"Cas," His voice was almost desprate, "Cas, Elliot, please, don't you recognize us?"

They seemed so lost. Before, they were confident in every move they made. Being sandwiched between these two creatures, their mind became foggy. The Eclipse looked over to Deysa but didn't receive anymore clarity. In fact, it just made things even more confusing. Something wasn't right. They knew that, but none of it made sense. It was like half their brain was in a separate dimension.

The wind blew between them for a quiet second. A word barely emerged from below the mask, only a soft, "I- ... I-" They lost any thought left in their head. It was almost as if someone hit a reset button. They were just starting to get something, some kind of clean picture. It was like there was fog covering a mirror and they just barely couldn't make out what was in front of them. Suddenly, that mirror was completely gone, shattered.

It didn't take long for them to return to a killing machine. The Eclipse lashed out their chained spike towards Kuza. He quickly dodged it and drew out his knife in the process. Even if he didn't want to kill them, he had to slow them down. It was obvious they weren't going to cooperate willingly.

Back on top of one of the nearby buildings, Ghost, Vinny, and Chris had found a safer place to worry. They watched this fight play out with a feeling deep in their stomachs like they were going to lose their lunch. It was so back and forth, there was no certainty that either party would win. If this thing had already bested Ryan and Ricky, what hope did Deysa and Kuza have? They were managing to keep the Eclipse at bay for now.

Vinny let his eyes wonder away from the fight. The streets were empty of even stragglers. Everyone had cleared out when that terrifying eagle arrived earlier. They didn't want to be in the middle of a war. Among all the shadows of buildings, he caught a very short glimpse of a ghost of his past. It was gone before he could fully even process it, but that made him even sicker.

"Babe, are you okay?" Ghost inquired, setting her hand on his cheek, "You're so flushed."

"I dunno, really." He muttered. Vinny took her delicate fingers in his and kissed across her tattoos. "Don' worry. You're my priority, always."

She couldn't help but smile. How could you not be happy when a guy says something like that to you? The serene moment was shattered by the caw of an iron bird. Chris pulled them both down to the ground as the eagle soared over their heads and landed hard on the other side of the roof. General Eckerström jumped down from the top and gently caressed the beast's face.

"I thought that was mechanical before," Ghost said as she stood back up, "But seeing her this close up, she's alive, isn't she?"

"Yes, thank you for noticing. Matilda is one of my many children. You see, my Arcadia is to give life to inanimate objects. I find it works best with creatures I've built with my own hands. They have more of a loyalty to me." He elaborated. General Eckerström seemed to be much nicer to women. He turned to his creation, softly cooing to her as he gave her instruction.

Matilda lowered herself down to a sitting position. He walked around the side of her and pulled the Wiccan down. They found their way to the ground and rested against her wing. Ghost gasped when she saw the blood dripping down their jacket. Chris knelt down, gently pushing their hair out of their face. Their blue and clear eyes were exhausted, drained. Red crimson liquid began to dry along their skin.

"What's on our chest, you can't fix. It's from before." Ricky explained, "The real damage is this." They raised their hand weakly and pointed towards the cut running from their temple to their collar bone.

Chris removed his gloves and quickly began to heal them. It was going to take awhile, but at least they didn't die. "How the Hell did you not bleed out? They just barely missed your jugular."

"We'll always be a mystery, to even ourselves." Ricky muttered lightheartedly.

"Does it help if I keep talking or would you prefer if I was quiet?" He asked.

"Keep talking." Ryan mumbled, "Maybe explain what Kuza said about you only getting here a few days ago."

"Yeah, well, in order to permit the living into the afterlife, they have to go through a moral trial. Basically, we had to see alternate worlds without going crazy. We figured out that we didn't just travel through space, though. We also went through time. What felt like a day to us was almost three months.

As soon as we got in, we all decided to split up. Ash and the boys went to find us a place to live, Kuza and I went looking for you, and Ghost and Vinny went looking for Ghost's brother. Along the way, we ran into Deysa, one of Mike's old friends. He's been a huge help in finding you. Him, and the general."

"Don't try to flatter me. I'm just doing my job. It's in the order's best interest to keep Laced Ones in check. They're too powerful." The General responded, "I don't believe we've been introduced." He removed his hat and kindly bowed to them, "Johannes Eckerström, General to the order of the Silent Crow. Am I to assume you all come from the same past as Deysa?"

"No, just Mike and I are ex-Oath members. The rest, they came into our lives well after the world was ravished. My name is Devin, my mate Vinny, Chris, and the two that make up the Wiccan, their names and Ricky and Ryan." She said.

"You two fight remarkably well for not being of a crime guild." He remarked.

"She never said that. She just said we were never with the Oath." Ryan grumbled.

"I, uh, I told her... About things." Vinny muttered, "Sorry."

When Ryan was silent, Ricky softly responded, "It's okay. She's your mate. She deserves to know. There's a lot we all need to talk about, when we get a chance at some privacy. I mean no disrespect to you in saying that, General."

"None taken. There is plenty Deysa and I will have to discuss as well, when we can finally wash our hands of this situation." He said with a sigh.

General Eckerström made his way around to the other side of Matilda. He gave her a pat on the neck, which signaled for her to open her cargo area. She lifted her other wing, the one that the Wiccan wasn't resting on, to reveal a sliding door. He unlatched it and gave it a strong yank to get it open. Inside, a remarkable amount of mini versions of the giant eagle laid in waiting.

On the bridge, the fight had gotten close. Though the Eclipse still had an advantage with the fact they truly couldn't be hit, they were starting to tire. Casper's name was predictive of his Arcadia. He could change his density, making it so anytime Kuza tried to knife him, the blade just passed straight through. Deysa wasn't much help, considering he was having to deal with Elliot's Arcadia, which was far worse. His shadow fought for him like a guardian.

"What happened to that plan of yours?" Kuza yelled as he jumped back to avoid an attack.

"Give it another minute." He responded, "When have I ever let you down?" Deysa jumped back as the shadow tried to snatch his ankle. "You know what, don't answer that."

He chuckled, "I wouldn't have an answer for you anyways. You always pull through."

The pirate glanced down to see the eaglets soaring below them. They formed an arrow pattern as they dived towards the street. Several broke into the pipelines and busting them open, causing water to spray high in the air. Another flock came in, this one flying up high.

"Mike, now!" He yelled.

Kuza had no hesitation in trusting him. The time they spent apart didn't change a damn thing. That was still the man that'd saved him countless times and knew strategy amazingly well. With water now flooding the streets, he could see the outlines of Deysa's plans and he was no longer as worried. Kuza made the leap, and in the process gave his own mate chest pains. Chris couldn't figure out why in the Hell he'd do that. Surely, he was going to fall to his death.

The Eclipse wasn't done with him yet. They turned their back to Deysa and attempted to prevent Kuza from falling. As they threw the hook end of their chain towards him, he shocked them by catching it. They'd planned for it to grab onto his shoulder like a piece of meat. Instead, it became an anchor for Kuza to yank them off the bridge. They tumbled off and fell with him.

Deysa quickly leaned over the edge of the glass walkway and used his abilities to catch them. Taking control of the copious amounts of water on the street, he grabbed both in a floating stream. The air was knocked out of their lungs by the rush of liquid surrounding them. Though it may have shocked the Eclipse enough to stop them, it also knocked Kuza out. He wouldn't care, just so long as they reached their goal.

Sweat had gathered on the pirate's face. His hair had become matted and his clothes soaked. Lifting that much water was a lot, even for him. He used his abilities to make sure Kuza and the Eclipse made it to the rooftop the others stood upon. Once they'd made it, he was so warned out, he was ready to lose consciousness. For just a moment, he stopped to catch his breath and let his judgement lapse.

Though the Eclipse was barely awake and far away from him now, Elliot's shadow hadn't weakened. It was still beneath his hands and knees, and he hadn't realized it. On glass, it was hard to see the darkness. Deysa looked up to the roof to see Devin watching him. She was even more beautiful than before. It made him ill. Then again, that nausea could've been from pushing himself way too far.

For the second time in his life, he heard her horrific scream. He cared for her so much, he noticed that before even registering his own pain. Deysa looked down to see his stomach impaled by multiple black spikes, made up of shadow matter. They retracted, causing his blood to come pouring out. His body was in complete and utter shock before it just shut down. Deysa never had a chance of recovering from an attack like that.