Anjelica's leg burned. While she was regenerating, the running had been pulling at the edges of her wound and reopening it.

If these pants were not ruined before then it certainly is now, she thought while still refusing to look down at her leg.

The anxious footsteps of the couple behind her drove her to keep moving. These were people that she needed to protect just as much as Sera or Hound.

It felt like days had passed as they wove through the abandoned streets. Anjelica had done her best to memorize the street layout but she felt groggy after the battle. She was hardly processing the journey until it seemed to her that they quite suddenly came upon the bridge.

At the sight of it, Anjelica collapsed down against a nearby wall.

When was the last time that I was in this much pain? She wondered. It certainly feels like a long time ago.

Her eye ached behind it's confinement. It throbbed as if it were protesting the darkness it was now draped in. It was spreading a splitting headache throughout her skull and Anjelica did not appreciate it.

Closing her eyes, she rubbed her temples. She could hear Bertrand and Mnemina speaking but they seemed to be a thousand miles away. In her dazed state everything seemed to fade into the murky black.

She could hear running. Not the sound of boots on the ground but the pads of an animal. Too big for a cat but not the footsteps of a large creature like a bear. Enamored, Anjelica focused on the sound until it seemed to run right up to her and her eyes shot open in fear.

A gentle hand touched her shoulder as she looked up into the crimson eyes of Hound. At the sight of him the world seemed to lighten. The hum that had been drowning out her hearing began to quiet.

"Angel," Hound said, "You look like a mess."

Anjelica chuckled despite the pain.

"Well then bring me home so that I can clean myself up," She replied with as much snark as she could muster.

Hound offered a hand out to her and together they brought her back to standing. Hound also wrapped one of his powerful arms under her shoulder to help her walk. Having retrieved Anjelica from the ground, the party began to move towards the bridge.

It was then that black light began to emanate from the apex of the bridge as Lucian appeared. Abadda and Hans were next with Hans holding the injured Abadda in his lap. Finally Crownley appeared beside all of them and the anger on his face was palpable.

"I cannot just allow you to leave again, Angel. The fact that you are fighting this hard means that you have a good reason to fight and we are doing the right thing trying to arrest you. If it is a desperate fight then we will resort to desperate measures," Crownley yelled through clenched teeth and shallow breaths. "Bureau! Uncork!"

One by one, the members of the Bureau began to extract small glass vials from their belts. Anjelica already knew what was in them even before she saw the maroon color of it. All of them downed the viscous liquid and after a moment, began to convulse.

It was only just a moment. Maybe five seconds that they stood there writhing but afterwards there stood five healthy Gavels who wanted nothing more than to arrest them all.

Anjelica's gaze turned to the ground in pain, fear, and anger. She shrugged her shoulder out of Hound's grip and took a shaky step forward. Finding she had regained her balance, she took a more confident stride forward while unsheathing her blade.

"Sera, take Mnemina and Bert and get as far away from here as you can," Anjelica said with a stern tone, "Hound and I will hold them off."

"No," Sera replied curtly as she walked to stand beside Anjelica.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Anjelica asked incredulously.

"Every time that I have let you fight on your own I find you in a state like this or have to find Hound torn to shreds. From now on, if I see a friend fighting then I am going to help them. You are not really in much of a position to stop me either," Sera explained.

Sera had a look of grim determination to her face. Anjelica whipped around to look at Hound who met her gaze and gave her a brief nod. He then turned his gaze back towards their opponents.

"Sera is well trained. That is besides the fact that she is our only hope against Hans," Hound said.

WIth a grimace, Anjelica relented.

"Alright, we need everything that we can get. Sera and I will keep Crownley and Hans off of you while you deal with Abadda, Hound. We do not even stand a chance if we cannot get to Lucian so the first chance one of us gets we need to take him out." Anjelica commanded. A bit of adrenaline filled her as she saw her companions ready themselves. She removed her eyepatch and looked at the world through a hazy lens.

"Tell me Angel, what is the point of discussing strategy if the enemy can hear you?" Crownley yelled mockingly.

"We hunt intelligent prey as a profession, Crownley. If the plan is sound then it will work irregardless. Hound, rush!" Anjelica yelled.

WIth that, the fight began anew.

Hound did as he was told. When he arrived at the base of the bridge, Crownley disappeared and Hound stopped his advance.

Seeing Crownley's preimage appear next to Hound, Anjelica swept forward and parried the blow. This left her open to Hans' spectral arms which whipped forward. Anjelica prepared herself to be snagged but instead looked on in amazement as Sera's blade swept through the arms. Sera then entered into a frenzy of spins and slashes trying to dissipate the ever growing number of tethers Hans put out flicking off sparks as they connected.

Anjelica had little time to process that as the next preimage flashed and she barely managed to block Crownley's blow yet again. She could feel the warm rivulet of blood as it ran down her leg from the strain.

Hound and Abadda crashed into each other with the sound of snarls and crackling earth. WIth the ferocity and focus they were displaying it was difficult to tell whose injuries had begun to paint the bridge red. From the sounds of pain it was likely both.

Anjelica lost all sense of time as she worked as Hound's defennder. With Lucian organizing their attack, there were mere moments before Crownley's next blink. She could hear the melee happening behind her, would occasionally feel a splash of blood hit her, but there was not a moment for her to look and assess the battle.

They became lost in the dance and flow of combat. Anjelica and Sera desperately defended Hound while Hound did all he could to wear down Abadda.

Crownley appeared and made the mistake of trying to strike at Anjelica. She was able to cross blades and sneak a stab into Crownley's shoulder before he disappeared. Seeing him reappear at the far side of the bridge clutching his shoulder, Anjelica took the brief moment to survey things.

Sera was pushing towards Hans. Even beyond fighting the tendrils back, she was making ground. As she came within just a couple paces of Hans, he took action. Retracting his tendrils, Hans surged forward.

Ducking underneath Sera's swing, he hooked around her bicep from the outside. A knee connected with Sera's sternum as a leg shot behind to trip her. Once she was on the ground, the tendrils emerged once more, pulling her along the ground and slamming her into one side of the bridge before flinging her into the other.

"Sera!" Anjelica yelled but she was immediately lifted by the psychic tendrils which wrapped around her body tightly. Without Sera to beat them back, Hans could interrupt their stalemate. While being lifted, Anjelica looked down with pleading eyes towards Sera.

Sera pushed herself up onto her elbow while clutching at the ground with her other arm. Lucian walked over to her while holding his pistol at his side. He aimed it at Sera.

"I will honorably accept your surrender," Lucian said coolly, his expression blank.

Sera laughed a bit between wheezes.

"I hope that you will honorably accept a defeat.," Sera said.

Just as she finished speaking, her hand shot out in a spray of sand and dust which collided with Lucian's face. His gun fired but was off target after being blinded.

She planned this? Anjelica thought with amazement.

Sera rose and began to move towards Hans when Crownley appeared before her.

Despite the difference in size between his falchion and Sera's short sword, Sera continued to press her advantage. Anjelica saw all of the forms and techniques that she had given Sera coming to fruition through the fluidity of her movement and the ferocity of her attacks. Crownley had taken up the strategic position but was not expecting such a fight.

Step by step, Crownley was pushed back until with a loud yell Sera brought her flaming blade crashing down towards Crownley. The flaming blade split the falchion as well as Crownley's chest as he disappeared once more.

Sera did not risk getting close to Hans and instead just cut the tethers holding up Anjelica before turning to face Hans once more.

Anjelica dropped to the ground and collapsed to her knees. WIth shaky legs she began to stand. As she did, she looked over at Hound and Abadda for the first time since the brawl had begun.

All pretense of a mask had been abandoned as Hound whipped around growling. He may have been able to fight Abadda in single combat but Crownley was appearing like a deadly mosquito stabbing him with his dagger before evaporating once more.

Without Lucian keeping them together, they cannot react to a sudden change now, Anjelica thought in a split second. She drew one of her pistols which she had been reluctant to use.

"Hound! Left thigh!" She yelled.

Hound, hearing this, made a desperate slash towards Abadda's thigh plate. Anjelica saw the phantom of the attack long before it started. Knowing that the plates will reform immediately, Anjelica planned meticulously to align with Hound's strike. When finally the ghosts of their possible selves aligned, Anjelica fired.

Hound's claws left deep divots in the thigh plate which were immediately struck by Anjelica's bullet. Chunks of earth and viscera scattered out behind Abadda as she yelled in pain. Hound, seeing the opportunity, immediately leapt on her, bringing her to the ground.

As Hound began to maul Abadda, Anjelica caught just a glance of Crownley's terrified face before he disappeared and his preimage appeared behind Hound holding a gun with lethal intent.

Forsaking her own health, Anjelica feels the Blademaster pump as it forces her tired and injured limbs to move as fast as they can. She could feel the muscles in her legs snapping like piano wires as she flung herself forward. Spinning around, she pressed herself against Hound's back for stability. Drawing her other pistol, she aimed at the shade.

Crownley appeared with a shocked expression. Whether it was the sight of her appearing so suddenly or the feeling of the metal pressed directly up against his shoulder Anjelica would never know.

"Gotcha!" She yelled as she pulled the trigger. Blood mixed with purplish chunks of flesh flew off of Crownley as the bullet shredded through his clot. The force sent him flying back and he fell backwards onto the bridge.

With Crownley no longer a threat, Anjelica turned to help Hound. Her help did not seem needed, however, as she saw Hound rear back and deliver a wicked set of crossed slashes to Abadda's face.

Turning, she saw Sera standing over a very cut up Hans and a severely beaten Lucian.

If she can fight like that, then maybe we have a chance, Anjelica thought as the pain crashed into her all at once.

Limping, she made her way over towards Mnemina.

"Mina," She said with sadness in her voice, "I know what it means to ask this of you but they cannot remember any of this. Not our ties to Martus, nor our desire to get over the river, or that they have ever seen the Everburn."

Mnemina looked up at her and her often happy face was sullen. She simply nodded and walked over to Abadda placing her hands on Abadda's temple.

"What is she doing?" Sera asked as she walked over to join Anjelica.

"Mnemina takes memories in exchange for her own," Hound growled, "It is not something to be taken lightly so we only use it when we need it."

A laugh echoed out, loud and crazed, from the bridge. Crownley had crawled and propped himself up against the barrier where he had started to laugh.

"You are more dangerous than I thought Angel," Crownley said, "I would have never guessed in a million years that you were hiding the Nullflame inside of a farmgirl bastard. When people find out, and it is a when not an if, it will not just be us trying to find you. The Crown will be very interested!"

Anjelica, despite her hurt leg, stormed over and backhanded Crownley. Grabbing him by his collar, she brought his face close to her.

"My only regret," she began, "Is that you will not remember how utterly pathetic you are right now. Noone will be coming for us because nobody will remember that we were involved. Not your incompetent king nor your scheming masters. You filthy fucking lapdog enforcer. Be grateful that Mnemina is as sparing as possible," After which she dropped him back down against the railing.

Crownley looked up at her befuddled.

"You do not have a single regret? You really believe that you Cranes are going to be able to use the Everburn?"

"I believe in Sera and her ability to use it!" Anjelica spat.

"That may be so," Crownley mumbled, "but your belief in the girl will not get her far. The other Cranes will have something to say about the girl keeping her clot. Speaking of which: does she know?"

"Know what?" Sera chimed in.

Anjelica gritted her teeth. She knew that this time was going to come but now she was lost for words.

"The Everburn is a symbol of power," Crownley said morosely, "It can only ever be passed down to royalty. So whatever tiny drop of blood you share with the crown must have latched onto it."

Sera's expression flashed through a range of surprise, confusion, contemplation, and ultimately hurt.

"Why did you not tell me this?" Sera asked angrily towards Anjelica.

Anjelica was at a loss for words. The moment had come upon them so suddenly and there was so much to explain.

"For the same reason that she wanted to keep you hidden," Crownley added, "the Cranes want the exact same thing that we do. To take the Everburn and give it to a suitable heir. You were never going to survive this, Sera. I am truly sorry."

Sera's hands gripped into tight fists.

"Is this true?" was all that she said.

"Sera you have to understa-," Anjelica began.

"Is it true? There is not much to understand, Anjelica! Just answer the damn question!" Sera interjected.

"At first it was!" Anjelica madly explained, "Then things changed. We started traveling with you and we saw how amazing you are! You have impressed us at every turn!"

"And when I stop impressing? What will happen then?" Sera asked while glaring at Anjelica.

"Then we will have to fight the Cranes too," Anjelica said softly, "Because I would never let anybody hurt you! I believe in you! You could be just what this country needs!"

"I do not give a fuck about the country, Anjelica," Sera replied briskly. "And I do not want a crown."

With that, Sera walked away and Mnemina arrived beside Anjelica.

"It was always going to be a hard conversation," Mnemina said wispily.

Anjelica paused for a moment before giving a large, exaggerated nod.

Mnemina crouched in front of Crownley who looked at her with obvious terror.

"It does not hurt at all, dear," Mnemina reassured him.

"Do not take more than you need," Crownley begged, "Please?"

"I swear it," Mnemina said as she placed her hands beside his temples. Ghostly white strings of energy almost like spiderwebs stretched out from her fingertips to Crownley's temples.

Anjelica watched as his eyes unfocused and seemed to dull as he slumped against the railing.

"I would like to go home now," Anjelica announced. The sentiment was reciprocated by the group as they collected their things and left behind the bloody bridge on the River Brave.