Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The gentle sound of ether rain was the only thing that accompanied Arche’s thoughts as he stood alone on a rooftop. The weather in the hollows was about as predictable as the weather outside of one. but it did depend on the naturally occurring climate in the area.

10 long years had passed and Arche had learnt a great deal of things. He had traveled all across Eridu by now but the center of hollow zero remained hard to reach. they were too many distortions. like an insurmountable wall no soul could pass. in all his years of trying he simply could reach the center. but the hollows held no secret to this man, if they did, it was only a matter of time before he cracked it.

but he had done enough research here, so a change of scenery was needed.

Suddenly he felt something…

A faint yet powerful surge of ether.

A familiar presence, one the professor knew very well…

A “old acquaintance”  of the professor.

Arche whistled. “Ahh… that’s peculiar for one that is so composed as you usually are, demon.” he spoke to no one in particular.

As if by magic, a fissure appeared in front of the professor. transporting him to the outer ring. The hollows were quite a hassle to traverse, but when you spend enough time in them, you get accustomed to the feeling. Besides, fast traveling in such a way across Eridu definitely had it’s perks. Arche wondered if he should update his fissure theorem… ah, but he was getting ahead of himself, this sudden spike in energy was most curious, especially since he knew the source.

Arche expected a bright sun or even a sandstorm when he emerged from the hollow, instead he was greeted by a storm of Foxfire.

That explains the strange presence at least. but before his eyes he spotted a familiar face who didn’t notice him, to busy trying to sheathe the Hoshimi Heirloom back into place

Foxfire burned around the girl  as she tried to control the tailless from escaping.

“Can we seal it with the scabbard, Miyabi!!?” A familiar voice called trying to get the girl’s attention

“Oh my, what could possibly have made you angry, my dear Tailless?” Arche called out

The blade shook in Miyabi’s hands, as a fox-like ghost emerged from the katana, eyes glowing red, fangs bared at the mysterious stranger.

“Stay back! He’s trying to escape!” Miyabi screamed, turning her gaze towards him.

No doubt, she was truly of the Hoshimi family. Arche could tell with just a glance.

"Now, now don't worry,” Arche replied. “It's tailless who should be afraid of my bite."

Miyabi tries to hold on to the blade, as it erupts into another storm of foxfire. but as she and WIse look in horror at the demon the man unleashed, he simply stays there. studying the hellfire around him.

He simply mutters a few words, igniting two purple flames in his hand. making Tailless recoil in fear. Arche Mutters more words, and the fox fire turns purple and tailless shows fear. and Before the awestruck Hoshimi, Tailless Cowers  back into the sword, which Miyabi seals away in her sheath.

"Pfft, Coward." Arche scoffs "Remember what happens when you take on the first man who entered your territory, you little demon. "

"Who...Or what are you?" Wise asked

"Wise, My dear boy, I'm hurt that you don't remember your mentor's mentor. Perhaps you don't recognize me, it's been 10 years, I believe? ahhh that must be it."

It takes a minute for Wise to realize who he’s talking to.

“No it can’t be… Professor Arche?! Is that you?!” Wise exclaims in shock

“You mean Professor Arche? The man who discovered the comment characteristics of all Hollows?” Miyabi asked, not believing the living legend in front of her.

The Professor extended his arm to the side as if putting on a show, “I am him! The one and only Professor Arche at your humble service, my friends” he finished, bowing.

“It’s impossible, Professor Arche is said to have disappeared in hollow zero to seek out the truth, he’s been missing for an entire era. how could you possibly be him?”

“That’s only one half of the truth, young Hoshimi. I did disappear in hollow zero, but that doesn’t mean I stayed in one place all the time. I've been travelling the hollows in search of the truth and a way to return to ground zero of the hollow, my beloved academy… Helios academy…”

The words stung in Wise's heart, he missed his old home more than anything. it wasn’t a topic he and belle brought up regularly but to see a familiar face from his past… brought a wave of old memories and emotions.

A firm hand landed on the young proxy’s shoulder. “and most of all, it’s good to see you here m’boy. I just wish it wasn’t in such a dreadful place such as this one.”

Wise couldn’t see the professor’s face because of the fire he had for a head, but his words were filled with a familiar warmth.

“Now then, we should probably focus on getting that little pet of yours a new leash, young Hoshimi.”

Miyabi’s sword shuddered in her hands, but Arche merely laughed. “Oh it seems tailless still holds a grudge against me? Know your place, you little ghost. I could turn your flames into a campfire if I wanted to, so remember what happened the last time you tried to pick a fight with me.” The living torch says, kneeling to the Katana’s sheath who trembles as the man gets closer.

“That’s what I thought, Spine less.”

Thus the trio set out in the hollow, with Arche deciding to act as a guide through the hollow. Although Miyabi was a little hesitant, Arche was a voidhunter, and he had helped in trying to seal Tailless away; she had never thought where she would see the cursed blade cower at the sight of another, however.

“You… seem to have history with Tailless..”Miyabi asked

“Oh you could say that, but that is a story for another time, Young Hoshimi. Right now…” He turned to look to Wise, who was panting heavily.

“Are you alright, dear boy?”

Wise coughed heavily, almost kneeling over, to which Arche immediately understood.

“Proxy, Are you alright?” Miyabi asked with slight worry.

“I’m… fine… I”

Arche cut him off, extending a hand filled in purple flames. “Here my boy, give me your hand.”

Wise reached for it slowly, and as he grabbed it, he was engulfed in flames. but it wasn’t burning him. Though he felt warm on the inside, but then it began to get hotter, coupled with the outside heat of the desert hollow  it was bordering on being painful, but it slowly fizzled out. leaving only a warm feeling in his chest, like a little flame was burning in it.

“What happened?” Wise asked looking at the his hands still engulfed in flames

“Oh, nothing more than a little anti-corruption parlor trick, stay 10 years in a hollow and you learn to pick up a few tricks. This little bubble should protect you from any corruption while we are inside this hollow. I don't think your dear sister would forgive me if I let anything happen to her big brother now would she?”

“You remember Belle?”

“Of course I remember Belle! why do I remember the day I first met you and her, she would hide behind you out of shyness, that was when my corruption began entering the late stages, ah memories…”

Memories indeed, Arche and Wise had met a few times in the halls of the academy. back when everything was peaceful, before the dark times… before the order.

“Yeah… Memories…”

“I assume… you’ve found no leads in our… person of common interest?” Arche whispers the last part, keeping Carol’s name a secret from the Void huntress.

Wise sighed, “So you haven’t..?”

“...No leads yet I'm afraid my dear boy… Much like our beloved academy, the truth remains out of our grasp for now.” Arche explained “Nothing concrete, that is… but don’t despair, Wise. I intend to find the truth, and I believe we should be able to reach the core of Hollow Zero one day.”

“That’s… what me and Belle are hoping for too…”

“Well, there'll be plenty of time to reminisce on the past later my boy, for now let’s focus on getting you and your girlfriend out of the hollow.”

The sounds of protest from Wise and Miyabi were enough to give the professor a good laugh.

“I’m only joking, don't worry. Now come along now, we should be getting near.”

“Near what?” Miyabi asked

“Why the exit fissure, of course!”

Miyabi and wise shared a glance but followed the living torch nonetheless. Soon the Proxy and the Voidhunters arrived at a random spot in the desert with no fissure in sight.

“And here we are!” Arche exclaimed

“Professor, there’s no fissure here.” Wise remarked

“My boy, do you wish to know the only true way to find the exit to a hollow? You need only sing its song.”

Arche whistled a strange melody and as if by pure magic, a fissure appeared. leaving his two remaining companions awestruck.

“But how?” Wise asked

“What form of power is this?”

The professor merely kept whistling a different tune, opening another rift beside him.

“This “Form of power” you speak of young Hoshimi, is one of the many secrets of the hollows. if you know what song to sing in a hollow, the hollow will listen. which is precisely what i did. Now, I wouldn't want to keep you more than I already have, so I will let you go for now.”

“Miss Miyabi, can I speak to you for a moment?”

“I’m all ears.” she wiggled her ears as she spoke.

“Listen, I know we have our differences but this case is clearly bigger then it seems and we both want the same thing, so let’s just agree to work together and call a truce as to what happened here. I know Professor Arche seems… Eccentric. but he’s been nothing but helpful to us.”

“What if this is a trap? how are we sure he’s not connected to all this?”

“Do you trust me?”

“I..I do.”

“Then trust me on this Miss Miyabi.”

Miyabi took a deep breath. “Alright, Proxy. I trust you.”

“Wise, please call me Wise, Miss Miyabi.”

Alright Wise, I’ll be in contact with you. Don’t worry, I won't have you arrested. I promise.

The pair shook hands.

“Wise, may I talk to you alone for a minute?” Arche called from behind the proxy’s back.

“I’ll wait here, I still don’t trust him enough to leave you alone with him…” Miyabi whispered

Wise nodded and went to see the professor, who pulled him away far enough to be out of the fox thiren’s hearing range

“My boy, listen to me carefully, I cannot leave this hollow, at least not yet. There are powerful people outside, wise. Powerful people who want to obtain the truth I seek, and I cannot let them. I once held a diary. I left it behind 10 years ago, I need you to find it, and find it and bring it to me.”

“How will I know where to find you?”

“You’ll find me in the withered garden, where that foul flower lives… but for now I must bid you adieu for now, my boy.

Arche left in another fissure, waving a hand behind his back as he disappeared.

“Are you alright, Wise?”

“I’m okay, Miss Miyabi. let’s just leave the hollow.”

On that note The proxy and the void huntress left the hollow. Wise soon discovered the etheric bubble Arche had made for him vanished, causing him to collapse as he left the hollow.

Somewhere in Hollow Zero, Arche laughed to himself. it felt.. relieving to see a familiar face after so long.

Wise seemed to have grown into a fine young man. he still had that curious spark in his eyes he had seen in him as a kid, but he could tell Carol’s… departure had left it’s marks on him.

it left some marks on Arche, too. That dark day… when his whole world fell apart… when his life’s work fell into the hollows… and the order and cursed flower were to blame…

Arche had been foolish in his younger days, he had turned his back on many people, bridges burnt that shouldn’t have, lines crossed that should not have been crossed, but if one thing that had never dimmed in the last ten years, was his burning hatred for the first of the symbiotic ether swarms.

Nineveh.

She flew over the burning professor’s head. noticing him immediately. Roaring in anger as swarms of hornets faced the professor. thunder rumbled, and rains began to pour, but no water, be in the hollows or outside could ever put the fire in Arche’s soul to rest. Not anymore.

“Hello Nineveh… It’s been a while, you lovecraftian salad.”

Arche extended a hand from his cloak, watching as an ether crystal grew out from his palm. his cape burning away in lavender flames as he manipulated them around the crystal that grew from his palm. the flames spun around the crystal, faster and faster until they took the shape of a buzzsaw

“I’ve heard it’s weedhacking season… What say you, my old nemesis? Shall we dance?!”


She roared.

That was all Arche needed to hear.

“Alright then, FACE ME THEN, IF YOU DARE!”

Wielding his flaming blade, Arche leapt from the building jumping towards the wall of hornets and his old foe.

Chapter Text

Wise’s day had been exhausting to say the least. the car chase, the fox fire, the simple fact Arche was alive and well, trying to keep the cunning hares from fighting the members of Section six.

Both parties had agreed to part ways from each other, under “friendly” terms, with Miyabi covering for Wise and Wise in turn explaining what happened in the hollow, leaving the Arche conversation for another day.

Miyabi did say she would contact Wise at a further date when she found out more about what was going on. for now he was at the door of random play fully anticipating what would happen next.

He opened the door to 18 running into his ankle the minute he saw him through the door.
“Wise, You’re okay!”

His sister came running into him with a hug, and frankly after the long day he had, they could both use one.

“Hey, Belle. Sorry I made you worry. today’s been… one crazy day.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I..I do actually.”

Wise caught Belle up on the situation, told her how he had met Arche in a hollow and how he told him to go after his diary and how he would be waiting in the withering garden where Nineveh was.

“you think he might’ve found something about… Carol?”

Wise looked away and sighed. “No, i don’t think he did.”

Carol… was not an easy subject to bring up, the only time it was brought up was during the days they go visit the memorial, talking about the past was… a bit of a Taboo, both twins had common reasons to not talk about it, and personal ones, too.

“Well, we can figure out the rest tomorrow, we might as well go to bed.” Wise said as he begun to go up the stairs.

"Aren't you forgetting the other reason you need some sleep?" Belle asked her brother with the smugest look on her face

“Right! my big date with Zhu Yuan!” Wise exclaimed

“Uh-Huh! So go get some rest big bro, those eye bags won’t disappear if you don’t rest up, now off you go!” Belle said as she pushed her big bro up the stairs.

Settling in bed, Fairy lowered the lights of his room, as he adjusted himself in bed. putting the covers over himself and letting his head fall on the most comfortable thing his head had hit since this morning.

before he closed his eyes a pair of bunny ears wiggled to his side.

Eh-ne! eh-nah, eh-ne! (big bro, I want uppies! I missed you!)

Oh Eous, that little ray of sunshine. He just couldn’t stop being adorable. He always loved to sleep with either Belle or him when they had a rough day.

Wise chuckled “Sure, come here, little buddy.”

Wise picked up Eous and he promptly rolled over the bed snuggling on top of Wise’s chest, he almost acted like a house cat, which Belle and Wise always found adorable. affectionately rubbing his head, he bid his “Little brother” good night.

Sleep was quick to take him.

He knows this place.

It’s a classroom.

It’s her classroom.

“Now to find the correct encryption you- Wise are you listening?”

he was snapped out of his thoughts.

“I hope you aren’t staring off , this is important stuff and it will be on the test.”

“Sorry Miss Arna..”

She smiled. or atleast Wise remembers her smiling, atleast. This was back at the Helios Academy.

He was safe, He was Home.

“Now if you want to find the access to the deeper part of a system, you’ll need to find the correct encryption key. The HDD comes equipped with a state of the art decryption tool, but this is the kind of stuff you want to use if you’re in a pickle. but this is some… less ethical methods of hacking, and i’d rather you use these unless it’s necessary.

“So why are you teaching me this then?”

She laughed, it was such a gentle laugh, too. That was one of the things he remembered most about her.

“Because one day you might become an investigator and you’ll need to access some files that people don't want you to reach.”

She placed a gentle hand on his younger self’s shoulder, “But Wise, you and your Sister need to promise me one thing: ALways use the things i teach you for good, it’s not the hacking that is unethical, it’s how you use it. remember that.”

“Now then, Let’s keep up with the lesson, and then how about I treat you and your sister to some treats, word on the school yard is two absolutely adorable star students of mine got an 80% on their Bangboo maintenance test!”

“I’d love that, and i'm sure Belle would too!”

She ruffled his hair “Then how about we finish this, and we get those treats afterwards.”

The dream changed.

He was going down the hall with Eous who carried all his books on his head for him. He was chatting to belle about something but he couldn’t make it out. but something was wrong with this dream. There were weird symbols across the ground and fire was burning all across the ground.

“So what do you think, Wise?”

No this was wrong, something really was off.

He tried not to pay attention to the screams of ethereals, not to look outside to the hellscape being unleashed or the constant pressure on his chest.

“Will Wise please report to Professor Arche’s office. Wise to Arche’s office, thank you.”

The dream is collapsing. He sees Carol in front of…

In front of….

In front of…

That thing….

“WISE, BELLE, RUN!”

He sees her get taken away.

“CREATOR-” A deep voice calls. but Wise can’t make out the rest.

“WISE!” He hears belle scream

and that same hand takes Belle away into a hollow.

He feels a sharp pain in his back as he sees something pierce his chest.


“ R E F I N E M E”

He wakes up with a sharp gasp.

He pats his chest. The wound wasn’t there, good.

He had nightmares and dreams like this, but this was different. He was never called to professor Arche’s office on the last day. He wasn’t in that hallway when it all fell apart.

but that particular day, where Carol taught him deep database decryption was just as normal as any other, he remembers which way they left the academy. So what did it all mean?

Well, if he couldn’t sleep, he might as well investigate.

He stopped by his sister’s room, gently opening her door. pleased to find that she was still sound asleep, hugging Eous against her chest with 18 and 6 happily sleeping with them.

Just another stupid nightmare, nothing more.

Affectionately ruffling her hair gently, he whispered a little “Love you.” to his sister.

she shifted in her sleep giving Eous a little squeeze.

“Love you too, Eous..” she mumbled.

“Prezident…Eous… get down…” she mumbled in her sleep

Wise closed the door, leaving Belle in her dreams of saving president Eous from whatever wanted him dead

It was the dead of night when Wise entered the HDD room. He had this nagging feeling that this dream meant something and he had to check something out.

“Fairy, Are you awake?”

“ Master it is currently: 4:15 Am. it is highly recommended you go back to sleep.”

“I know Fairy, but I need you to do a quick search. find me anything you can find on Professor Arche and search for anything pertaining to him including mentions of a diary. Look for anything, Public records, NEPS, HIA.”

“ Master, I require precision as to the Query of this search.”

“ I just need to know any information pertaining to Professor Arche.”

“ Suggestion: Accessing the Inter-knot Deep Database.”

“ The Deep Database?”

“ Correct Master, while i am unable to disclose more information then i must due to our contract, i can however say that 90% of all pertinent information to Professor Arche is located in the deep database.”

“How would we access the deep database? It's near air-tight security. one wrong move, and we could lose our account or worse..”

“ This was before you acquired Fairy, Master.” Wise detected a certain… Smugness in that statement

“Accessing the Database will take a considerable amount of time, I will have to put a considerable amount of time hacking the first wall of defenses, finding a way into the database, breaching the deep database firewall to summarize it should take Fairy 18 hours.”

“18 hours?! that’s…a lot.”

“Fairy apologizes, Master. But entering the database, finding the file, and decrypting it, will take huge amounts of processing power… and also a lot more electricity then usual.”

“Do you have any way to speed up the process?”

“ Unless Master wants to take the time to decrypt the file himself with the help of the second assistant, then you can reduce the time to 15 hours.”

“ and what about the file?”

“ If Master is determined, it should take you… 69 days.”

“ 69 Days?! ”

“Correction: 6 to 9 days.”

“Alright, just focus on getting the file, we can work out the rest later.”

“I will Notify the second assistant of this, is that alright?”

“That’s alright, I don't want to keep Belle in the dark about this. See if you can work something out with her.”

“Understood, Master.”

With that being said, Fairy began her search and Wise decided to catch a bit more sleep.

“ Master.”

Wise turned around. staring into Fairy’s blue lens.

“ Please, have a good night. Fairy will take care of it, rest up, and plan your date with Zhu yuan”

“ I will, thanks Fairy.”

Wise managed to sleep in a bit that day, leaving the video store to his trusty bangboo and his sister.

“Do we have Visual on Target?!” Roland exclaimed

“Negative, Sir! Our equipment’s been compromised, we can’t make out anything in the garden!” A technician explained

“Ether activity is fluctuating in the withered domain! a group of ethereals seems to be…regrouping?! The ethereals are regrouping in the center of the garden! they’re heading towards Nineveh!” a scientist explained

“Dammit! Have we made contact with squads 9 and 10?!”

“Negative sir, Comms are still down. they can’t hear us, nor can we hear them. I’m sorry, sir. I'm afraid we’ve lost them. they’re on their own…”

Roland slammed a fist on the table, things were dire. very dire. Ray was missing and ether activity in hollow zero was reaching an all-time peak, if things continued this way, Hollow zero would begin expanding.

“Sir! An Agent has entered the withering garden!”

“An agent?!”

“Sir, it’s… not an agent… it’s a voidhunter…”

“Lady Miyabi?”

“Negative, trying to find a match… Results inconclusive?”

“Inconclusive? wait… could it be? Call all available squads in hollow zero to converge to the center of the garden and aid the voidhunter signal, now! If that voidhunter is who i think it is, he’ll need all the help he can get.”

“Sir?”

“By some miracle, we may be able to avoid the worst today. Professor, it’s in your hands…”

The sound of fire and dying ethreals was a symphony in Arche’s… whatever he had for ears. Nineveh was putting up a decent fight, more then usual, even.

“WELL YOU FOUL FLOWER? HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH YET?!” Arche screamed defiantly.

Nineveh responded by entering her blooming phase, while ether spores and hornets flew everywhere he noticed a group of agents taking cover behind some pillars.

This was bad, Nineveh blooming? He could handle alone, but now he had to make sure he always retained nineveh’s attention, less she turned those soldiers into a snack, or a new source of problems for the professor.

His Flaming Weedhacker spun faster and faster until he shot a flaming Buzzsaw-shaped disk of Fire at the Ethereal Swarm, causing her to rear her head at the living torch and roar at him

“That’s right you non-euclidian weed, eyes on me!”

She roared even louder, making bullets upon bullets of ether spores aimed at the professor. like a cloud of arrows.

Arche sighed, “You never learn, do you?” His head flared even more, the corruption spike retracted back into his palm, replacing the shaft of his makeshift weapon with a purple fire.

“Bloom all you want, I’ll always burn your corruption away!”

Arche weaved and dodged the spores, sending some flying back at Nineveh, before he parkoured through the debris around him to get to higher ground. causing the flower ethereal to follow him.

From the remains of a rooftop, Arche unleashed a wave of fire by clapping his hands together, which caused Nineveh to recoil.

“GET BACK, OR ELSE I’LL MAKE SURE IT TAKES YOU MORE THAN A DAY TO HEAL FROM THE BURNS I GIVE YOU!”

Nineveh seemed to oblige the Pyromancer, falling back. letting a swarm of hornets handle the professor for her.

“Coward.”

Igniting his fists, Arche began to punch his way out of a small army of hornets, each of his fists and feet coated in fire.

With a mixture of punches and kicks, he weaved his way out of the cloud, grabbing a hornet and slamming it into the ground, Grabbing another and kicking it into the sky, before spin
kicking a third Hornet a few buildings over.

He saw Nineveh and a group of ethreals being fought off by the same soldiers he was trying to save.

“Today simply isn’t my day…”

Instead of taking the stairs like any normal person would, Arche ignited his feet and leapt all the way from the top of the building to where the soldiers were located landing around them as a circle of fire erupted around the small group, protecting them from the ethereals

A good friend of Arche had told him a dramatic entrance was always necessary, and Arche fully agreed with that statement. but right now he was more focused on his audience

“Are there any injured?”

Most of them shook their heads.

“Good, do you see the building to my right? on the 2nd floor you’ll find a fissure that should lead back to one of your safe zones.”

“Wait, what about you? and wait, who are you?”

“A mere traveller who just so happens to excel at weedhacking and killing ethreals.” Arche responded “Now, stay in the circle. I’ll deal with the ethereals outside.

It took him mere moments to dispatch the ethereals but something didn’t sit quite right with Arche… They were coordinated, waiting for their turn…

Spin Kicking an Alpeca and uppercutting a Tyrfing away, Arche fought the low level ethreals with a surprising amount of challenge, they played dirty. going for tactics too advanced for these kinds of ethereals. almost as if… they’d attained higher sentience?

No it couldn’t be, could it?

Arche had ran into a similar phenomenon a few years back… in the deeper parts of hollow zero, on the edges of the lost void..

His thoughts would have to wait however.

There were some ethreals that needed to learn what parrying was.

Morning had barely started, and things were already interesting at the precinct. Quinyi had barely got to drink her hot water that she overheard

“Captain Zhu yuan, a new case just came in for you. It’s from Commander bringer.” An officer told her “They want you to lead the investigation on a Proxy called Phaeton.”

Uh-oh.

Well, it was bound to happen. but still, not good. she’d have to inform the twins ASAP.

She didn’t need to wait long enough for Zhu yuan to call her in the briefing room.

“Jane, Seth, Quinyi, Briefing room now.”

Jane shot a glance at Quinyi who mouthed “Phaeton.”

There was a mutual agreement in her eyes. They knew who Phaeton was, and they had to make sure Zhu Yuan didn’t. But good luck hiding the truth from a NEPS officer with a case solved rate of 100%.

“Today’s case involves a Proxy called Phaeton. One of the only Legendary Proxies still Active. on Inter-knot. Not much is known about they’re operating methods except that they don’t enter the hollows themselves.  They’ve went into hiding for a few months. we thought we had them but they surrendered the account. but some sources claim Phaeton has returned and that they are planning something big on interknot.”

“What of their track record, assuming we find them, We’d need a motive for their arrest.”

“We can’t confirm anything yet, rumor has it they never entered a hollow and have access to some “Amazing” technology.”

“I still don’t see what would warrant an arrest, they haven’t done anything wrong yet.”

“They taken commissions on inter-knot, these already illegal. Are you implying something Quinyi?” Zhu yuan took on an accusatory tone.

“It’s the content of the commission that matters, Slaying ethreals isn’t illegal last i checked.”

“It doesn’t matter Quinyi! They’re a Proxy, that means they have done stuff outside the law!” Seth retorted. “If they’re legendary Proxies, then they must be bad news! Taking commissions and entering Hollows is illegal without a permit. Captain, I promise i won’t rest until Phaeton is brought to Justice.”

“There he goes again…” Jane rolled her eyes while she smiled.

“I like the attitude, Seth. The higher ups want Phaeton and we're gonna bring them regardless of what crimes they’ve done. If anyone has any objections, you can take it up with me. Am I clear?” Zhu yuan spoke in an oddly stricter voice than usual. “Jane, I want you to use your network and try to arrange a meeting with anyone who might have worked for Phaeton. Quinyi, you'll be monitoring the inter-knot with me. Seth, go investigate at the HIA Club. We don't know if Phaeton might be the Alias of another independent investigator and there's been rumors of suspiciously detailed information on hollows given on feedback forms. You all are dismissed.”

The atmosphere in the precinct was tense. Rightfully so, With election week coming up it seemed natural for Zhu yuan to be under a lot of pressure, but this was different, Wise and Belle’s cover had the risk of being blown, and from her conversations with them on her off-hours, this would be very detrimental to their investigations.

Zhu yuan and her spent the whole day staring at inter-knot,Commissions ranged from salvaging to rescue missions…and then there were some…. interesting posts, made by people who either needed to be detained, or locked up in a psych ward.

When Quinyi looked in Zhu Yuan’s eyes, she could see that focus break for a second, some posts on rescue missions did hurt her, knowing she couldn’t do anything for them, these people would have to rely on someone that wasn’t PUBSEC to save them. They would need a Proxy.

The very thing she’s trying to catch.

Part of her hoped Phaeton would rise to take the commission, and on the other hand she hoped another proxy would. but not everyone on inter-knot did proxy work out of kindness.

In truth, Wise and Belle could only get arrested if they committed a crime through interknot, most of Phaeton popularity came as being hailed as a virtuous proxy carrying out rescue missions, dispatching raiders, and aiding the HIA.

It woul be a problem if they hacked into inter-knot itself, or attempted to recover some encrypted files.

That’s Odd, why is the inter-not down?

“DAMNIT!” She heard Zhu yuan exclaim

Belle was typing something on the HDD, with Fairy’s help she was looking for a way into the deep database. Fairy created a virtual environment  to simulate the hacking.

“it looks like a virtual new Eridu…”

“ Correct, Second assistant.” A little blue circle appeared in front

“This is a virtual simulation of the Hack, the goal is simple, While Fairy will attempt to hack into interknot and look for a way in,” Two guns appeared in Belle’s hands. “ You will have to defend this data node from being breached”

“Oh so it’s like an FPS mixed with tower defense?”

“ Precisely, Belle. Preparing defenses, Reloading guns..”

The sky of the digital city turned to night, darkness took over the digital landscape as loud alarms blared and the skies became cloudy and red.

“ WARNING: INTRUSION DETECTED IN INTER-KNOT.

Belle suddenly had a long coat appear over her usual vest. It was gray and orange with the word: PHAETON spelled in big white letters on the end of the tailcoat. she even got a bandana with the numbers 02 written on it, attached to her neck

“ What’s this”

“Fairy believes that if you want to be of help, Second assistant, you might as well do it in a far better style then you have in the real world. First wave of defenses approaching. Get ready… Belle”

Belle Smiled as she made guns spin

“Leave 'em to me.”

Belle quickly shot what looked like ethereal down with her two guns. dashing around the digital landscape as she tried to imitate Billy’s fighting style. which surprisingly worked well.

She wasted no time in taking down her targets. She played enough Beckoned By Honor, this was nothing to her.

They appeared, she shot them, they went down.

“ Second assistant, you will have to hold the line for 3 hours”

“Don’t worry about the defenses, fairy, just focus on the hack and reloading my guns”

“ As you wish, Second assistant.

“Okay then..” Belle Turned away from the node, spinning her digital guns as she looked towards the next wave of defenses.

“Who wants to go first?” She asked before shooting the horde that came rushing at her.

Chapter Text

“ANYONE ELSE HAVE A DEATH WISH?! no? Good.”

Arche stood on top of a pile of Ethereals. his flames glistened brightly despite the rain pouring down in the Garden.

Nineveh’s Petals bloomed in the rain. and as the weather worsened, so did Nineveh’s rage.

“IS THIS TRULY YOUR BEST, YOU SORRY EXCUSE FOR A MUTANT TUMBLEWEED?! I’VE FACED WORSE WEEDS THAN YOU IN MY OLD GREENHOUSE!!!” Arche Shouted shaking his fist in the air at the Ethereal Swarm.

As nineveh bloomed, Spikes began to form across the ground.

Arche Knew what that meant.

“EVERYONE TAKE COVER BEHIND THE SPIKES!”

The soldiers did as instructed, hiding behind the spikes as waves of corrupting ether came crashing against the spikes. That flower truly did not know when to give up.

“Blast! if only I had some way to unroot her!”

“You leave that to us!” A soldier said

“I appreciate it, but this is simply too dangerous! We’d have to unleash all our fire in one concentrated blast and then hope for the best!”

“You leave that to us! The Falkenhayn Mercenaries never turn back from a fight!”

“That name… no. It couldn’t be…”

“It certainly is, Professor! Lady Elysia always had faith you would return! She gave every member of the Flamechaser Squadron special orders to help a “Living human shaped purple flame with a grudge against Nineveh” before she disappeared.”

The Flame chasers… that name brought back many, many memories. back when the world wasn’t lost to the abyss… better, peaceful days.

“She never stopped caring…” Arche muttered to himself, at a loss of words that one of his oldest friends truly made sure he’d have a way home.

“She never did, professor. The Flame Chaser Squad and the Flamescions were created to assist in the fight against Nineveh, On paper we’re just any old squad investigating hollow zero. but Elyssia herself trained us to help assist you if you should ever return.” Another soldier replied.

That Elyssia, Even after everything Arche had done, she cared, she forgave him, and most of all, even after he left, she still found ways to show she cared.

Today, that Foul flower may just meet its end.

The fire in Arche’s soul turned into a raging inferno. He could feel it, the blazing fury he felt all those years now had a chance to rest, if only for a time.

“Now then Professor, do you have a plan?”

They all looked to Arche in anticipation, in the eyes of these 12 soldiers. He saw thier eagerness and admiration for him, one he used to see in the eyes of the students he teached, and frankly it felt calm, nostalgic even.

Arche the voidhunter took a step back, and Professor Arche took center stage.

He extended a hand letting a small flame ignited in the palm of his hand, dancing and growing until it reached a considerable size.

“Now my friends, do you see this flame?” All in attendance nodded “Watch this, my friends.”

Small strings of fire extended from the flame Arche held in his hand, latching itself onto the mercenaries' various weapons. The weapons took on sharper designs, glowing in an etheric purple glow. they felt warm to the touch.

The mercenaries gazed in wonder, and Arche couldn’t help but feel as if he was reliving his glory days as a teacher. the looks of wonder his students had when he showed them a myriad of phenomena related to the hollows.

What he wouldn’t give to see those faces again.

“Now i’m sure my dear Elyssia taught you all how to fight”

“Yes, sir! personally trained by her, before she disappeared, sir!” another soldier replied

“At ease, Friend. that’s all i needed to hear, now then…” Arche grew his flaming weedhacker from his wrist once more. “Let’s go do some gardening.”

Amongst the crashing waves of ether. A loud cheer erupted and Arche found himself surrounded with new allies in his fight against his age-old foe.

They all split up, Arche mowed down ethreals left and right, with a even brighter fire in his soul the ever before, where there was only fury against Nineveh now there was also determination, excitement, and if Arche could be bold, Joy. that feeling of fighting side by side with people one of his dearest friends taught specifically to help him was comforting.

He looked to Nineveh, Still rooted in the ground.

and then he looked to his new companions, fighting against this strange ethereal horde who showed signs of higher intelligence, he could see some of Elyssia’s old moves adapted by this new generation of Flamechasers. but even with Arche’s little enhancements they would need assistance.

He stared at nineveh, who was too occupied at fending off her attackers to notice her biggest threat standing on top of a building with a weapon designed for the explicit purpose of weed hacking lovecraftian flowers like her.

His goal was closer than ever… but the flower could wait. his new “Students” needed his help

Running through digital streets while being chased by ethereals who see gunned down while doing parkour was not on the list of things belle ever thought of doing, but here she was and it was the funnest thing she had done in a long while. 

“We should do this kind of thing more often!” She told Fairy as she shot two ethreals in the chest. running over thier vanishing corpses.

“Fairy will put it in master’s list of request. Progress of the hack: 50% Update: Route to the Deep Database nearing completion.”

“Where do i go next?” She asked taking cover in a Alley.

“ Lumina square. I have marked it on your map. You have 5 minutes to reach it before the next wave starts.”

“ Copy that. On my way!”

In this digital landscape, Belle could do all the things she never could, wall jumping, dual wielding, all that without feeling the risk of corruption or fatigue. despite the pouring rain. she pressed on, jumping from building to building until she reached lumina square.

landing in the center, right beside the data node she needed to protect. Ethreals slowly made themselves known, crawling out of the darkness.

“Fairy, How much more time do you need?”

“Calculating… 1 hour till Firewall breach.”

Belle spun her guns in her hands, she was starting to get why billy loved his two guns so much, this was fun!

“Then you’ll get an hour!”

The horde roared, and Belle leapt into the fray, sliding on her knees as she passed between an Ethereal’s legs, rising up and shooting him in the back before spinning around and shooting all the ethreals around her. A dullahan tried to attack her with his giant sword, but she dodged out of the way as he struck it in the ground making it unable to remove it.. Seeing a perfect opportunity, Belle strafed to the left until she saw the ethereal’s exposed back. using it as a stepping stone. to aim for its head directly. landing spectacularly on the digital (yet rainy pavement)

“OK! Who’s next?”

“Second Assistant, on your left.”

Belle turned around to see a thanatos charging his bow-arm at her. which she immediately responded with a barrage of bullets to the head. ripping holes through his cape and body.

but before it could vanish, a hitchspiker latched on the remains, giving the ethereal a second wind. his arm twisted and mutated a second pair of perpendicular claws on his bow-arm. where the remains of the tattered cloak once were were now replaced by a strange scarf of insectoid legs, the arm now grew a blade along his wrist not unlike a scorpion tail.

“Oh you have to be kidding me.”

Wise was wondering just what to wear. he wanted to atleast look better then his usual outfit for his date with Zhu, but he didn’t want to look too formal, it was just a hotpot, not a fancy dinner.

He lied on his bed. what could he do? sure his date wasn't that soon but he had been planning this for weeks! he couldn’t just show up in what he usually wears!

but he did know someone who could help him!

He pulled out his phone.

Well, it was time to visit Victoria housekeeping. Getting off his bed, he called Eous asking if he wanted to come with.

“Eh-ne? Eh-ne nah? Eh-Nah!” (I get to go with big bro? Yay!) He cheered, raising his little nubs in the air before following Wise down the stairs.

“18? Watch the house, okay?. I’m going out.”Wise asked as the little bangboo at the desk gave him a small salute which made Wise chuckle. “at ease, little bro.” He opened the door to the Hdd room only to find his sister with a Vr headset on her head.

“Hey Belle, I’m going ou-”

“THEY’RE EVERYWHERE, WISE!” She screamed as she seemed to be shooting down something. “HITCHSPIKERS EVERYWHERE!”

“Fairy, what’s going on?”

“Fairy turned the Hacking simulation into a FPS for the second assistant to better perform her assistant hacker duties.” Fairy turned on the HDD screens to show what Belle was seeing in real time. He saw her fend off hordes of Hitchspikers with two guns. shooting them on sight before they had a chance to “crawl” up her leg.

“EAT BULLETS, YOU PARASITIC FREAKS- GAH! ONE’S ON MY HEAD! ONE’S ON MY HEAD-” The screen showed Belle grabbing a hitchspiker, throwing on the ground, shooting it and jumping on the vanishing corpse.

“Current time left before firewall breach: 30 minutes.”

“Good, keep at it. Keep me informed if you find anything.”

“As you wish, Master.”

“WHO ELSE WANTS SOME BULLETS!?” Belle screamed not noticing she was screaming in her brother's face while he was in the room.

He decided to leave his sister to her hacking. He knew she would always get the job done. He picked up Eous, in his arms. leaving the store and heading for the parking lot with an excited Eous running circles around him

Eh-ne nah? (are we visiting Zhu-Zhu, Big bro?) Eous asked.

“Not quite! you’ll see.” He told him as he opened the door “Now come here, up you go.” Wise picked up Eous and placed him in his booster seat. Making sure he was safely attached before driving off to visit lycaon.

Wise parked himself in front of a luxurious mansion. He rarely visited the victoria mansion except when he had to watch over Corin and Elen while Lycaon and Rina were away on “personal business.”

“We’re here, little buddy, need help getting out?” Wise asked Eous looking in the rear-view mirror.

eh-na! nah-ne nah! (Nope, I’m okay!) Eh-ne nah? (Can i have uppies once we’re out?)

Wise chuckled “Sure Eous, you can have Uppies.”

Nah! (Yay!) Eous cheered, raising his two little nubs in the air before he untied himself from his booster seat. zooming in front of Wise’s door to get the treasured uppies he wanted and thoroughly deserved.

With his ray of sunshine resting in his arms, Wise and Eous made their way to the giant wooden doors of Victoria’s mansion. Wise gave his “baby brother.” the opportunity to knock on the giant door.

they were answered by Rina, who floated in the air, greeting them with a smile. “Ahh manager! We’ve been expecting you! and hello to you too, Eous! How are you both?”

“Hello Rina, is Lycaon here?”

Eh-Nah Nah! ("Hello Corin's ghost mom!”) Eous happily waved in his big bro’s arms.

“Yes, he will be with you in a moment. Lycaon, dear! The manager is here! She called from behind her. “Please come in.”

Wise put Eous down, who ran over to see Corin when she saw her. running around her like an excited puppy.

“M-master proxy, Hello!” Corin bowed respectfully.

“Hello Corin, how are you?”

“I-I’m doing fine. I was about to run some errands for da- I mean Mister Lycaon. Ellen was supposed to come with me. but she fell asleep. she had a long day of schoolwork to do and i don’t want to bother her, but… i’m a bit scared to go alone…”

Oh Bless that little buzzsaw wielding maid’s heart. Always doing her best to help people no matter what.

“How about I let Eous come with you? Would that make you feel safer? if anything comes up, i can always hook up to Eous to get you to safety.”

Corrin’s eyes lit up. “Really master Proxy is that… really alright?”

“Of course it is.”

Corrin rushed into him for a hug “Thank you Master Proxy!” which caused Wise to chuckle at her. “No problem, Corin”

Eh ne nah, eh ne ne nah! (Don’t worry Corin, I’ll keep you safe! With my hammer, and this  Shotgun, and this spike trap…” Eous began as he pulled out a concerning amount of weapons from the back of his bandana.

“Eous, Where did you get,let alone store all of these?!” Wise asked incredulously at the ever growing pile of legally dubious weapons Eous was pulling out.

Eh-ne, eh-ne-nah! eh-nah? (“I got them from big sis fairy! She says i need to be ready for anything,is that wrong?”)

“Just…” Wise Pinched his nose. Even though he loved having Fairy to help, he really needed to have a talk with her on giving eous weapons without his permission. “keep the hammer okay?”

Nah! En-nah! (Yay! I can keep Bonky!) Eous quickly picked up his lucky hammer, raising it to the sky with pride and joy.

Eh-ne Nah! (Let’s go, Corin!)

With a hammer tucked away in his scarf, and a spring in her step, Eous and Corin set off to run some errands. Wise wasn’t particularly worried of leaving Eous with Corin, her buzzsaw would scare anyone who would think of messing her, so Eous could hardly be in safer hands.

“Hello, Master Proxy” He heard a voice coming from behind him

Turning around he was greeted by Lycaon who took a bow.

“Hello Lycaon, It’s good to see you.”

“The feeling is mutual my friend, now if you would please follow me to the dressing room. we can talk about the finer details there.”

“Firewall breached. Belle, Please head to the center of the plaza.”

“On it!” Belle said while the remaining ethreals.

Belle ran to the center of the Plaza, seeing a small hole, fit for one person to fall in which she jumped in without hesitation.

“I will begin searching the database. You have earned your break, Second assistant.”

“Alright Fairy, I’ll leave it to you. Tell me if you find anything.”

With her mission over Belle took out her phone and began texting to her Boyfriend, Lighter.



She loved spending time with him. He was so sweet, he was strong and a bit of a movie buff. but she always loved going out on a motorcycle ride with him. It didn’t take long for them to become friends or for that friendship to blossom into love.

“Hey, Fairy? How long would it take you to look for the files?”

“The More the second assistant asks, the longer i’ll take.”

“Ok fine i won’t, you keep at it and I’ll go make some popcorn for me and Lighter.”

“I will update you if i find anything pertaining to professor Arche or the existence of a diary.”

Suddenly Belle had an Idea. “Hey… Fairy? would you mind looking for anything pertaining to the Helios academy?”

“Professor Arche is the Founder of the Helios Academy. and as such has been marked as a top priority.”

“could you… mark anything pertaining to Carol Arna as top priority?”

Fairy took a moment before responding “Of course, I will Mark it as top priority.”

“Thanks, Fairy. it… means a lot.”

“Of course, Belle.”

Wise was currently being besieged by measurement tape everywhere from Lycaon and Rina, who muttered things to themselves. soon enough he found himself in a brand new outfit.

His usual jacket was replaced by a stylish gray blazer, his pants with a black pair of dress pants, and an orange turtle neck shirt all covered by an amazing black open long coat. He liked it, no. He loved the look. it was formal and casual at the same time, he definitely would be wearing this a lot more from now on.

“Lycaon, Rina, this looks great!” Wise chuckled

“A pleasure to be of help, manager!” Rina chuckled, putting her two hands together.

satisfied with his work, Lycaon stepped over to Wise. pulling out a small silver pocket watch from his pocket. “Master Wise, I would like you to have this.” He explained placing the small device in Wise's hand.

Wise looked at it curiously, looking over the polished surface of the watch, it hardly showed any sign of age. Lycaon must’ve taken extremely good care of it. The pocket watched looked old yet new at the same time, the back of the watch had the image of a sun etched on it, the translucent design, reflective off the light.

“This pocket watch was a gift from my master, back when in my earlier days working for Victoria Housekeeping. He gave it to me as a token of good luck when i went on my first date with Rina. I would like to pass it on to you, as a gesture of kindness and in the hope your first date with Captain Zhu yuan goes as well as mine did.”

“Lycaon, I.. don’t even know what to say.. it’s beautiful.”

“Master Proxy, may I offer you the same advice my master gave me for my first date?”

Wise nodded and Lycaon placed a gentle hand on his jacket.

“Simply be yourself.”

Wise looked away. “Kinda hard to be when I'm a proxy and she’s an officer. it feels like this won’t last, i’m scared one day she’ll find out and… well…”

“Wise,” Lycaon spoke gently. “It will be okay. You and your sister are hailed as legendary proxies not because of your status, but for your actions. who while they are of dubious legality have always been in the interest of helping others. My master was much like you in that regard. While I can’t go into much detail, he was in a similar position to you, and he still managed to find love. Do you know how?”

“How?”

“Because Proxies and agents have one thing in common with all romantic relationships. Do you know what that is?”

Wise thought to himself. what did his relationship with his agents have in common with romantic ones that he didn’t see? In a hollow Proxies depend on their agents to get the mission done, much like Agents depend on proxies to navigate a hollow. one can’t do all the work alone…

They have to communicate.

“I can tell by your eyes that you understand where i’m going with this?”

“I do, Lycaon.”

The Wolf thiren smiled.

“Then apply that same principle to your relationship, and I'm sure you will both come to an understanding.”

Belle was snuggled against lighter’s chest. while Fairy was hard at work in the deep database, Belle opted to take a break by watching a movie with her boyfriend.

“You… uhh sure you wanna watch the port peak? why not something else? something with i don’t know… a bit less blood?”

“why it’s… oh right… you’re afraid of blood…” Belle realized. “I mean, i can look to see if there’s something else we can watch-”

“No it’s okay, I can manage. if it’s for you, i’ll just brace myself.” he told her as he pulled her a bit closer to kiss the top of her head. “I’m not gonna let some movie defeat the undefeated champion.”

Belle looked at Lighter while running two of her fingers up his chest. “Oh really now? okay then… pretty boy. we’ll see about that…”

There was something in belle’s voice that made Lighter audibly gulp. “Uhh belle? are you ok? have you.. been getting enough sleep?”

“Oh lighty, i don’t get sleep.” She winked.

“Belle, that is not a winkable line.”

“It sure is, champ.” she winked again

“No.” Lighter lowered his voice and pulled her in a hug. making sure she was looking at him. “this, is a winkable line.” he winked and put up his glasses.

Belle was red like a tomato. how was he this cool?? “How do you do it? why is my boyfriend this cool??”

Lighter chuckled and hugged her. kissing the top of her head again. “I’m here wondering how my girlfriend can possibly be this adorable.”

The two stayed in a comfortable embrace while “The port peak” was playing. in the more gory moments, Belle tried to shift Lighter’s focus onto her, but he did his best to remain composed. even then he never refused any of belle’s affection. so he had an out when it got too gory.

“I’m surprised you weren’t afraid of any of this… most people wouldn’t be this casual about being able to withstand this movie…”

Belle chuckled nervously “Well… the truth is.. well.. it’s complicated cause you see..”

“Complicated how?”

Before he could get answer, fairy popped up on the HDD screens

“ Second assistant? Search… Complete.”

“You found something?!”

“ ... ”

“fairy?”

“ Suggestion: Wait for Master to come back. The material may be distressing to watch.”

“Distressing how?” Lighter asked with a suspicious tone

“This information is only reserved for Master Wise. My deepest Apologies, Champion Lighter.”

“ Fairy, if this concerns Mo- I mean, Carol. i need to know. i don’t care what it is.!” Belle exclaimed

If fairy could feel discomfort, the silence it took for her to answer showed it. “ Understood Belle. But i did warn you. beginning playback…”

The HDD screens began playing audios of a conversation.


“JOYOUS?! JOYOUS, COME IN!!!”

“Arche?! What the hell is going on?! There’s a hollow spawning in your fucking academy and the entire guild is mobilizing, so you’d better give an explanation right fucking now-”

“JOYOUS, WE WERE RIGHT! THE ORDER WAS PLANNING TO CREATE A HOLLOW! THEY SUCCEEDED, I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY DID! GET THE OTHER VOIDHUNTERS! (Professor! Professor! The Defense force is about to reach the gates!”)

“JOYOUS? JOYOUS LISTEN TO ME, I’M SORRY FOR EVERYTHING, IF I HAD LISTENED TO YOU, THIS WOULDN’T HAVE-” (the line cuts off)

“ARCHE!? ARCHE COME IN!”

(Another file began to play)

“Carol?! Carol?! It’s today.

“I know, professor. I know.
–
the name sent a chill down Belle’s spine. she hurried to listen to the rest of the conversation.
–
“ Lockng the HDD… Encrypting…. matching to… My little shooting stars.”

“Carol, we can’t be soft right now. Those exaltist- (Arche begins to cough loudly)”

“Uncle?”

“I’m fine! I just think… she’s noticed.”

“You mean…”

“Don’t speak her name, i’m starting to think we’ve been bugged.”

(rustling can be heard)

“Damn it! Carol? you know what to do.”

(The line cuts again)


–

The next video on the feed…is a waking nightmare. The footage is a body cam of a solider. She watches as some of her classmates are.. are…

“LEAVE NO SURVIVORS!!”

“CREATOR ABOVE BLESS US WITH MIGHT!”

She sees the waking nightmare she lived ten years ago. She sees her own classmates being shot down or corrupting into ethereals. the footage switches from camera to camera. She sees Carol in almost each of them running away from soldiers as she carries a younger her in her arms while she holds Wise by the hand.

“AFTER THEM! DON’T LET ANYONE ESCAPE!”

She remembers how it goes down. but she sees what bought them time to escape. Professor Arche. He stands in front of the solider, his face looking half corrupted, his purple eyes glowing in the darkened hallway like a demon.

“Including you.” He spoke before rushing on the solider and the camera turned to static.

This… was the night Helios academy was raided. On paper it was marked as an experiment gone wrong that left no survivors. but that was a lie. The academy was attacked and the students and researchers there were all murdered in cold blood. with a handful of missing people who were lucky enough to escape.

Belle began to relive her memories of the incident, watching camera feed after camera feed hearing the mixture of ethereals roaring and students screaming.

“fairy. make it stop.”

“Belle, this would cancel the decryption-”

“PLEASE, JUST MAKE IT STOP!” She screamed her eyes glowing blue for a moment

The HDD stopped showing the feed. leaving Belle curled up in a ball on the ground. Sobbing and crying as the reality of the situation hit Lighter like a punch to the face.

He knelt on the ground next to Belle and she immediately tackled him into a desperate hug.

“Lighter… please don’t go anywhere…” She begged.

“I won’t, Belle. I promise. I’m right here and I’m not leaving until you feel better.”

He rubbed circles on her back, kissing her forehead in hopes it would bring some comfort. He knew Wise and Belle had their secrets but this? this was beyond anything. seeing your friends die in front of you… was something Lighter knew too well.

Scooping his girlfriend off the ground he bridal carried her to the sofa where she layed down on him, holding him tightly in a hug as if he would cease to exist if she let go. Ever the gentleman, he wrapped his red scarf around her, a little thing he did for her that always comforted her and made her smile.

Deep in her sorrow and deeper in his thoughts Lighter contemplated what he had witnessed.

And only one person would know the answer.

Chapter Text

Corin hummed a little tune bobbing her head left to right as she walked down the streets of New Eridu. It was such a peaceful day, the sun was shining brightly, Eous was with her, watching her every move to make sure no one would dare hurt her.

…Even though most people would attempt to avoid a little girl dressed as a maid wielding a buzzsaw on a stick and a little bangboo trying to drag a hammer twice his size.

“Ok let’s see, our next stop is… Sundial clockworks! it’s not too far from here, let’s go Eous!”

Eh-ne, eh-nah!” (Okay corin! Lead the way!)
Corin and Eous wandered down Fifth street, and it was oddly enough close to Sixth street. it was rated as the safest district from the hollows, not as bustling as sixth street, it was mostly antique shops that only attracted people who came here to sell whatever they found in the hollows. As such it was often a place where investigators and raiders alike passed by.

As Corin walked by she noticed all sorts of unruly looking people and investigators walking down the street. it was a bit scary…

Noticing her anxiety rising, Eous grabbed her hand with his little nub. giving her a reminder that she wasn’t alone and that she had the bestest bangboo in the whole wide world (according to big sis)

Corin calmed down, taking a deep breath.

Eh-ne-nah! eh-ne nah! (Don’t worry Corin, if anyone comes looking for trouble…) Eous pulled out his hammer from his scarf… (Bonky will take care of em!)

“E-Eous we don’t need to resort to violence!”

Eh-nahh… (Aww… no one ever let’s me use bonky… I just want to help…”

Corin patted the little bangboo on his head. “Oh don’t worry Eous, I’m sure one day you’ll get to use it!”

“Hey you!” Someone exclaimed, causing poor little Corin to freeze up.

An imposing figure stood before Corin and the bangboo, from the looks of it, a Hollow Raider. he was built like a brick wall, casting a shadow over Corin and Eous. his eyes were stern and his expression unreadable.

Corrin was shaking in fear she did not like conflict much less talking to imposing people! In case things got dicey, Eous slowly prepared his beloved bonky for a swing.

“That’s a sick costume you have there! is that Chainsaw maid?”

The only thing that Corrin said was a whimper of fear and anxiety. Eous still weary of the man, explained the situation. on how they were running some errands and were looking for directions. Causing the tall raider to have a hearty laugh.

“and what brings a little maid and a bangboo to the Joyous Crossroads?”

Eh-ne? Eh-ne nah? (“Joyous Crossroads? like the Voidhunter Joyous?”

“The very same! Fifth street is often called The Joyous Crossroads because of the business here. You’ll find all sorts of people here from licensed investigators, to Hollow raiders like me! it’s a sort of buffer zone between the two. a place where both sides of the law come to do business and find a common ground. it’s called the Joyous crossroads in honor of the first proxy and investigator Joyous. It's his work that made who we are on both sides. it helps to remind us that investigators and proxies are no different from each other, the only difference is our reasons for doing what we do. Joyous held a belief that not all proxies were terrible people and not all investigators are as righteous as they say, and as the founder of our line of work, he’s a testament to that.”

Eous listened in admiration. this Joyous guy sure was something!

eh-ne nah, eh-ne-nah, eh-nah-ne? (We’re looking for Sundial clockworks, would you mind telling us where it is?)

“Sure thing little guy! down the street, first shop on the right. can’t miss it!”

Eh-ne-nah! eh-nah? (“Ok! Thank you!” Mister?”)

“You can call me Vahndam, i’m part of the Falkenhayn Mercs! come swing by if you need something in the hollows!”

“Th-Thank Y-ou.. M-M-Mister Vahndam” Corin stammered

“No problem, little lady! Oh but you better be careful, rumors around here are that there's a legendary proxy hiding in our mist here…”

“L-Legendary P-Proxy?” Corin asked

This peaked Eous’s curiosity, He thought big bro and big sis had one of the only Legendary Proxy account. but of course, this is something he kept secret.

“Correct little lady… They answer to one name, Eclipse. They’re sort of a vigilante in these parts. They come out at night and take care of… unruly visitors if you catch my drift… but no one has ever seen them, no one even knows what they look like, they’re like a shadow in the night… They appear when you least accept it, that's the reason this place is.. close to peaceful anyway, because the Eclipse is always around the Corner..”

“I-I see. Thank you Mister Vahndam!”

“No problem! and Be good, Lest Eclipse finds you!”

Eh-neh nah! “We will, thank you!”

Parting ways with Vahndam, Corin let out a huge sigh of relief. “That was scary…” to which Eous was quick to give the little maid a warm hug, demanding uppies to better give her a hug.

“Thank you Eous…” Corin returned the bangboo’s uppies

Eh-neh-nah! Eh-ne-Nah! (It’s okay, corrin, You’ll improve! Even my big bro and big sis have days where they need uppies!)
With her emotional support bangboo in her arms and a buzzsaw on her back, Corrin walked  into the watchmaking shop. The shop reminded Corin and Eous of Random Play, if it was older. The decor looked like it dated back from the old civilization. There were wooden display cases that lined the interior with a dozen models of watches. ranging from the Pocket watch her adopted father adorned to more modern ones. There was an empty desk. and behind the counter was a steel door that read Management only.

Eh-nah…(It’s like if my home was set in a noir movie…) Eous commented

Corin let go of Eous from her arms as he wandered around the store. who went window shopping to stare at the shiny pocket watches.

The shop had a warm feel, the smell of wood filled the air as the room was bathed in a soft glow thanks to the sun outside. Suddenly a noise came from the door, and two bangboo optics starred At Corin from a small shutter. one blue and one orange. Which closed as quickly as it opened. before she heard some whispers coming from within.

The door opened and out came a tall lady who bumped her head on the door frame. “Ow! that damn door frame, everytime… Oh Hello there!”

She had long silver hair which she kept tied in a ponytail although her right eye was covered. The one left uncovered was a beautiful shade of blue.

“Oh… uhm… H-Hi! I-I’m from V-Victoria Housekeeping… I-I’m here on orders of my da- I-I mean! My- My master, my dad, I-mean… Ohhh I’m no good at talking to people…”

“Ohhh so you’re Lycaon’s daughter! He’s told me about you! He said that “My daughter will be picking up my order” and that I'd recognize her by “Her mint green hair tied in twintails, and her lavender eyes” and that she was “The most reliable maid of Victoria housekeeping.”

Corin was at a loss of words. “You.. You know my dad?”

“Your father knows a lot of people, including the manager of this store. Here.” She smiled as she took out a small box.

“A set of three pocket watches, custom-made.” She opened the box to reveal what she said. Two of the three pocket watches came in a shining silver light. though their only difference was one bared a wolf motif that glistened in the light, and the other a ghost. The odd one out was a Black pocket watch, that bared a red symbol not unlike a shark jaw.

“Now your father actually ordered 4, but he told me to set this particular model aside.” The lady took out another box, showing Corin another shining silver pocket watch. the emblem was in the shape of a buzzsaw in a mint green color. There was a little card on the side that read:

“ Congratulations on making it here by yourself Corin. I am very proud of you, always. Consider this a token of affection from me and your mother. Treasure it. With love, Dad.”

“Dad…” She took the pocket watch in her hands, Opening it to see the top part of the pocket watch had a small picture of Lycaon, Rina, Ellen and her smiling.

She held the watch to her chest. Her dad really loved her, and she would do everything to reciprocate that feeling.

“You have a great family, Corin. Don’t doubt otherwise.”

“I-I won’t! I promise!” Corin said with a rising resolve “Thank you so much miss..?”

“Kiana.” The clerk responded.

“Thank you miss Kiana! I have to be on my way!” Corin bowed, before taking the two boxes “Come on, Eous!”

Eh-nah! (Coming!) the bangboo responded as he wobbled to the door. before waving bye at the tall clerk. eh-ne! (Bye, Miss!)

Eous didn’t wait long enough to see Kiana's Expression.

That Orange bandana was unmistakable.

The Sun was beginning to set, Wise decided to spend the Afternoon with Lycaon Ellen and Rina. Although Wise was somewhat confident he wouldn't screw up a date like this, he’d figured since it was the first time he ever asked a girl out for dinner, it wouldn't hurt to get a few pointers from the pinnacle of chivalry and etiquette that was Lycaon.

Although Ellen was passed out on the couch snoring loudly on Wise’s lap. Wise was busy Jotting down notes on etiquette.

“Now remind me, what are the essentials?” Lycaon asked Wise as he paced around the room.

“Be there early by no less than 15 minutes in the event you run into traffic, open the door for her, Chivalry isn’t dead, it's just not as widespread as it once was. Stir the conversation to her interests, I know her well enough for that. oh and the most important, I’m paying.”

Lycaon brought his pace to a halt in front of Wise, clapping his hands together once. “Bravo. Master Wise, no notes and top marks.”

Rina floated behind her husband. “That’s strange, that's not the list I remember master teaching you…”

“I may have made some less… Extreme changes to it, Yes.”

“What was the old list?” Wise asked with a chuckle

“Be there 12 hours early, search the restaurant, run background checks on the staff, can the cook be trusted? If not, put him to sleep and ship him off in a boat somewhere and replace it with one of my contacts before the date begins.” Lycaon recited from memory at a pace too quick to have been spoken a few times

“That’s… an oddly specific way of getting ready for a date….” Wise remarked

“My master, despite his good manners and demeanor, was as much of a complicated man as he was an eccentric one, to say the least. But, he is one of my most treasured friends, and I would not be where I am today if not for his advice and all his wisdom.” The butler explained while Rina floated beside him to kiss his cheek..

Wise checked the time, “Well, with all this time spent, i’d better get home soon, but i’m still waiting for Eous..”

“Mom? Dad? I-I’m home!”

Eh-nah! (We’re back, big bro!)

“Speaking of the ray of sunshine..” Wise turned around as he watched Eous run towards him as he wobbled forwards.

“Ah welcome home, Corin. Do you have the package? ”

Corin placed the package on the table “R-right here! perfectly safe!”

Eh-nah nah, nah-neh-neh! (With a Eous gurantee!)

She began to walk towards Lycaon. Extending her arms out to the tall wolf. “Uhm…Dad? I saw the gift you left, I… I wanted to say I love it a lot and I’ll always treasure it ... .a-and…” Corin stammered a little before tearing up a bit. “ I saw the words you left me and- Mom, Dad. I love you both.”

Lycaon looked to Rina. No words were needed to know she loved her gift. They both embraced their adoptive daughter. “We love you too, peppermint. Never forget that.” Rina kissed Corin’s head

“We love you and your sister, even if you think otherwise,” Lycaon added, wrapping his tail around Corin and Rina as he hugged them both.

Wise could only smile at the scene. it… reminded him of how Carol used to tell him and Belle that sometimes when they were alone or when they needed a bit of comfort.

“Master Proxy?” Corin asked as Lycaon and Rina let her go “I-I wanted to say thank you, f-for letting be borrow Eous… Canigiveyouhugtooplease?” She asked extending her arms out shaking like a leaf.

Wise carefully moved Ellen off his lap. gently placing her in such a way she would still be comfortable. He smiled and extended his arms “Sure Corin, come here.”

Corin shyly embraced Wise. who gently patted the back of her head. Causing the maid to feel comfortable enough to squeeze him a little tighter. Corin would faint from embarrassment if Wise learned that she really admired him as a big brother and Belle as a big sister. a feeling that didn’t go unnoticed to Lycaon or Rina. The sentiment, even if unspoken, was shared by Wise and Belle who regarded her as if she really was one of their own. Belle had once said that should any harm befall Corin in a hollow “she is killing every ethereal in that hollow” a sentiment that, though extreme, was shared by Wise as well, even if he knew he probably wouldn’t last long in a hollow. nonetheless, it wouldn't stop them from trying.

Corin sighed contently, Wise was extremely warm to hug. it felt… nice. “We’re all very proud of you, Corin.”

“I’ll do my best to never disappoint you, Master Proxy!”

“The only way you’ll disappoint me Corin, is by not putting in effort. That's the only way.”

Corin hugged Wise tightly after that compliment which caused Wise to affectionately rub the top of her head.

Once they parted, Wise was getting ready to return home. With a tired Eous tucked under his arm and his new suit in a protector, Half of the legendary proxy bid farewell to Victoria housekeeping.

“I wish you the best on your date tonight, master Proxy.”

“Be sure to tell us how it went!” Rina waved away along with her two other bangboo who waved in the air.

“Don’t worry, I will. See you soon everyone. Come on Eous, let’s go home.”

Eous happily waved bye to Corin before his peripheral vision did a 180 as Wise turned away to get to the car.

With Eous settled back in his seat, and a brand new suit. Wise began the drive home. Driving through New Eridu as the sun set. He only had a few hours to get ready for his date and a few hours until he got some answers.

“Eh… Eh-Ne?” (Umm, Big bro?”) Eous asked

“What’s up, little buddy?”

Eh-ne, eh-ne nah-ne? (Are we the only legendary proxies?)

“There aren’t many of us, but it’s hard to say how many. we aren’t exactly common.”

“Eh-ne… Eh-ne-Nah?” (Do.. You know about a legendary proxy called Eclipse?)

“I don’t think so… Where did you learn that?”

Eous explained where he went with Corin today, and the urban legend of Eclipse, the legendary proxy who acts as the de facto guardian of Fifth street. Eous thought Phaeton was the only Legendary Proxy on interknot.

“We’re the only Legendary Proxy Active on inter-knot. The others seem to have gone into hiding. We don’t all know each other personally, like the first Voidhunters, for example.”

Eh-neh Nah? (“Why did they go into hiding?”)

Wise mind flashback to the sounds of people screaming and of fire burning. while he would never lie to Eous, he did know some Legendary Proxies, but they’ve gone silent ever since that day. In fact, Almost every Legendary proxy from the last 10 years went silent.

“The same reason we don’t reveal our identity, little bro.”

Eh-neh Nah.. Eh-Nah? “Right… Can you try to find out about Eclipse? I’m curious about them!”

“Well you piqued my curiosity. I’ll look it into it after my date.”

From his seat, Eous cheered.

A door bell rang “Lighter, belle? I’m home!”

“We’re in the back, Wise.”

Lighter opened the door to the backstore. “Hey brother,” Lighter let out a new whistle when he saw what Wise was holding. “Don’t think i’ve ever seen you with something else beside that jacket. going on a date or something?”

“Yup. Got a date with Zhu Yuan tonight!”

“My man!” Lighter offered him a handshake

“Anyways, I got your message. what happened?”

Lighter explained the situation and how he was a witness to the Helios academy raid. Of course he gave Wise his reassurance that he wouldn’t speak a word of what he saw, but he felt the need to at least know something so he could help them if they ever needed anything.

Wise took a deep breath. this wasn’t something they could just tell everyone. In fact, the only people who knew besides them were Fairy and the Bangboos. But if Lighter saw the decrypted files, well it’s not like he could hide behind an excuse, anymore.

“All right. Lighter. I’ll tell you. but you have to tell no one. not even Caesar. it might be dangerous for you to even know this.”

“I’m willing to accept the risks.”

Wise smiled. He knew Belle had a lifelong partner right there and he truly had a trustworthy friend.”

“Me and Belle studied at the Helios academy when we were young. the senior researcher Carol Arna, was the one who taught us and raised us into who we are today. She gave us the HDD and the technology that lets us do well, all of this.” WIse walked into the backstore, showing Lighter the HDD as if he was showing it for the first time.
“The Helios academy was ahead of the curve when it came to hollow-related matters. did you know there was a time when Proxies weren’t illegal?”

“There was?” Lighter asked

“Yeah, the only difference between us and investigators was we were freelancers, basically. Proxies couldn’t always get jobs on account of not having an investigative license. that was the only difference.”

“Before we became legendary proxies. Some legendary proxies were formed at the academy, some I'd even call my friends, too! if you knew the antics me and belle would get ourselves into with them” Wise chuckled reminiscing on the good times. “Carol taught us everything and she was as good of a teacher as much as she was a mother figure to me and belle… we loved her, dearly. She used to call us her “little shooting stars” because she found us by following two shooting stars in the sky of the hollow she rescued us from. We even met professor Arche, the Founder of the academy!

“And then what?” Lighter asked

“The days followed, but then… There was something in the air and the academy was always on high alert, Proxies went missing.people stopped showing up at the academy, Researchers were antsy, always looking over their shoulders and Carol kept a watchful eye on us. it’s like they knew something bad would happen.

“I think I can guess where this is going..” Lighter grimly surmised.

Wise nodded “Hollow zero happened. it’s not common knowledge, but they say Helios academy was ground zero of Hollow zero. but they never said what transpired before. A bloodbath. The defense force and a group of cultists raided the academy, and we were massacred. I saw… so many of them die… lighter. I still hear the screams sometimes… but the worst part… is that i knew all these people. all i remember was Carol taking us to safety and then…” Wise took a breath. “Sorry… it’s a painful memory..”

Suddenly he felt something embrace him.

“Hey sis… Sorry, did I wake you up?”

“No… I just think we could both use one right now….” Belle squeezed tighter.

Wise returned the hug, holding his sister close, resting his head on the top of hers.

“Sorry about that lighter… it’s just a topic me and belle never talk about.” Wise looked down at the fluff of blue hair below him.

“I understand why… we’ve all got our demons, I know I do and we all got our reasons for doing what we do. So just know that from now on, whenever there’s trouble about the Helios Academy, call me and I'll race here.”

“Thanks, Lighter.”

“Anytime, Man. You just get ready for your date, and I'll take Belle out for a spin to clear her head, if that’s alright with you of course.”

“Are you seriously asking for my consent to take Belle out? Lighter you’re one of my best friends, she loves you, and we both trust you to tell you about our deepest secret, just go for it man. I’m not gonna tell you I want her back by 9pm sharp or something.”

“Okay cause well, she’s your only family and well…”

Wise began pushing Lighter out the door while Belle was dragging him by the arm. “Just go have fun, you two!”

“Alright, Bro! good luck on your date!” Belle waved as Lighter began revving up his bike.

“Don’t have too much fun you two, I'm not ready to be an uncle yet!”

He knew for a fact they both heard that, but it would probably sink in when they’d reach the outer ring.

Alright, time to get ready for that date.

“Thanks for taking the time to stop by!” Kiana waved the last client away.

Another day complete. All things considered, running this store wasn’t that bad. It was cozy, people were friendly enough, and she often got to study some old relics from time to time. Different from her old life, but there was a certain familiarity to it. one thing’s for sure, it was far from a waste of her talents. She always had a knack for building stuff and her husband had an eye for the little details. They both sort of gravitated towards watchmaking.

But they didn’t just make any regular old pocket watches… closing the lights of the store, closing the blinds and locking the doors. Kianna retreated behind the management only door. where the real business went down.

The old civilization aesthetic of the shop was only in the front. Behind closed doors was a far more modern looking back store or Home.

Kiana and her Husband made money not just by selling watches. Sure they did sell watches, legitimately. but those watches had something… Special.

“Hey Honey, How was work?” A voice called from behind the desk.

“Just fine, another day of selling watches, today was pretty good, sold some of the newer models, but i think we’re due for an update.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, i know we’ve been keeping our database upgraded, but the Dead End hollow’s gone now i worked hard on these models…”

“Let me finish what I'm working on, I'll update the watches.” she could hear the sound of typing at a computer.

She placed a kiss on her Husband cheek, who was busy typing  on a screen while behind him. a constant stream up interknot updates was flowing on his HDD.

“By the way, Lycaon’s daughter came to pick up the watches. you should’ve seen her, an absolute sweetheart. i think she was on the verge of tearing up. I don’t think she has a lot of self-esteem…”

“Oh yeah, Lycaon told me about her… I’ve seen her on a few of my escapades.” Her Husband replied, not tearing his eyes away from the screen. “Alright, just gonna let this one run in the background…” He pressed a few buttons “Ok im all yours now. i make diner this time, my treat.”

“Noodle soup.” Kiana asked without missing a beat.

“Somehow I just knew you would pick that…”

“Hey, you can’t beat the classics!”

“Honey I think at this point your bloodstream is noodle broth, nothing wrong with variety,you know?”

“I know but do you know what kept me running on those long nights of inventing?” Kiana lamented, placing her two hands on her Husband’s shoulders.

“Coffee and noodles, I know.”

“Not just that, an ungodly amount.” Kiana winked.

“Honey, winking at me isn’t gonna work.”

Kiana sighed. “I know… just thought it would work one day..”

Her husband gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Macaroni salad sounds good?”

“Good for me!”

Kianna and her Husband had a tradition of cooking together, when your stuck in a unique situation like theirs, you gotta find ways to not go stir-crazy, and Cooking together was something they both genuinely enjoyed. it was a way for them to blow off steam after work, or force them to work together after a fight. It served as a reminder that at the end of the day, they could only count on each other.

it was a codependent relationship, both business-wise, and life-wise. They made up for each other's flaws. where her Kiana was more outgoing and a people person. her husband worked in the shadows, rarely coming out. but he had an eye for details and a sharp mind. He could find the little details that his wife overlooked, and where he was not good in business, she excelled in it (on account of her past).

They followed this routine for the last 10 years, and it never got boring. it may look boring to an outsider. but they had ways to make it more exciting. specifically at nighttime.

“Have you heard about Bringer?” Kiana asked, a hint of exasperation in her voice.

“Don’t remind me, i’ve hit a roadblock on that part…” Her husband complained before eating more of his salad.

“No new leads?”

“no new leads yet .” he corrected her. “He’ll make a mistake… trust me, and when he does… I’ll know it..”

“Is that what you’re working on all day?”

“I’ve got people on the outside and on the interknot… Speaking of… HDD’s picked up something in the deep database… Someone managed to break in.”

“Doesn’t the system fend off any attacks?”

“Here’s the kicker. they did trigger the defenses, and fought them off.”

Kiana nearly choked on her drink. “How?!”

“Here’s what’s weirder. The Hack stopped briefly before it continued. but it didn’t go looking for higher permissions, just copying read-only files. Specific files.”

“Our files?”

“No, Everything related to the Black sun incident and Arche. The last files i could find copied were…two files destined to well… her kids.”

“You don’t think…”

“I do. but i need to be sure, first. I’m heading out tonight. i’ve got a hunch, and i need you to cover my shift for tonight.”

“Movie night if you don’t get too roughed up?”

“i’ll let you pick the movie this time, it’s only fair since you covered my shift.” Her husband bargained as went looking for his pitch black long coat.

“Won't lie, honey… I miss wearing the old one.” He told her as he looked at himself in the mirror. Kiana walked over to him. straightening out the coat and collar,

“Yeah… I miss the old look too, you used to look like a vampire with that get up..”

“Haven't heard that one in a while...” He reminisced.

“Just get out of here, you look like a phantom thief...” Kiana joked.

he chuckled, lowering his collar, giving her one last kiss on the forehead, before heading for the back exit. "Love you, Should be back soon."

Kianna’s husband disappeared in the night. his day job was done, now it was time for the night shift.

Chapter Text

“Okay… decryption resuming. Fairy, tell me if you find anything, okay.”

“ Suggestion: resume decryption after the date.”

“What for?”

“ Master needs to be solely focused on tonight’s date with captain Zhu Yuan. After previously analyzing the second assistant’s behavior of the raid, mentions of helios academy seem to heighten master and second assistant stress response. conclusion: Master shouldn’t view material that could compromise the emotional well-being of the date.”

“Alright, fairy. i’ll take your word for it. but you send me a message once you have everything, okay?”

“Of course, Master. Leave it to Fairy.”

“Oh and we’re having a talk about all the weapons you gave Eous after i get back.”

“Not if they are of use to the first assistant.”

Wise chuckled to himself as left the HDD room to go get changed in his room. He’d been planning this date for weeks and this was a chance for the both of them to blow off some steam together. They didn’t have much time to be together these past few days, and Wise did try to keep her away from the store when she was on duty. it would be bad if she discovered what the twins were up to.

Some may say that it would be dangerous for a proxy and a cop to date each other and they would be right, but Wise felt different around Zhu yuan, his secret identity didn’t matter, he was just a video store manager to her and he saw as just a regular girl, not some unstoppable police captain.

around each other, they could feel normal.

but there was always this nagging fear in Wise’s heart. one day, he would make a mistake, and it may end up costing him. He had this talk with Belle multiple times and she never changed her mind on him dating Zhu Yuan, they had contingencies. she’d do anything for him just like he would do anything for Belle.

He just hoped that one day, if Proxies become legal again, maybe he could finally tell her who he really is.

Maybe then, he could finally be honest to her.

Wise inspected himself one last time. He absolutely loved his new blazer. Lycaon and Rina outdid themselves with his new look.

“What do you think, Eous? Do i look the part?”

Eous clapped his little nubs together while he sat on his big bro’s bed.

“Eh-ne nah!” (You look great, big bro!)

“If only belle could see me in this…” Wise marveled. “Eous, You and your siblings have the house till i get back. Fairy, can i count on you decrypting the rest of the files?”

“Decryption will be put on hold until master returns. Please give all your attention to the date.”

“Alright then. Thanks Fairy. But Before i leave…”

Wise headed back downstairs and into the HDD room to grab a few Video tapes. they were Eous, 6 and 18’s favorite movies.

“You guys have earned a movie night. Fairy, you’re in charge of Babysitting if you’re not decrypting, is that alright.”

the three little bangboo siblings cheered as their big bro turned on the tv, rushing to the couch to grab the remote.

“Have a nice evening, you four! Call me if you need anything.”

Eh-nah- eh-nah! (Bye big bro! have fun!) the three bangboo responded as they started discussing which movies to watch first.

“Fairy estimates your date’s success rate to be 99.9%, master.”

With the odds in his favor, Wise set off for the restaurant 15 minutes early.

–
“You know of all the names you could’ve gone, why Perseus? Like theseus would’ve been a perfect fit.”

“Because Theseus was an S-Rank prick, and if i'm changing my name i’m using the only good greek hero.”

“Hercules wasn’t that bad…” Kianna remarked over the comms

“Eh, he’s overrated. Anything on our mysterious hacker yet?”

“Well, there’s another attempt to breach the database right now, so for now i'm observing… seems to come from the same source and they are taking the same path they did during the first attempt, i’ll reinforce security once they leave, and try to stop anyone from messing with them. and you?”

“Just gonna do some “Shopping…” if you catch my drift.”

“..You just want your old coat, don’t you?”

“No… I want my knives back. There's a difference. And yes, I want my old coat back.”

“You know the reason why you can’t honey.”

“I know it’s just… it’s been ten years and oddly enough i’m starting to miss… well… The old days.”

“I know babe… but for now we just have to do what we can… and hey, if it cheers you up, you’ll never guess who i saw at the store today.”

“Who?” Perseus asked.

“Sunshine.”

Perseus froze momentarily. “You… Sure it was him?”

“Yeah.. orange bandana and all. I'd recognize him in a crowd.” Perseus heard his wife’s voice break a bit.

Perseus knew how hard times had been for his wife. The past 10 years had not been easy for her, nor had they been easy for Perseus either. Once he wished nothing more than the world to leave him alone even if he did his best to serve in the shadows, somehow he was hailed as a hero. Although he hated public appearances, they were some of the best years of his life. but that all changed 10 years ago when the capital fell.

Now here he was, his past self’s wish granted. Forced to hide away from a world that finally leaves him alone, his accomplishments turned into a rumor or a legend, a legacy that would not fall so easily to the sands of time or the darkness of the hollows.

But even if he can’t serve in the light, even if he erased his name from the world. His legacy remained far greater than all those who would come after him and if this world still holds souls brave enough to try and follow his path, filled with challenge and strife, even if he could never greet them in person at the end of the road, he would know.


The years had mellowed the aging watchmaker out.

But he wished he could’ve said the same for his wife.

Kianna was a ray of sunshine to the people she met, Smiling, radiant, a stark contrast to who Perseus was in his younger days. they would argue constantly much like a married couple. maybe that’s why they got along so well, they got all the arguing out of them when they were younger.

Though they bickered constantly, that never stopped them from being friends and eventually maybe not-so-subtly falling in love, though they would never admit it to the other until much later when they finally agreed to ask each other out after a fateful day.

though Perseus mellowed out and marked the end of what his friends called his “Emo phase”. It wasn't the same for Kianna.

sure, she still was the same woman Perseus fell in love with. but, inside her heart brew sorrow, regret, resentment, and a deep, deep sense of loss. Sometimes Perseus wonders if he’s the only reason she hasn’t broken yet.

The Aging watchmaker had earned many scars in his days. but physical scars can heal…mental scars, those are way harder.

Kianna had earned in 10 years mental scars that Perseus had earned in body scars in 30 years.

it doesn't help when a reminder of one of the saddest days in your life walks into your store and happily waves at you.

Perseus managed to make peace with it. thanks to his old line of work. sadly these kinds of things were commonplace to him, but not everyone has a suit of armor around their heart.

He was on a mission right now, but what he wouldn’t give to just go back and hug his wife.

“Don’t worry, i’ll get to the bottom of this, and then you'll be getting the biggest hug ever. Remember, you don’t get a sunrise without a sunset first.”

Kianna didn’t say anything but he did hear a few sniffles. “Love you, honey. keep me updated.”

“Love you too honey. Perseus out.”

Perseus sighed. taking out a picture from his pocket on it, were three kids. One with red eyes and white hair, who flashed a wide grin. to his side was a boy with Purple hair and purple eyes who wore glasses who smiled as they gave eachother a fistbump while looking at the camera, and to the right of that boy was a girl with heterochromatic eyes who smiled, sticking her tongue out as she pointed a finger gun fowards.

“Wherever you are, old friend, I hope you’re kicking ass. you crazy bastard.” he whispered to no one in particular as he stared into hollow zero.

“If only you knew what happened on this side while you were away.”

Perseus leapt from building to building. running across the city skyline illuminated by moonlight. it was time to run some errands.

He took out a pocket watch and opened it. spinning the hands counterclockwise until both hands stopped on 12 and he heard a click. the dial of the watch gave way to a small radar. which emanate a *ping* sound.

and the first thing on his list, get an old change of clothes.

—

Wise arrived right on time. giving himself one final check up.

He greeted the clerk, asking for a reservation under his name.

“It’s right here, please follow me!”

He followed the man through the busy restaurant and Wise could’ve sworn he saw a few familiar faces, but he paid it no mind. sitting at a large table. Wise took out his pocket watch looking over his new good luck charm.

Lycaon and Rina at least worked on the same team. Wise and Zhu yuan was a different story. they were both on opposite sides of the law. if she found out who he was, she still wouldn’t be happy about it.

Even if he tried to think about it, Wise was gonna have to tell her the truth one day.

even if he hoped that day was far away…

“I have a gift for… Wise!” The clerk returned with a small but beautiful bouquet of flowers.

“I don’t remember ordering flowers though…”

“It was a gift from a certain Sir Von Lycaon. I was told to drop it off at precisely this time.”

That Lycaon… he really had contacts everywhere. Lycaon was maybe one of Wise’s most trusted friends. in a strange way, Wise and Belle considered their agents like one big crazy family. and it was comforting that so many of them had his and Belle’s back.

Almost like the good old days, except way better.

Wise read the note attached on the side of the bouquet, it read:

Just be yourself, Wise. Everything will be okay.

P.s Ellen wants me to tell you that she “worked her ass off” to get you these flowers and that you should “Better make it count.”

It’s her way of thanking you for helping Corin.

Regards, Victoria Housekeeping.

Suddenly, Wise saw her.

She was wearing a more casual look then her police uniform, but he could never mistake that black hair tied in a ponytail with  red-orange streaks in it. When she saw wise she shyly greeted him as she sat down at the table.

“I uhm.. like the suit, it looks really good on you.” Zhu Yuan shyly complimented

“Thanks, I wanted to wear something a bit more special for our date tonight… We haven't gone on many dates officially  so I wanted this one to at least be special.”

Zhu yuan blushed.

“Should I have… brought something better to wear?”

Wise reassured her “No no, you look great the way you are.”

Zhu took a seat in front of wise as she let out a huge breath.

“hard day at work? want some water?”

Zhu yuan accepted the glass. “Yeah, I've been working on a big case.”

A big case? Maybe there was a way for him to help with that. He had a reputation as a virtuous proxy to uphold.

“Can you fill me in on the details?”

“Well supposedly he’s a notorious criminal, but were still looking into his activities. he’s quite famous on interknot.”

Wise leans forwards. “Go on…”

“We don't know who they are but they are a proxy, and my higher-ups want him arrested.”

Wise reached for his glass. “Sounds like a handful. can you tell me more?”

“They are sneaky, they managed to avoid NEPS for years. We thought we cornered them a few months ago. but they set us up. we got word that they resumed their activities a while back”

Hmmm… an elusive proxy who escaped the law… recently returned to the interknot? Could this be the “Eclipse” Eous mentioned?”

“You know…” Wise began to take a sip from his water. “If you need help tracking this guy down, I could help. Do you know their name?”

“They’re called Phaeton,” Zhu yuan plainly stated.

Phaeton, huh. That's almost like… Wait a second-

Realization choked Wise in the throat, as he spat out the water he was drinking.

The NEPS was investigating him.

His Girlfriend was investigating him.

he didn’t just have a reputation to upkeep anymore, he had an account to save and a sister to keep out of jail.

“Wise? are you okay?!”

“I’m fine.” He coughed. “Just took a bit by surprise, Phaeton is a legend on the interknot.”

“How do you know?”

Damn it!

“Oh you know, they’re popular enough that everyone’s heard of them.”

Wise was unsure if that counted as lying or hyping him and belle up.

“and what’s the reason for their popularity?” Zhu yuan asked while raising an eyebrow

I have to learn how to stop digging my own grave…

“Oh well, they’re hailed as “paragons” ( Ego much, Wise?) for one.”

“You sure seem to know alot about them, for a video manager…”

Wise was on the verge of screaming internally.

(Bad Boys, Bad boys, whatchu gonna do when they come for you?)

It was his ringtone for Seth.

“It’s Seth. Zhu ,You mind if i-”

“No, go for it.”

“Hey Seth, I'm a little busy right now. What's up?”

“Hey, Manager! Well I'm down at the HIA. I'm hunting down a notorious proxy called Phaeton and I need your help. What do you say, up for a team-up? i could ask Zhu to put you on the team as consultant-”

“Seth, Seth, I’ll call you back, ok? I’m on a date with Zhu yuan, okay?”

“WAIT YOU’RE DATING THE CAPI-”

Wise hung up before he could finish the sentence. Okay, Seth was on the team of people investigating him and belle.

This just got worse.

A whole lot worse.
—

“ Now playing: In the Air tonight,”  Perseus heard through his ear piece.

Perseus was running across the skyline of New eridu. it was one of his favorite activities to do in his exile. it was a pastime he had to give up for a while, but running across the night, with the moon glowing as the only light was a special feeling that just couldn’t be described.

At night, everyone was asleep, and no one went on rooftops. This was Perseus’s happy place. a place where only like-minded individuals came to, while the problems stayed below, always in his sights.

Sprinting through the skyline, Perseus took out his pocket watch turned radar. His “Contact" was getting close.

Finally, he made it to the rendez-vous point.

A serene rooftop, but this one was special. there was a calming aura that Perseus just couldn’t describe. a soothing air… one he didn’t visit often.

He heard the sound of whirring engines get near him. Ah, right on time. As always.

“Lycaon, my student. it’s been a while.”

The tall wolf thiren was hunched over. carrying a weight on his back, dropping a little girl wearing a maid dress with mint green hair tied in twin-tails who cowered at the sight of Perseus.

“Ah… that must be your daughter I've heard Kianna tell me about.” Perseus mused aloud

“Corin, please meet my Master, and the founder of Victoria Housekeeping.”

Perseus undid his collar. kneeling in front of her, revealing a scraggly beard barely concealing a wide scar on his face.

“Pleasure to meet you Corin. Your dad told me alot about you.”

“It’s a pleasure, mister…” The little maid anxiously bowed.

“We were out on an Evening stroll when I received your summons, master. How may i be of service?” Lycaon took a bow.

“Well for starters, how are your two other ‘’protégées?’’  Have they made progress in the case?”

“Not much so far. but they have risen back to the top of the rankings on inter-knot once more.”

This got Perseus’ attention. Legendary Proxies? and this quickly? That could be bad news. Most legendary proxies didn’t live long enough to bask in their glory.

Most legendary proxies became high-priority targets. That's why it was rare when one made it to the top.

Perseus should know, he witnessed all those legends disappear in the night. one by one.
Few were still alive, but that was only because they went silent.

“This could be bad. If they’re at the top of the rankings, that’s gonna bring a lot of attention to them. both good and bad.”

Perseus took out a chewing gum.

Perseus had seen it all. He had been the witness to many things, including the darkest day in inter-knot history.

There are many names for the day the Old Capital fell.

The Fall.

The Hollow Zero Disaster.

But there’s a third one. known only to it’s rare survivors.

The Proxy Purge.

A day Perseus would never forget. not as long as he drew breath.

All those brave souls… massacred.

Almost every legend met the same fate.

But not Perseus.

He was still standing. That was a blessing.

But he watched the rest of them fall everytime a new one rose. That was his curse.

But… that changed, however.

This Phaeton. At first he didn’t think much of them. but then he heard of the reputation they garnered, a “virtuous” proxy. Perseus didn’t care much. A bunch of people can pretend to be anyone on inter-knot.

But as they rose through the ranks, their popularity only grew, and Joyous began investigating them. turns out they were the real deal. Taking down hollow raiders, carrying rescue missions in the hollows, aiding law enforcement it almost felt like watching his career on repeat.

HIs interest grew more when he discovered they didn’t enter the hollows, instead a bangboo was the one carrying out the proxy work.

Only a few people could do that, and he knew one person who could very well.

But it couldn’t be her. She went missing the day the old capital fell.

He continued to observe them. and slowly pieced together that Phaeton was ran by two people. He held the realization to himself for a while, observing their actions.

Over two years he witnessed the birth of a kindred spirit. someone who understood the essence of being a proxy. He was there when he saw the Account vanished, and while he thought it was going to be another bitter reminder of the purge… The rumors never ended. and he witnessed Phaeton’s rise twice.

And what could fortune his students now happened to be their attendants.

But when he learnt that they were working the “sacrifice” case and all the pieces fell together.

An HDD? Check.

A bangboo entering the hollows? Double check.

It’s no coincidence that this bangboo was very likely to be Eous, who just so happened to accompany Lycaon’s daughter to pick up the watches

That led Perseus to one conclusion.

Phaeton was Wise and Belle, Carol’s adopted kids.

He had to say, he was impressed. but this was dangerous work. Especially For those two. If their identities were compromised and they were found out to be students of the guilty… Perseus wasn’t sure they were coming out of New Eridu in one piece.

But they did earn that title of legend twice, So he was willing to see how they were gonna pull themselves out of this.

“It’s quite possible the order has their sights on them… have you heard the word online?”

“Indeed I have, They are under investigation by the NEPS. A Colleague of mine informed me that the case was given to the Janus Precinct.”

“Of course… Brick for Brains’ district.”

“Master?”

“I’ll explain another time, old friend. but right now i have a request: I think i need the old coat back”

“Ha! I knew it! you weren’t investigating, you just wanted your old coat back!” Kianna exclaimed in Perseus’s earpiece.

“Not now, Honey…” Perseus muttered through his teeth

Lycaon chuckled and took a bow. “As my master requests, it shall be done. This is but a simple task for Victoria Housekeeping.

“How soon can I expect my old coat back?” Perseus asked

“No less than 2 hours.”

“I’ll be back here in two hours, then.” Perseus said. “That should give some time to investigate what I want in the meantime.”

Lycaon took a bow, followed by Corin.

“Take care, Lycaon. Oh, and you too Corin. I hope you enjoy the new pocket watches.”

Perseus leapt into the night, heading for places only known to him, while Corin looked to her Wolf dad in confusion.

 
“Sorry, it was Seth. He was asking if I wanted to join the case as a consultant. But we can talk about that later.”

“Oh sure, i was gonna ask you anyway but- ahh sorry… probably shouldn’t bring work up, ohh..”

“Hey it’s ok, we can talk about all this later, let’s just enjoy our time together and relax a bit.”

“Good evening,” A familiar voice called.

When Wise looked to his side he was surprised to find Ellen as his waitress.
Even more surprising, she looked in good spirits.

“My name is Ellen and I'll be your waitress tonight, can I take your order?” she recited winking at Wise, looking wide awake.

“So what will our lovely couple here have?”

Though thoroughly confused, Wise was… reassured that Ellen was his waitress. It didn't feel like third wheeling, but more like she had his back. He placed his order which Ellen was meticulous to note down, even asking twice to make sure she got it right.

Was this really Ellen, or some secret twin he didn’t know of?

“While we wait for our meal… What have you been up to, Zhu?”

“Well besides the fact that the higher-ups want me to bring in the most legendary proxy in Eridu, I don’t think there’s a lot of stories that could interest you.”

“Well, we’ve got time, and I'm always interested in what my girlfriend does, so why don’t you tell me?”

Ellen made her way across the other tables. Taking orders from her other “clients.”

Clients being the other agents the Phaeton twins worked with. Sprinkled across every table were some workers of Belobog Industries, The Cunning Hares, and even this strange girl wearing a black and orange outfit.

“How's it looking for Romeo?” The girl with red twintails asked, keeping her eyes in the two eye holes she made in her menu.

“Easy sweet pea, they just ordered.” The black haired woman spoke while she looked at her phone while wearing glasses with a big nose.

“Don’t worry Grace, My Bro lives by the Bro code he would never say anything that would put us in trouble.”

“You mean your Drill or Wise?” The red-haired asked her colleague with a deadpan look on her face

The man said nothing as he shoved some popcorn in his mouth to save face, returning to watching Wise through his binoculars

“Hey! Anton, Leave me some!” The red-haired girl complained.

“Don’t worry, Miss President, the Popcorn’s here’s free!”

“Well make sure we don’t miss out,Ben! I’m way too invested in this!”

Ellen decided to leave them be, she was just glad she was doing this for Wise, this was just way too much stuff to deal with.

She went around visiting the other tables, all of which had different people who knew wise and belle.

There was that pink haired girl, that robot who was really loud, the girl who was super quiet, Anby, and the catgirl.

“NIcole, you sure you don’t want to order something? I could see Big Sis if she makes us some food while we wait-”

“Nah, I’d eat popcorn.” She replied, keeping watch on Wise. Her bestie’s love life was Eridu's greatest soap opera, and she never missed an episode. it was mostly Nicole’s idea, first she began by enlisting Belobog’s help to build a restaurant, The cunning hares spread the word, (more specifically to wise), The Sons of Calydon would man the kitchen, she had heard of their business venture called “Cheesetopia” and immediately enlisted their help after the Tour de Inferno. The catering went to Victoria housekeeping. While Lycaon “Showed” no interest in his client’s love life, he did care about him enough to make sure his date went smoothly.

This plan had been months in the making, and if everything went well, this beautiful date would end with a kiss, and Wise having an even stronger relationship with Zhu yuan…and hoping that she never found out who worked with Phaeton or his identity.

“Care to order anything?” Ellen asked back in her monotonous, tired voice.

“Nyope, Jusch Keep the Popcone coming, pwease.” Nicole said with her mouthful

“I’ll take a burger please.” Anby asked

“I’ll take a salmon, please nya!” Nekomata asked.

“Salmond and a burger, got it.”

Ellen went into the kitchen, greeted by the sound of a shrieking blond banshee.

“WHAT ARE YOU?!” The short blond girl screamed while holding another blond girl’s face in between two slices of bread.

“Burnice!”

“NO! AN IDIOT SANDWICH, YOU CRAZY ARSONIST! YOU CAN’T USE NITRO-FUEL TO COOK!”

“But it enhances the flavor!”

“NO IT DOESN’T YOU-” The short one was losing patience. Gripping the sides of her head in frustration. “CAESAR, WHERE’S LIGHTER?!”

“I dunno, He just said he was going for a ride with Belle, wait this is just like the plot of-”

“Hey Lucy… How do you make a hotpot again?” A third… Young?... old? it was hard to tell.

The girl named Lucy sighed… “I’ll be with you in a minute, Piper…”

Poor girl really had her hands full with these guys. “Hey uhhh i got a few more orders…” The Shark thiren placed the list on a nearby desk.

“Just put it here, while I try to stop these idiots from burning this place down… Thank you, uhh?”

“Ellen.”

“Thank you Ellen, I'll be sure to compensate you for your hard work.”

“No prob, I know what it’s like.”

Ah… The HIA… he had many memories of this place… sure it wasn’t as big as it used to be and it wasn’t the guild, but they had a decent VR system and the breakfast here was good…Not as good as Kianna’s though. but still good enough. The HIA also had overnight rooms, so that was incredibly nice. maybe he should come here more often…

“Hello, Welcome to The HIA, Percy. Here to take on Expert mode?” Lyla greeted.

“Not this time, Lyla. I’m here to try on the Battle tower, and maybe renew my credentials.”

“Ohhh thinking of going back to business?” Bertha asked from her corner of the counter.

“More like I need my license for some “independent investigations” if you catch my drift. But I need to see if I still qualify, see if I still got what it takes.”

“Well, You’re in luck. Someone’s made it to the top of the battle tower this time, you got a record to beat for the time.”

This caught Perseus off-guard. “Someone made it to the top?”

“Yup, two Independent Investigators much like you. They've been climbing the ranks and making a name for themselves here!” Bertha explained

“Well… This should be interesting, can you tell me more?”

“Most files are classified, so sadly you’d have to be an Ace investigator to access these files…” Bertha began typing on her computer, pulling up his file. “And technically, you could, you have enough points on your license to apply for Ace, what’s stopping you?”

Perseus let out a dry laugh. “There’s only one man who truly earned that title, and that’s our founder.
“You could be the next Joyous if you became Ace, you’ve got the track record for it!”

“Joyous was a trailblazer to both Investigators and Proxies. he did things his own way, I’m not looking to be Joyous 2, The sequel, I'm content being an Elite, if some up-and-coming Investigator has the guts to go for it, let ‘em. Some investigators here got a bright future, if they want their shots at being Aces, My records will be the milestone they aim to surpass.”

“Nice speech honey, stayed up all night writing it?” He heard Kianna mock him in his ear.

“I’ll set up the simulator, why don’t you go get something? I’ll call you when the simulator’s ready.”

Perseus went upstairs greeted to the soft ambiance of the Cafe-like restaurant. It reminded him of the bar the Old guild had. He missed it, but hey, he was at a video game club, can’t expect them to serve alcohol here…

He quickly spotted two Pubsec officers.

“We’ve been searching all day and we haven't found anything about Phaeton! How are we supposed to find him…”

Damn… Seems he found the guys after Phaeton. NEPS must be looking to see if he’s an independent investigator, if they played their cards well, they’ll likely have set up an alternative account. it’s what he and Kianna did, together they had 70 alternative accounts in the event of an emergency.

“Something troubling you, officers?” Perseus beckoned

“We’re looking for a Proxy named Phaeton, Have you heard of them?” The rather Young-looking officier with green hair in twin tails.

“Maybe i do, maybe i don’t, depends who’s asking” Perseus replied

“We are.” Seth replied

“Who’s we?” Perseus didn’t expect much from that question, but he had to test the waters.

“Depends who’s asking”

….Oh he’d been waiting for another shot at this.

“I am”

“Who’s I?” The officer replied.

“Depends who’s asking.”

“We-” His colleague stopped him from further asking questions. Shame, He was wondering if he could beat his record on the “depends who’s asking loop”

“We’re looking for a Proxy by the name of Phaeton, do you know something about them? we believe them to be working for The HIA”

“Yeah I might know a thing or two about them… but I don't see what could interest public security.”

“Please! Tell us!” Seth was practically begging “They are a notorious criminal and they need to be brought to justice.”

Perseus took a sip from his drink. “and what crimes have they committed?”

“Illegal entry in the hollows-”

“And? can you charge a citizen who fell in a hollow with Illegal entry in the hollows?”

“That’s not the same-”

“Oh but it is. Tell me, do you call entering a hollow to save someone a crime? Can you truly say Phaeton is a criminal if you have no established records or proof of their supposed “criminal activities” ?”

“But there a proxy-”

“And? Being a proxy isn’t about who committed the most crimes for fake Inter-knot points.Everyone who takes up the mantle of Proxy has a reason.That’s both good and bad. Joyous was Hailed as a Voidhunter yet he entered the divine maze illegally, without his superiors’ approval, yet came back out with the first carrot, which led to us being able to understand how hollows work.”

The green haired girl looked to her cat eared colleague, she seemed to be waiting for his rebuttal but it didn’t come

“Some people think Investigators are the real successors of Joyous’s legacy, But the truth is both Proxies and Investigators are his successors. Proxies operate with total freedom, and build maps for themselves to give onto others.”

“And they misuse that freedom by being Hollow raiders. How could someone like Joyous be hailed as a voidhunter if he did it without authorization?! How could someone be proud of having Proxies for a legacy?!”

“Are you Joyous?” Perseus asked.

“What?”

“I said: Are you Joyous?”

The cat-eared officer looked away “What does he have to do with this?”

“Everything, now answer me honestly kid, Are, You, Joyous” Perseus said with an edge in his voice.

“No.”

“Then how can you claim to understand his legacy when you aren’t even a part of it? Were you there, the day Joyous returned from the Divine maze? Were you there to see the aspiring investigators who looked up to him? Were you there the day the first legendary proxies became official?”

“No…”

“Then how can you even begin to think you understand the meaning of Joyous’s legacy?”

“I…” The cat-eared officer wanted to say something, but abstained.

“Tell you what, Kid. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders. How about we solve this the only way I know how… with a bet. We go in the VR system, and we take on any simulations and see who beats it the fastest. If you win, I come clean and i tell you everything you want to know on Phaeton.

“and if i lose?”

“You’ll have to catch him the old fashioned way, by yourself.”

“Deal.” The Catboy replied without hesitation.

“You sure, kid? I don’t want to brag, but I’m not exactly a trainee investigator.”

“I can’t back down from a challenge, you know a lot and I need to win, but if I lose I want to add another condition.”

Adding something to losing? an interesting gambit, not one many people would do.

“If I lose, you have to tell me more about Joyous.”

Perseus pondered for a moment.”Alright kid, let’s see what you’re worth. Excuse me, little lady? Can I borrow 6 dennies from you?”

“May I ask why?”

“I just need some ammo, that’s all.”

The officer obliged. Handing Perseus 6 dennies.

“Thank you kindly, little lady.”
Guess The Battle tower was gonna have to wait, he had to make sure the Pubsec kid  knew who he was messing with.

—
Zhu yuan was laughing “and then they kept repeating it for a whole 10 minutes! and by the time we came back, He was Still repeating this loop of ‘depends who’s asking..’! we had time to catch our perp, and he was still at it!”

Wise was in tears “yeah… that sounds like Seth alright!”

Zhu wiped a tear from her face. “That was the highlight of me and Quinyi’s day.” She placed her hand on Wise's hand. “Thanks for this… I don’t remember the last time I had dinner out like this.. much less with… someone that isn’t my mom or dad.”

“I’m just happy our schedules aligned and that I got you on a day off. I like spending time with you.”

“Me too… I love how honest you are… with you I can actually be myself, and not a pubsec officer 24/7.”

“ Same here, I actually get to feel normal with you. I can forget I'm a Proxy and that you’re the Cop assigned to chasing me down.” Wise thought to himself.

“I do my best to be honest. Enjoyed the Hotpot?” Wise asked

“I did. Though I won't lie, it did have a lot of cheese…”

“Oh you noticed that too? and somehow I can't help but feel watched…”

“You think so?” Zhu asked. “Should I.. Intervene?”

“No.. I don’t think so.”

Wise looked around. and somehow he could feel like a bunch of eyes were on him… and was he crazy or did he hear popcorn?

…eh probably nothing.

Unbeknownst to him, a familiar rat thiren was watching her favorite live soap opera unfold from the shadowy safety of the air ducts.

“So what’s the challenge?”

“Well Catboy, before we begin, why don’t you give your name?”

“Seth, Seth Lowell.”

“Pleased to meet you Seth, Name’s Perseus Kalsana. I’m an independant Elite investigator.” Perseus offered a handshake.

“Pleased to meet you, So, about the challenge?”

“Alright, I'll cut to the chase.” Perseus clapped his hands, and a Thanatos appeared in the digital space.

“See that Thanatos? We’re gonna get one try each to take down one in the shortest time possible.”

“That’s it? no catch? No tying one hand behind my back? or doing it on one foot?”

“You want me to make it harder? sure-”

“Nonononono! I was just joking!”

“Ha! Relax kid, I’m not a masochist. Use whatever means you want. I don’t care about the result, only the effort. if you impress me, i might be able to give you a piece of info.”

Are you sure about this? Perseus heard Kianna in his earpiece

“Don’t worry about a thing, Just make sure you hit ‘record’ when it’s my turn.” He looked at the six dennies in the palm of his hand. It had been a while since he tried this little trick.

He watched as Seth fought the thanatos, using a baton to attack the ethereal and using a Electric riot shield to protect himself. Most people would have trouble carrying that shield around, let alone jump with it, But Perseus was impressed with how quick he reacted.His greatest strength came when he merged the Baton and the shield to create a electric blade, couple with his feline reflexes, a few changes to his overall approach could make a net positive difference in his arsenal.

“A minute 30, not bad kid, that’s an S in my book.”

“Not bad, huh?”

“Better then most rookies, which isn’t saying a lot, but it’s commendable effort. I’m nowhere near your level.”

“Backing down?” Seth challenged with a smirk.

“Don’t rest on your laurels, kid. I still have my turn to go through.”

Perseus checked his handgun’s chamber. Emptying the gun save for one bullet. That’s all he allowed himself for this.

“You don’t mind if I raise the stakes for myself a bit? Thought i’d give myself a little challenge.”

Seth obliged respectfully.

With only one bullet in his gun, Perseus let the thanatos take one step. before throwing the six dennies in the air, and shooting in the air.

The bullet ricocheted from one denny to another, before hitting the Ethereal in his core, ending the fight right then and there, leaving Seth in absolute awe.

“Like I said kid, I'm nowhere near your level, I’m 10 levels past it.” Perseus said walking over to the flabbergasted Officier, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Who…Are you?”

“Told you, Name’s Perseus, I’m just the guy who chooses to stay an Elite Investigator instead of going Ace. Here’s my card if you ever want to take me up on my offer, you did lose our bet, after all.”

“Wait! can’t you teach me now?”

“I would, But not today kid. I have errands to run. I’ll pass by the HIA tomorrow if you want, I’d love to chat over a coffee.”

“I know a great place near sixth street!”

“Sixth street? Haven’t been there in a while…Alright, I’ll contact you.”

“Sounds like a plan!”

“Someone’s taking their loss with dignity…” Perseus remarked

“How can I be mad when I just witnessed the coolest thing ever!?”

“There’s a trick to it, wanna know?”

“Please!”

“Practice and get good.” Perseus said blankly as he left the simulator, handing back The officer her spare change and leaving the HIA.

“I am never letting you live this one down seth.” Quinyi stated, finishing the recording.

“YOU RECORDED IT?”

“Yup, and I'm sending this to Wise and Belle.”

“Oh come on!”

Perseus chuckled to himself as he returned to the front office.
“So? still up to par?”

“Like always, Percy, and you still qualify for the position of Ace. Just a few more things and here you go! Your Elite Independent Investigator License is reinstated!”

“Thank you kindly, Bertha. I’ll come by tomorrow to take on the battle tower, I need to see who managed to beat the Ace’s score himself.”

“It’ll be set up by tomorrow!”



“Perfect,” Perseus turned to the two other pubsec officers.”Well officers, I’ll have to get going. Please have a good evening.”

“Thank you mister Perseus!” Seth waved.

“Cheers, kid.”

“Well, I should get going. I have a lot of work tomorrow…” Zhu yawned

“Yeah… I need sleep too… Unless work calls in…”

“You work night shifts?”

“Something like that, but I'm under NDA I can’t say much..”

“...You’re not hiding anything, are you?” Zhu asked.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing to worry about.” Wise lied, Kissing the top of her forehead to comfort her.

“Okay.. I trust you…” Zhu kissed him on the lips. leaving wise a bit in shock.It felt like he just got splashed by cold water.

“ Wow. that was… Wow”

For a brief second he thought he heard Billy scream “Let’s go!” but it was probably his imagination.

Zhu’s face went redder than a tomato. Wise took her by the hand and began leading her back to the car.

“Thanks for the date Wise, I… Really enjoyed it.” Zhu told him honestly.

“So did I. …I love you Zhu.”

“Me too, Wise. I…Love you a lot actually.” She told him with a blush.

“Stay safe, ok? I’ll call you about the consultant offer tomorrow.”

Wise saw her off as he headed for his car. The night was still relatively young, he still had time to spare. Maybe he could go for a coffee to stay awake, something told him Roland was going to call him real soon.

And then there was the matter with Professor Arche and his diary. Man, he really had his hands full today and tomorrow.

However when he reached random play, he noticed a Defense Force Solider stationed at the door.

…Yup. his night had just started, from the look of it.

Chapter Text

A few Hours ago…

Arche couldn’t help but smile on the inside, his new allies he had made for himself were quite competent, Elysia could be proud of the soldiers she trained. they worked well together and looked after one another.

How nostalgic.

For 10 long years, Arche had wandered and fought in Hollow Zero alone, he had faced many ethreals, corrupted beings and creatures one could only witness in thier darkest nightmares.

His self-imposed exile in Hollow zero first led him to believe it was a battle ground he could only escape in two ways. By destroying Hollow zero, or by dying to the hands of whatever crawled in this hollow.

But… Time changed him.

What he considered a prison quickly turned into a place to experiment. Being the first man to enter a hollow does come with a heavy toll, but also some pretty neat benefits.

The early years made it seem like an incurable corruption, slowly and painfully sheding away his human form in favor of something else. But Arche now sees it for what it is…

Refinement.

A process that the Order is desperately trying to master. One he can’t let them master.

When he fully became a living flame, he accepted the fact that he was no longer human, but that didn’t mean he lost what made him human. He could still feel emotions, recall the past, make memories. his human form merely came with some added benefits.

It took a long time to learn how to wield this new power. He discovered that his body wasn’t mutated in the same way as a common ethereal, but he could willingly turn into nearly anything.

The bane of his existence became his most versatile weapon.

In his early years, he fought all sorts of ethereals, looking for new blueprints to experiment, building himself an arsenal of weapons in a short amount of time. It did take a lot of mental fortitude to will the corruption into shapes, but instead of trying to control it in a specific way, he let it go. Letting the weapon take shape by itself at first.

It wasn’t easy, but he made it work.

On top of having the ability to control his corruption, Arche also had his fire ether he could use. In his early days, he and Joyous had regular sparring matches, so hand-to-hand combat was something Arche Specialized in.

He was an Avid learner, which meant he also learnt how to “Throw hands” as Joyous called it. But the real fun of it was incorporating Fire into his attacks.

His opinion on his “Incurable illness” shifted.

This refinement was fascinating.

Another aspect of his corruption was discovering what truly made the hollows tick. Sure, Arche had earned his Voidhunter Medal by being the one who discovered their common traits, that’s what on the papers.

But the truth, like the Hollows, goes far deeper.

Hollows… are almost like living things. In a way.

They sing.

and to those willing to listen and sing back, they harmonize together in a strange melody.

From Chaos emerges Harmony and that Harmony leads to Understanding.

Understanding the secret of the Hollows.

Arche had founded the basis to this theory with Carol, but being what he called a “Refined Being” made him understand this so much better.

The hollows played a strange yet beautiful melody and it led him to understand fissures better.

Soon everywhere became a concert, a constant orchestra of ethereal music accompanying him wherever he went. The Hollows now had an audience, and he was free to move about them as he pleased.

This realm of Exile, became a realm of Wonders to him.

But of course, it wasn’t all fun and games.

The defense force seems to think Nineveh is the most dangerous ethereal on record right now.

They couldn’t be more wrong.

Sure, She was a persistent Weed, But compared to the demons Arche fought? She is as harmless as a flower.

Arche had faced far worse.

He had to make sure the other swarms knew their place.

“What now, Professor?” A member of the Flamechasers asked breaking him from his thoughts

“Keep pressing onwards, my friends! Nineveh’s almost at her limit!” He cheered.

His “students” pressed on, Fire and Ether mixing together from all sorts of weapons, be it swords, guns, bows, lances, it was a sight to behold.

He could sense it. NIneveh was growing more tired.

It was time to end this long, long fight.

Amidst the cacophony and chaos, Arche fought his way through the remaining ethreals until he made his way to the top of the same ruined building that gave me a clear shot of Nineveh.

For years that flower had tormented the Proffessor, and today was the day he was closest to earning a victory on Nineveh.

All the voices…

All the sickness…

All of the pain…

Can finally rest, Today.

The fire in his heart had never glowed brighter, his flaming head igniting in a lavender blaze, Arche recreated his Flamehacker and Jumped towards the Symbiotic swarm letting out a scream as he brought the weapon down from over his head, striking at the swarm withall the might he can bear, landing with a trail of fire, Arche caught his breath.

When the dust settled. Nineveh began to retreat. Although Arche would be enraged at the sight, today’s accomplishments, thanks to his new “Students” , was more then enough to satisfy the professor’s expectation, and soothe the raging flame inside him.

“You win for now, you pollen-making menace.” Arche spoke outloud as his Flamehacker disappeared. He quickly found himself surrounded by the flamechaser who looked to him in admiration, asking how he managed to do what he did.

Arche answered as many questions as he could, though he failed in slaying Nineveh, he did push her back, and save the flamechaser’s lives who in turn helped him take down one of his greatest foes.

That was something to be proud of.

The sight of being bombarded by questions wasn’t a new one, he was always eager to answer his student’s questions back in his younger days, the sight was a nostalgic one, despite the gloomy setting.

“What now, Professor?”

“Nineveh’s heading towards the lost void, Convenient. I believe the sources of our problems lies there too.” Arche said pacing around the area.

Those ethreals definitely had higher sentience. Nineveh was unaffected on account of being a swarm. but he could feel something in the hollow, if ether activity was getting this higher that could mean that-

Arche paused, the situation was dire. left unchecked, this could mark the expansion of Hollow Zero.

and he can’t let that happen, ever again.

“I must again thank you all truly for your help. Fighting alongside all of you has been an experience i will cherish.” Arche looked to the Flamechasers with gratitude 

“Let us come with you, Professor! We can be of help!”

“I appreciate but you all need rest. you fought Nineveh with all your might
, and you’ve been a greater help then i could have ever hoped, Elysia would be proud.”

Arche turned away from the Flamechasers, whistling to create a fissure to the deeper regions of the hollow.

“Again, I thank you my friends. I will see you all soon.”

“Wait, Professor!” one of the soldiers stepped foward. “Before you leave, i have a letter from lady Elysia.” He handed the letter to the professor, who stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the name of his oldest friend. 

He turned around, taking the letter from the solider’s hand to read it.

My Dear Arche.

It’s been ten years since you left for hollow zero and i figured i’d recap what you’re missing out on. hoping that this is the letter that you will finally read.
Well, as you know when you left us, we all had to go our separate ways. Joyous figured  it was best if we made ourselves scarce when your academy fell. Joyous used the divine maze to cover his tracks. Sunny stepped down from being Ceo of Marcel group, it was televised, and I don’t think i’ve seen her this heartbroken. Swordsmaster disappeared shortly after. saying she wasn’t worthy to hold Tailless anymore… Dan felt something similar. Telling us how he failed our mission and Vike… Well, we don’t talk as much, but I think she’s still the last remaining Original Voidhunter on duty…

As for me, well. Joyous told me to go into a sort of Exile like he did. But you don’t need to worry. Before I left, I made sure to make sure you always had one way to return home. The Flamechasers are at your disposal. (yes, i named them after our old team name. :P)
As for me, I’m out here living my best life, just like I always do. I might’ve stepped down as leader, but my successor’s been fulfilling my duty quite well. I should know, i’m the one who taught him!

…There’s trouble brewing on this side, Arche. There’s corruption growing in New Eridu and we can only do so much to stave it off. we’re forced to watch from the sidelines, but even then we still fight, we always have, and we always will. But the world needs you again old friend, I need you. I know of all people that the world hurt you, misunderstood you, and didn’t blame you for something you believe to be responsible. I know that some of us… turned their backs on you when we shouldn’t have.

But I haven't.

I still believe in you. I always have and always will.

I hope to see you return one day, and until that day, promise to keep up our promise; fight for all that’s beautiful in this world.

I miss you, Bestie.

Elysia Falkenhayn

“Elly…” Arche Whispered.

She really had a talent with words. it’s no wonder she was a leader.

“Professor?”

“Tell me… do you know where she is?”

“I’m sorry sir. that’s highly confidential, only our current leader has such intel.”

“Well tell him to relay this message: Professor Phoebus Arche is coming back Alive from Hollow Zero.”

The smiles that he saw on the flamechasers faces was everything.

“I leave it to you, See you soon my friends”

Back to the present…

“Okay… who had ‘Zhu Yuan Blushes’ on their bingo card?” Nicole asks

A few people raised their hands.

“Okay…” Nicole notes down the raised hands

This date had been a rousing success, but it was also a reminder that they were all playing a dangerous game. not as dangerous as this Bingo game, but it served as a reminder that Wise dating a Pubsec officer was a very bold tactic.

On one hand if she was privy to the truth, it could be a great asset for all and any future commissions… and maybe wiping off a few records of tax fraud from her record.

But on the other hand, it could also lead to Wise’s arrest.

And that was something that always lingered at the back of her head.

Losing her bestie.

But they had contingencies. If Wise or Belle got arrested alone. as long as one Sibling remains, they can still access the HDD.

If Wise and Belle got captured, Securing the HDD was the most important thing.

If the HDD itself was seized, that was okay. the portable HDD could still work.

Eous was of course very important, and Belle and Wise had regularly drilled him to run to Nicole for help in the event of an emergency.

But the one thing they could never plan for was the HDD’s destruction. it was the key to their entire operation and… it didn’t sit well with Nicole that she could make no contingency for that.

It was a dangerous game, but she played dangerous games all the time, and this one happens to be her favorite and one she fully intends to win.

Of course if Wise’s identity did cause him to break up with Zhu Yuan, well… She could think of a few options for him. some of them were at this table, and it had the potential to be the greatest episode of Bachelor of all time.

“I had ‘Lucy screaming; IT SHOULD’VE BEEN ME, NOT HER!” Caesar asked, quoting Lucy dramatically causing the strategist of the Son of Calydon to turn beat red. berating the new Acting Overlord.

“I had Wise slowly gets grilled about Phaeton.” Koleda anounced

“Anyone else got that? Nicole asks

Everyone raises their hands, save Lucy who was being held back by Billy to make sure she doesn't use her whip.

“Okay…” She notes it down. “Anyone had ‘‘someone gets found out’’?”

Ellen, Koleda, Grace and Anby raised thier hands.

“So that’s four people with little faith..” Nicole muttered to herself as she noted down the results.

“You have a thing for running on top of buildings don’t you?”  Kianna asked in Perseus’s ear.

Truth be told Perseus’s late night excursions and investigations were one of the only ways he could move about in Eridu. Truly moving about. There was something so freeing about working at night that he loved ever since he was a kid, the secrecy, the quiet, the peace it brought him. working in the shadows to make this city a better place by day. Far away from the noise of people.

But he did bring it on itself, in a way.

When he and Kianna weren’t Watchmakers Perseus slowly learnt to enjoy the company of people who weren’t in his close circle. but ever since the fall of the old capital that changed. A man like him would’ve probably returned to his old ways of his own volition, but Perseus was forced to, in a way. He fulfilled his  younger self’s wish, but he’s been through enough to not be phased by it anymore, he has his wife, their bangboo “son” and it’s not all bad after all.

“Hey, it’s cool as heck and it lets me avoid people. That’s a plus in my book, Sweetheart.”

After his little display at the HIA, Perseus made his way across the city. With his License as Investigator reinstated that means he was free to enter the Hollow “legally”. Not that he necessarily cared if he entered a hollow illegally or not he lost count how many times he went in a hollow without his license, but tackling Hollow zero was official business, he didn’t want to waste time at the outpost with the needless bureaucracy, so he had to get creative to enter the Mother of all Hollows.      

“By the way, feeling like watching a movie tonight after i’m done with this? You get to pick this time.”

Yeah, Sure let’s just finish this first. I could go for a movie night. I think Zero wants to watch one too-

“ Kill the Noise. i’m picking something up.” Perseus knelt down.

“Mr independent investigator Wise?” The researcher asked.

“That’s me, yes. Can I help you?”

“Okay phew! I'm Charlie, from the White Star Institute. I've been assigned to the special research team at Scott Outpost. I apologize for the abruptness of my visit, but the matter is urgent. Officer Ray has gone missing. Your presence is required at Scott Outpost immediately.”

“Two days ago, She announced that you were her sole designated contact if anything happened to her. And the next day, she went missing. I’ll have to divulge the rest once we’re at the outpost.’’

Seems his night really was just starting.

‘’Let me grab a coffee and some things, and we’ll head over immediately.”

“heard that, babe?”

“ Hang on, I’ll look it up.”

Seems Perseus’s night just got more interesting. A missing Professor? A familiar tale to the watchmaker. Maybe it was a good idea he got reinstated.

“Look up what you can, I’ll make my way to the outpost.”

“On foot?”

“Honey, you know better than to underestimate me.”

Perseus continued his run across the skyline of New Eridu. He had recorded anomalous activity in Hollow zero sometimes, but to ask the help of an independent investigator that just so happened to be a legendary proxy? Roland either has his hands full, or Wise and Belle played their cards very well to hide their info. Might as well see if Carol’s kids are up to the task. It was a long way from sixth streets to the Outpost, But Perseus knew his way around both Eridu and the Hollows.

He cut through the Dead end Hollow, Passing through the old tunnel. if he wasn’t mistaken the Hollow had recently shifted therefore there should be a fissure nearby. Running the data with his wife, he rode the passing train before jumping into a fissure.

Falling from the sky, he ran along the side of a tilted building. using his grappling hook on a loose piece of scaffolding he swung into the next fissure which sent him crashing through a window in the Ballet twins Hollows.

“Alright Honey, where next?”

“Down two floors, Fissure on your left, Ethereal activity is high though so be careful, You’re looking at a Thanatos and a Dullahan.”

“Small fry. Got it.”

He heard his wife snort. “Yeah, cause to you almost any ethereal that isn’t a swarm is small fry.”

“Semantics.” he said without missing a beat, as he slid down the ramp of the stairs, loading his gun.

Once he made it to the targeted floor, The twin ethreals spotted him. roaring at him before charging at him.

Unbothered, Perseus yawned, Checked his pocket watch to confirm how much time left before he could get his old coat from Lycaon. he still had time, but he may as well change their rendez-vous point. “Yeah I got time to deal with you.” he told the ethereals

He calmly walked towards the Ethereals, spinning his gun with one finger, randomly shooting a stray bullet towards a corrupted vase. The Bullet Jumped across the room, from right to left changing angles going up and down.

Perseus merely looked around the room for the fissure as if he was looking for a lost item ignoring the bullet and ethereals.

“Ah there it is.” He said he found the fissure just as the bullet hit its mark, piercing Thanatos's core.

“ Honey-”

Without looking, Perseus shot another bullet straight at the Dullahan without looking.

“You were saying?”

“nothing.”

Perseus smirked, entering the fissure, reaching ever closer to his goal.

With most of Eridu crossed in a matter of minutes, he finally arrived at Scott Outpost. The place was in full swing from the looks of it. Whatever is going in Hollow Zero is big. Very big.

He showed the guard his Investigator License, who cleared him in. Seems he arrived before the kid. might as well get up to speed with Roland and tell Lycaon to meet him here.

He noticed a Young man with black hair and a bow, a tall woman with pink hair, and an Oni chatting.

They called in Section 6 too, so it seems. It’s dire enough to call in a Voidhunter.

Voidhunter… Man that name brought back memories.

“And the winner of tonight’s Zhuwise bingo is….!” Nicole announced before her phone unceremoniously rang.

“Wiseyyyy how’re you doing? You need something? my services are- Oh! Uh-huh? oh ho?! oooo… Uh-huh. Got it. Be right there, bestie.”

She turned to her impatient audience, Sorry everyone business called, We’re needed in Hollow zero. we’ll post the results in the group chat… Tomorrow!” She said running to the door.

“Cunning hares!? Move out!”

Anby, Billy and Nekomata dashed out of the table, following their boss to the car in a hurry. “NO WAIT NICOLE NOT THIS FAST-” They heard Billy scream as car tires screeched and sped off in the distance

“Anyone had Nicole gets arrested By Zhu Yuan on their card?” Koleda asks
 
“I did! And hey look at that, Bingo! That still counts right?” Caesar asked.

Wise was holding Eous in his arms as he watched soldiers everywhere preparing for something. The base was in full swing.

“Please follow me to the briefing room.”

Wise and Eous were lead into a room, where the members of section 6 were waiting, Miyabi formally greeted him with a handshake, before she pulled him in close.

“Have you found any leads on Arche?” She whispered

“None so far… everything about him seems to be locked down. i haven’t been able to find much on him. And You?

“Not alot, only materials pertaining to his research, if you want i could ask for info on him, I have the clearance of a voidhunter.”

“That’d be useful, thank you Miss Miyabi.”

“Don’t mention it, We are both searching for the truth, after all.”

“Please excuse my tardiness.” A voice proclaimed.

“And you are?” Miyabi asked.

“Perseus Kalsana. Elite Independent Investigator, I’ve been given clearance to assist in this mission.” The man named Perseus responded as he shook hands with everyone, even Soukaku and Wise.

“I’m Wise, an Independent Investigator as well. Pleasure to work with you, mister..?”

“Just call me Perseus, Kid. I don’t stand on ceremony. I stand on business. what’s your rank, by the way?”

“I’m an Ace. but i’m hardly qualified to be one… Joyous wears that title better than me or my sister ever could.”

“Humble. I like your style, kid. Well since you’re an Ace, that makes me your subordinate. Make Joyous proud, Ace.

The way this man said Ace, It felt like Wise had received the highest praise ever, but he couldn’t tell why. there was something.. familiar about this man…

“Who’s the bangboo behind you?” Perseus asked looking at Wise’s legs

“That’s my baby brother, Eous. say hi, buddy!”

Eous stepped out from behind Wise’s legs, happily waving at the man.

You haven’t changed a bit, sunshine… Perseus thought to himself.

“Cute scarf, little guy.” Perseus said as he knelt to the bangboo to give him a high five.

Suddenly they heard four people run in.

“Perseus, meet my team of agents and long-time colleagues,and friends. Nicole of the Cunning Hares, Professional debt collector, and tax evader. Billy kid, Starlight Knights biggest fan, Anby, professional Burger Enjoyer and Nekomata. Watch your wallet with her.”


Perseus smirked. “You’re a colorful bunch.”

“Came as soon as we could, Wise. Although… You think we could crash at your place tonight? in case one of the cops following us might’ve been your girlfriend?”

“...You went over the speed limit to get here didn’t you?”

“Whaaat? Noooo!” Nicole lied through her teeth as naturally as she was in debt.

“She did. the whole trip.” Anby said plainly.

As the group began bickering Perseus laughed to himself. His night definitely got a lot more interesting. The Legendary Proxy Phaeton leading an independent investigation team of agents who happens to be borderline criminals? That was a legacy Joyous would be proud of. A perfect testament to his work.

“Independent Investigator Wise, Are you sure your team of agents are up to task?” Yanagi asked. “I hardly think someone with a criminal record would be fit for a rescue mission. given what happened last time.” she said, looking at Nicole.

Wise, Billy and Harumasa all took a sharp inhale of air.

“Oh, Does Little miss class president want to go?!” Nicole said, letting her fury build up.

“Nicole…” Wise and Billy warned.

“You’ll be the one leaving the room here I think.” Yanagi adjusted her glasses.

“Ladies you can’t fight in here, this is the war room!” Wise joked to attempt to de-escalate the situation.

“Ha! Good reference, kid.” Perseus said.

“I just received clearance from my superiors, which means you are now all officially part of this search-and-rescue operation.  It's urgent, so I'll be brief.” Charlie brought all the attention to her as she walked into the briefing room

Officer Ray has been monitoring the abnormal Ether in Zone A17, where activity recently spiked and exhibited unusually intense fluctuations.  That area's terrain is pretty treacherous, with lots of missing survey teams — it's known as the "Lost Void."

“I did some investigations there, a nasty place to find yourself in. she’d better be doing something worth the risk, that’s not a place you go there for sightseeing.” Perseus interjected

“Officer Ray had been persistently applying for permission to investigate the Anomaly Zone to obtain information first-hand. She said that if her hypotheses were correct, the area could potentially become a source of serious trouble.”

“What do you mean?” Wise asked.

“Officer Ray didn't tell me. She had been requesting a detailed investigation of that area, but for some reason, the institute never issued an approval. She seemed quite frustrated about it. Then, during a recent routine investigation, she suddenly insisted on personally leading a team into Hollow Zero. Before departing, she spoke to Captain Roland and asked him to prepare for the worst.

“What’s the worst case scenario here?”  Perseus asked plainly

“The Expansion of Hollow Zero.” Charlie responded hesitantly

A sudden chill filled the room. Glances exchanged themselves, each harboring a story related to the mother of all hollows, to some it was disaster, others, loss.

But to all present, they all felt fear.

“High stakes for a rescue mission.” Perseus calmly replied. “What are our assets?”

Capitain Roland has issued you a H.D.D from the White Star Institute. you’ll be working alongside Ace Investigator Wise and chart a path in the Hollow for Section six and Wise’s team all the way to the Lost Void.”

“So you’re asking us to be Proxies?” Perseus asked

“That’s one way of looking at it,yes.”

Perseus shared a smile to Wise. “I’m more then familiar with that line of work.” Wise would feel afraid, but he felt a strange sense of camaraderie in Perseus. He called it his Proxy Intuition.
“It's been two days since we lost contact with her. Captain Roland has sent out search teams, but there have been some strange developments with the nearby Ethereals.” Charlie supplied. “I've discussed the rescue operation with Captain Roland in great detail. You can ask him about the specifics.”

“Sounds like we got our hands full tonight, Ace. Hope you had a coffee.” Perseus said as he got up with Wise.

“Definitely sounds like it. I’m guessing this isn’t the first time you’ve had to take on this kind of mission?” Wise asked as they walked along the base

“Not at all. I’ve even been on worse ones, i had to map out a hollow alone once. but we can save stories for later, Let's gear up, Kid.”

“I know i’m technically your superior in this Operation Perseus, But rank doesn’t matter to me in this, You seem to have a good idea on how to take on this kind of mission.”

“In my book, Experience outranks everything, Kid.” Perseus replied.

“Then you definitely outrank me.” Wise Humbly replied, Causing Perseus to let out a hearty laugh.

“I like you, Kid, I feel like we’re gonna get along just fine you and I.”

Chapter Text

“So,” Perseus poured a cup of coffee he handed to Wise “Tell me, kid. how did you end up roped into this mess?” he asked as he sat in his chair.

“I lead regular investigations in Hollow zero, you could say me and my sister have our reasons…”

“Looking to reach the Old Capital?” Perseus asked

“how did you-” Wise was about to ask

“It's not hard to guess, kid. Most people aren’t exactly in this for the money. much like our missing professor who pulled an Arche.”

“Pulled an Arche?” Wise asked

“Disappearing in hollow zero to search for the truth? That's what I call pulling an Arche.”

“Well let’s hope it takes us less then 10 years to find her.” Wise joked as he took a sip of his coffee.

“You seem well-versed in your history, kid.” Perseus commented as he took a seat at the HDD.

“I.. Was around before the capital fell. I lost many people, all i have left as a reminder is Eous and my sister and my HDD.”

“You have a Hollow Deep Dive system?” Perseus asked. “That’s an old piece of tech. Back then it used to be the standard for trainee investigators and proxies alike.”

Wise’s body jolted. “Relax, Kid. What happens in this base, stays here. I know enough of my history to know Proxies are a far cry from who they once were.”

“You know the history of Proxies, Sir?”

“Kid, I was there when Joyous returned from the divine maze, I was a witness to their rise. I should know, I was among the ones Joyous himself taught.”

Perseus had Wise’s full attention. “Where did you train?”

“Oh I wasn’t exactly a Proxy, kid. But I wasn’t an investigator completely. Much like Joyous. I picked up tricks on both sides. So I know my way around an HDD.”

“Are you sure you aren’t Joyous?” Wise asked jokingly.

“Ha! I wish! …Proxies always fascinated me, you know? I was there when Joyous trained the first legendary Proxies, the carriers of a proud and noble legacy. I’m sure you’ve heard of some, right?”

“I have, but i don’t want to say too much. No one’s heard of the other legendary proxies on inter-knot since…”

“The purge.” The duo said in unison. sharing a somber look.

“So you were there too kid?”

Screams and gunshot surfaced in Wise’s memory. the sound of alarms, the sound of hollows and monsters merging in a cacophony of sound that made no sense.Perseus saw it all in Wise’s eyes.

“You’re one of them, aren’t you? One of the lucky ones that got away?”

Wise couldn’t hide it whoever this perseus was, he knew.
“Yeah… so you were there when-”

“I wasn’t on the frontlines, but i was there to see them all murdered. I’ll never unhear those screams, kid. I’ll never forget the face Joyous made while he watched on.”

“Joyous was there?”

“He was… we… arrived around the same time. but by then it was a losing battle. A battle they still fought to the end. they hunted us down, kid. one by one. forced to hide away from the world and today’s proxies are the bastardization of who they once were,,.” Perseus explained and lamented

Seems Wise had found another one of the lucky ones. “How did you get away, why didn’t you stay and fight?”

“Joyous didn’t let me. He told me, as long as one of us makes it out and lives to tell the tale, it wasn’t in vain. He shoved me away from an explosion. I watched the helios academy consumed slowly in a hollow, i don’t remember everything that happened but when i came too I was standing in the rubble. Alone, Injured, but Alive.”


“But there’s still one proxy in this city that truly understands the essence of being a proxy.”

“Who?”

“Phaeton. I don’t know much about them but let me tell you kid, Phaeton is in my eyes the only true Proxy left in new eridu. they are the closest to Joyous’s legacy than anyone else. If Joyous was still around, He’d be damn proud of them.”

Wise was screaming internally. This was the validation of years of work in a single phrase.

“Anyways… Ready to run the maze?”

“Run the Maze?”

“A little expression Joyous coined with his students.”

Perseus explains to Wise a few of the traditions that proxies followed that Joyous coined before they were lost to time, As wise listened on he could tell perseus had been a witness to Joyous’s legacy. They set up their HDD’s perpendicular from each other. The walls of their tent were lit with television screens.
“HDD’s set up on my end. how’s yours, kid?”

“It should be coming up soon. We will be ready to depart for the lost void shortly. Just gotta calibrate it now….” Wise typed some lines of code into the hdd screen as he entered the data of the lost void, The HDD ran a few calculations before beeping sound told him everything was ready.

“HDD is calibrated. We're ready to go.”

“Alright then, let’s go check up on Roland.”

They returned to the briefing room. far more crowded then it was before Soliders were standing at attention. Nicole waved them over, and the two investigators took a seat down.

“Thank you all for coming, let me explain today’s mission. Our Mission Objective is too head into the depths of the Lost Void for a rescue mission.” Roland switched the picture to one of Ray.

“This is our target. We’ve managed to retrieve her signal in the depths of the lost void. Sadly this isn’t all we have to worry about. Our Professor’s disappearance was only the first sign of things getting worse, as she had accurately predicted that the Lost Void’s activity would spike. The ethreals have launched ambushes on our equipment, and we have reason to believe this string of attacks is deliberate. they’ve been targeting vital infrastructure, attacked and overrun several outposts and disrupted our hollow observation data system.”

Roland showed a map of the area. with several Xs scattered across. The situation became more and more dire the more Roland spoke. Wise shared a look with Nicole. Money grabbing Nicole took the day off, Serious Agent Nicole was in the building now. He noticed Anby had a sharper focus then usual.

“Each of these Xs you see, is an overrun outpost. That's 10 bases that have been overrun in the surrounding region. As if things couldn’t be worse, We also have confirmation that the ethereal swarm Nineveh has retreated from the withering gardens in an unprecedented display. she seems to be retreating from a powerful Ether signature that has been following her and making retreat into the depths.”


The screen changed yet again to display an array of images, each depicting the Symbiotic Swarm hovering above the rubbles of a ruined outpost.

“This unknown signature complicates matters, although unconfirmed at this time, it seems we won’t have to worry about Ether Activity rising in the Garden. The Lost Void’s activity however, has grown far beyond Ray’s calculations. Even more bizarre is that this Etheric signature has been spotted near a few of our outposts. I've received scattered reports claiming that, whatever it is, was defending them from the incoming swarm of ethereals.”

Roland crossed his arms behind his back as he stepped across the tent. “Due to the nature of the current situation, all routine cleanup operations have been suspended. The unnaturally intelligent ethereals have been disrupting most, if not all, of our operations. The only operation that I will not be suspending is the Shiyu Defense, as the pillar is vital to our survival.”

“NEDF soldiers, you are to be tasked with guarding and preparing for an all-assault on the incoming horde. You will be our bastion against them. Independent Investigators Wise and Perseus, you two have been assigned as guides for Hollow Special Operation Section 6. You are to navigate the teams through the Lost Void to cut off the head of this beast and rid us of this menace.” "Be advised, due to the etheric energies and corruption brewing in the center of the void, we have reasons to believe that a powerful ethereal is attempting to reach the outer edges of the Void. We lack data on it and therefore we can’t be sure which one it is. All that we can say at this time is that it is categorized as dangerous. If possible, avoid any and all contact with it. Understood?”

Wise and Perseus both gave Roland a curt nod as murmurs filled the tent. Roland cleared his throat, silencing the tent before pointing at the screen as a new picture appeared. Wise's eyes grew in shock as she stared at a nightmarish scene. A powerful storm of red clouds surrounding an urban area as spacetime and reality could be seen bending and distorting.

“To prevent the descent of this being, our analysts have identified 3 targets that will allow us to lower the level of ether long enough to stave off the arrival of this swarm.” A display of the three targets flashed on the screen, gasps rippled across the audience as some of those present recognized the monsters.

“Before you are: Thanatos, Corrupted Overlord, and the Dead End Butcher. The increase in ether activity has caused them to undergo a higher level of mutations. We are now designating them as Notorious-Class threats. Thanatos is known to become a Notorious-class threat as indicated in our records. However, this is the first time we’ve witnessed both the Overlord and the Butcher reach this threat level.”

The screen flickered as it swapped to a video feed showing the Overlord's corrupted form mutating. It leapt into the air before diving down, destroying his bike as he became enveloped in fiery red aura as if struggling to hold on to something.

The white colors across his body faded out, replaced with a blood red as he let out a powerful roar radiating with energy. Even if the proud Overlord had turned into a monster, Wise could still see the fragments of the man he once was. He turned to Perseus who's brows were furrowed as he seemed to be deep in thought. The next feed however, would probably give Wise nightmares for the next few days to come.



He watched in horror as Butcher mutated in front of him, roaring and thrashing at the soldiers, killing some of them on the spot. Its arms shot out as it grabbed some of the soldiers before raising them up high and smashing them into the ground, leaving behind a bloody pile of flesh. Roars echoed across the field and shook the camera feed as it’s body mutated and crystallized. Its makeshift weapon grew in size while tumor-like growths sprouted from its back, transforming into another set of arms before the Butcher itself lunged at the camera.

“This mission may be perilous for you, but unfortunately the risks of us doing nothing are too high for us to call it off. If we fail in this operation, Hollow zero may expand and the Lost void area will remain out of our reach." Slamming on the desk and leaning over, Roland's voice boomed throughout the room "I promise you all, if worst comes to worst. That will be the least of our worries."

A light cough could be heard as Perseus raised his hand. “Captain Roland, a suggestion if you're willing?”

“Go on, I’m listening, Perseus.”

“I’ve looked over the data while you were talking and I’ve been able to chart a route to the ethereals.” Perseus explained.

“I know most of you seem to think this is a suicide mission, and I won’t lie to you all, it is. But in the long forgotten era of a few years ago, I'm sure many of you heard that Joyous ran through the divine maze alone with nothing but a bangboo. And against the odds, he came back out of it with the first carrot ever made.”

“Yeah but Joyous was a Voidhunter! He did that alone!” A voice cried out from the audience. "What makes you think we could do that???"

“Even if we aren’t. Look around the room. Look at those around you, you all have been chosen for this mission for a reason. Sure, the threat before us is big, but by you being in this room. That? That shows your bravery and the trust of those who selected you to see this mission through.”

Perseus looked across the room, gesturing with a sweeping arm. “You all have the skills.”

He looked to Section Six. "Especially you four."

“The wits.” He turned to Wise and his agents.

“And most of all, the very same bravery that Joyous had before he gave humanity a fighting chance against these all-consuming hellscapes." Clenching his fist in front of him before swinging his arm out and with a florish of his coat Perseus declared. "Now let’s go out there, stare death in the face and tell it to fuck off and come later when it’s really earned us.”

The room was silent. no one dared speak a word. Looks were exchanged, each saying the thousands of unspoken words no one dared to say. Unrtill, Miyabi broke the silence.

“I’m with you, Perseus.” She spoke at last. “It takes bravery to inspire people. You have my sword and the whole of Section six at your command.”

Perseus smiled. “Can I count on you, kid?

Wise smiled, and the cunning hares showed their support.

“Perseus! Perseus! Perseus!” Someone chanted.

Soon enough the whole room began to chant his name. Much like his predecessor Joyous had given the people of Eridu hope, and today Perseus had done the same.

“Alright people settle down. Me and the Ace Over here will chart you all a map. Be ready for deployment, we leave at the earliest. Come on kid, we got work to do.”

Both Ace and Elite left the room, returning to their HDDs to begin plotting the route into the lost void. The two of them worked in incredible tandem together. bouncing off each other in a way not unlike when Belle and Wise worked together.

“Alright, seems the targets haven’t moved from their general locations. That’s good for us.” Perseus said as he typed something on the HDD.

They had informed Roland of their plans for the current course of action. Perseus had the idea of tracing ‘lines’ towards the target through the void.

“Good, that should let me plot out a general path to the throne…”

Wise finished typing the rest of his calculations, before leaning back into his chair stretching as he let Fairy finish the work.

“You’re pretty good at inspiring people, Perseus... Wish i could do that”

“Believe me, it comes with experience, kid. Sometimes you just say what you really think and it works, but I have my wife to thank for that.”

Wise sat up straight as he shot Perseus a bewildered look. "Wait!? You’re married!?”

“Surprised? Yeah, I'm married to the most beautiful, kindest, smartest woman in the whole world. She was an independent investigator like me."  Perseus leaned back into his chair, weaving his fingers behind his head. "Man, if only you had seen us in our younger day, we bickered to no end. Some people couldn’t tell if we wanted to kill each other or kiss each other. In a way our independent investigations led us to becoming codependent of each other.”

“That... must be nice… I just wish I could say the same for my girlfriend.”

“You got girl troubles, kid?”

“More like troubles on my end… *sigh* She… doesn’t know i’m working at the outpost. I mean, I run a video rental business, but I also… take after Joyous.”

“Ah… I see… you're a full blown Proxy?” Perseus surmised.

“Best one in the business. or so they say. She… doesn’t know and I’m scared of the day she will. she.. doesn’t hold them in the highest regard…” Wise muttered

“I see…”

“Does your wife know?”

Perseus shrugged. “We worked in the same business, and we both knew Joyous. can’t be of much help, kid.” he took a sip of coffee.

“Thanks Perseus.”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it kid, if you want, we can talk about it after this mission, let's just focus on getting this done.”

Wise and Perseus worked tirelessly to create a map based off the data shared by Roland. Wise didn’t have a lot to go off of. But Perseus was mapping the route to the hollows like he was Joyous. even Wise had to stop and stare at the speed he was doing it, and he didn’t even barely look at the calculations. It was impressive.

With the combined efforts of Perseus, Wise, and Fairy. The Carrot data was completed.

“It’s finally done.” Wise said holding a Carrot in his hand

“You should be proud, Kid.” Perseus said, juggling his Carrot data in one hand. “What you did there, is the true essence of being a Proxy.”

“What do you mean by that?” Wise asks, raising an eyebrow, amused.

“Proxies are Mapmakers, Kid. That much is true and it's never changed. but it’s the reason why that matters. They make maps to help people navigate the hollows. a beacon to guide their clients home. By making a map for yourself, you carry on a proud legacy. Joyous made his own map without any help. if you make your own map, you’ve got the means to stand beside the greats. What really matters is your reason and who you aid. so, Kid. Why did you make that map?”

“To guide my friends, and the people who are counting on us home. But the real reason i’m doing this… is to find the truth behind why the capital fell. It's what me and my team are hoping to do.”

Perseus smirked. “Yeah well, That’s the mission Joyous assigned me before he disappeared. If you want to talk, let me know. I’ve only recently re-entered the business, but I don't mind helping you… Phaethon. Relax kid, I’m not gonna report you or anything. Meeting you here was a coincidence, nothing more. Besides, I’m a proxy too.”

“What’s your Proxy handle?” Wise asked, a little suspicious.

“Eclipse.”

Wise’s blood froze.

A Legendary proxy reached out to him.

“Pleasure seeing you face to face, Phaeton.” He offered a handshake with a sincere smile.

Wise more than gladly took it.

“Let’s show 'em how real proxies do it.” Perseus told him, his handshake on Wise still firm.

Morale was at its highest. Wise was confident in their success, he now had a kindred spirit with him. Perseus’s speech must’ve gotten to him because despite the danger looming ahead, he felt no fear. He had a responsibility to get everyone home. but he felt like this would be fine, challenging, but fine.

Eventually, they regrouped with section six who was discussing the best course of action through the hollow. Perseus was listening in on the conversation.

“We’ll pass through points A12 to A15 and then after having regrouped with the investigation teams we’ll begin by running a general survey of the area…”

“That’s all well and good, if we had the time.” Perseus interrupted

“Pardon?”

“Apologies Miss Tsukishiro. but we don’t exactly have time to survey the area ourselves. we’ll have to aim directly for the throne. we don’t have time to follow procedure.”

Wise listened in on the conversation, and while he understood Yanagi’s concerns, he also understood Perseus’s side as well. Time was of the essence and every second spent arguing was a second closer to disaster.

“Independent Investigator, what do you think?” Yanagi asked him

“I think Perseus is right, we don’t exactly have time to survey the areas, but thanks to the data in these carrots we have a precise idea of what awaits us in there. It’s a bold plan i know, but this mission needs to be led by the boldest people there is. I may not have worked with Perseus long, but his skills in map-making are on par with and even surpass mine.”

Wise felt Perseus’s firm hand on his shoulder. a sign he supported his way of thinking.

“I believe in his skills as much as yours.” he said.

“In that case..” Yanagi raised her glasses

“I have faith in Wise’s judgement,Yanagi.” Miyabi spoke. “I’ve seen his skills first-hand. if not for him i might not even be here. If he says this to be the best course of action, and Perseus supports us. then that’s all i need to hear.”

Perseus gave a small nudge with his elbow to Wise. “See kid? just say what you think.”

“If that’s settled, are we ready to depart?” Yanagi asked with a smile

as if on cue, Nicole and the cunning hares showed up.
“Sorry we’re late! Okay what did we miss?” Nicole asked with excitement.

“The entire thing. I could learn from you, Nicole of the cunning hares.” Miyabi spoke

“Miya, save it for when we get home… and pass me your notes-” Harumasa began before getting elbowed by Yanagi.

Yanagi was skeptical of Nicole’s skills, bringing up her… colorful past and their recent altercations. which Wise couldn’t help but feel was either to stir the pot or genuine remarks. Either way it was getting to Nicole and she was not making any effort to hide it. Nekomata and Anby restrained her. much to the exasperation of her dear Proxy.

“Someone talking smack to the deputy chief, glad i didn’t take the sick leave today.” Asaba snickered

“and i can’t believe there’s someone who managed to get under Nicole’s skin this badly!” Billy commented.

Yanagi and Nicole both glared at their respective assistants, promptly shutting them up. Perseus dragged Wise out of the imminent warzone. He then started considering if he shouldn’t have called in Calydon instead, or maybe Belobog… But when he looked over to Nicole arguing, he still knew she and the cunning hares were the right people for the job.

They were one of Phaeton’s first commissioners and closest friends, they had the skills to back up their talk and excuse their debt.

“Alright Kid, how about you leave guiding Section 6 to me, you take care of the colorful bunch. cause i have a feeling that Miss Tsukishiro and Bubblegum hair are gonna be a dangerous combination together… Did they know each other or something?”

Wise sighed. “Long story…”

Roland made his way to the group. “Independent investigation team, Section 6, The chopper is ready.”

“Mr Kalsana, a word please?” Yanagi called Perseus over to where section six was.

“Wise! Get over here, Now!” Nicole called.

Nicole gathered everyone in a group huddle. “Okay guys, there is a lot at stake here. So whatever you do, don’t make us look bad. I am not losing to miss class president!”

“Nicole, I know you have some weird grudge against her. But remember what’s at stake here. people are counting on us, we don’t have time to let emotions get in the way.” Wise looked at the rest of the people in the huddle.

“Same goes for you three, okay?”

“Understood.” Anby responded

“You got it, Manager!” Billy affirmed.

“No problems here, Nya!”

“Alright team, Let’s do what we do best. I’ll contact you once you get to the lost void.”

Everyone left the huddle, save for Nicole who looked a little down. it was unusual to see her without a smile or an idea in the back of her head. Knowing her, she must’ve been feeling a little down because of Yanagi's words.

“You okay?” he asked

“Yeah I’m just grateful you picked us for this mission, I mean you have Agents that are way better than me or the cunning hares, so…”

Ah so this is what this was about? Inadequacy. Strangely enough, this was not the first time this conversation had come up between them. But even Wise understood where she came from, being orphaned twice and having to scam your way through the streets isn’t exactly easy.

Wise and Belle understood that well, having to start from scratch is hard. Phaeton wasn't an overnight sensation. they had spent a lot of time getting the HDD up and running again, and having to build their entire tape collection just to keep the shop running was harder too.

They all started somewhere, and Gentle House was one of Phaeton’s first clients and true friends.

“Nicole. Do you know why I picked you for this mission?”

“A way for me to pay my debts?”

Wise chuckled. “No, although I'm willing to discuss that.” He stopped joking when Nicole pouted. “Kidding, Kidding. I picked you because you’re smart, capable, and i’ve worked with you long enough to know that you and the Cunning Hares can do anything as long as you got the crazy plans for it.”

Wise trusted Nicole. Even if she didn’t pay her debts in time, her heart was as big as her debt. She believed in Phaeton in their early days and Wise and Belle could not be thankful enough for it, even if they would appreciate her showing it in the form of monetary payment, they let it slide because of all that she did for them.

“And who else but you is allowed to look after Eous while I’m away?”

At the mere mention of his name, Eous popped up from who knows where. Waving at Nicole. he jumped in front of her, hopping up and down asking for attention.

“What is it?” Nicole chuckled.

“Eh-nah! Eh-ne!” (Uppies! I want Uppies!)

Nicole carried him in her arms, letting him sit on her shoulder. The sight gave Wise a chuckle.

“I’ll go set up the HDD. I’ll be in contact in the Hollow.” He told her.

“Thanks Wise… for… believing in me.” Nicole thanked as she received a little hug from Eous.

“Don’t mention it. Thanks for Believing in Me and Belle. Nicole. I mean it. Now come on, let’s go get this commission done.”

Nicole gave him a wink, while Wise watched as she left with his baby brother on her shoulder towards the Helicopter..

“Ready to make Joyous proud, Kid?” He felt a hand on his shoulder.

He looked to his side to see Perseus looking at him. He nodded and the two set off to the tent where their HDD’s awaited.

Perseus booted his HDD at the same time as Wise turned on the Bangboo-sync technology that let him control Eous.

He felt a chill run down his body, his eye implants lit up with blue. He could feel the chilly interior of the chopper. Eous’s vision flared up on the HDD. From the HDD he could see the encroaching darkness of the Mother of All Hollows.

The Hollow that ripped everything from him and Belle.

The Hollow that conceals the truth.

The truth he will find.

“See that Kid?” He heard Perseus call from his back. “That’s our objective, and that’s what we're gonna stop. Overwhelmed?”

“Not at all.”

Wise could tell Perseus was smirking behind him, even if he couldn’t see his face.

“Good. Stay sharp kid, scheduled for entry in 5 minutes.”

Someone called for Perseus, who got up from his seat to inspect who wanted to see him. He went away from the tent leaving Wise alone for a bit.
Perseus went to inspect who it was and was pleasant to find it was Lycaon who was carrying a suitcase with him. When he inspected the contents he found exactly what he had been missing for the last 10 years of his life.

His old pitch-black cloak, with its asymmetrical collar, a face mask, his old Voidhunter badge, and his “singing knives.”

“As requested, Master Perseus” Lycaon smiled

Perseus’s mind was racing with nostalgia. inspecting each part of the equipment with care, as if he was meeting with an old friend.

“Lycaon, it’s perfect. it’s all here.”

“Your cloak was ironed out, though i must present my deepest apologies as i was unable to get the smell of smoke off of it. The blades have been polished by yours truly, Your gloves and other gear have been repaired, and of course…”

He presented the Piece de resistance to the Elite investigator.

An Investigator’s license. Slightly worn by time, different from all the current display of the licenses that are currently in circulation. The old logo of the HIA, shining in gold, against the black of  the back of the card with the credentials Ace investigator, Guild Leader Joyous written on the front with a dated picture of Perseus in the top right corner.

Damn… he really looked like a emo vampire back in the day…

“My student, You’ve made your mentor’s day.” ‘Perseus’ said with a bit of emotion in his voice”

“It’s always a pleasure to assist you, Master Joyous.”

“Joyous… that’s name no one’s called me by in a long, long time.”

Joyous was in their mist, and no one was none the wiser. he tucked away the license. even if it wasn’t activated (yet) he thought of keeping it as a memento to bring back home.

“I’ll be putting it to good use soon, I reckon. thank you old friend. Now if you excuse me, I have to go watch over my new protégé.”

Gently closing the suitcase, he walked proudly towards the tent where the HDD was set up.

“Get ready, Perseus. entry in the hollow 2 minutes!” Wise turned to face the “elite” investigator. Oblivious to the fact a living legend stood in front of him in front of him, fixing him with his glowing irises.

“Got it. Thanks, Kid.”

“No problem, it’s an honor to work with you. Perseus.”

If only you knew, kid.  Joyous thought to himself.

“Same here, Kid. We’ll make Joyous proud.”

Chapter Text

Rain.

Joyous always had a connection to rain.

The rain calms and washes away many things. It can wash away dirty things, it replenishes nature, it can calm the rage one could feel, it can hide the tears you cry when no one’s looking your way. It can erase the blood you have on your hands, but it will never truly wash it away.

Nor can it wash away your failures completely. The rain isn’t loud enough to drown out the screams of your students, the sound of footsteps storming an academy.

The rain can do many things, but it cannot truly wash away pain.

Joyous stood in the ruins of the city he loved alone in the rain. it’s not an unfamiliar tale to him either. it rained when he lost his parents, it rained at almost every important moment of his life.When he lost his parents, when he held the bodies of dying investigators in his arms. when he entered the divine maze, and when he stood alone in front of Hollow zero the night it erupted.

Even still, Joyous liked the rain. it followed him everywhere. the clouds gave him shade, and the rain, ambiance.

It was the fitting backdrop to work on late night reports, a time to think, a time to rest, or a time to grieve.

Right now it was time to work. He used to work alone on rainy nights, but tonight is a bit more special. He was working with one of the greatest Proxies on record on an all-out mission to subdue ethreals.

Just like the good old days.

Not the same, but meaningful nonetheless. He was used to working alone, but the rare times where he did work with some felt good. even better knowing  the one who had his back was someone he could trust.

His Adopted daughter’s adopted son.

And Wise was none the wiser.

Joyous and the other Voidhunters had found her in a Hollow. it wasn’t a mission Joyous was going to forget anytime soon. his first mission as a Voidhunter with the rest of the others who held that title.

he… wasn’t privy to remember the details, but the one thing he remembers is how he found Carol. lost and abandoned in the ruins with nowhere else to go. Call it whatever you want, but to Joyous finding Carol… reminded him of himself. the day he lost his parents. no one to look after him.sure it wasn’t easy, in fact it was a hard life. but when he looked at her, he saw himself in her.

He’d be damned if he let a kid suffer the same fate he did.

This was the only time that Ace investigator Joyous had given a hug to someone. He had never been one to show his emotions or outwardly display affection, his Life forced him to make a suit of armor around his heart, lest he wanted to end up dead or betrayed. but that didn’t mean he never showed affection, he had his ways to show he cared about others. his line of work desensitized him to many things, Humanity’s worst traits, Death, and other things.

Carol… reminded him of why he chose the path he did in life. He didn’t go in with the virtuous idea of ending human suffering or what have you, he wasn’t in it for revenge, he was in the business to prevent someone like him from rising up.  

Carol was a ray of sunshine for him. that pierced the rainy landscape of his heart.

Adopting her was the best decision he ever made. He did his best to raise her with Kianna who she quickly grew attached to. Carol was smart, kind, and one thing for sure she took a lot after him. A keen eye for details and much to her adopted mother’s dismay, that infuriating ability to step on the lines she shouldn’t cross.

It’s no wonder she got along well with Arche, too. Sometimes he wondered if he wasn’t her real father with how similar they acted at times.

As much as Carol admired her parents, she admired Arche as well. being part of the first batch of students at the Helios academy. She knew she wanted to become someone who helps people much like her adopted father and that led her to becoming a researcher, turning the Helios academy from her school to her new home.

But that didn’t mean Carol never got her hands dirty. She learnt from Joyous and that was both good and bad. so it’s no surprise when she began to live by the phrase “the end justify the means”

It’s a phrase that Joyous once lived by, some part of him still does, but living by that phrase is very dangerous.

Arche and him are very aware of that. Even today, ten years later.

Joyous had many fond memories of his time with Carol. he would lie if he said it wasn’t some of the most fond memories in his life. Being a father isn’t something he planned on becoming, but neither was a Voidhunter and he did a decent job at that in his opinion.

Maybe even too good of a job, if she took after him as much as Carol did.

As the years went by Arche and Carol began to step on some lines… lines… People like them yearn to cross and people who don't know they shouldn’t.

Joyous isn’t exactly sure in what category he falls, with the amount of lines he stepped on daily.

It rained on that day. The day Carol ran to the Guild to get him using Eous and her HDD. she told him how they were investigating a Hollow and the ether Activity spiked and was risking expansion. When she told him she had lost contact with Arche, he knew he had to rush to the scene.

What he found was one of the worst scenes he had ever seen in his career as an investigator. One he will always remember. one he wishes he wouldn’t but when has the world ever let him forget anything?

On paper it was just a freak accident in a hollow, but for the 8 people who know the truth: it was no freak accident and Joyous learnt how much his daughter took after him and How far his friend was going.

That day, Swordsmaster held a grudge against Arche for reasons Joyous wishes he could condone, but can’t.

He remembers that as the ambulance siren grew quieter in the rain, he watched his daughter stand alone in the rain.

“What a night for rain, huh kid?”

She turned to him with an unreadable expression. standing in the rain, her head already wet.

“You crossed a line, Carol. a dangerous one. a very dangerous one.” he told her calmly as he walked towards her.

“You’re one to talk, dad.” she scoffed ,looking to the side. “Given your job.”

“Why do you think I'm talking to you about this, for the fun of it?”

“I.. We know what we're doing.”

“Weird. The last time Arche told me that,  something blew up in his face and he’s being sent to the hospital as we speak. Come on kiddo, talk to me. I already know about the exaltist texts.”

She turns to look at him fearfully.

“You really think I don't know what that walking fireplace is up to? I've known him longer than you’ve been alive. I know about his experiments”

“Dad, if you’re thinking of stopping me…”

“I never said I was going to stop you, kiddo. I’m the last person who should teach a thing about crossing lines”

Joyous keeps walking towards Carol as the rain keeps falling down. swiping away his cloak to take out an umbrella.

“Feel like taking a walk with your old man?”

Carol sighed. “...Sure.”

The both of them went on a walk across the city. It was one of those things they did alot when she was younger. Outside was neutral ground, it was a place where they could get what was on their mind out.

“Why aren’t you mad at me for what me and Arche are doing?” she asked.

“Arche’s my problem to deal with, I’m talking about you. I’m not mad at you for crossing lines, I’m here to warn you. If you’re thinking of crossing lines more and more, think of the damage you could cause if you mess up, not just to you, but to others as well.”

His daughter stayed silent.

“Why do you keep doing it then?” she asked

“It’s what I do, sadly. I used to not give a damn, but now I actually give one. Do you know why?”

Carol stayed silent waiting for his answer.

“You and your mother.”

“I crossed so many lines over the years and never once thought about the consequences, but as stubborn as your mother was, she made me realize people would care enough to mourn me if I died. but when you came into our lives it made me remember to know when to cross lines.” He placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder. “and when to ask myself if it’s really worth it.”

“Do you think what you’re doing is worth it, Carol?”

“Yes. I do. I believe Arche is onto something, I think we’re close to something great, dad. I owe it to him and to all of you. I’ll find out what happened to him, I know it’s not an easy route but I believe in him.”

“Give it time, you’ll change your tune one day.”

“Sure I will…” Carol rolled her eyes, as Joyous chuckled and pulled her in for a side hug.

“Wait a few years, then we’ll see what you have to say.”

“Suuure, as if I'd end up taking care of some kids.”

“I’m sure you’d be a great mom, kiddo.”

“Dad, my job will likely end up killing me. I don't see myself raising kids.”

“You say that, and yet here I am.”

Carole Laughed. “touché, dad! touché! …Mom gonna kill me, isn’t she?”

“Hey, she’s tried to kill me multiple times over the years and I'm still kicking. Besides, she’ll only kill you if you get caught.”

“What side are you on?!”

“Funny enough, Arche asked me the same question when I told him how I got the funds for the academy. just don’t look in the records and I won't snitch on you.”


Time proved him right, of course. When Wise and Belle came into her life, Joyous saw a change in her. a positive one, one not unlike had happened to him when he had first found her.

Much to his prediction, she was a great mom, and whatever her two “shooting stars” as she called them did to her, made her be far more cautious in her research.

Maybe if they had found them sooner, she would still be around. Still looking after them, still searching for the truth.

Joyous looks on the screen of his HDD as the helicopter gets ready to cross the chasm. the otherworldly blue glow of it’s depths bringing buried memories back to light. Joyous can think about it at a later time. he buried that memory in the chasm for a reason.

He moved on. He moved forward.

Some people just don't know how to.

The helicopter makes contact in Hollow zero. again, it’s still raining. even after all these years the capital remains in shambles just how he left it. now he’s in this urban maze to prevent it from consuming what’s left of his home.

“Ready Perseus?” Wise’s voice brings him back to reality.

“Ready as I’ll be, kid.”

The rain washed away many things. pain, loss, rage, suffering. it washes away many things,but not Joyous’s desire to move forward.

That’s the only way he can go.

Rain.

Arche… wasn’t sure how to feel about rain now.

The rain calms and washes away many things. It can wash away dirty things, it replenishes nature,  But it can’t calm the rage he feels, it can’t hide the tears he’d cried on that night.. It can’t erase the blood you have on your hands, it will never wash it away.

it won’t wash away his failures completely. The rain isn’t loud enough to drown out the screams of your students, the sound of footsteps storming an academy.

The rain can do many things, like put out fires leaving only ash and dust once the rain stops. much like Hollows who leaves ruins and darkness in their wake.

Rain leaves ash and dust behind once it kills a fire. Hollows leaves monsters in their wake. to most people, Ethereals are mindless creatures, or former friends unlucky enough to stay in a hollow too long.

To Arche it’s a reminder of what he fights, what he is, and what he wants.

But as long as Hollows exist, no rain could put out his flames. Never.

“Proffer! can you help me solve this puzzle?” a student asked.

“Of course!” he responds.

He remembers the first days of the academy.


“Professor Arche, thank you again for all your help on containing this Hollow!” A investigator thanks as he shook his hand

“Oh, it was nothing! The Helios academy prides itself on helping others!”

The days that brought him the most joy.


“ PROFESSOR! THEY’VE BREACHED THE GATES!”

“SOUND THE ALARM! CALL THE VOIDHUNTERS!!”

“PROFESSOR! THERE’S TOO MANY OF THEM WE- ARRRRGH!”

“FALL BACK! I’LL HANDLE THEM!”

“YOU WANT MY ACADEMY?! YOU’LL HAVE TO KILL ME BEFORE YOU LAY A FINGER ON THEM!!! ”


And the day when it all fell apart.


It rained when he lost his academy. When his world burned down and his closest colleague and family was taken from him. He wasn’t strong enough to save them, too weak to confess his mistake and foolish enough to dabble in things he shouldn't have.
As he runs through decaying building after decaying building, Arche reaches the remains of a park. One similar to the Helios- no, his home. He makes a small flame in his hand and holds it out.

The rain fizzles out as it falls on the flame. it remains in his hand, unyielding. Always burning. Undying.

He makes it to the remains of the park. He finds it crawling with Ethereals. they all looked aggressive, as if waiting to pounce on him. if they were mindless, they would've already but they were waiting for his first move.

Arche clenches his fist, letting it crystalize as two long horns form in his clenched fist, taking the shape of a bow. Aiming his fist and bow upwards, he makes a small arrow of fire as he looks around at the foolish creatures.

10 energized, 6 ionized, and to his surprise, 3 demonized.

“Lovely weather we’re having, aren't we?!” He calls out as the Ethereals begin to swarm him. Without a moment's notice, he shoots the flaming arrow upwards.


And Fire rains down from the heavens.

Arrows pierce Ethereals. Burning them down as they writhed in pain. Arche kept walking through the rain of scalding arrows, unfazed and undeterred. walking through the park did bring back memories. instead of screaming ethereals he would greet students as he walked towards the academy. greeting the small crowd of students that always wondered what he was up to, instead of standing around a crowd of dying ehtreals who couldn’t reach him even if they tried. meeting their fates at the end of a flaming arrow.

The rain can wash the pain, loss, rage and suffering of others. but it can never truly wash away his.  As long as Hollow Zero exists. His fire will never fade. That’s something he’s okay with.

Amidst a field of burning arrows and smoke, he walks on. Deeper into Hollow Zero, ever closer to the truth.

Arche walks forward, because that’s the only way he could ever go.

Chapter Text

Through his screen Wise sees their entire team land on the ground, Soldiers move about, organizing into teams. This mission was among the most dangerous he had to undertake.

The mission was: Take down Notorious Thanatos, Which shouldn't be too hard. Wise and his team had faced some many times. What worried him more was the fact Pompei had undergone the same mutation.

It wasn’t easy for him to accept Pompey's death. In Wise’s opinion, Corruption was a fate far worse than death. it was commonplace to see in his work, but some Ethreals took on certain traits of their former lives, such was the case with Pompey who managed to corrupt along with his bike.

Losing people to Corruption was never easy for him, especially since the worst day of his life included seeing some of his former friends die and turn into ethereals. He tries to push the screams out of his mind. He can feel traumatised later. He has work to do.

He felt sad knowing he would have to go up against Pompey, but at least Caesar and the rest of Calydon weren’t here. Letting Hollow zero expand was far worse of a fate then putting down the former Overlord of the outer ring again.

At Least he isn’t human anymore. It's a cold confort.

Then there was taking down the Dead-end Butcher, who also undergone the same mutation. it had taken a train laced with explosives just to bring him done the first time around. But Nicole and the Cunning Hares had grown way stronger since then, A Notorious-Class Ethreal was a threat, but one they could overcome.

“Nicole? Are you there? do you read me?”

“Loud and clear, Proxy! Eous is on the ground, you can start moving about now!”

Perseus did a brief recap of the mission parameters: the plan was to, once more, kill Thanatos, Pompei and the Butcher to bring the Ether levels back down and prevent Geppetto’s descent and the expansion of Hollow zero. Wise would be leading the Cunning hares and Perseus would be leading Section 6.

“Alright people, here’s the plan. we’ll pass through the old Janus precinct to reach Thanatos. Miss Tsukishiro, You’ll be taking orders from me, I’ll guide you. Work as if this would be any regular mission. I won’t tell you when to fire. you have free reign.

“Understood. Asaba, scout ahead. Chief? Take care of the ethereals. Soukaku, stay close.”

Asaba sighed. “If I have to.”

“Harumasa, if you perform well, I’ll approuve your long-due Vacation leave.”

Perseus and Wise heard the sounds of an arrow leaving it’s quiver. “Don’t need to ask twice, chief!” before they heard the Bow-wielding agent sprinting.

Keeping tabs on the bow wielding agent through the HDD, the two Proxies began making calculation to determine the best path to Thanatos. “Anby? can you hear me? go ahead with Asaba. Scout ahead and keep us updated if you find anything.”

“Roger.”

“Okay people, while the scouts are feeding us information, we’ll guide you through the Hollow. Nicole, Billy, Nekomata? Same plan as always.”

“Running and Gunning?” Billy asked with excitement.

“Yup just like in Starlight Knights, episode 45 season 2.” Wise confirmed with a smile.

Billy gasped with excitement. “You got it Proxy!”

“Nekomata? you can do anything you want, except steal section 6’s wallets.” Wise softly chastised.

“I wasn’t gonna-”

“Nekomata…”

“...Okay maybe once, but just once, i promise!”

Through Eous’s eyes, WIse looked to her unamused.

“...Okay i won’t…”

“Good. Oh, Nicole?”

Nicole looked to Eous.

“Play nice. remember what’s at stake here.”

“I know. but i’m expecting a discount for this! 20%!”

“10%.” Wise countered.

“15%?” the cunning hare’s leader bargained.

“Deal.”
“If you two are done playing pawn shop, listen up. i’m picking up ether Activity in the area. greater than or equal to Thanatos. Section 6, head for point A16-B.”

“Percy’s right. Follow me guys, i found a fissure that should form soon enough.

With everyone on their way towards the signal. Wise took a sigh as he sipped on his drink. He knew he could count on the Cunning hares to get the job done, but he Hope this little rivalry between Nicole and Yanagi wouldn’t jeoperdize the Mission.

He’d often give them free reign on missions, much like Perseus was doing, to be fair he was also copying Perseus’s style a bit. with so much riding on this and so little energy to spare, he was looking forward to getting some rest once he got home.

Perseus, despite his age, didn’t look tired at all, and Wise was beginning to suspect there was more to “eclipse” than meets the eye.

“Not easy managing your crew ,kid?”

“Not always, but i’ve known them long enough to consider them family. Nicole, despite her money-making ways, has a heart as big as the debt she owes me.”

Wise told Perseus all about the cunning hares, How they met, how they worked and how they became as close as they did. Joyous could see how close they were to each other, it reminded him of his days with the other Voidhunters.

“Did you work with other people, Perseus?”

Joyous snickered. “Tons of em, be more specific.”

“Your closest ones?”

Joyous sighed. “Best way i can describe my closest ones? a group of idiots who just don't know when to quit… and the most loyal friends a man could ask for.”

“Seems… you held them in high regard.”

“I did, even if i didn’t show it often.”

“Where are they now?

“Lost track of most of them sadly. let’s just say we had a big fight and… well i haven’t heard of some of them since the capital fell.” Joyous looked away. taking a sip from his cup.

Lighter and Belle slowly made their way back from blazewood to new Eridu. After an exciting evening of sightseeing and eating at cheesetopia, Belle let her head rest on Lighter’s shoulder as they cross the empty wastes.

Belle wanted to visited the Memorial near the chasm to pay respects to her foster mother and teacher, reliving those memories seemed like a good enough reason to visit. Lighter didn’t say anything, he just decided it was best to let her be. With the Sun longe beneath the horizon, the only thing lighting the way was the headlights from Lighter’s bike and the ghostly blue glow of the Chasm.

Lighter had heard tales on how the Chasm was formed. To prevent Hollow zero from expanding, a series of Shiyu pillars were detonated, resulting in a miracle. The surrounding Area was entirely decimated, however the remains of the blast created a chasm of incorruptible matter. A barrier which kept the remnants of Eridu safe from Hollow Zero.

A land where nothing can corrupt.

As they neared the Chasm, Lighter and Belle headed to the memorial, The flowers that Belle and Wise had brought last time were still there.

The couple didn’t say a word. the only thing to break the silence was the strange whispers coming from the Chasm, it’s presence glowing in the night like a massive wound that could never heal. Bleeding soft blue lights from it’s still unreached depths.

No one has ever reached the depths of the Chasm, those who went in never returned. 

Belle walked towards the stone, her fingers gently passing through the names of her old friends until she made her way to the top of the list.

Carol Arna, Her Teacher and foster mother.

The one the world blames for Hollow Zero.

“Lighter, do you know who Carol Arna is?”

“Is that the same from those…” Lighter begins but stops himself. The last thing he wants is for belle to remember those images that still seem to haunt her.

“Yes, Carol Arna is the one supposedly the one responsible for Hollow zero. She was a brilliant scientist, who worked on many Hollow-related projects, she was the one who created the Bangboo-sync technology for the Hollow deep dive system. Thanks to her, Proxy would be able to dive into the Hollows without even needing to go in. She was a brilliant scientist.”

“Wait… she made the Bangboo sync technology? Aren’t you and your brother the only ones who can go in..to a?” Realization begins to dawn on lighter has he realizes where Belle is going with this.

“Yup… there’s only two versions of the Bangboo sync system, A prototype, and a completed project.” She said her voice starting to break again.

“Why did she give it to you and Wise?” Lighter asks, even though he has a feeling he knows the answer.

“Because Carol Arna isn't just my teacher… she’s also my adoptive mother.”

Lighter had a feeling, Given that Wise had told him a bit about her but to hear it confirmed is… well… it’s something. Belle looked like she was ready to cry again. She must really miss her.

“Yeah… i’m a student of the guilty… But you have to believe me, Lighter! she’s innocent! I-”

Lighter slowly walked up to Belle. Embracing her in a hug.

“Belle, it’s okay. I believe you. Wise told me…” he told  her as rubbing her head with one hand.

“I know what it's like to lose people you care about, and i know it’s not easy to talk about, but can you answer me one question?”

Belle nods.

“Do you believe she’s innocent?”

“Yes.” Belle says firmly despite the tears. “Yes, I do.”

“That’s all i need to hear. I’ve got your back, and Wise’s. if you believe she’s innocent then we’re not resting until we find the truth.”

Belle smiled as she squeezed Lighter a bit tighter. she just took in the much needed hug after reliving the worst day of her life. Lighter was nothing but kind to her, he was supportive, strong and even if he went through a lot, he cared about her. if Lighter was honest, it gave him a reason to live.

Belle took him by Surprise by giving him a kiss. Thanking him.

Suddenly they heard footsteps approach. A steady rhythm where each step seemed to shake the earth itself. In the dark, to glowing red lights gleamed in the distance. each step shook the earth more and more at a hulking silhouette approached.

“Quite rare for this grave to be visited, and as such a time too…” A booming voice spoke.

The towering figure approached from the dark, it seemed to be a construct of sorts, it had a gray body and knight’s helmet with a massive horn protruding in the front, the armor showed signs of wear, scratches and rust besieged it. but the black coat remained pristine as if it had been cleaned recently. on the back of the hulking figure was a massive sheath  for what Lighter could only guess was for an Equally massive sword.

“No need to be scared. I am not looking for a fight, I am only here to grieve.” The figure says, taking out a bouquet of flowers from the inside of their cloak. placing them delicately on the ground as they kneel and offer a prayer.

“Did you also lose someone in Hollow Zero?” Belle asks composing herself after crying.

“A question few could reply no too, young lady. indeed. I’ve lost many friends, siblings in arms, and much more to that dreaded hollow. but perhaps what i’ve lost most… is my honor.”

“Wait… I’ve heard of you. You’re Lieutenant-colonel Dan of the guard of staves! One of the first Voidhunters.” Belle realize as she steps to Lighter’s side.

Dan doesn’t respond. he merely gazes forward  into the beyond.
“That is a title i’ve lost my right to be called by, I am afraid.”

“How come?” Lighter asks.

“Beacause i failed in mission to protect you all. and the chasm is a reminder of that failure to us Voidhunters. A scar that will never heal. A grief… I may never erase.”

“But I thought the Chasm was created by the detonation of Shiyu pillars,” Belle asked, It was common knowledge that pillars were detonated to protect the rest from Eridu from being consumed in the Hollows.

“That is… one aspect of the truth. but in truth, this chasm, is a testament to the grief of two individuals, a grief so immense it shattered the foundations of the world itself..." Dan said as he stared into the ethereal blue glow of the chasm.

The day the Chasm was formed was a dark day for the Voidhunters, and Lieutenant Colonel Dan had witnessed the power that grief and rage can unlock within a human. a power so immense it corrupts you from the inside, perhaps it’s a blessing what lurks inside the chasm is incorruptible, perhaps it’s those same properties that suppressed these same powers and left it’s users on opposing sides of the chasm.

A chasm so vast, a wound so deep, it divided even the Voidhunters amongst themselves.

and they would forever have to bear that failure.

“Who caused it?” Belle asked

Dan turned to her. and spoke.

“On your left, Hoshimi”

As expected, An Ethereal, Specifically the Thanatos they were hunting for had been found. But it  was not alone, During their scouting Anby and Harumasa had found a Dullahan with him, which made things a bit trickier to deal with.

While Wise was busy formulating a strategy with the Hares, Joyous was expertly guiding Section six to victory. Even if they weren’t fighting on the front lines Joyous was impressed at the speed Wise was relaying information to his his agents, he mostly did stay away from the fighting on account of controlling Eous’s body, but his calculations were on par, his database was complete with information on the various ethereals in the region, giving them all an advantage against the Ethereals.

“Proxy, How’s it looking for you on your end, cause there's no end to them in sight!” Billy complained


“It’s okay, just hold them off for a bit longer…Alright, got it.” Wise pulled up the files he collected on Dullahan and Thanatos. Weak to Ice and Ether. Perfect.  “Nicole, good news: Thanatos is Weak to Ether, need i say more?”

Nicole flashed a knowing grin and winked at Eous. “You don’t!”

Despite the fact that Section 6 and the cunning hares didn't exactly get along, Individually they were in-sync with their proxies. Joyous of course thought it best to stir the pot a bit, if his years as a voidhunter had taught him anything a good rivalry was always a good way to get results. 

But even then, Section six was a cut above WIse’s agents. Sure they held their own, but they didn’t have the same synergy as section 6.

“Asaba, Focus your efforts on the stragglers. Hoshimi, Soukaku You’ll both be at the forefront once Thanatos shows up.” Joyous ordered

“Okie-dokie, Percy!”

“Understood. I’ve been training to surpass my previous record in my Thanatos execution training.”

As Wise and Joyous worked to calculate their next move. they watched from their HDD’s as their agents made quick work of the ethereals. although they did notice the two groups limited their interactions, and that may be detrimental.

“Warning, Notorious Class Ethereal detected.” Fairy Warned.

“It's here, Perseus!” Wise warned as he typed something on the HDD.

“And we’re about to make it it’s problem. Section 6, Heads up:  Engage on sight. Sooner we deal with Thanatos, The sooner we get to secure the Area, and get the levels of Ether back to normal.” Joyous ordered the team as he watched the Ether levels in the region rise.

Screens displayed information that began to make Joyous consider if he should enter the Hollow himself. The activity began to make the region attract powerful Ethreals and worse Joyous was beginning to suspect the zone could reach a threshold where Ethreals could start to demonize.

Demonization… A property of the Divine Maze… The first Hollow he ever mapped. how’s that for a Nostalgia trip.

He looked back to Wise… he was giving the job his all, just like his mother. He just hoped he didn’t pick up her horrible sleeping habits as well. He should check up on him once they’re in a safe zone. Last thing he needs is his eye starts bleeding. Carol had a very bad habit of not sleeping until whatever she worked on was done, something Joyous mirrored in his younger days, so fixated on finishing a case or a Hollow report that he would respond with: “I’ll sleep when i’m dead.”
Good thing Carol made him let go of that nasty habit. Joyous guessed it ran in this adopted family of insomniacs.

“Nicole, use ether to trap Thanatos somewhere so section 6 can take care of it. Billy, go ballistic. we need that thing dead. the longer it’s alive the more trouble that spells for us. Anby, Support the others with Nekomata.”

“Wise, Are you okay, you sound…” Nekomata asked.

“I’m fine.” he answered dryly. “Just… been awake for too long…”

“Manager, take it from the Machine that barely sleeps, go get some.”

“We can talk about my sleep schedule when you're all out of this Hollow, for now. let’s just take down Thanatos… I’ll sleep when i’m done.”

Yup, he’s Carol’s kid, alright.

“This isn’t over, you hear me, Wise?” Nicole chastised him. “I’m not having another Cretan Hollow moment with you. Last time that Happened Eous had Nightmares for weeks.”

“I’m fine Nicole, Just need a boost of caffeine that’s all.” Wise said as he took a sip. “Already feeling better. Let's get going.”

Not only was he Carol’s kid, he was reminding Joyous of himself, and for once that’s not something he’s proud to say.

Thanatos Appeared, and was besieged by all sides. Nicole Trapped it in a Black Hole of ether. While Billy shot at it with bullets. it teleported away, disappearing from view. Harumasa stood still surveying the situation with his back to Miyabi.

“Do you sense it?” Miyabi asked, drawing her blade from her sheath.

“He’s near the headphones girl… Just wait for my signal.”

Taking in a deep breath, his quiver shot out an arrow for him as he drew his bow. Clearing his mind as best he could, he ignored the pain growing in his lungs. the crackle of lighting charging as he waited for Thanatos to reemerge.

The second he manifested, Harumasa shot his bow and Miyabi flickered away from his back for a brief moment.

Thanatos was paralyzed as he was slashed by ice-cold strikes of foxfire and electricity.

it teleported again, attempting to attack the two members of Section six, but before it could even strike them, it was parried with a loud CLANG!!! sound.

Yanagi and Anby parried Thanatos’s blade at the same time.

“Good reflexes.” Anby complimented.

“Likewise. Comes with experience.” Yanagi responded with strain as she pushed the organic bow-blade back, causing Thanatos teleported away again.

“I’ll strike it mid-teleportation, can you parry him again?”

“Yes. Thanatos usually strike 2 or three times.”

**CLANG!!!**

“Once he’s down, aim for the core” Anby spoke quickly. Parrying him for the third time as it kneeled down, stunned.

The clock on Yanagi’s Uchigatana began to spin and time slowed around her. she threw her Uchigatana, Piercing it. running up to grab it mid-flight, she zipped around the Ethereal, striking several times before he could get back up again.

“Chief! Asaba! Now!” Yanagi signaled

Miyabi motioned to Tailless who withdrew into the sheath, causing the area to grow cold. She closed her eyes as she focused and let the power of her blade flow. Harumasa took out an Arrow from his quiver and aimed for the exposed core of the Ethereal.

Miyabi became a storm of icy slashes that quickly approached the kneeling ethereal and dissipated as quickly as it faded away.

“Weakling.” Miyabi commented as Asaba’s arrow made contact at the same times as her slashes

Harumasa smiled at her, causing her ears to wiggle slightly.

“That’s our chief for you.” he told her before he started to cough a lot. in a instant Miyabi kneel in front of him and looked in W-engine for some medicine.

“Is today a bad day? Are you feeling alright?”

“I’m fine Miya… Today’s a 5 out of ten atleast… really should’ve taken that leave…”

“Let’s get you to a safe zone, save your energy… we can talk later.” Miyabi placed her shoulder around Harumasa as she carried him towards a fissure.”

Back at base Joyous did a spin in his chair.

“One down, 2 more to go. How you holding up, kid?”

“Could be doing a bit better…” Wise said as he took another sip of coffee.”

“Looks like someone should be getting more sleep. when was the last time you slept properly?”

“a week ago i’d say… Proxy works keeps me up late… especially since well, My girlfriend’s investigating me.”

“So I’ve heard. Supposedly they’re hunting down Phaeton, if only they knew he was out here saving new Eridu.”

Wise’s body tenses and looks around. “Easy kid, I’m not gonna rat you out. I’m just saying with the Cops on your tail, i can see why you’re not sleeping well.”

“I’ve heard about that tonight, i was hoping i could sleep it off but, well…” Wise began before stopping himself.

“Yeah I know the feeling. Let me go get you a refill, we can chat later.”

Walking over to the coffee machine, Joyous refilled Wise’s cup. the bitter scent of the coffee filled his nostrils. Between every case, every disaster, A good cup of coffee was part of Joyous’s routine. it helped keeps him awake. It helped his wife on her long nights of inventing.

He passed a cup to his newfound protegé, who took it in his hand, taking a small sip from it as he savored it.

But suddenly, Wise’s eyelids felt heavier, and heavier… he couldn’t fight off the urge to sleep! No, not now… he needs to get them out… he can do it, he…

Wise’s falls asleep at his desk. The last thing he feels is a gentle, comforting weight placed on his back.

“Rest up a bit, kid.” Joyous patted his blanketed shoulder. “I’ll take it from here for a while.” Joyous said as he spun a small flask between his fingers.

That trick never gets old, both as a prank and a way to put insomniac people to sleep.

“Man, am i glad she left me a few samples of this…” Joyous complimented as he spun the vial while he sat in his chair. “Hope you’re doing well, wherever you are…. Bestie.”

Trees gently susurrate in the night's wind. even as they threaten to be consumed by a hollow. She had never expected to find a Hollow growing in a park. It was just a regular night for her, just walking around new eridu, smoothie in hand. when she spotted a hollow on her way home.

She took a look at her guitar case, opening the contents to reveal a beautiful pink bow.

“...Yeah I should have time to contain that Hollow!”

She pulled out her headphones, and selected a folder called Playlists, scrolling down until she found the one labeled “Joyous-Hollow Playlist” and set it to random.

With her pink hair flowing in the wind, she set off towards the Hollow.

Chapter Text

Elysia arrived to the edges of the hollow. the dark surface absorbing the light around her. it’s not a sight she’s unfamiliar with, she did push back the dark wall! |A little Hollow like that was no problem.

As she passed into the Hollow, and was greeted with a forest that seemed to go on forever. but above her the stars still shined above.

She wondered what the other voidhunters were up to, she hadn’t heard from Joyous in a while, Dan was missing, Vike was busy with her work, She hadn’t heard from Sunny in a long time, Swordsmaster….

Swordsmaster doesn’t exactly talk to many people anymore.

But even if her friends were split, and far away from her, Elysia still believed they would see each other again. The Voidhunters's story wasn’t meant to end the way it did, it would end by passing the mantle to worthy candidates, it would end when Hollow zero had finally been destroyed.

As long as Elysia draws breath, she would fight to protect this beautifuly imperfect world they worked so hard to safeguard.

That’s what she promised Arche, and she would keep up that promise for him until he finds the truth and comes back home.

Bow in hand she walked deeper into the forest, as she shot down Ethereals with her bow. releasing burning arrows while stylishly shooting them down running across the forest jumping from branch to branch.

Once she made it to the center of the hollow, she looked around. The ethreals were gathering around her.

“Ohhh I get to do some target practice? Maybe I can finally practice some of my new techniques!”

Elysia rushed towards the Thanatos, Jumping on its blade mid-strike and bouncing off it as she backflipped off of the blade and shot the Ethereal in the core from the back, killing it.

An energized Farbutti emerged, rushing towards her. But Elysia stayed unbothered. only thinking if the previous shot was stylish enough, and how it could be improved.

“Give me a moment, I’ll be right with you!” She told the ethereal before rushing off to find another target.

She found a Fossor, Energized as well. Seems that while this Hollow was small, it seemed to contain a lot of Energized Ethreals… that could be a problem…. if she wasn’t gonna stylishly take care of them before they could become threats!

The Fossor fought with reckless abandon, attempting to slash at her as she gracefully dodged every strike.

“Whoops!” The Voidhunter said as she strafed to the left.

“Missed again!” She took a step back.

“So close!”

Elysia whistled a little tune, as she dodged the Fossor’s slashes to the rhythm of her song. Arrows came out of her quiver and slashed away at the Fossor to the rhythm of her whistling. Elysia turned this little dodging game into a dance, swaying to the rhythm of the song as two arrows orbited around her.

The song and dance went on until she heard the sound of the Farbutti drawing nearer, with her song coming to a close, an arrow returned to the Archer, placing itself into the bow, ready to be fired as it ignited in pinkish ether flames.

The arrow pierced the Fossor and continued before doing circles around elysia as it joined the other arrow that still circled around her from afar creating a circle of fire with it’s ever increasing speed. 

Elysia twirled without a care in the world to the beat of her own music, unswayed by no ethereal or doubt, living true to herself.

The Farbutti caught up with her, witnessing the ring of fire that she had created around herself.

“Ah, there you are! Don’t worry, I didn't forget you!”

The other flaming arrow returned to her in a trail of fire, settling itself in her bow as the climax of the music approached before she fired it into the Farbutti’s core.

In a ring of fire, Elysia, leader of the Falkenhayn Mercenary troupe took a bow.

“That was nice! On to the next one!”

She wouldn’t have to go looking far to find the Source of the Hollow, an Alarune quickly uprooted itself, and roared. causing several other Alarunes to rise from the earth. all looking to take her out.

“Oh my what pretty flowers! it’s a good thing it’s going to rain soon!”

Elysia unfurled her two angel wings from under her cloak before she took flight with her bow still in hand. She aimed her bow upwards, the arrow she fired went up high above before it turned into a pink blink in the sky, and soon the crystalline patterns in the Hollow’s sky turned pink as well, the skies became alight the same way the sun colors the sky when it rises.

And a rain of arrows followed.

Despite the rain, Elysia soars higher, because that's the only way you can go when the world has you down.

The rain washed away the ethereals with flaming arrows dissipating along with the Hollows, leaving only her standing in the aftermath of the Hollow’s destruction.

The sound of lone clapping filled the air.

“I was going to investigate that Hollow myself, but I thought I'd stand back when I saw it turn pink.” A voice gently commented, A voice all too familiar to the leader of the Falkenhayn.

The man had white hair and piercing blue eyes wearing a long cyan jacket with Shoulder Pads. the tail end of his jacket flowed in the breeze. On his back was a large scabbard holding a one handed sword. He had his Investigator license attached to the right side of his jacket. it read “ Kevin Kalsana. Elite independent Investigator

One of Elysia’s long time friends.

“Kev!” Ely exclaimed as she rushed to give her long time friend a big hug.

“Oh boy, here she comes…” Kev says aloud as he happily braces himself for the incoming hug.

The Investigator and former mercenary was tackled by a wave of pink hair as he was spun around by Elysia who had not seen her friend in a very long time.

The Two of them had been through many trials together, and had to part ways after the capital fell, Elysia decided to go into hiding, which involved having to step down as leader of the mercenaries, appointing a new leader.

After she left Kevin worked with her successor, the two got off well trying to keep the Falkenhayn together after Elysia’s departure, it wasn’t easy but he helped keep them afloat, But the aftermath of the fall of the old capital was a heavy loss for the mercs. Eridu lost his heroes following the fall of the old capital, and Kevin couldn’t stand by to watch a friend be exiled from the troupe for a failure he believed she had no part in. He had heard through certain sources of the whereabouts of certain Voidhunters, and of Arche’s mission and he knew he couldn’t risk the Falkenhayn's reputation if he decided to follow through with his plan. With a heavy heart, he decided that it was best for him to leave the Falkenhayn as well, a decision he still wishes he didn’t have to take, but one he had to take anyway. Now he was an independent Investigator, upholding his friend’s work by taking down hollows, and doing the best he can to keep her work alive all the while attempting to clear her and her friends name’s

Of course, Kevin wasn’t heartless, he still had some friends in the troupe, and he was the one to be a messenger when he needed to find Elysia to deliver her some important letters.

“So what brings my bestie here? How’s Mei?” Elysia asked with excitement.

“Sadly, she and I are no longer dating.” Kevin said somberly, closing his eyes looking away from his best friend…

…before looking back at her with a big smile showcasing a ring around his finger. “We’re married now!”

The Angel-like leader of the Falkenhayn was beaming with joy, happily squealing as she spun her friend around again and again, wings flapping rapidly with happiness.

“I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU TWO!!!”

I. Can. See. That. Now. Please. Stop. Spinning. Me. Elly!” Kevin said as best he can, trying to compose himself after being spun around for so long.

When the world stopped spinning, Kevin composed himself.

“Anyways, this is what I went through so much trouble to find you.” He takes out a letter from his pocket. The letter is relatively old-fashioned and bears the seal of the mercenary troupe.

It reads:

“ Elly. I have some news for you. While on a routine trip, your flamechasers found something. Someone, Actually.

An old Acquaintance that I think you know very well. They told me: Professor Arche is coming back from Hollow Zero.

If you want to know more, Come back to base. But knowing you i think you’ll bolt it for Hollow zero, so I've sent Kevin to give you some back up just in case.”


The world lit up again.

He was finally coming back.

He’s finally returning.

Her best friend is coming home alive!

Without missing a moment, she grabbed Kevin by the arm and began running towards Hollow zero.

It was finally for the Voidhunters to make their grand re-entrance.

“Honey?” Joyous heard his wife call him through his ear piece.

“What’s up?”

“You have a call coming from… my brother…? How did he get your number?”

“Small world we live in. It’s not like we’re not both Independent Investigators or anything.” Joyous smirked.

“So that’s how he found out about me…”

“Hey, he was smart enough to put the pieces together. Besides, You could’ve used the emotional support. I figured you’d at least want one of the last remnants of your family to know where you are.”

Kianna wanted to rebuke, but she didn’t say anything. Family was a complicated issue with her.

“And besides, there was no way he was gonna be fooled by your so-called death. Remember what he told the press?”

“I will tell you the same thing Joyous told Arche when he told him he could do a split, i'm not buying it.” Joyous quoted from memory.

He heard his wife laugh through the earpiece, it made him happy. I’d been a while since he heard her laugh like this… it’s something he always cherishes when it happens.

“Alright… patching you through.”

His Wife’s voice left before being replaced by an old acquaintance.

“Iceman. What can I do for you?” Joyous replies.

A loud wind can be heard in the background causing a lot of static in the phone. “Nothing much, Sherlock. Just about to head towards Hollow Zero. Figured I’d go see the sights, kill a few ethreals…”

“Must be fate, then. I’m at scott outpost. right now, things are pretty dire. Could use the back up.

“Sweet! Wanna go in together? Been a while since we had a mission together.”

Interesting, maybe he could use some reinforcements, but that would mean he might need to expose himself as Joyous… Something he can’t do yet. He’s not supposed to be here, the world still thinks he’s disappeared or dead in the divine maze. He’ll make his grand return soon, the conditions were just right and the stars were aligning.

“What's with all the wind in the background?” Joyous asked.

“Oh well, My good angel-winged friend, Whom I'm sure you know by the way, is currently dragging me and my arm across the city at Mach… something when she got a letter saying a certain someone is remmerging from Hollow zero.”

Joyous went silent.

If Arche really was returning from Hollow zero, this could change everything. He’d have an Ally in the face of the Exaltists and Bringer.

Joyous laughed to himself, 10 years of going to sulk in Limbo and now he chooses to come out now. “Took you long enough, you self combustible asshole.” The Voidhunter thought to himself

10 years of under-the-radar hollow investigations, 10 years of biding his time in a watchmaking shop and now just when he thought he finally moved the last 10 years of his life, and now 10 years of waiting and relentless searching all seemed to be pointing to the very same thing the father of all proxies, the founder of Helios academy, and the rest of the Voidhunters had been searching for all this time. 

Guess it’s true everything happens for a reason.

Just like he now had a damn good reason to go in the Hollow now. If he knew his friend well enough, he’s probably the reason Nineveh left the garden. He wants to get in Hollow zero and take care of it himself, but he looks at Wise's sleeping body. snoring gently at the desk. He couldn’t leave the operation unattended, one of them needs to be here.

Not unless… the kid wakes up from his beauty sleep.

Guess he should’ve waited a bit before spiking his coffee, oh well. It's not like he waited to spike Kianna’s coffee when he was younger. Although he’s starting to think she may have developed an immunity…

“Meet me at Scott outpost, tell the Sentinels there you work for Perseus Kalsana and that you’re my subordinate. We’ll talk there. Be quick, Kev.

“Got it, We’ll be there.”

“Oh, and Keep Elly away from everyone. If people find out she’s back… well.”

“Yeah i know. Careful out there, Ace.”

“You too, In-law.”



Joyous chuckled, today was just filled with reunions, old friends and family alike. Turning back to the HDD he’d have to fill in for Wise while he took his little nap, but with the Kid out of commission, Eous probably was back online as well.

Now to get this improbable team of agents home.

Nicole gently patted Eous’s little head. He wasn’t used to being in Hollow without Wise or Belle, or them suddenly disconnected. it never happens. it only happened another time, luckly he was with the cunning hares and Belle quickly took over but it was something that gave him bad memories.

“it’s okay Eous… Don’t worry, your big bro should be back soon,” She pressed an earpiece in her ears. “Because if he isn’t, I’m going to personally hit him with my suitcase if this is a joke-” She said through gritted teeth.

Perseus’s voice entered her ears. “Hold your fire, bubblegum. All I did was spike his coffee. He’s getting a well earned power nap. Kid nearly looked dead, could use some beauty sleep.”

NIcole sighed, Wise’s horrible sleeping pattern resurfaced, no wonder, with nearly corrupting in a hollow, his date, and all of this, who would sleep well? But still even if she owed him and Belle money, she still cared about them both, they were friends and colleagues. Which means she had plenty of time to find out about the horrible sleeping habits, specifically Wise’s. Sometimes he had the tendency to overwork himself.

Although… it could be useful in the future if she ever needs him to sleep.

“Where did you get this? I’d need some for future use.”

Perseus didn’t say anything, but he seemed impressed. “We can talk once your out of the Hollow.” If Nicole didn’t know any better she felt like this Perseus could be a worthwhile connection to make…

“Since Wise is currently inactive, I will be handling both section six and the independent investigation team. Wise called you the cunning hares, I believe? Here's to a good collaboration, and try not to argue with the voidhunter. I’d like you all back alive, please. take a short break before proceeding forward.”

“Understood. Please guide us well, Perseus.” Anby responded from within the ear comm

“Roger that!” Billy answered.

“Don’t worry, You’re in safe hands. You’re not the first colorful bunch of people I guided out of a hollow.”

Nicole got up and looked around the Shelter, she spotted Miss class president talking with another member of HAND. The archer and Miyabi were sitting together, treating each other's wounds.

“Stay still.” Miyabi ordered gently

“Chief, I told you I'm fine…” Harumasa winced in pain.

“I’ve been training to detect your lies, Harumasa. You can’t hide it from me…” Miyabi’s voiced was laced with concern, it was rare for her to show it outside and inside a Hollow.

“Chief, Miss Ophelia would like a word…” Yanagi’s voice called from behind Nicole.

“I’ll be right there.” She said as she got up, looking at Harumasa who did her best to reassure her he was fine. even if he didn’t look all that well.

“Oh and.. I’m sorry, I forgot your name, what was it?”

“Nicole…” The leader of the cunning hares answered through gritted teeth.

“Right, Ms Nicole, Ophelia would like a word with your combat android.”

“Billy! instead of posing, go see what they want from you, and be quick!” Nicole yelled at Billy who was busy posing for an awestruck Soukaku. who stopped his antics as soon as his boss started yelling his name.

“On it, boss!”

Ophelia presented the Voidhunter, Construct and deputy chief of section 6 with some experimental gear developed by Ray and HAND. With the battle data that Wise and his agents frequently brought back she was able to develop perfectly attuned gear for some of them.

Billy received a new drivetrain, which he installed on his kneecaps. it was designed to help him spin around faster and increase his mobility.  Along with it came new ammunition for his guns.

“Explosive rounds, designed to pierce ethereal cores with greater ease, while you can’t shoot as fast as before, they will deal more damage at the cost of a slightly longer reload time.”

Billy loaded the bullets in. spinning his guns around as he checked them out. those Ethreals won’t know what hit em! He took a seat beside Harumasa who looked away from the others.

“You get screamed at by a pink haired lady too, huh?” The Archer asked

Billy turns to him in sympathy. “you too, huh?”

“Every day of the week, she denies nearly all my vacation requests, but there’s really no one else like her… She’s smart, Diligent. Really the best deputy chief you could ask for, what about you?

“Everyday it’s the same, saying things like ‘having a big maintenance cost’ and all that. it’s not my fault i’m made using lost technology! But… she’s my boss, and the best family I could ask for…” Billy looks to Nicole, carrying Eous in her hands. passing him some gear coins she collected for him to go buy some resonium. “well, besides my old one.”

“You have a family?”

“Oh yeah! In my old one there was my brother, my big sis, and my little sis! they’re in the outer ring!”

“You come from outside Eridu?”

“Damn right! I'm an intelligent tactical unit with Firepower-based area suppression capabilities! I'm the legendary starlight knight, Billy Kid!” the android explained as he got up, making a series of elaborate poses. 

Harumasa chuckled. “well you're certainly fun to be around.”

If Billy could flash a grin, he certainly would’ve.

“What about you? You seem awfully close to the Voidhunter? Are you two dating?” Billy asked, making little circles with his finger.

Harumasa shook his hand “Nah, we’re not dating… The girl I like knows nothing about romance. But seeing her smile… is worth any effort.”

He looks over to the voidhunter, carefully inspecting her blade as Tailless circles her with curiosity. noticing his gaze she gently smiles.

While the members of Section six and the Cunning Hares begin to bond, their break is interrupted by Joyous. who reminds everyone that they should get moving.

Exiting the Fissure they enter a place of Hollow Zero where the weather worsens, Thunder rumbles, winds howl and the rain intensifies. between flashes of thunder, something loomed in the air.

Something Powerful.

Its shape was filled with sharp edges, it loomed in the sky like a puppeteer pulling invisible strings. Congregating ethreals from beyond.

“Alright people, We’re nearing the lost void, so that means conditions are getting worse. watch your pressure, and beware of ethereals. Next on the To-Kill list is Corrupted Overlord. We don’t have much time to suppress it, so this is how we’re gonna proceed: Hoshimi Tsukishiro, Cat-ears, Bubblegum, in the front. Kid, Demara, Asaba, Soukaku, in the back. No time for complaints, A second spent complaining is a second wasted.”

While section 6 was used to receiving strict orders, it was new ground for the cunning hares, who wanted to complain but they knew better then to argue with orders in a situation like this.

“I’ve uploaded the Data to Eous. Move quick. There are a few fissures up ahead. that will help you get to him. I’ll be sending reinforcements in the event of an emergency.”

Deeper into the Void the agents go to slay the once proud Overlord of the Outer Ring. The road ahead was paved with danger.

“FALL BACK TO THE TUNNEL! IF WE LOSE THE FRONT LINE WE LOSE THE BASE!” A Soldier screamed

Elsewhere in Hollow Zero, Nineveh’s influence followed her. The already dire situation was turning into a living hell as the symbiotic swarm’s influenced the ether, energizing and mutating ethereals even more.

Soldiers fire desperately at the horde of mindless monsters, but without much luck. The remaining soldiers fled for the tunnel, but quickly stopped as they saw a purple flicker approach.

There was a light at the end of the tunnel.

A purple, burning and very angry light.

Arche calmly walked out of the darkened tunnel. the torrential downpour did nothing to ppuut his flames. The soldiers looked in awe as the living flame greeted them. told the to flee back to thier base, assuring them he had put up a makeshift wall of ether crystals that would prevent the base from being overrun.

“Who are you?” Asked a wounded soldier.

“To you? A friend. to ethreals? Their worst nightmare. Now get going. there’s a fissure in this tunnel that will lead you to safety. Find the maintenance door to your left and go up the stairs, you’ll walk into a fissure that will take you back to base. Your commander is waiting.”

“What of the Ethereals? Nineveh is in this region!” Another warned.

Arche’s flames swayed in the wind, he scoffed “That salad of living nightmares? she’s my problem.” He gathered Ether in his hand, placing it on the ground as a wall of ether crystals appeared in front of him.

“Hurry now! I’ll hold them off!”

Taking this as thier cue to leave, the soldiers disappeared into the tunnel. Arche took a deep breath, he swayed one arm to the side as it refined itself into a sharp blade, and swaying the other as it did the same.

Blades alight with purple fire, Arche readies himself. He stands alone against a horde of ethereals. their roars all mingling in a nonsensical cacophony of sound as they try to overcome the wall of crystals. Arche climbs over the wall staring down upon the mindless creatures. 

“Apologies. The tunnel is closed for renovation.”

He ignited his feet, jumping into the fray. landing in an explosion meant to push back the tide of monsters. He lands in front of them, his flames burning with violent anger. The hoarde stops in front of him as if… ascertaining the situation.

Arche faced off against Hordes like this before, but this one was different. they were coordinated, like in the garden.
He did a quick headcount. Lots of Alpecas and Hoplitais in many numbers. some kind of equivalent to an advance force? He sees an Armored Hati as well, leading a pack of five with one of them having turned Notorious. He spots a newer Ethereal, one he has started to see more often, called a Thracien from what he gathered. along with him were three Thanatos. Two energized, one ionized.

The Thracien seemed to be spearheading this Horde. It points its spear at the professor, as if challenging him. Arche sharpens his two blades in response, kneeling near the ground, sparks and crystals singing as he trailed his two blades forwards, creating a wall of flame. barring the horde’s road forward, and preventing anyone from coming to disturb this fight.

A Dead End. A Dead End for them.

Arche takes a fighting stance. “Who goes first?” he asked defiantly.

The Thracien lifts his spear and roars, and the horde of lower Ethreals charges forward. 

The Alpecas and Hoplitais were quickly slices to ribbons. Arche moved with purpose, turning into a flaming tornado that sliced any Ethereal unfortunate enough to be on his warpath. their meagre blades reduced to ether shards as he quickly left a trail of sliced ethereal remains.

He looks around him as the Pack of Hati begin to circle him like wild, hungry Hyenas. Waiting for a moment where he drops his guard. The Armored one roars and two of their pack leap forward. Arche jumps high in the air, causing the two hatis to collide with earth other, before he comes falling down, turning the bottom of his feat into 2 spike-like protrusions, stomping the upper mouth of the Hati’s and piercing their cores.

But Arche was stuck in place, and the Hatis took advantage of the opportunity. One after another they leaped at him, But Arche only had to subtly move his body to avoid one of them as he tried to break free from a prison of his own making. The Ionized Thanatos shot at him. taking advantage of the situation. landing a hit on Arche’s chest. causing a sharp pain.

They were not mindless, they were intelligent. Attacking in waves, patterns. Trying to tire him out with lower ranked ethereals whilst more powerful Ethreals watched on. waiting for their chance. but Arche didn’t wait for a chance. He turned one of his blade hands back to normal and the other into a bow mimicking the ones Thanatos were born with and fires back an even more powerful shot at his attacker, whilst the energized ones warp away.

One teleports behind him. Arche would have dodged it mere moments before if not for his maneuver turning against him. Another sharp pain through the chest pierces him before he retaliates with his bow, using it as a blade to give the Ethereal a taste of his own kind’s medicine, stabbing him in the chest as he kneels down which Arche takes advantage of and strikes the core.

If he doesn’t free himself soon, this could be bad. He can’t wait any longer. He fires a concentrated shot to the ground, creating an explosion of fire and ether that frees him and creates a smokescreen for him to escape.

Arche whistles and creates a fissure. Appearing behind the other energized Thanatos and destroying it’s core with a blast of fire.

Suddenly, the smoke clears as lighting courses through his body. Burning him. The Thracien had planted his spear in the ground to shock the entire area. Arche was getting really, really tired of this.

“Dirty tricks… I’d expect those from Joyous, not an Ethereal.” he remarks, turning his arms back to normal.

The Thracian throws his spear at the living flame who catches it, spins it over his head and throws it into another Hati. Impaling its core before it could react. Arche screams as he feels three claws slice his back. The Notorious Hati had waited for him to be distracted to strike.

“You are all really testing my patience..” The refined man warns as he recreates a bow. Shooting at the Notorious Hati whom he missed as he leaps back. The sound of a spear whizzes by. Arche turns around to see the Thracian still trying to fight.

Despite his injuries, Arche still fights. He made Elly a promise, and he’s going to keep it. He grabs the spear and whistles for yet another fissure which forms behind him. He runs up to it, grabbing the spear embedded in the side of the tunnel opening.

“You want this back?” Arche taunts, shaking the spear in front of the Ethereal warrior before disappearing into the fissure.

The Thracien looks around, but before he can even react, he’s impaled from above by his own spear, held by the professor. It stuggles in it’s final moments, before disintegrating, along with the spear.

“Here.”

The Armored Hati tries to attack him again. But Arche has reached his limit. He turns his hand into a blade again, and he aims for the small opening exposing the Hati’s core.

it shatters in one strike, the Wolf-like Ethereal dissipates, leaving only a crystal-like remain.

“Ether Colagulum… That’s a surprise…”

Arche takes it his hand, and absorbs it. Protrusions of crystals form on his body, creating an armor for him, shielding his wounds. Arche takes a heavy breath as he draws the ether to him. hushed whispers circle him, and a strange music fills the air. The pain across his body slowly starts to fade away, regenerating to the rhythm of a concert dedicated to the only one who can hear it.

Ever so slowly, Arche limps towards the entrance of the tunnel. settling down as he exhales, allowing himself a short break to let the wounds heal. He hears Nineveh roar in the distance, but he can’t bring himself to follow, even a fire must be stoked. She can fly anywhere, but Arche will reach her one day and put an end to her tyranny.

In the shadow of an abandoned tunnel, Arche listens and whistles with the hollow. with a bit of luck, The Mother of All Hollows may just accelerate the healing process a bit.

Arche rests, Enjoying a brief moment of reprieve as a gentle rain settles in.

Chapter Text

Joyous quietly sipped on his drink as he revised the data. On one end their was Nineveh who making her way deeper and deeper into the lost void and who knows what ungodly monstrosity was trying to reach out.

These Levels of Ether energy seemed to indicate the presence of a swarm, which one however was a different story. The ether levels had only begun to drop within the lost void, and they were nowhere near close to being suitable to stop whatever was coming, the ether levels weren’t decreasing fast enough. if things didn’t get better he’d have to enter personally. but as long as Phaeton’s asleep, he can’t do much.

“Is everything alright, Master?” Lycaon asked.

“I wish I could answer yes, old friend. .”

Joyous explains to his old student the ever increasing danger of the lost void but he can’t act as long as Wise is still asleep. He can’t stay here but he also can’t risk letting others know Joyous is still alive.

“Perhaps i may be of assistance, Master. Allow me to watch over Wise. The poor boy could use some rest. Attend to your business in the hollows.”

Seems the day had finally come. The day the father of all proxies had long since waited for… the day he returned to Hollow Zero not as Perseus, but as Joyous. The day had finally come!

He heard a familiar sound  that filled his heart with joy.

“Yo, Dad. I got the thing you told me to get.” Another Voice said to Lycaon.

It was a young shark thiren girl, dressed in a mad outfit with a pair of scissors on her back, her hair had clearly gone through a powerful gust of wind, or several. in her hand was a small staff that she flipped around in her hand.

“Thank you Ellen. Am I to assume you tested it beforehand?” Lycaon asked his daughter with a raised eyebrow

“...Maybe. what makes you say that?” Ellen asked with a knowing grin.

Lycaon simply smiled. “Nothing.”

The Shark-tailed girl passed the Baton to Joyous, who examined its sleek, black design carefully. He hadn’t seen this thing in ages. given to Lycaon for safekeeping, it was one of the last remnants of an ancient technology harnessed by the old civilization. A gift from his daughter and Arche, the result of a few sleepless nights, and binging a ton of old sci-fi movies.

Joyous began to flip the staff in his hand. “Oh, I've waited a long time to use this bad boy again…”

“Well, why not try it out then?” a voice beckons

Joyous turns around with a smile. “Well, if it isn’t Kevin Kalsana himself. You sure didn’t take your sweet time to get here.” Joyous chuckles, extending a handshake gladly returned by the fellow Elite investigator.

“To team up with you, old friend? That’s always a good reason to head on over quickly.”

The two elite investigators were quickly interrupted by a wavy hand between them. “Hi, Hello! My name is-Mmph!” Before Elysia can shout her name to the world, her mouth was covered by Kevin. “and this Perseus, is my assistant Ellie Pink Elf.” Who rapidly nodded, affirming her half-fake identity. It warmed Joyous’s heart to see her still in high spirits. Even after the spilt of the Voidhunters, she still carried herself with the same near child-like Attitude and optimism he had always known her to have.

But the Memory of seeing her cry… That’s something Joyous can never let happen again.

“Well, I didn't know you took on assistants, here I thought this would’ve been a duo mission.” Joyous looked at Kevin knowingly. Who’s smile betrayed the beginnings of a laugh

“Kevin, Miss Ellie, Meets My student and long time friend, Von Lycaon.”

Lycaon took a bow. “A pleasure to meet you.” The Wolf Thiren quickly looks to Ellen, who takes a bow with a sigh. “I am the  head of victoria Housekeeping, Von Lycaon. This is Ellen, my employee and my adoptive daughter.”

“Nice to meet you.” Ellen greets nonchalantly.

“Well, if we’re all done with introductions, follow me in the tent. I’ll explain the situation.”

It felt strange to give a briefing to Elysia again, Back then Joyous wasn’t known for his speeches. Most of them used to include the mission objective and a reminder to his colleagues to not die.

But now here he was, explaining the situation clearly and concisely. Something the Joyous of old would’ve summed up in a few words. He couldn’t wait to don his old cloak again and greeter not as Perseus, but as Joyous, her longtime friend.

Joyous and the other Voidhunters had known each other for a long time.  Before the world fell to the hollows, even.

In the waning days of a war that ripped the world apart, there were 4 kids. A boy who only wished to prevent war, one who suffered from the war, a girl whose family fueled the war, and a girl who simply wished to see the war end.

One would see her wish fulfilled, but the war didn’t end in the way they hoped. It did not end with celebrations, hope and light.

It ended with encroaching darkness.

A darkness that twisted the remains of the world into a realm of chaos, with an army of impossible monsters, a darkness that consumed your very soul and turned you into a monster.

One war had ended, Humanity united once more only to fight another war against the Hollows.

the 4 kids, now adults, bore witness to the first hollows. The girl who wished to see the war end took up arms to protect the remains of the city she unloved dearly. The girl whose family funded the war inherited the family business, and waged war on the Hollows in her own way. The boy who had suffered from the war, challenged the Hollows, and learnt their secrets, having suffered enough to ensure no one would share his fate. The fourth one… The one who wished to prevent the war, started the war on the Hollows. Those 4 kids would meet other like-minded individuals, and soon enough these seven heroes, seven friends, became the first Voidhunters.

and today, 2 of them had atlas reunited even if one of them didn’t know yet.

Joyous finished his briefing as he reminisced on the past. He briefly looked over Wise’s still sleeping body, who had begun to stir in his sleep, drawing Elysia's and Kevin's attention. Both Kevin and Elysia looked to the legendary proxy’s unconscious body as they slowly realized who he was. Kevin looked to his old friend for answers who simply closed his eyes knowingly.

“Ah, and this is my assistant, and superior, Wise. Forgive him, there must’ve been something in his coffee that rendered him unconscious.”

“Oh! I had a friend who used to love doing that to his friends!” Elysia exclaimed as Kevin covered his mouth to prevent himself from laughing.

It was funny to Joyous that she didn’t seem to recognize him, but maybe that wasn’t all bad. maybe he could play the part a bit longer.

“Oh really? what was he like?” Joyous asked.

“He seemed rough around the edges, the textbook definition of an emo. He loved to stand in the rain and lose himself in his thoughts. He was smart, agile and resilient, he never minced words and rarely showed affection. but under the pitch black cloaks, there was a softie with a heart of gold who showed it in the little ways he helped people. He cared about them more then people thought…. His name was Joyous. He was one of my best friends… and I miss him alot.”

Joyous smiled. Elysia truly knew him well. even if that period was behind him, it was the perfect way to describe him back then.

“You also remind me of one of my friends, She was obnoxiously positive. not a day goes by where she wouldn’t smile. she was a skilled archer, but she was also quite cunning. she would try to give me hugs every time she saw me,and she was of few people who could live to do so. she brightened mine and other people’s lives so much. truth be told, she’s also the reason i’m the man I am today, because of her. I… lost her in the fall of the old capital, we had to split ways. I miss her.”

“Wait… are you?”

“Joyous? Nah… but i do get that alot, I was one of his students, after all.” Joyous smirked, as he finished loading the Carrot data”

“Were you a legendary proxy?” Elysia asked with excitement.

“Maybe…” Joyous spun the carrot data in his hands as he handed it to Elysia. “I’m just following in his footsteps.”

Kevin’s laughter could be heard outside the tent, Causing Wise to stir in his sleep. Joyous passed the carrot data to the pink-haired voidhunter as he glanced over to his adoptive grandson.

The effects should wear off soon. Sleep tight kid.

Part of Joyous couldn’t wait to finally be able to make his grand entrance in the lost void, there was just something about the fact that he was finally leaving an exile he should still be in to save New eridu when they had turned their backs on him.

“Miss Ellie, get Kevin ready, we’ll dive into the lost void.Lycaon, be sure to inform Wise of the situation. if we let the ether levels rise any higher then they are right now, Hollow zero will expand.”

“Do you have a plan?”

“Yeah, i'm just going to go in, and bring down the levels myself. We’ll also have to rescue the trapped Soldiers.” Joyous said as he got up from his chair heading towards a helicopter, grabbing his suitcase filled with his old voidhunter gear.

“Won’t you need a carrot?” Elysia asked.

“Nah, I’m good.” Joyous dismissed his friend with a backhand. “Sometimes when you actually pay attention on this job, you learn how to map out hollows with the best tool you have: Your eyes.”

Kevin was still busy laughing at his in-law’s comments to compose himself. this was the highlight of the week. Elysia was the last person he would consider dense, but the fact that Joyous had played his role so well he fooled even her was amazing.

“Kev, once you’re done laughing get over here. You’re the first to drop off.”

Kevin tried to compose himself as he made his way towards the chopper. The three of them looked outside as they rose above the Scott outpost and into the air. the wind blew Joyous’s Tailcoat in the wind, as Kevin and Elysia watched the suitcase man from their seats in the helicopter.

“Do you always have to do that?!” Kevin asked over the wind

“First thing Joyous taught me, if you want to be a real elite investigator, you have to look and feel like a badass every chance you get!” Joyous said, not looking at his two friends.

“Sounds just like him!” Elysia nearly screamed in Kevin’s ear who still couldn’t help but laugh at the sheer comedy unfolding in front of him.

The helicopter entered the Hollow making its way across the ruins of the once prosperous city. dark skies and rain washed away decaying skyscrapers as the Hollow made even gravity kneel to it’s laws as chucks of the city levitated in the air.

Just an average day for the father of all proxies.

Joyous looked down to see a ruined building tilted sideways, crashing onto the side of an old highway. Feeling the Baton on the side of his belt and his suitcase in his hand. he eagerly stepped off the Helicopter and onto the stable portion of the building.
“This is where we split up for now, You two gonna be ok?”

“Me and Elly? i’m more worried about whatever has the misfortune of fighting you.”

“Stay sharp, In-law.” Joyous smirked, as Elly gasped the pieces beginning to fall in place.

“Run the maze, Ace.” Kevin returned unable to stop a wide toothy grin from showing on his face as Joyous the Voidhunter was finally returning in front of him before the Helicopter took off as his cheerful laugh faded in the distance.

Joyous stood alone in the rain as the smell of ether and Asphalt mingled together in a strange yet pleasant smell to only him. he’s not exactly sure which part of the old capital he is, but it somehow still feels like home, beyond the horde of mindless monsters and ever growing decay.

He open his suitcase, tucking his old Tailcoat away as he took out his Void hunter cloak and put in on. The familiar warmth and feel of the fabric provided a sense of comfort and excitement he sorely missed. Investigation Hollows without it just didn’t feel the same.