” had said that he did to his Qwark.  He scratched at the back of his head with a pained half-chuckle, half-sigh.  “I mean, Quark can be a half-decent guy when he actually puts in the effort.  He’s not really a bad guy, he’s just--”

“--criminally stupid?” Umbris blurted.

“... yeah, let’s go with that,” Ratchet shrugged with another sigh.

“Feeling better now, Al?” Alexander asked as the General made his way back to the set.

“I’m good,” Alister replied with a raised hand.  “While I was away, I decided to scout up further ahead; further down, there seems to be a few crystal corridors--”

“OH LAWD, NOT MORE CORRIDORS!” Gabriel gasped out incredulously in a ghetto tone that sounded out-of-character coming from him.

“... erm, yes, more corridors,” Alister confirmed slowly after recovering from Gabriel’s outburst, “but that’s not the weirdest thing I’ve noticed.  Remember that we had all passed through a giant mirror to get to this part of the Path?” he asked of the others, all of whom nodded in confirmation.  “Well, we can basically consider this part of the Pathway to be a twisted mirror image of the first part of the Path.  So, in reality, we’re not headed towards “more” corridors, but the “same” corridors, the same ones that we came out of upon entering this Pathway.”

“So we’re basically headed back to the beginning?” asked a perplexed Ratchet.

“I suppose sometimes, one must go back to move forward,” Gabriel mused.

“Or, rather, mirrors reflect the trueness of things,” Red put in, his eyes closing slowly as he tilted his head, “the truth is truly ugly, wouldn’t you agree?  Wouldn’t it make sense that what we saw was the equivalent of a white lie?  It’s dressed up pretty, and made to look nice to hide the true intentions of this place. And then once we’re through the first mirror, we now see things as they truly are.  It’s been subtle, but haven’t you all noticed a strange feeling in this place?  Like, a rather disquieting feeling that something is wrong?”

“... well, now that you mention it…,” Alexander began, stroking at his chin.

“Something did feel “off” about that garden,” Bayonetta said, finishing Alexander’s thought.

“Those fairies, they pry away at lies.  They try to force things out of you, and you could either dodge the question, or answer it.  So they force you to be honest, or in a ways, lie.  But if you dodge the question it just makes them more eager; more eager to pry apart the lies.  This place, the Pathway of Truth:  It’s all about assessing who you are, which makes me question something.  In cases like this, don’t you suppose at some point we’re supposed to fight a reflection of ourselves?  It seems like the sort of thing this place would do,” Red theorized.

“Well, why not?” Umbris said as he threw his hands up.  “I mean, some of us have already encountered or faced off against people from our past, and then some fears and/or possible futures.  Having us confront something representing ourselves seems like just the kind of sheet this Pathway would pull on us.”

“Well said,” Gabriel replied flatly.

“... I guess it’s fortunate, in a way, that we’ve gone through the Paths in the order that we did,” Alexander spoke up.  “Having gone through our past and future, it all culminates here, on the Pathway of Truth, where we’ll have to face our true selves head-on, maybe even shed our own masquerades.”

“... pfft, oh wow, that just gave me a funny thought,” Umbris scoffed with a wry smirk.  “Methinks ol’ Sayer is gonna hate how this Pathway will treat him.”

“If he gives enough shits to let it get to him,” Gabriel added.

“Sayer…,” Red mumbled icily under his breath, a furious glint in his eyes.

“And we’ll get him, Red,” Gabriel said sympathetically.

Red glowered furiously, his fangs bared.  “Get him?  That will only be the start.  I do not know about the rest of you, but I will NEVER forgive him for what he did to me.  To, “get him”, will only be the start of my fury.  He left me with a pretty good reminder of his evil,” Red seethed as he raised his left arm, revealing an orichalcos-style scar seared into his flesh to the group, “so that I will never forget him. Once I get my claws on him, I will be neither merciful or kind to him, regardless of your misgivings. I am going to personally ensure that he can NEVER perform his evils on others ever, again.”

Gabriel gave a small smile at Red’s resolve.  “That’s good to hear, Red,” he replied with a slight nod, the smile still on his face even as a slight shadow crossed over his bead-like eyes.  “... but as long as we’re being (forced to be) honest here, I’ll set the record straight: I call first dibs on the bastard.”

“‘Scuse us, we’ve got beef with the guy, too, y’know,” Umbris butt in rather rudely whilst pointing at himself, Alex and Ratchet.

“Did he make you relive the worst moments of your life for the equivalent of twenty years?” Red inquired bluntly.  “All the while the manifestation of the worst of your memories was using your body like a puppet?”

“Did he go after, manipulate, and torture your friends and loved ones on numerous occasions?” Umbris retorted back.

“... this is getting ridiculous,” Jeanne whispered to Bayonetta, shaking her head as the two of them watched most of the boys bicker amongst themselves, Gabriel in particular resorting to chirping a few choice obscenities in Spanish.  “It’s like a frat party, and all the “bros” are fighting over who gets the one drunk white chick.”

“Well, that’s one way to look at it,” Bayonetta nodded slightly.  “I mean, aside from having Garlandolf run amok that one time, the most wrong Sayer’s ever done to me is laser-scorch the edge of my ear,” she explained, showing Jeanne the slightly burnt part of her ear, where Sayer’s R.O.D. had zapped her as a threat.  “And yet you don’t hear me screaming bloody murder for the bastard’s crucifixion--”

FWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~~~EEP!!  The group ceased their commotion as they hurriedly protected their ears from the assailing shrill of a whistle.  “EVERYONE, THAT’S ENOUGH!” Alister shouted as he removed the whistle from his lips.  “All of you had better calm the fuck down, or so help me I WILL have to be the sensible one here!”

“Hmph, heaven forbid--” Umbris began to say, quickly earning himself a whistle-trill in his ear. “Ow.”

“Look, I know most of us here have a legitimate beef with Sayer,” Alister explained as he stowed the whistle away, “and believe me, I’d like to have a piece of him myself… or several.  But, if we’re to take Sayer down, we do it not for vengeance--no matter how justified--but to make sure that he brings no harm to anyone else, much less the rest of the Multiverse; I shudder to think what he’d end up doing if he somehow gets access to the Door’s power.”

“If my experience has taught me anything,” Gabriel chimed in, still fuming furiously, “he’d most likely try and unleash the Great… Leviathan… ay, Dios mio,” the plush doll slowly uttered, a horrified look flashing across his face.

“... wait, I’m sorry,” a confused Alister spoke up, “but who-or-what is “the Great Leviathan”?”

“I’m sensing a history lesson coming on,” Ratchet remarked, donning his O2 Mask as he finally took note of the less-than-optimal quality of the surrounding air.

Umbris’s mood became a bit more solemn as he produced a history book from within his cape.  “The Great Leviathan is an ancient evil, one who became known as the Almighty Deity of the Orichalcos,” Umbris explianed, paraphrasing the text from the book.  “Through the Orichalcos Stones it created, the Leviathan could twist and manipulate the minds and hearts of anyone who came into possession of them (much like what happened to you, Red, if we were to use an example).  Those influenced by the Orichalcos become cruel, corrupted versions of themselves, and that’s just the kindest possible outcome; unless your soul was instantly absorbed by the Orichalcos Stone for being deemed “unworthy”, it could also corrupt you to the point of turning you into a fiendish monster, unrecognizable from the being you once were.

“In any event,” Umbris continued, feeling somewhat responsible for the pained expression that flashed over Red’s face, “the Great Leviathan first made its presence known over ten-thousand years ago, at the now-fallen city of Atlantis, in the form of these Orichalcos Stones, which rained upon Atlantis during a volcanic eruption.  The people of Atlantis gained great knowledge and power from these stones, even using them to create and power increasingly advanced technologies; within a short amount of time, Atlantis became the most technologically advanced civilization on Earth, surpassing even the modern technology of today, and maybe even the technology of your dimension, Ratchet,” Umbris explained with a nod towards the lombaxes.  “Even so--”

“--even so, that advancement came at a price,” Gabriel cut in as he stepped forward, drawing the attention of the rest of the group.  “Believe me, I was initially “born” during that time; I was there to see how quickly the city of Atlantis fell from grace.  As the city continued to advance, many of its people became corrupted, becoming greedy and violent… and it wasn’t just their hearts that became twisted, as over time their physical appearance morphed to match their darkened hearts.  Even the Royal Family which ruled over Atlantis during that time was not exempt from this; Her Majesty, Queen Iona, became a horrible beast, forcing King Dartz to kill her in an act of self-defense.  Dartz soon began to question why such a “perfect society” would allow itself to crumble, and he sought guidance from the Orichalcos Stone.  The King was told that what he was witnessing was the “true nature of mankind”, and that in order to save Atlantis, its people would have to be wiped out completely.  To accomplish this endeavor, the King was told to revive the Great Leviathan.

“While King Dartz accepted this “responsibility”,” Gabriel continued, “his father Ironheart, and daughter Chris refused to side with him; the two of them rounded up a group of refugees, which included myself and my "brothers", and led us to a nearby mountain range.  From there, they had hoped to gain assistance from the Knights of Legend, those of course being--”

“--Timeaus, Critias and Hermos, right?” Ratchet blurted out, shocking the lion plushie with his familiarity of the three Knights.  “Yeah, I know about them due to another, err, crisis.  Sorry for interrupting, Gabby.”

“Uh… yeah, that’s right,” Gabriel stammered as he regained his composure.  “In any case, it was discovered that Dartz had weakened the Knights’ power by turning them into Dragons--”

“Excuse me, but, weakened?” Red interrupted in an incredulous, almost flabbergasted tone.  “I’m not certain how anyone could lose power by becoming a dragon.  If anything it should have made them stronger.”

“I’m afraid you’d be completely wrong in this case, Red; the Dragons just didn’t have access to the power they had as Knights,” Gabriel politely objected, much to Red’s displeasure.  “Sure, they gained new powers in their Draconic forms, but in the end, they just weren’t as strong as their original powers.  In any event, Ironheart decided to make do with the Knights in their current state; he would need their help, especially with the Orichalcos Soldiers and recently-revived Leviathan in King Dartz’s corner.  A series of battles were fought, all of them to a stalemate, despite Dartz sealing away the Legendary Dragons one-by-one.  I, too, took part in those battles alongside my brothers… unfortunately, I, as Rubedo, fell before I could see the end result of those battles….”

“... well, it was probably for the best that you didn’t,” Umbris replied after Gabriel had gone silent.  “In the end, neither side succeeded in their intended goal, and while the Leviathan was drained of its power and sealed away, the Legendary Dragons were also sealed, and Atlantis sank to the bottom of the ocean, never to be seen again… except for at least one other instance, one of which took place during the early 2000s.  The one that many people on the other side of that great invisible barrier have come to know as the “Doma”/”Waking the Dragons” arc of the 2nd Series Duel Monsters anime.”

“... Umbris… really…?” Alexander muttered from behind the two hands pressed against his face.

“This has to be one of the biggest Fourth-Wall Breaks yet,” Clank added, also having face-palmed at Umbris’ blatant Breaking of the Fourth Wall.

“... I had better not suffer an existential crisis because of that, Umbris…!” Gabriel hissed at the Neo-Spacian as his mouth formed into a pout.

“What’re you complaining about?  I come from that extended universe too, y’know!” Umbris retorted.  “You don’t see me having a crisis over that!”

“No, that’s what the Alternate-Universe You was for,” Alister snarked cheekily, much to Umbris’ ire.

Red slowly turned around, his scales looking much paler as he stared at the scar on his arm.  “If they hadn’t done anything, with the madness of the Dark Gem combined with the corrupting influence of the Orichalcos Stone… would that have happened to me?  Would I have become a monster far worse than Sayer?”

Red’s angst-ridden train-of-thought was broken as he felt a hand gripped around his pinkie finger.  Looking down, his eyes met with the sympathetic, reassuring gaze of Alister, a slight, calm smile on his face in spite of a now-chibified Umbris angrily chomping on the top of his head.  No words were being said, but Red got the message all the same as he returned Alister’s smile with his own.  “Thanks,” Red whispered appreciatively as he flicked Umbris off of Alister’s head.

“While this is all well and good,” Jeanne spoke up, “you still haven’t told us what the Leviathan’s raison d'être is, and exactly what Sayer’s connection is in all of this.”

“Well, simply put,” Gabriel replied as he helped Chibi!Umbris off the ground (having remained there due to simply having gotten bored), “the Leviathan’s goal is the destruction of all life, as well as the consumption of souls to make itself stronger.  There’s no doubt in my mind that Sayer ultimately plans to let the Leviathan loose on the whole Multiverse.  As for Sayer himself, he--ah…!” Gabriel gasped quietly as something in his mind made him stop.

“Gabe…?  Are you alright?” asked a concerned Bayonetta.

Gabriel shook his head briefly, his eyes flashing through a cycle of colors as he “blinked”; first black, then white, followed by yellow, and finally red, before returning to their hazel coloration. “Hu--uh… I…,” he stammered, feeling slightly dazed from what seemingly happened to him just seconds ago.  “... … heh… sorry about that.  Now, where was I… oh, right.  Sayer’s involved with the Leviathan due to being one of the people corrupted by the Orichalcos Stones, as well as being the father of a pure-hearted girl who would eventually become a purely-evil being known as Archetype Earth, who in my universe tried to raise Atlantis once again, using the power of the comet Faust to accomplish that goal.  Turns out, though, that Faust was yet another Orichalcos Stone, through which the Great Leviathan could return to the physical world.  I’d… honestly tell you more, but… my memory’s starting to get fuzzy all of a sudden,” Gabriel admitted, a look of embarrassment and confusion evident on his face.

“... well… you shouldn’t push yourself, Gabby,” Bayonetta said reassuringly as she lifted the plushie up from the ground.  “You did well enough recounting what you know, and for that, we thank you,” she added in a more chipper tone as she tapped a finger to Gabriel’s forehead.

“... wait.  A pure-hearted girl turned purely-evil?  How does that make sense?” Ratchet inquired.  “I mean, doesn’t the Orichalcos corrupt people by amplifying the darkness and evil in their heart?  How could it corrupt someone who’s “pure of heart” into being “pure evil” if they had no evil to begin with?”

“... by converting the light into darkness?” Alexander hypothesized.  “Yeesh… imagine what that could do to a person.”

“L-Let’s not even go there,” Red protested feebly.  “I shudder to think what would happen should the last line of defence against the shadows be lost.”

“If that poor girl’s heart even had defenses to begin with,” Jeanne mused.  “If she was as pure-of-heart as claimed, then she most likely never knew what evil was… before become the Embodiment of Evil, that is.  Her transition may have been near instantaneous--”

“--Jeanne~♫ You’re not helping~!” Bayonetta chastised her friend, pointing out the horrified looks on the faces of Red, Alexander and Gabriel.

“Just a theory~ Sorry, boys,” Jeanne briskly apologized.

Red let out a slight whimper as he tried his best to purge the thoughts of corruption from his head.  “We should move along now.  This entire ordeal has been rather unnerving, and I long to get my claws on Sayer.  At least he won’t see me coming this time.”

“... well, you’re right about that, at least,” Alexander agreed after a brief moment of having gone meditative.  “I sense none of his R.O.D.s around the current area, so I think you’re good, Red.”

“Then let’s get crackin’,” Alister nodded as he and the others made their way towards the crystalline corridors further ahead.

“Oh, it’s not that,” Red added as an afterthought. “I’m a Counter Corp now.  So those infernal eyeballs of his can’t see me anymore.”

“Ah, yeah, good point!” Alexander nodded.

After a brief half-hour of walking through the quite-possibly polluted air, forcing the other lombaxes to follow Ratchet’s example and don their own O2 Masks, while Red and the Umbra Witches weren’t having much issues breathing in the putrid air (Bayonetta and Jeanne could stay underwater and in the vacuum of space.  Safe to say they give zero shits about breathing). “Ahhh! I feel like I’m back in the old Dark Gem Mines,” Red sighed wistfully.  “The fumes in there always made you feel alive as you breathed in the wonderful aroma of industry.”

“Red, are there, like, any other illegal businesses that you’ve taken part in?” Umbris chimed in.  “‘Cuz I’m not sure how I’d feel if you said you were also trafficking, i dunno, pixie prostitutes or somethin’--OWW!”  Umbris was dealt a swift blow to the top of his noggin, courtesy of Alister.

“They’d be too small anyways,” Red said coolly with a shrug.  “The world domination business isn’t always lucrative, though I did have a very nice underground laboratory slash minion factory.  It kinda feels like a pity that I left it to rot after I rejoined the Order of Elders.”

“Minion Factory?” Alexander repeated.  “So, you created small, pill-shaped yellow things that typically wear goggles your own little, err, helpers?  I’m guessing you had also sometimes Summoned them to wherever you were when needed, right?”

“Oh, no,” Red remarked with a grin, “I had a machine set-up that turned living beings into robots.  As you’ve seen I ran afoul of that particular invention myself.  Honestly it was an improvement over the original Gnorcs.  They were cannon-fodder at best, so I at least had them made into competent cannon-fodder.  I’ve avoided summoning these days, largely due to when I summoned a demon beast that trashed Elder Tomas’ domicile.  And also due to a botched attempt involving explosive devices.  Not really my finest hour there.”

“Summoning creatures can be a rather nasty business when one isn’t careful,” Bayonetta commented.  “One minute, you’re more-or-less feeding a nice “snack” to one of your pets, and the next moment, said pet starts to wreak havoc on a quarter of the city.”

“I wasn’t exactly in my right mind when I summoned the shadow beast,” Red said defensively.

“Granted,” Bayonetta shrugged with a head tilt.  “Still, pity that you went and dropped Summoning.  It can be quite rewarding when done right and, given that you are in your right mind now, it may be worth picking up again.”

“Depends.  I could summon Dragon Dogs, but they’re not particularly useful except as a distraction.  Naturally I couldn’t call them at all, what with not being anywhere near my world or my world existing for that matter.  The alternative is summoning explosives, but they just add to the exceedingly lengthy list of indignities I’ve suffered,” Red remarked brusquely.

“Alright, forget I had said it~” Bayonetta sighed as she decided to drop the matter, Alexander shrugging in agreement.

“So, whatdya think the Pathway will throw at us once we reach the corridors?” Ratchet asked the others.  “Think we’ll get stuck playing Truth-Or-GTFO like we did with those fairies earlier?”  Of course, he happened to ask this right before absentmindedly crushing a fairy’s cadaver underfoot.  “... oh, EW.  Okay, seriously? The one time I get to crush a fairy, and it’s already dead?  Come on, now…!”

“Well, that’s lovely,” Umbris sniffed in disgust as Ratchet tried to scrape the fairy guts off the bottom of his boot.

“They’re a disgrace to fairy culture,” Red sniffed in disgust.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Alexander agreed in his nose upturned.  Looking away from the pixie viscera on the ground, Alex turned his attention towards the corridors again, and found himself taken aback by a figure that had suddenly appeared before him.  Not just one figure, in fact, but several--seven, to be exact, each one with their identities shrouded or otherwise hidden in some fashion.

“Uh… huh.  This is pretty much par for the course, isn’t it?” Alister remarked, completely unamused by the figures.

“It’ve been foolish of us to think otherwise,” Gabriel chimed in.

“Can we get this over and done with?” Ratchet moaned, scrapping the rest of the fairy off his boots.

As if to answer Ratchet’s request, he was the first to be approached by one of the seven figures, this one draped in a black, hooded cloak with a futuristic chestplate worn over it.  Although Ratchet could not see the figure’s face underneath the hood, he could feel it staring him in the eyes, practically delving into his soul.  “Are you prepared for the future that lies ahead of you?” the figure inquired, its voice echoing inside Ratchet’s mind.

“... th-that’s it?” Ratchet uncomfortably stammered, having drawn out his pistols as he had expected a fight.  “Is that all you’re gonna ask?”

The figure said nothing.  It merely stood, and expected.  “... right,” Ratchet sighed out , stowing away his weapons, “guess you’re the one allowed to ask questions here.  Fine.  If I had to answer now… I’d say I’m prepared to take that future head-on.”

The figure nodded as it faded away.

The next figure to approach the group resembled a tall, slender woman in a dingy-black, form-fitting outfit, with the only loose parts being around the figure’s wrists and ankles, as well as a long black veil that hid the figure’s entire head, yet it was sheer enough that one could see what appeared to be empty eye sockets on the face barely visible behind it.  This figure’s approach had more of a confrontational quality, with a handgun in its grasp aimed at Bayonetta.  Another figure accompanied this one, wearing a similar outfit except for spiked protrusions on its shoulders that resembled a crescent moon.  This figure, too, acted in a confrontational manner as it aimed its own weapon at Jeanne.  [“Are you afraid of your inevitable destiny?”] the two figures asked of the Umbra Witches in a language only they understood, both speaking in monotonous unison.

Bayonetta and Jeanne both shot a confused glance at each other before returning their attention to their interrogators.  “... well, of course,” Bayonetta replied calmly enough.  “I mean, we are humans, so it’s only natural for us to want to avoid our inevitable fates for as long as possible.”

“More so in our case, since we’re destined for the burning abysses of Inferno,” Jeanne added.  “Yes, we’ll fight it to our dying breaths… but when the time comes that we can fight no more, and only if we gave it our all… that will be when we will truly accept our bloody fate.”

“That being said,” Bayonetta continued again, “it doesn’t do us any good to be in constant worry over what will happen to us in the end.  Why should we, when we can spend our waking moments enjoying our lives to the fullest (which, of course, includes turning the lovely denizens of Paradiso into a fine mist)?  We can worry about Inferno when we’re dead; we’ve better things to do than to let fear steer our lives.”

Now it was the figures’ turn to glance at each other, which they did for a few seconds before both shrugged, as if satisfied with the answer they were given.  They, too, vanished from sight.  What came next was rather chilling: A specter dressed in Adrastos’ robe and faceplate.  Red was quite clearly unnerved by the specter’s appearance, but he held fast against it; although his grip on his staff was noticeably tightened.  “Are you ready to lose everything except your life?  Your world, your friends and family.  Are you prepared for what comes after once their fates are sealed?” it inquired.

Red grunted uncomfortably.  “Yes.  Yes, I am prepared to lose them.  I’ve been preparing for it for quite some time now.  But I’m not losing everyone I care about, as I am among friends here,” Red explained, motioning to the rest of the group, “so, yes, I am prepared.  I am scared, and sad to lose my world… but I am more scared of being and dying alone.  I am not going to be alone anymore, so I won’t have to suffer alone,” he affirmed bravely.

“... … ~keff.  Of course you won’t.”

“That’s not funny,” Red seethed as the specter faded away.

Next up to bat was a figure in pitch-black, ancient armor, a serrated longsword holstered to its hip.  The armor’s helmet resembled a feline of some sort, yet its features were too stylized and grotesque to ascertain the approximate species.  Alexander and Alister were each prepared for the armored figure to approach either of them, but were surprised when it chose to approach Gabriel, instead, the armored being towering over the plushie.  “... are you certain of who you are meant to be?”

Gabriel was completely taken aback by the question posed to him.  “”M-Meant to be”--?!” he stammered, his body quivering slightly either from anxiety, or from anger.  “Wh… What kind of question is that?!  Of course I’m certain of who I’m meant to be: Me!”  At this point, Gabriel went off in a rather heated tirade directed at the armor, a livid glare shining in his eyes: “It doesn’t matter what I’ve done before as a child, or what will happen to me in the future; I will ALWAYS know who I am meant to be!”

The armored figure gazed down upon Gabriel, its unseen eyes staring into the plushie’s plastic ones.  “... … it’s okay, Gabriel,” the figure sighed, three voices now replying in unison yet coming from the same source, “we can talk about this some more later.  In the meantime, I’ll accept your answer….”

“Wha…?” Gabriel gasped quietly, his prior fury almost instantly diminished by the armored figure’s response, staring blankly ahead as the figure vanished, leaving only two remaining.

The second-to-last figure--a seemingly-male, seemingly-Lombaxian individual--approached Alexander, its entire form pitch-black, from its fur to the military uniform it wore, complete with a fancy cap.  As it drew closer, Alexander’s breath became caught in his throat as he realized that the figure was not simply pitch-black, but charred-black, the burnt flesh barely retaining its original shape as it crinkled with every stiff motion it made.  Its jaw creaked as it moved to speak to Alexander, presenting him his question: “Have you truly lived your life up to this point?”

For a moment, Alexander went silent, his ears drooping as his head hung low, lost in thought.  “... can’t really say that I have,” he admitted, his eyes welling up a bit.  “All the time that I’ve lived, adventuring and all… and yet I’ve come to realize: I wasn’t truly living.  Even as I was trying to regain my memories, I felt as though a part of me was dead inside, as if… as if I myself had died at that institution, and I felt like I’ve just been seeing through the eyes of someone else since then.  It never really felt like my actions and experiences were my own, and everything just felt shallow, if not outright hollow.  I even took on my friend’s last name as my own to honor him, but I… I couldn’t even remember why!” Alexander sobbed miserably.  “I couldn’t remember my past because I originally never wanted to in the first place!  I… I’m fucking terrible…!”

“Alex…,” Umbris approached the emotional Alexander, placing a hand on his each of his shoulders.  “Alex, I’m… so sorry for not helping you to confront your pain and torment sooner.  Helping you to forget your past only made things worse.  In fact I… heh… I kinda feel shitty that these Pathways pretty much did a better job than I could have--”

“--what are you talking about, Umbris?” Alexander uttered between progressively calmed sobs, reaching up to wipe away a tear from Umbris' face.  “Y-You still helped; you’ve stood by me all these years, you stood by me when I literally froze up, you were with me when we fought your psychotic alternate self.  You’ve been more help to me than any of these damn Pathways ever were, and you still will be after we survive this war, and you know why?  Because these Pathways aren’t my best friend; you are!”

Alexander took a moment to further compose himself while Red and Alister discretely shared a silent look between each other.  “What I’m saying is, if you, or Ratchet, or Alister, or anyone else here hadn’t been there for me, throughout the toughest parts of my life, I… I wouldn’t know where I’d be right now.”

“Don’t think about it, Alex,” Alister spoke up encouragingly.  “You still have your whole life ahead of you, and you can still make the most of it, live it to the fullest you can.  I know the rest of us will do the same from now on, too,” he added, giving a nod towards Red as he did.

“Nobody’s perfect,” Red added in a cautious tone. “If we were, there would be no point to anything, because nothing exceeds perfection.  You have a lot more to do with your life, as we all do.  We can lament the past until the cows come home, but if you make no effort to act on your past experiences and knowledge, what was the point in even having them to begin with?”

Alexander nodded in acknowledgment.  “You’re right.  I still experienced everything I had gone through before, and even though I’ve lost so much in the past… I’ve gained so much more now, and I can only keep gaining in the future. It may be twenty-or-so cycles late, but… I’d say my life is now truly beginning.”

The charred figure that had stood by Alexander during this time seemed to smile slightly, giving the lombax a respectful military salute before crumbling into ashes, vanishing from sight.  Now, only one figure remained: a being enshrouded entirely in a tattered cloak, seemingly bound by a great length of rusted chains, from which hung numerous clocks and watches.  A total darkness was the only thing visible beneath the cloak’s hood, almost as if there was no head… or even a body residing within.  And yet it “stared” deeply into Alister’s soul.  “Did you deserve a second chance?  Or are you truly beyond redemption?”

Alister sniffed delicately, inhaling sharply.  He whistled gently as he exhaled.  “Can anyone say that themselves?  I’m probably incredibly biased about it myself, but,” he began, casting a strong look to his friends, “I think that it was well-deserved.  As for the other thing… well…,” Alister sighed wistfully.  “Who do I even have left to apologize to?  Everyone I want to say sorry to is off god knows where, and the one I can talk with has already forgiven me.  I spent twenty years agonizing over my failure, beating myself up day and night.  I was so desperate to fix everything, I threatened to destroy all of reality because I just couldn’t accept any other alternative.  I paid for my mistake with my life, generating a series of messes that has killed me over forty-thousand times.  I’ve been so desperate I’ve gone through this crap that many times, just to fix the mistake of a mistake.  But, this time… I listened to my friends, and stopped feeling sorry for myself.  Whether I deserved it or not means jack shit now, because I’ve made up for my mistakes, and I’ll find another, much safer way to save my kind.  And, despite my screw-ups, I can at least hope they’ll forgive me for my stupidity.  If not, I’ll be happy to let them lock me up for what I did.”

The cloaked figure bowed its head for a moment, as if contemplating Alister’s response, though in reality it was to hide the smile that had suddenly formed on its obscured face.  “Hm.  Good to hear,” the figure spoke, its voice becoming oddly familiar to Alister.  “Now, I have just one more, rhetorical, question for all of you,” it addressed the entire group as its hood lowered.  

The group recoiled in shock upon seeing the face behind the cloak, but none more so that Alister.  “A-ALPHA?!?!”  (“Wait, who’s Alpha?” Red inquired.)

The Altister simply smiled serenely, unfazed by the spastic reactions of the others as he asked his rhetorical question: “So then… are you all ready to face your true selves?”  Leaving the group to ponder what that meant, Alpha dissolved into sand and dust, the minute traces of a giggle faintly ringing in the air….

[Merci]

 

~ Kuchi Ta Kettou - Fate/stay night 2006 OST ~

Camelot, Medieval Era

 

Everything, as far as the eye could see, was being engulfed by an unstoppable inferno.

 

Under the starry night sky, the buildings of that once-grand city were going up in the blazing ocean of crimson and gold. Needless to say, everyone was in a panic, attempting to escape through the flames. It didn't matter who they were, be they children or full-grown, male or female, ordinary peasants or noble knights, for such details had been rendered obsolete with their lives on the line, against a fire like this that could not be fought. Reduced to animals, their only hope at survival was to scramble towards the borders of Camelot, hoping to escape the mindless destruction. Even so, they were running blind like animals, with their surroundings obscured by the spreading plumes of black smoke, suffocating amidst it, and the rubble of collapsed buildings blocked paths wherever they went.

 

The ferocious flames licked away at the people, no distinction being made as all were equally subjected to this immense disaster, incinerated as though it were an unfair punishment from an unfair god. If there was one thing that filled the sky more than smoke, it was the countless desperate screams of innocent human beings as they begged for any kind of help. There was only one word to describe what this was. HELL.

 

However, if that had been all there was to it, then perhaps things would still be fine. Perhaps there would still be survivors. Alas, that was not the case, for the reason this inferno had occurred in the first place was due to a creature that had descended out from a black orb in the sky.

 

A hulking demonic mass of blackened mud, towering at hundreds of feet over the burning city, standing upon what used to be the great castle of King Uther Pendragon. Its presence alone was enough to set its surroundings on fire, its mud spreading throughout the ground, and merely looking at it was enough to make one go insane. This creature was so utterly unnatural, so completely beyond any other demon that no one could possibly hope to face it, let alone actually defeat it. This was, after all, the fully-realized form of Angra Mainyu. The manifestation of All The Evils Of The World. Even if there were any survivors from this war, given enough time, its very essence would the whole world aflame. It would, no, it must kill everything in the world. That was the sole reason it existed.

 

And yet... Even amidst the death and the flames, there was one person who did not run away.

 

Her stance was true.

 

Her courage was undeniable.

 

Her determination burned even hotter than the hell surrounding her.

 

There was no one with her, to call upon or support her, and barely any strength of her own, yet there she was, facing physical death itself in single combat.

 

Once upon a time, she had reigned as the one true king, bringing about an era of prosperity for Britain, but despite all her efforts, it had ultimately ended in disaster. Thus, she made a pact with the World to obtain the Holy Grail, and eventually after various sacrifices, her wish to turn back time was granted. Under the belief that she had been a terrible king, she did not pull out the sword a second time, which resulted in someone else being elected to be king.

 

"KING GAWAIN, COME TO YOUR SENSES! YOU CAN STILL STOP THIS!" Like an almighty knight sent to protect her people, the one and only Arturia Pendragon screamed out something ridiculous to the monstrousity, hoping her voice would be heard, but it could not even be heard past the cackling inferno. Even if it had, the being that she was trying to address likely did not exist anymore.

 

Because her wish had been to redo the selection of the king, it was only natural that All The Evils Of The World would flow into the new king. The man chosen in her place had already been an ineffective leader, being more of a warrior than a leader, and over the course of the years, he slowly but surely became more and more tyrannical, until he had become so depraved, so consumed in evil that he no longer resembled the brave Knight of the Sun she fought alongside in a previous timeline. The state of Britain had deteriorated more and more since his election that the worried Arturia, who'd been trying to live a simple live as a peasant, had no choice but to do what she could to help.

 

However with no one to pull it out, Caliburn had vanished from the stone, and it was empty the next time she went there. Excalibur had never been forged by the Lady of the Lake, and thus there was nothing within the lake, even as she dived into its cold depths to find it. Rhongomyniad was never bestowed upon her as the Age of Man would never come.

 

Her brother Kay left after some time. The rest of the Knights of the Round Table were scattered, having never come together, and so they refused to pay heed to the word of a stranger, especially if it were a woman. And Merlin, her most trusted advisor, only appeared once. That is, to inform her that she had doomed this era, as well as every era to come. Needless to say, King Gawain himself refused to have an audience with an unknown farm girl. Her final resort was the dark witch Morgana le Lay, her stepsister and former nemesis, who ironically was the only one to offer her any sort of aid - the witch was so amused by her long and dreary tale that she trained Arturia to utilize her Dragon Factor more effectively, as well as bestowing upon her the magic of the Wind King, which would prove vital to stealing Clarent later on. However, this cooperation did not last long as Morgana was eventually found and brutally slain by King Gawain, leaving the real king truly on her own.

 

Throughout the coming years, chaos ensued throughout the nation, and the manifestation of this unstoppable entity was nothing but the culmination of it all, the crystallization of the unreasonable wish she made. Changing the future also meant to sacrifice the trillions of human beings across generations that were yet to be born. Each and every one of them had been unwillingly subjected to a fate worse than death, and that was the cessation of their existence.

 

She'd already known how the Holy Grail had been corrupted by the evil of man prior to using it, being aware of the dangers, but she still betrayed the one and only comrade she had to seize the chance for herself, fearing that he would betray her at the last minute, hoping that the result would be in her favour. How much more childish could she have been?

 

Thus, this destruction, and the loss of all these lives were a direct result of her actions. She knew all too well that this was her punishment, for being so selfish regarding her ideals. All she had wanted to do was to change the fate of Britain, to save it from the fate of being torn apart, and yet... And yet... AND YET!

 

"..."

 

Now, the only thing she could hear were the screams of others. Ash filled her lungs, smoke covered her sight, and there was hardly anywhere to maneuver around with all the flames and rubble in her way.

 

"King Gawain... No. Angra Mainyu. If you do not cease immediately, then I will be forced to put you down."

 

No plan. No backup. Nowhere to retreat to. Perhaps it had heard her empty threat, for the conglomerate mud let out a ear-shattering screech, almost resembling laughter in her mind. Evil of every kind invaded her senses, threatening to thrust her into insanity, and it took every inch of her will to hold on. If being near it was enough to bring her down this much, it may as well be an impossible battle with only one logical outcome.

 

All she had was a holy blade much inferior to Excalibur, dragon blood that made her stronger than normal humans, a wind blessing that helped keep the flames away, and one month's training of magecraft. While an outstanding warrior, compared to the god of evil she had to face, these were akin to mere footnotes that wouldn't make a difference. No matter how skilled a knight was, their blades and spells were unable to do anything that could even remotely harm something akin to a mountain, which possessed no fatal points and recognized no pain. 'Technique' was a concept invented by humans to use against other living things, which of course meant nothing to a phenomenon of destruction equivalent to a natural disaster, devoid of knowledge.

 

"I see. In that case..."

 

Really, even if by some crazy miracle she did slay it, there would be no way to reverse the deaths that had already occurred. This battle, if it could even be called that, was as much pointless as it was hopeless. Regardless of this fact, there was only one way Arturia could possibly atone for her actions, even if merely a little.

 

"I..."

 

She had failed everyone she had ever known, so the only remaining option for her was to slay All The Evils Of The World and save whatever was left of this planet. If this entity had a consciousness, some semblance of awareness that made it able to embody every evil that could possibly exist and carry out its function of 'killing everything alive', that could only mean...it too could be killed.

 

"Arthur Pendragon!"

 

It was only a hypothetical, but it was all she had to depend on. The possibility that that there was a possibility higher than zero about victory.

 

"Firstborn son of King Uther Pendragon and rightful heir to the throne of Britain!"

 

Before she was even aware of it, she was charging through the flames, the rubble, and the burning corpses, towards the supermassive mass. Her sword Clarent held at the ready in one hand, and large amounts of mana being channelled across the other.

 

"HEREBY SENTENCE YOU TO DEATH!!!"

 

And all the while, charred tears were streaming down her face.

 

Arturia Pendragon

Pathway to Truth - A11

 

The sound of a shattering mirror brought her back to reality.

 

When she came to, she found herself standing on a wooden platform, floating high up in the sky. There were no wounds on her, but she felt immensely exhausted, as if she had just gone through a terrible ordeal. If not for her exhaustion, there would have been no indication to tell that she had just conquered an impossible enemy. Her silver blade had turned slightly more crimson, but apart from that, she seemed perfectly normal and unharmed. Even the exhaustion itself was purely mental.

 

"Hah... Hah..." Clutching at her flesh-and-blood chest, the knight forced herself to keep her breathing under control, restoring it back to normal. Then, with a sharp gaze, she turned to face whatever was left of the Pathway to Truth.

 

There had been a dark mirror impeding her mission, and upon entering it she'd had to deal with her innermost true self, the consequence of having accepted the power of Angra Mainyu so long ago. It represented something she found to be strange, yet at the same time unnaturally powerful, but in the end she conquered it, just like she had at that time. An impossible battle, overcome. Once again.

 

Thinking about it had her recall diving into the fires, how she slashed at the god of evil again and again, screaming in anger and frustration, and the corners of her mouth curled up into a fleeting smile, before being replaced by the cold gaze of a leader again. Even after an eternity, she could still feel the flames licking against her skin, hear the screams of dying innocents ringing in her ears, and feel the evil presence of that same Angra Mainyu following her wherever she went. Of course, when she was selected to serve as a Counter Guardian for the multiverse, she found that she was being brought into so many situations that were similar to the hell she'd had to go through. To protect the innocent, but more importantly, to contain the damage. She was only ever brought forth to deal with the problems that she alone knew how to handle.

 

Sheathing her sword, Arturia took a deep breath, and exhaled as she approached the edge of the platform - the air expelled from her then expanded outwards, turning into strong winds that helped keep her afloat when she jumped off, supporting her as she darted towards the staircase at its far end in a manner.

 

After this, there'll only be one more. However, I have wasted far too much time in that mirror. Have people already reached the end? Damn it. If Maximus has gotten there with the Key of Origin, then...

 

Racing through the clouds of the sky, sending loud booms throughout the whole area like a supersonic jet, or an unstoppable shooting star, the former Counter Guardian focused solely on her destination.

 

She was well aware of the things that were burning far below her. Each and every one of them were the homeworlds of the Counter Corps, which she and her predecessor had sacrificed in order to fight this Origin War against the Divine, and just below them were two familiar settings. One, a medieval kingdom with a large castle in the center, Camelot. The other, perhaps a little out of place, a modern industrial city split into two by a river, Fuyuki City, the ground of the Holy Grail. Both were being consumed by rapidly-expanding infernos.

 

However, this did not affect her. After all, none of those worlds could be saved.

 

Even after letting the others know about the fate of their worlds, they still remained unaware of this other fact. If she'd let them know about that, then the Counter Corps would've broken apart without a leader to guide them. There would be no unity between the warriors, when in order to beat Protheus Maximus, she may need all their strength combined.

 

Before she was even aware of it, Arturia was standing on top of the staircase, a large crystal standing before her. Finally.

 

'ARE YOU CONTENT WITH YOUR PRESENT SELF?'

 

It was just like how it was in the previous Pathway. The voice this time seemed sincere and gentle, rather than oppressing, but possessed the same nature of being heard from within her soul.

 

"Yes." She answered systematically, prepared to advance onwards to the last one as soon as possible. Too much time had been wasted here. "No matter the circumstance, even if I may be cut off from the Throne of Heroes, I will fulfill my duty to win the Origin War and defend the multiverse!"

 

However...

 

...despite her words, nothing happened.

 

"Yes. I am indeed content with my present self."

 

As she took a step forward, wondering if she missed something, her progress was stopped by an invisible barrier. In the previous Pathway, it had removed itself once she gave her answer, but this time it was staying where it was, blocking her from completing the current one. The crystal remained unmoving, towering over her small figure, perhaps as though to mock her for something, some sort of detail that she had yet to realize.

 

"I said yes. What kind of mistake is this that I may not advance?"

 

The seconds were passing by in silence, but despite that, nothing was happening.

 

"Yes. Yes. Yes?"

 

She should have returned to the White Room by now. This was getting more and more unacceptable. She felt like her surroundings were melting away, being consumed in flames again.

 

"You...!"

 

Then, from deep within her, something snapped. With emotions rising up all of a sudden like a fountain, her unnatural blade was drawn out and she slashed at the barrier, but was promptly repulsed. Though it had the property of absorbing whatever it hit, no such thing was happening here. There couldn't possibly be anything else required of her after having come all this way and answered the question properly, like she needed to. What on earth was going on here?!

 

"Hear me! I am the Counter Guardian Arturia Pendragon, and after having faced all of your trials, the fairies, the dragon, and the mirror, I have come to the conclusion that YES, I am content with my present self! Now I demand that you let me pass!"

 

Slash. Slash. Stab. But it refused to acknowledge her words or her actions. To it, her determination meant nothing.

 

"I NEED TO GET TO THE DOOR OF ORIGIN NOW! GIVE WAY! GIVE WAY!"

 

The violet crystal was only a few meters from her current position, so damningly close that she ought to be able to simply reach out to touch it,and yet it seemed to be moving further and further away each time she attacked the unbreakable barrier. Slamming the wind around her into it in a violent fashion, launching countless magical lasers at it, despite all the explosions and pressure that was being thrown at it from all angles, none of these things seemed to have any effect.

 

"GIVE...WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!"

 

Even after pouring all her mana into a massive blast of energy, it rebounded perfectly, failing to penetrate the obstruction. For all the power that she possessed, the all-powerful Counter Guardian appeared to be trapped here, unable to get through at all!

 

"..."

 

A few minutes passed before the desperate Arturia eventually calmed down, having come to the realization that she wouldn't be making any progress whatsoever with brute force. The whole staircase had been wrecked, the ground covered in craters, ash filling up the orange sky around her, but the crystal itself was exactly how it was before. Not a single dent had been made, from anywhere. So, if she was going to make it through this, she would have to logically think things through.

 

There was only one possible reason she was not being allowed through, but that couldn't be possible.

 

Then why?

 

Why?

 

"............................why?"

 

Falling to her knees, the former Counter Guardian stared up at the crystal.

 

"Oh Origin... Why do you not let me through?" She asked it, the burning determination in her voice since faded to a whisper.

 

At first, there was only silence.

 

However, then, as if getting fed up with her ignorant attitude, the voice finally reappeared, carving itself into her mind, an anomalous event that should not happen under any normal circumstances. And this time, rather than gentle, it seemed angry-

 

 

 

 

'YOUR WORDS LACK TRUTH.'

"I...?!"

 

At that, Arturia seemed stunned. Having actually received such an answer, she was left ,  "You do not believe me?!"

 

There was no answer. It had already made itself clear. According to it, the words that she had spoken out to it had not come from the bottom of her heart, lacking in sincerity.

 

"But that can't be..."

 

Still, there was no way the Origin could get something like that wrong. Closing her eyes, she decided to reflect upon herself, looking at her journey so far.

 

The being that she'd fought in the mirror realm, the one meant to represent her so-called true self, had in all honesty been a strange person despite being the splitting image of her current self. She spoke strangely and seemed to be fighting for a strange cause. If it had to be described, then even though they were fundamentally the same, the other Arturia acted on selfish desires. It was because of that, that she ended up losing to the real thing after a long and hard battle, concluded by an unexpectedly suicidal attack. That had been the greatest difference between them - one valued their life and the other did not. Was the moral lesson to abandon her humanity, or was it a sign that she should preserve it?

 

Arturia's mind flashed back to the recent past. It had been less than a day ago, but it seemed like more than a year had gone by since she and the others were trapped in the Madara's Infinite Tsukuyomi. They'd each been drawn into their own personal paradises built specifically for them, forced to experience it. They should've been trapped there for eternity, but then they were violently released into reality again when the demigod Keyblader Arthur Ancyl managed to break out and defeat the Madara in single combat. When she was released, she had a different blade in place of Clarent, was wearing different clothes, and had a flesh-and-blood body. It took some time to get used to, if she recalled.

 

Yet before that, within the illusion itself - it didn't have anything to do with saving the multiverse, nor did it have to do with her acting out her duty as a Counter Guardian. Strangely enough, there seemed to be little to no memories of the actual event, but if she thought about it very, very hard, she could vaguely recall living out...a completely different life?

 

"I cannot."

 

Then she knew. That memory was something that she herself had sealed, something that should remain sealed. This was something that the fairies had helped make her aware of. At the very least, she could deal with it once she came to Remembrance, couldn't she? There was no need to release it here.

 

"I cannot..."

 

But at the same time, unlocking the seal may be the only way for her to make herself aware of the 'truth'. There was no other choice. To run away when it was necessary would be a sign of cowardice. As the leader of the Counter Corps, it was her duty to meet any challenge, and to succumb to her very own personal problems would be weakness, pure and simple. She wasn't worthy of being a hero if she couldn't deal with this much.

 

"I CANNOT...!"

 

Although, would she still be herself after acknowledging the 'truth'? Would she still be capable of fulfilling her mission?

 

The risk had to be taken. Memories were not fickle things, so it wouldn't be possible for her to lock it away a second time. Whatever the consequences may be, she would have to be stuck with them this time. Thinking more positively, it may be better to do it now rather than later, where Remembrance could turn it into a much more troublesome thing for her to deal with. If she could lighten the burden of her past even a little, then she may as well take it.

 

Holding her hands up to her forehead, she took a deep breath, and then tapped it lightly - the sound of a click resonated from deep within her mind, like that of a lock breaking apart. 

 

Then mem

 

or

 

ies

 

entered-

 

 

---

 

 

 

 

͏҉҉͏̸͞͏̸҉͘͏̸͘͏̨͝͏҉҉͏̸͞͏̸҉͘͏̸͘͏̨͝

 

An ever-clear blue sky. Grasslands stretching on eternally. The view of a small, wooden cottage. At the bottom of a hill, a small village. Not too far away, a city where e͘v̷ery̵one lived in prosperity. These were the traits that originally defined this story.

 

A child with dark-brown hair was standing before another child with blond hair, both of them wielding wooden swords in hand.

 

The two siblings started to play pretend.

 

Who won? Who lost? It did not matter. What mattered were the things that led towards peace. Towards respect. Towards honour. Towards the greatest victory there can possibly be, and that is the victory of e͘v̷ery̵one involved.

 

Suddenly, the girl stopped fighting.

 

The boy showed concern as she shed a tear, for some strange reason. She'd never done that before, after all.

 

She said it was nothing, and the two continued on with their game.

 

Who won? Who lost? It did not matter. What mattered were the things that led towards peace. Towards respect. Towards honour. Towards the greatest victory there can possibly be, and that is the victory of e͘v̷ery̵one involved.

 

Suddenly, the girl stopped fighting.

 

The boy showed concern as she shed another tear, for some strange reason. It was getting a little odd.

 

She said it was nothing, once more, and the two continued on with their game of pretend.

 

Who won? Who lost? It still did not matter. What mattered were the things that led towards peace. Towards respect. Towards honour. Towards the greatest victory there can possibly be, and that is the victory of e͘v̷ery̵one involved.

 

Suddenly, the girl stopped fighting.

 

The boy showed concern as she shed yet another tear, for some strange reason. It was very rare for her to cry, after all.

 

She said it was nothing, reassuring him, and the two continued on with their fun game of pretend.

 

Who won? Who lost? It still did not matter. What mattered were the things that led towards peace. Towards respect. Towards honour. Towards the greatest victory there can possibly be, and that is the victory of e͘v̷ery̵one involved.

 

Suddenly, the girl stopped fighting.

 

The boy showed concern as she shed yet another tear, for some strange reason. She didn't cry a lot, after all.

 

She said it was nothing, once more, and the two continued on with their game of pretending to be warriors.

 

Who won? Who lost? It couldn't possibly matter. What mattered were the things that led towards peace. Towards respect. Towards honour. Towards the greatest victory there can possibly be, and that is the victory of e͘v̷ery̵one involved.

 

Suddenly, the girl stopped fighting.

 

The boy showed concern as more tears began to flow down her face, for some strange reason. She didn't cry a lot, after all.

 

She said it was nothing, with all her strength, and the two continued on with their game of pretending to be warriors, practicing for when the time finally came.

 

Who won? Who lost? It should never, EVER matter. What should matter were the things that led towards peace. Towards respect. Towards honour. Towards the greatest victory there can possibly be, and that is the victory of e͘v̷ery̵one involved. E͘͜ve̢r͏͜y̴̨͠o͏n̵͟͡e.

 

Suddenly, the girl stopped fighting.

 

This time, she was about to burst into tears.

 

"Um, Kay? I have to tell you something."

 

Her blond hair reflected the sunlight above.

 

"I'm just not so sure...if I really want to be a knight."

 

Her heart had wavered for but an instant, but it was then in that gap that the Madara had perceived what she truly was, and it was then that the course of her ideal world had been determined.

 

Compared to the others whom only went through it for a short period, it must have lasted so long for her due to her Counter Guardian core, which distorted spacetime within the fantasy. It may have been a blessing, but also a terrible, terrible curse.

 

~ La Sola - Fate/stay night 2006 OST ~

Once upon a time, there was a simple girl by the name of Arturia, who grew up in a simple household.

 

Her father was a renowned soldier, and she used to practice swordplay with her older brother everyday. The two of them wanted to grow up to be brave knights, fighting for justice.

 

When she was still a child, she met a wise sorcerer called Merlin, who taught her many things, but when he claimed that she could become the King of Britain by drawing the legendary Sword in the Stone, she came to refuse. She did not wish to be a king, nor even a knight.

 

A dream she had once while sleeping, that of a female warrior fighting throughout all of time for a sad cause, had convinced her so - that violence was unnecessary and led to nothing but more violence, spinning the cycle of hatred.

 

Still, she hoped to be able to help others out whenever she could, to serve her country the way a normal person could, but such a simple wish was dashed when the nation was caught up in a war, forcing her to move to Japan to avoid being involved in the conflict.

 

There, she started attending a high school in Fuyuki City. For quite some time, things were very difficult for her, with a different language, different culture, and different kinds of people overall. The buildings were unknown and the food was unknown.

 

Just by being apart from her home country, she felt alone and abandoned in an alien land. Were it not for the familiar blue sky, it would've been no stretch for her to think that the plane she'd boarded had flown onto another planet. 

 

The citizens gave her strange looks wherever she went, her ignorance bringing her into trouble everywhere. Every attempt at helping others out was perceived as an insult. To them, she was an invasive foreigner - a GAIJIN as they called it. It wasn't easy to cope.

 

Adapting? What a joke. If things were going to turn out so hard, it would've been far better to yank that damned sword out from the stone...!

 

However, it was then that a glimmer of hope showed up, as if to make things worthwhile. While working as a part-time assistant for a man that she didn't get along with, she somehow found her way into a warehouse. In fact, she'd slammed the door open with such force that a redheaded boy ended up stumbling backwards onto his feet. Startled, he stared up at her, and bemused, she stared back at him.

 

In that fateful night, that one moment, time slowed down. They were transfixed by the other. A passing night that she wished could have stayed that way forever.

 

It turned out that he went to the same school she did, and was actually the infamous 'Homurahara Brownie', so-called for being the biggest doormat ever, and was very much like her in ways, also wishing to help others out as a hero of justice.

 

They had different ways of going about things, disapproving of the others' way. Particularly, he hated how she shut away her true self from everyone to handle things rationally, and she hated how he didn't care about his own wellbeing at all, always placing others above himself.

 

But when it came to it, she felt as though this was a human being who could understand her like no other.

 

 

They worked side by side frequently to solve tasks, both simple ones and those way beyond their own abilities, for that was the kind of people they were. If it meant that someone else could be smiling, it didn't matter what they had to go through. Together, by supporting each other, they could accomplish many things that one of them couldn't have possibly been able to do alone.

 

Everything about her, he didn't mind, and everything about him, she didn't mind. Perhaps they were simply two idiots who were too dumb to realize whenever the other had done something that would be considered wrong.

 

As time went by, they grew closer and closer to each other, to the point that they realized their feelings for one another.

 

It was only time until they started dating.

 

The future was a bright one, and it would have been no exaggeration to say that this could have lasted for eternity. And so the days passed by, edging ever closer towards peace. Towards respect. Towards honour. Towards the greatest victory there can possibly be, which to her, was victory for the two of them.

 

Indeed, that was the kind of cliché fantasy that she had to live through, disregarding every sacrifice she had to make in a previous life, as a king, as a hero, as a Counter Guardian.

 

In the end, the curtains were drawn, and the show came to an end.

 

Not quickly,

 

but slowly,

 

the illusion broke apart,

 

and the happy nightmare slipped away from her grasp...

 

---

 

"..."

 

She said nothing.

 

"..."

 

She said nothing.

 

"..."

 

She said nothing.

 

"...no."

 

At last she opened her mouth, and but one word managed to escape, coming out as a whisper. The once-proud King of Knights was on her knees, staring at a vacant spot in the ground. Her hands were trembling. Her body was trembling. Her very being was trembling.

 

It wasn't that she was on the verge of tears out of regret for being torn away from it, but that she was on the verge of losing her identity to this 'second person' that the illusion had developed. An entirely separate set of memories, encompassing a great many years. So many of these events had been drawn from her own memories, yet altered to make sense, and brought to their logical conclusion. These weren't merely a large mass of memories - with the freedom of time, a different Arturia who did not know what it was like to be a king or guardian had been developed within her, with a similar yet ultimately separate personality. How could that possibly be resolved.

 

"No... No, how can I possibly be content with my present self...?"

 

What blasphemy was this, speaking out words that she would normally never even imagine speaking?

 

"This is too much. Too much, for me. I have fought so long for others, and betrayed my own values, betrayed the one person who's ever loved me, for their sake. And the only thing I was granted in the end was the damned FIRES OF HELL. I'm not content with this, but I don't have a choice. Being a Counter Guardian... Unlike many of the others, it's not my duty, but my curse."

 

These words didn't make any sense to her, but they rung with truth.

 

"I wasn't prepared when I made the contract. All I wanted to do was save the people of Britain, and yet why have I fallen so low as to sacrifice dozens of innocent worlds and trick uninvolved warriors into following me...?"

 

The barrier dropped, and her hand moved, pressing itself against the crystal. It activated immediately, beginning to forcefully absorb her into a tunnel of infinite golden energy, appearing to reach out to the end of eternity.

 

"This is the most efficient way to save the multiverse, I know... But it still hurts."

 

 

~ ~ ~

 

 

White Room

 

In this empty realm, time did not pass.

 

In this empty realm, time could not pass.

 

While she would have to be in a hurry upon entering one of the Pathways, in this empty realm, she could afford to recuperate, to let everything sink in before she advanced onto the final remaining trial.

 

Hours passed by, spent only staring off into space, wondering about the unsealed memories that she had gained...

 

...

 

... ... ...

 

... ... ... ... ...

 

Her mind was a mess at the moment, having been thrown into confusion. She thought she knew where she was heading, but it turned out that her heart had been longing for something completely different all along - something she had already thrown away.

 

There was no turning back, and yet the remnant feelings continued to chain her down, even after all the years of being a ruthless warrior. The Madara's illusion had made her painfully aware of this fact, and the last Pathway had forced her to acknowledge it in the end despite all her efforts to keep it back.

 

"It cannot be helped... Even if I have such emotions, such regret, they won't make a difference. I am still a Counter Guardian. I have a duty to carry out."

 

Steeling herself as much as she could, Arturia stood back up, fixing her gaze upon the last remaining door of the original three.

 

Once she entered, there would be plenty of tough battles ahead of her, and most likely no break. The knight would need all the strength she could muster for this. She couldn't afford to be hasty, so she decided to make use of her unlimited time just a little more.

 

Even if she hadn't yet found her purpose, since she had more access to her own memories after releasing the ones she'd been suppressing, she decided to reflect further about the past, especially when she considered that btween retuning her new body, recruiting new members for the Counter Corps, and keeping the captain of the "And With Strange Aeons" updated, there hadn't been any crucial time to do this before.

 

In particular, what was Arturia doing before she was sucked into Infinite Tsukuyomi? Wasn't she...fighting Protheus? Wasn't that when she first warned everyone about him, the predecessor of Isamy? The dark sorcerer had been confident about something, regarding some sort of secret technique of his that would've been able to tip the balance, but she could not remember what it was. If she had to guess, it was something that created a time-fixed event, erasing the memories of all outside of it. An unknown power that prevented the Throne of Heroes, or anything else, knowing about it.

 

It was impossible to tell how well she fared within the battle, but the Madara's illusion must have interfered in it. Then, her blade, all of Camelot, and even her own body was dissolved in the illusion, before being remade... Hold on. That didn't make sense, did it?

 

If that were the case, then the other Counter Corps, or even the Divine would've been affected like she had. Even if none of them had pure spiritual bodies like her, many of them still possessed mana capacity and weaponry, but as far as she could tell, none of them had been affected like she had. Why was she in particular affected? The Madara may have been a violent disaster, but it had also been an indiscriminate creature that didn't care much for the status of being a 'Counter Guardians'. The only thing that interested it were ideals. The more complex the ideal, the more effort it went through to meet those individuals.

 

There was another possibility she hadn't considered yet. What if her body, blade, and Reality Marble had all been destroyed prior to to the casting of the illusion? In that case, all the Madara would have done was preserve her consciousness within Infinite Tsukuyomi, before having had to rebuild her a new body and weapon since she lacked both. To her, that made far more sense. Had Protheus himself done it? Had his secret ability been so formidable that it overwhelmed her even at her utmost strength? Or was there something else that she was missing?

 

Come to think of it, if Infinite Tsukuyomi hadn't dissolved anything, then what  happened to the mysterious Orb obtained from the Desert Seth? Protheus didn't seem to have it on him when he stole the Key of Origin, nor did it make any sense for him to take a now-worthless object. Did it simply break? The answer couldn't possibly be so simple. It was the very object that had led them to the Inner Periphery, after all.

 

"I have a bad feeling about this." Arturia muttered, glancing down at her sheathed blade. This time, she regarded it with suspicion, as if it may betray her at any given second. But it had proven too useful to abandon so far, and she had no other weapons in stock, so she had no choice but to keep on wielding it.

 

There was nothing else left to do. If she had to act, she had to act now.

 

Walking towards the icy door, she placed her hand on the cold handle, and was engulfed by a white light as she opened her last remaining trial - the Pathway to Remembrance.

[Maeriberii Haan]

 

"Tenco"

Pathway of Death, D9

 

“Leaving yourself open and unprepared in a battle like this is the equivalent of signing your death warrant.”

 

Limping and completely physically wrecked, Tenco forced herself to stand up to see that Arturia was standing before her around ten meters away. Though, it was odd that she didn’t seem to be following her attack earlier with further assault that would’ve sealed the deal for Tenco. Why she didn’t just finish the battle at that instant of catching her off-guard was something that left Tenco wondering. It was something to be grateful about, of course, but she still had some bad feelings regarding it.

 

“Pray tell, Tenco, what makes you be so insistent on having that future you can only get by using the door, while you don’t even have any ideas on what you actually wanted?

 

Jeopardizing everyone else’s future for that single uncertainty…what makes you think it’s actually worth it?”

 

“I…” Too physically and mentally exhausted to properly answer the question just yet, Tenco was unable to finish her answer as she continued to stare weakly at the king instead. Arturia shook her head at the display.

 

“It seems that you really have no idea about it, which would make my guess be quite accurate. Rather than operating on a conscious desire in your attempt to seize your tomorrow, you’re actually acting out of desperation here. Out of fear, that would also be quite the accurate term to use.

 

If this all is true, then It can be assumed that the concept of your future’s uncertainty, or even lack of it, is what you feared the most, right?”

 

“N-“

 

“Then why are you this persistent then?” Arturia walked several steps forwards, her figure now could be completely seen by Tenco amidst the darkness. The blue-haired girl kept her gaze on the young king before her, her hands shaking in frustration among other things as the Counter Guardian approached her calmly. The hostility she showed towards Tenco was definitely still there, but it had no longer been the dominant emotion that she was expressing at that moment.

 

As much scorn as Tenco could detect coming from Arturia’s words, a lingering thought and what the girl felt inside after hearing the king’s word made it seem that those words were now actually said out of genuine concern from Arturia, which somewhat baffled the girl due to it being almost a 180 degree turn on her attitude before. It’s not something that she felt needed to be dwelt upon however, and that presumption might end up being false anyway, so she’d better off not getting her hopes up.

 

“Knowing that you’re hunting for that one uncertainty, fighting against insurmountable opposition and the odds completely stacked against you, even willing to risk the multiverse’s safety itself for it, it wouldn’t be simply normal selfishness that could lead someone to do all of this.

 

It all boils down to a single fact: you are a terrible liar, Tenco.” By then, Arturia was only one meter away from the still-recuperating Tenco. If she still had any intent of killing her off, she would be able to do it easily at this moment, especially with Tenco being completely helpless and lying before her. However, the girl now felt that the king had something elsein her mind when it comes to dealing with her, as she did not raise her sword to attack her at all. But even with her realization of that, Tenco’s heart was beating rapidly in anxiety – she still couldn’t actually figure out whether this moment of relative concern coming from Arturia would last long enough for her to recuperate from her wounds and be in a good enough form to fight again before Arturia called off the momentary truce and attack again.

 

“And also, frankly, you are quite the completely terrible actor. The worst one I’ve seen, I believe. It was surprisingly easy in retrospect to see through the façade you’re putting up so far, no matter how hard you believed otherwise. I was just slightly naïve by falling to your pathetic façade before.

 

With that being said, it is safe to say that the time for this masquerade is over, no need for you to fool anyone else by hiding behind that mask anymore.

 

It is time to show me your true self, Tenco. Just stop this pathetic farce and show me who you really are and what thoughts you really have inside of your mind.”

 

“…!

 

What do you even mean by that? This is me! I-I…am myself, and always have been!” That was a sentence Tenco didn’t expect Arturia would say right now. She was thinking that she was just going to repeat again what she said to her earlier, like what she had been doing so far, but that was something she did not expect at all. Those words of course, came with yet another shift in Arturia’s tone. She was completely flat now, and those words came out from her lips as if she’s simply stating facts and nothing else.

 

“Still trying to deny it?

 

Your naivety and wide eyed idealism is not even of your own. You just pretended to be like that because otherwise you will not be able to define yourself. In retrospect it should be painfully easy to deduce that even your outraged optimism was not of your own, and it was not even something that you actually believed in. Isn’t that right, ‘Tenco’?” When Arturia said the girl’s name, she emphasized it differently to make the point she was making clearer, all while maintaining her completely flat tone.

 

“I…I’m not pretending to be anyone else! This is me, I am myself, and that’s that! Just because what I said earlier, doesn’t mean I’m actually hiding behind something, Arturia!”

 

“You said you don’t want to become anyone else but yourself, but right now, you’re simply acting out as someone else the emptiness composing your entire self. You’re not the happy go-lucky slightly idiotic girl you’re trying to make yourself believe that you are. You’re just a delusional empty shell trying to find out your niche and purpose in this world while vehemently denying that you’re anything but that.

 

I don’t even know the real Tenco’s personality and self aside from your attempt of imitating her and acting as if it’s your true self, yet I still know that your attempt at impersonating her was a failure at best. It is pretty much just to show how painfully obvious that what you’re trying to show here is not your actual self.”

 

“I-It’s not true! Lady Arturia, please stop telling me lies like that!” Tenco yelled, but Arturia didn’t seem to notice this as she continued to talk after a short break.

 

“You are simply an empty shell, if that requires yet another mention. This emptiness of yours is why you’re always trying to cling to someone else in any way you think would be proper, and this is why you’re always revolving your own existence around someone else – simply because you could not define yourself otherwise. Without someone else, you would have no purpose, nothing to define yourself with. Your entire existence was that of a satellite, eternally orbiting others. Just like one, you will lose the entirety of your notability, importance, self, and purpose once there’s nothing for you to revolve around.If that part is not pathetic enough, then how much you’ve tried to cling to others to fulfill your self-designated role as a delusional satellite is simply disgusting.

 

Starting off with what you did with your image of me – you had put me in an unrealistically high pedestal while you cling to me as some sort of physical embodiment of your ensured future, just because I am the one leading and guiding you and the rest of the Corps, ignoring everything that pointed out how much I differ from the idealized version of me you believed in. You exaggerated how much I meant to you as a way for you to feel better.

 

You clung to that man from the Divine, not out of horrible ability to judge one’s character as you claimed it to be, but just because you’re completely distraught after the visions you saw in the pathway, and unable to move forward on your own. You were well aware that he’s not really someone to trust, but kept on insisting that he was a good man and completely innocent instead, and pretty much turning yourself into a supporter of his for no discernable logical reasoning aside from fulfilling your inner need to revolve yourself around others.

 

Though, worst of all is probably what happened between you and that Divine girl. Your origin from her aside, it was you who in the end chose to completely revolve yourself around her and made everything worse, seeking a completely distorted form of love from her. And then from it, you developed a completely distorted form of hatred towards her after she didn’t return your affection and concern. You, completely unable to perceive things outside of your personal point of view, ended up justifying your hatred towards her to your identity issues. And of course, that led to a tragedy for you. And probably until now, you had never actually considered it to be a possibility that the explanation for all of that was much simpler than what you thought at first.

 

What killed her was not the exaggeration of her hidden characteristics that you allegedly embodied as a former shadow of her ‘self’. What killed her was simply your refusal to stop orbiting her. From your hate to your love, what killed her was how you refuse to accept the fact that you can just separate your own existence from hers, not defining yourself using it. Not even circumstances, nor destiny, was the one behind this. It was simply your own fault.

 

That said, this disturbing obsession to orbit around others to define yourself is maybe why you cannot decide on what you actually wanted right now. Since you have nothing to anchor yourself into and foryour future without Tenshi’s existence, you are now completely at loss on what to do. And thus, you lose any sense of direction and purpose and desire, ending up being empty like what you are now once more.

 

Perhaps, reconsidering my earlier assessment on you, I should have said that rather than fearing about the uncertainty of your empty future, this is what you truly feared. You are more afraid on having no one to anchor yourself into, as it would mean that you won’t have something to define you with. “

 

Arturia paused for a bit, observing Tenco in the meantime as she prepared the next sentences of her speech. Her hand’s grip on Clarent tightened a bit as she considered to just end it all at that moment and save herself from further trouble, but she relented in the end, believing that she would still do what she intended to do there at first. And thus, after a minute passed, she continued her speech.

 

“What baffled me even to this point is the fact that, even after all of that, you still are able to convince yourself that you are not the empty shell that you are, and kept on fighting me here for an empty cause with that delusion backing you up. All because you are just that scared of the prospect of having no future, because you’re just that scared of the prospect of your delusions to be broken, all because you’re scared that you are lashing out at me for not being the person you can revolve yourself to.

 

Or is there any other reasoning?”

 

There were no answers.

 

In the face of the harsh truth from the king’s words, Tenco was driven into silence, as she stared emptily towards the king, unable to respond in any other way. Faced with that sight, Arturia continued her stride uninterrupted, until she passed the blue-haired girl without turning back. Tenco should’ve been able to launch an attack during that moment of brief vulnerability when Arturia passed her without seemingly having any ill intents, but her mind had stopped thinking about the battle she was in, consumed with the thoughts related to Arturia’s words. The girl was barely managing herself in taking those words into herself, still struggling to accept them.

 

“Perhaps at this point, there will be no point in executing you even for your intent of using the Door for your own gain. I have concluded that you pose no threat to the multiverse. You are simply a threat to your own being, and thus further intervention for me will not be needed here.

 

Think about what I’ve said more before you actually continue on your way, if you still have any intents of doing so. As long as you kept being this immature and oblivious to everyone else’s sacrifices just to counteract your own personal fears, you would serve no use in the upcoming battle.

 

With that said, unless you still have some desire to rebuke the truth I have just said to you, I will take my leave. Valuable time had been wasted here, time that could’ve been allocated in our attempt to stop Protheus and his insanity. There is enough selfish madman for today, the multiverse does not need one more.”

 

“I…”

 

“Hm?” Arturia was slightly surprised that Tenco seemed to be attempting to make answer to her question. Though, she only momentarily stopped on her tracks before continuing her leave, not even turning back. She seemed to think that it was merely her imagination, not Tenco actually speaking.

 

“I just…”

 

“Do you have anything to say? If not, I shall now continue my way.” This time, with it being clear that it was not merely her hearing things that was not there, Arturia stopped, but she still didn’t bother herself with turning around to look at the girl.

 

“I…

 

Yeah, you're right that I'm empty without her. I’m doing all of this for her. This is her wish, after all.” And finally, Tenco made her answer. Her voice was completely hollow and devoid of emotions when she uttered it, a clear sign that she was still completely wrecked by the things Arturia said to her earlier. Arturia just shook her head as she heard that, still not turning around.

 

“Her wish? I am wondering about what you might actually mean with those words.”

 

“I…can’t let her down. I will not.

 

Because, this is her wish.”

 

“I cannot spare any more time to hear cryptic messages from you. Talk clearly, or I shall truly take my leave now.”

 

“Her wish…the last thing she wished before she died…She said that this is her gift to me. It was the greatest gift she could give me.

 

Future.

 

The greatest gift of them all is a future. She gave that to me, someone who even had no idea about what it entailed even to this point. She gave it to me, as the full crystallization of her wish, and something that she would never get.

 

That…that is why! That is why I fought! That is why…that is why I will overcome you now!

 

Selfish as I am…I will treasure her wish to my very best. Even if this would make me sound even more selfish…I will still do it, since me continuing is what she wished for.” As much as she was still shaking and looking completely disoriented, Tenco’s words was filled with determination, or at least, something similar to it. At that sight, the stoic expression Arturia kept on her face disappeared, replaced with outright anger.

 

“Tenco, let me hammer it to your dense head one more time. This is a war! A war that does not revolve around you or your story! This grand crossover of different universes at this point of origin, this is not your personal story!There is no place for something like this when everyone else is trying their hardest to stop Protheus and save the multiverse. Can you even understand this, empty shell?” Sounding completely agitated, for once Arturia outright yelled at the girl, who just smiled when she heard that.

 

“I was empty, yes. I couldn’t move on with my own strength, yes. I had to latch to others even just to define myself and what I do, yes. But by doing this, chasing the future that I could not even know about…I can have a chance to be my own being, just as she wished!

 

Just as I wished!

 

Arturia, I am not fighting for an empty cause! Because…this time, I am empty no more!”

 

Arturia turned around just in time to see Tenco rushed towards her with her golden sword on the ready, glowing scarlet with the immense energy stored inside it. Remembering about what it managed to do earlier, Arturia didn’t even let the sword to be able to hit her or her own sword, as she fired a sudden jet of wind to knock Tenco backwards before following it with several beams fired from her sword.

 

“Talking to you seems to be an equivalent of conversing with a concrete wall. Empty or not, if your wish is to bring peril to the multiverse, then I shall end you. Let this Pathway of Origin be both the beginning and the end of your story, and this corridor of Death be your grave.”

 

Regaining her ground after being knocked, Tenco immediately reinforced her entire body with layers and layers of temperaments, buffing her parameters enough for her to gain enough speed and response time to use the sword of Hisou to parry the sword beams, absorbing them in the process completely, before returning fire with her own sword beams. Arturia used her Prana to create a barrier in response, before rushing straight at Tenco, herself having her speed buffed more and more using her Invisible Wind. Once in range, she launched several rapid strikes from many different angles, which due to her insane speed made it seem that she was attacking Tenco from those directions at once. This time however, Tenco stood her ground as some of those hits were being parried by her while the others managed to land a hit to her, but even with Arturia’s strength, each strikes ended up only causing middling wounds that immediately got healed by Tenco as she pushed for the offensive instead following those hits.

 

Being up close like that, Arturia was left with no choice but to parry each and every blow that Tenco launched. She was still quite a degree faster than the blue-haired girl, but Arturia became a bit more concerned when she noticed about how Tenco’s sword glowed more intensely the moment she parried it with her own, especially since she noticed that same glow when the blue-haired girl absorbed her attacks earlier. Not taking further chances, Arturia blasted Tenco using a sudden gust of wind carrying as much force as a rushing train, slamming her towards a nearby wall. She followed it by immediately coming after her, and before she could recover, Arturia stabbed the girl in the heart, to finally end the battle decisively.

 

She was a bit surprised that this time, her strike was momentarily blocked by the girl’s barrier, and that moment of Arturia failing to land a fatal hit on the blue-haired girl was utilized by her as she fired a blast of scarlet beam point-blank on the king’s face. It was successfully blocked by her barrier, but it was merely a distraction as Tenco used that moment to move herself away as fast as she could before coming from Arturia’s backside, all the while she kept on buffing her own speed using the temperaments.

 

“Why can you even come to the conclusion that fulfilling her wish, whoever she was, is worth more than the fate of the multiverse?”

 

“Because I LOVE her!”

 

Before Arturia could get hit by Tenco’s attack, she had disappeared from her sight, and pain started to creep throughout Tenco’s body again as a beam of light pierced through her and her barriers, leaving a gaping hole on her.

 

“Others also have their loved ones, and they would love them as much as you loved her. But none of them tried to do something like what you’re trying to do. No one felt that they should put their love before everything else, especially here at this conflict.

 

What made you feel special? What made you think your case should be treated differently than the others?”

 

“Stop talking as if I would condemn the multiverse by fulfilling what she wished for! I’ll save the multiverse with my own two hands, and I’ll create my future that she wished for along the way!

 

I’ve robbed her of her dreams once, and I will not let it happen again! And this time, I’ll also fulfill the dreams of everyone else too along the way!

 

No one should suffer from what I’m going to do!”

 

The wound didn’t even take a second to heal completely, and Tenco immediately fired yet another beam of scarlet light towards Arturia’s probable direction. Even knowing that her barrier would block it again, Tenco was sure that sooner or later she could find a way to pierce the barrier. But right now, of course, the attack once again failed, and…Arturia was nowhere to be seen after that.

 

Tenco assumed that the king retreated momentarily to think of another way to approach the battle, and while she kept on being cautious of a sudden attack from the Counter Guardian, she took the time to regain her composure just so she could think about what she should do next properly.

 

She had used the Sword of Hisou actively in desperation now, since she saw no other option were available for her that time. Even if the sword took her over again this time, Tenco could barely care less now, since the alternative would be getting killed by Arturia. As much as unnecessary it was for her to attack Arturia during the time she had shown no interest in continuing the fight, Tenco could not simply have Arturia trample over her and what she was trying to achieve just like that. And this time, she was sure that she could overcome her given enough time and some luck.

 

Factoring in the Sword of Hisou on her side, Tenco had been attempting to trace Arturia’s qi during this cour of the battle, with the primary intent of having the sword be able to adapt to Arturia’s weakness with its ability. It was her clearest shot of being able to overcome Arturia, and she had even overworked her own body by stacking layers after layers of reinforcement spells far over her body’s normal tolerance level just so she could have a chance of landing a direct hit towards Arturia. It was to the point of her internal organs getting ruptured whenever she moved when she started out, but Tenco had figured out that she could also reinforce her metabolism rate to keep up with her newly gained parameters, at least temporarily.

 

However, something that Tenco was quite surprised about was how Arturia had seemingly figured out her plan, and she had been really cautious about even letting the sword of Hisou anywhere near her, her barrier, or her own sword. Tenco realized that Arturia had been changing her battle style during this round, and she used less and less direct assault simply due to the threat of her sword. Maybe that moment when she absorbed her sword beam using the golden sword tipped her off about the sword’s true ability, but she couldn’t be sure yet.

 

As some form of consolation, Tenco had managed to get her sword to get into a direct contact with Arturia’s own, and thus, with that single act, her sword has learned about its structural and design weaknesses. If she could get in some more direct clashes, it would be possible to-

 

A sudden gust of wind nearby cut off Tenco’s concentration, and realizing what it meant, she immediately got away from her previous position. But then, for a reason that she had no idea about, she could feel that a sword was making a slash on her body just as she moved away, and the next thing that happened was her blood gushing down from that slash wound as the blue-haired girl was still confused about what had happened. Realizing that she had no time to think about it more, Tenco covered herself with her strengthened barriers, using more and more of the golden sword’s deeply hidden power source to strengthen the barrier as she healed herself.

 

Looking around to find the presence of Arturia, the girl was baffled that the king was nowhere to be seen right now. She had been reinforcing her own sight so she should’ve noticed if Arturia was simply buffing her speed further and further, but this time, she couldn’t see her anywhere, the darkness of the pathway once again making things harder. Tenco thought that the king might have just continued using ranged assault on her as her part to avoid getting hit by the sword of Hisou, and she had managed to wound her using her wind manipulation.

 

But once again, she was not given enough time to actually think it through as she saw that her barrier had been cut into two in one instant right before her eyes. And once again, there was no sign of Arturia or anything else around when that happened. Only a harsh gust of wind was felt by Tenco just before she was slashed all over her body mysteriously. At least, Tenco was prepared enough for it to increase the amount of buff that she channeled throughout her body so she could at least prevent the myriad slashes from being fatal or at least, cutting off her limbs. Even then, it was completely unexpected, and even when Tenco tried to use her barrier to stop whatever was cutting her off, it was completely to no avail since it immediately shattered again moments after being erected.

 

“Arturia…what are you exactly up to now?”

 

Realizing that it wouldn’t matter how hard she reinforced her body to withstand the constant slashes since she would still not be able to withstand it forever without getting killed in the process, Tenco rapidly summoned her wings and soared through the sky while healing herself from all the slashes and the bloodloss she suffered from it. However, before she couldn’t even get far away from her previous position, a harsh sudden blow of wind disoriented her flight to the point that she lost her balance and started to fall off to the ground again, just before she felt cold steel making contact to her back as she was slammed face-first to the ground, without being able to retaliate at all, leaving a small crater in her impact site.

 

She was getting more and more panicked since Arturia still could not be seen, but the impact to the ground gave her a temporary moment of clarity to remember about how she could use the same way that Gyokuen use to see Rukh to find Arturia’s position by looking at her pool of qi. Focusing her mind for a second, she looked around to see the king’s signature…

 

…and was completely surprised to see the signature standing just right beside her. She could feel the wind blowing near her, and finally realized about what Arturia was up to at that moment. She had made herself invisible using her wind magic to conceal her form completely from her sight, and with it she had also gained more and more speed to put her far ahead of Tenco once more. The girl could only grit her teeth to that thought as she immediately knocked herself as far away as possible from Arturia’s signature by using several blasts coming from her sword, just as what could be surmised as Arturia’s sword diagonally slashed her from her right shoulder downwards.

 

Getting around twenty meters away from Arturia’s signature, Tenco coughed blood as she realized that the force from the slash had damaged her lungs even after all the complex multiple layers of reinforcement magic she had used on herself. Grunting, she proceeded to heal her wound before starting to erect barriers around her once more all the while she looked at the Arturia signature closely, attempting to anticipate her moves. Tenco really could only try her best to survive the relentless assault somehow right now, since even with the rough estimation made by her ability to detect Arturia’s signature, it’s not as exact or accurate as she wished it to be. That boils down to the fact that she couldn’t exactly reliably parry or block her attack now, let alone attempting to hit her. Unless…

 

Her train of thought was interrupted again when her barrier shattered in one go, and once again, Tenco put up several layers of reinforcement on her body to withstand the incoming attacks, while she started her attempt to figure out how to land a hit on Arturia as soon as she could. Arturia in a span of what might not constitute as a one tenth of a second had proceeded to try decapitating the blue-haired girl by aiming several consecutive slashes at her neck, but when that failed, she instead started to launch a continuous stream of slashes, stabs, and strikes at the defending girl’s body. Even with Tenco’s reinforcement being active at its maximum capability, the attacks still managed to pierce her body. Her heart, her head, and everything else had been stabbed over and over again, and if it’s not for her managing to let the temperaments from her sword to run wild to keep her alive, she would’ve been dead as a ragdoll with how much hits she endured from Arturia. Times and times again Arturia almost cut her limbs from her body, but Tenco managed to heal the damage before it would get too serious. It was basically now a macabre show of her getting completely mauled by a hundred slashes within each passing second, and no matter whether she could still somehow survived the brutal and relentless onslaught now, her time was getting shorter and shorter if she could not get Arturia to stop her attack.

 

She still couldn’t see Arturia, but she could still feel her wind blowing at her as she continued her attacks. Her signature was still right there before her, assaulting her, but due to how ludicrously fast the Counter Guardian is moving and attacking her, even her signature was getting really blurry, making it really hard for Tenco to hit Arturia. However…

 

“Take this!”

 

Remembering that she could change the shape and size of the sword of Hisou, she immediately went for another attempt to hit Arturia using it, but this time she had elongated the sword in such way that when she swung it towards the king, it would hit all of her probable positions in one strike, removing any element of chance from her attempt to hit her. But, Arturia seemed to realize her plan and backed off just in time before Tenco could hit her with the swing. In response to that, however, Tenco had her sword’s blade to get bent towards Arturia’s direction before rapidly elongating at an almost instant pace. Arturia moved away again to her right before attempting to get close and hit Tenco again, but Tenco once again had her sword chase Arturia, forcing her to leap off the ground to avoid getting hit.

 

Just as she felt Arturia was coming down at her due to her wind, Tenco changed her sword into a great scythe, and did a vertical circular cutting motion in an attempt to hit Arturia just as she was going to hit her. It could probably surmised that Arturia was surprised by the transformation, since Tenco could hear the sound of her sword clashing with the scythe as she spun it, probably from the king being forced to block the attack instead of dodging it out of her concern towards its abilities. It was a refreshing sound to hear, and it increased Tenco’s confidence to do the next thing she had in mind.

 

“Fire Sign: Firestorm!”

 

Before Arturia could continue her rush towards her, the entirety of the area around them was suddenly covered by a raging inferno, a great firestorm summoned by Tenco to help her get away from Arturia. The flames wouldn’t hurt either combatants due to their nature, but she knew that Arturia’s winds would contort the flames in such way that would make her movement be more readable for her.

 

Tenco readied herself for her own counterattack now that she had set the stage. She had gotten away far enough from her previous position, and she believed that Arturia would have a harder time in detecting her presence as long as the inferno was still up raging. The fire wall should be too thick for the king to actually see her, while Tenco had Arturia’s own wind and her temperament detection ability to help pinpointing her leader’s current position.

 

After two seconds of no more sudden attacks, Tenco concluded that the field idea was working decently enough, and started to try pinpointingArturia’s presence again in the midst of the sea of flames. She noticed that the king was around twenty meters to her north, and with that knowledge Tenco rushed through the flames to get to her, readying her sword to attack the Counter Guardian directly.

 

But of course, the Counter Guardian would realize that not-so-sneaky attack, and for Tenco’s troubles, she was mercilessly stabbed all over her body multiple times before a strong slash sent her crashing into a wall...where she exploded, revealing that it was just a clone. And following that, another Tenco appeared on where she assumed to be Arturia’s back from her observation, and attempted to strike her there. Arturia’s barrier managed to block off the attack temporarily, and even with Tenco’s sword discerning the barrier’s nature and changing itself to be able to absorb it, the barrier bought Arturia enough time to turn around and struck Tenco decisively through her heart.

 

“Urgh…!” Blood came from the Tenco’s mouth as the sword pierced her vitals. One second passed, and this time, the body did not explode. The sea of flames had immediately died down too following Arturia’s final attack, which was a further proof that the one currently bleeding before Arturia’s sword was the real Tenco. Seeing that she had finally landed a truly decisive blow to Tenco, Arturia decided to let go of her invisibility, revealing her form once again before the dying Tenco.

 

“Again and again, you kept saying that what you’re trying to do will not be at the expense of others. Your conviction to get through the Door simply to secure your future like what that Divine girl wished for, it was commendable, to say the least, but also reprehensible at the same time and clearly it is something that I could not let slide on my watch.

 

Answer me, young girl. Will this, risking the safety of the multiverse despite the many times I tried to warn you about it, be worth what you’re trying to achieve?

 

And even before that, will she even approve you doing this offense committed on her name if she could see you here?”

 

“You…you know nothing about her. You…really know nothing.”

 

“Is there even anything left for me to know about this?”

 

“M-maybe not…Perhaps not. However…

 

Lady Arturia…pardon me, but…” Coughing blood as she hang on to the last thread she could get to anchor her to the living world, Tenco made a subtle handsign, and proceeded to summon several temperament-based chains to prevent Arturia from getting away from where she was right now, which managed to catch the king off-guard. She followed it off by having a clone of hers appear on the king’s back in an attempt to hit her. With her body and limb getting chained to the ground like that, even if she could break the chain with some efforts, doing that would take way too much time that would make Tenco’s clone be able to land a hit on her. She was left with no option but to summon her winds to slam the clone to a nearby wall as hard as she could.

 

That moment of distraction was immediately utilized by Tenco, however, and as Arturia handled her clone, she, against all kind of common sense, drove herself through the sword further and further, continuously damaging the heart she’s slowly trying to recover at that moment, but she couldn’t care less about that fact now as she managed to get a clear chance of hitting the king. Not being in the position to withdraw her sword, Arturia decided to protect herself with both her barriers and her wind, but Tenco persistently pushed through using her own barrier to keep herself from getting blown away, and immediately when she was in range, she made a simple, weak-looking slash across Arturia’s torso, as it was the only thing she was capable of doing that time.

 

Against all odds, that single weak slash pierced through the barrier Arturia had set up to protect herself, and continued forth to hit the intended target. The sword’s inscription glowed bright scarlet when it made contact with Arturia’s skin, and noticing that success, Tencoimmediately followed it by firing a point-blank blast of scarlet temperaments from the sword at the king, who was not protected by her barrier this time. The attack did not get tanked completely due to that lack of barrier, and it managed to blow the king away, breaking the chains Tenco set to hold her momentarily in the process.

 

“Pardon me, milady, but I don’t want to die right now.

 

I…do not wish to let her down this time.”

 

[Tesability Black]

~Counter Corps - Path of Death - Jace's POV~

"You're not exactly quiet with your voice or your thoughts, Nalaar," Jace quipped as he glanced back towards the pyromancer behind him, a tired look on his face displaying just how done he was of this place already as he began to walk forward again, this time not running forward like the last time. "I could easily hear you laughing."

He let loose a snarl from under his breath as a new illusion began to form around him, the location surrounding them now a familiar sight to his eyes: the highly-decorated main area for the recently-built Chamber of the Guildpact in the Tenth District of the plane of Ravnica.

Jace's illusionary double smiled tightly at the Golgari delegation, then soon muttered a quick spell to clear out the fungal-rot smell of the esteemed ambassadors and their zombie attendants not long after the rotted group left the large room.

As soon as the door shut behind them, the double's smile dropped, and sat down on the large wooden desk within the ornate room. The desk creaked, and he frowned before glancing back behind it, seeing the lack of a nice big chair to collapse into. Leather. Something expensive.

"Tell me that was the last for the day," he said.

To one side did he hear a snirk, to which the double glanced towards the familiar splash of yellow and purple standing taller than most humanoid beings on Ravnica as a whole, towards Neos, though both double and original knew that even the shapeshifter couldn't match the heights of the Boros angels without taking on one of their forms first.

It still annoyed both of them that they still had to look up to meet his eyes, though.

"I would never perjure myself, even at your order," the two heard the armored Azorius warrior state nearby, Lavinia, but in a much-calmer voice than the one the unarmored berserker to his other side tried to hold back...though the original did hear what would pass as a teasing tone to those who knew to listen for it from her, and apparently, so did the illusionary twin.

A groan escaped his double's throat as he covered his face with his hands just before he caught another snicker, prompting the blue double to separate a couple of fingers on the ungloved hand before glaring at the blue-haired man with his own narrowed blue eyes.

"But," she continued, "as it happens, in this case I can say truthfully that that was the last of today's appointments. Of course, tomorrow's petitioners are already lining up."

No more sunlight streamed through the high windows of the Chamber of the Guildpact, giving no more indicator as to the time of day it was anymore.

"They'll have to wait," he said. "Maybe I can solve all their problems, but I can't do it all in one day."

He glanced between the armored female warrior and the male omniversal berserker, the latter Jace could see wearing the black collar of his usual turtleneck shirt higher than normal. Lavinia looked prim as ever and Neos looked still ready to take on the whole of Ravnica as needed, even with his barefists, though that was far from the only trick up his sleeves, including and not limited to the fact that mana-suppression tactics did not work against the living powerhouse. To this sight did the illusionary double scowl.

"You two are not even tired, are you," he asked with a bit of annoyance in his voice as he finally uncovered his face. "You," he stated before pointing towards the cloth-suited fighter, "I can understand. You, though..." At this point did the double point towards the armored lady. "People probably talk about Jace Beleren's illusionary bailiff...what human could stand for twelve hours in full ceremonial armor and show no sign of it?"

Lavinia turned and looked him up and down.

"You'd have more endurance if you exercised once in a while, you know," she simply stated. She was smiling, but that didn't mean she wasn't serious. He also caught the grin on Neos' face, knowing full well the shapeshifter agreed.

"Noted," the double stated with a flat tone and gaze aimed at the Azorius lady before the illusion faded...and apparently Jace had planted his palm over his forehead at some point during this whole display as if he was trying to keep himself calm.

"And the point of that was...?" After a few moments of thought, a few things clicked in his head, to which he reopened his eyes suddenly.

Neos never showed in the Chamber of the Guildpact, and yet here he was showed apparently on guard duty alongside Lavinia. Last he knew, Lavinia didn't even know of the shapeshifter's existence, and that's so Neos could act as him when the planeswalker had to leave Ravnica for something that didn't require him dragging the false human through the Eternities with him. And as for Neos wearing his shirt the way he was...

Tapping into what similarity was held between his own control over illusions and whatever magics this particular Path seemed to use, Jace managed to reverse the illusion back towards when he notice it, realizing that the area around his neck was slightly-plumper than normal under the black cloth.

"...he's wearing a collar under his shirt." Dropping his hand, the illusion of the event disappeared almost immediately, still processing the sight in his head. "And he damned near killed me the one time I even joked about him wearing one." Very gingerly did he placed his gloved hand over his face, the tips of his thumb and middle finger over his closed eyes. "I really have been asleep for a month straight if my mind's making this stuff up..."

 

Ending Point: A4

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Counter Corps - Path of Remembrance - Neos' POV~

Subconsciously did Neos pull down the right sleeve a bit more to cover what traces of the cruelly-carved R remained visible as he felt a new...no, familiar presence enter Remembrance's Path, releasing a sigh he hadn't realized he was holding at first. Though trying to hide the R did nothing to hide multitude of other scars that littered both of his arms.

With sharp eyes did he recognize Arturia as she arrived among the snow of the path, though the rather-faint scent and the overwhelming feeling of...confusion? struck him soon afterwards from her form within the snow, though he managed to only raise an eyebrow at such sensation.

Peachy, he thought to himself. If the other paths were any indicator, I really don't want her to see some of my scars on this path. With a faint gulp did he manage to suppress his feeling naked without his yellow suit jacket before giving the leader of the Counter Corps a sympathetic eye.. "You don't quite seem yourself, m'dear. Penny for your thoughts?" He had not really moved from his little spot against the statue upon the path, though he did wind up warming up the spot he was leaning on. "And possibly a boost to one's internal warmth?"

 

Ending Point: A2

[Merci]

~ Arturia Pendragon ~

Pathway to Remembrance - A1

 

The knight Arturia, champion of the Counter Corps, walked through the snowy landscape, remaining on-guard at all times with her blade ready to be drawn instantly should an enemy burst out from any direction. A strange sense of nostalgia seemed to follow her wherever she went, reminding her of the cold winters that Camelot used to have to endure each year.

 

The experience that the Infinite Tsukuyomi left her, now that they'd been uncovered, weighed her down, but this wasn't the time to let herself succumb to personal matters. Although she continued to act as the Counter Guardian, and possessed the power to do so, the experience itself had indeed affected her, ever so slightly. In fact, there had been a very subtle difference that perhaps many of the others had either missed or disregarded - the 'h' that had been dropped from the name Arthuria. Having been called by Arturia for the past twenty or so years, the fact that she was using that oh so slightly different name must've gone by unnoticed to her until that very moment. Her feelings about this were mixed. If nothing else, she was confident enough in her fighting skills that they wouldn't be any less extraordinary even after the massive influx of combat-unrelated memories. Through sheer force of will, she was capable of emulating her former self.

 

In any case, now that she was on the Pathway to Remembrance, she had a feeling that more of her past would be rising up similarly. Her experiences not merely as a Counter Guardian, but as a king and as a combatant in the Holy Grail War. There was no telling what she would have to face, but truly, the challenges up ahead could very well prove to be the most troublesome of all. Since entering the domain of the Origin, she'd always had a bad feeling about this particular one, hence why she'd saved it for last. It couldn't be quite as imposing as the horrors of Death or the repulsiveness of Truth, but having your own past, the unchangeable mistakes that you have already made dug up, coming back to haunt you - that may very well be the hardest thing of all.

 

"You don't quite seem yourself, m'dear. Penny for your thoughts?" Just as she neared the statue, a familiar Ditto in the form of a human entered her field of vision. That is to say, the same one fought with, yet also attempted to kill just over an hour ago. "And possibly a boost to one's internal warmth?"

 

"Hello, Neos. I see that you have made it all the way here as well. I suppose the Pathways have taken somewhat of a toll on me, just like it may have done for you, but this is nothing I cannot handle."

 

Arturia gave a nod, noting the scars on his body, although she did not bother to ask about them. Not even the one that appeared to have been carved in a brutal fashion, forming the letter 'R', which he seemed to be trying to hide out of shame. In warfare, she'd long since gotten used to seeing such things on other soldiers, especially those whom had been taken prisoner for some time, left to the enemy's whims. Thus, in the midst of a warzone, even if it were one that played on the combatants' own personal identities, was it really surprising to ask about such things? Even a Ditto was still an organic being, and could still be harmed like any other, after all.

 

"As for warmth, I do appreciate the offer. However, due to the Dragon Factor infused with my body, it would take far more than this to make me feel even remotely cold." She explained, gesturing towards herself. "Dragons in the world of Pokémon are a spectacular type with many strengths, but they're weak to the cold and there are also many greater than them. However, where I came from, dragons were a transcendent species that extensions of nature itself, far more powerful than anything else. They expelled huge amounts of magical energy merely by breathing, and a single attack would've been enough to wipe out an entire army, and when angered, whole nations could be annihilated."

 

Indeed, despite the lightweight outfit that she was wearing, the low temperatures in this snowy plain didn't appear to register on Arturia at all, the aura that she emitted being as intimidating as ever. It was as though the very cold itself were too afraid to approach her without getting burned. Badly.

 

"Thus, having their blood infused with me grants me many of their properties. If other magi could be considered generators of mana, then I would be a factory of mana, burning up so much excess energy that snow like this means very little."

 

Then, she fixated her gaze on the forest up ahead. There was a hint of distraction, and perhaps reluctance in her eyes, but overall she was as fierce and determined as always.

 

"Now then, are you continue to stand there purposelessly, or shall we get a move on? As we speak, the Divine may have already reached the Prologuous, or worse, the Door of Origin itself."

 

Ending Point: A2

[Maeriberii Haan]

 

"Tenco"

Pathway of Death, D9

 

“Huff…huh…that ended better for me than expected.”

 

Once the king’s sword had been removed from her heart, Tenco struggled to have the gaping wound there be healed off as fast as she could. With the help from the energy well of her sword, it closed off perfectly just five seconds later, but while she succeeded in doing so before she died for real, Tenco was visibly still breathing heavily - the burden she put on her body in her desperate attempt to hit Arturia as her heart being almost obliterated by the king’s blade earlier was still very visible. She knew that she only had seconds at most to hit the king, get her blade as far away from her, then to heal her wound before her death was guaranteed, so it’s literally a big miracle that she could survive for as much as she did earlier. Even if she used her healing magic to help her body survive not having a functional heart, it would only gave her several extra seconds at best. So in the end, if it’s not a miracle, it might be just due to pure luck that she managed to hit Arturia and blow her away without dying in the meantime. However, to be fair, she didn’t plan on getting hit in such way in the first place.

 

The analysis of Arturia Pendragon has been concluded.

 

But, it’s not important now. What’s important was that she had managed to land a single hit to Arturia and her barrier. At the tip of her sword now, a barely visible, scarlet thread connected it to Arturia’s body. The sword had successfully discerned Arturia’s nature with that hit, and now it could start to exploit the king’s weaknesses and vulnerabilities, all the while Tenco having secured a direct access to Arturia’s qi pool, which, by a quick look, was ridiculously immense. As a testing ground to see how much she could get away with, Tenco had herself use Arturia’s pool to completely rejuvenate herself, which she managed to do successfully.

 

Since her sword has discerned the nature of Arturia’s barrier, Tenco could actually have it and the blasts made by it to bypass the barrier by changing its nature in such way to pass through it, or she could have the sword outright absorb the barrier into itself. This would also mean that her attacks would actually be able to threaten Arturia now, something that she had been failing to do before this point of the battle. For her to actually get that opening to turn the battle around just with one hit felt a bit bizarre to Tenco, who was still really not used with the swords or its quirks just yet. As much effort she had when she tried to land a hit on the king, she still feel that for the battle to be able to be turned just by a single random hit was kind of cheap. Not that she would complain since she really needed that breakthrough.

 

Even then, it was obvious that claiming her victory at that moment would be completely stupid even for her. She still could not completely handle Arturia’s invisibility really well, not to mention her ludicrously boosted speed during the duration, and the king was still far more powerful and skilled than her on top of all that. Although Tenco had gathered enough information to deduce that Arturia was using something quite similar to qi to ramp up her parameters to a ridiculous degree too, the girl couldn’t get herself to be on the same level as her even with the access to the king’s spirit pool. Her body simply could not take that much more reinforcement. At the maximum level of reinforcement she could manage to use at the moment (just slightly lower capabilities wise than Arturia at the start of their battle), she was still able to have her internal metabolism and everything else catch up to the increased pace and work forced on them, but if she went into an even higher power level, she doubted she’d be able to pull it off without having her body practically exploding from all the extra work she subjected it to do.

 

The thing she could do, however, was to bring Arturia down to a level she could manage. With her sword managing to analyze her completely like she originally planned, accessing her pool to block her from using it to increase her parameters would be her best bet. It’s easier said than done, however. She’d still need a lot of time to be able to start turning her pool of qi against the king, since she only had access to the king’s pool right now, not an actual full control. If she wanted to dismantle Arturia’s ridiculous parameter boost, then she had to figure out the best way to take over her qi reserves in bulk rather than gradually like she was doing right now.

 

She stopped thinking about that when she noticed Arturia’s signature to start moving again towards her. In response to that, the girl prepared herself by recasting her reinforcements to her body as she held her sword before her. However, she could then notice that instead of rushing towards her again, Arturia was walking towards her, and if her behavior of before was any indication, this would mean that she wished to talk to her again. When she was closer, Tenco could see the king’s full figure once more, and to see what her attack did to her. The point-blank blast seemingly had managed to leave a mark on her, but it had since been healed from how it looked now. But that wasn’t important. Tenco rejoiced inside of herself as she saw the king’s physical condition, realizing that finally, her attack could actually harm the king, and she would have an actual chance to win the battle. The thought of continuing the battle was halted momentarily however when Arturia herself started to speak.

 

“You’re actually going this far to fight for what you believed to be that girl’s dream, it seems. As I’ve said before, this is quite commendable. This kind of headstrongness amidst an insurmountable odds and impossibility, you definitely reminded me of someone from my past.” The king paused for a bit, smiling slightly as she started to reminiscence about her past, but that smile immediately disappeared after she shook her head and continued her address not long afterwards, replaced with a faint, but clearly visible scowl.

 

“However, unlike him, you are a true faker. You hid behind your fake ideals and optimism, and fought for someone just since her desire lined up with what you really wished to get. Unlike him, I doubt the feeling you call “love” that you felt to that girl is really love. From what I’ve seen, it is simply an irrational unhealthy forced obsession more than anything, something that you fabricated just so you can use her to fill your hole of a characterization. That feeling is simply there since you needed her to define who yourself is. Do you even know the difference between them? Of love, lust, and obsession, I doubt that you even know or care about what set them apart.

 

Before you get any wrong ideas on me, let me make it clear that I am not here to help you resolve your own personal issues. For me, your or the other member of the Corps’ personal issues are completely insignificant in the big picture, only an obstacle that took precious time that could’ve been used to make attempts to stop Protheus. However, an obstacle is an obstacle. What am I trying to do here is simply to put down a threat to the Corps’ goal in this place.

 

There is no point for me to concern myself about whether you kept on being a satellite that you are or not. It didn’t matter to me at all whether you’ll end up still being as empty as you are right now or not. You can feel any sort of feeling for that deceased girl, and I shall not bat an eye to it, as it’s not my business to be concerned with it. But right now, you’re presenting yourself as a threat by declaring that you will use the Door for your own personal gain, and as the Counter Guardian, I am obliged to neutralize your threat. With my words or with my sword, as long as one worked out in the end, method would not matter.

 

So, “Tenco”, let me ask. What exactly made you be this stubborn? You already knew about the truth, so why?”

 

“Because…Arturia…it’s because I refuse to believe that it is the truth! Because it is never the truth in the first place.

 

I love her. I really do. If there is one thing that I could say about myself that is a complete truth, then it’s my feeling towards her. Even if it sounds ridiculous that I have this feeling just after barely meeting her before, even if I seems to be unhealthily obsessed with her, even if I once hated her so much to the point of getting her killed, I still love her, and for her, I will keep on fighting you.

 

You understand my feeling here, ri-”

 

“If that is your attempt at comedy, then even Protheus’ entire existence itself would be a better joke than this.

 

Well then. You said you loved her that much, right? Then tell me, why do you love her? What makes you willing to go this far to fight for her, allegedly, even at the risk of endangering the multiverse?”

 

“…What do you mean by that?”

 

“Does that simple question sound like gibberish to you, Tenco? What I meant there was clear.

 

Why do you love that girl? Why do you love the girl named Tenshi Hinanawi?”

 

“…”

 

“Is my voice too faint to be heard by you, Tenco?”

 

“…

 

...It’s…it’s because she’s so nice to me, and…it’s…it’s…it’s beca...because…” And Tenco’s voice trailed off into nowhere as she started to get lost on her own thought, unsure on how would she answer the question.

 

“You once hated her so much for being who she was and due to what she did, and now you’re falling head over heels in love towards her. You haven’t even met her for more than five times or for more than hours at best, but now you’re facing the will of the multiverse itself just for her, as you claimed. What makes you love her to the extent that you’re trying to show me now?”

 

“Because…”

 

“She has killed a lot of people, and both of you knew about this fact. Yet back then you insisted that she did nothing wrong, and now you love her despite of that. Is there even any reasoning, logical or otherwise, for that?”

 

“I…”

 

“What do you see in her so that you loved her like this? Do you see yourself, or someone else? If you loved her oh so this much, then you should be able to answer this question.

 

Go on, go ahead. Answer it. I wished to hear your honest answer, Tenco.”

 

Tenco was silent now.

 

“So there’s that, apparently. In that case, your case is now perfectly clear to me now.

 

Tenco…what you showed here…this feeling that you showed to me…it is simply as far away and removed as possible from what love truly is. Something as shallow…something as self-centered as this…this is not love at all.”

 

“But…but I really do love her!”

 

“Then at the very least, you should have an actual reasoning for why! Actual love does not come out of nowhere!”

 

“Do I really need one? I love her because…that is what I wished to feel!I don’t need any reasons if I want to love someone! If you can’t understand this feeling due to distancing yourself from everyone else, then don’t claim that my feelings to her are not love, Arturia!”

 

“THEN THAT FEELING IS AS FAR AWAY AS LOVE AS POSSIBLE!” That sudden yell was followed by complete silence. The source of that yell, Arturia, was looking absolutely livid right now, not even bothering to keep her composure anymore. This sudden change of personality was downright shocking, and Tenco was left unable to respond to that in any way, realizing that she had inadvertently pushed the wrong button yet once more. The silence continued for a while as Arturia continued to stare at the girl, before she managed to recompose herself, and continue talking as if it had not happened.

 

“What you have there, it is not love. It is simply a mindless, torrid obsession that you’re trying to pass up as something purer and nobler. Even now, you are not fighting for her – you are just using her name as an excuse to act in self-fulfilling manner while making yourself to feel better about it. There is nothing true, and nothing pure from your feelings for her – to use the person you allegedly loved in such ways…there is simply no way that I would consider yourself to be sincere. To do that and still persistently claiming that you love her…you are completely shameless and irredeemable, it seems.

 

Once again, you gave me proof that you are a terrible actor, Hinanai. Or, alternatively, if you are not actually a rotten person there, someone who did not actually understand what the concept of love is supposed to even mean. But it shouldn’t matter, and as I’ve said before, I shouldn’t concern myself over insignificant points such as this. It’s already a registered fact after all that you’d just stay inside that bubble of delusion you are in right now without hearing my points, and I should not waste my time in trying to repeat myself over and over again when all it would do is wasting our time and made us dislike each other more.

 

Rather than dwelling on that however, I shall ask you one question instead so we can actually go somewhere in this conversation. I will not ask this question tothe Tenco mask you’re wearing, but to the real you, hiding behind that disguise. Deny that this is the truth as much as you want; at this point I could not oblige myself to care.

 

Deep down there, you knew you wanted to be able to escape being the satellite of others. You still wanted to be yourself, not the disguise of “Tenco” you’re using now. You know that even Tenshi wished that you could finally be your own individual, and with how much you’re using her wishes as an excuse here, it’d be safe to assume that you too wished for the same thing.

 

And most of all, you know that there’s nothing forcing you to be what you are right now. Nothing is forcing you to revolve yourself around others. Nothing forces you to use others to define yourself further and further. Nothing forces you to use this disguise and feel things that you are not truly feeling. You know you can escape that fate of yours on your own. After all, even as part of that girl’s shadow, you were never bound to her once you became your own being. You might have parts of that girl’s personality within you, and you would carry the burden of some of her hidden sides within you, and got them exaggerated to boot, but ultimately you as a whole should be able to be independent from her without anything stopping you. As you’ve said, all this time you are yourself, and that’s all there is to it.

 

Then, why didn’t you just do it? Why don’t you just be yourself, if that is what you truly wanted?”

 

“…”

 

“I have made myself clear, there’s no need for me to repeat what I just said like what I did before unless you’re deaf. As much as this aimless discussion wasted a lot of our time already as I’ve said times and times again before, I shall give you more time to think of an answer for my question.”

 

What followed was yet another round of silence, as Arturia calmly waited for whether Tenco would answer her question or not, while the blue-haired girl once again was seemingly at loss of words on how she should react to it, still overwhelmed with a lot of other thought at once. She was still taking Arturia’swords regarding to her feelings for Tenshi really hard, and the question she asked now was almost too much for her to handle. It took three minutes before a small voice broke the silence.

 

But it was not an answer that either of them expected.

 

“…

 

…I can? What do you…?

 

I-I…actually can?” It was as far away from the defiant reply that Arturia had expected to hear from the girl, something that the blue-haired girl had displayed over and over again even in front of the truth itself. However, as Arturia heard that confused, weakly questioning tone coming from the girl, the king showed what could be taken as an expression of satisfaction of sort. The once impenetrable fortress that she besieged has started to crack. A faint, but noticeable change of tone happened to the blue-haired girl as she spoke this time. It was subtle, but something changed within the girl that just spoke those words. The moment those words escaped her lips it was no longer Tenco who was speaking. With that one question, the last layer of her mask fell off from her person, revealing the true girl that had been hiding behind it all these times.

 

After she said her words, in silence, the blue-haired girl started to wonder. She wondered why Arturia made it sound far easier to do than it was in reality. She had been trying all this time to do just that, but she failed to do so again and again. Did she do anything wrong in her efforts? What…exactly held her back from successfully becoming someone independent of others? Why couldn’t she have an identity of her own even until now?Arturia refused to give her any reply. The king simply stood there, watching her in silence as she struggled with her confusion about her own self and her feelings.

 

“Did-did I do anything wrong? Why can’t I just…?”

 

The girl was shaking. She kept asking herself for an answer, but she kept on being unable to actually get one, and that exercise in futility started to get on her nerves. It was not long afterwards that she dropped to her knees abruptly, before being reduced to staring the ground as she kept on asking the question over and over again to herself, still wondering why she could not just do it. It was hard to believe that it was the same girl that confidently declared that she would defeat the Counter Guardian for the sake of fulfilling someone else’s wishes some minutes ago.

 

And even, she realized that Arturia’s words regarding how her feelings towards Tenshi looked like was completely on the mark. That realization of how far away she had moved from what supposedly a pure and sincere feeling terrified the young girl completely. She tried to desperately convince herself that it was not the case, but at that point, the truth was too much for her to avoid anymore. ‘But I do really love her!’ she tried to scream, but deep inside she knew that even if her feelings were actually there, it was still nearly as shallow as Arturia said.

 

The girl was frustrated with all the things currently screaming inside of herself. If Arturia was right then it should be easy for her, then she should’ve been successful now, and all of this trouble wouldn’t happen. If only she knew about how, then she wouldn’t be tortured by the pathway anymore, and she wouldn’t even be here fighting against her leader just because she was afraid of her uncertain future.

 

If only she could be her own individual, then she would have something that she genuinely desired. She would have her own vision. She wouldn’t need to attach herself to others or the dreams of others anymore. She wouldn’t lie to herself regarding her own feelings, and she wouldn’t have to put as much burden to others like what she did now. She would be able to finally feel completely alive, without deluding herself about anything ever again. And most importantly, she wouldn’t have to have this completely sickening obsession she had for Tenshi that she thought to be love.

 

So…why she couldn’t actually do that? Why she couldn’t claim her own individuality, instead of clinging to Tenco’s identity and defining herself completely using Tenshi as a keystone of everything about her? Was Arturia even telling the truth? She continued to stare at the Counter Guardian, holding back her own tears as she did so. She demanded an answer to relieve her from the anguish, but the king was content in simply letting her be, not even saying anything regarding the sight that unfolded before her.

 

Tenco started to scream incoherently. Tears of frustration that she tried to hold back before started to drop towards the cold ground below her. She was feeling completely powerless right now; ironically just right after she managed to gain the biggest edge she could get on this fight against Arturia. After her multiple attempts to deny or dismiss the things that the king said towards her, it was that final question that finally broke her apart.

 

She could see that the king was now smiling. That only made Tenco angrier. Why did she take much enjoyment in seeing her be in this state? Unable to find the answer of the question of a very basic and simple question, while the person asking the question was watching her in amusement. Tenco tried to will herself to attack Arturia now, but she couldn’t even make a move. Something stopped her in her tracks.

 

In hindsight, the girl knew that Arturia was right. As she thought about it more and more, there was never really anything that stopped her from escaping the fate and condition that she subjected herself into. She was right in that if she wished to be her own self, she should’ve been able to do it on her own. However…in the end she never did. Even with that knowledge, she never did try on becoming herself with her own effort. She kept on insisting on being the one which remains unchanging.

 

But why?

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

…Is that really the answer?

 

As she thought about the king’s words more and more, slowly but surely, something finally dawned on her. The answer to that simple question…in the end, was deceptively simple as well.

 

She felt pathetic for not being about to see it from the very beginning. Her utter idiocy for not realizing what she did wrong from the start almost made her laugh out loud just to compensate how much she wished that she could just hit herself as hard as she could now for missing that fact. The answer was surprisingly simple, and even kids wouldn’t have any problems in getting the answer right on the first try. Still shaking a bit, she grabbed her sword again and tried to stand up once more, using the blade to balance herself and stop her from falling into the ground. She wiped the tears and tried to compose herself back, while Arturia responded by looking at her questioningly.

 

“Hm…? Are you done with your groveling?”

 

“I think…yeah...I guess I'm down being in the slump now.

 

I’ll answer your question.

 

Yeah, I guess you’re right. I should’ve been able to do it on my own from the start, which would’ve saved me from a lot of pain, especially now. It’s…silly, really. The answer is always right there, and for some reasons I kept on missing it again and again.

 

I should’ve just done it. I should’ve just tried it out instead of believing deep down that it’s impossible for me to change. I always could, but in the end I once again deluded myself too much to see the obvious answer to this. There shouldn’t even be any harm to try becoming my own person and defining myself and my life with my own discretion, not others. Yet I never did that. All I do is convincing myself that it’s impossible, while grumbling again and again about my failure to do it.

 

The only thing preventing to do it is myself. That’s it. But…that will not be the case any longer.

 

I shall start my own gradation from this moment onwards.”

 

Standing upright once more, the girl started to smile as she prepared her sword. The hole she made earlier at the top of the corridor had been repaired by the pathway, removing her escape route upwards unless she bother herself again with destroying the ceiling again. This time however, she wouldn’t need it anymore.

 

“And also, as much as I hate to admit it, you are right that so far...what I’ve shown to feel for Tenshi was merely a creepy obsession. Not love as what I claimed it to be. I honestly still had no idea whether I truly loved her or not even to this point in retrospect – whether there is any actual feeling of love under all the one-sided mindless obsession I had with her is still a mystery even to me now.

 

I’ll let this matter rest now…and let time decide whether I really do love her or not. However, right now it is not really the important thing for me to talk about.”

 

She had no idea on what actually was inside of Arturia’s mind right now, but there’s no reason for her to be concerned about that. She had known about how she would continue now, and there’s no need for her to be concerned with how others feel about this.

 

“Arturia…there will be no more lies now.

 

For all intents or purposes aside from the name I use now, I am no longer Tenco. No…I will not pretend to be her anymore. I am myself. That’s all there is to it.

 

Despite of everything…I am still really grateful to you, Lady Arturia. If it’s not for you, I wouldn’t be able to realize this fact due to my foolishness. If it’s not for you driving me to this nadir, I will not reach this conclusion about myself and release myself from my own delusion.

 

However, even with all that said and done, I shall still stand for what I am fighting for.

 

I will still fight you for the right of using the Door. Even if I have no idea about how would I use it, even if I do genuinely respect you as my leader despite of everything else, I will not let you be the one to use it.

 

No more tears right now, I will battle you for this right.”

 

“I see. I reckon that it is a full declaration of your opposition against me?”

 

“No reason to take it as anything else. I will win against you this time, because...this is what I truly believe in.”

 

The girl had regained her confidence. That realization, the resolve she just made, it was enough for her to keep on going once more. It wasn’t really much, but it was the push she needed. It was that realization that she always had the ability to solve her own issues inside of herself that really convinced herself to keep on fighting. Slowly but surely, she was losing more and more of her own conviction to fight as Arturia kept on hammering more and more on her mental state and motivation, deconstructing everything she as Tenco stood for one by one. But by being stripped from all of that, being stripped of almost everything that made her “Tenco”, the blue-haired girl managed to renew her conviction, this time without her having to delude herself at all.

 

Without anything to hold the real her back, she wouldn’t let Arturia walk all over her again.

 

“Do you really have what it takes to withhold and prove such ideal, such belief of whether you are capable of shouldering this responsibility?”

 

“No, I don’t. I think we can both agree about that.”

 

“Then you have no reason to try using the door.”

 

“Maybe. Won’t stop me for trying to do it. I know that right now we’re simply wasting our time here, I mean we should’ve just ran through all of this and reach the end as fast as possible, defeat Protheus, get the key, and end this story. As you’ve said we’re just wasting our valuable energy here instead of using them in the pursuit of Protheus. Still, it won’t stop me from continuing.”

 

“Is your sense of reasoning dead, by chance?”

 

“Maybe. I’m just an idiot after all. A stubborn idiot, an idiot all the same.”

 

“You’re not even trying to refute my words anymore now. However, whether this is a product of your arrogance regarding your ability in overcoming me, or simply as you said, a result of your own thoughtlessness, it shouldn’t matter at all.

 

If going against the future of the multiverse is what you wanted, then so be it.”

Arturia disappeared from sight as she finished saying her sentence, and the blue-haired girl immediately felt a calm breeze passing her, moments before the sound of her sword clanking on the ground was heard by her. Looking at it, the girl realized to her horror that during that moment, Arturia had somehow managed to cut up both of her hands precisely at her wrists, passing through the layers of reinforcements that she had set up before. It was soon followed by the all-familiar sensation of pain, which prompted her to duke down in her frantic attempt to attach her hands back to the stumps on her arms using her healing spell.

 

“There is simply no reason for you to believe that you might be in any way having any chance of overcoming me. This is simply a registered fact, not a form of arrogance from yours truly. That advantage you discovered before will not matter in the end.

 

This is your last chance to back down. Knowing your stubbornness however, I doubt you will.”

 

“It takes more than this to stop me, Lady Arturia. If you truly wish to stop me, then kill me just as you said you will times and times again before. Kill me, and do what you have failed to do again and again before. As long as my body is not dry yet, as long as my blood still flows through my veins, as long as this light still resides on my eyes, I will not stop. So kill me if you really wish to stop me.

 

Though that doesn’t mean I’ll just stand here in the meantime.” The blue-haired girl replied, having just managed to attach her hands back to the stump of her arms, using more of Arturia’s qi to restore herself in the meantime. Truthfully, she simply couldn’t really be bothered to refute her leader’s words about her anymore. Whether they’re right or not (and most of the time they’re right), at this point she simply was too tired to argue more with her. Granted, some questions still lingered inside of her head even after all this, but she paid it little mind since it would just hamper her effort in figuring out further steps to be able to overcome the Counter Guardian.

 

She was right that the king’s invisibility and sheer speed would still pose her a problem. But, what surprised her is how she managed to bypass all of her reinforcements with so much ease at that moment when she cut off her hands. It couldn’t be just due to an increase in strength, and the cut was so clean to the point of the girl only realizing what happened after her sword dropped to the ground. It must be due to something else entirely, and the girl realized that she could no longer rely on what she was doing before anymore. Tanking those hits like what she did will be completely suicidal at this point.

 

Without knowing whether her body could take it or not, Tenco closed her eyes as she continuously channeled the qi from Arturia throughout her body, with the only desire of keeping up with the king’s movements, no matter what.

 

“A thief that steals someone else’s appearance and personality, one that steals another’s weapon and abilities, you ended up fighting by stealing and utilizing the life energy of others. Fitting, isn’t it?”

 

It seemed that Arturia was aware that the girl had been siphoning her immense pool of qi for her own benefit all this time. But it shouldn’t be anything to be concerned about at this point. She wouldn’t be able to stop it, after all.

 

“Yeah, I’m just a thief, a faker, just like what you said. Almost nothing about me is original aside from my own existence, but even that is disputable. Though, this is not really the time to point out the obvious isn’t it?

 

Alright then, I'll start! Fire Sign: Subterranean Prominence!”

 

The sea of flame once again returned, engulfing everything on the corridors as soon as the girl called out its name. It didn’t take long before she could sense some distortions on the flames caused by Arturia’s winds, and as the distortion closed in, the girl immediately summoned a clone to replace herself before disappearing in the midsts of the flame just a split second before the razor wind hit where she was, obliterating the clone.

 

It happened several times in rapid succession, where the blue-haired girl narrowly managed to avoid Arturia’s attack by using her clones as a substitute. She never really got the chance to attack so far, but the girl was oddly content with what she was doing, even if it seemed to only delay the inevitable more than being a legitimate resistance. And then, just after she recovered from making another clone, she could feel Arturia’s wind coming closer at her, and this time she had been caught off guard, not having enough time to dodge the attack using her clones.  

 

Instead, she brought up her sword, and made a parrying motion just moments before she would’ve been cut down. The sound of metal clashing with each other could then be heard, before the intense wind suddenly disappeared from around the girl, signifying that Arturia had retreated momentarily.

 

Just a brief moment later, the girl once again could feel the breeze approaching her, and turned around just in time to block Arturia’s strike with her own sword. She was still unable to see the Counter Guardian, but the girl had somehow managed to correctly block and parry the king’s attacks, this time while attempting to attack her in return. It was clear that Arturia was still faster than her, but slowly but surely the girl was using her opponent’s own reserves to catch up.

 

Amidst the sea of flames that didn’t hurt the two combatants, Arturia repeatedly attempted to land a hit on the blue-haired girl, and the girl kept on blocking, parrying, or dodging those slashes, strikes, and lunges, using her sword’s shapeshifting nature to cover if she incorrectly read the king’s movements. How did she manage to counteract the king’s invisibility in a short time was still a mystery at that point, but it seemed that whatever method she was using, it proved to be effective enough for her to still stay up without Arturia managing to land a single hit on her.

 

Another peculiar thing that happened was how the golden sword glowed anytime it made contact with Arturia’s own, which prompted her to change her combat style on the fly due to being cautious regarding it for some reasons. It had happened before during the first few times their sword made contact with each other, and with what the blue-haired girl had managed to do just by having her sword land a single hit to the Counter Guardian, Arturia had to be careful in approaching it. However, she was aware that at this point she would definitely have to keep up the pressure of her attacks, and thus, she had to take the risk of having the golden sword did whatever it meant to do.

 

As she continued her assault relentlessly, Arturia then realized how the girl managed to render her invisibility moot for the most part. The girl had shown some form of presence detection using what the king deduced as an individual’s life force trace or something similar, although it alone wouldn’t be enough for the girl to correctly block, parry, and dodge her attacks for the most part. Arturia concluded that it most likely was thanks to the sea of flames raging around her, and the clones she had eliminated before the girl started to fight back. The girl seemingly detected her movements using her Invisible Air’s winds as it distorts the flames she summoned, and she managed to utilize the clones’ sacrifice to get a more correct prediction of her movements. She seemed to also have used them to roughly calculate the reach and dimension of each of the king’s strikes, and with all the prana she stole from her to reinforce herself, the girl had seemed to get a feel of each of the king’s attack, and she would have the reaction time to respond to them accordingly. It was a messy strategy, but Arturia had to admit that it had worked very well in combatting her so far.

 

As time went on, Arturia realized that her prana pool had really been taking a significant enough hit due to the girl stealing it to power herself up, and while it’s still a small portion in comparison to what the king had, she realized that as time went on, the girl slowly but surely started to actually keep up with her attacking speed. At this point, the king deemed it a necessary risk to take to just push through her with whatever she got before the blue-haired girl could actually start her counteroffensive. And thus, she abandoned her original plan of using an erratic style to push down contact with her opponent’s sword to a minimum, and returned to her original style.

 

What followed was a series of increasingly rapid strikes as Arturia aimed to attack the blue-haired girl from any angles she could manage, and even with the girl’s newfound speed, she was visibly starting to be overwhelmed by each slashes, some even grazing her momentarily, giving her small wounds that immediately healed off moments after. Downwards, upwards, left, right, a diagonal slash, a rapid thrust aimed to the girl’s heart, a quick strike aimed to decapitate the girl, another attack aimed at her other vitals, Arturia kept on her assault, all the while the girl barely managed to stop the king from landing any of the hits, especially since Arturia’s invisibility was still up. It was visible from the girl’s eyes that she was having more and more of a hard time in reading Arturia’s movements, and the Counter Guardian knew that at this point, it would just need one small hole to end the battle decisively. Focusing her mind as she realized this knowledge, she once more awakened her sword’s ability to cut through anything, and went on with a diagonal downwards slash, using up a portion of her prana to back the attack up, deciding that it was time for her to just end it in one powerful, unblockable strike.

 

And in response to that, the blue-haired girl blocked the attack with an awkward horizontal blade block. Arturia heed it barely any mind, and effortlessly pushed through it to continue her attack, breaking the girl’s golden sword into two easily as her blade continued to travel in its attempt to cut Tenco into two. However, just as it was moments before the sword would cleanly cut the girl in half, the shards from the broken golden sword shape shifted into chains which immediately locked Clarent in its place, all while the blue-haired girl smiled.

 

“By my words, let this voice order you, o’ Knight Sword of Order, Clarent.

 

Shatter.”

 

In response to the chant and a flick of Tenco’s fingers, Arturia’s sword started to crack. It should have been borderline impossible for the legendary sword to break in such manner, but cracks formed on its surface as the golden chains tightened around it. And in the next moment, without much fanfare, Clarent had been unceremoniously broken into three big pieces. Following that was a display that was probably meant to be salt in the wounds, as the golden sword started to reform once more on the blue-haired girl’s hand, completely intact though it was for some reasons looked a bit more brittle than before.

 

The development of events surprised Arturia enough that she dispelled the Invisible Air that coated her. What was left on her hands was only roughly one-third of the broken blade, stationed on its hilt. The king immediately recovered from the surprise however, and calmly, she used her prana to form a blade from what was left of Clarent.

 

“So, this is how much you desired to defeat me, Tenco. To go through such great length…once again, I must praise the spirit you possessed in your insistence.

 

However, it will still not change the reprehensibility of what you are attempting to achieve here.”

 

“And what gives you right to decide that, aside from being trusted by a piece of metaphysical, metaphorical old furniture?”

 

“Do you still cannot see anything wrong with what you are trying to do?”

 

“As a matter of fact, yes. I don’t really see fighting for the right of using the Door to be a bad thing. Why would it be something reprehensible anyway? I’m simply fighting for what I believe to be the right thing. Same as you.

 

I remember now. What you said to us, Counter Corps, back on that spaceship before we entered the pathways.

 

That's why it's necessary. Necessary for me as a Counter Guardian to attain the Key and open the Door myself, so that the multiverse can go back to exactly how it used to be...and so that you will all have a home to go back to when the Origin War is all over

 

It was something to that effect, I believe. Back then I don’t really think much about it, about why it must be you as a Counter Guardian to do it. Well, mainly since my mind’s more occupied with someone else back then. But, our meeting here reminded me of that, and the question resurfaced.

 

Why it must be you? As long as anyone opened the Door using the Key and pass through it with the wish to restore everything back to how it was, it should be fine, right? You said it’s because no one else would be able to shoulder the immense responsibility. But...I simply can’t accept that as the final truth. If that is your reasoning for it, then I am inclined to personally prove you wrong right now. And that’s why I kept on fighting you, aside from my inability to resolve things in any other way. I will prove it to you that even someone like me can still do it and save everything.”

 

“It is simply because I am here to stop someone as self-centered as you or Protheus to use the Door. The Door is a threat as long as it’s used to fulfill such selfish desires. It’s-”

 

“It is not merely a magical lamp or similar wish-granting device, yes.

 

You know, on my desire to have a home to return to, or my own future, I think I’ll just give up on that.

 

Mainly because right now, I now know what I actually wanted to do, what kind of thing I should look forward to - what I actually feel can constitute as my future. There’s no longer any need for me to try using the Door to have a future. After all…I already have one.

 

Yes. This is not my story. Yes, I don’t have anywhere to call home, or a future to actually speak of. My origin, so to be said, is ambiguous at best. However...there is still something that I wanted to do next. I will still fulfill Tenshi’s wish...and my own wish in my own way. Even if my own feeling for her was still conflicted and confused at best, even if this ended up not being a real love that I said it was, I will not waste the greatest gift she gave me. I will honor her in my own way.

 

She said that the future is the best gift someone can give to another. In that case...then it will be my future. That is what I choose to be the thing I wanted the most! I will grant the gift that she had given to me at the cost of her life to others too, so they can enjoy it alongside me! The gift of “future” itself!

 

I have made my decision on what I will do next. That gift…the concept of “future” itself will be my future. Even if I will not have a future of my own, everyone else’s future will be my future too, because I shall grant this gift of future that she sacrificed her life for to everyone! Even if I will not have a home to return to, I’ll just have the entirety of the multiverse itself to be my home! And…even if I have no origin to speak of, then I’ll take this Pathway of Origin itself as my true origin!”

 

“What are you trying to imply here, Tenco?”

 

“Yeah…that will be my decision, the direction I’ll take. It is just…it’s just so I can fulfill my part of promise to her! Even if it takes a thousand year, if it takes me to the end of eternity to do it, no matter whether it is time, space, or dimensions stood between us, I shall meet her once more! And to do that…this is why I choose this to be my future. I don’t want to disappoint her once we meet again. I will proof that the feeling I have inside me is not just a mindless, shallow obsession or lust rather than a genuine love! If I had to wait that long before I could be with her again, I damn well need that proof that the gift she gave didn’t go to waste! But even more than that…what is important now…I don’t want anyone to suffer further here.

 

And because of this...because I wanted to give that future to everyone who had suffered throughout this conflict, I will defeat you and I will restore things to normal again! Even if I am just nobody, I shall embody everyone’s wishes by going through the Door!”

 

Hearing those words that the girl had proudly exclaimed, Arturia could only shook her head in wonder and disagreement, though a closer look on her expression could make it clear that she was smiling, even if it was quite faint.

 

“if that completely naive vision is what you chose to fight for, then I have no right to dispute it. However, I will still not let you reach that Door. By choosing that ideal, and by fighting against me even to this point, you have proven that you are still a threat, and I still cannot trust you to be anywhere close to the Door.

 

Tenco, even if your resolve is ironclad, it is clear that your physical body is breaking down. And thus, it is clear that this battle will not last long, no matter how much you wished to overcome me.”

 

“It doesn’t need to last much longer, anyway. You’re right that my body can’t really take all the reinforcements I used on it well for longer, but...I’ll just beat you before my body kills itself.

 

It’s simple, yeah. Something simple for this simple-minded person, so I guess it’s fitting.”

 

[Tesability Black]

~Counter Corps - Path of Remembrance - Neos' POV~

"Now then, are you continue to stand there purposelessly, or shall we get a move on? As we speak, the Divine may have already reached the Prologuous, or worse, the Door of Origin itself."

A sad smile befell his face at this statement before shaking his head. "Believe it or not, I'm waiting on someone. Remember the request I made before jumping into this place?" After asking this question did Neos look away from Arturia and more towards the other entrances. "I found out early in Death that he actually is on these paths, and confirmed it while traveling through Truth, so I'm waiting for him n---."

"I appreciate your loyalty, Neos, but you need to take care of yourself as well."

Neos had moved from leaning against the statue he was near to standing on his own two feet in a guarded stance, though his expression shifted from a guarded one to a shocked one upon seeing whom had spoken, his arms falling to either side of him and revealing more of the scars, a few of them not quite matching the area of the body they were on...almost appearing to have been moved from elsewhere instead.

"...Jace?!"

The man dressed in his signature blue robes with his hood up shook his head, even has he kept his arms crossed in front of himself.

"Not the original. The real me is on Death's path, but will still be a while yet before he gets here." Taking a quick glance towards Arturia, the solidified double turned back towards Neos, a serious and calm look remaining on his face. "You'd be better off getting as many people through the paths as possible to minimize further casualties than just waiting for me. The lives lost to this pointless war are already enough to create catastrophic consequences."

"...but---"

And the false Jace raised a hand in front of him. "I will not hear an argument on this, Rivetter." Whatever argument the false human had died in his throat as the solid illusion lowered his hand and a sad look fell upon his face. "As both a friend and your boss, you're to get as many as possible through this particular journey, even if you feel the need to come back to here to keep an eye out for me. You know full well I hate having to pull rank like this. Besides," at this point, the blue double rolled his eyes up and away as a faint shade of pink appeared on his cheeks. Embarrassment? "I...need to find a way to undo something that happened first..."

The double gave one final glance towards Arturia before fading from view, before Neos could even ask what the hell the double meant by his words.

"I'd take great care in your actions, Arturia," the Guardian would suddenly hear in her mind. "Such deceptions can lead to a greater cost than you may be willing to pay. You are very-fortunate that Neos is forgiving of most transgressions against him as well..."

If the false human had heard the silent words, he gave no indicator. Instead, he just brought a hand up to under his wide-brimmed hat to scratch the top of his head. "Hydaelyn, help me," he muttered before turning his head back to look towards Arturia. "What is with that forest? First, that clairvoyant girl comes out of it who claimed to know me, now a double of Jace? I'd expect anything and everything to show up in there, Arturia."

[Love of Ghibli]

Butlerok and Rhadamanthys: Prologous 

 

It seemed like the entity had come to terms with their new courses of action. I would not call our actions pointless. If you are an obstacle in our way it only makes sense that we will push past you. However as time goes on it is clear that more of our comrades will come and clear their respective paths. Our numbers will grow and with that the obstacle that we currently cannot move will be a lot less burdensome. So even though you may be origin itself. You will be just another chapter in the story that is our conquest. I do commend you for being this difficult to combat, but you should no better than anyone how this will play out. Rhadamanthys really tried hard not to vocalize his disapproval of this action, but with the whole grand countdown until Butlerok's self-destruction it was probably good that he did not make the situation more tense.

[Maeriberii Haan]

 

Tenco

Pathway of Death D9

 

“Let’s see if you can actually hold on to those words.”

 

Saying that, without even preparing a proper stance first, Arturia waved her hand, and the blue-haired girl realized that the air around her was gone without she having the time to create something to counteract it. Holding her breath immediately in response to the sudden lack of air, the girl then immediately moved away from the area as she looked around to see how wide the area without air was. Before five seconds had passed, the blue-haired girl managed to find a position where she could take a breath again, but it didn’t take Arturia even one second to immediately remove the air around that area too, and this time, she immediately followed it by rushing towards the girl’s position.

 

Holding her breath again, the blue-haired girl tried to fend off the king’s attacks, all the while she kept trying to find a position where she can breathe again. However, while she was able to hold the king back temporarily, even at times managing to push her back with her attacks, the lack of oxygen that she could inhale started to affect her. She started to feel lightheaded all of the sudden, and Arturia, realizing what was happening, intensified her assault, and Tenco decided to just leave her behind as she was getting more and more desperate to breathe. It hadn’t been five seconds since she last breathe, but the stress from her body’s forced metabolism to keep up with the ridiculous increase of her bodily function rate really intensified that lack of oxygen. Her lungs felt like it’s burning now, and she struggled to even stay conscious. While it was hard for her to see, her skin started to show a trace of blue as cyanosis kicked in, and she became paler and paler. Her heart was beating rapidly at one point, but it suddenly slowed down into a crawl. She tried to counteract this by using her healing to restore the damaged tissues, but she knew that it’d only be a temporary answer since she simply couldn’t keep up with healing her body every second as she still couldn’t find any air to breathe into, and while being chased by Arturia to boot. Arturia opt to use this time to attack her using her sword beams, which the girl could only barely dodge as she focused more on scouring the corridors for air.

 

However, even with her going through almost the entire corridor, she couldn’t find any point where the air hadn’t been sucked dry. It was a bit baffling that Arturia could still breathe, as she assumed that even a Counter Guardian like her would still need to breathe. The blue-haired girl was interested to test that theory at first, but she couldn’t really risk a failure at all at that point. Her body was almost at its breaking point, and she knew she would fall unconscious any moments that time. And with Arturia closing in, losing her consciousness would mean that she’d die for sure.

 

Looking around frantically for anywhere to go, the blue-haired girl ended up having her sight locked up at the ceiling above her. The ceiling she once destroyed, but it had been restored not long afterwards. It was, this time, her only hope. It might not even work, but that was the only exit that she was aware of at the moment.

 

As Arturia swung her sword towards her, the girl summoned her wings and coated herself with as much temperaments as she could before rocketing upwards, ramming straight to the stone ceiling above headfirst. The sword managed to land a hit on her leg, and the blood from the wound immediately boiled due to the vacuum state of the corridor they were in. But the girl was not in a condition to care about that, and even if it hurt a lot, she ignored it as she continued her attempt to break through the corridor once more.

 

The impact, even with her coating her body to turn it into something suited for ramming, ended up shattering some parts of her skull and damaging a part of her brain in the process. The impact almost immediately sent her unconscious due to how much damage she suffered on her head, but despite of that, the damage done to the stone ceiling was greater, and the girl kept on pressing up. Her effort was paid in fullnot long after - the girl managed to break through and float freely on the skies of the pathway above the corridor.

 

At the very last moment of her barely conscious self, suffering from heavy brain damage and with her entire internal organ having reduced to husks as their moisture had boiled and evaporated away due to the extensive exposure to the vacuum, in a state of barely even able to constitute as something alive, the blue-haired girl coated herself with a sphere of temperaments in an act that was almost purely an instinctual one as she was almost unable to properly think at that moment. Using the energy from that sphere, the girl practically rebuilt her damaged body completely – replacing every single damaged cell with a new, healthy one by way of the temperaments, and restoring herself into what could be said as her natural state.

 

Two seconds later, the sphere subsided to reveal the blue-haired girl, having completely restored herself from near-death once more. She was still breathing erratically due to the sheer time she had been trying to hold her breath however, though she was definitely roughly back to her prime form. The entire ordeal was a complete torture, and the pain she felt at that time definitely was greater than everything she had experienced before, even compared to the time Arturia’s sword beam pulverized her into a complete paste. Even with how much she had learned to ignore or even enjoy taking damage, she still found being forced into that condition to be something almost unbearable.

 

Regaining most of her bodily function, after making sure that she didn’t suffer any lasting brain damage from her crash with the wall earlier, the blue-haired girl looked down to see Arturia, still standing in the same position she was, simply waved her hand once more, and at that moment, even the air around the girl, the air outside of the corridor, had disappeared into nowhere. However, this time, the girl had anticipated it to happen. She had surrounded herself with a barrier that kept the air around her from being sucked away by Arturia. That air supply wouldn’t last forever of course, especially with her rapidly increased metabolism rate, but even the fifteen seconds it gave her would be enough for Tenco to finish the battle at this point.

 

“Nice trick, Lady Arturia…but I won’t let it catch me off-guard once more!”

 

With that conviction to end the battle decisively, the blue-haired girl dived downwards, her sword ready on her right hand. She wasted no time in rushing towards Arturia and starting her own offensive this time, determined to end the battle no matter what would happen to her in the process. As she continued to siphon Arturia’s qi pool, she gained more and more speed from her attacks, and she put it to good use by keeping up the pressure towards the king. A flurry of slashes, each done with increasingly rapid attack speed, forced Arturia to be on the defensive as she had to parry those attacks with her own broken sword. But even with Arturia kept on being able to match each of her blows, the girl didn’t relent even a bit with her assault, and to assist herself with it, she summoned six of her temperament swords, each of them which immediately showered the Counter Guardian with consecutive rapid-fire blasts of scarlet lasers. Arturia defended herself from it utilizing her barriers, but with the blue-haired girl having fully analyzed its nature, it didn’t take long before the scarlet lasers managed to pierce through the barriers effortlessly, forcing Arturia to manually dodge them all the while the blue-haired girl kept up with her pressure.

 

The girl realized that the air around her was slowly running out, and she would have only a few seconds left to wrap this up before she would be pushed into the position she was at before, and she also realized that she hadn’t been fully recovered from the aftermath of earlier, which would mean that she would have even less time than before to hold her breath to find a position where Arturia hadn’t drained the air from.

 

It shouldn’t be a problem. It will not be a problem.

 

Because I said so. Because this ends now.

 

And then, the girl just stopped. It was abrupt, but she stopped herself from attacking Arturia, even if she knew that she would only have at best two more seconds of air left. Arturia, herself seemingly quite in a pinch at that point, immediately rushed for the kill, launching a strike towards the blue-haired girl’s neck.

 

But, just as the sword touched her skin, scarlet swords erupted from the floor, impaling Arturia’s arm, pinning it to its place. Following that, the blue-haired girl ducked before doing an overhead kick, hitting the Counter Guardian right on her chest, a move that looked like a meaningless attack on her part at first, even with how scarlet temperament seemed to gather between Tenco’s shoe and the king’s chest. Just as Arturia was trying to continue her attack however by breaking the swords pinning her down, the bright crimson light on her chest intensified greatly as Tenco declared the name of her attack.

 

“Lady Arturia…take this!

 

Grand Gradation: Scarlet Origin Rapture!”

 

With that, from the leg, a gigantic blast of energy was fired just moments before Tenco ran out of oxygen to breathe. The ultimate culmination of the philosophy of using someone to define herself, the attack was done by taking control of the entirety of Arturia’s mana pool and firing it all at once. The corridor itself was bathed in scarlet light as everything on the range of the attack was seemingly obliterated completely in that single move, even her own leg that she used to fire the attack. That attack shattered the blue-haired girl’s own sphere of air as she was also thrown at a nearby wall due to the recoil. Her impact with the wall shocked her to the point that she forgot to hold her breath, and started breathing inside what she thought to be a complete vacuum. But, to her pleasant surprise, it seemed that the air had suddenly returned to nice break from all the bad things that had happened so far, and almost made her forget that the attack had costed her that right leg she used as an impromptu cannon.

 

Seeing no Arturia around, the girl sighed before she put both of her hands at the stump where her leg was, and focused as much energy that she could scrape for towards it as possible. Creating an entirely new limb instead of just stitching the old one back into place required her to use a lot more energy, as it was almost qualified as outright matter creation rather than healing. While she might have done this earlier at the aftermath of Arturia’s first sword beam, back then her energy pool was still fresher than it was right now, and with her last rapture earlier, she couldn’t use Arturia’s pool anymore to help her recover. She knew that it’s still possible to restore her legs, however. It would just really tire her out, even if she tapped into the reserves of her golden sword or using her environment to gather the energy from.

 

Closing her eyes, she started to direct the temperaments she gathered to form the structure of her leg. While it could be seen as something too complex for her to do especially with how much she struggled earlier during her lessons with Gyokuen, this time the girl managed to do it simply because she was following the natural rhythm to form the leg instead of imposing her own will towards the temperaments. It was the most basic principle of healing magic, after all. The restoration of things to its natural state was the core of it all, and as Tenco could attest, it was the true form of her own ability. And thus, what she was doing now was just restoring her leg back into its natural, undamaged state.

 

At the first few seconds, what was there was only a chaotic maelstrom of free-running temperaments, but then, after a minute had passed, the bone structure had successfully formed from that maelstrom. It was soon followed by the muscle fibers from the stump of her leg started to grow and intertwine with the bones, covering it with flesh. Skin soon followed to cover the pulsating red flesh, and once it was fully covered and looked almost like normal, the girl felt a slight jolt as her nervous system at that leg had been restored, followed with such small details such as her feet nails. The entire process felt tingly, and it took around five minutes total for her from when she started until she could finally move that leg again. After testing her newly recovered leg’s functions by kicking the corridor’s walls repeatedly (which ended up only hurting her leg) and walking around a bit, the girl decided that it’s time for her to return to where she last saw Arturia just to make sure that the battle was finished.

 

Using her sword to light up the area, Tenco returned to the site of her battle. The aftermath of her attack was not really pretty to look at, to say the least, just to show how much qi Arturia had. The giant blast of laser had for the most part decimated the corridor as far as she could see, blasting through the floor, the ceiling, and the walls separating the corridor with the others, and while it didn’t outright break through all of them, the girl felt that it’d only require her a light tap to break through the weakened stone walls. All that she could see before her was complete devastation. It probably extended all the way through the end of the corridor, and even to things beyond it.

 

Staring speechlessly at the utter destruction before her, the girl felt that even Arturia wouldn’t be able to survive something like this, especially since she was using the king’s own energy to do this. And well, she didn’t seem to be around anymore, so it would be safe to assume that she had vaporized the Counter Guardian with that one last attack. It was regrettable, and the girl still couldn’t really put her mind on how would she explain that to the other members of the Counter Corps later, and she still feeling a bit pained that she had to do it to the person she ended up genuinely respected, but in the end, it’s either her or the Counter Guardian.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Even as Tenco tried to not think about it much, questions started to pop inside of her mind. Did she have any choice in the matter? Maybe if she was not as stubborn as she was…maybe if she let go of her delusion and desperation faster, maybe if she kept quiet about her issues, maybe Arturia would still be here. There was no point in talking about how much she wished the past would change however. She couldn’t change what had happened, after all. What had been done was done; nothing could be done to it anymore.

 

Maybe, this time, she did need to stop deluding herself and accept things as they were, and just tell the others about it as necessary, no matter what would happen next due to it. The girl sighed as she continued her stride. There’s no more reason for her to be down and moping after this. As unforgivable as what she did, even if once again she survived at the cost of someone else’s life, no way she’d let them down by being depressed now. She had a goal now, and even if it’s still flimsy, and even if the reasoning for her to overcome Arturia in the first place was similarly as flimsy, it’s better than nothing. It’s enough for her to move forward at least, and that’s enough to make her feel content.

 

As a gesture to honor her fallen opponent, Tenco spared a moment to stand in the middle of the horizontal crater she caused, closing her eyes and uttering a short prayer to no-one in particular for the king. After the brief moment of silence had passed, the girl opened up her eyes, and prepared herself to continue on her way – if not for her noticing that the thin thread on her sword still persisting. It was then followed by an all-familiar wind blow, and in the next second a blade made of light almost separated her head from her body, only ended up missing her by a strand of hair.

 

“This is not the end yet.”

 

Feeling a movement on her side, the blue-haired girl barely managed to summon one of her swords as Arturia suddenly attacked her again with a golden sword made from solidified mana. She managed to block the attack cleanly, but the impact from the clash broke the two weapons. Arturia summoned another sword and attacked her again, and the blue-haired girl did the same to protect herself from it. Once again, as the two of them clashed, the swords shattered into pieces before disintegrating. Tenco then swung using her Sword of Hisou that she held in her other hand, but Arturia dodged the strike before backing out a bit.

 

“…You managed to survive that, Arturia?”

 

“Yes, and I will still not let you proceed, Tenco.”

 

At that point, it was clear that the two of them had been really drained from the long fight they have been in. Tattered and breathing heavily, Tenco hadn’t fully recovered her own energy after she restored her own leg earlier. On the other side, Arturia was definitely looking worse than her, even if the determination in her eyes was still as strong as before, if not even stronger. Even if it did not kill her as the blue-haired girl thought at first, it was clear that her attack earlier had done a lot of number to the weakened Counter Guardian. She was limping, and she was clearly wounded all over. The position where the girl kicked her was still very visible on her chest, and it was the point where she seemed to be wounded the most. And then, her once-gigantic reserve of energy had seemed to just disappear into nowhere after the girl used up almost everything there.

 

“Arturia, I’ve won. So can you just let me pass and wrap this up?”

 

“I cannot let you do that. Even if this kills me, as a Counter Guardian I shall not let you pass if that means you’ll put the fate of the multiverse in jeopardy.”

 

“You kept on repeating that.

 

Arturia…why? Why can’t you believe in me?”

 

“Because I cannot see any reason why I should believe in you, simply put. I will not put everyone’s fate into a gamble just due to several sweet words from an obviously selfish person such as you.

 

If you really want to be the one to pass through the Door, then prove it to me that you’re actually worthy of being trusted with that kind of responsibility!”

 

“What kind of proof…” Her frustration resurfacing, Tenco went ahead to attack Arturia directly with her sword. “What kind of proof do you still actually need, Arturia?!”

 

“I still don’t see someone that could actually continue my duty here when I looked at you. The only thing I see here is an overconfident, petulant brat! If you’re really more than that as you said, then show it to me!” Dodging the slash cleanly, Arturia then lunged at Tenco with her sword, but it broke before it could hit Tenco as it hit and shattered a makeshift barrier the girl erected.

 

“Yeah…” the blue-haired girl spat some blood to the ground, before wiping what’s left of it on her mouth. The creation of the barrier had taken a toll on her. “You’re right. I’m a petulant brat. I’m overconfident. That’s pretty much who I am. I guess we can both agree on that.

 

But…this time, the one to have enough resolve to end this for everyone’s sake is this so-called petulant brat!”

 

“And how do you think I can believe that someone like you can pull it off?”

 

“I know I’m a deeply self-centered person, and usually, as you’ve said, someone like me is the worst kind of person to be trusted with the Door’s power. But…”

 

“So you’ve admitted it yourself that you’re unfit to shoulder this task.”

 

“However…unlike before…this time I don’t have any desires to be fulfilled by the Door!” Saying that, Tenco rushed forward like a bullet, hoping to catch the king off-guard with a strong slash.

 

“And what does it have to do with our current situation?” The king, forced to block the strike awkwardly, ended up being pushed backwards, and having to block the attack using her own arms since she did not get the chance to summon another sword.

 

“You said it yourself that the reason only Counter Guardians like you are fitting to do this job is because you don’t have anything to be fulfilled by the Door, as you’re simply doing what the Throne ordered you to do. I guess it’s now the same case with me now.” Not relenting with her assault, Tenco followed it with a standard one-two combo, which Arturia blocked again using her reinforced arms.

 

“At this point, with me having deciding on what kind of future I actually wanted to have, I don’t really have any reason to actually be the one to pass the Door. The only reason I keep on fighting now…it’s really because I want to prove it to you that others can actually shoulder this burden.

 

Am I overdoing it, fighting for what I believed in no matter how petty it is, until this point? I don’t know, though I won’t really care if it’s really the case. I really respected you, Arturia. Even if it’s not to the point of complete, utter adoration that I showcased when I still hid behind my mask, I still look up to you. You’re still the only leader I’ll follow. But…right here, with you still not being able to understand what I’m fighting for truly…I’ll keep on fighting. If my voice can’t reach your heart…then with this sword of mine, my words shall be delivered to there.”

 

Hearing that, a faint smile formed on the king’s face before she summoned a pair of swords in the middle of Tenco’s chain of attacks, and went on to dodge the following hits so she could be the one on the offensive now. Even if she was not that accustomed in using a pair of swords rather than a single two-handed sword, Arturia’s assault forced Tenco to a corner. At least, until the girl felt that she saw an opening, and fired off a blast from her scarlet sword. The king dodged it at the nick of the time, but Tenco used the distraction caused by it to keep a distance from Arturia so she could get room to recover.

 

“So you’re audacious enough to expect me to believe that you’ve changed this much since thirty minutes ago.”

 

“Yeah, you can say that. Not saying that I expected you to believe it anyway.”

 

“Well then…maybe you’re not as hopeless as I thought. That said, I see no reason to continue asking you for questions. I have the answers I wanted now.

 

And with that, I don’t see any reason to keep my own façade up.”

 

“H-huh? What do you mean?”

 

“To start off…” The king stopped in her tracks instead of continuing to attack the blue-haired girl. She looked at her for several seconds, before lifting her gaze up towards the ceiling.

 

”I am not the real Arturia. At first I was under the impression that you are aware of this fact, but perhaps I overestimated you a bit.”

“…Uh…w-wha?

 

Wa-wait! Then who are you?”
 

“I am…simply a construct made by this pathway as a way to test you, made from your interpretation of Arturia, and your worries about her and your own future. Thus, I am not an accurate representation of her, if that is what you might ask next. Since you genuinely believed that I am the real Arturia despite how different I acted compared to her, I decided to keep up the façade and act accordingly. However, even then, my reactions and everything else are genuine so far. And I believe that the real Arturia would act similarly as me if faced with a similar situation.

 

Now, with that out of the way…” The construct Arturia then summoned yet another sword, and pointed it towards Tenco. “It is time for this battle to end. I don’t think I can maintain my presence here for longer, and you have to continue on your way.”

 

“…I see. If that’s what you want, then sure.” The confirmation that the person before her was not really Arturia had lifted off a figurative heavy weighting from Tenco’s back. There were nothing for her to worry about now. Between the two of them, this time there wouldn’t be anything holding them back. As a gesture of politeness, Tenco bowed at the construct before she prepared her own sword and stance.

 

“Before we proceed, I need to thank you first. If it’s not for you, then-”

 

“No need to, for that was simply a part of my purpose here in this pathway. With you having finding your answer to your own questions, and an actual resolve to move forward, that alone is enough.

 

But enough talk. Even with that said, I will not let you pass unless you overcome me genuinely. With that resolve inside of your heart, what’s left is to see if that will actually amount to anything.”

 

“The next waves of attack will decide which one of us fakers will triumph, huh? I accept that proposal.”

 

“That is what I wish to hear from you.” Not wasting any time after saying that, Arturia immediately went into the offensive and rushed towards Tenco. The blue-haired stood on her ground and attempted to block the attack using her sword, but Arturia continued to press on, relentlessly delivering strikes without even slowing down. Tenco reinforced her own body once more in response to Arturia’s assault, increasing her speed and reaction time just to keep up with the king’s blows. If viewed from the sidelines, it was as if the two combatants were still at the top of their form, despite the fact that right now, both Arturia and Tenco was already near the limit of each of their own strength.

 

“I will not lose to a construct, that’s for sure!”

 

“Neither will I.”

 

Without any baggage being carried by the two, both Tenco and the construct Arturia had seemingly started to enjoy the fight they were in itself. Tenco realized that she couldn’t really expect the real Arturia to feel like that for a battle like this, but she put aside that thought as she saw the smile on the construct’s face as she kept hammering her away with her attacks. Seeing her opponent being as spirited like that, with herself having no reason to worry about anything else now aside from winning and moving forward, the smile Arturia gave became the girl’s own.

 

“You’re not taking it easy on me right, Lady Arturia? Right here…right now, I am not fighting you as a scared little girl anymore! I am a warrior of the Counter Corps, and I’ll prove it to you!”

 

“You talk too much, as always. Of course I’m not holding back!”

 

A particularly powerful strike almost caught Tenco off-guard, and she had to pay her momentary weakness with a wound on her left shoulder as she barely managed to dodge the sword of light from hitting her fatally. Realizing that she had to find an opening fast if she wished to end the battle, Tenco decided that she’d use her opponent’s momentum against her, and rushed forward to attack with her scarlet sword. Invoking its true ability once more, Tenco aimed to overpower anything Arturia threw at her with the sword, and end the battle in one fell swoop. Her mind focused on victory, the girl swung her sword down at the king, believing that Arturia would not be able to mount any meaningful retaliation against it.

 

The king, realizing the attack was coming, blocked it with her mana sword, but Tenco pushed and pushed through it. Cracks started forming on the golden sword that Arturia held, and for two seconds, neither side moved an inch as the blades continued on clashing.

 

 

Crack

 

 

The sound of something breaking.

 

 

Crack.

 

 

The sound of something shattering.

 

“I-Impossible…”

 

Tenco gaze momentarily became empty as she watched the sword of Hisou shattered into pieces alongside the golden mana sword that Arturia used to block it, its shards clanking on the floor, unrecognizable from the blade they used to compose. The shocked girl dropped the sword’s handle to the ground, while Arturia shook her head before summoning another mana sword to replace her shattered one.

 

“That would make us even.”

 

“…Damn it…” Still staring at the shards of her sword, Tenco became unsure on what she should do next. Whether she liked it or not, she had been banking a lot on the sword’s capabilities to carry her so far, and it was probably her last physical memento of Tenshi, which did give it some sentimental values to her. Even if she was still wary of the possibility of the sword being somehow alive and capable of controlling her, losing it was still a blow to her. It probably couldn’t take much punishment anymore after earlier being cut into two by Clarent and its ability, and due to exerting a lot of energy throughout the battle in general.

 

However…

 

“Hm? Surely you don’t fully depend on that sword, no? Are you still capable of continuing this fight?”

 

Even so…
 

“Answer me, Tenco.”

 

“...

 

Of…of course I am still capable! This battle is not over yet! It will be over when I say it is over!

 

My…no, her sword’s broken now. It’s gone. It carried me to this point…but it’s gone now. However…that doesn’t mean I’ve lost. Because…because I am me! I am Tenshi, and I am Tenco. But I am neither of the two at the same time…because I am myself! Even without the scarlet sword helping me now…I’ll fight with my own powers! I can still fight with my own fighting style!

 

I am the bone of my own swords, and with them, I shall be victorious, Arturia!”

 

As she loudly declared her resolve, a sword materialized before Tenco, who grabbed it and went straight towards Arturia. Her movements were still really predictable however, and Arturia managed to keep up with her attacks easily. After a while however, she realized that Tenco was actually moving faster and faster, even without the scarlet sword backing her up. It was still not to a threatening level even then, and Arturia simply adjusted her own speed to cater towards Tenco’s increased movement.

 

(O, multitude of spirits, who soar through the sky…)

 

Something odd happened. Arturia wasn’t able to confirm it fully just yet, but she seemed to notice that one of the shards from the scarlet sword flew towards Tenco before disappearing completely. Concerned with what might happen there, Arturia decided to quickly move forward and launch a strike to disarm Tenco, which was successful as she managed to drop her sword to the ground.

 

(Purify my soul! Cleanse my soul! This body, this heart – purify them!)

 

Any sense of accomplishment for that, if any, immediately disappeared however as Tenco simply summoned another pair of scarlet blades on each of her hands, while the wounds caused by Arturia’s earlier attacks rapidly healed.  Tenco threw one of the swords in her hand as a projectile before she closed in on Arturia once more. The projectile was easily dodged by Arturia, and she immediately focused her effort on Tenco’s counterattack. But then, just as she was blocking Tenco’s attack, she felt a movement coming from her back, and stepped aside in time just as the thrown sword from earlier returned to Tenco’s hand. It looked like a push to force her into a defenseless position, Arturia thought. She felt that it was somehow familiar, but either way she knew that Tenco had wasted her attempt due to not continuing her stream of attacks, and with that in her mind, she shifted into being on the offensive, exploiting the downtime Tenco was currently experiencing.

 

(With the divine mana flowing throughout all of creation,)

 

More and more sword shards were being absorbed by the girl. Arturia wasn’t even sure on what was happening that time, and it seemed that even Tenco herself was not really aware of that fact, but realizing that it would only mean trouble, the king quickly attempted to go for the kill before the situation would be disadvantageous to her. Her attack was blocked by the pair of swords on Tenco’s hands however, and the three swords shattered due to the force of the impact. Gritting her teeth, Arturia summoned another sword and continued her attack.

 

(My prayers become flames, and race through the mountain.)

 

Even with the unexplained boost on the girl’s parameters, Arturia still had a big edge over Tenco with her superior skill and strength, and despite already operating at her limits, the king didn’t even find it hard to perfectly defend through Tenco’s frantic assault. The girl’s increased speed ultimately meant nothing in the long run, since Tenco was unable to utilize it well.

 

Yet the girl refused to stop, and summoned four more swords into the battle.

 

(Taking everything in - set my spirit ablaze!)

 

With four swords attacking the king from different directions at once, Arturia knew that Tenco’s still trying to find a hole in her defense to exploit, and to cover her lack of finesse and skill, the girl decided to overwhelm her instead. An interesting move, but it was not something truly meaningful. Catching one of the swords with her left arm, she used it to break two other remotely controlled swords before throwing it at Tenco, and lunged forwards with her own blade, aiming at her neck.

 

Tenco just smiled, and summoned eight more swords in front of her to shield her from the attack.

 

(For I am the eye, and I am the heart.)

 

The swords formed a shield, and managed to block both the projectile and Arturia’s attack cleanly, before separating and going towards the king to attack her directly. However, Arturia simply let her hold on her own sword go, and went on to catch each swords attacking her back towards Tenco, with several times their original speed. The girl didn’t display enough control in moving her remote swords, and their predictable movement coupled with their lack of agility allowed Arturia to effortlessly strike back at the girl with her own weapons. Not in the position to dodge such a high-speed attack, several of the swords hit Tenco squarely on her body, stabbing through her before dissipating into thin air.

 

Yet the girl did not slow her movement down, and even with those wounds all over her body, she conjured sixteen more swords, and fired them all towards Arturia at much higher speed than what she showed earlier. Not faltering, Arturia focused her mind and called for her Invisible Air once more. The harsh gust of wind covered her body and weapon, and as Tenco’s swords became close towards her, the wind barrier blew them all away, paving the way for Arturia to go straight towards the girl for the kill. Not facing any resistances anymore on her way, Arturia struck Tenco straight at her chest, and knocked her into the wall, before preparing for one last blast of light from her sword – a sword beam to end the battle decisively.

 

“It’s over now.”

 

(My wishes are swords, my words become steel.

 

To be the light that fulfill the distant dream,

 

Bloom and flourish, o' the scarlet war flowers of the heavens!)

 

“Yeah, it’s over now.”

 

Shaking a bit but without seemingly any concerns about the fact that Arturia was preparing for an attack that would certainly kill her this time, Tenco stood up from where she crashed, her wounds slowly being healed completely as she did so once more. That confidence would definitely not come unwarranted, and it made Arturia started to look around…and noticed that the shards of the scarlet sword had disappeared completely from the ground and the battlefield. She gritted her teeth at that fact and the realization that Tenco would have assimilated the sword’s abilities into herself, but realizing that she would still be attacking her almost at point-blank range with her last-ditch attack, Arturia believed that it would be meaningless.

 

“Took a while to set up, but it’s done now.”

 

A glint appearing in the distance surprised the king slightly, but as she was still preparing her attack, she didn’t visibly react to it at all. However, what started as just one speck of light ended up multiplying again and again, and within a few seconds the king had already been surrounded by the tiny speck of light. And then, from the floating jewels around her, swords started to form. The crude scarlet sword Tenco kept on summoning earlier, all the speck of light started to form the blade – every single one of them was pointed at Arturia.

 

At that point, Arturia realized that she had fallen into a trap. Right now, she was surrounded by an uncountable amount of Tenco’s conjured scarlet swords, each of them conjuring another copy every second, making the formation thicker and thicker. A sphere boundary made of swords - swords that blossomed like a flower to envelop the king completely. At that realization, Arturia stopped her preparation for her finishing attack. With how thick the formation of blades right now, and with how her attack would be far inferior to the blast she could fire off from Clarent, the attack would not be enough to end the battle due to the swords blocking the attack path, and that’s assuming the attack would not be completely blocked instead.

 

“Creating swords from jewels, creating swords from life, that’s all that I originally thought I can do. Having the memory of Tenco, who did only create swords, I thought it’s in my nature to just create rough, inferior copies of the Sword of Hisou like this, without being able to shape my mana into something else, at first.

 

Whether it’s the extent of my ability or not right now, I’m still not sure yet since I ended up being able to do other things with the help of her sword. However, it is the form that my creation took, and maybe…it was in the end simply the culmination of a girl’s dream in a distant world – the eternal longing for the ever-distant scarlet sword that she held within her heart. The culmination of the dream of a girl named "Tenco", the girl who created swords out of jewels. The girl whose identity I stole. The girl whose dream-

 

No…that’s not right.

 

Right now, this is the culmination of my own dream. That’s pretty much it. That’s my power. The power to fulfill the dreams of others as my own dream. And with that, I inherited the girl’s dream. Her sword…my sword, this is the power that will turn dreams into reality!

 

And this is the power…that I will use to open the gate for tomorrow!

 

 

Spirit unto the jewel – transform the force into a blade…

 

 

Gradation Air!”

 

A golden wave of mana washed throughout all of the conjured swords from Tenco’s own body, and transformed them from the almost spectral crude rendition of a blade into a far more solidified form. Arturia looked around at the sphere of blades surrounding her, as if she was figuring out a way out of the swords before she smiled to herself.

 

She realized that she had been beaten.

 

Yet she didn’t feel any reason to feel contempt for that realization.

 

“You have changed so much since the time we first met…to truly stand up against me like this without any hesitations, and to be able to trap me into this situation - you are truly worthy of being praised by me here.

 

At first, I wondered from where you obtained as much spirit to conjure as many swords as you have here, but it seemed that you’re using what’s left from your shattered sword as a way to accomplish this. You scattered the spirit you gained from absorbing the sword shards around the battlefield during our fight, and once the field was set, you conjured the swords almost all at once, leaving me no room to escape. Not the best thought out tactics, though in the end I fell into this trap so I have no room to criticize it.

 

You’re right. It’s over now for me.”

 

“It’s been a nice fight, Lady Arturia. Thank you for everything you’ve said to me, I will never forget them.

 

But now…I’m sorry. Goodbye, my king.”

 

 

Ten minutes after the battle was concluded, Tenco was waiting on the exit of the other corridors for the others to arrive. She was now in a far better condition after the sword of Hisou within her recovered her stamina gradually with its seemingly-bottomless pool of energy. Not long before she’s waiting there, at the aftermath of the battle, Tenco decided to get a change of clothing first since she had just realized how badly torn her clothing actually was right now due to the battle. It would simply be indecent if she kept on moving with the clothing she wore, so she returned all the way back towards the position where she found her own hanged corpse that the pathway had very kindly provided for her, and after making sure that no one was around, she exchanged most of her clothing with the corpse’s.

 

But, that aside, right now she was waiting patiently for the others, however she was somewhat suspicious that the others had finished their enemies far before her, and had proceeded on their way before she was even there. That would definitely be a pain, but Tenco was willing to wait and see for now since she didn’t see them anywhere under the street lamp area when she checked there earlier.

 

Standing there alone in silence, Tenco thought more about her encounter with the Arturia construct earlier, thinking about the implications it had regarding Arturia’s true self. There were no doubts that she’d act roughly the same as the construct acted if Tenco posed herself as a threat like what she did earlier, but it was not the main point. For once, Tenco started to question herself about how much did she know of Arturia was right, and how much of it was just a misguided imagery she or the king constructed. Was the construct an actually close representation of the king, or was it too distorted by her view of Arturia? How much of her was right, and how much of her was just a part of her delusion? While Tenco never fully believed about the delusion she constructed about Arturia in the first place, she wondered whether the part of that delusion that she did believe in actually affected the portrayal of Arturia that she met.

 

Of course, she wouldn’t be able to answer that question without meeting the real Arturia in person. Tenco was really eager to meet her again, and this time, see by herself about what kind of person the king actually was. Whatever was the truth about her, Tenco was sure that this time, it wouldn’t damage her view on Arturia at all. Even after casting off her highly idealized view on the king, Tenco still deeply respected her and looked up to her, after all, even earlier when she still thought that the imperfect construct was really her. She doubted that the pedestal would be able to be broken no matter how the real Arturia ended up being.

 

That was a part of what she needed to do now. Casting off all delusions, seeing things as they actually were instead of what she wished to see, yet still acting out on her own judgment and decisions. Her goal in the end would be meaningless if she was still trapped inside of her own closed-off world. To reach her future, she had to change and move forward. If she’s still anchored on her current ground, there’s no way she would be able to go anywhere or achieve anything.

 

“…Yeah. That should be it. If I really wanted to give others the future they deserve, then I should start seeing the world as they saw it too.”

 

With that in her mind, Tenco started to hum a certain tune that had been ringing on her head for a while as she continued to wait for the others at the end of the corridor.

 

?

Pathway of Death C10

 

---

[Dwarven King]

Doraga - Truth

 

With a flutter of little wings, a little pink fairy fluttered up in front of the Arrancar as he made his way across the bridge. The casual appearance had him stopping before the little creature in awe and wonder.

 

“Tell me little creature, why do you approach me so casually? Do you not realize that I am an Arrancar and what I do?” He asked as he crossed his arms before himself.

 

The little fairy chuckled. “Of course I do! The fairies here know the truth. The truth about your heritage, your world, and most importantly...you. I do not fear you, because I know I have no reason to.

 

Doraga squinted his eyes as his hands flashed to one of his blades, quickly drawing it forth and pointing the tip at the creature. The fairy merely chuckled as he slowly turned and flew away.

 

“You will not harm me Doraga. I know the truth about you. Now it is tie you learned the truth.”

 

~~~~~

 

Theovak - Death

 

The Dwarf grumbled as his continued his shuffling, one foot in front of the other. It was a slow process, but it was a safe one. Thankfully, the area was starting to lighten up a bit, and his eyes were finally adjusting. “To the nine hells with this damn path! Just give me something to hit!”

 

Moans and screams of pain continued to assault the Dwarf’s ears. In response, he only growled louder and more defiantly. His pace quickening as his ability to see increased, though caution still held him back. Though he knew the screams of pain weren’t real...they still sounded like a Dwarf’s voice. The last thing he wanted to do was end up with those screams.

 

“Blast this evil place…”

 

~~~~~

 

Brian - Death

 

Brian continued down the walkway at a slower, but constant pace. The darkness hindering him, but not stopping him. This path was annoying if not anything else. Using the dead as a way to hinder people...it was distasteful. The tactic did nothing to frighten him. Instead, it did the opposite. It angered him.

 

“Bad enough innocents have to die. Now they have to be forced to scream in agony after their death?! This is nothing but pure evil...and I detest such things!

He clenched his fists and yelled out, “I will cease the existence of evil!”

 

“...if that is true, why are we dead?”

 

“Why was I ripped limb from limb?”

 

“How did my little boy’s head end up on a spike?”

 

“Why was my daughter taken and used like a breeding cattle?”

 

“Where were you when my family and I needed help...oh protector of the innocents?”

 

Brian stared off into the direction of the voices, eyes wide. His mind reeled as he recalled the faces those voices belonged to.

 

“...I’m sorry.” was all he could whisper as he continued down the path, tears flowing from his eyes.

 

~~~~~

 

Cally - Remembrance

 

The Vampire sat there in the snow, her legs pulled up to her chest as her sword laid before her in the snow. Tears still flowing from her eyes.

“I’m sorry Mother. I have killed you twice now. I hope one day you forgive me for what I have done.”

 

She continued to sit there, snow blowing around her, though the cold did nothing to her body. Finally, the tears stopped flowing as she looked up into the sky, seeing nothing but a blanket of white.

 

“I...I can’t continue to sit like this. You’re dead mother, I know this. But I will not sit here and let another person I care about die. Brian needs me.”

 

Reaching up, she wiped the tears from her face and collected her sword. A quick glance around her revealed she was alone. Her eyes settled on the spot where she killed her mother a second time.

 

“I must go.” Turning, she sprinted off through the woods.

 

~~~~~

 

Theovak - Death

 

“Oi! The Orcs! They got us! Help!”

 

“No! Not the acid!”

 

“Help us brother!”

 

“Why did you lead us to our deaths?!”

 

Screaming out in rage, the Dwarf planted his feet as he swung his hammer down onto the path, a resounding ‘SMACK’ echoed around him. The voices ceased at the sudden sound, the area going quiet.

 

“Aye. That be much better! Trying to use the voices of me fallen soldiers? Ha! Every Dwarf goes into battle expecting and prepared to die for his kin!” The Dwarf growled out as he hefted his hammer up with one hand, the other propped upon his hip.

 

“Hey! Who’s there!”

 

Theovak looked up as he heard the question, a young man dressed in all black with a pair of swords on his hips, emerged from the darkness. Without hesitation, the Dwarf brought forth his hammer, ready for a fight.

 

“And who the bloody hell are ye?!”

 

The man stopped, his hands held out before him harmlessly. “My name is Brian, and I mean you no harm good Dwarf. It seems we are both traveling this path, so thought it would be best if we go together.”

 

Theovak looked the man up and down, settling on his face where he noticed the fresh tears. It was apparent that whatever the path was using against him, it was hitting him hard.

 

“Ye tell me what those tears are for first.”

 

Brian squinted his eyes. “That is none of your business.”

 

“It’s me business if I’m to travel with ye! This path be using the voices of me fallen kin. Now ye tell me what ye be hearing before we go anywhere.”

 

~~~~~

Cally - Remembrance

 

Cally broke free of the forest after running for what felt like forever, only to find herself no amid a snowstorm. “Really?! A blizzard! I can’t see a thing!” She screamed as loud as she could, but her voice was quickly lost within the storm. Gritting her teeth, and thankful the cold did the affect her, she trudged on, one step at a time through the ever thickening snow before her. Determined to beat this path.

 

~~~~~

 

Theovak/Brian - Death

 

Brian stood there for a moment, pondering what to do. He knew the Dwarf was no enemy. Plenty of reports from their world had told him that much. Sighing, he nodded towards the Dwarf. “Fine. I will tell you.”

 

The Dwarf nodded back as he listened.

 

“Hope you don’t mind a story. It’s the only way to understand.” The man chuckled and shook his head as the Dwarf nodded once more. “It was a few years ago. I happened upon a small farm on the outskirts of a nearby village. The family had no money and were being threatened by local bandits. I had agreed to help them and went out to search for the bandit camp.”

 

He turned to look out into the darkness. “I found the camp that night and dealt with them easily enough. It was when I got to the leader that I learned of my error. He informed me that another bandit group had hired them to harass the family so that they could keep their identities a secret. I also learned that to other group was constantly surveying the family. The first sign of them asking for help, and the main group would descended upon them.

 

Brian balled up his fists tightly. “I ran back to the farm as quick as I could, but I was to late. The farm was burned to the ground. The mother was raped and defiled, her corpse thrown into the pig pen. The father was ripped limb to limb, the pieces thrown everywhere. The son’s head was placed on a pike before the main house.”

 

His voice quivered as he recalled the memory. “I could not find the daughter though and knew she had been taken. So I tracked the bandits down. It took me three days, but I found them. Though it was too late. They had taken turns with her during those three days. It was to much for her. She broke mere hours before I arrived that night and took her life as they slept.”

 

The man slowly turned, fresh tears flowing from his eyes. “I slaughtered every member of that group that night. Not a single one survived or died painlessly. I made them all suffer! And yet, that family haunts me to this day. How can I say I fight for the innocents when the innocents die either way?! How many more people must die because of my failure?!”

With a grunt, the Dwarf dropped his hammer and walked over to the man, his great arms wrapping him in a hug. “It’s alright boy. We can’t save everyone. It’s impossible. But the fact that ye try is what makes ye good. It makes ye honorable! Now pull yerself together and let’s get out of this blasted path! I’m sure that family would want ye to carry on. They know ye being doing good.”

 

The Dwarf stepped back and slammed his fist across his chest. “We got fighting to do boy! Now come on!”

 

A smile crossed Brian’s face, as he knew the Dwarf was right. With a nod, he took off down the walkway, the Dwarf on his heels as they made their way onto more solid ground.

[Tesability Black]

~Counter Corps - Path of Truth (???) - Tesability's POV~

Tesability stretched out her wings and took to the skies once more, observing the various beings below her as she glanced over towards the apparent barriers of the place. Swooping down onto the top of one of the smaller buildings near the edge of the city, the black dragon peered beyond the edge of the city with her solid-black eyes to be greeted with a sight she thought she would never see again.

Beyond the edge of the place, there seemed to be multiple other nearby locations. Some appeared as forests, some as large or small bodies of water and others massive metropolises. She couldn't help but blink in surprise at the sight of one particular structure in the distance, however.

"Ai daut dat Guugul fewlsh...?" (I thought that Google fell...?)

"Google? Fall? Yeah, it fell. Just like racism and religious persecution fell. By which I mean it didn't."

Tesability hopped up into the air before about facing in the air, finding herself seeing a...

...wait, what was this thing? Person? Being? All she could see is a cloak of darkness completely surrounding the one that had suddenly approached her. Slowly lowering back to the ground, her eyes never left the confusing figure.

"...bu'sh Ai shawsh eet fawlsh," (But I saw it fall,) she managed to say before glancing back towards the towering building in question with a clear look of confusion on its muzzle, the distant skyscraper that threatened to reach beyond the edge of the sky with its height. "Haw ish eet steewl upsh?" (How is it still up?)

"How are you able to produce double-u sounds with a muzzle?"

Tesability looked back towards the cloaked stranger, tilting her head slightly as she raised a grey-leafed ear from being unable to see even this being's face. "Ai'sh a'waesh cuwd," (I always could.) she responded. "Ish dish weewds?" (Is this weird?)

At this point did the being give a small shake of what she assumed to be his head...if this was even a male she was speaking to, considering the voice. "What's weird are the questions you're asking. By which I mean you're asking the wrong ones. Why Google is back doesn't matter in the long wrong. The most important thing you should be asking is why you are here in a place you shouldn't be. Seems weird that you've come to an internet forum from the Pathway of Truth."

The dragon pulled her head back a bit, surprised to have heard that after appearing that she was nowhere within that weird place. "Haw du yu nowsh dat?" (How do you know that?)

The figures shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm magic. Look, as things are going right now, you're lost here because you don't have an identity. You're meant to fight your true self, but because you're barely sentient, you have no idea who or what you really are. You are just a crystal given the form of a dragon, but not much else. So... who IS Tesability Black? Is it you? Or is it the person controlling you?"

"Bu' Ai hash a..." (But I have a...) As she spoke, she fell quiet in thought, her wings folding in more to completely hide the gold in them.

That actually was a good question. Who was she, after all? Did she really exist, or was she just a puppet for someone else's purposes?

"...Tawen wuld nautsh du dat tu meh," (Talen would not do that to me,) she said after a few moments, though this stranger had inadvertently placed a seed of doubt in her mind. It would break what would be considered her equal of a heart to find out that, after over a decade, she was not her own being.

After all, how could something that didn't truly exist stop another from ending themselves, if Remembrance was any indicator?

The stranger brought out his arms, which were covered in metallic gauntlets that Tesability seemed unable to register any other details about, and crossed them in front of himself. "...I dunno if you can vouch on the sanity on your user. She currently has the disembodied voice of one of her characters speaking to her in her head. But granted that makes it no surprise that you are so neglected." The figure was moving in a melodramatic fashion, though there wasn't much emotion in his voice at all. "But, you didn't answer my question. Who ARE you, exactly?"

Lowering her head slightly and closing her eyes in the thought of the question, the dragon tried to think of a good answer to that question.

...but no good answer came about. Sure, certain details she can give no problem, like the fact that she was a Thunder Dragon Champion NetMonster, that her given name was Tesability Black, that her given title was the Tricky Dragon, that she favored the use of her Static Discharge attack in combat, but beyond that...

"Ai nu now," (I don't know,) she finally said with a whisper.

"I know that, I'm just postulating," A small sigh escaped from the being in front of her, or so she assumed so before allowing his arms to fall to his sides. "Look Tes, for what it's worth, that's a good thing. Your average living being has little to no idea of who or what they are, but they do try to make good guesses. So, take a guess." At this point did he raise an open hand towards her, pointing at the black and gold dragonling. "Who are you?"

Lifting her head as she turned around towards the various landmarks in the distance, she thought of her past to give her at least some form of answer to that question.

As she thought, there was one prominent thing that kept showing up in her head. Before the Collapse of the world she knew, almost all of her time was spent with her human partner, whom showered her with complements whenever she managed to finally win over a tough opponent, whom never spoke ill of her when things went south in a fight, whom would often talk to her though she had no way to say anything back...whom treated her more like a friend than just a being meant for fighting."

"Ai dinks..." (I think...) she started to say before glancing towards a set of randomly-moving clouds in the distance. "Ai'sh a fwend dat'sh twyeen tu faind howm." (I'm a friend that's trying to find home.)

"And what if you can't find home?"

In all honesty, she never really thought that far ahead.

"Ai...nu now. Ai canna beesh da ownwy Ne'Monshtew weft, dow..." (I...don't know. I cannot be the only NetMonster left, though.)

"I suppose that's possible," he sounded to admit with a slight shrug before lowering his hand once more. "But, does that really define who you are? You have a mission, but does it grant you a soul?"

These odd questions were actually starting to give her a headache. Rubbing a paw against the area between her eyes, she gave a mild whine from the pain she was starting to deal with. "Yu ashksh hawd kueshtions..." (You ask hard questions...)

A single snicker became heard at this moment. "If you think these are hard, then what comes next might as well be impossible for you. If you can't find your answers, you will be trapped here until you expire. So you might as well get your mind working, otherwise, well... you will make a rather pretty brooch."

"...Ai ish who Ai wan'sh tu beesh," (I am who I want to be,) she started off after a fair period of heavy silence. "Eeven ifsh dat ish diffwentsh tumawwow. Cha'pionsh awe a'waysh changeen'." (Even if that's different tomorrow. Champions are always changing.)

A smile emerged on her muzzle after a few more moments when a thought crossed her mind. "Maybeesh Ai'sh a 'Fake Shomebawdy' an' a 'Weaw Nobawdy'. Ai nu now..." (Maybe I'm a 'Fake Somebody' and a 'Real Nobody'. I don't know...)

"Or maybe you're just as confused as the rest of us." The sound of a tapping foot became heard at this point, though she couldn't see where it could be coming from. "And as inspiring as you're being, you're still not quite answering my question. Who are you?"

The frown returned to her muzzle as the stranger repeated his question. "Ai daut Ai was...?" (I thought I was...?) Such a simple-worded question, but no good answers for it, it was making her headache even worse.

And, as if it was making a strange point, a rumble came from her middle, to which she pulled herself close to it, almost curling up into a ball with another whine escaping her muzzle. "Wai doesh Ai huwt...Ai wash naut hitsh..." (Why does I hurt...I was not hit...)

"You're alive," the being asked as he seemed to leaned his head forward only slightly with a tilt to one side. "but you don't know what it means to be alive, do you?" She couldn't tell if that was a worried tone in his voice or not, it was faint enough to not be heard to begin with.

Though still curled up in a ball around her middle, she pulled a paw in front of her face as if taking a closer look at it. "Ai ownwy hash dish bawdy fow a showt taim," (I only had this body for a short time,) she admitted, not realizing that she may have missed the point of the question.

"Can you really expect to have a sense of self when you've only had a self for a short time?" This time, the voice sounded flat, almost disbelieving. Was this a bad thing?

"...naut weawly," (...not really,) she whined as she pulled her paw back in towards her.

"So really, your true self doesn't even exist." A statement of fact, spoken in a flat tone as he straightened up to the neutral pose he had first adopted.

"...Ai dun' dink Ai'd now wha' won ish eef eet shmacked meh on da muzzew," (...I don't think I'd know what one is if it smacked me on the muzzle,) he spoke with a pained whine, moving her head to look away from the dark stranger.

"Which is probably why you won't find it. Wanna know why?" The question...she didn't know why, but it sounded off to her somehow.

"Wai?" (Why?)

Without warning did the stranger plant an open hand on top of her head, petting between the large leaves. "Because you might as well BE your true self," he responded with a muted chuckle. "You have nothing to hide, you silly dragon."

At this point did she lift her head, eyes narrowed at him, though her view was partially blocked by his arm. "Ai ish naut shiwwiesh," (I am not silly,) she quipped, though there was no acid in her tone. Her eyes soon widened, however, at the sight of something that had appeared behind him, though he gave no outward indicator to its presence, which was soon followed by him withdrawing his arm back to under the odd robes.

A pillar of blackness whose top ended in a pyramid-like point, looking exactly like a scaled-down version of the same structure that pulled her to this strange city. Standing up onto her four paws, she started slowly walking towards the structure, though she looked towards the stranger one last time as she stood by him. "Wha'sh yu naem," (What's your name,) she asked, much like a child asking an innocent question.

"I have many names, ones that do not need to be said. But I have no more time to waste on your silly questions." With this did he point towards the pillar behind him without even turning to look at it. "You should probably go."

Lowering her leaves in disappointment for not getting an answer, she walked up towards the strange pillar. When she was fully past the stranger did it give a bright black flash, disappearing only a second later.

The dragon was gone from view.

"Hmph, have fun little dragon. The Avatar is waiting for you," he spoke after she was gone, soon disappearing himself from view...

 

Ending Point: Still a good question...