"I've still got the book―"

Silas's eyes widened. He stood up and promptly tipped the coffee table right over. From the corner of his eye he saw his teacup quietly sail down through the air before the ceramic cracked against the tile floor a few feet away. The unequal halves splashed lukewarm tea across the surface and into the would-be miniature aqueducts between the squares. It had nowhere to dissipate and the energy from impact could only carry the liquid so far from the epicenter. Like the life blood of love after a sudden, uneven heartbreak, it tried so desperately to reach the other heart.

"We have to go there." Silas insisted, suddenly aware of himself again. And afraid. "Please."


Instinctively, Anders lifted the smart watch on his right wrist over to his left hand. His left arm refused to flex upward due to either shock or damage―he wasn't sure which. Instead of flexing, warm redness surged from the crux of his elbow. He shivered.

He cursed when he couldn't activate the emergency combination with his left hand so he wriggled out of the watch and held the three buttons down with his right hand until the watch flashed red and prompted voice input. "I'm hit," he managed.

His attention was drawn upward when he heard the shrill noise from the shinigami girl. Despite the dust and remnants of glitter in the air he could make out their forms. Two shinigami were disabled, but one―the one that struck him―remained untouched.

His ears rang... He lost his balance as he sat on the ground and fell onto his left side. He winced as he landed on his injured arm and the spark of pain brought clarity. As he folded his right arm inward to try and apply pressure against the maroon marsh along his abdomen and left arm, he heard his sister's voice from the watch. "...Anders! Anders! Anders, do you copy? What sector are you in?! Anders, please respond!"

Vertigo seized him for a moment. "Four," he said at last.

"Roger! We're on our way!"

Anders saw Ghost ahead in the dust cloud, though he assumed the smart watch broadcast to fellow leadership ranks had made it to Ghost's ears that way. The ringing crept into his ears again and muffled the static flurry of backup requests and medical communications from the watch.

He looked toward his right shoulder. Through the dust cloud. Toward the sky. Faintly, he saw the red and blue lights of catastrophe begin to illuminate the city beyond the clouds.

I never told him... He took a breath as shadow encircled the edge of his vision. He doesn't know.


Shit....SHIT! Mars thought frantically. The dust in the air was starting to fade―they were about to lose cover.

One of the guardians seemed to be down for the count, but despite his motionlessness Mars could make out dimly flashing sign of warning from the communicator on his arm. She didn't want to look up at the chaos that would soon rain from above.

Half out of knee-jerk panic, half out of a brilliant idea, she dashed toward the figure on the ground. The least she could do was throw confusion into the communications. She had taken out guardians before―and with a single blow, just like this time―so she didn't think twice. She snatched away the loose communicator and pierced it with the sharp point on the bottom of her scythe's snath. It broke and the death of the flashing lights relieved her.

Until she realized that she had mistaken the guardian for a corpse. Immediately, the figure stirred and looked right at her through the low visibility. Mars barely saw the small casting orb re-materialize―she was too stunned by her own mistake―before a powerful blast threw her off of her feet. As she lost contact with the ground, she lost her grip on her scythe. She crashed into the other guardian, who seemed to be in very good condition.

As a last-ditch effort, she threw a kick forward and reached back for her scythe. It was facing the wrong way, so she could only reach the blade in time. Automatically, she cut her palm on the blade and recited the prayer to their leader. "By the light and shade of Nevra..." she began. Please save us..