Wrath Reincarnated

JULES

«« Black Sacrament »» [The Iron Maiden]

The Iron Maiden knelt with Her fingers raised in a pose where her pinkies touched the opposite thumbs. One palm faced Her, the other faced outward. Three columns of darkness ruptured from the far away sand dunes in an equilateral triangle across the battlefield. One erupted by the Nomads' camp, another by the Elementalists' core forces, and the third by the Iron Maiden Hunters' stronghold themselves.

The men inside each column yelped and shrieked; their voices echoed and boomed across the vast wastes. Machines of war—zephyrs, trebuchets and catapults—were split in two where they overlapped the energy fields, and their segments caught on the inside of the columns shredded to pieces and eventually vaporized.

After they'd haunted Jules and anyone left standing to bear witness, the voices inside the columns drowned out against the unending booming roar of energy, and then as one, their shrill voices overlapping, they let out a communal banshee shriek. No…

"Jules."

"I know, Kaizen. She turned them all." He looked into Her eyes. They were firm, resolute, and unwavering. No sign of guilt or remorse, but no sign of Death, either. "But She didn't perform the ritual on Herself."

"Take the Sound in our hands," Kaizen warned.

«« Black Sabbath »» [The Iron Maiden]

Tendrils of darkness scattered out from various heights of each black column. They chased down anyone who'd managed to survive outside the fields and harvested their souls, one by one.

"HESITATE, AND WELCOME DEATH."

Jules reached out for the Wrath-possessed Sound of Fury. His hand hovered over it, then trembled. Can I control him? Can I win without him?

…Or am I destined to lose, one way or another?

The tendrils returned to the columns of light, which had completed their miracle and faded away. When their last remnants flickered out, only a few hundred men—truly humans—had survived.

And even worse, each column had produced dozens of Judas Priests.

From this distance, Jules could only make out their gray and ghastly appearances, some with extra arms, others with an extra leg, or a tail. But all brandished weapons laced with golden light, and charged with battle cries toward Jules and his friends.

There was no other way out, and Jules understand that now.

"Kill The Maiden first."

He and Kaizen reached for Wrath and took him in their collective hand, which—possibly because of his Integration with Kaizen—no longer burned his palm. They slashed at Her. She blocked the strike with Her claymore, but the impact blasted Her back about fifty feet. Jules admired the power of the Sound of Fury version he held in his hands—stained in blood, serrated at the blade, cold, black, and red. Raw power. And then the masses flooded in.

A battle ax here, a war hammer there, and a half-dozen spears all around—Jules spun and deflected the Judas Priests' strikes all around. They taunted him and cursed him with the same multi-layered voice that Zeke had spoken with, and Jules could have sworn that he sensed Zeke's voice himself somewhere in the mix. How is that possible?

A great sword carved a laceration down to Jules' shoulder blade from behind. He winced, expecting the Holy magic to stun him, but the pain felt more natural—and then his Regeneration took hold. Unsure of whether it came from Kaizen or Wrath, he had no time to thank them, and he focused on removing every limb within sight. Three arms from one man, a leg from another Priest. Another blade slashed Jules' from behind, and two spears pierced his shin from the front.

Right before him, a Judas Priest snarled and cackled through wicked and crooked teeth. Jules grabbed his face with his left hand.

« Wrath »

The Judas Priest seized up his remaining limbs, and a black medallion ejected from his heart, and the Third Eye on his forehead faded away. Jules launched the man to safety, blocked another strike from a golden ax, then fell face first into the sand from a blunt force to the side. There's too many of them!

"ACCEPT MY POWER, JULESSSS."

Jules rolled over and shot out a hand.

«« Flames of Hell »» [Jules]

A circle of Hellfire protected them, and he pushed it out further away to drive off the horde.

"Rip him to shreds." The Iron Maiden had returned to the fight, and She walked into the Hellfire and crossed through to the other side. "Do not be afraid of the flames." The undying flames scalded Her skin down to muscle even, but She whisked a hand in front of Her, and wind swept the flames away, and Her own form of healing took hold. Other Judas Priests followed Her lead—some endured the pain, others cowered away, and some fell to agonizing deaths—or at least Jules hoped they were dead.

"OUR SEAL, JULES."

Jules placed his hands on his opposite shoulders, then whipped them in front of him and stopped at his sides

« WRATH!!! »

The crimson Hellfire shifted to white and appeared to halt mid-flicker, then all the flames rushed inward like some purifying implosion. A handful of Judas Priests scattered about turned back to men, but far more than the majority remained.

Salvos dammit! I'm not going to be able to save them all—

"BEWARE THE FEAR IN HER EYES."

Jules knew that fear. He fought in terror of losing himself, of losing his friends, and saw it reflected in his enemy's eyes.

But Her terror is only for Herself.

"It seems the flames of Hell were to be feared after all." Jules saw the first glimmer of hesitation in Her eyes. Perhaps it was guilt, or possibly remorse. "And I thought I had been a proper servant to Fate, alas… Goodbye, Jules Tideshaper. And farewell, Wrath." She raised Her hands high into the sky, then recited what Jules hoped was Her ultimate spell.

«« Sabbath Bloody Sabbath »» [The Iron Maiden]

Dark energy trailed out of the closest Judas Priest to Her, and then the next, and the one after him, and wrapped themselves around Her like some sort of cocoon. Jules ran to Her, but the Judas Priests She'd spared impeded him. Jules and Kaizen let out a battle cry like he'd never heard before. They split two Priests in half, and then a third. A fourth grabbed his throat, but Rukia head butted him aside. Jules was three steps from the cocoon. Two paces. One.

The Sound of Fury pierced through clean to the other side. No cry emerged, but Jules knew they'd stuck clean through.

« Wrath »

Anger. Fury. Resentment. Abhorrence. Shame. Guilt. Vengeance. Twisted Fate. Dozens more of emotions flooded into Jules, Kaizen, Wrath, and the Sound. It overflowed them all, and created a daunting aura around them that not even the Judas Priests' Holy weapons could penetrate, and three remaining survivors pounded him with ten separate weapons. Jules trembled at the weight of it all, and it became too much to bear.

Clink—CRACK! Jules' eyes darted to the Sound's newest hairline crack, and he withdrew it immediately.

"Wrath…"

"YESSSS?"

"Why the Hell isn't this working? Is Her wrath too great for even you?"

"Your Seal is closed and the Sound isn't fully assembled, kiddo," Kaizen responded for him.

"BUT IF I WERE TO ENTER YOUR BODY NOW…"

"What—There's a chance?" Wrath howled with laughter.

"NO, JULESSS, THERE WOULD BE NO CHANCE… FOR HER."

"Well that's not happening."

"THEN PERHAPS YOU COULD UNLOCK YOUR SEAL."

Fat chance, you snaky bastard.

The cocoon bulged out once, then twice, each with a disturbing wobble sound. The third time, Her black wings snapped out, fully unfurled. They curled back into themselves, and clawed hands split out the husk from the middle, and She emerged reborn. She dragged those clawed hands down Her face and wiped away the slime and black sludge. Wings snapped back open again and blew the Judas Priests away, but Jules held his ground.

"A FALLEN ANGEL. WHO DOES SHE REMIND YOU OF, DEAR KAIZEN?"

Jules involuntarily squeezed the Sound tighter, and he felt a level of fury within Kaizen that he never knew possible. Who does She remind you of…?

The black slime and sludge coated Her body like some crude armor, and the only other color to remain were the hollowed whites of her eyes and her golden claymore.

"WE CAN STOP IT ALL HERE WHILE OUR OPPONENT IS WEAK."

"This is weak!?"

"KAIZEN, TALK SENSE INTO THE BOY, FOR BOTH OUR SAKES."

The Sound trembled in Kaizen's hand. Jules' sensed the bloodlust, birthed from some deep betrayal, but he ultimately relinquished control to Jules.

"We do it the kid's way."

Wrath grunted, and Jules executed his penultimate battle plan. Override.

« Integrate » [Jules]

Rukia turned to ash and flooded into Jules' body. As The Iron Maiden walked to him slowly, three souls battle for space and positioning. Jules' teeth turned to sharp canines, he grew claws of his own along with scattered patches of fur. One eye shifted to a pointed iris, and the other remained as Jules'. White flames erupted from Jules' sword arm into the shield he'd previously held with Rukia, but he found himself at his limits. His body was imbalanced, and he felt Wrath's cruel grin spread. Without time to shift one of them to the Sound, he submitted his own soul to the Sound of Fury, and relinquished control of his body to Kaizen and Rukia, trusting that she would keep him in line.

Jules found himself sitting on the edge of a blade again, just like he had in Aquilantis over a year ago; but this time, instead of being hunted by Wrath, the demon stood beside him.

"WELCOME, JULES. WITNESS THE POWER YOU LACK."

Jules watched from afar, completely removed from the battle. He watched as Kaizen and Rukia mowed down Judas Priest after Judas Priest—and Kaizen even activated their Seal to cleanse one when he could, and they warded off strike after strike from The Maiden.

But more Judas Priests rushed in from the dunes—and Jules realized how naive he'd been.

"She only sent in one column's worth of Priests at the start?"

"FOR EVERY ONE WE HAVE SLAIN, THERE ARE TWO MORE TO REPLACE THEM. PLUS THE MAGUS REMAINS. DO YOU BELIEVE IN KAIZEN? IN RUKIA? ARE YOU ENJOYING YOUR FRONT ROW SEAT? GO AHEAD, CHILD, SIT DOWN AND RELAX. UNLESS OF COURSE… YOU FEAR THEY WON'T BE ENOUGH?"

Jules faltered, but held his ground—If he slipped here, the blade's edge he stood on would slice him in half, or he'd fall down, far into the depths, wherever they led below.

"I… We can't win. We can't win. If I give Kaizen full control, I'd be welcoming Death. But if I don't, they die." Visions of Jules' friends flooded his mind. Cyrus. Rukia. Whiskers. Seraphina and Raven. Even Greed.

And Kat.

"WHY NOT TAKE CONTROL BACK AND FLEE? THE MAIDEN WILL REMAIN FOR THE OTHER SINS. YOU COULD REGROUP AND TRY AGAIN?"

Even though he knew the worse were false, they enraged Jules, and that was never an option, as hubris set its firm grips in his mind. Escape and try to prevent the Apocalypse another way, and save them all alone another time, or merge and welcome certain death. Those are my two choices?

The Maiden hammered down on Kaizen and Rukia over and over, and finally broke their stance. Rukia reached out and grabbed a Priest and shielded their body with him from Her next strike. More Judas Priests surmounted the tops of the sand dunes.

The Iron Maiden struck down Kaizen to the ground. Jules felt a dull snap of pain in his soul. She hurtled his claymore into his chest, and pinned them all to the ground. Then She raised Her hands into the air one last time. Jules glanced around at his friends; he paused on Katarina's eyes, flush with fear, and The Iron Maiden invoked Her other Vessel.

«« Imprison, Iron Mai— »» [The Iron Maiden]

« Switch » [Jules]

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The prison door materialized in front of Jules. He turned the knob and walked inside his cell. Without turning back, he welcomed Wrath in. "You coming or not?"

Blinding white light preceded sharp, agonizing pain in his stomach as Jules entered his body again. Immediately he pushed out Rukia, and Kaizen into her, in one fell swoop. A little failsafe in case Wrath tries to kill Kaizen, if he truly becomes Death. That bastard won't hurt her. For the briefest moment in time, everything felt normal to Jules, but then the demon's boots stomped closer in his mind.

Jules closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Here we go again. He opened his eyes and saw the world turn to crimson all around, and that was the last thing he remembered.

CYRUS

Like he'd been trying for the last few minutes, Cy finally propped himself up on one arm. Lust had just died for the fourteenth time next to him, and its eerie effect still hadn't lost its unnerving novelty. The Iron Maiden slid the claymore into Jules, or Rukia, or Kaizen, or whoever the fuck it was now. No, Jules… All is really lost. He looked over at Envy, and his own emotions mirrored hers. I guess I should find it fitting that I die to an Alter, in the final hour.

«« Imprison, Iron Mai— »» [The Iron Maiden]

Jules pierced Her Vessel with the tip of his blade. It cracked under the pressure, and the Sound of Fury plunged through the claymore. The resulting shockwave saved Her, or else the katana would have slid through Her skull. Cy and Whiskers were blown away, along with everyone else.

Jules walked through the settling dust, but Cy found the image most unsettling.

"No…" Deja vu. He'd seen him before in Coralhaven. Two times, in fact. But this time was different… Those versions were Jules possessed by Wrath. This time, it looked like Wrath had escaped Hell for good.

Grating iron plate-mail fused to scorched skin. Horns stuck out of a helmet that Cy didn't know were part of the demon's skeleton or armor. And piercing crimson eyes that settled on Cy himself and sent a shiver down his spine and froze even his heart.

THUMP-THUMP.

His heart picked back up again, thankfully, and The Iron Maiden and Judas Priests closed in on Wrath.

Holy shit! Wrath spun the Sound around his body in a dance of fiery rage. He sped through the underlings, and limbs arced high in the night sky and rained back down on them. The shrieks and tormented groans made Cy think he found himself in Hell as Wrath relished in his work—and was he ever the expert.

Cy couldn't keep up with the blade itself, and every so often Wrath would emit black flames from his palms, until only The Maiden and Her crooked, tattered wings remained on one knee. She rose again and fought to the very end, strike after strike that Wrath merely deflected.

He let Her fall face first into the sand. He let a strike connect, only to grab Her arm and wrench Her back down into shame and misery. But She never relented, and he never finished Her off.

Why is he toying with Her like this? Why doesn't he just end the fight here and now?

Wrath blocked Her claymore with his bare palm, then ripped it from Her grip and snapped it over his knee, then he grabbed Her by the throat and suspended Her up into the air.

"HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN."

She scratched at his hand and tried to wrench free, and flapped Her wings for extra force and leverage, so he sighed angrily, then ripped one off to shrieks that would fill Cy's nightmares for years to come. She writhed around in his grip like the snake She was.

«« You will never win, Wrath! After crossing to this side, I've seen it all. You endless journey and punishment through time! Hahaha… You hopeless bastard! You— »» [The Iron Maiden]

Wrath flicked Her up in the air, then grabbed Her by the cheeks with the same hand to end the speech.

"I HAVE ONE QUESTION, MAGUS."

Magus!? So she's one of the Magi—

"THIS BLACK SABBATH. WHO GAVE YOU SUCH MAGIC."

She mumbled something in his grip, so he relaxed it to understand her words. All She did was laugh in his face. Cy leaned in—he wanted to know, too, more than anything else right now.

«« Why would I ever tell you that? »» [The Iron Maiden]

"BECAUSE I WILL LET YOU LIVE, CHILD."

«« Child? You call me a child? Then you don't know who I really am. You really are— »» [The Iron Maiden]

Wrath leaned into Her neck, and for a moment, Cy thought he'd bite it like some vampire, but he whispered something in Her ear instead. Whatever he said, She did not like…

«« If you know that name, then you already know the answer, Wrath. »» [The Iron Maiden]

"DO YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE, OR NOT? I'D HEAR YOU SAY IT ALOUD, FOR HIM."

The Iron Maiden's body relaxed in suspension, and even Her remaining wing hung down low. She spoke slowly, as if She accepted complete and utter defeat.

«« The Final Magus. »» [The Iron Maiden]

"THERE IS HOPE FOR YOU YET."

«« Don't forget your promise— »»

Wrath tossed Her up in the air like trash, and silenced Her for good. Eyes still wide open, Her head landed to his side, and the Sound of Fury pierced straight through.

« WRATH »

A dark aura swirled around him and sucked into him, and The Iron Maiden's body returned to its previous form, any evidence of the Black Sacrament or Sabbath completely gone. Her eyes rolled into the back of Her head.

"The thread is gone!" Envy shouted from across the way—She'd been blown away from the Vessel's explosion with both parts of Lust.

"So She's really dead…"

Wrath ripped the blade from Her decapitated head.

"I ALWAYS KEEP MY PROMISES, CHILD. WE SHALL MEET AGAIN SOON."

"Come on, Jules…" Cy said. "Take back control. Come on—COME ON!"

"We have won." Rukia, and merged with her, Kaizen, stood beside Cy on all fours. "End this madness."

"I TOLD YOU WE COULD END IT HERE AND NOW. SLAY DEATH BEFORE THE CURSE SETS IN."

Wrath held his hands out and crafted a dense, black fireball.

"Jules, stop!" Envy cried out.

"Please—I don't want to die again!" Lust slung around Envy's shoulder, who must have helped piece her back together. Cy spun Tensa around in his hands. Fucking fight's not over, yet.

Wrath raised the fire up to slam it down on the ground, but Greed struck the demon's forearm plate armor with his odachi and halted him. Wrath turned his head slowly to face the Sin. "Looks like I was wrong about you, Wrath. Seems like you're even more dangerous than Kazuma."

"HELLO, OLD FRIEND."

Wrath smiled, then shoved the fireball into Greed, who ignited immediately. Greed roared through the pain and slashed at Wrath, who calmly parried each strike away.

"WAKE UP, JULES!" Cy shouted at the top of his lungs. He marched to Jules, and Rukia and Kaizen took off in front of him. Wrath slashed off Greed's arm that held the odachi, and it spun in the air.

The demon reared back to slice off his head next, but the odachi halted him once more. Thunder erupted from the collision, and its force blew Greed away—and standing in his place was The Nomad, still battle worn and scarred.

"Run, Children," he warned. He engaged with Wrath for but a moment, until he was again disarmed. Wrath grabbed him by the mask and flung him over to his protege, Greed.

"Stop."

A tiger-sized Rukia stalked a circle around Wrath. Her back was arched and her head hung low in a fierce determination and focus. Her nine tails all fanned out, and she glowed a faint blue.

"RUKIA, MY SWEET RUKIA. HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN YOUR PROMISE TO ME?"

"That was a long time ago, Wrath."

"YOU ARE FORBIDDEN TO INTERVENE WHEN DEATH IS SO NEAR…"

"I recall."

She growled low and long.

"A MEMORY WHICH YOU SHOULD RETAIN. WHY DO YOU SHELTER DEATH? HAVE EVEN YOU ABANDONED ME IN THE FINAL HOUR?"

She stomped one paw down.

"Never. Just like I've never abandoned him, after all these countless and damned Cycles of yours."

"LET ME KILL HIM!!"

Wrath barked the command. Like Cy, he seemed at his wit's end—placed in front of a set of choices, where no outcome was best. Cy steeled his resolve. If Rukia can't get Jules out, then we are all lost. He looked around at his allies and foes, at the Alter he wished he could spend more time with, at the other Alter he was glad was dead.

"You know the rules, Wrath. Break them, and you break me."

She dug down into a stance, ready to pounce at him.

Cy reached in his pocket and charged what little remained of his Ryoku—he'd leave just a single digit to spare. Wrath charged Rukia and shouted.

"KAIZEN—"

Cy said one last prayer for his friends, then he ripped out Odessa's emblem. He looked up at the eye in the sky, and hoped it would do.

« Space » [Cy]

Cy crashed to his back, and something landed on his stomach. His vision returned to normal quickly, at least much more quickly than before. The sun shined high above, hidden partially by a cloud.

Birds. Wind. Dry air, but unlike the desert. It was cool here, much cooler.

He sat up and rubbed his head. When he put his hand in his lap, it was stopped by something soft and furry. "Whiskers?"

"Cyrus." Cold emerald eyes glared back up at him. "Where have you taken us?"

Cy glanced around and took in their surroundings. They'd landed somewhere near the top of a mountain, part of a massive range that expanded in every direction, on a plateaued edge. Not too far off in the distance, he saw a tower that had attempted to reach the heavens. An entire city surrounded it, built into a high cliff or bluff.

"Solstice Keep. That right there…" Cy pointed at the tower. "Is The Library."

Whiskers waddled to the edge and looked down below the expansive valleys between them and their new destination.

"You foolish, foolish child."

ENVY

Kat crashed to the ground. Someone landed beside her, and groaned in pain. Lust?

"Sera—Sera!" Kat shook her and tapped her face. "Wake up, wake up!"

She groaned as her Regeneration took hold, which gave Kat at least some relief. Until she began to think about Jules, and Whiskers, and what had happened to them. And how did I get here?

Seraphina opened her eyes finally and took everything in. "Raven—Where's Raven?"

"I think… I think it's just the two of us." She longed for Whiskers—and Jules. A chilling breeze swept through them. Kat hugged herself and chattered her teeth. The sun set to the west, over a range of snow-capped mountains.

"Where are we? How did we get here?"

"Cy must have used his Space Rune again," Kat said. "And judging by those mountains, I'd say we landed somewhere in Zephyria."

JULES

Jules shot up, fully awake now. He looked left and right, expecting to fight The Iron Maiden still. Instead, he saw the foothills of mountains to the north, and the rising sun to the east.

How the hell did I get here? Rukia? Kaizen?

…Wrath?

He got to his feet then turned around. Oh shit! He ran to Greed first, whose limbs swirled back into each other and mended.

"Back for more already, Wrath?" Greed coughed out.

"Jules."

Greed shot up. "Holy fuckin' shit, the old man did it."

Greed rolled over to his feet, then stumbled over to The Nomad, who lied splayed against a boulder, covered in blood, bruised and beaten. His chin hung down low to his chest in defeat and pain. Whatever had remained of the veil that masked his face was gone, but Jules still couldn't make out his features from the slumped angle.

Jules had to look away—he knew he was responsible for it somehow, though he wasn't sure how the Alter had survived in the first place.

"I can't believe you used your odachi in public." Greed kicked the Alter's boot. "Wake up, old man. I know you're not dead, yet."

The Nomad wheezed behind Jules' turned back. Jules looked up to the clouds. Greed gasped.

"Old man… What… What the hell happened to you?"

Jules couldn't bear to turn around.

PATIENCE

Patience had to use his teeth—his fucking teeth—to help tie the cloth to his wound. Unsure of where to go to heal it and hopefully reattach his limb, he wandered through what remained of the battlefield. His limping footsteps left behind a short trail of tracks that were quickly covered up by the dancing sand dunes. He stopped just short of Her head, and he tilted his own at it. Then he kicked it. Hard.

It rolled over in a tangle of hair and stopped a short distance away at Her body. Patience readied a Rune to ignite the whole fucking corpse on fire, when Her eyes shot open. He froze, but thank Salvos he didn't let fear get the better of him and leap back.

"Hello, Patience," She said. "I'll be coming for you next."

"That's fine. I heard Wrath say your name. If I had to wager, your second comings will take quite some time."

They smiled at each other. He knew She was terrified of this revelation, but he also knew She welcomed the challenge. Fire erupted from his palm, and Her body burned away without a trace.

Heavy boots approached him from the side.

"I've already thanked you once," he said. "I won't repeat myself."

"I COMMEND YOUR BRAVERY TONIGHT, PATIENCE."

"Yet you have more immediate orders for me, then?"

"YOU APPROACH YOUR ENDGAME. YOU MUST MAKE HASTE."

And when we've both gotten what we want, you'll discard me to the wayside… But I will be better equipped to face Her in the future, thanks to our agreement.

"Why did you separate from the Tideshaper? I thought that we were two of a kind, Voice. Uncompromising to the end, stopping at nothing to achieve a singular focus. But after what I just witnessed, you might be even weaker than the boy."

"SAY WHAT YOU WILL. I PAID MY LIFE FOR VENGEANCE, NOT HERS. REGARDLESS, JULES WAS SEPARATED FROM DEATH IN THE END.

Patience picked up The Maiden's claymore and clipped it to his back, but he left the shattered fragments of the Black Sacrament behind, scattered around the desert dunes.

"Find some other lapdog to clean up after you. I'll see you at Mount Fury. I have just one final stop along the way."

"YES. SEE YOU AT MOUNT FURY."

Patience limped away into the dark night.

KAIZEN

Kaizen floated with his eyes closed and meditated. His levitating legs crossed in the purple void of the Shaman Beads around Rukia's neck. She'd landed with the others not that long ago.

A true reunion, though not in full. He smiled for her.

He wondered about how Destiny had shifted its course tonight. He thought about Envy, and Lust, and Greed, and his master. After a while, much longer than he'd expected, his visitor arrived.

Without a knock, Wrath walked straight through the open jail cell door.

"YOU MADE THE WRONG CHOICE, KAIZEN."

Kaizen expected the lashing. "What, about the boy?"

"YOU KNOW OF WHAT I SPEAK. WE COULD HAVE ENDED IT EARLY."

"Aye, we could have. I'm not sure what that would have accomplished, though."

"YOU COULD HAVE ENDED THE BOY'S SUFFERING, FOR ONE."

"And Rukia would be lost to us forever. I'd rather let Jules face the agony of betrayal—"

"YOU CODDLE HIM LIKE A CHILD! YOU ARE PERMITTED TO TELL HIM MORE."

"If anyone has grown soft here, it's you." Kaizen open his eyes and glared at Wrath. "I made the Deal with you. I know what's at stake, I know how this ends. We had a plan, and you tried to deviate—"

"I HAVE BECOME IMPATIENT!"

Kaizen let the monster soak in his own words.

"Then you have truly become Wrath, old friend. Perhaps it is time you pass the mantle to me." Wrath ripped the door from its hinges and hurtled it at Kaizen, who stopped it midair with just a glance. "See what I mean?"

Wrath grinded his teeth together in a snarl.

"YOU COULD TELL HIM MORE… YET YOU ALLOW HIM TO WALK INTO EVERY TRAP BLINDLY."

"You don't see what I see in him. He can end it all—"

"YOU WOULD INFLICT THAT PAIN UPON HIM!? YOU WOULD LET HIM GO THROUGH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE?"

"You allowed me to."

"I HAVE ALWAYS OFFERED THE DEAL OF CLAIRVOYANCE! DO NOT FORGET WHAT YOUR PREDECESSOR TAUGHT YOU AS A CHILD—"

"And look at how that worked out for me!" Kaizen dropped to his feet. "The only way to end this—for everyone—is to welcome Death. We've spent millennia on this plan, and now in the final hour, you want to pull out and end it prematurely!? You are too close to the boy—and either way, it ends the same for him! There is only one way out of this, or we restart the fucking loop again!"

Kaizen's words echoed inside the Shaman Beads' housing, and bounced off the purple crystalline structure.

"OF ALL MY INCARNATIONS, NONE HAVE HAD A ROUGHER ROAD THAN JULES. THE ONES WHO FAILED EARLY AT LEAST KNEW WHAT THEY FOUGHT. THE ONLY ITERATION TO HAVE A HARDER TIME, WAS ME… AND I FEAR THAT MANTLE WILL SOON SHIFT."

Kaizen stared at the rocky ceiling. "I will let Death come, Wrath. And I will let Jules fix it once and for all. I trust him—Now, can I still trust you?"

Wrath raised a hand to his chin.

"WHAT IS IT YOU SEE THAT I DO NOT?"

Kaizen grinned.

"I've found the missing piece that you never could, old friend. I found the central knot to this loop."

RUKIA

"Ooofff…."

A tiny Rukia crashed onto the cold hard ground in a wide sploot. Kaizen had left her body during transit, and now resided in the Shaman Beads around her neck.

"Caw! Caw!"

Rukia wobbled to her feet and shook her coat and each leg. "Hey, it's so dark, but I don't hear anyone else around. Why don't you speak, Raven-guy?"

"Caw! Caw!"

"Caw! Caw!"

"What are you trying to say?" As Rukia's vision adjusted to the darkness, she saw Raven flapping his wings in one direction. Rukia's stomach dropped when she realized where they were—far away, across an endlessly deep cavern and the remnants of a shattered bridge, sat a dimly lit Tree of Wishes. "Well that's seen better days."

"Caw! Caw!"

"Right, so we're back in The Verdant Domain, so you can't talk anymore?"

"Caw!"

"Well that sucks.

"Caw! Caw! Caw! Caw!"

Oh, what now?

Rukia turned in the newest direction that Raven flapped his wings. Two eyes shined in the darkness, and then two white rings appeared around even them, and the ghastly beast came into view. Rukia shuddered—she'd never seen anything like it.

"U-Um, excuse me?" it squeaked out. "Do you know where we are?"

Rukia leapt back and pointed a claw at the colossal monster. It towered over her, at least one, maybe even two feet tall. "Who are you!? And why can you talk!?"

"Oh, um, I'm sorry, I guess Jafar didn't mention me again, huh?"

The beast lunged forward and grabbed a shiny shard of broken glass in front of Rukia's paws. She frittered around with it in her hands for a moment and sniffed it, then discarded it aside with an angry grunt.

"S-sorry, bad habit of mine. My name's Raccoon. Hey—You wouldn't happen to have any food, would you?