Beside me, Jasselryia, dances lightly from the shadows. In front of me, Blink is suddenly assailed by her black-tuxedoed butler, Michel. For a moment, the two duel, one man wielding a pair of curved scimitars, the other a medium-length straight sword. However, after a moment, it becomes clear that Blink has the advantage. His frowning mask gleams as a real frown crosses Jasselryia’s butler’s face. Michel is shoved away. Blink moves to recover his hostage on the ground. However, he pauses just like I do, when he sees the men behind Jasselryia. For a second we all freeze. A full dozen members of the Omniscient Watch stand at Jasselryia’s back, gleaming helmets syncing their vision.

Damn…

“That man fighting my butler. Take him.” Jasselryia winks at me.

Wait. What?

She moves to block me from the Omniscient Guard’s vision. Strangely enough, they obey and ignore me. I furrow my eyes, realizing that though Jasselryia may be at odds with Selena and the Daggas, she is still technically one of the house leaders in Merekeep. The Omniscient Guardsmen are listening to her-

She’s helping me? Why…? Our relationship isn’t exactly deep. Just a few blocks of cheese exchanged for information here and there.

“Hehe, run. Run! Make it fun! Come on guys. Get him!” Jasselryia giggles as Blink flickers, abandoning his attempts to hold Natalia hostage. She tosses a dagger at him, sniping him in midair. He flicks one of his scimitars up to deflect and the projectile spins away, but not before it catches the edge of his mask. Blink’s face is unveiled, but I ignore him.

“You?!” Jasselryia’s voice loses all its playfulness. “You dare show your face in Merekeep? But that means…”

“Got you!” I cry out, ignoring their exchange in favor of running forwards to Natalia. She’s on the ground, but regaining consciousness. Ripping the gag out of her mouth, I check my sister for injuries. Fortunately, the blow to the back of her head seems not to have caused any serious damage…but her hair’s a bit wet with blood. Worried about a concussion, I pat her cheeks, feeling the beginnings of whiskers growing. “Natalia! Can you hear me? Where does it hurt?”

“M-Myrr?” Natalia’s cat-like eyes focus and then unfocus, the slits opening wide before closing again a few times. Somewhere behind me, Blink has been cornered. He’s surrounded by Jasselryia and the Omniscient Guard. I should be careful. While I’m not wearing my mask, it’s entirely possible my image fleeing the Silent Tower’s jail was transmitted to them. All it would take would be one of them to recognize my coat, my hair, my height, and they’d be on to me. I doubt Jasselryia would be able to stop them then. There’s also the possibility that Selena is coming. Even though the outside situation is bad, I can’t stop gazing at the girl in front of me. Nevermind the thing that she…did. I can’t think about that. Right now, none of it matters. I need to get Natalia out of here. Her voice is unsteady. But at least she’s not angry at me. “You…you…”

“Shhh, it’s okay.” Tears swim in my eyes. It feels like a dream. To be honest, the moment I realized the Stranger was planning on using Natalia as a hostage, I had accepted that things were probably going to go bad. I was…really prepared for the worst. Already, I’ve lost Kisa. And then there’s Meera…at this point, all I have left is Natalia. “Whatever he told you. Whatever lies he said. They’re not true! Natalia, I’ll always take care of you. We’re family.”

“F-Family?” My sister’s gaze sharpens. And locks onto me. Gradually, the cloudy despair in her eyes fades. Replacing it is an expression I have only seen once before. For a second, the memory of how she was like in the alleyway causes me to recoil. A dense killing intent seeps out, so thick that the Stranger’s words echo in my mind.

A stone cold killer.

“Natalia…stop. It’s okay.” I hold her tight. She pushes against me, but it’s a weak attempt. Eventually, she stops. In this moment, my strength, my spells, they cannot help her. Only my empty words, and my cold body’s scant warmth might save her from this pain. I can’t let my anger get in the way. Natalia is all that matters. “I’m…I’m not…look, we can talk about what happened later. Selena is coming. Can you walk? I’ll get you away from here. We can go back to the Sect. Elina will heal you-”

“No.”

“What?” I worry that Natalia can’t walk. Are her injuries worse than I thought?

“No running.” Natalia disproves my anxious assumption by breaking out of my grasp. She puts both hands, no…paws on the ground. Trembling, she remains on paws and knees for a moment. Concentrating. The fur on her hands recedes and she returns to her human form. Her control is way better than it was as a kid. I hover over her, trying to help, but she is so fast. A second later, she is already standing. Somehow, she’s managed to get a dagger into her hand. I realize it’s the knife Jasselryia threw at Blink. Natalia narrows her eyes at me. There’s such violent hatred in them that I almost back away, before I realize her gaze is fixed over my shoulder. At someone behind me. Blink. “They…lied to me. He lied to me. Made me hurt Myrr.”

“Natalia…?” I whisper, feeling my lack of control over the situation. There’s a dangerous undercurrent in her voice. One which I know all too well. My vision throbs, red threatening to overwhelm everything. I’m only barely keeping it together myself. Sanity, reason, I have to hold onto it for the both of us. “You’re hurt. Let me take care of this. Look, I’ll bring you to the shop-”

Someone interrupts and I look over my shoulder. It’s Blink. He’s cornered by a dozen Omniscient Guardsmen against a wall. But still laughing. I don’t like this…

“Hehehe…Jasselryia? Of House…what was it now? Ehh, well, no matter. It seems its too late for us to talk now.” He asks a rapid set of questions. Talking as if he isn’t surrounded. “So you’ve brought friends? Excellent.”

“We can talk.” Jasselryia’s voice is light, girlish. She has a certain steel to her, despite dealing with someone beyond her years. “After all, you’re going nowhere. So talk. Why have you returned?”

…

I look back at my sister. She considers my request to flee.

“You want me to hide?” Natalia watches their conversation over my shoulder, but I keep my gaze firmly fixed on her. Her eyes snap back to me. With a short shake of her head, she raises her lips and points Jasselryia’s dagger at Blink. “No. I’m strong now. Not like before. First…I want him. And then…his master. My claws will open his guts! Don’t try to stop me!”

“W-Wait!” I can’t stand it. Natalia’s new way of speaking. It’s been so long since I heard my sister’s voice. In my head, she still talks all cute. But now, she speaks of killing and I can’t reconcile the two. “You’re still hurt-”

“I’m not.” Natalia shakes her head again. Feeling the back of her head, she rubs it as if the clubbing she received from an assassin is just a bruise. Standing straight, she hisses and I see her fiery ginger tail lifting from under her robes. “Myrr…I’m not the same anymore. Elina taught me…and I learned…from…them,” her voice shifts into a growl at their mention, “I am strong now. I have hunted many. I’ve changed. You…you didn’t even recognize me. Even though I was in front of you for so long…”

“That was because you wore a mask! And never talked!” I say exasperatedly. Immediately, I regret letting my feelings get the better of me. Natalia’s eyes harden. She glares at me and then turns her eyes towards the ground. Watching her shoulders heave and ears flick back and forth angrily, I grimace. Putting my hands up, I gently reach for her shoulders. As if I can squish her down like I used to when she was a kid. To my surprise, she doesn’t dodge away. Perhaps there’s still a chance. “Natalia…I’m sorry. I really didn’t know. It’s just…there was so much going on…and I thought you were at the Sect…”

“You left me…”

“I know. I know. I know! I just…didn’t know what to do and…I’m sorry.”

“You hate me. You think I’m weak and useless. An unfit maid.”

“No! Never that!”

“Then why?”

“I…” No answer comes to my lips. It’s not an easy question.

“Why?”

“I thought you’d be happier. If I left you at the Sect. With Elina. She could heal you. Inside and outside. I can’t…I can’t do that for you.”

“I wasn’t happier. I wasn’t. I just wanted to see you. But you never came…I just kept waiting…and waiting…I hate you…” Natalia’s voice is worse than any dagger. It plunges into my heart with the strength of all my deepest fears. In truth, perhaps I knew what my absence would do to her. Suspected it at least. But now, faced with the confirmation of all my doubts, I can see the pain I’ve caused her. “He told me it was because I was weak. That you were testing me. To see if I could be strong. Enough to follow you…he lied to me.”

All this time, I’ve been busy chasing shadows.

I thought I left her in the light.

But I didn’t realize she’d follow me into the darkness.

Damnit. Damn it all. This is so messed up.

“Natalia…whatever he made you do…”

“I did it.” Natalia’s eyes well up with tears. A few fall to the ground. She curls her hands around the dagger possessively. As if it’s the one solid thing she can hold onto in this world. Once upon a time, she would have reached for me instead. Now though…I guess there’s something she trusts more. “I knew something was wrong. But I kept…listening. You never saw me. Always with those other Demi’s. And I…I was so jealous. When he told me she was captured. I…I…”

“Natalia, enough! I don’t want to hear it!”

“I…felt it was good. That she got caught. My replacement. Because if she was gone you might see me…”

“STOP!”

I don’t want to hear this!

…

…

…

“You think those puppets can stop me?” Blink’s voice behind me is still confident. Something about it causes me concern. My instincts howl at me to listen. That something is horribly wrong. But I ignore them. Focus on the girl in front of me. However, a moment later, everything turns to hell-

“ARRRRRGH!” An ungodly chorus rings out. Natalia and I both whirl around to see a grotesque sight. Michel dashes to Jasselryia’s side as the Omniscient Guards boxing in Blink begin to scream. It comes out of nowhere. Clutching their bejeweled helmets, they shriek and writhe as shadows swirl up beneath them, or perhaps from within their very skin. Swelling like overly-ripened fruits, they become plump with things…things moving under their skin. It doesn’t take long before they start popping. Bursting open, the vaunted Omniscient Guardsmen turn into sacks of meat as a foul stench of rout and coppery blood fills the air. It’s…not just the ones Jasselryia commands either. From all around, more screams come, echoing across streets and turning the night into one big nightmare. Gargled howls, shattering lonely cries, it sounds like every guardsman in the city is being afflicted by some horrific torture. And then…it ends. When they’re done popping, the Omniscient Guardsmen are hardly human anymore. Creatures of flesh and rot, I know what they’ve become, though it makes no sense. Beneath their bejeweled helmets, slick with blood, they’ve changed. No longer are they proud assassins. Instead, like the unholy experiments beneath the sewers, their teeth chatter and eyes glow red with a manic light. Joints distend, arms popping out of sockets and sagging, lengthening into the beginnings of tentacles. Their guttural noises fade away as the transformation completes and they lapse into a staggered chorus of one singular chanted word-

“I…”

“I…”

“I…”

And Blinks laughter swells up over them all. As the unholy abominations that were formerly the Omniscient Guard raise their bloody gazes from the ground, he clenches a triumphant fist at Jasselryia and I.

“It’s over. Merekeep…is already ours!”