A Chained Memory

"Ghk...."

He was pretty much out of it. All he could do right now...was let out a roar. He couldn't give up...Not now! But he was unsure how much more he could do. Even with the creature apparently getting off of him, it was still tough for him to do just about anything. The fact that he was essentially trapped within his armor didn't help much.

The night was coming to a close. Time itself seemed to have stopped for the poor souls trapped in the fishing village. Once it was a quiet place, where people would live out their mundane lives in peace. Now it had turned into a graveyard, a grim reminder of a fierce battle. It was not a battle of gain, but one of survival, life against death - only one could prevail.

And one did. "Pix!" yelled the blonde girl. "Get away- mmmphh!"

Dark tendrils sealed her voice and sight. They violently lashed out at the tiny girl, keeping her away as they swallowed her summoner, draining every ounce of energy Ix had left. The dark monster thrashed wildly with Ix inside its body. Her movements began to slow down and a sudden feeling of fatigue enveloped her, weighing down like heavy chains tied to her joints. She couldn’t move a single muscle anymore. All Ix could do was cry.

Yet her end was not one of prolonged suffering, rather an instant of pain. Something had rammed into the monster covering her, smashing both of them into the side of a building. With her last bit of consciousness left, Ix saw the sinister form of a serpentine dragon, made entirely out of her sister's blood, devouring the black monster.

A terrible creation floated above the body of the fallen warrior Tix. It was an amalgamation of her blood, sustained by the foulest of magic; an orb of concentrated malice, from which eight serpetine heads sprouted. The heads tore through the army of dark - savage beasts born out of hatred. Soon, nothing but ruins would remain of the once populated village.

"Foul… xenos!" Barchiel shouted, kicking inside of his armor. Through sheer strength, he began lifting himself up. Tons of metal rested heavily on his body, an obstacle overcame only by the herculean might of an Astartes. If only he would have a tech priest at the ready, he would grab that bolter with his bare hands and mow down the slime hordes. Alas he was granted no such luxury, and with every passing moment he felt it more futile to continue trying, not with the battle raging close. He was a warrior of the Imperium, but he was no fool. Playing dead would have been seen as a great offence back home, but here he had people to return to, people that cared about him. Someone had to know of this tragedy.

The massacre continued. Monster slew monster. The eight headed dragon ground the slimes against the mud, smearing their black goo over the soil as they reached for their target: the winged woman. Entire groups of slimes jumped in from every corner to protect her, from the warrior clones to the puny gatherers. The entire organism that was Theta retracted itself onto a single point.

Not even the dragon's unholy strength was enough to pierce through the black shield of combined slime, yet it continued its brutal assault to no end, pushing the guardian and her shield far into the village farms, her feet torn apart between the force of the dragon and the earth. Seething revenge, made manifest.

A trail of black goo was all that remained of the slime army. The dark knight held fast, but not even her incredible resilience would save her, being ultimately eaten and ripped apart by this otherworldly creature. The eight headed monstrosity would not cease. With the army fallen, the cocoon was next, and once that fell, all remaining life would follow, for the dragon had but one true allegiance. One of its heads snapped at the dark, fleshy chamber housing the sleeping woman, a destructive wave of force traveling alongside it. An attack as fierce as this one would only leave ruin in its wake…

It stopped. The draconic death stopped at the hand of a woman emerging from the cocoon. With subtle grace her fingers closed in on the dragon's jaw, piercing its bloody form with claws of steel. Slowly, the rest of her form came into view. The woman Pix saw sleeping had awakened, her nightmare a reflection of reality.

Another mighty roar signaled the ultimate fate of the gray skinned woman. She was the last obstacle standing between it and the total annihilation of life. Two more heads launched themselves at her, and while she held a second one with her free hand, the third tore through her abdomen like it was paper. Her face was frozen in a look of pure shock as her black blood was smeared across the corpse-ridden dirt. The woman's body collapsed from the painful hole in her gut, her arms too, shredded away in an instant.

If her wounds were any indication, the woman should be dead without a doubt. Instead, the dragon felt itself absorbed by an unknown force, one channelled through dark stakes that pierced three of its heads. Their red, viscuous bodies gradually lost whatever made them keep their shape, coursing to the ground like crimson waterfalls. Its incremental death empowered the woman whose limbs grew back as twisted tendrils of darkness. She pushed them deep inside the fourth head charging towards her, but not before jumping out of the way.

"Troublesome." the woman spoke in a hushed whisper. Her voice and face hid the immense pain she was suffering. None of that mattered; the pain, the damage she took, the terrible beast before her, none. She had to finish this as fast as possible, or else-

A war of attrition, that is what the woman wanted, a surefire way to win, one she would not get. She glanced over at the monster rearing to lunge at her. The massive sphere of blood from whence the heads came, its core she needed to destroy. With one swift and powerful movement, the woman brought the dragon's heads together, encasing them in three layers of iron slime. This had left her open to the brunt of a bone-crushing tackle performed by two other heads.

With the gray woman seemingly out of the way, the beast turned its wrath upon the closest living being: the Space Marine Barchiel, whose optics remained largely unimpeded by the lack of energy in the armor. And what he saw was a black wall of slime forming from the remnants of the fallen army. It stopped the fatal bite of the dragon and bought enough time for her to return. Despite the woman's slender appearance, her movements expressed the results of years of physical training. She rushed past a cross attack from two heads, spear forming in her right hand, ready to pierce the cor-

A fearsome bellow spread across the ruined battlefield. At the dragon's mouths, bright energy was gathering, one that could not settle on shape nor color. This constant shift, this massive fluctuation, it could only be one thing. Chaos, she thought, ever-changing, ever-destructive, aimed directly at the Astartes she thought unconscious. The woman jumped high into the air, clinging on the dragon's jaw as it fired a beam of pure energy towards him. Her body could barely take it, being immediately disintegrated upon contact with the beam. But that was fine, the pain meant nothing to her. She twisted the beast's neck, just long enough that it would miss. Its chaotic ray dug deep into the earth beneath, a mere meter away from Barchiel, who could only watch the destruction unfold.

Thud. The woman's body fell next to him. They both lied in a pool of her blood. An instinctive thought of helping her crossed his mind, one he would have to dismiss. She was the murderous xeno they were so desperately trying to stop. Yet why did she do so much to protect them? Even he could notice the massive amount of damage she has taken, and there she was again, standing up to face the monster. Her body was slowly absorbing the slime around the village, the energy of the earth, even the dragon's own energy, anything to stay alive. The screaming sound of Chaos washed over them like dread; they had destroyed the front of the steel prison, and were slowly, but surely, going to break the rest of it. This was it. Whether she would overcome this creature or die alongside the rest of them was going to be decided now.

She was weak, hurt and struggling to stand. Barchiel could feel all hope turn to despair as he saw what happened. Two bloody heads sank their massive teeth in her arms, lifting her up as if she was food, ready to be devoured. The dragon took a few moments to look at her with its hateful eyes, to let its imminent victory be known. It opted not to eat her, but rather charge another beam of Chaos at its helpless prey, seemingly possessing some form of higher intelligence. The woman did not budge, her gaze was facing downwards in a look of resignation. In her dying haze she saw the silhouette of a winged woman, waiting for her at the end of the road. Was this what Fate had in store for her? One last roar, one last attack, it was the end.

"I'm sorry… I can't go yet."

In that moment, the beast caught a glimpse of her determined figure, now rising to face it. Two tentacles shot towards its head, wrapping themselves tightly around the monster's bulging neck. The energies of Chaos coursed through it, utterly unstoppable. Even if the head would explode, the beam would still be fired. She did not intend to do that. With all of her might, she forced the head towards the ground, making it face inward. The others tried to stop her, yet found themselves trapped by the very arms they bit. The tentacles loosened, the beam was launched… directly at the core of the creature.

Soon, the woman found herself back on ground. She stared at the decomposing mess of blood, a giant hole now occupied its center. Such great and terrible was the power of Chaos, unable to be contained by even its user. The monster was no more, killed by its own hand.

Darkness. There was nothing left of the girl known as Tix. This was to be her last battle, one last ditch effort to protect the ones she held dear. Whether it succeeded or not, she would not live to see it. A warm hand on her chest. Why could she feel that? That warm touch, soothing and numbing. Breath slowly returned to the girl and with it, all of her senses. For a few moments even her eyes were open. Through the blur she saw it: golden eyes watching over her. They were sorrowful eyes, yet they could only express relief. Tix closed her eyes and fell into deep slumber.

"You dare." a voice echoed in the void. It was bitter, full of contempt for the gray woman. This unmistakable presence that chilled her to the bone, it felt the same as the dragon. Such seething rage given form, perhaps it was never Tix's to begin with. She grasped at the foreign essence lying deep within Tix, strangling the neck of a dark silhouette. "Indeed." she answered, snuffing its life out and replacing its presence with her own.

A few hours have passed since they left. Nothing could be heard from Sanctuary, no voices, no laughter, not even the neighboring midara habitats - only the chirping of crickets and the howling of wind. The deathly silence was only broken by the sound of crackling magic - someone had warped back to Sanctuary. Not one, but all of them, Adri could tell immediately. Yet what she found outside was nothing short of macabre. All of her "children", collapsed on the ground, and standing next to them, a woman in black. Dust scattered from her hand. It was the last of the teleportation stones, having been overloaded by a great force, then drained completely as they were used to transport each of their owners at once. Before Adri could say anything, the woman ran away into the trees' shadows. The Avatar of Magic did not give chase - she had to tend to their wounds.

Moonlight shone upon the remnants of structures long turned history. The gray slime leaned against a moss-covered pillar. She stared longingly at the full moon, reaching towards its light with a trembling hand. She was tired, so tired. Her eyelids grew too heavy a burden to keep open. With one last thought, the woman collapsed on the shallow water of the lakeside ruins.

Please forgive me…

Dixi had notice Adrianna rushing out of the house, something must had happen, determined to find out she followed her, what she didn't expect to see was her sisters and friends knocked out on the floor and that woman... Who was she? She seemed to be the one that brought them here but before she could even ask her, the mysterious woman left. She considered following her but in the current state her family and friends were, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

The first one the brawler approached was her little sister, worried about her more than anything. "Ix, Ix, wake up, Ix!" Thankfully they were still alive, the girl's gaze traveled from Ix to Tix. "Even Tix... What did just happen to them..." Then to the fallen kitsune. "Jen, Tam..." And finally to the space marine. "The big guy too..." Worried, Dixi looked at Adrianna. "We should take them inside." She started to pick Ix, Tix and Tam up.

Adrianna weaved a wind-based spell of her own to pick up the rest and bring them into the house, residents of the Sanctuary gathering from a distance out of curiosity. They didn't say anything to Dixi or Adrianna, though they muttered amongst each other plenty. Once inside the house, Adri had them all laid onto their respective beds to rest and wake up when they could. "It looks like their fight didnt go so well..."

Whilst Adri was carrying the wounded and the beaten, Dixi watched over Ix the most, whose head was still bleeding. What a horrible thing to happen, such a wound on her pure little sister looked nothing but wrong. Loud thumps on the wooden floor disturbed the eerie silence, and they got louder still. Aura, the girl who sent them to their demise just by virtue of entering into their lives, had come rushing, to be a witness to the fate of those that swore to protect her.

"No, no, no, no, no, no... no...."

Her legs wobbled and lost all strength. The sight alone was enough to make her fall on her knees, repeating the same word of denial over and over and over again. This couldn't be happening, not after their promise. Her eyes remained open wide, watching Adrianna drag the limp bodies of the very people that she grew to love.

"Aura, calm down. They're not dead and this isn't a victory will let her get away with," Adrianna assured her. "So they were defeated this time, it doesn't matter. They may seem powerful, but everyone loses now and then. I'm sure Tam and Tix and everyone else will tell you something similar once they're recovered."

Oh no, Aura. Dixi turn around to look at the distressed young girl, leaving her sister side, the brawler knelt next to the girl. "Aura, listen to me, I know how you must feel but they be fine, okay?" She then pulled Aura into a comforting hug. "I'm here for you Aura, I know how important they are to you, they are very important to me too, I wish I could have helped them." Dixi's hug was warm, comforting, the girl probably needed it most than anyone right now.

The brawler helped the girl get back up and took her to the nearest chair. "Aura, you have to be strong okay? What if they wake up and they find you crying and sad? Don't you think they'll prefer to see you smile welcoming them?"

The girl broke down in tears, clinging to Dixi as if she were another. One that looked just like her, whose touch felt just a little rougher. Her arms were wrapped around the brawler and her face buried in the chest of the one who comforted her as they sat down together.

"I did that to them..." she managed between sobs. "It's my fault... everything..."

She was utterly lost in self-loathing that Dixi's words so far had little effect on her. Aura heard her, yet not even for a second could she fathom smiling at the ones she condemned - there was only soul-crushing regret.

"Aura listen to me okay? This wasn't your fault, they knew what they were doing when they went out and I'm sure they won't want you to blame yourself." Dixi hold Aura close to her, she wanted to help the girl, she blamed herself for what happened to the others but it was not her fault, Dixi was determined to convince Aura of that. "Aura, you think Tam and Tix would want you to blame yourself?"

"Urgh..."

Playing dead was not only mildly disgraceful, but it was, as Barchiel was experiencing first hand, a pain in the arse to get back to functioning form. Doubly so when his suit was still low on power. By the Emperor, this was embarassing.

However, as he lay there, trying to get his suit to start back up, his mind went back to the previous events. That woman..she had protected him...Had saved the entire group and brought them to the Sanctuary. True, she had been, in a way, the cause of this. But to have saved them....It made him ponder.

She had saved them when it would have been easier to simply be rid of them. When Barchiel had come to this planet, it was to analyze the threat of the Midara menace. A race who's purpose was to seduce humanity and either corrupt or consume them...And yet he had met a fair share that simply wished to live their lives. He had even become close to one. He had wrongly considered all Midara to be foul temptresses of Chaos.

Had he been wrong about other alien races? Perhaps the Tau weren't so bad. Or the Orks....The Eldar were still sketchy however. Some of them worshipped a damn clown god, that kind of thing couldn't go unpunished. Regardless, perhaps...there was a chance of coexistence.

Adrianna rubbed Aura's back gently, trying to pitch in with words and gestures of comfort and reassurance of her own. It was indeed regretful to see them all weak and defeated coming back, but she knew it wouldn't help to let Aura spiral further into guilt that she wasn't deserving of.

Dixi's words finally cut through the veil that Aura placed over herself. Of course they would be unhappy with her behavior should they see her cry and blame herself. Aura remembered Tix's gaze when she cried, it looked so painful, as if Tix herself was hurt by it. Dixi was right - they should not be made even more miserable by her tears.

"No." she gulped. "They would not..." The girl rose her head to face Dixi's kind eyes. The brawler could see her trying to suppress the tears that would never stop. "Dixi... you're right. I'm sorry."

Dixi smiled and wiped the tears from Aura's face. "You have to be strong and brave Aura, give them your best smile when they wake up, okay? I'm sure they'll love it." After comforting the girl, Dixi got up and helped Aura get up from the chair. "I'll go check up on Ix, can you watch over Tix and Tam for me, Aura?"

Aura nodded and, after giving Dixi a quick hug, left straight for Tix's room, or was it Tam and Jenny's? She could not for the life of her decide, so she did the only sensible thing. The girl would leave the doors to their rooms open, alternating between the two until someone would wake up, ready to be met by her best smile. The worry on her expression was visible to all, even more so after she saw Tix covered head to toe in bandages; but she could not let that stop her, she had to overcome her worry and guilt and be happy for them.

---

The group led by Tracy had finally arrived in the dead of the night, in part thanks to the girl's rare navigational skills. Toushiko no longer carried Richard, who by now had woken up, claiming to feel better than ever. They were glad the slime didn't do any significant damage to him, or any damage at all. But there was still the girl with broken bones, the one they needed to check on.

"This has to be it, right Tracy?" said the green haired shopkeeper, completely unfazed by her entrance into Sanctuary's outer and inner fields. Before them now lied the main building, as well as the midara habitats in all of their splendor. "Seems like there's a commotion going on." she added, noticing groups of midara leaving for their homes, while talking amongst themselves.

---

Adri stood at the balcony, gazing at the starts glittering in the dark sky. Even if not present, she could see everyone still sleeping soundly, and would know if any had woken up. Barchiel was the first to show signs of being conscious, and a good zap of her magic worked wonders to restore the neural links of the Astartes's Black Carapace. He had important information for the rest of the group, but would rather wait until they've all woken up and until his thoughts settled as well. The Witch of the Woodlands refrained from reading his mind, her trademark curiosity seemingly gone in this night of nights. Sometimes she felt so powerless, despite her status, and in moments like these, all she could do was keep to herself.

The witch's thoughts were cut short by the sound of wings flapping. Next to her, landing slowly on her feet, was a familiar face she did not often get to see. Her wings, much like her visage, were old and tattered, weary from many a flight. They formed a white cloak around her, matching her silver hair.

"The young ones... I have never seen them like this." the woman addressed Adri. "Nor you, old friend, not since you took the mantle."

"I didn't imagine they'd come back like this," Adrianna sighed. "I expected damage, I always do. Sometimes I even wonder what to say to them if they come back defeated..." Her eyes darkened for a moment as the thought of everyone being dropped at the Sanctuary's front door knocked out and weak. "Sorry, I should smile for them, just like Aura." Adri smiled up at her bird friend. "Sorry about that, Eli..."

Neural uplinks online. Successfully interfaced with Black Carapace. All systems operational.

The mental message was more than a relief for the Astartes, as he began to sit up. silently thanking the Emperor for not being confined in his armor. However, his mind was still swimming with thought after thought. It was night time, something he could tell from both his suit's internal clock, and by a simple glance outside.

Perhaps an attempt at weapons maintenance would allow him time to sort his mind out. He hadn't been keeping up on the schedule that every Space Marine essentially had drilled into their head, but he could at least try and get back to it.

She could feel the gentle hand of Aelis rest on her shoulder, the look in her eyes too, was full of compassion.

"If there is anyone capable of putting up a smile no matter the situation, it's you, Adri." The bird woman gave her the warmest smile she could muster. "You are our eternal mother and protector, are you not?" said Aelis, with a tone most sweet, a key part of the soothing melody of her kind. "Though seeing you like this brings me back... it's endearing even, to see you just as human as you were when you saved me for the first time."

"That takes me back..." A small chuckle broke her funk for a moment. "Those bandits had no idea who they were messing with... But I gotta admit that bolt hurt like a mother."