I stood outside the building again within the ruins. It was quite easy getting back here again. The rats didn't move much from the last time I was here, allowing me to dodge them easily. No bloodshed needed. It saved us some time, we already used quite a bit between the sword making and the tomato throwing.

We have like what? Thirty hours?

Emit made an affirmative noise.

Well, at least I was as prepared as can be. I had my new sword, I could use my Respite. Also, while I was walking on my way here, I used the leftover powder to make something else.

And on top of that, I was fresh and clean after scrubbing myself down from all the vegetable guts.

"For the last time, it's a fruit!" Emit said.

Whatever!

I climbed the steps and reentered the building.

I started to make my way back to the secret passageway. Emit was floating right beside me.

As we went through, something seemed strange. The walls were torn up, more than usual. Several doors were broken. It looked like someone had torn through the building.

The strange thing was that shouldn't be possible. I was just here at around the same time yesterday. Er- today? What do you call it when you're living the same day multiple times?

It doesn't matter. The point is nothing should be changed, right Emit?

Emit?

I turned to my companion. He was currently frozen in the air.

"Kid hide." Emit said, quietly.

What?

"Hide!" Emit said, still quietly but in an urgent tone. I had no idea why he was so freaked out, but I did I was told. I went into one of the open rooms.

Inside one of the many offices. I searched for a hiding spot. I scanned the room. Ah! A closet!

I climbed inside. It was small. Dark. Cramped. At least Emit's light made it a bit better.

Emit then vanished, taking his light with him. Thanks a lot.

"Why am I in here?" I asked.

Emit shushed me. I kept my mouth shut. What was he so freaked out about?

In the complete darkness, I noticed there was a small hole in the closet door, rotten away from years of abandonment. I peered through. I didn't see anything, but after a moment I heard footsteps.

"Come out! I know you're here!" I heard a voice shout. A female voice.

What? The place was empty last time.

I heard the voice sigh. "Tch. I must have missed them. Just my luck."

I heard the footsteps again. Through my peephole, I could briefly see the voice’s figure.

A fallen, purple-tipped feathers and from what I could see an outfit that reminded me of the more 'magicky' types.

...Haven't I seen her before?

Emit?

No response. He didn't even show his face.

It's not like she can hear you. Feel free to talk to me anytime!

Then again, this lady is obviously an anomaly. She wasn't here before, and I don't think we've done anything to cause someone to follow us here. Can't say for certain she can't hear Emit.

I waited inside my hiding hole. I heard the footsteps longer further, a growl of frustration added with them.

The next thing I knew, everything shook around me. I almost yelped from the sudden rumbling. I tried to keep quiet, even with the years worth of dust and debris scattering on my head.

What in the world is that? Felt like an earthquake!

Now I was extremely spooked myself. I sat tight. There's no way I'm leaving this spot.

I waited in the dark for a bit. I no longer heard anything outset, but I figure Emit would show up eventually. Sure enough, a few moments later Emit reappeared.

"Okay. It should be safe now. I think she's gone." Emit said.

"The heck was all of that about?" I asked.

"Trouble kid, that's what. That's the girl who tried to kill me." Emit said, a tinge of fear in his voice.

Excuse me? That’s the person who did it? She was just a Fallen!

"One with the power to kill a god!" Emit said.

"Seriously?" I asked. I mean I knew that someone tried to kill him, I didn't really dwell on it too much, there was a lot of info being thrown around, it got swept under the rug.

What kind of Fallen is so absurdly strong that they go around killing gods?

I exited the closet and got an answer to my question. What awaited me was half the room blown apart. The entranceway was trashed, now just concrete and rubble. The ground was just as bad, cracks trailing out.

I stepped into the remains of the hallway, towards the entrance I saw the source of what I assumed was the earthquake. The first room I was in was toasted, to say the least.

Everything was just gone. A wide view of the outside greeted me. The only thing left was a solid chunk of wall and dirt sat in the center.

The weird thing was, the destruction was both messy and clean at the same time.

The walls, or at least what was left of them, didn't look smashed, no, it was as if something cut it cleanly. Not only that but judging by the area, it was as if something exploded from the center of the room.

"More like imploded." Emit said. "Did she really have to use space magic in here?"

Is that a thing? Sounds made up to me.

"Oh please, you didn't even know about time magic." Emit said.

I suppose, but then again I don't think that's common knowledge.

"Your face isn't common knowledge!" Emit said.

I'm going to ignore the childish comment.

It imploded, makes sense now that I think about it. The chunk of material in the center did seem to be a hodgepodge of the now destroyed entranceway and the outside. It's like it's compressed down into this hunk of debris.

It’s quite scary. Very scary honestly. Why is someone who can do this trying to kill you again?

"I dunno." Emit said.

You… don't know?

"Next time someone is gunning after you with a blade that can end your life, I'd like to see you have enough time to ask questions!" Emit said, flaring up.

What's even the big deal? You're so relaxed about me dying, couldn't you just go back after she killed you? Like what happens when I die?

"Did you not hear me? Her sword has the ability to sever my soul from the world. Ain't no coming back from that." Emit said.

If that's the case how the heck did you make it to me? Shouldn’t you be just dead?

"That's uh…" Emit trailed off. Hello?

"Sorry, honestly I can't really remember." Emit sheepishly admitted.

"What?" I was so surprised I spoke out loud. "I understand not knowing why she tried to kill you, but how can you not remember how?"

"My memory is spotty! Didn't I mention this when we first met?" Emit said.

“Once again, you didn’t really elaborate!” I yelled. “So what? You just can’t remember how you died?”

“Well I wouldn’t say that, I do remember exploding, and her showing up. Otherwise, I’m drawing a blank.” Emit explained.

“So you have no idea at all. All-knowing my ass.” I said.

“Hey! Listen! Don’t go giving me sass! I’m still a God thank you very much! Treat me with some respect!” Emit said.

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever your holiness. Memory issues aside. I’m sure you must have some idea as to why. Who knows? Maybe this is a big misunderstanding and we can just talk it out. After all, we can sneak around her but wouldn’t she just straight for you again once we put you back in your body?”

Emit sighed, his light dimming. "I doubt talking is an option, considering my first encounter with her ended with my body exploding. It is more likely than not that she'll come for me again. Next time though, I'll be ready! I'll have you know I'm a master of Kung Fu!"

Emit flew about in a zig-zag. Was that supposed to be some martial arts?

"It's hard to do without any arms or legs, okay? I miss having opposable thumbs…" Emit said with another sigh. "Anyways, we shouldn't linger for too long, this just adds to the problems we have. If she catches us we'll both be dead. Permanently."

This just keeps getting better, doesn’t it? I took Emit’s advice and walked back into the building.

“So what else can’t you remember?” I asked while making my way back to the bigger office.

“That’s a stupid question. How can I know what I don’t remember?” Emit said.

“I don’t think it’s stupid. You know, I don’t really know too much about you, other than the fact you're a god who lives in the tower. Do Gods have a family?” I asked.

“...I don’t know.” Emit said.

“Okay. Well, do you have any friends?” I tried.

“I think I did before?”

“Remember their names?”

“No.” Emit said quietly.

“Well okay, let’s try something easier. What did you used to look like? You said you had thumbs before, but you’re obviously not a Fallen.”

“Oh that one’s easy! I was a human.” Emit happily said.

I turned my head towards Emit. “You were what?”

“Human! At least human-shaped, being a God and all.” Emit said.

“Is that why you’re so familiar with them?” I asked.

“Probably. Although, if I think deeply about it I can’t really remember much. It’s weird, I can recall numerous things but details about myself are fuzzy.”

“Okay, so you’re a human god then? Is that why you never heard of Kath?” I asked.

“I think the better answer is that she just doesn’t exist, Kid.” Emit said.

“Tell that to the religious fanatics out there.” I said.

We made it into the office room with the hidden pathway. It was as wrecked as the other rooms. That girl has some serious anger issues. Much like certain other women in my life.

Luckily it looks like she failed to discover the passageway, and the bookshelf was still intact for the most part. I pulled the books off and the entrance opened for me. I continued down the hall.

“So Kid, what about you? Other than the snippets of your diary I read, I don’t know too much about you.” Emit asked as we walked into the metal corridor.

“Well, my name is-”

“I know your name, Feathers! Tell me something new!” Emit said cutting me off.

I just shook my head. Why did I even bother? “I don’t know what you want to hear. I’m a blacksmith in training, I can draw pretty well. Um…”

“Speaking of drawing, how’d you end up in this line of work? You seem more of the artisty type, rather than a big buff blacksmith like your master there.” Emit said.

“It was a dream of mine! I always found creating things cool. My parents wanted me to take over their shop though, which I had no desire to do. So rather than being stuck at home in my small village forever, I left to the big city to follow my dreams.” I said.

“Yeah? You left and took your girlfriend with you?” Emit said.

“She’s not my girlfriend!” I said. Emit laughed. Does he like teasing me? Grr…

“Lyra just followed me, I don’t know why really. I mean as far as I could tell she was pretty content back home, there was a whole set of human ruins we’d used to explore and everything back there.” I continued.

“Sounds like she was worried about you.” Emit said.

I thought back to it. It wasn’t that long ago, I still remember the day I decided to go clearly.

I had packed the bare minimum and planned on hitching a ride on one of the caravans. I didn’t tell my family, of course. I had left a small note in my room for them to find. I figured they’d forgive me once I came back accomplished blacksmith.

The only person I told I was going was Lyra the day before since I figured she’d be lonely without me. We were always together, stuck like glue. Since with her abrasive personality, I was the only one who could stand her among the kids our age.

I wasn’t expecting her to have packed her bags and meet me at the caravan.

“I can’t let you be the first one out of the two of us to leave! I always wanted to see the rest of the world anyway.” Lyra said back then.

Maybe she was just worried about me?

I pushed away the thoughts. I'd think about it later. I had just come across the half-opened door I pried open last time.

Once again, I took my hammer, cracking the door open.

I took out my sword. Honestly, I still didn't quite think this would work. If I end up dead again I'm gonna be real upset, Emit!

The device had yet to appear. The last time it did was when I went to go check the human remains at the metal desk. I still don't know if they have what we need. In fact…

"Emit, can you check them?" I asked.

Wordlessly, Emit flew over to them. His ball-form getting close and creepily phasing into parts of them.

"Nothing. Guess you gotta go forward!" Emit said with a cheer that really concerned me.

He really has no qualms of putting me in danger huh?

"Oh, you'll be fine… probably." Emit said, whispering the last part.

That doesn't make me feel confident at all!

I sighed. Whatever. I took a step forward, and that's all it took for the machine to appear.

"Intruder detected." A voice said. I took a deep breath, I felt my heartbeat quicken as everything else slowed.

A flash appeared from the barrel of the turret, followed by a bang. Even while the world as slowed down, I still barely raised my sword in the pathway of the first projectile. So fast!

To my utter surprise, my blade didn't shatter immediately, instead, the bullet smashed into pieces!

It didn't cut cleanly like Emit was alluding, but I'll still take not getting hit by them, even if it's not pretty. The shrapnel of it grazed my face, lightly cutting me. It hurt but there was no time to wipe it off though as two more flashes and loud bangs rang out.

I was able to swipe at the first, but the second flew straight for me.

I moved as much as I could out the way, but the metal object still struck me right into my wing.

The burning sensation was worsened by my Respite, the initial sting feeling like forever. I instinctively yelped, losing my focus and thus having the world come back to normal.

"-shot you! Don't worry you got this!" Emit said. I could hear him again now, but I didn't have a chance to reply.

Another barrage came for me, the first few missed me since I was still reeling in pain. One did graze the side of my waist, thankfully the leather armor I wore protected me.

Not knowing what else to do, I ducked to the ground. A whizz of air flew above me. I began hurriedly crawling away. To where? Anywhere that wasn't in that spot!

Bullet riddled the ground right behind me as I moved. Yikes!

I ended up crawling right beneath the metal table, knocking into the long rotted human.

"Flip it over!" Emit shouted.

Flip? Oh! I did as I was told, flipping the table over and onto its side. The poor remains went flying, one landing behind my new cover and the other rolling all over in a pile of bones. A few bullets hit the table, it was thick enough to block the incoming hail.

Thankfully, I think the turret recognized the bones as another person. It fired at the bigger pieces, turning what used to be a person into dust in a matter of moments.

After that, there was only the sound of a steady beeping noise.

"Is it done?" I asked.

"Lost sight of us, if you move it'll start firing again. Ratatatatata!" Emit said, mimicking the device.

"Well, that's great. Let's try a new plan then." I said.

"New plan? Come on! Try it again, you got two of the bullets!" Emit said.

Sorry, while it was surprising I could deflect them, it just wasn't feasible.

Good thing I thought of a backup.

I rummaged in my bag and pulled out a small metal tube with some runes carved into it.

"What's that? Some sort of secret weapon?" Emit asked.

Didn't someone else ask me the same thing?

Well in this case, yes it is. I remembered you said some electricity should be effective against it, right?

So I took the lightning rune I used before, the one that exploded wonderfully on my failed sword. I then carved it into this pipe. I also filled it with metal chunks and junk, which in theory should create a energy charged explosion… or just blow up in my hand.

"When'd you get a chance to make that?" Emit asked.

On the way here. You would have noticed if you weren't so busy singing on the trip here.

In any case, let's test this out. All I had to do was twist it, which would align the rune and activate it then toss it.

Now the real question was how was I gonna toss this accurately without getting my head blown off?

I thought for a moment, looking around. The skull of the human stared back at me. Just then I had an idea.

I grabbed the skull. I muttered an apology to the dead human before tossing their head away from me.

I heard the turret whir as it twisted, now aiming for the head.

Just as the first bullet was fired, I popped up from my hiding spot, twisted the pipe, and tossed it.

It flew straight for it, hitting it directly before erupting in a bright static. It was so blinding I moved back behind the table, just in time too as the scraps of metal I had lodged in it pettled the surroundings.

I looked back to see what was once the deadly machine now reduced into a scrap of metal hanging from the ceiling.

"You did it! Not as cool as slicing it into two with your katana, but still pretty cool in its own right." Emit applauded.

"Well thanks." I said. Cool or not, I was just glad that was over with.

Now the only thing left to do is to see what it was protecting….