"Holy crap..." Topaz said, as we stared at the village, which was now coated in flames. Screams were heard throughout the town. "...." Ace turned around, as if sensing that someone was nearby. "Gus, come with me. Something seems... Off." Ace said to Gus, who nodded in reply. "Not on my watch." Virgo grumbled. "We absolutely will not split up." Virgo refused. "Virgo, please. Trust us on this one." Gus pleaded, before she let out a sigh. "Fine. Just come back in one piece, alright?" Virgo said worriedly, as we watched the two run back to the fields. "Let's go look for survivors." Airy suggested, as we all ran into the flaming village. All sorts of thoughts ran through my head as we searched.

Why is the village ablaze? And, who caused it?

I was desperate. Desperate to find out who could've done this, and why.

I heard a sickeningly familiar voice from behind me. "Well, well! If it isn't our lost puppet!" My eyes widened, as I began to turn around. I saw exactly who I thought I would. A Fennekin by the name of Hellfire. "Long time no see, Null!" He faked a smile, before letting out a snicker. "Why are you here?" I asked, glaring. "Well, I was looking for you! But, now that I've found you I won't be able to burn anymore houses." He frowned. "Anyways, I need you to come with me." He said, crossing his arms. "N-no... Never...!" I said, shaking my head. "Cmon... Everyone misses you back home." He grinned. "But, if you refuse anymore, I'll have to drag you back by force." He snapped his fingers, as a fireball appeared in his hand.

<Ace's POV>

"What's this all about?" Gus asked me, as I sighed. "Someone's here." I mumbled, looking around. "That's right, someone is here." I heard a familiar voice that agitated me as soon as I heard it. "I should've known." I turned around to see Hades. "What do you want? And why are you attacking our village?" I asked, glaring daggers at him. "I've been ordered to retrieve someone from this area. Or, maybe even from you, Ace." He gave me a casual smirk. "Long time no see, Gus. How have you been?" The absol asked, as Gus sighed. "And what would this person you're after be named?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "She's a puppet of ours that we kicked out. We thought she was defective, but apparently we found out that she wasn't flawed after all." Hades replied. "Null#301 is her name. She's my puppet..." He smiled, closing his eyes.

...

He couldn't mean...

"We heard that she had been taken in by a friendly bunch here." He grinned, as if reading my mind. "..." I dashed at him with a clenched fist, and attempted to strike. "W-what...." I said, noticing that he caught my fist. "I won't let you have Null. Never." I mumbled. "Oho?" He snickered, retaliating by nearly punching me in the gut. "Huh. You've gotten better." I said, his fist in my hand. "And you've gotten weaker." He kicked me away from him. I skidded to a halt, before charging up an aura sphere. "You will hand over Null." Hades glared, walking towards me. "Are you crazy? You'll get blown away by my aura sphere! Not that I have a problem with that, of course." I said, grinning. "I have my ways." Hades said, as I finished charging the sphere and shot it at him. He looked like he had a dagger in his hand. I saw a bright light, only to realize that it was my Aura sphere heading towards me. "Ace, duck!" Gus charged in front of me, while creating a stone wall to block it. It took my attack pretty well, not even denting the protective rock shield. "Nice!" I said, as I hopped over the wall. The wall slid back into the ground, as boulders flew onto Gus's hands, creating a broadsword and shield. "Ace, we need to get rid of him, and fast..." Gus said, eyes wide as he stared into the distance. I looked over at the flaming village and saw explosions of fire and shadow. "Well, I suppose that's my cue." Hades sighed. "For what?" Gus spat. "For me and my comrade to take our leave. This was just a mere warning." He waved, as he disappeared. I felt a sharp pain in my chest, as I coughed up some blood. "Ace?" Gus asked, helping me stand up. "Let's go find Virgo." Gus suggested as I slowly nodded.

Null must be fighting the other asshole, huh?

Please hold on a little longer...

<Null's POV>

"C'mon! I thought we trained you better than that!" Hellfire laughed, as I felt rage building inside of me. "That's it, keep getting angrier and angrier, till you accidentally send this village to the void!" He said, as he dodged every single one of my attacks. "Just go away!" I shouted. "It isn't THAT easy." He shrugged, grabbing my punch and twisting my wrist. I winced in pain as I fell to my knees, holding my twisted wrist. "You clearly aren't putting up much of a fight, Null. But, let me tell you something." Hellfire looked down at me. "If you rejoin us, you may be able to see your old commander again." He spoke, as my eyes widened. "W-What...?" I mumbled. "We're researching how to raise the deceased and get them their lives back... As if they've never died." He said, holding a finger in front of his mouth. "NULL!" I heard someone shout my name. I looked behind me, to see Virgo running towards me. She jumped into the air, and struck the ground. The ground turned to ice, coating hellfire in a frozen shell. "Virgo, wait up!" I saw Airy, Topaz, Alex, and Alistair running towards us. "Well well." A familiar Absol appeared out of nowhere, and quickly defrosted Hellfire. "I should've known. Of course your here too." I crossed my arms. "Not for long, sweetheart." Hades flashed a quick smile before he disappeared with Hellfire. "..." I looked down.

The village is gone...

And...

It's all my fault, isn't it?

I hadn't realized that I was starting to cry. "It's not your fault." Alistair patted my shoulder. "You don't understand." I mumbled under my breath. "Luckily no one was hurt." Virgo sighed, smiling slightly. "Hey Guys!" We heard Gus shout. We saw two shadows in the smoke. Gus had been helping Ace walk. When they walked through the smoke to us, they became visible. We saw that ace had been coughing up blood and Gus was all scratched up. "Virgo, do you remember how to get rid of Perish song?! We don't have much time." Gus asked, as I stared at Ace in shock. "N..."
Ace began to speak before coughing up more blood. "No... I forgot." Virgo buried her face in her hands. "Aaand... Undo!" Airy started to sparkle, before she poked Ace's forehead. "Thank god..." Virgo sighed in relief. "Well, we had the residents of this place move over to Rhea City, which isn't too far from here. But the question is, where are we going to live?" Topaz asked, as Virgo clutched what looked like a pendant. "Y'know, this wouldn't have happened had you not taken Null under your wing." Topaz grumbled, as I lowered my eyes. "Topaz!" Virgo growled. "You told me, she killed your family, correct?" Topaz asked. "What's your problem?!" She shouted, as he shrugged. "I'm just speaking the truth. You can't deny that, Virgo." Topaz walked away. "Null, don't listen to him. It's that time..." Alex grinned nervously. "It's normal for him to get aggravated." Gus laughed, as Airy healed him. "Wait, TOPAZ IS A GIRL?!" Airy laughed. "No, Airy. He's a guy. Girls aren't that mean." Alex laughed. "..." I remained unmoving and silent, almost like a porcelain doll. I was unknowingly drowning in guilt and grief.

Yeah...

It is my fault.

I've done enough harm in my life to get a death sentence twice...

It's only natural for the blame to lie on my shoulders.

I'm everyone's scapegoat...

It's always me...

It's...

Always....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
YAY A LONG CHAPTER!

What's up mah doods? It's me, Waffles!

So, I'm drawing a cover for this book, and it's pretty neat!

Considering the fact that I've had Artist's block for three days straight, it's pretty cool!

Alright, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you in the next! ;)

Bye bye!~