How can I save the world if I'm no longer the hero?

Joan swung Guardian Nova, slicing into the weird, green shell that surrounded her. It was seared through with ease, the blue flames coating all of her and sizzling away the weird liquid. The strangest part was that she SHOULD have been struggling to breathe, as she could feel the liquid inside her. But breathing around it was easy, as if the liquid wasn't truly there.

She hated fighting ghosts.

Joan leaped out of the burning pod that had held her and saw five more in the basement with her. She could also see the weird, dark figures moving about the room, practically phasing in and out of reality with each flicker of the blue flames.

"Come on, I'm ready for you," Joan said, looking wildly from the left and right and waiting for one of them to come closer.

None of them did.

"Well? Come on," Joan said. "You trapped us here, why don't you--" She went silent when she heard a strange, ominous clicking from behind her. Slowly, she turned around, towards the stairs leading into the basement.

A shudder ran through her and she slowly took a step back. At least she knew now what was making the pods. She just wished she knew what it was. It was certainly a… thing. A lot like a centipede the size of a wagon, except it was made of shadows and hands. Grasping and clawing as it crawled along the roof towards her. She took another step back when it crawled under a hole in the ceiling above, not even seeming to hesitate as if it wasn't truly touching the ceiling at all.

"Oh, I do not know what you are but I do not like you," Joan said softly. Her armor appeared around her a moment later, which she was extremely grateful for as the monster suddenly stopped and made a few more clicking noises.

A moment later there was an explosion of darkness and she was sent flying through the air, hitting the wall so hard she could feel her bones snap. She dropped to the ground, giving a light groan and trying to keep a grip on her sword.

However, her sword fell from her grasp and the flames died out. She felt panic washing over her as the monster began to crawl towards her along the ceiling. She couldn't move. It had broken her bones, she was helpless and--

Joan shook her head and took a slow, calming breath. It was coming for her, but there had to be something she could do. She tried to will her sword back to her hand, but it didn't come. It was like it was--

Not responding. As if she was a ghost herself.

Joan's eyes narrowed. "Do you really think I'll fall for the same trick twice?" she asked.

Joan's eyes opened and the blue flames around her rose up higher, burning a hole through the ceiling and causing more of the phantoms to scatter. Even the monster pulled back, desperately trying to get away from the heat. If the flames could actually hurt the creature or it was just instinct, Joan didn't know, but she was going to find out. None of her bones were shattered and her armor was still wrapped around her body. She ran towards the monster and leaped up, plunging her sword into it.

The blade pierced deep and she could feel the tip lodging into the ceiling, the blue flames flashing out. The grasping hands of the monster touched her arm, even through her armor, seeming to phase through it, and she let the sword go and pulled back. A terrified scream emitted from the monster and it pulled back, seemingly unimpeded by the sword lodged inside it and pinning it to the ceiling. While there was a hole in it from where her sword pierced it, pulling off it seemed to do no additional damage. Instead, the monster fled, racing up the staircase and out of sight.

Joan stood there, giving a light shudder before willing her sword back to her hands. She flicked it once and most of the blue flames dispersed, only a little bit remaining on the hilt of the blade. "You know, I'm starting to think I understand why those elementals thought I might be like them." She turned and made her way back to the pods. With a few quick slashes, the pods were opened and the contents were spilled out onto the ground. Penthe, Ifrit, Francis, Qakog and Bauteut fell out from them, collapsing to the ground. After a few moments they were coughing and sputtering and--

"Y-you're alive!" Qakog yelled before, suddenly, just hugging her around the waist. It took her a moment to realize, considering the strange gunk over his body, but he was crying.

He was actually crying. She couldn't remember ever seeing him cry. At least, not like this. Especially with the way he was holding her, as if he was afraid she'd vanish the moment he let go.

"Q-Qakog?" Joan asked softly.

"I-I'm so sorry," Qakog said, choking on the words. "I-I'm so sorry. I'll be better, I swear I'll be better… I'm so sorry…"

Joan stared down at him before looking up at the others. Francis and Ifrit were hugging each other. Penthe was standing, a hand against the wall and her back to them. Bauteut… Bauteut was just kneeling, her arms tight around herself while she rocked back and forth.

"What… happened?" Joan asked softly.

"I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry," Qakog whispered repeatedly.

Joan looked down at him before very gently she reached out and began to lightly pat him on the head. "It's okay. You're okay. What happened in there?"

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry…" Qakog kept whispering.

"Let's go find that… thing," Penthe said, her voice cold as ice. "We need to destroy it before it can do whatever… that… was… again."

"What happened to all of you?" Joan asked again. "Are you okay?"

"How could we possibly be okay?" Bauteut asked softly, though she stopped rocking and instead looked up. "How are you okay?"

Joan gave a shrug. "I don't know. I'm just used to illusions and fake things, I guess?"

"That thing feeds off despair," Penthe said. "It traps you in a cycle of despair and then feeds off it. Off you. I should have prepared better for it."

"Ohhhhhh," Joan said softly. "That makes sense. Mine kept shifting. It tried this whole thing where you all left me behind and then this whole fake Goddess of War and, well… it kept flickering. I guess I was despairing a bit? But I'm kind of used to that. None of it really stuck, you know? I've been through a lot worse already and it really didn't seem to know where to go for me."

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Penthe just sighed before looking around. "Where's my poleaxe?"

"Probably where it was when we got caught by that thing," Joan said. "It--"

Another scream tore through the air, making all of them cringe.

"Maybe I should go deal with this alone," Joan said softly. "It can't really--"

"NO!" Qakog yelled, shaking his head. "No. Please. I-I'll help. I--"

"No," Joan said before reaching down and placing her hands on his shoulders. Gingerly, she pushed him away. "Qakog? It's okay. I know… I understand you've been through a lot. But I'll be fine, okay? It can't really… do that to me. I've had a lot of things try that on me before and I'm kind of used to it by now."

"I'm going," Penthe said coldly.

"I said I'll be fine," Joan said with a sigh.

"It's not for you," Penthe said. "I'm not going to be happy until I see that thing die. Did you manage to hurt it?"

"Uhhhhh…" Joan said softly. "Kind… of? I think? It's not really fully… here? I think?" She glanced around. The strange, shadowy figures were still there, though they were keeping their distance. "I think it's kind of a--"

More screams tore through the air, though they quickly became distorted and wild.

Then they stopped.

"That's… that's not good, is it?" Joan asked softly.

Penthe shook her head before she started walking towards the stairs. "Joan, come with me. Qakog, Bauteut, keep those two safe."

"But… but…" Qakog said, starring up at her.

Joan smiled down at him. "I'll be fine. I promise. I've done a lot worse. Trust me, okay?"

Qakog very slowly pulled away, giving a small little nod. Though he looked unhappy as he did it. Still, he did do it.

Joan sighed and started towards the stairs. Penthe's boots were heavy on the ground as she went behind her. "So, ummm, got a plan?" Joan asked softly.

"Yes," Penthe said. "Phantoms are harder to hit with weapons, but magic tends to be more effective against them. I'm far more concerned about that thing it trapped us in."

"Just know it might not be real," Joan said softly. "When everything starts to go wrong, refuse to believe it."

"You make it sound so easy," Penthe said, even with her armor the sarcasm dripped from her voice.

"Illusions like that were distressingly common in my past," Joan said as she made her way up the steps. "Guardian Nova has helped a lot. It killed me once, even, so I wouldn't have to kill everyone else."

"What?" Penthe asked.

"It was a real nasty one," Joan said. "I think it's called 'Mirage of Paradise' or something. Makes you think everything is 'good'. I was the Hero in it, though. Didn't really like all of that."

"You didn't like being the Hero?" Penthe asked.

"I mean, I did, parts of it, but, I mean, I just…" Joan mumbled, trying to come up with a proper way to say it. "I just… didn't like failing everyone."

Penthe gave a soft sigh before shaking her head. "We… need to talk, later. After this."

"Oh, please," Joan said, rolling her eyes. "I know, I've got trauma, all of that. I'm working on it. I just refuse to lose anyone else. You of all people should understand that."

"It's not that," Penthe said. "It… is that. But there's… we'll talk later."

Joan sighed before peeking her head out of the top of the stairs. She didn't see any sign of the monster. The door was closed to outside, but that didn't mean much. The sun had gone down and the flickering blue flame did little to make the shadows around them look any less ominous.

Slowly, they made their way towards the door, scanning the area for any sign of the monster. She reached out and pushed the door open.

"Ewwwwww," Joan said, taking a small step back and lifting a hand over her mouth so quickly that her armor clanked slightly when it struck.

Well, they found the monster, at least. Parts of it.

The weapons that had been following her around were still standing there, outside the house, as if they were waiting for her. The monster, however, had been torn to pieces. Dozens of small, shadowy hands covered the ground and, as far as she could tell, the weapons seemed unharmed. The worst part were that the hands were still moving… and now that it was in pieces she could see that there were no bones. Just the skin and organs.

"… What… are those?" Joan asked softly.

"Problem solvers, it seems," Penthe said softly. She slowly stepped out and made her way to one of the chunks. She then held out her hand and cast a quick spell, fire erupting from her hand and enveloping the piece. "Help me destroy the pieces. I don't want this… thing… rebuilding itself."

"What?" Joan asked.

"We're destroying all of it," Penthe said. "Only way to be sure."

"Be sure of what?" Joan asked.

"That whatever happened here is dealt with," Penthe said. "Destroy the creature, burn everything down. The buildings. The bones. All of it."

Joan's eyes went wide and she let out a soft gasp. "W-wait, what? You want to burn down the town? Entirely? What about--"

"The souls are still trapped here," Penthe said. "Or how else do you intend to free them?"

Joan blinked and glanced around. There were still strange, shadowy things watching them. How many had been lost? How many were still there, locked in despair? Or watching all of this, helpless to…

"Okay," Joan said softly. "Let's… let's free them all."

------

The sun seemed to rise slowly as the six watched the town below burn. They'd found a few more of those weird pods, but their victims had perished long ago. How they'd missed them the first time they'd searched she'd never know, but she suspected the monster's magic had beem a part of it. There were no journals, no books, no information about what had happened here.

"We did it," Francis said softly. "We need to let people know what happened here. Especially…" His eyes wandered to the ship, still at port. Its crew never to return.

"We did," Penthe said.

"Please, let's just go," Bauteut said softly, her arms still around herself.

Joan could only give a small, grudging nod. She had been so excited before, but seeing all of them like this wasn't at all what she imagined. Qakog had at least stopped crying, but he'd been incredibly protective ever since. Bauteut kept pulling away, barely looking at any of them. Penthe was managing to be more curt than normal. Ifrit and Francis… they hadn't stopped holding each other's hands ever since.

Joan felt a small, gnawing ache in her heart. No matter what she did, no matter how much she fought or what monsters she killed, she couldn't take away the aches in their hearts or the pains they'd suffered through. She cringed and wondered if this was how the Chosen often felt when it came to her.

Still, she could help make it better. She hoped. "Yeah," Joan said softly. "Let's hurry back. Who knows? Maybe Chase found something. He might even be waiting for us."