Adamus plummets off the tower, entering freefall.

  The beast reaches out toward the Lungoza, sshing at their tentacles.

  They ugh, “Aww, Silly little human! You think I’ll let go if you cut me? I ripped out my nerve centers! I can’t feel a thing!”

  They fly into the tower, taking Adamus with them. The beast rips the concrete walls apart as the Lungoza drags it through the structure.

  Large chunks of debris crash down to the city below before the smaller clumps pour like rain. Adamus commands the beast to tch itself onto the tower. The Lungoza pulls with all of their might, yanking the beast, which pulls the tower from the ground.

  “Marvelous!” The Lungoza shouts right before Adamus sms the tower into them.

  The Lungoza spins in the air and retracts their tentacles. They float down onto the street. A jagged mass of concrete is lodged in their now fshing translucent skin. “Marvelous again! Simply Marvelous!”

  Adamus nds on the street below with a smash. Fire and ash rain down, covering the beast. It is finding this fight rather pleasing, yet its thirst is still unquenched. Adamus snarls.

  He charges the Lungoza. The sheer speed of his movement shatters everything around him. The Lungoza simply flies upward to dodge the attack. Their tentacles descend from their orb-like body and snatch Adamus. The beast slices them off.

  “I see you’ve wised up!” The Lungoza chuckles, “It doesn’t matter. I’m Jartall the unkilble! That means no one can kill me, silly human!”

  The beast stretches Adamus’s bones out, expanding them more than they ever have before. Adamus is finding it hard to think. The beast is all over him. He can’t resist it now. He needs to focus.

  He’s been fighting Jartall for far too long. He needs to hurry up and kill them fast if he even hopes to stop the other assassins.

  The beast unches Adamus into the air. Jartall roars with ughter, “Yes! Come here, little human! Dance with me in the sky!”

  The pair collide.

  The impact sends a shockwave through the city. Several fires are extinguished in an instant, yet even more buildings are toppled.

  The sound shakes the Pza.

  Its massive windows shatter as Mystic and Cassandra run through it.

  “What was that?” Cassandra asks between rapid footsteps.

  “Oh, you’ve finally stopped!” Mystic shouts despite her exhaustion. She stumbles up to Cassandra. “Curse these small feet… Can you carry me on your back again?”

  Mystic’s passiveness and mispced priorities shock Cassandra. She huffs as she runs back down the hall, “The guest rooms are close, that’s where my family should be.”

  Mystic groans, “We’ve been running all over this pce. This is useless! I command you to take me to the basement and help me remove that accursed barrier!”

  Cassandra ignores her. She rushes to the end of the hall and springs open the door to the guest room. She steps inside only to find it empty.

  A fsh of blue covers the bed before Mystic plops down on it. “Look at that. Empty. Well, looks like your family is either gone or dead. Let’s head to the basement now.” She raises her hand, preparing to snap her fingers.

  Cassandra lunges forward and smacks Mystic’s arm. “No! They wouldn’t just leave. That’s not like Vanessa. She must be somewhere else with my Father.”

  Mystic squints at Cassandra’s desperation. “You’re delusional.”

  “Fuck you,” Cassandra grunts, stepping back into the hall. She stumbles into a wall as the city trembles again. She regains herself and makes her way to her room, where her violin is waiting.

  She smiles at the sight of the bck leather case. It’s exactly where she left it.

  Cassandra kneels down and pces her palms on the case. She slowly undoes the straps to view the wooden instrument inside. Her smile widens.

  She shuts the case and tosses it over her shoulder. Even if she can’t save anything or anyone else, Cassandra is thankful that she’s at least able to salvage this one small part of her.

  “Cassandra?”

  Her heart drops at the voice. She can hardly believe it.

  Her Father is standing right in the doorway.

  She leaps over to him. “Dad!” She wraps her arms around his shoulders.

  Tendo returns the hug, although something is off about it. His arms are unsteady, almost reluctant. Cassandra doesn’t notice. She doesn’t even care.

  “I’ve been so worried.” She states as she takes her arms off Tendo. She’s on the verge of tears now.

  Tendo chuckles. “I was more worried about you, kiddo. Your Mother and I didn’t know where you ran off to.”

  “So you found him.” Mystic states. Strolling down the hall to look up at Tendo. Her eyes hang on him before shifting to Cassandra. She smirks. “I can see the resembnce.”

  Cassandra scowls at Mystic. Tendo gres at the girl. “Who’s your friend?”

  The confrontation has no time to boil. Another pair of feet sprint down the hall. “Your daughter is here? That’s good.”

  Gelmidas wipes the sweat from his brow and attempts to catch his breath.

  Mystic points at him, “Is that the Emperor?”

  Cassandra nods. Tendo cups a hand to his mouth and whispers to his daughter, “Seriously, Cassandra, where did you find this child?”

  Cassandra has a question of her own. One that she doesn’t care to whisper. “Why are you with Gelmidas?”

  Gelmidas adjusts his gsses. “Rome is burning. Tendo and I were looking to get to safety.”

  Unsure of what else to do, Cassandra awkwardly smiles, “Where were you going then?”

  Gelmidas answers before Tendo can. “There’s a dungeon beneath the Pza. Staying there until this is all over is our best bet.”

  Cassandra shakes her head. “No. We need to get out of the Pza.”

  Tendo flinches. Taken aback by the comment, he lets out a dismissive “Why? The Pza is completely secure.”

  “It might not be for much longer,” Cassandra states, being sure to look at Gelmidas as she informs him that. “Adamus told me that assassins are making their way over here right now, and if the destruction in the city is any indication, they have the power to destroy this pce and everyone in it.”

  Gelmidas gasps in shock. “Of course. It makes sense that Nadeden’s attack would prompt more attempts on my life.” He steadies himself and stands tall. “We need to get out of here.”

  Tendo holds his hands up in protest. “That’s really not the best course of-”

  The Pza shakes again. The battle outside is getting more intense.

  Cassandra scans the hall for Mystic, hoping that she can simply snap them all to safety. However, the girl is already gone. Gelmidas is the one now leading the charge.

  “We need to get to the lobby.” He tells Cassandra and Tendo before dashing down the hall and toward the stairs.

  Cassandra follows him. Tendo drags slowly behind as if waiting for something.

  Sounds of destruction continue to echo outside.

  The three are halfway down the flight of stairs when Tendo grasps Cassandra’s arm. “About that child…”

  Cassandra wrests herself from Tendo’s grip. “She’s no one important. I’ll expin ter, Dad.”

  Tendo hangs behind her as they move down the stairs. It is only when they are all near the bottom of the spiral steps that he huffs. “I just didn’t want you getting involved in all this.”

  Cassandra turns back to him. “What?”

  Gelmidas touches his boot down on the penultimate step.

  Tendo gives his daughter a sad smile. “I’m sorry, Cassandra.”

  Gelmidas enters the lobby.

  Tendo presses his hand on the wall. “One.”

  A fsh of blue snaps Gelmidas and Cassandra into the lobby. They both slide helplessly across the smooth marble until hitting the iron spikes left by Anvil.

  Mystic sits atop one of those spikes, ughing as she cps her hands. “I didn’t expect you to be so bold! Does being in a human body for so long turn all of us into idiots?”

  The stairwell and doorway colpse under the power of the rune Tendo casted. He rushes down to the lobby before he can be harmed.

  Mystic snaps her fingers, bringing him forward. She leaps off the spike and grins at her brother.

  “Hello, my Schor.”

  “A Mystic…” Tendo sneers, “You certainly chose an odd body.”

  “I assure you, my Schor, I had no choice in the matter.”

  Cassandra can’t believe Mystic’s words. It’s simply impossible. Her Father can’t be a Machinist.

  The man raised her! How could he live under Vanessa all that time and choose to never show his power? He could have done something. He could have stood up for himself.

  Unless his consciousness was only transferred recently. But, no, that’s also impossible.

  Cassandra’s Father has been the same man her entire life. His personality has never changed. He’s always been kind, always been passive, always been under Vanessa’s heel.

  This simply can’t be true!

  Tendo sighs as he looks at her. “I’m sorry, Cassandra, I didn’t want you to find out this way.”

  He turns back to Mystic and presses his palms together. His arms fsh with blue light. “Now get out of my way, Mystic.”

  Mystic ughs. “Oh, please! You Schors were always weak. I doubt that-”

  Tendo sms his hands to the floor. The Marble twists around Mystic.

  She snaps her fingers and nds atop an iron spike. “I see.”

  Tendo marches forward, paying no mind to Mystic. He snatches Gelmidas off the floor and readies a strike.

  Cassandra grabs Tendo and pulls him away. Gelmidas sprints toward Mystic in panic. “What is-”

  Mystic snaps her fingers. “Leave.”

  Gelmidas vanishes in a fsh of blue light.

  “No!” Tendo shouts. Cassandra throws him to the floor. “What is wrong with you, Dad?”

  Tendo rises and shoves his daughter aside. He rushes Mystic. His arms glow blue again as he lunges forward.

  Mystic snaps her fingers, swapping positions with Cassandra. “Dad, please!”

  Tendo tosses down his arm before the strike can nd. “Where is he, Mystic! Where’s Gelmidas!”

  Cassandra reaches out for Tendo. He dashes past her and presses his hand to the wall. The cement transforms and unches at Mystic.

  She snaps her fingers, swapping herself for Cassandra once more. Tendo quickly shoves his other palm on the cement and recalls the attack.

  Cassandra is consumed by terror. She’s been tossed around so much, and all while trying to understand this world-shattering revetion. “How long have you been-”

  She doesn’t finish the sentence. She swaps pces with Mystic again.

  Tendo curses himself. “How long is this game going to go on?”

  “Until you start acting like a good Father and tell your daughter the fucking truth!” Mystic taunts from the basement doorway. “And also remove this barrier!”

  Tendo darts for the basement, only for Cassandra to grasp his arm. “Dad…” She mutters through tears.

  Tendo rips himself away from Cassandra in a rage. “Yes!” He shouts. “I’m a Machinist, alright! I put myself in this body long before the Rusting ever happened! I’ve always been your Father, but I’ve also always been a metal abomination pying at being a person! Now get out of my way so I can kill that monster in a child’s body!”

  Cassandra stumbles backward. She knew it. She knew that Tendo was always her Father. That was the reassuring part.

  Yet every other word stung into her mind. She always thought that there was something wrong with her. This was what had to expin those feelings, right?

  All those horrible fears that she never belonged anywhere stabbed into her sharper than ever. But what about Tendo’s actions now?

  Cassandra has to know why her Father would ever do something like this. Why would he try to kill Gelmidas and Mystic?

  And why would he call someone who, for all intents and purposes, is his sister, a monster?

  Cassandra wipes the tears from her eyes as she gasps. “Monster?”

  Tendo lowers his head. His dark eyes betray his resentment. “There are a lot of things you don’t understand, Cassandra.”

  “Then make me understand.” Cassandra pleads with Tendo as he turns away. “Not yet.”

  He rolls up the sleeves of his white-and-red royal uniform, revealing the runes etched into his skin. They do appear to be runes, but the more Cassandra looks at them, the more they resemble a seemingly random pattern of ones and zeroes.

  “Bring me, Gelmidas,” Tendo demands Mystic as he approaches the basement. The sound of his boots stomping over to the door rings throughout the entire Pza as if to count down Mystic’s fate.

  “I didn’t want to do this.” She whispers, stepping out to face Tendo. She sighs, “Very well, are you ready to die, sibling?”

  “Don’t call me 'sibling'.” Tendo grunts. His arms glow as he swings at Mystic.

  She snaps her fingers. A fsh of blue light sms Tendo to the floor. Mystic pnts herself beside him. Cassandra finds herself frozen by fear as Mystic lifts Tendo’s head and smashes it into the door.

  “Open the barrier.” Mystic coldly commands him. Much to Cassandra’s horror and Mystic’s frustration, Tendo simply ughs. “It can’t be opened. You see, Mystic…”

  He grinds his teeth together in a wide, blood-stained grin. “Life is precious.”

  Mystic rolls her eyes and raises her hand. Cassandra snatches her small fingers before she can snap them.

  “Stop! Don’t kill him, Mystic!” Cassandra shouts as Mystic struggles under her grip.

  “What is with all the shouting?” A voice calls from the end of the lobby.

  It soon enters the room itself. “What is a child doing here?”

  The high-heeled boot smacks the floor. The white cape flutters behind it.

  Vanessa tosses Nadeden down. She writhes under her restraints as Vanessa marches past her.

  “Where’s Gelmidas?” She questions right before she gazes at Tendo’s bloodied head.

  Her eyes narrow on Cassandra, burning into her.

  Vanessa tightens her grip on the arrow in her hand. She grows hot with simmering rage.

  That rage threatens to explode as she speaks, demanding of her so-called daughter, “What did you do?”