Ciara stood, torn cloak whipping behind her in the icy wind. The skies were dark, keeping the portal leading to the white room closed. Behind her, armies covered the land, followers of Ciara. Some were recognizable, past personas of Ash, or favorite characters; but most were just random.

By her side, Drew stood with a slight frown. His eyes were dark, scanning the horizon. "I do not like this, Decay. Our job is to kill."

Ciara laughed at that, "Don't be silly, Death. I've already sent a wave of decay over them. Pity that the Chaos sisters are not here. Indeed, Ruin seems quite suspicious."

Drew went quiet, "I found more of Medallion's spies today. I fear that she herself may be hiding in the ranks."

"I would be able to tell." Ciara frowned, squinting. "The portal is opening, that's our cue."

"Will we lead them in?"

"Indeed, Death. Indeed we will." The sky was a deep blue at one end, a glorious collage of red and orange and pink at the east. The great white sphere glowed faintly, and Ciara leaned forward. "This will be our empire... And I will keep it this time."

"They will be here at any moment, you realize that." The demon argued, her eyes flicking between the two she was speaking to.

The tallest nodded, her outfit entirely blue. "We understand, River, but we will not confront unless they attack. There are no civilians here, that is why we chose it for our headquarters. Ciara could easily cut through all of us and get to Ash."

"Ash is our only bargaining chip..." The smaller added, brushing a strand of hair back behind her flower crown.

River pursed her lips, "But... We need to at least be ready!"

"We are, River. Artemis and I have been doing this much, much longer than you. Your position is at the glass tower. Go there, you will find Kori Yuki of Lavender and Charbrine of DRW. They will brief you and give you a weapon, use it wisely and shoot Ciara as soon as you see her. Try to harm as little corrupted as possible, we are going to transport them to a base in the void that only the descendants of Madd DeVous can find."

River frowned, but snapped her fingers, disappearing in a puff of red smoke.

"Charge."

The word was spoken calmly, yet it echoed throughout the valleys. A silent march began, led by Ciara into the white sphere. Those who were close enough as the sun's rays fell upon it disappeared, and others followed. The white room was a colorless small town, which spun quickly and then morphed back to the white room Ciara knew. It was empty, other than Ciara herself, and the troops that were coming in.

Drew opened the door, revealing multiple dimensions that one simply had to touch to enter. And the troops moved through, being transported to fight Medallion.

"Attack."

River barely heard it from her position on the glass tower, rifle in hand as she looked throughout the area. Soldiers were hidden, from her own side, but Ciara's troops were flooding inwards. Ciara herself would be with that one, Drew with those in the caverns, Ares in the school, the two remaining sisters of Chaos in the city, and Anger in the forest. Ultima, River had been told, was staying as backup.

A bullet flew past her, and that's when she knew they were upon her. The two beside her, a silver haired boy with almost pink eyes and a girl with half golden hair and no pupils, were holding their fire. Why were they holding their fire? Ciara was upon them. The tower shook and River frowned, finger on the trigger.

And then there she was.

Ciara, in all her glory.

And she looked right at River...

And smiled.

River could feel everything around her stop, muffled by nothingness.

Ciara started laughing...

You will never escape your fate.
Never escape

"Ciara took the bait!"

"Good. Tell Adam Cancerelli to fire his weapon, and if he misses we all die."

Five...

Four...

Memories shot through her head, of her life as a demon with her sister.

Raven.

Three...

Large, majestic birds, dark feathers and sly beaks, treacherous eyes.

Crawford Camysi, poet with an alias given to him by his own child, wrote of the ravens.

They were doves once, blackened by soot. They were songbirds who lost their voice in a contest. But no matter their imperfections, they were perfect for some.

Two...

One for sorrow, two for joy?

One...

River could feel her sister, the presence of the demon guarded by a spirit she recognized.

Jonah would protect Raven from Ciara if they failed.

Zero.

The bullet shot from the rifle, and both Adam and River held their breath in anticipation. One bullet, tipped with blood of the host, imbedded itself in Ciara's chest, straight in the middle. She stumbled, catching the other bullet in the shoulder, which was filled with essence of the deepest void.

Ciara's eyes widened. She couldn't die yet, no, she couldn't leave the army behind! Ultima wouldn't do everything right, most things but not everything... She had only had a month...

She stumbled once more, choking on pure black blood that was rising from her throat. It wasn't real, it couldn't be happening, not here, not now-

Ash woke up in an empty white room, on a simple white bed. Their body ached terribly, but they shoved it aside to attempt to stand. They succeeded, surprisingly, staggering from a sudden pain in the chest and shoulder. Blood began to soak through the white clothes they wore.

And suddenly, there was Madd.

Ash blinked. The last time they had seen Madd... ages, for sure...

Madd smiled, of course, reaching out to Ash.

You were not supposed to wake up yet.

Ash blinked. Madd's lips had not moved, yet she had a distinct voice... almost like the alters. There was a font there, hidden, but there.

Come. We will watch the battle while your wounds are tended to.

In an instant, they were in front of a large screen, split into six others. They showed areas Ash knew, but couldn't quite remember. There was fighting on each, but one in particular caught Ash's eye.

A glass tower, with a sofa on top, and a girl holding a rifle. Her eyes were focused on another girl, who seemed in charge of the other forces, coughing up black.

Ash held up their hand, eyes unconsciously flickering to orange instead of silver. Madd glanced at the host, Do you remember them?

Ash shook their head, trying to open their mouth to speak. No words would come out.

You must speak like I am.

Remember, Ash. Remember who they are. Remember yourself.

Remember myself...