----

----

After what remained of the crew had eaten their fill in the dining area, they all made way to the upper levels to rest. Momma Cosma had given them all changes of clothes and offered to take theirs to be washed; and all but for Jeb, Sophia and Marzia agreed. Alice had already changed into some ludicrous frilly monstrosity and went to her own personal room while Bear, Jack and the rest of the crew just wanted something clean to sleep in. After Cosma had taken their clothes, brought back the clean ones and left again with Alice, Sophia warned everyone to be on their toes and to sleep lightly. Something wasn't right either with the house or with the woman who had given them shelter.

A few hours went by with the crew sleeping in shifts so someone was always up keeping an eye on things in case something did happen. At the same time, some distance down the hall Alice slept peacefully while Momma Cosma brushed her hair. She smiled down at the child as the howl of a wolf echoed outside the window.

"Sweet, sweet precious Alice. How I wish your father were here to see how you've grown." She rested her hand on the girl's forehead and then reached over to the night stand in front of her and picked up Alice's book. Cosma flipped open to the front page and read the note that Scarlet had written to her sister. "You naughty, naughty girl you. Fate has seen your lips sealed and rightfully so. You always were a blemish on your family's name. Good riddance." She flipped through the pages in search of what spells if any had been passed on to the young girl. She got to the final page and traced her hand across a few of the spells that had etched themselves into the page and then stopped mid way through. "Oh my, what do we have here?" A sinister smile crept across her face as she stood up over Alice's bed. "Looks like it's just about time then."

Momma Cosma lifted up her skirt and pulled out a book of her own. She opened it to the back page and mouthed an incantation as she ran her fingers across the lines of the books. The two books then floated out of her hands and hovered over the bed of the young sleeping girl. Alice began to rise up into the air off of her bed as the books circled around her. "Child of prophecy, it is your time to awaken. Realize what it is you were meant to do and take my hand. Awaken from this cursed slumber and reveal your true self." Cosma extended her arms out towards Alice who had been turned to face her by the mysterious force that was being created by the circling of the two books.

The two books circled around her at increasing speeds, raising her hands up in front of her with the force of their momentum before finally coming to rest in the air in front of her. Alice's eyes remained sealed shut, but as her hands came to rest on the final pages of the two books, her mouth dropped open and emitted an eerily high-pitched screech that simultaneously blew open all of the doors in the house and shattered every window. Shards of wood and glass ripped through Cosma's dress as she stood there, laughing in the face of the demon that she had just given rise to. Alice floated down to eye level with Cosma and then a deep, dark monotone voice came from her throat as she spoke to the woman. "You fool." The words seemed to cause the temperature in the room to drop several degrees just by escaping her mouth. "How dare you wake me in such a heinous way, and to even force me into a vessel of such quality? Surely you must have lost your mind, there simply can be no other explanation."

Momma Cosma rubbed her hands together and began to sweat. "I am most sorry my master. Forgive me, it seemed like the right time. The girl sought me out on her own and even had the ability to partially awaken you when she arrived. I thought-"

The creature in possession of Alice's body scoffed. "You thought? How could my following have fallen so? What ever happened to good little worshipers who simply followed orders blindly? What ever happened to those that did what they were told and what was expected of them without question?" Alice floated closer to the woman so that she could feel the girl's breath on her breast as it belittled her. "Who are you to think against the all knowing? Who are you to break away from your creator and take on individuality? You ungrateful wench. Honestly. Give me a single reason as to why I should not smite you where you stand and give your job to that worthless husband of yours? Useless and blind though he is to my divine guidance, surely even he could do a better job at bringing about my resurrection than you."

The temperature in the room had fallen to freezing temperatures, the sweat on Cosma's face turned to frost as Alice spoke to her. She began shaking and her words came out a stuttered mess. "Y-y-yes m-m-my l-l-lord. I-I'm s-s-s-s-orry t-t-that I h-h-have f-f-f-f-failed you so ba-ba-ba-badly. D-d-d-don't d-d-d-do th-th-that. I-I-I-I'm sh-sh-sh-sure there m-m-mu-must be s-s-s-some w-w-way th-th-that I c-c-can m-make i-it up t-to y-y-you? J-j-just p-p-please f-f-forgive and s-spare m-m-me. I'll d-d-do a-a-anything."

"Foolish mortal, of course there's something that you can do. This is why I have grown so angered by you. You wish to think for yourself, but lack the ability to even see the answer spelled out so perfectly right in front of your face. The vessel did not come alone did it? Many of those bodies would be much more appropriate for my resurrection than this thing."

"O-o-o-of c-c-c-course. I-I sh-should h-h-have th-th-though o-of th-th-that i-i-instead o-of d-d-doing w-w-w-what I w-w-was pl-pl-planning t-to d-d-do w-w-with th-them. F-f-f-forgive m-m-me m-m-m-my m-m-m-master. I w-w-w-will t-t-take c-c-care o-o-of it im-im-immediately."

"Good. Make sure that you do not fail me this time. I would hate to think of the consequences that I would have to carry out should you fail me once more. Do not return to me until you have the optimal vessel. One strong enough to put up a fight, but not quite so that it might be troublesome to take over." Alice floated back over to the bed and laid back down. She turned her head towards Cosma and smiled. "Make haste, lest I have to take matters into my own hands."

Cosma bowed and retrieved her book from The Master's hand. She pulled her skirt back up and put the book into it's place as her master exited the body of the young girl and then sighed. She began to notice the screams and gunshots that had been going on since her master had first taken over the girl's body and began to lecture her. He had already begun to take matters into his own hands before even releasing the duty into her care.

However, though this power she did inherit from him, it was made her own through her own trial and error. He could use it to a certain extent, but from the sounds of things it had not been working out favorably up until now. But now that she was in control, she would be certain not to fail again. She raised her hands and put up several barriers around the room so that any damage to the mansion would not roll over into the room and chance the harm of her or the lacking vessel. Then she began a long and tedious chant that though it would take time to set up, it was sure to turn the tide of this battle into her favor.

----

----

Bear was standing guard at the time. He was leaning back in his chair, rocking back and forth on it's two back legs when the explosion of power hit him, sending him flying out of his chair and flat up against the wall. The door which had been bolted shut with so many different locks, and the windows which had been nailed and locked so tight that it would have taken all of their combined strength to pull open simple shattered and flew off their hinges taking a chunk of the wall with them.

Jack and the few other nameless members that they had brought along for the mission began to writhe violently in their beds. They tore at their skin, ripping it away until all that remained was a bubbling mass of darkness that clumped and fell from their bodies with each movement they made. Bear also began to tear at his skin, but instead ripped the clothes off of his back which caused the urge to tear at himself to stop. He was too late to save any of the others who had already turned, and his right arm had already been changed to the darkened mess. His transformed arm contorted into many inhuman positions before finally turning on the rest of his body and began to attempt to tear away and transform the rest of him. However Marzia spun out of her bed and chopped off the arm before it could deal any real damage to him.

Though the arm had become detached, it flopped about on the ground as black ooze spurted out of the back-end where it had been attached to Bear and then mixed with the blood which was oozing from the wound on Bear's body. The arm rose up onto its fingertips and crawled over to the other fully formed creatures of darkness. It attached itself to the body of the creature that used to be Jack and then dissolved, making the creature grow a few inches taller.

The creatures cocked their heads - which lacked any physical features whatsoever - towards Bear and the others who had been unaffected by the curse. One of the monsters towards the back got down on all fours and began to twist and turn it's appendages until it was several feet shorter than all of the others. Once it finished, it's head cocked up towards the group and then it shoved both of its hands into it's face and began to pull it apart until a mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth and a long ashy tongue revealed itself. It breathed in and then let loose an almost bestial scream.

Not even ten seconds went by before they heard the same kind of screaming several dozen times over coming from both outside and inside the mansion. The temperature in the room began to noticeably drop several more degrees at a time as the screams came closer and closer. Through the missing chunk of wall where the window had used to be, the group could see entire houses crumbling to the ground, and with each step closer that the creatures inside the house grew the foundation that the mansion had been built on began to tremble and shift.

"She's not gonna last." Marzia looked out the hole in the wall. A large lump of black was amassing itself in the roads outside of the house and had began to climb up the hill. Sophia had set herself to work on healing the wounds of Bear whose help they would surely need if they were to even hope to stand a chance against this army of darkness. Luckily, the creatures which had formed from the bodies of their allies didn't seem to worried about getting started. They sat back in a group and screamed as loud as they could. They wouldn't strike until all the others had gathered. Whether or not the remaining human members of the mission party should wait for that to happen was not yet clear. But as soon as it became evident, it would be too late. For now though, this time to prepare was a godsend and they made use of it as best they could.

Sophia had managed to heal Bear's wound shut for the moment, but she was no genius. It would take much more time and money to fully heal him. Time that they just didn't have. Bear propped himself up against the wall and looked around. "Alright. Guess it's time we came up with a plan." He winced in pain as he reached his left arm over to his right side where the holster for his gun was. "The way I see it, the only hope we got to even think about surviving this right now is to get down to whatever room this whole mess originated from. I'm not going to be much help, so I'll just sit back here and try to hold off as many as I can until they decide to finish me. So then Marzia, Jeb and Soph... you three need to get on that door and get ready to leave. Now. Marzia and Sophia will stand back to back, and Jeb you watch the same direction as Marzia and be sure to check every room. Don't forget to check the rooms. The way it seems.... if the two windows in here got blown off their hinges there probably aren't gonna be many more windows left around here. Whatever the hell those things are they're tall, but they can still fit through an opening that size relatively easily I'd say. So be prepared."

Jeb laid his hand on Bear's good shoulder. "I'll make sure that bitch pays for what she's tried to pull here tonight. She'll feel more pain than she's ever felt before and then maybe if you manage to live long enough and we can find it, the bible we've been searching for could heal you right up. So don't go giving up just yet."

Bear smiled. "Kid, don't fuck with me and get my hopes up. I ain't gonna make it even if these things don't kill me. But I sure as hell am gonna haunt your scrawny ass if you don't follow up on your promise to make that bitch pay, haha."

Sophia glared at Jeb. "We can't just leave him to die like this. We could try to take him with us, I know you're plenty strong enough. If you tied him off to your back then we'd always have two sets of eyes pointing in any direction."

Marzia shook her head. "We'll need to move quickly. First off we're wasting too much time sitting here talking, so we don't even have the ti-"

Bear fired his pistol at the head of one of the creatures that had started to crawl through the opening in the wall nearest them. Others began to pour in from the wall on the other side of the room, and Bear fired off a few rounds in their direction to scatter the group. "It's begun. You have to go. Finish this."

Jeb nodded and grabbed Sophia by the arm and flung her out the door. Marzia spun around the doorway and went into the hallway, firing off a few rounds into the room as she left. Sophia and Marzia leaned their backs against each other and Jeb kept his head on a swivel. A few more gunshots rang out from the room they had just left and then Bear screamed out momentarily and then there was silence.

The group inched their way down the hallway, trying their best to make the least amount of noise possible. Jeb turned into the open doorway for the room that was next to the one which they had been sleeping in. A large chunk of the wall where the windows were supposed to be was missing, blown out in the same manner as the windows in the other room and presumably every other room with any kind of opening to the outside world.

Jeb stepped into the room and assured that it was empty before walking back out the doorway. However, just as he was going to step over the threshold something grabbed him from behind and let out a deafening screech. The creature ripped Jeb's shoulder out of it's socket as it flung him back into the room with one hand. Jeb slammed into the wall and then bounced back, the wind completely knocked out of him. He didn't even have the time to hit the floor before the creature was back upon him and a multitude of other oozing black arms ripped out of the wall behind him and began to tear away at his clothes.

As soon as the creature shrieked, Sophia and Marzia jumped into the room and began to rain fire upon the creatures attempting to take over Jebediah. They were strong, and they withstood five or six shots a piece before finally falling. But they did eventually fall. Jeb rose up and managed to catch his breath, he slammed his arm against the wall, setting the shoulder back in it's place. He went over to the doorway from which he had been thrown and picked up the guns which had been ripped from his hands by the force of the creature tossing him.

Jeb looked down at his tattered clothes and shook his head. Sophia and Marzia made their way back into the hall and immediately began to fire off round after round in both directions. The foundations of the house began to shake even more violently as the entire town began to pour into the house and make their way towards them. The odds were completely against them. There was an immeasurable number of bodies making their way towards them, and with each creature that they felled another rose in it's place even larger and stronger than the last.

The three of them exhausted all of their magical repertoire and emptied their guns, however it was not enough. The creatures continued to come after them. They fed off of the bodies of their deceased comrades and grew even stronger. With each body consumed by the creatures, their height nearly doubled and their speed grew exponentially along with it.

Nearly an hour went by with the trio just barely managing to scrape by. They all overexerted themselves, their bodies were covered in cuts, bruises and several broken bones. And by the end of the hour it was three against three. Jeb, Marzia and Sophia versus three titanous versions of the creatures which they had been fighting against up until then. They had felled the entire village, and the three that managed to survive until this time had sat back and devoured their former friends and families to grow. The majority of the mansion had been destroyed, leaving only two or three rooms and the main stairwell still somewhat intact. This was it.

Jeb kneeled down and began to heave and coughed up a mixture of blood and phlegm. His eyesight grew blurry and he was swaying from side to side even in his kneeling position. Marzia and Sophia weren't in much better shape, they too had coughed and vomited their fair share, and none were truly in the condition to continue this fight. But it had to be done. Jeb looked up to the head of one of the two titans in front of him. It stood silhouetted against the moon, casting a massive shadow down over him.

He felt like giving in. It was nearly too much to handle. He could just curl up and go to sleep. Then he wouldn't have to deal with any of this any longer. Yeah, that'd be nice. Jeb put his head down against his knee and closed his eyes. His spirit wavered for a moment, but then he thought of Alice. He didn't have a choice. He had to continue fighting; if not for himself then to at least ensure that Alice was still alive and well. He couldn't give in so long as there was still hope left that she lived. He rose up from his knee and stumbled over towards the two women.

"Alright." He rubbed his eyes, breathing and talking very slowly. "We gotta do it. We can't be givin' up yet. Alice is still around here somewhere and we gotta find her and that damned book."

Marzia snorted. "Okay Mr. Hero. Even if Alice is still around here somewhere, she's either dead or one of these things."

Sophia put her hand on Marzia's shoulder and squeezed as hard as she could with the little strength that she had left. "Alice isn't dead. She's too young to die, plus she's got a hidden power deep within her. She could probably take care of these things even easier than the three of us did together. So don't lose hope."

Marzia shook her head. "Whatever. I don't have plans to die today. That's all the reason I have to keep fighting here. I need to get that bible and get back to the boss so I can get on with my life. There's plenty more things to do yet. I'm not ready to just give up so easily." She wobbled and fell against the wall as she attempted to get up. "There's three of them, and three of us. As long as we take them all out at the same time, they won't be eating each other and getting any bigger. It'll be the final time we have to deal with these things, and then we can get on with getting out of here."

"So then what should the signal be so we can make sure they all go down at once and nobody dies early?" Jeb began to make his way towards the one closest to him.

Marzia hobbled over to the one that stood in the opposite direction and smiled to herself. "Figure it out later. We don't really have the luxury of time to figure it out right now."

Sophia shuffled over to the third and final titan. "I'll have Nico release some poison to let everyone know to go. I don't know if it'll be that visible, but just be sure to be paying attention to my titan once you get to the top of your own."

They all nodded and then started off towards their respective monsters in whatever form of running they could muster in their state. Marzia made it to her titan first and had her snake begin to slither up it's leg. With their increased height their speed had finally stopped increasing and actually decreased, so at this point they were mostly just sitting ducks. However, as the snake began to get up towards the thigh of the titan, hundreds of tiny black hands ripped out of the titan's body and tore through it, sending it falling down past Marzia who screamed out in terror at seeing her oldest friend torn apart so easily. She gritted her teeth and forced back her tears as her entire being was filled with an uncontrollable rage.

She pulled a machete from her side and slammed it into the body of the titan and started flinging herself up it's body until she reached it's back. But once she got there, the hands and arms that had been growing out of the creature's body were replaced by nearly full sized versions of the creatures they had been fighting before. They lacked legs, but still stood nearly seven feet tall and each one had replaced it's arms with pointed appendages and as Marzia made her way by them they attempted to skewer her. But to this she replied with hacking and slashing away at them, creating a path to the titan's head.

She was pissed. And though she was completely exhausted before, she now had a motive and the drive to truly destroy this monstrosity instead of simply claiming that she would be able to do so. Meanwhile, on the other two titans, Jeb and Sophia weren't having such an easy time.

Jeb had reached his target second. The tiny arms were already there to greet him before he could even get close enough to begin his ascent. The titan tilted it's head down towards Jeb, and if it had a mouth he was certain it would be laughing at him right now. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, ran his hand through his hair and then drew his sword. He coughed hard once and blood spewed from his mouth as he leapt high up into the air. He slammed the sword into the monster's upper calf area and then quickly balanced himself on the sword before using it as a platform to jump off of even higher. A trail of blood streaked through the sky as he forced out magical powers that he didn't have at the time. He had been running on fumes for a while already, and now he was seriously pushing himself in hopes of finishing this beast swiftly.

Jeb reached the summit of his final leap, and as he began to fall back down he grabbed onto several of the tiny hands which were reaching out at him. Hundreds more even smaller arms and hands spewed out in the area in which Jeb was and began to rip and tear away at his body as he climbed up the rest of the titan's leg. His clothes were no more, and his skin had been dyed red with his own blood. Muscles and tendons were visible in numerous places, and the night wind slapped across them causing Jeb to wince it pain with every new gust.

He had finally managed to reach the lower back of the creature when he heard the most horrendous sound. He glanced over to the titan that Sophia had been tasked with ending. The creature had opened it's mouth and let loose a deep, earth shaking howl. The sound was so thick and powerful that when it hit him it nearly sent him flying off of the back of the titan he had so painstakingly risked his life to climb. He planted one first firmly in the backside of the creature and held fast on to whatever it was that held it together.

Once the sound had passed, the titan that he was holding on to began to bend over. It set its fist on the ground and then leaped high up into the sky. Jeb was pressed flat against the creature's body as the force of the jump was too powerful for him to even think of moving. They rose high up into the sky until everything disappeared below them and all that was visible were the other two titans which now seemed as small as ants. But what goes up, must come down.

And so as the creature neared the height of it's jump, Jeb floated off of its back only to be quickly ripped back down with it as it began it's descent. The titan shifted its body in the air and directed itself at the titan which had screamed, and which Sophia was now attempting to kill. If this wasn't ended now, all hope would be lost. Not only for the three who had spent the last hour fighting, but for all of Jeimas.

----

Sophia was standing on the ground in front of her respective titan. She had no idea how to even start climbing the monster. It tilted it's head towards her, and then looked away paying her no mind.

"Oh hell no." Sophia stomped her foot. "Do not look away from me as if I'm not even a threat." The titan tilted it's head back towards her, and then looked away again. It reached down and swatted at the air in front of her as if to shoo a pest away, and sent her flying with a powerful gust of wind.

Sophia rolled across the ground a couple of times and then caught herself. "Okay. No. No this is not okay. I am just as much of a threat as the others and I swear I will ****ing kill you." She took off at a sprint towards the titan and then began to scale the side of its leg. As her momentum slowed she laid flat against it and began to shimmy and crawl her way up the rest of the way. "This is such ********. I really need to get some kind of sword or something."

No hands reached out to claw at her and no creatures tore from its back to jab at her. Her climb was long and uneventful. Once she reached the creature's back however and could start to climb without using both hands and feet, a single lump appeared in front of her. An unformed mass of darkness rose up and simply sat there. Waiting. She took a step towards it which caused it to move towards the titan's head. She took a step back which caused the mass to shake violently. It appeared to be leading her to the head, though she didn't understand why she followed anyways.

Once she and the thing that led her had reached the top of the titan's head it began to bubble and grow larger. It grew until the top of it was slightly above eye level with Sophia, only to finally stop and then begin to flail about. Arms of pure white bone pressed against the black ooze chrysalis that encased them before finally breaking free. It stopped for a moment as muscles and tendons grew themselves on to the bones and then covered up with a fresh layer of apparently human skin.

Then the hands reached around to the side of the mass of darkness that faced Sophia and then dug themselves in to the darkness and began to pull back revealing the rest of a human skeletal system. The arms rolled the darkness back and left it covering it's body in an open vest-like manner. However, the legs were still stuck into the main body of the titan as with all the prior creatures which had sprouted from the other titans. It remained immobile as the muscles, tendons and vital organs formed around the remainder of it's bone structure and filled out the vest that it had made with its cocoon. Once it had completely formed Sophia took a step back in shock.

"H-hey Soph. How's it g-goin?" Jack coughed and looked away.

"W...what? No... This isn't possible. You died! You were turned into one of those things and started to attack us!"

"N-not really no. I uh... I a-actually j-just kind of st-st-stayed towards th-the back for it all. Th-then w-when th-th-the others st-started to fall I just... I just ate them... And now I'm this." Jack raised his arms, causing the entire titan to shake and shift as it raised it's own arms to mimic him.

Sophia's jaw dropped in amazement. "No way..." she whispered. "So does that mean you're in control now or?"

Jack shook his head. "Af-afraid n-not. I d-don't know how... but I g-got b-back control s-s-somehow. B-but I st-still can't m-m-move my l-legs. Wh-whoever h-has m-m-me under th-their control h-has me o-on a r-r-really ti-tight leash. I-i-if I e-even th-think ab-about tr-trying to h-help you th-there's a sh-sharp pain in the ba-back of my head... and th-then everything gets blurry... I'm r-really s-sorry Sophia." He frowned and tears began to well up in his eyes. "I st-still c-can't be of any use to you."

Sophia bit her lip hard as Jack began to sob uncontrollably into his own hands. She really wanted to just deck him and tell him to suck it up and stop being a crybaby. But she had really thought he was dead until now. And had he been he would certainly be in a better position than he is now that's for sure. "There has to be something." Sophia whispered as she moved towards him. She wrapped her arms around his body and rested her head against his chest. "There has to be something we can do. Some way to save you. I thought you were gone... but you're here now so there has to be something..."

Jack looked up to the sky and smiled. Back in the room where Cosma and Alice were, the puppet master looked up at the ceiling and smiled, trying hard not to laugh at how pitiful this girl was. She opened her mouth and continued her conversation with the dead boy's friend. "There is one thing..." Jack put his arms on Sophia's shoulders and pushed away. He dug his hand into his chest and then pulled out a black dagger, dripping with the same black ooze that made up the creatures around them. He grabbed hold of Sophia's left hand and placed the grip in it, closing her hand tight around it. "I can tell... there's no way to save me now... so please... please just kill me... end this nightmare for me... I'm begging you Soph... you're the only one I can trust with this..."

Sophia looked down at the dagger that Jack had placed in her head and shook her head. "I can't... you're like a brother... I could deal with it when you died because of someone else, but I couldn't live with myself if I were the one to do it. Please, there has to be another way," Sophia pleaded with Jack. Her eyes begging for any other way out, but his cold gaze giving her none.

"You have to do it Soph. There's hundreds of us in here, I only have control for a few more seconds. If you don't do it now, then Marzia will kill her titan and one of the others in me will take control and devour it bringing whoever is controlling us one step closer to winning. You have to use that dagger and stab it deep into the titan's head. See? You don't even have to actually kill me. You just have to stab the titan. Easy right?"

Sophia shook her head violently. Her mind was spinning and she was trying to take it all in. There had to be something, anything to change the way things were supposed to go. There had to be some way to fix all of this and save Jack. "But why me... why do I have to do this?"

"Well..." Cosma smiled as she shuffled through the subconscious of the dead man. "It's because I love you Sophia." Jack smiled warmly and closed his eyes.

Her eyes widened. She tried to speak but nothing came. "I-I..." Sophia stuttered as her cheeks flushed a bright red. "You dumbass!" She screamed out as she slammed the dagger Jack had given her into the titan's head.

"Hahahahahaha. Stupid ****ing girl." Cosma's voice echoed through Jack's mouth as it sunk in what she had done. "Thank you for helping me fulfill my destiny. Now, die." The figure of Jack rushed across the titan's head towards Sophia, catching her completely by surprise.

"What?" Sophia barely had time to let loose the single word. As Cosma spoke and she realized that she had been tricked, she rose to her feet, pulling the dagger from the titans head only to be met by the full force of the advancing Jack dummy.

Jack lowered his shoulder and rammed into Sophia, knocking her off of her feet and sending her flying off of the head of the titan. As she left the platform that was the creature's head, it let loose a bloodcurdling scream to announce to the other two that it was dying. "What?" Sophia mouthed again as she began to fall. She stared up at the sky as she was blown away by the force of the titan that Jeb was riding jumping into the air. "What?" She continued to mouth the same word repeatedly until she finally reached the ground. As she neared the ground she cast a shield of air around herself and then sat down on the ground to recollect herself. She'd been had.

During the time that Sophia had been falling, Jeb and Marzia had been doing their own things. Marzia was still in a fit of rage and had been tearing away at the head of the titan she was riding on with her bare hands. She wasn't concerned with waiting for the signal any longer, all she could think of was what the monster had done to her friend. All she wanted was to tear the creature to shreds. She didn't care how long it would take or what consequences it might have. This is all that kept her going now.

Marzia had managed to burrow a few feet into the skull of the creature by the time the one Sophia had been riding out let out its scream. But she continued on, undaunted by what was going on around her. Her goals were set. She continued to tear away at the beast, still standing even against the force of its leap into the sky. She continued on to where she thought the brain of the creature might be, hoping to find something there to stop the creature. Along the way the fully grown creatures that had been attacking her while she was in the open had given up their chase and were replaced once more by the tiny hands. They continued to rip and tear at her body, removing in the process the majority of her clothing and a great deal of her skin.

Her left arm began to boil in some places and became infected by the darkness. For the moment she still had control over her arm, but she had no idea when she'd finally have to part ways with it. Luckily she'd still be able to use it to kill the titan that she was in now before it became a burden. She had found what she was looking for. In front of her, suspended by strands of the darkness that surrounded her was the upper body of a human male. His eyes were empty and remained focused on the ground even as she approached him.

"So," the man whispered. "You've come to kill me then?"

Marzia walked up to the man and drew her machete. She whipped it across his chest, opening a large gash which oozed black and then quickly boiled over and sealed shut.

"I'm afraid it will take more than that to take us down. There is one thing that could do the job easier, but another of your friends has already used that. I'm afraid there's no hope of killing us now. Cosma was successful. The master has won."

Marzia continued to lash out in vain at the man as he spoke. She cut his throat, severed his limbs and stabbed him multiple times. However each wound she inflicted poured out the same black goo, then boiled and healed together the way that it was before. Tears filled her eyes, but her anger only grew more fierce and she continue to lash out with all her might against all odds.

"Since it seems we'll be here for a moment, allow me to tell you a short tale. Once, long ago there was a very powerful boy born into one of the native tribes of Jeimas. The boy's skin was pure white. It never tanned nor burned, only shone brighter the longer that he lived. The boy's name was Vereryl, and from the time he was born he could control many different elements. At the time of his seventh birthday he was named chief of the tribe to which he was born as his power was the greatest in all of the country. So long as he led his people, none would dare to threaten or challenge them. And for many years all was well."

Marzia started to breathe heavily as the exhaustion of the climb and all that came with it finally caught up to her. She couldn't forgive the monster, but she just didn't have anything left to give. She still boiled with rage, but had no way to let it out. Her arms were like liquid, and it felt impossible for her to even raise them empty handed. She looked to her left arm which began to twist and twitch about on its own volition. She leaned her head over and began to gnaw at her shoulder, attempting to tear through it.

The man paid her no mind and simply continued on with his story. "You see, by the time the boy turned sixteen he had already mastered all of the natural elements. Fire, water, earth, air, lightning, ice, wood and any combination thereof he could use as he saw fit. But he was not content with this. He desired more. He craved power, and he needed to know more. As time went on he denounced the gods that his people worshipped for centuries and named himself the one true god. To those that followed him, he showered with fortune and the protection that his powers brought. But to those that would disobey him and continue to worship these deities that he had proclaimed false... well, he started a hunt. He began by purging those of his own tribe who refused to follow him. He took up their bodies and began to experiment on them. He thought that if he could take some nobody tribesman and change them into one of these deities that they saw fit to worship over him, then they would have no choice but to lay down their beliefs and follow behind him."

Marzia finally managed to rip through her own arm, causing it to fall off and fuse in with the rest of the titan. Her head was spinning and she suddenly felt more tired than she could have ever imagined. She struggled to hold her eyes open as she felt herself creeping ever closer to death's doorstep. The room around her began to spin, and she could have swore that the man who was hanging there telling her this story got down from his place and moved over towards her. She felt a tingling sensation in her shoulder and then fell over, passed out.

"Things continued on this way until he was well into his thirties you see." The man continued, eyes now fixed on the limp body of the assassin. "His skin had changed from such a pure white to a black which was darker than even the emptiest of night skies and he had managed to persuade all of the tribes to follow him. His powers had grown exponentially, and he had even began to master the forbidden element of darkness. He had began down the path of light, however his mind could not comprehend the complexity of the magic which came from within that realm and as such turned to the easier, darker path. But to those who believed in him, though he was walking the path of a demon he was still their savior and their god. He led them all to prosperity and protected them, but many still held grudges deep within their hearts. He had killed family and friends alike, and such a thing is not so easily forgivable."

The titan neared the top of its ascension and hung momentarily in the sky. Marzia lay sleeping on the ground, and the man pulled his left arm free from the bindings that held him up as the core of the monster.

"So one night they took him. A group of twenty with half being devout followers and the other half being those bearing a deep hatred for their god-king took him into a cave whose name and location has long since been lost. There they took up a knife which had been crafted using the blood, bodies and souls of hundreds of their brothers and sisters that had been hunted down on Vereryl's conquest. They took this unholy blade and plunged it into their leader's chest, piercing his heart and sealing him with his own demonic powers to the massive stone tablet upon which he laid. As he lay dying, Vereryl cast one final spell. As he was sealed to the stone tablet he left an engraving upon its surface. The inscription stated that for so long as he should be sealed away from the world, every year one person from the bloodline of one of the twenty who had gathered there that night should be sacrificed upon his tablet using the knife that was used to seal him. So long as this was done he would remain sealed, but should it ever be forgotten he would rise once more."

As the titan began to descend towards the titan that Sophia had been on top of, the man dug his hand into his own chest and grabbed on to his still beating heart. He smiled down at Marzia, and then finished his story before pulling himself free from the remainder of his bindings and crushing his still beating heart.

"Many many years passed and the tradition was upheld. Every year one of the offspring of the twenty would offer up their youngest child to be sacrificed to keep the demon at bay. However, as more people began to settle in to Jeimas and the natives homelands were destroyed, their minds warped by the new culture and their beliefs disproven and done away with by the introduction of all that the new people brought with them. But all was not bad. Many still held true to the old ways, and the descendants of the twenty still upheld the ritual. That is until a man by the name of Jedediah Rush stumbled in on them. Unsure of what was going on, the outlaw killed all of those in attendance with his revolvers. Without the proper ritual sacrifice, Vereryl was freed right in front of him. But due to the grace of a higher power which smiled down upon this man, Vereryl was sealed once more. Though not to a stone tablet this time, he was sealed to a book which Jedediah had been carrying with him."

The titan screamed out and fell limp in the middle of the sky. It fell heavy on top of the room that Cosma and Alice were in. Cosma let out a scream and a hiss as she sensed the power within the titan that had brought about it's death and cursed the being for its interference. The man walked out on top of the barrier that Cosma had erected which was now cracking under the weight of the titan on top of it. A golden-white liquid streamed out of the wound in his chest and trailed behind him.

"A man who was just beginning on his journey joined by a millenia old demon just waiting to have its power released by the grace of a power yet unknown. And yet, the fate of all those in this story shall be yet twisted further by the events that shall soon come to pass."

Marzia's body became visible through the darkness of the titan's as it was dissolved by the golden liquid coming from the man's chest. He walked over to the unconscious assassin and smiled. Kneeling down beside her, he removed his left arm and placed it on to her shoulder before disappearing with a flash of golden light.

"Live on my children. Your work is yet unfinished."

----

----

Jeb held on tight to the back of the titan, trying not to be pulled away by the powerful wind streaming around him. The titan grew closer and closer to the other by the second. He was running out of time. Another scream echoed out through the night sky somewhere nearby. It seemed Marzia had managed to finish off her foe. Now it was just up to Jeb to ensure that these creatures didn't win. He had to climb. He had to finish this.

Jeb held his breath, a searing pain ran through his entire body as the flow of time around him slowed. He blinked up the titan's back two times before tripping over himself and nearly falling off of it. He stuck his sword into it's side and hung there, trying to cope with the all-encompassing pain he was feeling. Even the slightest movement caused him to wince and fight back tears. Blood streamed from his eyes and nose as the flow of time around him resumed it's normal pace. The wind whipped him around, bashing him against the body of the titan over and over again. He screamed out in pain but his voice was snatched away by the force of the air around him.

This was too much. He couldn't feel anything in his body now but for the all-encompassing pain. He closed his eyes and let go of the sword. It was over. He had given up.

"Sorry... Alice." Jeb whispered.

Don't give up.

Jeb opened his eyes, feeling a sudden surge of energy and the complete absence of pain, he dug his entire arm into the titan's body.

You can't really be done yet can you?

Jeb started pulling himself back up the titan's back. He blinked over to his sword and ripped it from the monster's side and a small sack blew off the edge of the blade as he pulled it free. He hadn't felt this great in... well... ever. He stood up and began running along the titan's back, nearing the base of it's neck.

We all had such high hopes for you too.

Jeb lunge forward off of the titan's head. Time had slowed a great many more times than usual, the titan had barely made any forward progress since the spell was cast. Jeb smiled and restored time to it's natural flow. He wrapped his left hand around the blade of the sword right above the hilt, giving him a better hold of it. His hand split open and blood poured out of it, making his smile grow even wider.

There's still so much left for you to do.

Jeb slammed the sword's blade against the speeding titan, using all of his strength to maintain the distance between them. The blade scraped against the bone of Jeb's left hand and he began to laugh. The sword began to sink deeper into the titan's body as the sword cut into it. He pulled the blade back and then kicked himself off of the head of the titan once the distance between them had closed.

But don't worry.

Jeb slammed the sword against the face of the titan once more in a slightly lower spot. He pushed his full weight against the blade as it sank into the titan's body. He twisted his body in the air and turned the blade of the sword towards the other cut.

I still believe in you daddy.

The wound had slowly been recovering, but it hadn't been quick enough. The new incision Jeb had made met with the old one and a chunk of the titan's head went flying out. Jeb began to spin and then raised up his sword, attempting to use the titan's weakened defenses and momentum.

I know you'll figure it out somehow.

Jeb began to corkscrew through the titan's body. Hands reached out to him but were promptly torn to shreds by the sheer speed of which the two were traveling. A scream echoed through the tunnel that he had made and then it began to collapse in on him.

And then we can all be together again.

Jeb flew out the back of the titan which quickly turned into it's front. Jeb turned to look back at the creature which screamed at him with a head that had just began to form from the hole he had just exited. The titan hit the ground a hundred yards from where the one Sophia had felled sat. Jeb's actions had knocked the monster off its course.
Mom misses you.

The titan started to reach over to its fallen brother, but as it's arm began to stretch out Jeb started his corkscrew down through it. He entered and exited once, tearing a large portion out of then outer edge of its arm. Then he blinked back up and corkscrewed through again at the edge of the previous tunnel.

She doesn't like to watch though.

Jeb continued to tunnel through the titan's arm until it fell off, the monster's regenerative capabilities unable to keep up which the speed of which he was damaging it. The arm writhed about on the ground and the crawled over to the other titan. Sophia's titan shook, but didn't come back to life.

She can't stand to see what you've become.

Jeb landed on the ground, cautious of the arm which had just fused together with the hopefully still deceased titan. His eyes darted back and forth, just waiting for the second one to stand up. But it didn't happen, instead once he had turned his head to the titan laying across the ground the one that he had been fighting took the opportunity Jeb had presented to it.

But she knows it has to happen.

The titan drew back its massive arm and then swung it down at Jeb. By the time he noticed that it was coming, it was too late. He started to run away and had just barely escaped the impact of the enormous fist, however the shockwave that followed sent him flying. This is when Jeb found out that the arm which had detached itself wasn't attempting to revive the deceased titan, but instead form a shield around it.

So I watch for her.

Jeb slammed up against the dead titan and was impaled by several thin spikes. Each spike struck into different joints in his body, dislocating each limb and near completely immobilizing him. Blood poured out of his wounds and he looked over his shoulder to the ground behind him. He closed his eyes and blinked over to the spot, tearing off the spikes that the creature's arm had created and taking them with him.

Our time's almost up though.

Still without pain, even with the new wounds inflicted upon him Jeb looked for a way to finish this. The ground beneath him shook as the titan made it's way over. Jeb craned his neck and bit down on one of the spikes that was sticking out of his right shoulder. He pulled the spike out relatively easy, and as he did so the spike went limp and then crawled over to the approaching titan. Jeb craned his head over to his other shoulder and tore the spike from it as well. As he did so it also went limp and crawled over to the approaching titan.

It was nice to talk to you daddy.

With his arms now free, Jeb stood a chance again. Hand still latched firmly around the hilt of his sword, he began to drag himself towards the titan which was now within arm's reach of the titan which lay on the ground.

"Throw me."

Jeb looked over to where the voice had come from. And there standing next to him was Sophia, her face a cold grey she kept her eyes fixed on the titan ahead.

I don't know when it'll happen again.

"Throw. Me." Sophia said once more.

Jeb shook his head. He stuck his sword into the ground and lifted himself up on it.

"I can't throw you... but... I can do this." Jeb took Sophia's hand in his and then blinked up into the sky above the head of the titan.

But we know you'll be fine without us.

Sophia let go of Jeb's hand and wrapped it around her other hand which was grasping firmly on to the handle of the black dagger. She stretched her arms out in front of her and jammed the blade deep into the skull of the monster. It let out a deafening shriek and began to shake from side to side, tearing away at its own head. Sophia was sent flying off as the titan doubled over backwards and then died.

We love you daddy. Good luck.

Jeb felt the side of his cheek warm as the words echoed through his head. He looked up to the sky, the pain slowly returning to his body. Tears filled his eyes and he reached out to the vast darkness above him.

"I love you too... Maria..."

It was all he could get out before he burst in to tears. After landing, Sophia slowly made her way over to him. She got down on her knees in front of him. She laid her head on his chest and began to sob into his blood and sweat stained chest. Marzia stood off to the side, squeezing the arm which had been gifted to her. Her wounds were completely healed and she had already gotten over the initial guilt and pain of losing her friend. She had no place with the two of them at the moment. They needed this.

Marzia looked over to the mansion which was just barely being held together by the various barriers that Cosma had thrown up. The titan she had crawled out of still lay slumped over the top of the room, causing visible cracks in the first layer of the barrier. She sighed and then looked back to the two who were finishing up their moment.

"We need to finish this before the witch tries something else."

Jeb coughed and rubbed his eyes.

"Right... sorry... Sophia do you think you could give me a bit of healing before we move on? Or at least taking these things out of my knees so I can think about walking again? Theeth hoooles arn reeelly helpn nythin," his words began to slur together as everything he had been through returned and stacked together.

Sophia shook her head. "I'm sorry... I don't really have anything left..."

Marzia sighed. "Guess it's up to me then."

The assassin walked over to Jeb and rested her left hand on his shoulder. Her arm began to radiate a golden-white color and with it all the pain in Jeb's body left him, and he felt himself grow back to his full strength. Then Marzia turned to Sophia and did the same. Jeb and Sophia looked at each other, amazed with Marzia's apparently new power.

Jeb took a step towards her. "When did you get that neat little trick?"

Marzia shook her head. "Dunno. Last thing I remember is trying to kill some guy inside the titan and gnawing off my own infected arm. Then I wake up, titan is dead, I've got my arm back and I feel better than ever."

Sophia pulled the black dagger from the makeshift holster on her hip and stared at it. "So Marzia got some kind of healing touch thing, I got this special dagger... Jeb, did you get anything? Maybe this was actually a blessing in disguise to each of us?"

Jeb thought back to the voice of his daughter that had played through his head and saved him from allowing himself to die. Would it be crazy to let them know he was hearing things? How much could he actually trust these people? Sure they had been in a life or death situation together since they boarded the train, but at the end of the day they still played on two different sides. Would it be alright to let them know how weak he was and traumatized he still was from the death of his wife and daughter?

"Jeb?" Sophia rested her hand on his and looked him in the eyes.

He shook his head and moved his hand away. "No, nothing. I just didn't want to die, so I did what had to be done. But anyways, how are we going to get in there to finish this?"

"Well," Marza began, "we have to get rid of the barriers. But we can't leave the titan on top of them or else once we do manage to get rid of them Cosma and Alice will just be crushed by it. Either that or Cosma will absorb it and complete her goal. I don't know if that's still possible or not even if they're dead, but I really have no idea what's going on so I'm not going to rule anything out."

Sophia looked at the titans around them. She looked to the room, and then to her new dagger. "Maybe... if she's the one that made the titans then maybe since she made the barriers too then this dagger will work on it as well?"

Jeb shook his head in agreement. "Yeah, that might be possible. But still, what about the titan?"

"I've got it." Sophia looked over to Jeb. "But, for it to work I'm going to need a lot of your help Jeb."

----

"Child. Awaken my child. We must speak."

Alice yawned and rubbed her eyes. She felt like she'd been asleep for months. She looked around her for what had called out to her, but all that she saw was darkness.

"Child. Can you hear me?" Each word that the voice spoke echoed for several seconds, and whoever was behind the voice seemed to know this and so spoke in a disconnected way so that each word could be heard fully and dissipate before it began again.

Alice furrowed her brow and looked around. "Yeah, I can hear you but... where am I? And who are you? Where's Cosma?"

The voice humphed. "Cosma cannot find us here, nor can any or your friends or anyone else in this world for that matter. This place, is you and this place is also me. The two of us together make this all possible, and together we can do anything here that we please. Should you want to find this conversation more welcoming, you might imagine that we are in a certain hideout perhaps? Maybe all of your friends and family are there?" As the voice spoke, the scene that it described came to fruition. Her father and mother were there talking and laughing with Jeb, Cosma, Sophia and the rest of the Culebras as well as her recently deceased sister Scarlet. "See? Don't they all seem to be having such a great time together?"

Alice surveyed the scene wide eyed. She looked about at all of her friends and family so happily getting along. "But... none of this is real... is it? No... Scarlet died and she gave me her spellbook..."

"Child... when you have all of the power that the two of us have together, anything is possible. We can create and destroy as we see fit, for we are the gods that were destined to rule this planet."

Alice shook her head violently. "But this is all just a dream. Surely when I wake up I'll only be depressed and broken again. This just hurts too much. Why are all these people here? Just go away!" She screamed out, cupping her hands over her ears. The scene dispersed and the darkness retook it's position. "Yes... this is better. This is how it's supposed to be..."

The voice chuckled lightly. "Yes child you are right. This is how it's supposed to be. Darkness is the ultimate creation. From darkness, anything can be born. Darkness is the beginning of everything, and to everything darkness shall return. That is why you must join with me. Walking in the path of light is only shadowing the path of darkness and ensuring that you will never live life the way you truly wish, or ever make full use of your potential. So come and join with me child. This is your destiny. Fulfill all of your dreams. Bring back what is lost, restore that which has been broken. With the power that I could give you, any of this and more is possible. You shall never feel weak, alone or unwanted ever again. With our combined powers, all of civilization will flock to us. They'll never be able to take their eyes off of us! We will be the gods that they need, the gods that they've always wanted but never knew!"

Tears formed in Alice's eyes and she began to tremble. "I just... I don't know... this is all so much. It's overwhelming and I don't know what to do. I'm still not even sure if I'm awake or if I'm sleeping yet... but it all feels and sounds so real! I just don't know what to do..." She curled up into a ball and began to sob into her knees.

"Child... my child allow me to put to rest any ideas you have about this simply being a dream, and then allow me to tell you a little story that may decide your next step for you so as not to burden you so much." In the middle of the darkness appeared an even darker presence. It seemed to be that which the darkness radiated from, but it also appeared to be devouring the darkness as it passed. A shadowy limb separated from the mass and waved beside it. In it's wake an opening appeared in the darkness, and a bright light shined through.

Alice raised her arms against the bright light which had so suddenly appeared in front of her and rose up from her position. She made her way over to the opening, shielding her eyes from the majority of it. She glanced up at the shadowy figure for a moment, to which it replied by gesturing her towards the opening. She poked her head through the hole and opened her eyes to the scene. It was the real world - but time had been frozen in the middle of the action.

The barriers surrounding her room that Cosma had put up were in the process of breaking, one of the titanous manifestations of darkness were floating in mid-air, slumped over the dissipating barriers and causing it to crack under the pressure of their massive size. Sophia was standing outside of the doorway with her arm stretched out through an opening in the barrier that covered it, gun in hand and leveled at Cosma. Jeb was in the middle of attempting to cut open a path with his sword and a black dagger jammed into the barrier while Marzia stood on top of the barrier, clawing and pounding away at it with her bare fists and with an intense bloodlust in her eyes.

Alice pulled her head back through the opening and the shadowy figure closed it shut behind her. "What... was that?" She turned to face the shadowy figure.

"That my child, was the outside world. As of the moment of your awakening to my voice, that is the point of which the battle was at between my failure of an apprentice and your friends."

"So you mean... Cosma was..."

"Cosma was a vessel that had failed to sustain my life force. However, she was salvaged and used to find a new vessel. She found you. And at first, I thought you unacceptable. However given time, I have found you to be much more resilient and fitting a body for me than I had once thought. Now let me ask you once more before I tell you my story and your fate is decided for you; will you join me?"

Alice looked to the shadowy figure and then down at herself. She mulled over the question for a moment and thought of all the things that she could do if she had the power he was offering. "Tell me your story first.... and then I'll decide."

"As you wish my child. Though, to begin on this story means that you have already made the choice to join me."

Alice nodded. "I'd like to hear it anyways Mr....?"

"Vereryl. The name I was given when I was first awakened was Vereryl, and now it shall be our name together."