The next morning came quickly. Tsuki awakened with minimal sleep—the late night pondering hadn’t allowed it.

  Her tent was cold from the dawn’s breath, and the camp outside had begun to live again.

  She made her way to a kneel, before pushing the flap gently outwards, getting blinded by stray sun glares.

  Outside, Memento members pushed supplies and crates along, loading them into carriages for the Igumi assault that would soon unfold. The soldiers wore black cloaked with stray armor pieces—whatever they could individually muster. Swords strapped their hips and spears across their backs.

  Anyone with an ability deemed ‘war-fitting’ was instead assumed to rely on their powers rather than a weapon. Tsuki included.

  She walked along the makeshift camps, passing countless soldiers with unknowing joyful expressions.

  Why are they so excited for war? She thought to herself. I get Knoxx’s urge… but he’s a psycho. How can they so easily smile in the heaps of a battle?

  A familiar voice interrupted Tsuki’s thoughts.

  “G’morning!” called Naru, making his way over to Tsuki. At his side was Neko, still wearing his overly defining jester hat.

  “Ah, Naru. Neko, nice to see you two. Good morning, hope you slept well.”

  Neko gave a wide grin—definitely forced.

  “Nope! Didn’t sleep at all, actually. The jester couldn’t, knowing how much ass he would be kicking in the morning!”

  Naru gave a doubtful look.

  “Yeah, right. Let’s just hope you don’t pull a pinefruit from your little box this time.”

  “Why you…”

  Tsuki chuckled, before realization came back into place. She saw Danzo making his way through the camp—dressed and ready to leave.

  “Ah…” he huffed, spotting Tsuki, before eagerly calling her over with a hand.

  She made her way over, waving to the pair from Viper. Her boots hit the dirt in hollow thumps, as she approached the leader of the invasion with curious eyes.

  “Hello, Tsuki. I trust you’re all ready to go?”

  She nodded quickly.

  “All set.”

  “Good. Good. We’ll move shortly. Your squadmates were all gathered by the carts last I saw.”

  “Got it. Thank you, Danzo.”

  She turned, setting off toward the loaded carriages which were densely populated with prepping Memento soldiers.

  The carts stood in uneven rows near the edge of the camp, their wooden frames creaking softly under the weight of supplies and steel. Horses stamped at the dirt, snorting mist into the morning air as handlers tightened straps and checked harnesses one last time.

  Tsuki spotted Judgment before they saw her.

  Geo stood near the lead cart, arms folded as he watched the road ahead. His usual ease was absent—eyes were sharp and his posture alert. He looked less like a wanderer and more like a soldier now.

  Azumi sat on a crate nearby, elbows resting on her knees as she adjusted the straps of her mask. She hadn’t put it on yet. She rarely did unless things were already going wrong.

  Knoxx leaned against the cart’s rear wheel, knives tucked away for once. His hands were buried in his pockets, shoulders tense. He stared at the ground like it had personally offended him. Their argument still clearly dwelled.

  Wonder how long that’ll take to recoup.

  Tsuki turned away, spotting the last of her squad. Hatori stood apart from the rest, back turned slightly as he listened to the low hum of the surrounding camp. His head tilted now and then, as if tracking sounds no one else noticed.

  Tsuki approached, boots crunching against the gravel path.

  Geo noticed her first. He offered a small nod. “You look like hell.”

  She snorted lightly. “Feel like it too.”

  Azumi glanced up at that, her gaze flicking between Tsuki’s eyes. “Did you sleep?”

  Tsuki shook her head. “Not really.”

  “Thought so,” Azumi muttered, tightening a strap with unnecessary force. “Me neither. Don’t worry.”

  Knoxx finally looked up. “Everyone ready?” he asked, voice forced casual. “Because I’m itching to get this over with.”

  Hatori turned at that, studying him. “You’re quiet.”

  Knoxx shrugged. “Saving my energy.”

  No one called him on the lie.

  Danzo approached moments later, cloak already fastened, his presence alone enough to still the idle noise around them. He surveyed Judgment quickly—no speeches and no reassurances.

  “Good,” he said. “You’re all here.”

  Behind him, members of Viper and Nighthawk fell into loose formation, their movements practiced but subdued. Enzumaki offered Tsuki a quick wave. Rin hefted her hammer onto her shoulder with a grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

  Danzo turned toward the road.

  “We’ll advance on foot from here,” he said. “Carts stop at the treeline. No banners. And sure as hell no horns.”

  That earned a glance from Geo. “Quiet entry?”

  Danzo nodded. “As planned.”

  They moved out soon after—Judgment near the front, flanked by shieldbearers and spearmen who tried a little too hard to look confident. The road narrowed as they passed through low fields dotted with pink-oaks and winding streams. The beauty of Igumi crept in slowly, almost mockingly.

  Then the walls came into view.

  They stood like towers over Igumi. Pale stone veined with creeping vines and flowering branches. Lantern hooks lined the battlements—empty now, swaying faintly in the breeze.

  And the gates—

  They were wide open like a backstabbing invitation. Not a guard, banner or movement in sight.

  The road passed straight through, uninterrupted. The army’s march slowed without anyone giving the order.

  Tsuki felt it then—that tight pull in her chest, the same one she’d felt before Zimala went to hell.

  “That’s…” Knoxx started, then stopped. Azumi pulled her mask above her face, as her hand prepped to summon her katana.

  Geo squinted ahead. “They should be shut.”

  Danzo raised a hand, signaling a full halt. The sound of marching boots faded into silence.

  Why? Would they leave doors open for an invasion? Unless they don’t know… but they have to know… Right? Tsuki thought.

  Danzo studied the entrance for a long moment before speaking.

  “Judgment,” he said quietly. “You’re with me.”

  Tsuki swallowed, eyes locked on the dark passage beyond the gates.

  No declarations… or theatrics.

  The words echoed in her mind as the open mouth of Igumi waited—whispering in a seductive invite to whatever awaited beyond.

  Danzo ushered a hand forward, and with him, Judgment walked in stride. They approached the gate, which was empty and unmanned.

  “Did they tuck tail and run?” Knoxx asked, maybe a little too loudly.

  It was a moment before anyone answered, as they searched under the stone arch for answers—any reason as to the event.

  “It sure looks like it… but why?” Geo questioned, rubbing a hand on the wall’s stone.

  Knoxx smiled. “Well, good! My people are probably in there, free!”

  His eyes met Azumi’s in a daggered look.

  “Maybe they did fight, after all.”

  She didn’t respond. Instead, she kept her eyes forward in focus.

  Something doesn’t feel right, Tsuki said internally. Where are they? Where… is anyone?

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Danzo moved his hand forward again to call in the rest of the army after the initial scout. The army marched forward, led by Viper and Nighthawk at the head.

  Judgment kept forward, inching—searching for anything. Anyone. They were past the entrance now, not deep enough to see into homes or shops. However, they were close enough to hear the sound of daylife—if there was any.

  The whole of Memento’s army was now succumbed into the wall of Igumi.

  And then—

  The sound of arrows pierced the air. Tsuki looked to the sky, and saw the pointed heads like raindrops.

  “AMBUSH!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. “EVERYBODY GET DOWN!”

  Dozens of soldiers followed the order in obedience, falling to the ground without question. However, it came a little late.

  Tsuki heard as comrades all around fell—not by choice, but after they had been shot. Groans flooded the air.

  Geo summoned a massive plate of ground to cover him and nearby members, but it couldn’t mask them all. A second volley followed, and more allies fell.

  “Damn it!” Danzo said. “Brace! Then, after the volley, escape back through the gate! They outplanned us!”

  Just as he finished, a loud groan came from deep within the Igumi walls. The gate creaked, before its heavy wooden bars began to descend.

  “SHIT!” Geo yelled. “Danzo, what’s the plan?!”

  Danzo scanned the surroundings. Nothing. There weren’t any other escapes—nothing sneaky to pull. They’d have to fight.

  The gate continued down, smashing into three carriages that just barely hung on. The gate shut, but not completely.

  “There!” Hatori shouted at the gate. It left little room for soldiers to duck under.

  “Danzo snapped. “Viper! Get out there with the fourteenth division! I want Makoro on that gate—lift it as long as you can! Naru, make sure they escape the reaches of arrowfire!”

  Naru gave a salute, before calling the soldiers back from which they came. More bodies hit the floor.

  “The rest of you, we’re going to buy time. We need to—”

  Danzo didn’t finish. The arrows stopped suddenly. Tsuki peeked over the plated ground Geo had used for cover, spotting three approaching figures. Ones they knew.

  The first was Tobamako. The unmistakable big bodied brute smashed a fist into a palm. He took the left. All the way on the right was Lalo, the unnatural with chains. Finally, from the dust clearing, a third appeared in the middle.

  Tsuki’s eyes widened.

  Tokira entered the battlefield with a straight face—wearing a commander’s APC uniform now—one which she did not have in Riche.

  “Ah… Memento. Been a while, ya fools,” laughed Tobamako. From behind, hundreds of soldiers began to enter the clearing of buildings into sight. Rooftops, alleyways, and all the like were now densely populated with APC footsoldiers.

  Memories flooded Tsuki’s mind—ones of her old friend—she couldn’t escape. Her head throbbed, and she fell to a knee, gritting her teeth.

  Geo kneeled beside her, with an arm around her shoulder. His face grew with worry.

  “Tsuki! You okay?”

  She didn’t respond—she couldn’t even make out what he had said. It was all a blur.

  The three stalkers advanced. In front of them, Danzo, Nighthawk and the others in Judgment stood without a budge. Behind Memento’s line, countless soldiers followed the lead of Naru and Viper under the gate. Makoro stood underneath, gritting his teeth as he hefted the gate with only his two arms as support.

  “How pathetic of you… to use a district’s home as bait. Fight us on even ground! Like the honorable cause you claim you are” shouted Rin, her warhammer hitting the ground in an aftershock.

  Tobamako only smiled.

  “What a feisty one you are! Small too! Too easy for me. Lalo, she’s all yours!”

  Lalo stepped forward with a snarky smile.

  “Gladly.”

  Rin smashed the hammer into the ground in anger. It cracked on impact.

  “Averin and Shonjo, hold the line. Geo and Knoxx, you two take the big guy?”

  Knoxx pulled both daggers from their rests, with a grin.

  “Of course! Leave it to us!”

  Geo gave a less excited nod, but readied himself next to Knoxx. “Right. Tsuki, rest here for a minute. Gather yourself. We’ll be fine, I promise.”

  Tsuki looked up at him—her body still crawled up on the ground. Everything was still blurred. Her head ached with something she had never felt before.

  “Good,” Danzo responded. “Azumi and Hatori, you two are with me. We’ll take the middle one.”

  Tokira only looked on, past the three who would team up against her—directly at Tsuki. A solemn look filled Tokira’s face. Before she knew it, a shadow lunged at her from the side.

  Azumi shot forward in a blur, boots tearing into the dirt as her katana cleared its sheath. Tokira didn’t move—didn’t even blink.

  A corrupted pool of Solena erupted beneath Azumi, neon light surging upward like a tidal wave. It swallowed her whole.

  She cut through it anyway.

  Steel flashed, but the moment her blade came down, Solena hardened around Tokira’s hand. The impact rang sharp and hollow as Tokira caught the strike barehanded. With a sharp twist, she sent Azumi skidding backward, boots carving twin scars through the ground before she managed to steady herself.

  Hatori was already moving.

  He sprinted through the battlefield, weaving between lancing beams of corrupted Solena. His breath steadied as Resonant Flow surged outward—Tokira’s shots stuttering, their rhythm disrupted just long enough.

  Hatori closed the gap and drove a palm into Tokira’s stomach.

  The impact launched her skyward.

  Midair, corrupted Solena flared around Tokira’s back and shoulders, snapping into shape and redirecting her descent. She twisted, momentum snapping forward into a brutal punch aimed straight at Hatori.

  He barely had time to brace.

  They collided—fists, kicks, elbows—trading blows in rapid succession. Dirt kicked up around them as they shifted, pivoted, pressed for advantage. Then Tokira slipped past his guard and drove a clean strike into Hatori’s torso.

  The force sent him flying.

  He hit hard, rolling once before digging a hand into the dirt to stop himself, chest heaving.

  Behind Tokira, Danzo was already at work—kneeling, fingers tracing sharp lines into the ground as a paralysis rune formed beneath his palm.

  Azumi surged back in.

  She unleashed a relentless flurry, katana cutting fast and precise. Each strike was met with corrupted Solena—blocking, deflecting, reshaping itself just in time. Then Tokira vanished in a burst of light.

  She slammed into Azumi like a cannon shot.

  Blow after blow landed in rapid succession, driving Azumi straight into the ground. The impact knocked the breath from her lungs. She groaned, rolling onto her side as she pushed herself up.

  “Damn it… I hope the others are flowing out of here right—”

  She didn’t finish.

  Corrupted tendrils snapped around her ankles, yanking her off balance. Tokira stepped in close—two punches slammed into Azumi’s abdomen, sharp and punishing. The third crashed into her face, snapping her head back.

  Tokira drew her arm back for another.

  A hand clamped around her wrist. Hatori stood directly behind her.

  With a grunt, he twisted and hurled Tokira into the dirt. He followed with a downward kick—but she blocked it, rolling with the force and springing back to her feet in one fluid motion.

  “Hatori!” Danzo shouted.

  He glanced at the rune—just for a second.

  Hatori gave the slightest nod and pressed forward.

  Jab after jab, he stayed just close enough—baiting, slipping, waiting. Tokira kicked. Hatori caught her leg.

  He wrenched, trying to throw her toward the rune.

  A Solena beam slammed into his side.

  The breath left him in a sharp gasp.

  Tokira seized him mid-stumble and, with a violent heave, launched him forward. His body hit the paralysis rune dead-on.

  Hatori slammed into the ground.

  His muscles locked instantly—his body convulsing as the rune took hold.

  “Da—Danzo…” he strained, teeth clenched. “I—I can’t… move.”

  Behind them, Tsuki’s head grew more focused. It still spun, but she could see clearer.

  To her left, a crowd of soldiers with spears had begun to overrun a tiring Averin. He kept swinging hit metal fists, but with each thrust, he grew closer to a fall.

  Tsuki dug her hands into the ground, and shadows swung like tentacles. She cast them at the soldiers, picking them off one by one.

  Averin gave an out of breath nod of acknowledgement, in which Tsuki returned.

  Then, her focus drew to the big concern.

  Tokira lurked in front of her, eyeing Danzo with haunted eyes. Azumi was still injured, and Hatori lay unable to move by the rune.

  “Damn it all! Come get some!” yelled Danzo, but before Tokira could engage, a shadow wall emerged between them.

  Tokira backed off quickly, turning to Tsuki. Their eyes met in glares.

  “Tsuki! The hell are you doing?!” called Danzo.

  “Her fights with me, Danzo. Help Azumi and Hatori. I’ve got this.”

  Danzo hesitantly nodded, before running over to Azumi, who was bleeding badly.

  Her attention returned to her old friend who now posed as her enemy.

  “Tokira… it’s been a while.”

  The woman cast aside her corrupted Solena she had readied, and stepped toward Tsuki.

  “Why?”

  Tsuki raised a brow. “Why what? Why did I join Memento? Leave the APC?”

  “Why… did you leave me behind?”

  The question hit Tsuki like a razor, cutting her at the heart.

  Tokira continued. “You left everything we stood for… everything we learned and fought for—for a rebel group hellbent on ending Alden. Why, Tsuki?”

  “Hellbent on ending Alden? They’re—we’re ending this damned regime's schemes! The APC oppresses all below, and strips them of their qualities limb from limb, Tokira! How you can’t see that, I don’t understand.”

  Tokira’s face didn’t change.

  “You used to be so adamant to change for the better… so willing to do your best and never give up. Now I recognize you only by name, old friend.”

  “I have changed, Tokira,” said Tsuki, readying a shadow. “Just for the better. The minute the APC knew they couldn’t control every thought in my head—every action I took… they stripped me of everything I knew. You wouldn’t understand that, would you?”

  Tokira’s face dropped at the comment.

  “No. I don’t want to fight you Tsuki. But if you side with terrorists—with people who will bring Alden’s end… I have no choice.”

  “So be it.”

  With that, Tsuki lunged forward—dual shadows coiling around her forearms like living blades.

  She struck first, shadows snapping outward in a wide arc meant to force Tokira back. The ground beneath Tokira cracked as corrupted Solena surged, rising just enough to intercept the blow. The shadows tore through it—but not fast enough to reach her.

  Tokira slid aside, boots gliding across the dirt with unnerving ease.

  Tsuki pressed in ruthlessly.

  She twisted her wrist, shadows splitting and reforming mid-motion—one striking high, the other sweeping low. Tokira ducked beneath the first and stepped over the second, movements measured and controlled.

  A shadow darted toward Tokira’s shoulder. She caught it with ease.

  Corrupted Solena wrapped around the shadow’s edge, halting it inches from her body. Tokira held it there for a moment—long enough for Tsuki to see it—before releasing it harmlessly into the dirt.

  “You’re hesitating,” Tsuki said, breath tight as she reset her stance.

  Tokira didn’t answer, instead, she moved.

  In a blur, Tokira closed the distance, her palm striking Tsuki’s guard with just enough force to knock her off balance. Tsuki stumbled back, boots skidding, shadows flaring instinctively around her torso.

  Tokira could have followed through—but didn’t.

  Instead, she stepped back, lowering her hand. Tsuki’s jaw tightened.

  She surged forward again, shadows lashing out faster now—sharper and more fierce. One grazed Tokira’s arm, tearing fabric and drawing a thin line of blood.

  Tokira looked down at the cut, then back at Tsuki.

  Her Solena flared—but only briefly.

  She redirected Tsuki’s next strike with a precise motion, twisted her wrist, and sent Tsuki sprawling across the ground. Tsuki rolled, came up on one knee, breathing hard.

  “You’ve gotten stronger,” Tokira said quietly. “But you’re still fighting like you’re afraid to finish it.”

  Tsuki pushed herself to her feet, shadows rising behind her like wings.

  “No,” she said. “I’m fighting because I still believe you can stop.”

  Tokira’s expression flickered—just for a moment.

  Then the corrupted Solena hardened again around her hands.

  “Then you believe in falsehoods,” she said, stepping forward.