43 The Bonds That Break Us

Removing her eyes from the Dwarven Templar carcass on the wall, Nye turns to face a corridor. "We should get moving. It's not safe to remain stationary for long here."

"I think so too, better to bunk out of here, before we end up in a Kerfuffle like this sorry bloke here." Solitaire agreed, keeping close behind Nye.

"We better stay ready for anything then." Minerva said, drawing a bow from her quiver, and holding her bow to her side as she kept her eyes around the room, before taking up the rear to follow.

The trio made their way though a passage way ahead of them, trailing off into the darkness. Someone however had been clinging to the shadows and watched them disappeared deeper into the underground.

"Well, just as he said. Here they are, right on time." The spider-like fiend of the cultists spoke with erratic optimism, as he was observing in silence from webbing above. "Let the games begin then." He said, slinking back into the darkness.

Meanwhile, Jackyn's group had reached their destination, standing at the edge of the chasm made by Pythagoras.

"This must be the chasm that fucker made when escaping." Zyron glanced to it.

"Appears so." Jackyn replied, still irritated from before.

"Lam dicemus?" Nikolai inquired.

"Would be hella easier if we understood what that fiend was saying." Zyron grumbled, clearly uneasy about the monster.

"No shit." Jackyn retorted, before jumping into the massive crevice in the ground.

"Hey!" Zyron gasped as he saw Jackyn take the plunge. "Goddammit, what the fuck is he thinking!?"

"Ne sis metuis." Nikolai snickered, before floating in after Jackyn.

"Not you too... Oh, fuck it!" Zyron begrudgingly leapt in behind them.

As Zyron reached the cavern below, he rose to his feet, looking to Jackyn and Nikolai ahead of him, and quickly followed after them. He took notice that Jackyn was fidgeting with a knife in his hand, which got him to thinking. Zyron placed his hand to the skull pauldron on his chest, allowing it to form into his staff. This caused Jackyn briefly glance at him.

"What? Safer to be armed in a place like this." Zyron snapped.

"I didn't say anything." Jackyn rolled his eyes, before proceeding further into the forced passage way.

Suddenly there was a blood curdling scream, echoing through the cavern. The voice was unrecognizable, but continued for several moments, before the voice seemed to recede volume.

"What the fuck was that?!" Zyron yelped.

Jackyn gave him an annoyed look. "Would you stop yelling. Do you want to give our location away?" He growled.

"Well excuuuuuse me. Aren't you the least bit concerned that wasn't one ours?" Zyron retorted, through hushed tones.

"Not really." Jackyn scoffed.

"How can you be so certain?" Zyron seemed surprised by the Dream Weaver's response.

"My kind can sense energy signatures. That wasn't anyone we have connection to. No point worrying, they're probably already dead anyway." Jackyn stated, before leaping down to a lower level of the tunnel's path.

"Not even a vision of rain? That had to have been a quick kill then... Unless they escaped?" Zyron inquired, as he followed after him.

Nikolai wasn't close behind, but the reaper remained silent.

"Enough idle chatter, it doesn't matter one way or another." Jackyn muttered, before picking up the pace to rush a swarm of fiends lingering ahead of them. Slaughtering any that got in his way. He was letting a trail of blood follow him as he executed the monsters without hesitation.

Elsewhere, Pneuma and Runfaust had already made their way into the entrance of the underground from the location Nye had sent them to. As they came through the passage into a chamber, where there appeared to be signs of a skirmish. Pneuma proceeded to look at the blood lightly coated on the cavern wall, where there also seemed to be rocks and dirt trailing to the cavern's ground.

"That scream definitely came from this direction." Runfaust mentioned, as he followed Pneuma.

Pneuma crouched down, to examine droplets of blood among the debris. "Indeed. There was definitely a struggle here recently. The blood is still fresh." She mentioned, rubbing the red liquid together between her index finger and thumb.

"It's doubtful to be one of the others, so chances are we aren't the only ones down here. The question is who are they?" Runfaust crossed his arms, as he glanced to a trail of blood and more debris from broken out parts of the deep road's walls.

Pneuma nodded, placing her feet over the foot prints of the trail as she followed it. "There was a fight, but judging by the markings it was on the defensive. Here they were knocked back into the wall, but the ground-" Motioning to the bottom of the wall was dirt forced away from it. "-They struggled here, before-" She continued trailing after the tracks leading further in. "-being knocked back once again. Then the droplets of the trail seems to be farther apart this way." She said following it, and Runfaust kept a look out. "They were running away? No... Chasing something, while avoid danger from behind?" She said, noticing a few other sets of tracks.

"What do you think?" Runfaust asked.

"Whoever it was, I doubt they're here willingly. Someone was fighting, but the trail goes deeper in." Pneuma explained, as the two of them continue further into the underground.

There was a sudden pound ahead of them, causing Pneuma and Runfaust to quickly get closer. In the upcoming area, they saw Hige pinned up against the damaged rock wall, with blood trailing from his forehead down over his left eye. He was panting as he was leaned back against the wall, with a massive club nearly having crushed his body. It was stuck beside him in the wall next to his already bleeding side from the templar arrows not many days prior. The green oni fiend named Dharma was the one that had engaged him, smirking playfully as she looked to the wounded hare.

"Tee-hee. Gonna cry for me some more bunny-boy?" Dharma giggled.

"Screw you." Hige wheezed, his one open eye peering over weakly to see the half-succubus, Leviathan, holding onto Hitomi by her massive claw hair. "...Let her go..." He struggled to say.

Levi grinned, looking over to Hige, from her claw that coiled around the hypnotized Hitomi. "I haven't finished playing with her yet though, she's so darling." She said, licking Hitomi's cheek. Hitomi allowing it made Hige seem to gasp slightly as he continued to stare in disbelief. "Awe poor boy, the look on your face, you realized she doesn't reciprocate your feelings, didn't you? You must feel so betrayed, and yet, how could you ever think this sweet little thing would fall in love with a eunuch? If you were an Amygdala, you'd probably die." Leviathan chuckled, menacingly.

Hige's face suddenly shrouded in darkness as he formed a grin with fanged teeth as he started to snicker behind closed teeth. "Kuhuhuhu.... I'm gonna kill you if you don't get your hands off Hitomi." He stated eerily with that twisted grin on his face.

"Hige? Why is he down here?" Runfaust muttered under his breath in surprise, as he took notice of Shane's former associate.

Hige began to pull himself away from the wall, his eyes intensely focused on Leviathan. However, the spiked club was pried out by Dharma and immediately held in his path. "Na-uh-uh~. Where do you think you're going?" Dharma giggled, licking her lips.

Pneuma watched as Runfaust withdrew multiple axes, before deciding to follow suit and unsheathed her bastard sword. Then without hesitation, the tall fiend rushed in, spinning his hand axes like a whirlwind. Dharma scrambled backwards, barely deflecting the blows with her over-sized club. Hige appeared stunned upon seeing Runfaust appear from nowhere, he was so shocked he couldn't even manage to force out a syllable. As he finally realized what was happening his single opened eye darted for his broken fishing rod laying on the ground not far from his feet. He was trembling as his facade crumbled, nervously turning his attention to Hitomi, still in leviathan's grasp.

Clashing of the bladed weapons striking the massive club continued to rumbled through his ears, finally turning to see the battle commencing between Dharma and Runfaust along with Pneuma.

"Hige, are you alright?" Runfaust inquired sternly, while keeping Dharma away from the hare with his duel weapons.

"Runfaust." Hige muttered, his open eye beaming back to his beloved. "Forget about me, the only one who matters is Hitomi. I have to save her!!"

"Don't be stupid, kid!" Runfaust shouted, as he watched the hare scoop up his broken rod, and thrusted the lure in the direction of Leviathan.

The string flew, ensnaring the succubus fiend's claw to force her grasp off the pink cabbit. Leviathan seemed caught off guard, as the girl was forced from her as the hare came running at her with a mad dash. Dharma's attention was suddenly pulled from them, as she focused her eyes on Leviathan. She was struggling to keep them off her at this moment, before eventually knocking away one of Runfaust's axes as she snapped back into focus. Two on one was clearly in their favor, however the oni wasn't giving up by a long shot. She leapt into the air, running along it as she briefly levitated above them, before slamming the club down to separate the duo with a mighty strike to the ground below.

The shaking of the ground complicated Hige's landing, allowing Leviathan to get him in her grasp. "Kyu..." Hitomi muttered, as if in a trance, as her empty eyes met Hige's.

"Hitomi?" Hige shakily asked, just as the sound of crunching emerged. The claw held tightly around Hige's torso like an iron maiden, squeezing his ribs in tightly. "GrahHHHHH!!!" He screamed out.

In another part of the tunnels, Nye's group had been proceeding further in when the cry of the hare echoed through the tunnels loudly. The Amygdala shifted her attention towards the loud release of agony. "There's that scream again." Nye noted seriously.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Solitaire peered over, uneasily.

"Sounds like torture, perhaps we should investigate to make sure it's not one of our allies?" Minerva glanced to Nye.

"I can't be for certain, there is no visions of rain however. Not yet anyways." Nye hesitated, gazing down the opposite tunnel where the pathway forked.

Solitaire furrowed her brows, "Hey Nye, should we do as Minerva said then?"

"No. You two continue the path to Wynorex. I'll take a detour and figure out what that was. We'll regroup shortly." Nye said, breaking from the group to follow the sound in the opposite direction.

"If you say so mate." Solitaire grimaced, watching Nye part from then before looking to Minerva, who looked to her as well.

"I'm sure she knows what she's doing. She is the boss, right?" Minerva said to the pink haired Morphious.

"Hope you're right about that. Come on, we should be getting closer now." Solitaire said, leading the way down the opposite path Nye took, as the party split in half.

The club came bashing into the wall, knocking a massive hole through in, as Runfaust weaved away from the strike. Pneuma came from the opposite side, slashing her sword at Dharma who quickly deflected it with her club.

The hare's feet were elevated above the ground as the massive green claw clutched to his ribs harder than before. He choked up a bit of blood, barely able to keep his one good eye open as he was stared down by the succubus fiend that held him. His eyes were growing wary as she clenched tighter, the faded vision of Hitomi sitting on the ground staring blankly through him.

"Hi...to...mi...." He tried to call to her, but he had groan too weak.

"Ahahaha, giving up already?" Leviathan chuckled, as her lips curled.

"Oooh Levi. I could really use some help over here.~" Dharma playfully called to the succubus.

"Not like these two are going anywhere anytime soon." Leviathan playfully teased, dropping Hige's wounded body to the ground beside the hypnotized Hitomi. She stepped over him, walking in the direction of the skirmish, before phasing between Runfaust and Dharma. Levi looked at him, touching her chest. "I'll take this old man, you play with the boring one."

"Whatever you want, babe." Dharma smirked, her eyes focusing to Pneuma.

The two-on-two fight broke out, as Dharma fought against Pneuma with her club and Leviathan phasing around Runfaust with her claw obstructing his axe's blows.

"You're eyes won't work on me, succubus." Runfaust stated, his tone seemed annoyed as he continued to fend her off with continues motions of his axe.

"Who said anything about manipulating you?" Leviathan chuckled, as she evaded every strikes, but her eyes shifting over to Hitomi, who rose to her feet like a puppet.

"Kyu..." Hitomi said in her trance state, and leapt at Runfaust, with great speed. The sudden surprise caused him to cancel out his attack in panic. The little girl blocked his path, and he couldn't bring himself to strike her back.

Leviathan floated behind Hitomi, wrapping her arms around the girl, with a one hand's fingers gently gliding along to Hitomi's face."I already have someone under my spell you see." Levi explained, confidently.

The pounding of club to sword echoed through Runfaust's long ears, as Pneuma continued to fend off Dharma. Blow for blow the two matched each others attacks, without making much physical contact. Then finally, Pneuma managed to slip in a counter strike, just barely grazing the bridge of Dharma's nose with a slanted vertical cut. The oni appeared stunned, growing enraged as she gripped her club and slammed it roughly into Pneuma's side. This sudden attack knocked the silver haired Amygdala back, smashing her through a rock covered wall.

"Pneuma!?" Runfaust's attention was drawn from Levi and Hitomi.

Hitomi mindlessly rushed the towering fiend, knocking him to the ground as she tried to bite at his face like an animal under a violent spell. Runfaust couldn't take this anymore, he had no choice even if the girl was innocent.

"I'm sorry about this." He abruptly said as he grabbed Hitomi's back with his tail hand and threw her clear across the chamber in Hige's direction.

Hitomi tumbled, before getting knocked out from the impact to the gravel beside the hare. Runfaust had no other option, and rose to his feet, before withdrawing more axes. The human-like hands covering his body like armor began to release their grasping position over his black sweater and slacks. They elevated up, outstretching from their position on his body and reached for Leviathan, even the hand clasped over his face. As it shifted, The succubus noticed that he had green gemstones where his eyes should have been, and they glowed violently at her. The black hands of his body continued to stretch further from him, flying her way as if to grab her.

Leviathan looked infuriated seeing Runfaust's extra appendages rushed her way. As they ensnared around her, they barely had managed wrap around the succubus' voluptuous figure, before Levi urgently spun upward like a tornado to levitate away from his grasping fingers. Just as she evaded him, she used the spikes of her claw hair to lacerate the incoming appendages from his body. Violet ooze like blood sprayed out from his severed limbs, causing immense pain to shoot through Runfaust's body. He fell to his hands and knees, struggling through the coursing pain inflicted on him. His axes dropped to his sides.

Debris picked up as Pneuma was flung back into the main chamber by Dharma, tumbling to the ground with trails of blood flying from her club inflicted injuries. The sword spun in the air as Pneuma lost her grasp to it, getting stuck in the ground far from the ongoing conflict. Her back connected with the floor, landing next to Runfaust. Both weakly gasping from their recent injuries.

"Pneuma..." Runfaust winced, reaching his hand for her face.

"Faust..." Pneuma wearily replied, as they looked to each other in panic.

Dharma tapped her club against her shoulder as she approached the central part of the battlefield. With her free hand, she wiped from blood that was trailing from her nostril with a sassy grin.

Not far from the battle, Hige was starting to come back to his senses, holding his hand to the excruciating pain coming from his rib cage. Sweat perspired from his brow as he winced, struggling to get to his knees. They felt broken, and the flesh covering them swollen from the internal damage. He shakily looked to the unconscious Hitomi, trembling as he staggeringly reached his hand to her. As his palm rested onto her shoulder, his one good eye focused to the rising conflict.

"Dammit..." He struggled to say.

"Hige? He's alive?-What are you doing!? RUN!" Runfaust shouted to him, from his position on the ground as he tried to get to his feet.

Hige's heart sunk, as Dharma and Leviathan's attention shifted from them to Hitomi and himself. Anxiety was settling in, as his body shook. Hige turned back to Hitomi laying there as he felt himself starting to cry out of fear. He frantically got to his feet, fumbling as she scooped up Hitomi into his arms and rushed off down one of the various tunnel passages.

"Dharma, don't let them escape. I think I can handle these two on my own with how mangled they are now." Leviathan instructed her, playfully.

"This just makes the Queen's game more exciting. Don't you think, Levi?" Dharma smirked.

"Ooooh definitely. Hurry now hun, they're getting away." Leviathan stated.

Leviathan turned her full attention to the wounded duo before her, as Dharma levitated into the air to pursue the fleeing hare. Runfaust was forcing himself to stand, placing himself between Pneuma and the ever looming Leviathan.

A grin formed across her lips. "I see. So that's what you desire here. Let me-"Leviathan began to say as her body formed into someone else, along with her voice changing along with it. "-give you what you want then. Heehee." She giggled, taking the most unexpecting form unimaginable to them. Standing there with a devilish look on her face was the form of their recently deceased daughter, Molliana. "This is what you wanted, right? Revenge for her death?"

"M-Molliana?" Runfaust stammered, struggling to draw his weapon.

"Faust, it's not her.... It's... It's not Molliana!" Pneuma tried to snap him out of his surprise.

"Everyone has something they desire, see I've learned sex doesn't drive every prey, sometimes it takes something different to get what I want. This way works so I can prey on those who love someone as well." Leviathan stated, still carrying the appearance of the young cyclops.

"Molly..." Runfaust muttered, his tone becoming absent-minded like he was in a trance.

"Runfaust, she's not Molly!" Pneuma exclaimed, seeing through the true form of Leviathan standing there. "It's all an illusion! What you're seeing isn't real!"

"No use shouting, not like he can hear you anymore. He's completely under my spell, like a dream. His body is under my control now, and there's nothing you can do to reach him." Leviathan chuckled, as she mockingly shifted her gaze to Pneuma.

Pneuma stepped to a distance, and gripped to her sword that was stuck in the ground. "I know why you chose to fight him instead of me." She said pulling her blade from the ground.

She charged at Leviathan, holding tightly to the hilt of her sword. Levi thrusted her claw hair in response, but froze half way as Pneuma reveled the reflective side of her sword. The succubus seemed locked in her own reflection, but as the blade continued to shift into an attack, she snapped out of it and countered with her claw, knocking Pneuma backwards. The silver haired Amygdala slide backwards, keeping her feet firmly planted on the ground, despite her wounded state.

Leviathan looked livid, slinking backwards to get more space between them. "You... How dare you use my reflection against me like that!!!"

"Keep this up and your vanity will be the death of you. So, I'll only say this once. Release your hold on him, you don't want to make me angry." Pneuma demanded, shifting her sword again.

The gleam of the blade caught Leviathan's eye, just as Pneuma formed her wings. No move was made, as Leviathan hunched her body to get a better position for her claw to maneuver above her head. Kicking up debris, Pneuma soared in with sword in tow. Again the reflection caught Leviathan in a freeze frame, but just as Pneuma was within range the movement of her sword was obstructed from the succubi gaze for a mere moment. This moment however Runfaust swiftly placed himself between her, and Pneuma; convinced that Leviathan was his daughter. His arms outstretched in a protective state, but Pneuma was too close to cancel her attack's trajectory.

Pneuma had terror stricken eyes, as violet blood splattered onto her cheeks. There was complete silence in the air with a festering buzzing tone, ringing in her ears. All words seemed inaudible as her breathing was becoming erratic, with a shaken view of her sword penetrating through not only Leviathan's chest cavity, but also the gut of Runfaust; who had gotten between them. Tears erupted from Pneuma's eyes as she watched the two of them fall to the ground. Blood was coating around, the green and violet colors spiraling and swirling together like art.

Leviathan seemed to have died instantly from the blow, her eyes and mouth wide with terror as she decayed slowly into ash that floated off into the air along with a faint trail coming from Runfaust as he laid there on his side. Blood was trailing down his lips as he struggled to look at Pneuma. Words came from his mouth as he tried to talk to his lover, but she couldn't hear anything. It was silent, but finally a word broke through the infernal buzzing.

"Pn-Pneuma..." Runfaust coughed, his body leaking excessively.

Pneuma's eyes were glazed over with tears and she frantically turned to meet his gaze. She saw the fragments floating off into the air not only from their enemy but also her lover. Then she noticed the rain. It was falling all around them as if it was raining inside the cavern. Pneuma could feel her whole body shaking, as she dropped to her knees. She crawled over to him, with staggering breaths and she wrapped her arms around him the best she could. Her sword made it difficult for her to get close to him, but she managed an embrace.

"I don't understand why this... had to happen.... I can't lose you too..." Pneuma cried as she held him.

"It's ...not ...your fault... Don't... let this... take you... over...." Runfaust struggled to speak, as he gurgled on his own blood. "I... was going to... die soon...anyway... Pneuma... You... you have... you have too... survive..." He was struggling to speak as she reached his hand to her face.

"It's inevitable Faust... I can't stop loving you... If there is such a thing as soul mates.... you were mine... You were always mine..." Pneuma cried, holding her hand to his.

"Pneuma.... you can't... die here...I'm sorry... I failed you..." Runfaust forced himself up to give her a kiss, before he fell motionless midway, with his body continuing to disintegrate away like dust into the air around them.

Pneuma was panic stricken as his body fell staring terrified as she kept crying from her distraught state. "Faust? F-F-F-Fauussst!?" Pneuma cried out, grabbing tighter to him as she sobbed.

Panning behind her, the view showed someone reaching the passage, to witness the situation at hand. There stood Nye. She had stopped in her tracks, staring in shock at what was laid before her. She saw Pneuma clutching desperately to the remainder of Runfaust's body as it completely vanished without a trace remaining but the blood coating the ground and sword.

Nye had no words to express as she stared in shock. She forced herself to run to Pneuma seeing the visions of rain hadn't stopped. Her footsteps halted as she reached the older Amygdala, standing there as the other's weeping eyes met hers. Nye knelt down beside her, just looking to her with nothing she could even say. She didn't know what to do.

"Nyghtmare. That's the name you chose." Pneuma said, looking to the younger woman, and she tried to restrain her tears of anguish. She took Nye's hand, holding it as she looked to her. "There's not a lot of time left here for me, but I need to tell you something. I wanted to wait til this was all over... but..."

"It's okay." Nye finally spoke, looking to her in confusion. "Say whatever you need to. I'm here."

"You're my daughter..." Pneuma tried to explain.

Nye was dumbstruck in response, having no idea what to even say. "You're my mum? Then you and Geoffrey-?"

"I wasn't in love with Geoffrey if that is what you're thinking. You see, in the past I had been working with Runfaust to eliminate threats to our now former cause. We wanted to change things. Geoffrey was one of my targets, but I didn't just murder these people on our list. I took opportunity to reproduce since Faust and I didn't want to risk having a child that would become a Dream Weaver. Most of the offspring however didn't survive due to complications. I thought that you hadn't either." Pneuma tried to explain.

"Pressing foreheads I get, but how did you get him to dance? He had to known what would happen." Nye inquired, looking to Pneuma in concern as she saw how weak the older Amygdala's state was becoming.

"I suppose I was just a good dancer then. In a way he knew, but I was good at what I did. Killing, getting close... It's too much to really explain. So, I leave that for you to ponder upon at a later time. There's more I need to tell you before...." Pneuma replied, looking seriously to Nye, as her body seemed to grow weaker.

"Tell me." Nye held to her mother's hand, definitely having grown more concerned.

"There are two others who survived, neither of which Runfaust was aware of being... well, my own." Pneuma paused, turning her gaze to the bloody sword beside her. "One is half Rhyme... you might not know him, but in case you ever cross paths, his name is Vaugn."

"Vaugn?" Nye repeated the name, as she immediately remembered that ally of Eclipse's that shared the same name. She hesitated, but looked to Pneuma seriously. "Who is the other?"

"It's... Ashewyn." Pneuma lowered her head. "He's your brother. I wish I could have told him that he's actually my son." Pneuma began crying again, as she collapsed to the ground, weakly looking up to Nye as her heart rate rapidly increased, she seemed in a lot worse shape than her injuries led the eye to believe.

Nye was even more shocked by this, but seeing Pneuma collapse she knew she had to be strong. Taking Pneuma's hand, she kept her eye contact. "Mum. I'll tell him for you. I promise." Nye was struggling not to cry.

"You both grew up to be so wonderful...now though... is my time... to join... Faust...Protect the ones you love at all costs...You have to.....Live...." Pneuma's eyes went wide as she took one deep gasp, before her hand fell limp. The rain around suddenly faded as well.

Nye was left there, stunned at how tormenting the anguish physically reaches to cause death to an Amygdala, and due to that which she had learned. She was hurting this, but she had to survive. Nye rose to her feet warily, before departing back in the direction of the others. Determination began to take hold as she thought of Jackyn, wanting to keep him safe. They both had to survive this, or heart break would surely be the end of the other, just as it took Pneuma's life.