"Yeah . . . we did . . ." Attis whispered in reply, a hint of a smile upon his lips.

It was selfish and he knew it, but if this was where he ended, he wouldn't mind too terribly. It would have been better to lose his mind and fade here in the real world than for it to happen in the unreal. Of course--he didn't want to. Not here. Not now. There was still so much to do. It was selfish of him to even think that he might be willing to die out here. He'd have just been dying alone. No one would have benefited from it. No lives would be saved. That wasn't the kind of death that Attis could accept.

Soon, he heard Milos's voice. "Attis?"

Attis opened his eyes. He couldn't be sure if he'd fallen asleep or not. If time passed or not. Dyss was still not moving much (likely not asleep, as the man rarely had much need for it, but he was definitely not here), but Milos was back.

"Oh, hey." Attis rubbed his eyes and suppressed a yawn.

Milos wanted to giggle at that. He really did. But he didn't feel like he had the heart to just yet. After all that happened here . . . "You look beat," he observed. "And Dyss, too."

"Dyss a lot more than me," Attis half smiled, then looked down the road towards the house. "How is she?"

"She's asleep. She's gonna be okay."

"That's good."

"Should we wake Dyss?"

Attis shook his head, "No, it's fine. He needs his rest."

There was a long pause. Neither man had a clue what to say. Both wanted to say the same thing, both wanted to throw their arms around each other and express how happy they were to see the other alive and okay. But they equally felt as if they were obligated not to. As if they had to get other things out of the way first. Important things.

"Milos," Attis broke the silence, "can you tell me . . . how it all happened?"

Milos quirked a brow. "What happened?"

"Hillcrest and . . . everything," Attis elaborated. "I can't make any sense of it. I've been trying to this whole time--but it's all so disjointed."

"Oh . . ." Milos trailed off. It was actually somewhat of a difficult subject for him. He didn't want to relieve it. He might always have to; he might always have it as a reminder of how horrible existence can be. But he didn't want to dwell on it. Not enough to explain it all. "Wh-what do you want to know?"

Seeing Milos's hesitation, Attis was tempted to tell him to forget about it--but he still felt an obligation to understand. If he could understand it, then perhaps he could do something about it. In his mind, he whispered an apology to Milos. It was the only way to keep it sincere.

"How it began. How it happened . . ."

Milos nodded silently. He didn't say anything for the longest time, just stared at the ground. It took several moments for him to force back his apprehensions and speak at last. "It began when this boy came from up your way. I think it was the Tsukimonos' son. He gathered everyone in the village around and told them that he'd found a dying militiaman from Galaens, talking about an enemy coming from the shadows. Everything thought--I thought, too--that it was something like those bandits from before. A lot of people thought it was them exactly, coming back for revenge. I was worried sick! B-but . . . but I knew that you'd be disappointed if I left so many people behind, when I might be able to help them all . . ."

Attis smiled some. "No, I'd understand. I wouldn't have been disappointed at all. But that doesn't make me any less proud of you for making that decision. It must've been hard to do."

"It was," Milos smiled sadly.

It was me.

For a second, Attis looked as if he'd been stalled. It took him another second to shake it off. "What happened after that? I imagine it wasn't Theleaus again . . ."

"It wasn't, no," Milos frowned. He stared at the ground. His heart beat hard. He wanted to lean into Attis for comfort, but he hesitated to do so. "It was right when it started to get dark when it happened. A few hours ago. They weren't human at all. They weren't even . . . even like the predators we saw back home! They were . . . I don't know. They were so dark. They'd sharp fangs and claws, like . . . like demons."

"Shades," Attis recounted, "We fought them, too. On our way here."

Milos nodded solemnly. "They killed so many. They'd come out of nowhere. Right out of people's shadows! The Tsukimono boy-- he gathered a bunch of people together to fight, he sent all the women and children back, way back to the end of the village. Um . . . I was sent back there, too. But I guess . . . I guess I wanted to try and defend them, if worse came to worse. But there was no stopping these things.

"I was only able to save that girl. That girl, Mayako. One of the monsters--th-the shades, right?--was out of the ground and chasing her. I couldn't stop the ones that were in the shadows. It almost was on top of her; I think she fainted, but I got it from behind and picked her up. But by that time . . ."

Milos sighed.

"Everyone else was dead."

Attis set the scythe down. He knew that Milos needed comfort more than ever, now. He tried so hard to protect these people, but he couldn't. He was up against too harsh of odds. Attis knew that pain. He knew it all too well. Attis leaned forward and wrapped his arms about Milos's body. Milos took in a deep breath, but readily accepted the embrace.

"I took her and ran," Milos whispered into Attis's chest, "I ran until I couldn't run anymore. We just sort of . . . stayed in the forest and waited. She was so frightened. Shaking the whole time. Scared of me. Scared of everything. I calmed her, I told her she was just dreaming. I don't know. It felt like the only thing I could say. I carried her back with me when I thought they were all gone, but . . . there was no blood. No damage. Nothing. I checked the clinic house, and everything was sleeping. The Tsukimonos. Their son. Everyone in the clinic. And in the other houses, too. Everyone was just sleeping. I can't make any sense of it at all . . ."

I did this.

Attis furrowed his brow. It all felt so darker when he heard that. That voice. A voice he was starting to recognize. He tried to pretend he didn't hear it.

I brought them here to hunt.

"To hunt . . .?" Attis couldn't help it anymore. He asked the question aloud, unsure of where or why his thoughts were becoming quite like . . . that.

Milos tilted his head to the side inquisitively.

Attis noticed Milos's confusion. He recognized what it felt like to move his own mouth. He finally understood how much he was saying aloud. "I-- I mean, do you think they came here to hunt?"

"M-maybe," Milos paused at length, thinking deeply about it, "They . . . they ate everyone they could get their teeth into. So maybe they were. But why was it all taken back?"

"I . . . I don't know."

Milos pulled away from Attis weakly. "Me, either . . ."

Attis was of two minds right now. He thought of both Milos's story and the vaguely familiar voice he was beginning to recognized. Nothing made sense still. Everyone should have been dead here, according to Milos, but they were not. They were alive and sleeping soundly. Likewise, he should have only been hearing his own voice in his head. That was the voice he thought in. Nothing else. He'd have to consciously think in a different voice to actually create it. And yet, this one was not his own. This one was female. He decided to test something out.

How did you find this place? Attis thought, specifically thinking in words rather than concepts, specifically creating something tangible in his mind that could potentially denote a--

I cannot remember.

--reply.

Before Attis could respond for further testing, Milos spoke again.

"B-but," Milos forced a smile, "it'll all be okay, I think."

"Hm?" Attis tilted his head to the side.

"I was able to get in touch with someone, someone from home, when we were out in the forest," Milos nodded. His smile was one of the utmost relief. "He said he'd be here soon."

For a brief moment, everything stopped. The testing, the thoughts, the worry about Hillcrest. Attis's heartbeat, his breathing, Milos's heartbeat, Milos's breathing, Dyss's, Mayako's, the whole village of Hillcrest's. For a second, a second that last a thousand years, there was nothing. Just a pause. A horrifying pause. A pause during which Attis's expression turned from vaguely tired but content to something . . . bad. Something worried. Something confused. Something curious.

Something absolutely terrified.

"Who . . ." Attis felt breathless, like someone had thrust a weight into his chest and replaced it with a bushel of bricks. "Wh-who did you . . . who did you contact . . .?"

"Oh, umm . . ." Milos paused to think. "Th-The Legionnaire. He told you before we left, remember? To contact him if there's ever any trouble at all. A-and he's really close with you know who, s-so . . ."

Attis shut his eyes. He dropped his arms from Milos and leaned his head forward, his face contorted in pained disappointment. ". . . why, Milos?"

Milos looked from left to right. He suddenly felt as if he'd done something horribly wrong. He didn't know what, but . . . Attis was-- Attis was disappointed. Frustrated. He had that look about him that he got whenever he couldn't make a plan work. That look of frustrated disappointment. With each passing second, Milos was more and more scared that Attis was disappointed in him in particular.

"W-what did I do . . .?" he asked with the utmost nervousness.

"Milos . . ." Attis groaned, perhaps the first time he'd ever displayed any degree of frustration with another person. At least, to Milos's knowledge. "The Legionnaire's member of the Crepusculum!"

"Th-the Crepusculum . . .?" Milos furrowed his brow. Worried as he was, he hadn't the slightest clue what Attis was talking about. "What's . . . that?"

Is something the matter?

The Legionnaire could ruin everything we've worked for!

"You said he's close to him. You said he's close to the Maestro," Attis groaned again, "That's what we are. The Crepusculum ex Memoria. We're close to the Maestro."

Milos backed away somewhat. Attis wasn't yelling at all. He was keeping his voice perfectly normal, he was trying to stay perfectly calm, but his frustration was evident. Milos knew he wouldn't hit him; he knew he wouldn't hurt him, but he was scared. Scared of himself.

"Didn't I tell you? Didn't I tell everyone? If the Maestro gets involved, it'll ruin everything. That's why we had to come here. Where no one from home could find us!"

Milos found himself on the verge of tears.

"O-oh God," he whispered shakily, drawing his hands up before his lips. Tears stung his eyes and he was trembled all over. "O-oh my God . . . I-- I--"

"When will he be here?" Attis deviated from what menial of a fit he'd been in. He needed to know where to go from how. He desperately needed to know how to progress. All other things--the mystery of Hillcrest, of Galaens, and of the familiar voice in his head--would have to wait.

"S-- s-so-- soon," Milos stuttered. He took in a deep breath, but it was voice. He whined as if ready to fall into an unbreakable fit.

And for the first time in years, Attis cursed.

"Damnit." He took in a deep, pained breath, tried to count to ten, and pushed his hand through his hair. He got his bangs out of his eyes and leaned his head back. Counting to ten wasn't working. Running might have to do the trick. "We need to get back to Galaens. We need to hide the research. And the materials. We need to burn the materials."

Dyss, his search completed, would slowly rouse himself back to consciousness. His search had been rather exhaustive, but had turned up... Nothing, really. Everyone seemed to be asleep, safe in their own homes... Much better than he had expected.

"Everyone is okay... They're home..."

Dyss grimaced a bit, pulling himself as if from a very deep sleep. Ranging so far abroad had strange effects on his body. Just sensing things other than light was extremely jarring after so long away. And his body was slow to react as well...

"Is there anything else we can do here?"

Dyss was up to help these people, but on the other hand, there was still the matter of Izumi, Recheov, and Illorex waiting back home...

The frustration in Attis, both in his features and in his voice, was undeniable. It was mild, far from violent, but present. He didn't even begin to try to hide it. He stood from the tree, and reached down to grab the scythe. He was beginning to feel particularly attached to it, even if he might not need it for a reverse trip back to Galaens. That, after all, was what he planned next: going back to Galaens. He was in a bit of a tight squeeze now, and didn't much feel like walking. If he could've just broke into a run and made it outright, he wouldn't be here right now.

Dyss would likely notice that on top of Attis's frustration, Milos was crying. It was no longer an issue of being on the brink of tears--no, the boy was sobbing as quietly as he could. He'd done something horrible and he knew it. He had all the strength in the world, but no willpower to stand. He wouldn't have blamed Attis one bit if he decided to just abandon him in Hillcrest and never see him again.

"We're going back to Galaens," Attis announced to Dyss, now that Dyss was back--and rested, more than likely. "As quickly as possible, preferably."

It was with this that Attis took a few steps forward, quick steps, before slowing down. He still walked, but much slower--waiting for his friends to catch up to him, yet still making forward progress all the same. Unfortunately, without much help, there was a fair chance that Milos wasn't going anywhere at all.

Dyss could see Milos crying, even if he lacked certain interactions that were carried through eyes. Being unable to make eye contact didn't mean he couldn't see what was in someone else's eyes, though. Especially tears...

"Attis! This isn't like you!"

Dyss responded with uncharacteristic anger, especially towards a friend. Losing his mind or not, this wasn't the Attis he knew. The Attis he knew wouldn't have turned his back on Milos for anything in the world... No matter what had happened. Especially not such a short time after thinking Milos could have been injured, or worse...

"Milos, what's wrong?"

Dyss walked besides Milos, mostly oblivious to what was happening. Unlike Attis, he wasn't going to be rushing his friend, though...

Attis stopped walking right then and there. He paused, hesitated, and stopped in his tracks as if he'd been hit with a brick wall, but couldn't quite recognize it at first. He felt out Dyss's words and tried to focus on what he'd suddenly done so differently right now. What was so unlike him. But in the end, he could only recognize the urgency. At the very least, he understood that he couldn't help but feel frustrated and rushed--just like Milos couldn't help but feel frightened earlier, when he and Mayako were staked out in the forest, waiting for the shades to go away. Maybe they both had their rights to feel this way.

No, they definitely did.

"I-- I . . ." Milos shuddered between sobs, "I-- I called for help, when M-Mayako and I were out there! I--I called for help from . . . home . . ."

Dyss, above any of the others, would know the same as Attis did: they were trying to avoid the home at all costs. The others were well aware that they were avoiding home for a reason. Dyss knew that to contact home was to contact them, alert their attention, and change everything for the worse. It was to revoke any and all progress they might have made, in fear of what it could become provided it fell into the wrong hands.

Their hands. The Crepusculum ex Memoria.

Attis tensed up. He whispered, "It's fine; you were just scared," but doubted anyone would hear it. It was his genuine feelings on the matter--but he felt so rushed, so frustrated, and deep down inside, scared.

"Oh..."

That helped to explain things, certainly. Dyss was suddenly perhaps a bit angry at Milos as well... Not only had he summoned help that wouldn't even arrive in time, the help was in fact lethal. Still, Dyss wasn't even sure how to contact home anyway...

"I... I'm sure you didn't mean it..."

Dyss was perhaps inclined to act like Attis, as well. He had his powers back, just in time for a lot of terrible things to happen, it seemed. Still, they had come this far. Now they were in a good place being pursued by bad things, rather than just in a bad place. That was a start, right?

Though he wasn't looking for sympathy or comfort in the least--rather, he was just curling in on himself in regret--Milos might have liked something of the sort. Even the smallest kind. He'd all but lost the will to stand up and follow Attis to Galaens. It was probably best that he just go home! This Milos felt was an absolute fact. If Attis and Dyss and the others could salvage the situation, then they wouldn't want him around. They'd want him to just go home and stop screwing things up.

"It . . . it doesn't matter right now." Attis sighed; he was beginning to come to terms with the situation, rather than feel frustrated and hope it was all an untruth. "We just need to get back to Galaens, hide the research, burn the materials, and get out of town before the Legionnaire shows up."

The Legionnaire--someone Attis hadn't ever quite explained to anyone. The name was new to Milos, and would likely be new to Dyss as well.

But Attis didn't want to deal with the man. As a former member of that group, Attis knew these men intimately. If he felt it was necessary to avoid one of them at absolutely all costs, then it was based upon well founded, well known, and well documented personal research . . .

"And that's it...?"

Dyss's voice dropped to a very quiet tone, and his heart seemed to drop even lower. Leave? That was... An issue. Dyss didn't want to leave. There were things in Galaens Dyss didn't want to leave. And more importantly, people. Specifically, just a single person...

"What are we going to do, then? Just run? Hide? Never go back?"

Dyss was suddenly faced with a huge dilemma. What about Izumi...? He didn't want to leave, but she couldn't come with them... Right? That wouldn't be fair to her... And Dyss couldn't ask that... But... He had the walk back to think, at the very least. Plus, it would help not to feel resentful towards Milos. At least, less resentful...

"Come on, Milos, let's get back to the others..."

Dyss's tone wasn't entirely unfriendly, just... Exasperated? Condescending? Disappointed? Dyss couldn't even say himself...

Milos sniffled slightly. Both Attis and Dyss were upset with him, it seemed. Perhaps he shouldn't have continued on. He was mostly tempted to shake his head, refuse to go, and stay where he was, pouting, ready to cry again at any minute. Maybe he'd just stay here in Hillcrest. Live out the rest of his life. How long would he even have? A couple of years?

Yeah. He could just stay here for a couple of years. Maybe try and work or something so he might one day forgive himself for this.

"We don't really have a choice . . ." Attis sighed.

Ultimately, though, Milos pulled himself up. He sniffled again, sulked his shoulders, and walked behind Dyss. It was something of a solemn single file line for them--Attis walking the fastest, Dyss behind him, and Milos behind Dyss, sulking and walking slow.

"We have to leave here," he affirmed, "to keep these people safe."

Dyss would see something, though. Something close. Someone close. It was obscured, however. Difficult to figure out, at least in the physical sense. Large, bulky, but human sized. Not excessive, not in a useless way. It was on the path to Galaens, coming down, walking down, nearing Hillcrest roughly the same time as Attis and the others were approaching the path . . .

Dyss wanted Attis to be wrong, but how could he pretend Attis wasn't right? Which meant Dyss had to... Well, figure out Izumi. In a way, he was perhaps angrier at Milos than Attis. Attis was risking losing research? If so, they were all in the same position as before. Dyss might lose everything he had here...

"There's something here... Something... Human? I don't really understand..."

Dyss had trouble seeing whatever was there with them. Attis or Milos may well know better what it was...

Someone is near?

Attis stopped walking when he heard the voice again. It--she--seemed to be echoing the observation of Dyss's. It made Attis wonder if he was just imagining this still, repeating in his mind what others and he said, but using a female voice to do so. That was a weird kind of thought.

It feels . . . dark.

But that hadn't been said, not by him, Dyss, or Milos. Milos didn't even appear to notice. He was just looking at Dyss and Attis confusedly, both of whom seemed to reduce to a state of cautious inertia.

This wasn't just all in Attis's mind.

I know. He thought, careful to keep his thoughts within his mind, wary that he might utter them allowed again to the dismay and confusion of his friends. I can feel it, too.

And strong . . .

That's why we're going this way.

Without even a moment of warning, Attis grabbed Dyss by the shoulder and jerked him hard to the right, but not to take Dyss off his feet. No, that wasn't Attis's intentions at all. Rather, his every purpose was to drag Dyss into the brush with him, deep into the brush, far where they wouldn't be spotted. He raced to do this, and would tug on his friend even if he protested. He did not, however, attempt to bring Milos along with him, likely to leave him staring into the brush confusedly.

He did not explain why he left Milos behind, though. But the very fact that he made no effort to drag Milos into the brush might have been enough for Dyss to figure out the true nature of what was happening here--of whose footsteps they were hearing.

Dyss didn't ask what was happening, following along with Attis as he pulled him aside. Not taking Milos was curious for a moment, but he quickly got an idea of what was happening. That would explain why he had such trouble seeing the person approaching...

"Milos will be okay...?"

Dyss spoke extremely quietly, intending only Attis to hear. If this was the Legionnaire, he couldn't help but wonder what he was capable of. And what Milos could say to him... And why Milos had been so damn stupid...

"Yes," Attis whispered promptly. He was remarkably short; not irritable, but decidedly urgent. Too urgent to allow the opportunity to distinct kindness that Attis was somewhat known for by this point in life. "Milos is indestructible; not even time will kill him."

It was blunt, to the point, and devoid of mystery, poetics, or intended double meanings. It was exactly as Attis said, and Dyss could take that as he wished.

W-wait . . .

Attis held out his arm. He didn't say a word, but by putting his arm out before Dyss, he hoped to indicate a necessary stop. They were nearing a patch of fallen branches and leaves. There was no way to pass without making excessive noise, but they were far enough away that they were well off. In theory, that is. Attis didn't think they'd be noticed at all. He slowly turned to Milos's direction. He couldn't see him anymore. They'd gone as far into the forest as possible without actually getting themselves lost, though Attis actually was tempted enough to go far enough to lose himself.

Th-that is . . .

Dyss would be able to see the event, however. The closer the figure got to Milos, the better he'd be able to see it. To see him.

"The Legionnaire . . ." Attis whispered.

The Legionnaire was a frightening man to behold. Not a single piece of skin was visible. Even Dyss's extraordinary ability was limited in its perception of him, as only the outer shell of his being could be observed. Literally ever piece of his body was covered in sheet metal: intricate plate-mail about his torso, his shins, thighs, fingers, hands, feet, forearms, biceps, and shoulders. Every part of him was clad in what seemed to be armor between somewhere of beaten gold and polished bronze. It was not bulky, however, but fitting for a tall frame, not muscular enough to merit width and slowness, but enough to allow him a terrifying visage: nearly seven feet tall, broad shouldered, long armed, and long legged. A tattered cape of azure color, attached to and covering his shoulders, flowed behind him with each slow and steady step, and the entirety of his head appeared to be covered by a customized great helm, jagged, narrowed, and shadowed where eyes should be, with a jagged and Gothic crown melded onto and part of the great helm.

If, perhaps, to make his appearance all the worse, he'd a weapon on him: a broadsword sheathed at his left hip, half the length of his own body and nearly twice the width of his bicep.

Milos stood with his head and shoulders sulked. His hands were limp and his knees were shaking. Tears were still stinging his eyes. He whispered something, and the vague appearance of the great helm moving suggested the Legionnaire replying, but they weren't nearly close enough to hear and understand. There was movement within the village, but the images of Milos and the Legionnaire might have been much more important to keep track of.

Dyss's attention was focused entirely on Milos and the Legionnaire, such that he didn't even notice movement in the village. He didn't know what Milos was asking, or even how he had contacted or known to contact the Legionnaire, but he didn't rule out the possibility of him being attacked. And invincible or not, Dyss was going to help him. Not that invincibility wasn't its own question...

"How do we get rid of him?"

Dyss, of course, didn't want to fight, and the Legionnaire seemed basically all about it. Why else would he wear such an impressive set of armor and wield such a sword? Really, he just wanted to never have any reason to encounter this guy again...

"Assassination?" Attis replied.

Though he was serious in tone, there was a double-meaning in that. He half meant it as a joke. A reference to something Dyss was too young to understand.

Attis shook his head. "No--he wouldn't even have to try to kill us."

Milos whispered something under his breath. The Legionnaire lifted his hand. Milos flinched and shut his eyes tightly, perhaps expecting something horrible, but the Legionnaire only set his hand upon Milos's shoulder. The great helm moved subtly as if the man was speaking. Milos looked up to the man, sniffled, and dried his eyes. They exchanged words and Milos nodded slowly, as if coming to some sort of understanding. The Legionnaire said something, withdrew his hand from Milos's shoulder, and turned toward the village.

I cannot be here.

Attis furrowed his brow. What?

I cannot be here!

Why? Attis could tell by the girl's voice at this point that she was scared half to death. Truth be told, Attis felt extremely on edge, too, but he knew the Legionnaire. He never truly felt comfortable around him for the entire time he'd known him, but after decades, he'd lost that fear reaction. Anymore, his reaction to the man was one of reluctant acceptance of an unfortunate fact.

H-he . . . will-- will take me back . . .

If Dyss were attentive to details once the Legionnaire was less active, he'd find that there was something else in the village. Something exceedingly active . . .