The shouting makes it hard to think, swords clinking with the swirling sounds of uneased groaning and grunting filling the air. The smell of iron and injury flood my senses as well, so prevalent that I'm unable to properly focus for a moment.

Meteli's guards are trying their best to hold of the dark creatures, many receiving more injury than giving it. They fill the surrounding town square, Zack in the center giving orders left and right for the livelihood of his village. Our own friends, the one's specifically with experience in fighting, are out trying to take the creatures down.

One approaches us and I ensure to keep Cadenza and Aphmau behind me while I take it on. I managed to get a good cut across its chest, the spirit falling over and dispersing. It's remnants quickly float away, probably back to wth portal it came through. More make their way towards me, almost as if they're targeting something in my direction.

"YOU TWO GET CADENZA TO SAFETY! WE'LL HOLD OFF THESE THINGS!" Zack instructs to Vincent and Cloud, both of which just finished taking down a Shadow Knight.

Vincent looks around in awe at the sight of them. He's not too distracted, though, given he stabs one right through the chest once it approaches to closely to him before roughly removing it, "These are—"

"—SHADOW SOULS! WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY DOING—," Laurance is pissy, probably even foaming at the mouth, that this is happening. It's obvious how they got here if you know you're Netherian information. I can only deadpan as they go about asking obvious questions to one another, stabbing a Shadow Soul in the face with my (s/n) before completely slice it down through the center of its body.

"THE NETHER PORTAL HAS BEEN OPENED!" Vincent interrupts back, eyes narrowing. His grip on his sword tightens, a snarl coming to his lips as his eyes start to glow a little.

I can only roll my eyes, another Shadow Soul approaching only for me to stab it in the eye, "Oh yeah, wise guy? What was your first fucking clue?" I quickly pull my weapon out, pushing it back and allowing it to fall with a hard thud.

The word is enough to send a shiver up my spine, even if I try to pretend it doesn't. I've seen so many horrors because of it, witnessed so many deaths and torturous Shadow Knight transitions down there...

It's a place I knew better than home...

I didn't know if I could take Vylad seriously when he said he'd lived in the Nether for awhile after his death. I held out hope that maybe he was just joking, that it might've been code for wherever he had actually been living the past few years after his initial incident, but I was wrong and we were now headed down there to save Zenix...

Zenix, of all people...

It's very hot and very red. The heat was so scorching and the color added only seemed to make everything all the more uncomfortably warm. Various mobs and monsters roam around, their cries and the cries of the many wrecked, lost souls filling the air. It's almost impossible to feel at ease with the despair in the air. It almost makes sense why certain things make their final destination the Nether, especially when there's nothing but hopeless affiliated with the name.
The sooner we save Zenix, the faster we can leave that place behind.

The Nether was my home for so long...

"THESE THINGS ARE TOO STRONG TO PUSH BACK!" Katelyn calls out, ignoring my snark as she tries pushing back against the spirit she's fighting. She manages to push it off of her for a spare moment, but it quickly gets back up to come at her again. Cadence is back to back with her, also trying her damndest to keep the creature off of her and maybe kill it? She keeps swinging her shield at it, mostly knocking it in the end and pushing back against it each time it leans forward.

"THEY'VE BEEN CHANNING THEIR POWER IN THE NETHER FOR TOO LONG! WE NEED TO-," Laurance isn't able to get a word in, even if his plan might have plausibly been the right course of action.

Zack is very obviously not having a good time, especially with his sword constantly clashing against the Shadow Soul he's fighting. His brown eyes keep desperately looking back at Cadenza from time to time. It's obvious he's getting desperate for his orders to be followed, especially as more and more of the creatures try pushing their way towards our trio of Aphmau, Cadenza, and me. Makes his little outburst make sense, "VINCENT, CLOUD! GET CADENZA TO SAFETY NOW!"

His efforts are, unfortunately, in vain. The horde becomes too big to push off, with multiple of them rushing at us. I'm unable to immediately fight them off, mostly due to them going intangible during their rush and quickly grabbing Cadenza as they zoom by. They drag her into the woods, Cadenza screaming her lungs out as she struggles and fights against her captors.

Few Shadow Souls remain after that, but I'm unable to really dwell on it as me and a few others are quick to follow after the screaming Cadenza into the wood. The few others being: Aphmau, Cadence, Cloud, and Vincent... Hooray...!

We keep running and running and running and... running... and then I realize we don't have a plan... like at all... And we're stuck with Vincent...

"Okay, okay! Stop. Stop!" I finally call, lightly gripping Aphmau's wrist as I slow down. The others also slow, turning a little. Luckily, I stopped us in a clearing where the forest divides into 3 different paths, "We need a plan before we just head into the forest. Shadow Souls may seem like they don't have a thought behind their eyes, but they still can be as cunning as a thief. We have to approach this with something."

"If we're going to find Cadenza in enough time before those things do who knows what to her, we're gonna have to split up. There's no avoiding that," Aphmau is very shaken up, her voice uneven and her legs trembling. She nervously looks between the trails before turning back to our group, attempting to push a look of determination. I know her well enough to know that it's a front, but I wouldn't be able to stop her from the search, "What do you guys think?"

"Cloud, you search the right side of the forest with Lady Aphmau; Cadence, you and (Y/n) take the center; and I'll take the left side," Vincent is quick on the undertaking of giving out instructions. He now has his swords drawn, already heading in the direction of his where his search would go.

"On your own, Vincent? Is that safe?" Cadence speaks up, drawing her Flamberge Rapier from its hold on her hip. Her shield is set on her back, a dagger resting on her other hip and set where it can very easily be drawn from.

"Vincent, you can't go alone!" Cloud also worries, his own sword in his hands, but I can't tell if the worry is for Cadenza or Vincent or if it's because he's traveling with Aphmau...

..........

.......

.....

...

.

Wait a fucking sec-

"WHY AM I NOT GOING WITH APHMAU-,"

"I'll be fine, I've dealt with Shadow Souls before in the Nether. We need to find Cadenza before they try to use her to expand the portal," Vincent interrupts, sending me a small glare, "And I'm sure we can all agree it needs to happen fast, even above Guard law."

That petty motherfucker-

"That's right, Cadenza is..." Cloud's eyes seem to widen, his words trailing off as he looks out towards the woods.

"She's a medium," Vincent finishes, turning back towards the woods. He can feel Aphmau's confusion, like the rest of us, so he further explains, "She can focus portal energy to expand it to allow actual Shadow Knights to escape. We can't allow that to happen."

"After that, there's no telling what they'd do to her once the Shadow Knights are freed...," Cadence solemnly adds, her hold tightening on her rapier as she turns towards the forest.

Cloud takes a step closer to the group, the other two turning back towards us at his words, "But it's been years since we've even heard anything about the Nether..."

"That doesn't matter anymore. Someone has opened it and we need to get Cadenza to safety," Vincent turns his attention in Aphmau and I's direction, a sincere look coming to his eyes as he speaks, "Now, Aphmau and (Y/n), you don't have to participate in this search for Cadenza, but know that it would greatly help us."

The three guards of Meteli all gives us a look, each a varying degree of the same emotion: desperation.

"Cadenza's must friend, I'm not leaving her alone! I'm coming to go find her," Aphmau responds, attempting to hide the wavering distress in her voice. Her Mithril Sword is drawn now, the determined look in her eyes also laced with a similar desperation to the others.

"I'm in too," I tighten the straps of my quiver before drawing my (s/n). Cadenza just got us back and it sure would suck if she already lost us.

"Glad to hear. Take care of Cloud here, got it?" Vincent sends Cloud a teasing look, turning to Aphmau and giving her a slight nod. He turns towards me and Cadence, slightly grimacing a moment, "Cadence, keep (Y/n) out of trouble."

"Hey!"

Cloud's face erupts into red all over, slightly straightening as his eyes quickly glance between Aphmau and Vincent. He shakes his head after, clearing his throat before finally speaking up in a somewhat squeaky tone with voice cracks scattered through, "V-Vincent, I can't be alone with h-her!"

Vincent continues on, ignoring Cloud's words as he heads down his path. Cadence also heads down our path, not taking a moment to say anything as she hurries away. I can only follow, sending Aphmau one finally wave before leaving the clearing.

The walk is mostly quiet, aside from the natural sounds of nature. There are very few animals within the woods, aside from a weird turkey thats making some very loud turkey noises. Said turkey noises have kind of thrown Cadence off a few times.

Speaking of, Cadence is keeping her guard up, practically circling me as she carefully watches the trees. It's very obvious how worried about Cadenza she is, beyond the worry a guard would naturally show for a Lord in danger. It brings a smile to my face, relieved and relaxed that maybe the new generation of guards isn't so bad.

That smile disappears when I hear a particularly strained 'Gobble!' and an attack cry beside me. I feel my eyes widen when I turn to the weird noise, only to find a headless turkey and an agitated Cadence standing over it, her rapier now bloody with stray feathers sticking along it, "Annoying bird..."

"Yeah! Show that turkey who's boss!" She gives her weapon a small shake, managing to get some of the gunk off of the blade, before she sets it back in its casing.

She huffs under her breath, squinting as she leans forward a little to plausibly see a little further ahead, "I hope Vincent's having better luck than us..."

"Not Cloud?"

"Aphmau's carrying that team, I assure you," She laughs, straightening up before beginning to walk forward again, "Cloud's a bit... On the delicate side... He wouldn't have done well with any of the rest of us," She takes a glance towards me, a small smile on her lips and a slight teasing glint in her chocolate eyes, "That's the only reason you and your Lord were separated, even if Vincent has a tendency to be a smug prick sometimes."

She keeps a fond tone as she speaks of them, a warm look to her eyes as she continues on. They're close, as a guard ship needs to be to thrive, and I'm grateful that Meteli has kept up with having such comfortability among their guards. Very few villages have that relationship going through their ranks.

"Alrighty, guys!" My foot kicks open the door to the guard station, setting the unopened crate on the center table, "Lets get this night started!"

The boys jump at the sudden outburst, a sword clattering to the ground from where Garroth had been polishing it. All eyes are on me now, curious as to what I could've possibly dragged into the guard quarters now, especially having dragged Dale and Brian in so late into the night too.

"Uhh... Whatcha got there, (Y/n)?" Laurance asks, a slight laugh in his voice as he leans over a chair to get a better look. He lightly knocks against the crate, the others coming up to circle around the table in curiosity.

"Oh, y'know...," I more than happily flip the lid off of, unveiling the many, many luxury alcoholic drinks-

I mean root beer. I said root beer. Definitely root beer!

Their eyes light up like children's on Christmas. Except Garroth. Garroth is very much giving me the side eye, "How did you-,"

"My dowry," I grab a glass, popping the top off and pouring a mug, "A toast to Dante!"

"To Dante!"

Very few villages indeed.

"So you all know each other pretty well?"

"Yeah, something like that...," Cadence slightly perks up at that question, an embarrassed smile coming to her lips as she bashfully nods, "Zack is my older brother and he was the one that brought me to Meteli after my guard training when I didn't know where else to go. Cadenza took me in and the rest of the guards of Meteli have become like family to me."

Her smile turns giddy, a soft flush coming to her cheeks. It makes me smile more.

"Awe, look at you boys in your clunky, little guard armor," The taunt doesn't fall on deaf ears, with Garroth stopping his attack on the small practice dummy to turn to me with a slightly annoyed look.

"You and I both know it's high quality-,"

"And clunky~,"

Laurance laughs at my continuous teasing, Dante a little more confused than anything, "Why aren't you wearing the set Katelyn brought for you?"

"It's better for me to seem like a normal traveling diplomat than a personal guard when traveling around with Aphmau," I explain, taking the spare practice sword into my hands and giving it a few test swings. I watch Laurance knowingly back away in the corner of my eye, "Plus, I'm too good for it and it'd get in the way. I'm not really the armor type."

"Whatever you say, 'Phoenix Drop Diplomat' ,"Garroth can only roll his eyes as he hands me a practice sword, motioning to the practice dummy almost expectantly. I step up to it, striking it a few times to test its durability. Garroth mumbles, "You'll be crying for that armor after a nice hit in battle..."

And it's quiet for a moment after that, only the sounds of clinking swords and torn leather sounding through the guard tower. I trade places with Garroth and Laurance from time to time, with Dante thinking over something in the corner.

Just as I'm about to hand the practice sword off to Laurance, Dante snaps his fingers. He keeps his index finger raised as he pushes off the wall, pointing towards me as he steps forward, before he takes the practice sword with a very wide grin, almost as if he'd finally put together a very obvious puzzle he couldn't quite understand. He turns towards the practice dummy, grinning spreading from ear to ear, and strikes it, "You're just jealous you can't match with us, (Y/n)!"

The rest of us remain somewhat quiet as he proudly swings at the dummy. Or, as quiet as you can be when Laurance is stifling another snicker. That small snicker grows bigger and bigger until his now bellowing in laughter, Garroth joining in not too far after at the revelation. I feel my face burn and I want to bury myself away and never be seen again.

"Is that true, (Y/n)?"

"Maybe... Whatever, let's just keep murdering the dumb dummy!"

"I can understand how you feel," My response only has her smile softening.

Cadence is less tense after our exchange, her guard lowering a little. We continue on, a content and comfortable silence filling the space between us as we continue our search through the woods. There are the few sounds of the turkeys still gobbling about, but it's not enough to disturb the peace.

"What was that?" But the sound of rustling leaves above us is.

Both of us stop, and I immediately pull out my quiver, pointing an arrow in the vague direction it came from. Cadence puts her guard back up, whipping her dagger from her side pocket and holding it in a somewhat menacingly threatening manner. I shoot a threatening arrow, purposely missing and drawing a squeak from the person up above.

"Someone with an arrow through them if they don't make there way down here right fucking now!"

"I-I'm coming! I'm coming down!" There's a panicked voice that sounds from the area above, the leaves rustling some more before finally parting.

A glowing figure makes its way down from the area at an almost comical pace. The glow is a shade of blue and it's aura gives very much witch vibes. The figure itself is familiar, which is confirmed once it finally lands in front of us.

"Well, I'll be damned," Before us stands an old friend that hasn't aged a bit, as pale as ever with slightly longer white hair still complementing her appearance. Her smile is nervous, golden eyes bouncing from me to Cadence and back without really processing as she attempts to stutter out an explanation. It ceases once I grab her shoulder, pulling her into a tight hug, "Alister!"

She freezes, pushing away a moment and taking in my features. Her eyes look me over a few times, her hands even grabbing my cheeks and squeezing them as she moves my face back and forth. Her fingers ease down to grip my shoulders, disbelief coloring her face as she really takes me in.

Then she's in tears.

"(Y/n)! Y-You're here!" She holds me in a tight hold, sobbing into my shoulder. She doesn't hold me for long, pulling away to hold my cheeks while the tears continue to stream down hers, "You're all here, right? Aphmau, Laurance, Kenmur, Emmalyn-,"

"And Katelyn too, yes. All of us," I reassure, wiping her tears. Her golden eyes shine a little brighter, more tears falling as she sniffles and attempts to also wipe them away. I feel myself smile, taking in more of her appearance.

The hooded-figure lowers her hood, revealing a women with short, silver hair and wide golden eyes. She looks around the home Aphmau offers, a relieved look in her face as she takes it all in. She finally relaxes, turning back to us with a kind smile, "Thank you for this generosity, Aphmau. I'll ensure not to take it for granted!"

That same girl from all those years ago stands before me, a little wiser and a little more mature. Her hair is significantly longer, no longer growing just above her shoulders and now pushing near her lower back. She's not as timid, even crying her eyes out in a way that would be unnatural to anyone that knew her 15 years ago.

She does manage to calm them, her face flushed a soft tone of pink in the aftermath. Cadence is rightfully dumbfounded at the event, but has enough decency to turn her head and keep watch for any unwanted visitors. Knights code and all that.

"Irene, this is just what I needed," Alister laughs, sniffling a little afterwards with a small smile, "As much as I'd love to catch up, there's a problem here in the woods that I really need help with. I'm pretty sure it's a fine fit for you too-,"

"Have you encountered the Shadow Souls too, Alister?" Cadence finally speaks up, turning to face us again with big, curious brown eyes. She jumps up a little, quickly moving to stand in front of Alister and holding her hands in a tight grip. Her pupils practically turn into big stars, "Did you see which way they took Cadenza?!"

She sniffles, a nervous and confused smile coming to her face, "Was that Cadenza screaming at the top of her lungs? I thought they killed another person..."

.

"Huh?!"

"What?!"

"Whoops...," She jumps at our exclamations, averting her eyes as we both get a little more in her face. She scratches her cheek nervously, sweating a little as she explains, "There were a group of bandits staying in the woods and they were attacked. I heard their screams and went to go see if it were something I could help with using witchcraft...," She grows solemn, her eyes flitting to the ground as she continues recounting, "When I got there, those monsters were draining their energy and had already finished them off..."

Cadence and I both back off, Cadence turning to me quickly and meeting my (e/c) eyes. They're even more desperate now, concerned with the sudden turn of events. We both nod, our attention going back to Alister.

"Have you found the portal they came through yet, Silvy?" She nods, a determined look coming to her face as she walks in front of us, "Lead the way."
~~~~~~

The walk doesn't take long, the three of us getting there before the others. We hide behind a set of trees as a few Shadow Souls patrol the area, some of them holding Cadenza in front of the live portal. She's struggling in their hold, attempting to break free on her own even with their tight grips. Cadence growls beside me, tightly gripping her dagger, "We need a plan."

"We should find a way to take the ones guarding the area out first, then we'll need to save Cadenza and find a way to close the portal," They both nod, setting their stances to strike.

Alister speaks up, "I've already cast a spell on the portal in an attempt to close it, but it didn't work," She turns to glance at me before turning her attention back to the scene, "Do you know of another way to shut it, (Y/n)?"

"Depending on the spell you used, yeah," I respond, easing to stand fully to my feet, "Alright, on my mark-,"

Before I can finish, Aphmau and Cloud charge at the Shadow Souls from another side. Aphmau starts swinging, effectively killing one of the spirits on the guarding side, while Cloud rushes in and kills the two Shadow Souls holding Cadenza captive, grabbing her in a golden lasso before rushing back towards the village.

"I'll spot him. You guys help Lady Aphmau and close that portal!" Cadence rushes out, throwing her shield towards the closest two monsters before running behind Cloud, catching her shield once it returns and drawing her Rapier from its confines.

Alister and I nod, quickly moving to help Aphmau out. Aphmau manages to kill another one just as we make our way on the scene, a relieved smile on her face once she spots us.

"Why is it not dying?" We take most of them down, leaving a stronger one that Aphmau was attempting to fight on her own. This, however, was a very bad idea, "Ahh!!!"

"Aph!"

"Aphmau?!" So bad that the Shadow Soul manages to trip her to the ground. He towers over her and I'm quick to try to make my way over to her.

I can see our time together flashing before my eyes as the creature goes in for the final strike. It's all moving in slow motion for me and I'm so scared I'm not going to make it-

And then Vincent swoops in between them, cutting the Shadow Souls head off and effectively killing it. I release a breath I didn't know I was holding, relief washing over me as I hurry to Aphmau's side.

"Vincent...," She manages in her disbelief, staring up at him in wonderment. I follow her eyes and I'm met with a sight I've seen so many times in the past. I feel myself freeze as I meet the crimson color, now shining brighter, his aura now different and his stature bigger, "Vincent... you came just in time..."

I watch as Vylad grows in size, his anger clouding everything as he allows in to overtake him. His emerald eyes change to a crimson color, a black mist with sprinkles of different tones of red surrounding him as he towers over the unfortunate soul in front of him. He spares me a glance, "Turn away."

He's only missing the armor...

"...You were a fool to take on that Shadow Soul alone," His words come out coldly, his glare moving from her to me, "I'd expect your guard to take better care of you..."

"Vincent..." Alister sounds, stepping beside him, "She did what she could. She was also fighting off-,"

"No, he's right, Silver...," I tear away from his gaze to pay more attention to Aphmau, ensuring her wounds aren't anything serious. I help her sit up a little better while she continues to gape at him, "I did my best and she's safe. My concern now is making sure she isn't badly injured..."

"Vincent... you're glowing red...," Aphmau starts, swallowing her initial words. She takes a glance at me, I give her a nod, and she turns her attention back to Vincent as she tries to find the proper words. She struggles out, "Y-You're a..."

"I'm a Shadow Knight," He responds simply, his gaze going past us as he looks around the perimeter. He backs away from us a little, giving Aphmau the space to get up as he looks towards where Cadence and Cloud took Cadenza, "Now, Cadenza is safe?"

"Yes! Yes...," Aphmau quickly responds, trying to stand faster than she needs to. She winces, falling back into my hold. I help steady her, "Cloud took her to the village and it was my idea to send him. (Y/n), Cadence and Alister came in just when I started fighting the Shadow Souls, that big one wasn't their fault..."

"Cadence trailer behind to make sure they got back safe," Alister adds as she makes a move to stand on the side between Aphmau and Vincent.

"Good. You were brave to put others before yourself, but please... this is not something you should be fighting alone," Vincent turns his attention to the portal for a moment, sighting before he turns back to all of us, "Now come, let's head back to the village."

"Y-Yeah...," Aphmau manages to stand on her own, staring at the ground a moment before nodding, "I'm sorry..."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Aphmau," I reassure, giving her shoulder a pat as she stabilizes. Vincent de-transforms from his Shadow Knight form

Alister doesn't move, poking at Vincent's shoulder before pointing at the portal. Vincent brings his attention back to the portal before nodding, "Wait, before we go, we need to break this portal..."

"This is the spell I used," She shows it to Vincent in her book, sighing after he looks it over, "I don't know why it didn't close though..."

Vincent looks it over, nodding to himself before he finally turns his attention back to all of us, "Do any of you have a pickaxe?"

"I do, actually," Aphmau perks up, taking the pickaxe out of her inventory, "A diamond one, which I hope would be good enough for this..."

"That's perfect!" I assure her. She nods before walking up to it, breaking one out of it and then heading back our way.

"Good. That should stop the Shadow Souls from coming out nearby," Vincent walks ahead of us, "Let's head back to the village."
~~~~~~

"Emmalyn and Aerith are healing Cadenza and claim she'll be fine by morning," Katelyn announces as she comes back downstairs. She leans against the staircase, obviously exhausted from having to constantly go up and down the stairs to ease everyone's worries. Cadence decided to stay with Cadenza since arriving back, so I haven't seen her, but everyone else is rightfully shaken up from the event.

We all gathered together at Cadenza's place after our daring rescue and she was heavily exhausted after having to use some of her magicks by force, so exhausted she has still yet to awaken since our return.

"Good. Now, Vincent, Laurance, and, since you seem to know about these things, (Y/n), I need answers now," Zack gets straight to the point with asking, turning to where he can see all three of us better, "What exactly we're those accursed fiends that attacked the village?"

"First off, I want to know how the hell you know about Shadow Souls, Vincent," Laurance is immediately on the offensive, snarling in Vincent's direction as he speaks. His tone is threatening and I can feel his agitation at my side, "The only people that know that name are well studied scholars and..."

"Shadow Knights," Vincent finishes, leaning against the wall across from us. He remains nonchalant, the only person who's concern for Cadenza is being hidden behind a cool exterior. Or, that's what he's trying with his bad boy act. It's a little infuriating, "Yes, I am one of them and I can tell that you are too."

His tone really isn't helping his resolve, it's as condescending as the look in his eyes. Laurance definitely doesn't appreciate it, "I knew there was something off about you, I didn't want to say anything in front of Cadenza."

"Laurance..." I quietly warn, but he only continues to get riled up.

"Calm down," Zack attempts, sweating a little as he glances between the two. Everyone else doesn't know what to do as the situation escalates, "He's managed to gain full control of himself and hasn't caused any issue since I've known him."

Laurance is quiet a moment, sizing Vincent up some more. He steps forward, motioning towards the male in questions, "Explain the red eyes..."

It grows quiet and Zack isn't able to rebuttal.

"The only way a Shadow Knight can become a full Shadow Knight is if they commit enough treacherous acts or..." Vylad trails off, his emerald eyes flirting away from mine. He lowers our hands to rest against the log we were sitting on, his thumbs lightly running over the backs of my hands. Eventually, his gaze meets mine, "Just know that those eyes Zenix keeps trying to convince you of aren't worth their cost..."

"Laurance, stop," Even in my curiosity, I know Laurance is going too far. I huff through my nose before tugging him back, "It's not your place to-,"

"I killed my previous Lord to obtain theses long before you were born..." Vincent speaks up, rolling his eyes before making eye contact with Laurance. He pushes off the wall, his arms remaining crossed.

"Vincent...," Zack steps between them, giving his full attention to Vincent. His dreads bounce a little as he does, "You don't have to talk about it."

"Laurance is just being a pissbaby, like always," I reassure, lightly elbowing him.

"The only way a Shadow Knight can have those eyes is if he killed the one he cared for most," Laurance shrugs out of my hold, stepping forward again. He's glaring, his hand reaching for the hilt of his sword, "In the case of guards, it would be the Lord's we protect..."

"Just plunge the knife in his chest, (Y/n), if you really want to be as strong as us. You've seen what we're capable of now," Zenix taunts, leaning further over my shoulder as he leads my hand to run over Vylad's chest. His breathing has calmed, reassuring me that he's calmed down from his transformation, "Don't you want a taste of that? After everything you've been through? He'll be fine afterward, but you'll be stronger."

"I have my immortality. I'm not ashamed to say that. The Lord I killed deserved it. He was a horrible person to his people and killed innocent women and children," Vincent admits, lowering his arms as his fists clench. He takes a step towards Laurance, now meeting the glare of his blue eyes with the stare of crimson, "You best know your place before you start talking, you premature Shadow Knight."

"I bet you wouldn't even have to die, (Y/n)," Zenix isn't shy to lead both of my hands to hold the hilt of the knife, pressing the tip against my chest. He leads it to trace some shape before lifting it to trace a slit across my neck, almost in a teasing manner for him. It's nothing but a game to him, annunciated by the way he chuckles in my ear as he leads me to hold the knife over Vylad's chest, "You wouldn't be trading much for immortality and you're probably just a premature Shadow Knight waiting for the final deed to give you the full package."

Part of me knows it's plausible Zenix is right, but I know well enough to know that stabbing him, while maybe not killing him, could be enough to destroy his current physical body and that could be months without seeing him, years even. I could never do that again. No amount of power or immortality is worth losing him all over again, especially not by my own hands.

Laurance is fast to draw his sword, lunging at Vincent. His eyes are narrowed and the slight tilt tells me how angry he is. Vincent is quick on the uptake, their swords clashing as they meeting in the middle of Cadenza's living room. Zack jumps away right in time, seeing as he was in the middle of where the impact was, and Katelyn watches in awe at the initiated battle.

"Don't test me... I'll rip you to shreds," Laurance all but growls, pressing his sword more against Vincent's in an attempt to overpower him, "I know exactly the kind of scum you are. I also know you made a move on my Lady."

"Laurance...," Aphmau sighs at Laurance's words, setting herself in one of Cadenza's chairs with an exasperated look. She leans back and stares up at the ceiling, deciding to ignore that whole situation in favor of worrying about Cadenza, as she should. Her face is very bright red from how flustered his words make her, though, so there's that, I suppose.

"If she's your woman, then where's her wedding ring? Don't see one," Vincent smugly responds, pushing back against Laurance's pushing. He smirks, "She's free game, YOU PREMATURE SHADOW KNIGHT!"

"STOP CALLING ME THA-," Yeah, this is getting weirdly sexist.

With a quick draw of my (s/n), I cut a line between them, managing to trip them both up. They both land on the ground with a hard thud and I more than happily hop up to have my feet land on both of their backs. Their groans make me smile, and I know I'm getting way more out of this situation than I need to.

Zack also finally speaks up, scaring me a little with his shouting, "ENOUGH. LAURANCE, OUTSIDE!"

"WHAT?!" He adjusts his head so he can look up at Zack, eyes wide in bewilderment at the new development.

"Laurance, you need to calm down," Aphmau also speaks up, standing to her feet and staring down at him. I take that as a sign to move off of them both, leading to Laurance standing with hurt pride, "I seriously want you to go outside and take a breather."

""Laurance, if Vincent were a bad guy, wouldn't we know by now?" Katelyn breaks her silence, her arms now crossed as she gives a shake of her head, "Do as Aphmau says and take a breather."

"Fine," Laurance finally agrees, shoving his sword away in defeat.

As he walks out, Zack follows behind him, telling him he would explain the whole Vincent situation to him. Laurance doesn't care much, but he doesn't make a point to mention it. Zack also invites Katelyn and me out, but I decide that maybe I should sit the character building out for this one.

They all leave out and Alister excuses herself to head upstairs to help with Cadenza. It leaves just me and Aphmau with Vincent. Just the three of us... Greaaaaaaat....

"You've got one hotheaded Shadow Knight there..." Vincent comments in an attempt to lighten the mood, finally standing to his feet. He places his sword back in its holster, turning to us with a humored grin.

While I roll my eyes at his attempt, Aphmau immediately strikes him with what we're both thinking, "Laurance just doesn't like being reminded of the pain he went through..."

"You don't think I know that? I went through the same torture he did a long time ago...," He releases a humorless laugh, putting his head down and shaking it a moment, "A very... long time ago."

"Well... do you care to tell us the story?" Dammit, Aphmau. I wanted to avoid his very tragic backstory. I do not care, he is irrelevant to me.

Or, he would be, if his story didn't sound so familiar.

Vincent explains to us how he became a Shadow Knight a little over 100 years ago. He tells us of his brother, and his loyalty to him, even with his vain personality. He tells us of his brother's kidnapping to the Nether and his attempt in rescuing him that led to his transition, how he escaped only to find the tyrannical ruler his brother became and how he felt he had to end it, and how it did. It reminds me of someone else, someone I knew all too well.

Deep down, I know I shouldn't be awake. I know it's not too late to walk away like I didn't come across what's happening, but I also know that I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did keep walking.

Even with the small crack through the door, the smell of blood is strong and it doesn't ease the ominous feeling. I swallow down everything I'm feeling and push the door a little further, being met with the sight of a bruised man. I can tell from his attire that he's a Lord, or someone of high ranking, but he's unidentifiable. He's held up by two guards, his legs trembling and struggling to hold him up.

"It sure does suck that we had to do this the night before my wedding day," Above it all is Zane, boredly watching them from his throne, "But I had to make sure the message got across, my good man. I'm sure you understand."

I understand all too well.

"I don't know why I didn't go insane after gaining this power... I just didn't," Vincent trails off, staring off a little. There's something there, but I can't place my finger on what, "I've been like this ever since and have yet to lose control of myself..."

"That's a dark story," Aphmau lightly elbows me at my statement, giving me the look of a mother quietly reprimanding her child out of the corner of her eye.

"Wow, Vincent..."

"Heh, we need to put my story aside," Vincent is quick to change the subject as he starts getting a little bashful, a small flush on his cheeks as he rubs the back of his neck and averts his eyes. He clears his throat before continuing, "Zack and I were talking about it and, after this accident tonight and you're bravery... and Cadence's persistence... we are agreed to join the Phoenix Alliance, especially since those Shadow Souls have risen."

"Actually, that's a question I wanted to ask," Aphmau's smiling at the news, but she still has a quizzical look to her at the name, even though she's heard it all day, "What are they?"

Vincent doesn't immediately answer and I don't particularly know how to go about answering it. How would one explain a Shadow Soul to someone not affiliated with Shadow Knights?

"Shadow Souls are demonic forms of Shadow Knights who no longer have a physical form," Vincent manages to explain.

I add on, "Sometimes they're extremely weak from a lack of having a physical body or from recently taking enough damage to lose their physical form. They're power scavengers."

"They are the first monsters to escape from the Nether Portal once it's been opened...," Vincent trails off. My eyes widen at the implication, but Aphmau remains confused. Vincent sighs as he further explains, "Which means a Nether Portal has been opened somewhere in the world and those Shadow Souls are looking for bodies to possess to gain back their physical form... This is not good at all."

"And if a Nether Portal is open somewhere, then that also means that the Shadow Lord could possibly be planning something...," My words come out a little mumbled, but Aphmau and Vincent both pick it up, "This is very bad, actually. Even a tad bit terrible."

Aphmau is beginning to grow antsy as it becomes more and more apparent how dire of a situation this is, "How do we stop this?"

"Unless we can locate the Nether Portal that was open, we have no way of stopping it. We just build our village defenses as best we can and not allow anyone to travel alone at night-," Vincent starts listing off ideas of what could be done to slow the plausible tragedy that would follow an open Nether Portal. It's moreso him just listing off new rules they'll probably set up in New Meteli, but they're still relatively good ideas I'll probably pitch to Dante later. I'll set them in bold because they TOTALLY won't be important later... AT ALL.

1. No one should travel alone at night
2. Set a village curfew to avoid incidents with Shadow Souls
3. Make sure everyone that leaves beyond village borders has some form of protection even though that's common sense in a world full of dangerous mobs and animals, but go off, Queen

He also makes mention of their strength in one on one fights and of their weakness to light, specifically sunlight, but that they'll bare it if it means getting a body, which is a very painful thing to go through and I would not recommend to anyone that isn't a Shadow Soul, Shadow Knight, or heavily evil and desperate for power. Only trained professionals, please.

Not that I would know from experience or anything... Just from watching a thing that hurt to watch and I never wish upon even my worst enemies. Except maybe Zenix, that would be hella funny, actually. And maybe Zane... Definitely Zane, actually.

Okay, I would wish it upon even my worst enemies, but only for the comedy aspect.

"Speaking of which, we definitely were not the only village attacked," Vincent sighs, unknowingly lighting a fire in a woman very passionate about a village that was once hers, "I better start preparing the guards for how to fight these things..."

"Wait... wait, you mean to tell me that MORE villages were attacked?!" Aphmau grows breathless all of a sudden and I'm now taking note of just how panicked she looks. So panicked, in fact, I'm pretty sure she would have fainted if not for her strong resolve and now I'm regretting even telling her all this. We literally just got back home and she really should not be involving herself in such worldly affairs already, but here we fucking are. Hahah, dammit.

"Yes. No doubt," Vincent confirms without a second thought, "These things can find their way through the world very fast."

"Wait... that means...," Her eyes widen at the realization, like a deer caught in headlights. She's moving faster than her mouth, hurrying out faster than anything I'd seen before, "PHOENIX DROP... I NEED TO GO NOW!"

I'm quick to follow her out, actually struggling to keep up for a moment. She immediately goes to her horse, loading herself up before heading off in Phoenix Drop's direction. I also hop aboard mine, following her and attempting to match her speed as closely as I can.

After many years of silence, the Shadow Knights return...

A/n: Yoooooo, how's it going- Okay, yeah, I'm not going to pretend that this isn't late lmaooooo. But uhhhh hey! How's it going? Good, good. Um, this was hard to write, harder than the last few rewrites actually, and I think it's bc I didn't think I could do much better than the original version of this chapter. I love it so much and I still don't think this compares, but what're ya gonna do 🤧. In terms of plot, it's better, definitely, but in terms of... humor? Nah. I do hope I've better set up what I wanted to mentally mess with the reader about better here now, though.
*Le gasp* Ohmigosh, we've officially caught up to our original place in the story 🥳🤪. Now I can actually, officially start the next episode without feeling like I'm wasting time 😭.
Also, in case it wasn't clear: Alister and Silver/Silvy are the same person. Silver is a nickname and that will become more apparent as the chapters go on and will be explained soon-ish. It's moreso a callout for the characters original name.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! MCI Out, Peace 😋