The both of us almost fell off the building laughing. I had to roll back to keep myself from slipping off, my hands clutching my stomach.

Maybe it was because it had been so long, or because of all the stress I had been under recently – or maybe it was simply the insanity of it all – but it felt amazing to laugh. And so I did, with my whole heart.

After a solid few minutes, the waves of laughter finally subsided, leaving me with teary eyes and sore ribs. The two of us lay there in the silence that followed, soaking in the peace of the moment.

Despite knowing what would happen, I couldn’t help myself. “Goat,” I whispered, just loud enough for Ren to hear.

Immediately, the mad laughter returned, both of us cracking up simultaneously. It left us again within a few minutes, at least until Ren whispered the damn word again.

Finally, after the laughter subsided for the third time, Ren grunted and sat up, still chuckling.

“Alright, we should start doing something now,” he said.

I didn’t respond to him, not quite yet willing to give up the moment and return to the madness that was this world.

Ren didn’t say anything else, simply sitting there in silence as he waited.

Eventually, I heaved a long, drawn-out sigh before pushing myself up. “You’re right,” I said, “we should get going.”

“Where?” Ren asked.

“To that ship, I guess. Unless you have a better idea.”

Ren smiled teasingly. “Really? I thought we were gonna go kill that guy.”

I flushed a little in embarrassment. “Oh shut up. That was the plan, but it looks like that dude wants to take care of him. And I’m nice enough to let him.”

Ren laughed. “Yeah, that sounds like a better plan. And that guy seems like he’s strong enough to handle him.”

I nodded seriously. “I know right? No one has ever scared me with their voice before. He’s gotta be crazy strong.”

“Well, it's a good thing he seems to be one of the good guys.”

“One of the goats, you mean.”

Ren chuckled. “Well then, let’s go meet these goats, shall we,” he said as he pushed himself up to his feet.

With a smile, I followed him up. “Y’know when you said the only way humans could survive would be through some serious help from really powerful people? Well, I guess someone was listening, huh?”

Ren laughed. “I guess there was.”

-

Five minutes later, the two of us arrived to find something I had thought I would never see again. We had just rounded a corner and were instantly shocked to a halt at the sight that greeted us.

It was a crowd of people. They stood on a school field – really just a bed of dry dirt barely concealed by a blanket of yellowed, dead grass. And there were dozens of people, maybe even over a hundred. They stood in twos and threes, with the occasional lone person, sporadically dotting the field. Most had an injured person with them, but none of the injuries were major. Which wasn’t surprising; sustaining a major injury in the past three days was essentially a death sentence.

Even more strange was the person that stood with each group. Dressed in identical, pristine white robes with golden embroidery, they seemed to be in deep conversation with the groups. Some of them held the hands of one of the members of the group.

It didn’t take a genius to understand that the white and golden-robed people were from the ship so, with a shared look of amusement, Ren and I marched down to the field to see what was going on.

The second we stepped onto the field, a woman suddenly materialized before us. With a human-sized puff of thick, gray smoke that my senses told me was dispersing Flux, the woman stepped out of seemingly nothing to greet us with the most polite, customer-service smile I’d ever seen. Clad in the same white and gold robes, and with a youthful face no older than thirty, she seemed shockingly human for someone who had, as far as I could tell, just teleported down from a massive spaceship.

“Greetings, Earthen,” she said, her voice honeyed and light, as she struck out her hand. “It is an honor to meet you.”

Refusing to give her the satisfaction of the confusion and shock she was surely expecting, I gave her my best casual smile and shook her hand firmly. “Likewise, Space-en.”

The woman chuckled, her flowing black hair waving as she did. “I must say, I did not expect to meet one with such composure.”

I shrugged, smiling. “Eh, I’ve seen weirder.”

She nodded. “I'm sure you have. Any planet targeted by the Insect Monarch would be devastated, not to mention one that hasn’t had contact with Flux for millennia. It must've been a very strange and disorienting experience.”

I smiled, irked by her pity. “Speaking of which, would you mind explaining what is going on here? That old dude said that you guys would.”

The woman nodded. “I’m sure you are very confused, but I promise everything will become clear shortly. But first, do either of you have any injuries? I will heal them for you.”

“Really? Flux can do that?” Ren asked from beside me.

“Oh, Flux can do many, many things. With only a century of development, you have only scratched the surface of Flux’s many mysteries.”

“We’re good on the healing, but thanks anyway,” I said, bringing us back to the topic.

The lady smiled at me. “Very well then, I shall begin to explain. I will try to be as comprehensive as I can, but feel free to ask any questions that come to mind.”

The both of us nodded.

“I will start with an introduction. I am Anabella, a humble disciple of the Grand Order of the Astros Theology.”

Ren half snickered before immediately clamping his mouth shut. Even I had to fight the smile tugging at my lips.

“The Grand Order of the Astros Theology is a massive organization that spans the universe, and is a staunch force for justice and good,” the woman continued, either having missed or choosing to ignore Ren’s slipup. “We, the Order, have chased and caught even the most powerful and renowned criminals of the universe, and have done so for thousands of years. And one such criminal is the Insect Monarch. He has been near the top of our list for thousands of years but has remained an elusive and powerful target. Eventually, we managed to corner him on an unregistered, wild planet and sent in some of the highest-ranking members of the Order. Unfortunately, the Monarch managed to escape, despite being grievously wounded. After that, we lost tabs on him for over a hundred years; we had no idea where he’d gone until we found a tiny crack in the Planet Seal.”

 

“The Planet Seal?” I asked.

Anabella smiled. “That’s a story for another time. All you need to know for now is that the Planet Seal is what separated Earth from the rest of the universe for millennia. It’s also the reason why this planet was devoid of Flux, at least until the Insect Monarch managed to tear a tiny hole into it. We don’t know how he managed to slip through the seal, considering one section of the runes inscribed into the seal is designed not to allow anyone within to reach a certain level of strength. And calls upon some of the most advanced rune work known to magekind to strike down any that wield power that surpasses that limit.” She paused then, her face painted with a smugness that betrayed an obvious pride in her knowledge. “I took Advanced Rune Work at Grand Order University. Part of the class included an in-person study of the Planet Seal itself.”

I nodded as if I understood anything she was saying. She seemed to buy my act, however, as she continued undeterred.

“Anyway, our best bet on how the Monarch was able to get in and stay alive is that it was a lucky combination of his immensely weakened state and a fault of the degrading runes on the seal. After all, no matter how impressive the rune work, after thousands of years, any rune would begin to become faulty. Unfortunately for us, and your planet, they hadn’t quite decayed enough to let our Archbishop inside without calling upon Astros’ fury to smite him. And since the rune work on the seal far surpassed the capabilities of the Grand Order, we had no option but to wait until the seal weakened enough on its own to let us inside. According to our initial estimates, we would've only been able to get in around fifty years from now, but fate was on your side. I’m sure you’ve noticed strange beings and foreign species aside from the insects on your planet?”

Ren and I nodded.

“Those are simply opportunistic beings who were able to slip in from neighboring planets due to how weak they were. And thanks to their passage through the seal, the weakening accelerated enough for us to get in much earlier than expected.”

“So if those guys hadn’t gone through the seal, you guys would’ve shown up fifty years later?” Ren asked. “Wow. The entire planet would’ve been long since dead by then, at the rate that Monarch guy is killing us.”

“Speaking of which,” I added on, “is this guy not scared of becoming the number one most wanted person for murdering an entire planet’s population? That’s the blood of almost eight billion lives on his hands!”

Anabella smiled grimly. “Unfortunately, Earth would only be an addition to the list. And if we’re going by population size, it would be one of the smaller additions.”

I stared at her in shock. “You mean he’s done this before?”

“Not quite exactly like this, but we do have records of several planets that have been massacred by his hand. Of course, they were all small, wild planets, with mainly agricultural, village-type communities. He isn’t insane enough to try messing with any of the major planets.”

“Why?” I asked. “Do you know why he’s doing this?”

“The same reason anyone does anything,” she said cynically. “In the endless pursuit of greater strength.”

“How do these massacres make him stronger?” Ren asked.

“Well, on other planets, he would simply use the blood of the entire planet’s population to enhance himself through the usual means. But this time, our Archbishop worries that he might be attempting an ancient, forbidden Runic Arte known as Planetary Sacrifice. It’s a very dangerous Arte that was outlawed eons ago, but the Insect Monarch seems to have managed to recover a copy of it on his travels. And it’s a good thing that we managed to get here before the Monarch succeeded, or else even our Archbishop wouldn’t be able to handle him. Then, who knows the kind of havoc that man would wreak on the universe before he could be stopped? At that point, only the Celestial Palace…” she trailed off then, finally realizing by the looks on our faces that half of what she was saying was going over our heads.

“I know this is a lot of information to take in, and I’m sure you’re very confused. But I give you my word, everything will soon become clear. You’ll have all the time in the world to familiarize yourselves with your new lives. And until then, we, the Grand Order, will fully take care of you,” she said, once again donning her customer service mask.

“About that. What exactly is going to happen to us now?” Ren asked, echoing my thoughts exactly.

Anabella smiled kindly. “Well, we will take you to the Grand Order’s home planet, where we will place you according to your best interests, and help you get settled into your new lives. For you two specifically, since both of you are mages, you will likely be allowed to take the test for Grand Order University. If you make it, then the rest of your lives are guaranteed to be lush and easy. After the minimum four years of education – which, by the way, boast very comfortable accommodations – you will be guaranteed a nice, cushy job in any Grand Order city of your choosing.”

She was beginning to sound very much like a salesperson giving a pitch, which was very off-putting. Anyone who made such certain promises was surely hiding something.

The Ruby of two weeks ago would’ve believed her in a heartbeat, I suddenly thought to myself, feeling immensely proud of my growth.

A pride that was immediately overshadowed by shame when I realized that the fact that it took me seventeen years to stop being gullible was nothing to be proud of. Especially considering everything I’d been through.

“And even if you don’t make it in,” Anabella continued, “it’s still perfectly fine. You will be situated with a nice, fulfilling job with more than enough money to enjoy the pleasures of our great cities.”

The two of us stayed quiet, mulling over the new information. It was, after all, our futures laid out in front of us. And as ungrateful as it sounded, considering they had just saved me from certain death, I couldn’t say I liked either of the options she had presented. Of course, I’d need more information to be certain, but my newly formed suspicious gut told me that even the very best-case scenario meant being under someone for the rest of my life, which sounded unbearably stifling. Unlivable-ly stifling.

“Very well, do you have any questions?” Anabella asked, her smile sickeningly sweet.

The two of us simultaneously shook our heads. “Thank you very much, but I think we’re good,” Ren answered.

“But we would appreciate it if we could talk to each other a little,” I followed up. “In private?” I added when she simply nodded and stood there.

“Oh! Of course, my apologies. If you have anything to say, please just step back onto this field.” And with that, she stepped backward into yet another magically appearing puff of smoke before vanishing.

Wordlessly, with only a shared look, Ren and I backed up off the field, all the way back until we rounded the corner we had come from. Once the field was finally out of sight, I let loose a breath and turned to Ren.

“Wanna bet they can still hear us?” Ren asked with a smile.

“Oh, I’m sure they can, if they wanted to. But what reason would they have for monitoring us?” I answered.

“Fair enough. But my gut says they aren’t the bunch of goody-two-shoes they’d like us to believe they are.”

I nodded in agreement. “Mine too.”

Ren smiled teasingly. “Look at you, all grown up and not gullible now.”

“Oh, shut up,” I grumbled.

Ren snickered but stayed silent.

“Anyway,” I said, wanting to switch back to the more important topic. “What’s that plan now?”

Ren shrugged, as nonchalant as ever. “I dunno. It is nice though, to finally know a little about what’s happening. This insect dude seems like bad news.”

“I know right!? And can you believe that he’s done this multiple times? The amount of blood on his hands must be insane!”

“Yeah, didn’t she say that eight billion was relatively small compared to the other planets?”

“And to think that this guy isn’t even at the top of the criminals' list. How do you even top being a planet-murdering, genocidal maniac?”

Ren smiled cynically. “Seems like the universe we’re headed to isn’t the lovely, peaceful place Miss Smiles over there is trying to make it look like, huh?”

I laughed in agreement. “Seems like it. If the supposed force of good and justice of the universe is as fishy as these Grand Order people, it can’t be a great place.”

“Still, it's a second chance, one that we never thought we were gonna get. We should make the most of it, regardless of what kind of place it is.”

I nodded. “Yeah, and I have an idea for that. Now that this miracle has landed at our feet, there’s no way I’m letting Rosefire die, but I very much doubt that setting up an organization like Rosefire will be possible under the thumb of these Grand Order people. But on the other hand, this Grand Order University seems like a great opportunity to get used to…whatever it is that we have to get used to. Life on a new planet, I guess. So what if we go along with them for the four years of mandatory education or whatever, and then after that, we just leave, instead of working for them? Kind’ve like what you did with your assassination guild thingy.”

There was an almost imperceptible reaction on Ren’s face when I mentioned the assassination guild, so tiny that I would have missed it had I not known him so well. Too late, I realized that it might not have been the best idea to have brought that up so carelessly, but Ren seemed to brush right over it.

“It’ll be a good plan – if it works – but I’ll be honest with you this time, Ruby. This plan carries that same naivety you want to leave behind.”

“I know, I know. It’s an idealistic plan. There’s no way they don’t have countermeasures to stop people from leaving after taking advantage of their school, but the plan is just a general course of action for now. We’ll change it up as we learn more, and if it seems unlikely or unrealistic, we’ll abandon the idea and just do the best thing we can for ourselves.”

Ren nodded thoughtfully. “Very well. I guess you really did change, huh.”

I smiled nervously. “Let’s hope I changed enough.”

“I’m sure it’ll be alright,” Ren said with a confident grin, although both of us knew there was no real source for his confidence. Still, it did make me feel a little better. “Anyway, that settles that. Let’s go tell Miss Smiles that we’re ready.”

“Wait, before that. There’s one last thing I want to do.” I said, an idea forming in my head. “After all, who knows if we’re ever gonna be able to come back to Earth after this.”

Ren pursed his lips and nodded. “Yeah, you're right. Alright, where to, then?”

“Actually, I wanted to go by myself this time. Could you wait here for me?”

Ren looked at me, surprise flashing across his face, before nodding again. “Of course, go ahead.”

I smiled. “Thanks, see you in a minute.”

-

I hummed a nameless tune to myself as I walked, pole in hand. I was on my way back, just a street away from where I had left Ren when I heard the chaos. It was difficult to name exactly the sounds I was hearing, but they were certainly loud and jarring, and coming from the school field.

Picking up my pace, I quickly turned the last street to find Ren sitting calmly, exactly where I had left him. He grinned wide when he saw me turn the corner, taking in my worried face. By now the sounds were much louder and were obviously from a fight. A big one, too. I could make out shouting and clashes, along with a cacophony of other sounds.

“What happened?!” I asked, almost yelling. “I was only gone for a few minutes!”

Ren laughed loudly. “Oh, that? Just all hell breaking loose.” He paused then, studying my new accessory. “And what’s that?”

The item in question was a nondescript pole; a literal steel pipe five feet tall and with no other defining features. It was as thin as a broomstick, with no scratches or dents marring its steely gray surface. And that was really all that could be said about it, which made it perfect.

“This?” I asked, lifting my pole a little. “It’s what I went- wait a minute. What do you mean all hell breaking loose? What in the world happened?”

Ren chuckled at my response. “Honestly, I can’t really describe it. Take a look yourself,” he said, jabbing his thumb at the corner of the wall that obscured the field from view.

Wordlessly, I stepped past him and peeked just slightly past the wall. Ren was right, was the first thought that came to mind as I took in the sight that greeted me. ‘All hell breaking loose’ was really the only way you could describe the scene.

The bugs had returned. And they weren’t babies like the one Ren and I had fought. No, these were full-fledged adults, on par with the mantis that had demolished Owen.

And yet, it seemed for the first time, the bugs had met their match. The survivors who had stood on the field had all vanished, but the Grand Order people were still there, and they were deceivingly strong. They all fought with identical staffs, gnarled poles of wood with spherical golden balls studded into the tops.

And from those balls came what I could only describe as beams of light. Golden beams of light that shot out at the command of the mages, burning holes into the bodies of the bugs when they hit; like the laser guns of sci-fi.

But as I watched more, I realized that the light did more than just shoot. With one mage, as a massive wasp swooped down with its sword-like stinger barreling towards his heart, the light was summoned to his arm as a kite-shaped shield. And despite being made of literal light, the needle-sharp stinger failed to pierce the shield. The mage was still sent skidding a few meters back, but it was miraculous nonetheless.

I watched on as another molded his light into the shape of a greatsword, before swinging down with gusto and cleaving a car-sized beetle in half. And if the baby cockroach had been any indication, the shell of the beetle would have far out-stripped pure steel in toughness.

Granted, the mage was built like a powerlifting champion, with arms the size of my thigh, but regardless, the feat was astounding.

“Like Green Lantern, huh?” Ren’s voice came from behind me. I jumped in fright, having been so caught up in the fight that I had forgotten about Ren.

“Huh, you’re right,” I said, thinking about it. “Just golden.”

“Yeah,” Ren said, sounding strangely melancholic about it.

Choosing not to question it, I kept watching the fight in silence. The fight seemed to be about even, amazingly. The mages were just slightly outnumbered, but their outstanding teamwork and individual skill more than made up for it. And the fact that the bugs fought like mindless beasts – with no cohesion and mostly getting in each other’s way – didn’t help them either.

“Oh wow,” I said after a few minutes, having spotted our very own Anabella fighting alongside the rest of them. Like the rest of them, she was deceivingly strong. It felt more jarring with her, considering I had spent quite a while talking to her, without realizing that she was far stronger than any person I had ever met before. She would demolish Owen with her light-wielding, without breaking a sweat.

“What?” Ren asked when I didn’t follow up with anything.

I smiled at him. “Better make sure Miss Anabella doesn’t hear you calling her Miss Smiles.”

“Why?”

“‘Cause she can whoop you with one hand tied behind her back.”

Ren snorted. “Oh, so that’s why she’s ‘Miss Anabella’ now. I seem to recall you laughing with me when I said that.”

I shook my head, denying his accusation. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Ren laughed. “Coward,” he said teasingly.

I smiled, about to respond, when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. It was a man, his entire head hairless, wearing a rough, simple gray robe. He had spawned in on the corner of the field suddenly, which is what had attracted my eyes to him.

A heavy haze of gray smoke hung around him, thick with Flux. And from within his semi-cocoon, he raised his arms like a man praying to the heavens.

The insects instantly reacted to the man. They stopped whatever they were doing, even if they were attacking, and retreated to the man. They swarmed around him, acting almost like guards.

I gasped as I watched. “Is that…”

“The Monarch?” Ren finished. “Probably not. What would he be doing here? And someone that strong would have a far more oppressive presence than that man.”

I nodded, the initial fear receding with his words. “Yeah, makes sense. And the mages would be much more afraid as well.”

“But he’s definitely still bad news. Aside from his personal strength, the fact that someone who can command the bugs has arrived is a big problem,” Ren said.

“Their disorganization was their biggest weakness,” I agreed. “With a commander, that problem no longer exists.”

And that proved to be exactly true. The man restarted the assault on the mages, and things went considerably better for the bugs. No longer were they easy to trick, getting distracted while letting their comrades get mobbed to death. Now they worked together, and with their one disadvantage gone, their every other advantage took center stage.

The land crawlers had overwhelming strength and defense, while the winged ones took mobility and speed. No longer prey to the tactics of the mages, they steadily pushed them back, cornering the mages against the school wall.

“What are they doing?” I asked. “Why haven’t they teleported back up?”

“I dunno. I doubt they're waiting for us, though,” Ren answered, knowing exactly why I was so worried.

“Yeah, I hope not. ‘Cause if they don’t go up soon, I don't think they're gonna make it out alive.” Although there were no casualties yet, it was more a testament to the mages’ skill than to the bugs’ mercy. The insects were certainly not trying to hold themselves back.

The situation only continued to deteriorate, getting worse and worse for the mages. The land bugs had formed a line with their tank-like bodies, not letting the mages through, while the more lethal flying bugs swooped in when they could for attacks.

“Uh…Ruby?” Ren suddenly whispered to me, getting my attention.

“Huh?” I asked, not turning away from the fight.

“You might wanna look behind us.”

Finally tearing my eyes away from the suspenseful scene, I turned around and looked down the street, immediately finding the source of Ren’s concern.

Two more men, the same as the one commanding the bugs, stood at the end of the street, staring at us with unflinching focus. Their rough, gray robes fluttered around their feet in the wind, and the sunlight glinted off their clean-shaven heads.

The Mexican-showdown-style staring contest lasted an unnervingly long time before the two finally began to make their way toward us.

I could make out more features on their faces as they got closer. The only notable feature, however, was the grim red trident head that had been painted on their faces. The middle spike ran from their chins up to their foreheads in a straight line. The side two started from the chins and ended at their eyes. Essentially standard creepy cultist stuff.

Ren and I stood firm as the two continued their eerie approach. We each gripped our sticks tight, heads raised high, showing no fear.

That wasn’t to say, however, that I felt none. For the first time in my life, I could get absolutely no read on the level of strength of my opponents, and that was anything but comforting. Either they outclassed me so much that my senses couldn’t even detect the danger, or they were literally ordinary men. And, for some reason, I was leaning towards the former.

I found out how right I was within seconds of that thought.

When they were still at least five meters away from us, a distance that had always meant safety from any physical attack catching me off guard, one man moved. With a speed so fast that all I caught was a blur, the man was in front of me within a fraction of a second. Before my brain could send the signal to my arms to block, the man’s knee had already sunk into my gut.

All the air in my lungs rushed out of my mouth in a wheezy breath as I skidded back a few feet, somehow managing to stay on my feet as I did. The pain and shock were disorienting, but I still managed to catch Ren yelling out my name. Or at least half of it, before he was kicked in the side by the second man.

Ren flew the ground between him and the wall, crashing into the brick with a thud. He let out a groan that was cut short when the man arrived in front of him and clasped his hand on his throat.

Still doubled over, I had just managed to regain my breath and was beginning to straighten myself out when the other man arrived in front of me, his hand encircling my throat like a vice.

Panicking, I dropped my pole with a clatter and desperately clawed at the man’s hand, my fingernails raking across his bare arms, but the man’s hand did not budge.

His skin was like cement, rough and incredibly solid. My nails could do nothing against him, the scratching hurting me more than it did him.

As my vision began to darken, I stared into the man’s eyes with all the ferocity and hatred I could muster, only to find them dark and soulless, like a well. The deep darkness within swallowed any emotion I tried to convey.

I willed myself, with every bit of my soul, to do something, to overcome this obstacle like I’d done every other I had ever faced. To have survived an apocalypse only to die here was something I would not accept.

But I could do nothing. I had been utterly overpowered, not even given a chance to fight back. My vision got darker and darker, and my lungs burned, but there was nothing I could do. I simply lacked the power.

A realization that made me both burn with shame and rage with passion.

But in the end, passion would not overpower pure strength. Within a few seconds, the darkness fully took over, and I felt myself get swept away in the waves of sleep.

-

“Nooo!” a childish voice cut into the darkness that had swamped me, like a stick prodding me through a thick blanket. “MOM!” came the voice again, louder. More a kick than a prod this time.

Jerked awake by the sound, the first thing I noticed was the earthy smell of dirt. Second was its gritty texture rubbing against my cheek.

On reflex, I pushed myself up, aiming to leap to my feet. Instead, I was roughly slammed back onto the dirt, hitting my nose so hard I teared up.

A weight settled over my back, heavy enough to crush the breath out of my lungs. My arms were pinned against my back, under the weight. I knew right away that I was utterly immobile at the moment, and judging by the weight on my back, the person who had me in this position was not one I could fight off.

“Oh, look, she’s awake,” a light, raspy voice sounded out from behind me, and everything came rushing back.

Struggling to breathe, I desperately took in shallow gulps of air as I twisted my head around in the dirt, trying to understand what was happening.

I found Ren right away. He lay in a similar position as I only a few feet away from me. One of the gray-robed men held him down as well. He was awake already, staring past me with fierce, cloaked emotion.

Following his gaze, I twisted my head the other way and found the source of the voice that had woken me up. And two others.

It was a family. There was a child, no more than eight years old, and his mother and father. They were all held down exactly like Ren and I, even the child.

The father was well-built, with a scraggly beard and a full head of tight curls.

The boy sported hair similar to his father, and in their shared hazel skin and facial structure was an obvious blood relation.

The mother was the one who attracted my attention the most, however. She was obviously not in good condition, her eyes sunken and her skin a sickly pale. Her breath was laborious, and in her eyes, there was pain hardly held at bay.

“Now then, mages of the Grand Order,” one of the gray-robed men spoke. He was the only one not holding down someone, so I assumed he was the leader. “Surrender now, and we will mercifully let these humans go. We might even let you teleport them back up to the ship, if you impress us. But if you refuse, if you attempt to continue fighting, then I will kill each and every single one of them, slowly and painfully, until you stop.”

The mother sobbed audibly when she heard that, the fear overcoming her attempts to stay silent. The man above her pushed down harder with his knee, and the woman clamped her mouth shut.

“Listen to me,” one of the mages spoke up. He was the powerlifter-looking one who had cut the beetle in half, and who I now figured was the leader of the present mages. “The Monarch is just using you. No matter what he has promised, he will not spare your lives. Planetary Sacrifice necessitates the death of all living-”

“Shut it, mage!” the man yelled. “How dare you take my liege’s name with such disrespect! How dare you speak ill of such a noble man!” The man stretched his hand out then, and the light haze of smoke that hung around the man reacted to it.

The smoke surged towards his outstretched arm, swirling around its length before gathering at his palm. The smoke became thicker, darker. It began to extend off of the man’s hand, eventually taking the form of a blade. The smoke left in his hand became a handle and a hilt, making an entire sword.

With the constant dispersing smoke that rose off of the sword and the writhing of the smoke that condensed to make it, the shape of the blade was anything but static. Still, if the light wielding from before had been any sign, underestimating the sword would be a grave mistake.

“I did not ask you people to speak at all. You only have two choices present before you. Continue to fight, and you will be forced to watch as I murder these things. Surrender, and my liege might be as merciful to you as he was to me.” As the man spoke, he walked over to the young boy, his every step slow and measured.

I could feel an insanity poking at my mind as I watched the man walk towards the boy, while I lay there, powerless to stop him. So weak, so powerless.

My mind was nearing its limit, I realized. There was only so much I could take, as someone who had promised myself over and over again that I would never again be powerless before someone again. As someone who has spent so long being powerless, forced to watch again and again as everything that I loved was taken from me.

And nothing had changed. After so long, after all the effort and pain I had gone through to make myself stronger, nothing had changed. Here I lay again, forced to watch the cruelty of humanity while unable to do anything about it.

Ocean’s face appeared in my mind, like it always had when I was desperate. In pain.

But this time, the image sparked a memory, a memory of Ocean standing before me in a long, flowing white dress.

“Hey, baldy,” Ren’s voice came, cutting through the memory. The image fell apart as I returned to the present, watching as the man who had brought his sword dangerously close to the boy's arm suddenly stopped.

“Hmm?” The man turned around, facing Ren.

“Just wondering, did you draw that trident on your face yourself?” Ren said, that idiosyncratic amused grin painted on his face. There wasn’t a shred of fear in his glossy eyes as he stared at the man approaching him. “‘Cause the lines are crooked. And honestly, I don’t think the look suits you. It’s not really flattering, especially with your facial structure.”

By now the man had already arrived before Ren, his feet at Ren’s face. Still, Ren did not cower, keeping his insulting rambling going.

“Although, to be honest, I can’t imagine anything would be flattering for you, with that facial structure,” Ren kept talking. “Actually-”

“Shut up, boy,” the man cut him off, his rumbling voice low and threatening. “If you know what’s good for you, you’d better shut up.”

Ren smirked, looking up at the man. “What?” he asked, sounding genuinely confused. “I’m just tryna help you out, y’know. And I think anyone can see you could definitely use a little fashion help,” he added on, giving the man’s robes a look over. “Hell, I can’t see, and even I can tell you that your fashion sense needs more than a little help.”

The man did not respond but looked at the man who was holding Ren down.

With no words spoken, the man nodded and lifted his knee slightly off Ren’s arms, before grabbing one and stretching it out on the ground.

The man with the sword stepped forwards slightly, resting the tip of his boot on Ren’s fingers. “Apologize, boy. Apologize for your disrespect, and I will free you to work for His Majesty. My liege appreciates men of bravery and courage, and he will not mistreat you.” As he spoke, he continuously shifted more and more of his weight onto Ren’s fingers, but the entire time, Ren did not flinch. With that smirk still painted onto his lips, he fixed the man with a defiant stare and remained silent.

“There is bravery, child, and there is stupidity. Do not be stupid, boy.”

Ren still didn’t say anything, only silently smiling at the man.

The man sighed. “Have it your way,” he said, before suddenly jerking his sword arm, bringing the blade down on Ren’s arm.

The point of the blade sank into Ren’s forearm with no resistance, as if the muscle and bone were nothing but butter.

My lips parted, but no sound came out, the scream stuck in my throat as I watched, wide-eyed. Memories rose like a tide in my mind, horrible images that I had thought locked up safely, never to be revisited. The images looked so much like what I was witnessing right now, only with Ocean in Ren’s place.

But in the end, it was the same. Someone else bearing the pain while I watched. In the end, nothing had changed at all. I was still that weak, pathetic little Ruby who could do nothing but cry and burden the ones she cared for.

Ren didn’t make a sound when the sword pierced his arm, only putting his head down, pressing his forehead against the wet, muddy mixture of dirt and the blood leaking out of his arm.

“I see,” he breathed out. “I see now.”

The man smiled viciously at his words, taking his foot off Ren’s fingers. “Good boy. Do you yield now?”

Ren looked up then, grinning at the man, his forehead smeared with dirt and blood. “Oh, that? No. I was talking about your face. I figured out what’d look nice with it.” He paused, his grin getting wider. “A mask. Preferably one that covers the whole face.”

The man narrowed his eyes as he looked at Ren, his face warping with rage and indignation. “Very well then, boy.”

Turning to the mages, the ones frozen in shock and fear, he laughed. “Watch, Grand Order dogs, watch as this boy dies because of your indecision.”

And then he swung his sword down again, the tip headed straight for Ren’s heart.

At the very last second before the sword met his flesh, Ren twisted his upper body with a violent jerk.

The sudden movement saved his heart, but the sword still bit into his back and came out the other side, stabbing into the ground. Blood spurted out of his mouth, coloring his chin in a candied-apple scarlet, but Ren, to his credit, still didn’t make a sound.

Instead, he looked up and met my eyes, giving me a small, kind smile. Like the first smile he had ever given me.

Ocean's voice floated through my mind then, making a statement I was sure she'd never made while she was alive.

Keep Ren close, 'kay?

The insanity I had felt woke up, rearing its head as it roared, gripping my mind. And as it did, I felt a familiar heat returning to my body.

Fire.

But this time, I did not recoil, I did not shirk away in fear. This time, with a maddened laugh, I embraced it.

And then everything went dark.