“I’ll save you.” Eleanor said. “I’ll save you. I’ll save you. I’ll save you.”

She didn’t save him.

For her sanity, the simple poem helped, what with the monotony of the last few day’s hike. Where she was going all that time, she hadn’t the slightest clue- but trudging the land in circles was started to bore. Now, she stood the daunting gates that hid her friends, the only solace that pushed her here at all. She opened them just the same.

“Eleanor!?” Mania gasped.

“Oh, thank the gods you’ve come back!” Styx sprinted over to keep Eleanor from falling, her voice squeaking. “The loss of Sister Artemis was too much. I don’t know what we’d do without you as well! I didn’t even want to think about it.”

“She’s right. As much as her conduct worried me, it’s just not the same without everyone. But that’s one step closer to reforming the union. The Coven’s existence is dependent on our alliance, and without Sister Artemis, none of it matters, anyway. I missed you so much.”

“Um… Are you alright?” Styx noticed how Eleanor hardly moved, slumped back in her chair.

“…I’ll save you.” She sighed.

“…She’s scaring me, Sister Mania.”

“Something’s happened. Tell us.”

Eleanor paused. In a trance of trauma, she could only mumble. “I killed Abigor.”

Silence followed. “What?”

“He’s dead.”

No matter what they tried, they couldn’t get Eleanor to elaborate. Eventually, after minutes of this, Mania lost her temper. “Say something! What took place that night? Tell us what happened, damn it!” Mania shook her, to no avail. This must be an act, she thought. Eos already laid bare the crimes, and if she’s right, we’ve found our traitor. Eleanor won’t tell us her side? That only confirms it.

She pulled Styx aside. “No body to speak of. I guess that means Sister Eos was telling the truth. I can’t think of any reason why Sister Eleanor would dare not to bring back his body, other than a Geist possession… He’s really gone.” She took a moment herself, the fact sinking in. “I can’t imagine how she must feel. Damn it all… Still, she let the Grimm go. This may be a cover.”

“So what do we do?” Styx said, covering her eyes, completely overwhelmed.

“We wait. Ugh, I hate waiting. Until she decides to be more cooperative, we’ll need a close eye on her. I’ll continue searching outside. Take her to Sister Diana’s room, where she can rest. Feel free to keep watch yourself, too.” Mania patted her on the back, then walked away.

“O-Okay…” Styx knew, with the way Mania carried herself, this was partly an excuse to grieve, too. She sought loneliness.

Under strict instruction, Eleanor was taken to the safer, more relaxed sanctum of Diana. “Eleanor!” Instantly, she nearly tackled her over, giving her a hug that received no reaction. “I missed you so much! Don’t ever leave again!”

“I have no reason to leave. I’m a failure.”

“W-What?”

“She’s in shock.” Styx elaborated. “A-Abigor… He had to go away for a while. He was needed elsewhere, far beyond our scope of Remnant.”

“Aw, I’ll miss him too, Eleanor! We all have guy troubles, sometimes. Don’t beat yourself up. I mean, he’ll come back, right?”

“Yes.” Styx lied. “He may be away a bit longer than we all thought, though.”

“Listen, Sister Eleanor!” Diana crossed her arms and eased Eleanor onto her bed. “I-I know I’ve never been in a situation like this, but it’s my job to help you! I owe you that much. If you ever want anything, or want to do something, just let me know! Here, you can even have Mister Wiggles.”

“Just give her time.” Styx offered a thumbs up, before leaving. “The front shrine is unguarded. I must tend to it. And… I thought it prudent to tell you, Sister Eos is still praying in the Lower Chapel. She needs more time. Continue to leave her alone, for your sake.”

“I still can’t see her?” Her face dropped, not that anyone could tell under the visor. “H-Has she said anything, yet?”

Styx nodded her head back and forth, then slipped out as fast as she could. Lying like that broke her heart, and those weren’t even Mania’s orders. Abigor’s death and the implications it carried were just too heavy for the youngest. For now, the dark was the safest place to be until everything was sorted out. At least, that was Styx’s way of seeing it. “When Sister Mania finds out about this, I’m dead…”

Hours passed, with Diana periodically checking up on Eleanor. The occasional awkward conversation would take place, but as her mental state sorted itself out, she knew it would take years, if ever, to fully recover from Abigor’s death. She was at least cognoscente enough to comprehend Styx’s deception, and strangely enough, she agreed. Diana was spared all details.

One of those dawns, Diana yawned in a sea of stuffed animals, dropping her books to watch Eleanor. “Hey! You doing alright?”

She nodded. Her mind was a prison, the days rolling by as she replayed the Wraith’s birth over and over in her head, imagining all the ways she could’ve changed the outcome. If only one of these hypotheticals could be enacted, in a rewritten past. And after so long with only her torturous thoughts and the sound of Diana’s quill pen scratching forever, she finally sat up.

“Sister Diana.”

“Yes? Need more soup? You know, I think I’m finally starting to get the hang of this whole cooking thing.”

“I’d like to leave.”

“Y-You don’t mean you want to quit the Coven, right?”

“No.”

“All right!” Diana cheered, helping her off the bed. “I knew you’d come around, eventually. Must be pretty weird to stand after all this time, huh? So, what do you want to do? Even though it’s raining, it must be nice to go outside again. Or, we can-”

“I wish to see Sister Eos.”

“O-Oh. She’s in the Lower Chapel. Guess that means I’m staying here, then.” Diana tried to hide her disappointment. “Could you say hello for me?”

“Yes… Thank you.” After a pause, with the expectation of elaboration, Eleanor gave in and shut the door. True to Diana’s word, Eos was easily found. She was the antithesis of stealth, as per usual. In a garden of flowers, she’d been slouched over, muttering hymns. “You know, they could still use heroes out there.”

“I suppose they could.” Eos nodded, and stood up to the beat of church bells. “But there’s a compromising truth. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and I’ve realized something. There was a time when you and I waged war out of necessity, but now it’s obligation that keeps us fighting. An oath, with no end. It’ll have to be broken, eventually.”

“What are you saying?”

“The world doesn’t need us anymore. We couldn’t even save Abigor. We couldn’t even kill him when he was replaced with Grimm. And Trajan is due to return. I can’t stop this. I can’t stop you.”

The reaction was pure desperation. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t do better. Couldn’t be better. Is there anything I can do to convince you I’m not Xiasma? This has gone on long enough. I-I’ll disappear, and you’ll never see me again, if that’s what it takes. I don’t want you to have to question me any longer.”

Eos shook her head. “I’ve been questioning everything, for as long as I can remember. Maybe I’ve just lost the part of me that made me human, strange as it may sound. That which connected me to the outside world. Without it, we’re just victims of a cruel scheme named existence. Maybe you learned that years ago.” She looked her straight in the eyes, a twinkle shining past the mask that impenetrably cloaked her face in shadow. “I’m begging you to tell me one thing. Was there ever a time when our friendship was real?”

“I thought it was… I get it. You’ve written off everything we’ve fought for, since this is what it’s brought. A spurious mission. Therefore, if our companionship was a result of the mission, then that too must be fake... But I never liked you for the Coven. I liked you for you.” Eleanor admitted, her cheeks wet. They both stood next to each other, watching a glass mural stained with divine countenances. Somehow, though impossible, she expected one of them to come to life and speak. Outside, the downpour never ended.

“I hope the afterlife isn’t a lie, too. This is the last time we’ll ever speak to each other alive. One of us is going to die, tonight.”

“How do you figure?” Eleanor asked in monotone.

Eos kneeled again. “This is the same feeling I had when all the Heralds died. I felt it the last night of Lady Demeter, and Abigor. I feel it now, with you. Despite everything, I hope it spells my death, and not yours.”

“Let’s make a promise. Even if you’re the traitor-“

“I’m not. You are.”

“Fine. Whoever it is, if only one of us can make it to sunrise, then the other will forgive in spirit. Even through death, I want something of the good times to remain.” Eleanor said.

“They hid here, all this time? Among the humans?” Aku held back incredulous laughter, asking Wraith a question despite knowing he’d receive only screeches, if any response at all. He precociously tested Thornscourge against the phantom fence. Brushing his fingers across it prompted a burning sensation. “Such impertinence for their bloodline is deserving of ruination enough already. Primitive beast! What are you waiting for? I recognized that body, and I know why you brought me here. Show me how well you knew the Coven, and let me inside.”

It seemed to ignore him. “You fool! Do you believe Grimm are exempt from judgment? It’d be a real shame to burst your bubble here and now. Of course, without me, you’ll never make it to Eleanor…”

That yielded a reaction. With little care for stealth, its spindly arms and distended jaw swung about, and Wraith slashed and tore at the spot of which Diana had damaged prior. The simple patch job done by Artemis had served its function well, but was not build to defend against an attack, let alone the berserker onslaught triggered by the mention of Eleanor. They never expected something to actually find them.

“You have done well in bringing me this far.” Aku stepped inside the Heart, flicking now visible shreds of the glass-like wall to the ground with glee. Wraith nodded, slobbering about the bridge never crossed by Grimm. “Not you. I’m talking to this vermin- this equally sacrilegious bile of Remnant.”

“M-Me? How dare you speak to me like- Ah! W-Wait!” Herald gulped at the incoming backhand. “That’s what I would have said, if you were a measly human! But the Trajaneer himself? Oh, it’s an honor, believe me.”

“I believe you.” Aku resumed his cadence, Herald only following so close behind due to the drooling gaze of Wraith. In truth, neither of the three had any reason to let the other live beyond a common goal that wouldn’t last the hour. Still, it was more than the Coven could say. As Aku checked the floor curiously, Herald vanished. “I must admit, I’m taken aback with the golden décor. It’s a step above my briny, barnacle infested amphitheater beneath the sea.”

A clash of plates, trays, and bowls caught their attention. Mania watched, frozen. “No. No, no, no! Y-You’re just hallucinating, Mania. That’s all! Just seeing things, from… Stress! Yes, that must be it. It’s not real.”

“Yes, it must be awe-inspiring to see me again, here of all places. But I assure you, this is as real as it gets. You’re a sight for sore eyes, too.” Aku taunted. Immediately, his newest prey sprinted to the side in a panic, where a short but loud pipe waited for such an emergency. She broke it out of its prison and used it to raise the alarm. “Ah, that’s no fair! We want a clean, even fight. You’ll really need six, just to match one: myself? Oh, and these fine gentlemen as well.” He gestured to Herald, whom he assumed to still be quivering behind him, then Wraith. “That’ll be one and a half. We can’t have that, can we?” He attempted a ritual of the fingers, but Mania wouldn’t allow it.

“You are trespassing sacred ground!” She forced a brawl with her Scythe, keeping Aku in a two-handed sword stance and preventing any summon of his crew. Meanwhile, his two present allies watched catatonically, either out of fear or disinterest.

“Oh, this is beautiful.” He sighed. “I’ve not fought so boldly since my challenge against Krey, the Soulcess’ Judge!”

“You speak nonsense!” Mania took a breather, both of them sweating in their metal coffins. “Did you really think you could drink the waters of the Soulcess’ stream unopposed? Even a human would’ve been cut down, let alone a sin like you.”

“Anything to become immortal. In sipping from the fountain, is that not how all of you managed to live this long?” A creaking door revealed Diana, who gasped at the sight of the two. “Oh? Well, all but one.”

“Sister Diana! Get out of here, now!”

“You’d better do as she says. Take it from me!” Herald announced, bashing his way through the doors, pretending he just made it here for the first time. Aku chuckled. “If we’re going to leave this place together, we’ll need better equipment than I can provide. Do you have Tormentyst?”

“Y-Yes, but…” She looked back at the exhausted Mania, guilt ridden. “I can’t leave her like this! We’ll have to stay a little longer.”

“What can you do? You’re a ditzy child who can barely lift the sword.” He scoffed. “You’re nothing! Have you any idea how many Heralds died at his command, and you really think you can fight him? You may be chosen, but you’re as unworthy as they come! Go on. Break yourself against Aku.” He waited, his caricature faltering. He couldn’t care less about Mania’s abrupt defeat, only realizing she was beaten at that moment.

Standing over her, Aku held Thornscourge downward. Diana questioned his lack of response to her advance. If she had the experience to trust this intuition, she wouldn’t have been pelted away by an Eidolon. More than one, in fact. He was surrounded by his own bowlegs.

“If… If you think my death means the end for the Coven…” Mania coughed out triumphantly. “You will never-”

She gasped, unable to finish, his blade stabbing a hole through her pelvis. “I know.” He heeded, wiping the fresh stain of the blade on his arm.

“Mania!” Diana shrieked, as Eleanor and Eos broke their way through the cellar doors and joined in her horror. And beside them, Styx wiped away her own tears. It may have been a mistake, Aku thought, to give them such an emotional boost.

Where he offered ample time to mourn before their duel, Wraith held no concept of restraint. At the sight of Eleanor, simple pandemonium gave way to complex chaos. With the Black Horsemen and their Captain, a screeching shell of Grimm and crusader combined, and a false accomplice trying everything to coax the most vulnerable into handing over a sword, the subset of choreography and disarray was nigh indescribable.

The bedlam ended with Styx’s defeat. Again, each member of the Falsus Heredis formed a dome, perfectly encircling Aku so he may advance the violent ceremony in peace. They hadn’t accounted for an aerial attack.

Through the roof Artemis crashed. “You could not hide your tracks forever, Delphic, and I swore you would pay for what you did!”

“Oh, wonderful!” Aku said. “The purest has arrived! I’d expected the first member to be the first to die, so while I’m less than impressed to see you join so late, it’s a pleasure all the same. Have at it, then!” Though unexpected, this hardly changed his strategy. While they tested their limits in the center of the ring, each Eidolon executed their rehearsed routine in a robotic fashion. And all this was before the attack of Wraith. To say it was frustrating was an insult to understatements.

“No! She needs our help!” Eleanor begged pointlessly.

Aku was unbeatable. He’d already resisted each of them at once before, nights ago, and now he had help to ensure an uninterrupted duel. All the centuries of training, and planning, and they were helpless, humiliated to heights never thought possible.

The resident merchant recently acquired as an ally, thankfully so, was more competent than he let on. True to his word, Troy was willing to deliver the goods. Unable to resist the chance to step inside but unsure why the shield was gone, he now had an answer.

He attempted to stall, sending a salvo of dust forward from his shop, employing every trinket and dusty weapon he could. But Aku was not his target. In the short time he’d witnessed Abigor fight, he picked up a few tricks, able to predict the Wraith’s strategy based on that of his long deceased host. “You’re not half bad like this, but you’re still a fool to walk amongst this shrine. We humans need to know when to quit!”

Eventually, he ran out of tools, his store empty. He was nothing without that cache of equipment. Or at least, that was the impression he gave, baiting Wraith to tackle him with a pathetic jog. When the Grimm wailed in his face, Troy closed his eyes, then smiled. “Oh, Abigor. You were right.” He held up a single red dust crystal, ready to ignite the flames. “Someone like me can never outlive you. We’ll go down together, as humans always do. Till next time!”

In his travelers pack, a laughably unrealistic amount of dust sat, and when combusted, both warriors erupted apart, Wraith breaking its back upon a fireplace spanning several ceilings high. Troy couldn’t tell what broke his fall, only that somebody pulled him from the rubble when it was done crashing down.

“…Courageous.” Aku held him up. “Even for a human, you are powerful, and deserving of compassion. But you have no place in this fight. I shall banish you to the Land of Madness, where time is but a memory. You will not impede my conquest again.”

He was gone, never to be seen after his departure through an unnerving crack in space and time. Through all this, Aku’s stamina never relented, one hand busy with both fending off attacks, and punishing those who sent them.

Artemis fell to her feet, catching one last glimpse at her friends in action. That much made her happy. She worried she’d never again see them, but now believed, somehow, they’d press on without her. In death, it was definitively proven that she couldn’t be Xiasma. Whether or not that was her intention all along, it seemed in detail concurringly similar to Mania, Artemis was no more.

Around the body, a tornado of black vultures descended before flying upwards, to the clouds, scattering feathers within miles of the thunderstruck castle. But much like Artemis herself, there was no explosive conclusion to their freedom.

“That’s two.” Aku breathed a sigh of relief, wiping a second streak of blood on his forearm. He then marched over to the still body of Styx. If they had the space to shut down and weep, Eos, Eleanor, and Diana would have.

“I’ve got to stop him…” Styx choked, watching him approach her lifeless double. From above, she perched. Her theory seemed to work. He impaled the dummy wearing a second set of her clothes, before succumbing to confusion. “For the sisters we lost today… I must do something… For every Grimm that’s ever slayed a human in cold blood… For yourself. Inculto!”

She relied too much on silence, rather than speed. Aku had time to swoop around and bring an end to her cunning escapade. Sliced in the knees, she skid to the floor, her hood falling loose. “Clever. I’d tell you never to rely on these archaic tricks, or you’ll lose your life. But now, that life is at an end. Still, hold honor in lasting this long.” Pulling Styx up by the hair, he soaked in pride.

“Stop this! Lady Clotho! Please!” Diana crumpled to the ground, trying to block out what was happening. Styx’s demise and the next step of the corrupt pact was overtaken by Herald, who scooped the fallen Tormentyst up off the ground now that she had at last given it up.

“Yes!” Herald held it to the skies before taking off. It looked even better in his hands than he imagined, the gold reflection shining his teeth back, mouth agape, overjoyed. The celebration culminated with a slam, as he rammed into the result of an Idol’s Twilight portal and tumbled, Tormentyst sliding across the ground with a shrill scrape. “Ah! Y-You!?”

“This is unacceptable.”

“Kalthus! Thank the gods you’ve come. Get me out of here! Well? What are you waiting for? Bring us both to the black plains before it’s too late!” He snatched his newest weapon back.

“I knew you’d chase young Diana’s treasures, but to do so at the cost of their lives? Did you think I wanted them dead? The gods control everything, Herald. Even yourself. And concerning you, if your powers are a result of my work, then I am well within bounds to take them away all the same. Perhaps one day, your wandering ghost will forgive me. Even if you weren’t to continue on this path, your suffering at the hands of Keres and Clotho will exceed what’s already been written in store. Consider my actions tonight an act of mercy.”

Herald blinked several times, shocked, on his knees. “W-Wait a minute. Please. I have so much more in store for Remnant. You can’t do this to me! I did everything you ordered, exactly as you asked! I brought you the Rhinestone- Argh!”

He erupted into an array of black flames, flailing around with guttural cries as the broadsword was torched into his fingers, unable to let go even if he wanted to. With one last scream, not even his ashes remained.

“Sir Kyradin Bael.” Eos bowed even with her wounds, sliding Tormentyst onto her back. “Thank you. We will forever be indebted to you, but we still need more aid. Is it too much to ask you save us, too?”

“Indeed. The Commander of the Old Fang’s death is favor enough. He had no place coming clean away with Clotho’s bequest. Always a pleasure.”

With that, Eos had no one left but Eleanor and Diana. And the latter opted not to sit down and whimper, but fight for their life against Wraith.

“Abigor, stop!” Eleanor said. She’d come out on top of this matchup once before. If only she could replicate that success, there may be half a chance. Eventually, through sheer will, she parried the claw attacks and feigned past Wraith’s tricky abilities of morphing through walls until checkmate was reached. She may have taken it too far.

With one slash and throw, Wraith was nearly cut into two halves, catapulted against a large mantle.

“Why didn’t you just listen!? You’re bested, same as our last engagement. And the more time that passes on Remnant with you in it, the more powerful you’re bound to become. If I let you go a second time, I couldn’t live with the misery you’re sure to inflict upon Remnant. Forgive me!” Slowly, the pillar on which Wraith was broken upon cracked, and the Heart of the Coven’s foundation became questionable. So drastic was this development that Aku and his minions stumbled about too, recognizing how the threat of being crushed beat any sword. But while they were concerned with their own safety, weakness was seen in the way the Coven looked out for each other.

Eleanor pulled Diana off the ground and hugged her, resigned to act as a shield despite inadequate armor. In every direction the mounting walls crumbled, and Eleanor knew she didn’t have the strength to hold them up. Fortunately for them both, someone else did.

“Argh!” Eos held up the unsteady Kingdom. Silence followed as she struggled to continue this feat. “…Go! Get out of here, now!”

“Eos, no! You have to come with us!”

“I’m afraid that’s an impossibility. I know, now. Xiasma would never willingly sacrifice themselves as you’ve tried here… Consider this a last favor… Like old times!” In her voice, strained as it was, Eleanor could tell she was smiling. “Diana must survive… Take her far away from here.”

“But what about you!?”

“A promise’s a promise. I’ll be watching you from the afterlife, always… Thank you. You were there.”

Tormentyst in hand with Diana slung over a shoulder, Eleanor navigated the crumbling abbeys and painted bethels until the exit shrine was within sight, and the shaking stopped. With the use of Troy’s abandoned carriage and lonesome horses, she fled. Nothing else mattered. With one final peek at the ruins, she formulated a plan of hiding. One that, eventually, may bring retribution- but it all hinged on Diana.

From the tallest tower, glowing in the blood of four Descendants, Aku watched them leave. “You fought valiantly. You played your pieces well. Thank you. The Eidolons will slumber now, and I may finally rest. Our shared immortality has rendered time non-existent. Do whatever you need. Run, Descendants. Prepare the deepest graves. Flea for the farthest lands. Perhaps, if you are still alive when it is done, we may dine to the death another terrible night.”

Entry No. 9 complete.

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