(Back to the campground with Alexus)

"Well, well, well," Simon walked over, placing his hand on Crystal's shoulders as he spoke. "If

it isn't Timothy."

"Simon?" Timothy spoke, "where's Alexus?"

"Bud, we can all hear you here." Simon shook his head.

"Oh, okay. Good, I got something important to say."

"That is?" Alexus came over; he was listening in on their conversation.

"Tomorrow, we will be fighting Greed."

"You too?" Alexus asked to hear that they would fight Greed earlier than expected.

"What do you mean you too? So you guys are fighting Wrath tomorrow?"

"No, but we are a few days early."

Timothy cursed. "These bastards are springing up like weeds, appearing and disappearing out of thin air. I seriously think something is going on that is attracting them."

"Like?"

"Us." Timothy replied, "Hear me out. Since Marcus disappeared, a lot of strange things have been happening. Especially the Deadly Sins movements. For the past six months, their patterns of movements have been stable, staying their course, but something changed. When we both decided to go after each of these bastards, these guys sped up their route. So it might have been a better chance if we went together."

"I agree, I think so too, but we can't. They are too close and would have arrived at Seventh Sanctum, not two days apart. That's not enough time to heal and recuperate."

"I had the same thought too. Divide and conquer with the best teams and get this shit out on the road. We will get stronger if we annihilate one of these Deadly Sins again."

"Yes, don't forget to bring over the black jewel if they have one," Alexus asked; he had been craving the jewels each Deadly Sin had.

"Don't worry about it; we'll get that for you. You're the only one that can absorb that thing anyways."

"Have there been any changes, though?"

"Not that I know of."

"Interesting; well, if you have updates on the changes, tell me. So, I can update my sheet."

"I'll do that."

"Oh, there is one more thing."

"That is?"

"There has been an unexpected energy fluctuation from the spot we are supposed to meet at."

"What do you mean?" Crystal asked, "I'm not getting any other energy reading-" She halted.

"What?" Simon said, trying to decipher Crystal's disbelief.

"There is a spike in energy reading."

Crystal made the screen bigger, showing them a large map. "This is where we are, near the trailer park in Kansas Hill." Then she pointed at the map, where she got the energy readings.

"There's a high level of demonic activity around the area that we are supposed to go to, but worse is that there is smaller demonic energy in the masses surrounding it."

"So, how are we going to get through? "Simon asked.

"I don't know."

"You don't think your gadget will help you break through those mass demons?" But, Simon said, "it should be enough, right?"

Crystal shook her head, "it would only be able to take out a third of them. That would leave two-thirds of them alive, completely overrun us."

"That is a big problem."

"I might have a solution." Alexus said, "but honestly, I don't like it."

"That is?"

"Talk to Gerald.."

"Yea, I don't like the sound of that. Listening to Gerald sounds like a pain in the ass." Then, finally, Timothy's voice broke through. "It would be best to ask for a favor that would warrant

something in return."

"But, there is nothing wrong in asking for help." But, Alexus replied, "it just means what the price for asking is."

"That is the million dollar question."

"Yes, it is," Alexus replied, but it was something they would need help with. Drawing Gerald

over with the other Ouroborous was something they needed if they could not do it themselves.

"Let's radio him in." Alexus said, "Get this over with to see where we are standing with him right now."

"I bet he will say no," Timothy spoke up lazily.

"Who knows, he might want something in return," Alexus replied.

"True….whatever. Let's throw dice in and see.

Alexus nodded, which Lara started to dial.

For a moment, the phone rang for a while and went silent.

Lara glanced over, shrugging her shoulders, not really understanding what was happening.

"Try again," Alexus asked.

Lara, once again, dialed the phone.

This time, it took a bit longer to reply as someone answered.

"Is Lara Gerald there?" Lara asked.

"We are in an evacuation; he's at the front right now."

Everyone listened in.

"What do you mean?" asked Lara.

"Envy is an hour away from the base!" The receiver said with panic. "Shit, the demons had

broken through!"

A loud sound of bullets going off could be heard.

"Hello?" said Lara, trying to get the guy's attention again, "what's going on?"

"Damn it! Stop the demons-" The phone went silent.

Each and everyone looked at each other, realizing what had just happened. Envy had come to

raid their home.

How was it possible?

A sudden wash of guilt swept through Alexus' chest, realizing he should be there right now,

protecting them from this demon.

Timothy shouted, "DAmn it!"

They all heard a loud bang on the other side of the radio.

"Guys, we gotta figure this out. Should we go back and help or keep pushing forward?"

"We won't make it in time," Alexus replied. "If we go back, there is a high chance that the Greed and Wrath will follow us to what's left. That would mean we must fight off whatever is left to get there."

"That bastard." Timothy cursed. A few more sounds of things breaking could be heard through

the radio.

"Tim, your group needs to keep Greed at bay. We'll continue the mission and head straight to Seventh Sanctum when we get rid of them."

"Okay, let's get this fight under wraps. Staying out here knowing that your home is being terrorized is under my skin."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Crystal asked.

"This is a lose-lose situation." Alexus replied, "If both parties return home, we will be dragging two more down towards where we don't want them to go. So it would be best to get rid of them quickly and efficiently."

"That is easier said than done, but I see what you are trying to get at."

"Well then, we'll hit you guys back up in two days," Alexus replied.

"Roger that," Timothy said as he went off.

*****

Alexus checked his suit for the third time in the night. The moon was out, gracing them with its usual bright light. He sat outside, taking in the silent night as others were sleeping.

Tomorrow was when they were all going to meet Wrath head-on.

Wrath's trajectory for the past days was beeling straight towards them. There wasn't a single divergence from its path, reassuring Wrath was bent on coming straight towards them.

The door creaked open; Crystal walked out as she bought herself a lounge chair.

Alexus glanced up as he was wiping away at his armor.

"I thought you would be sleeping," Alexus spoke, putting down his towel.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Do you want me to come in?"

"No, I just wanted to enjoy the night. It was getting too stuffy, knowing that we would be fighting against Wrath tomorrow. I just didn't expect it to be this soon."

"Same, but life throws us curve balls."

"Agreed."

Crystal sunk into her seat. "I wish all this was over. Go back to our modern life. What I would do to have a cup of cappuccino coffee right now."

Alexus chuckled, "I have been craving some hotdogs and hamburgers; eating mostly vegetables most of the time can get quite tedious."

"Yea."

They chuckled as they continued their night with warm laughter and company.