INTERMISSION I

Why was it me?

I guess it made sense. The greatest swordsman can be a hero, too.

But do heroes beat on others that ridicule them?

Do they kill in order to refine their skills? And sate the fire in their hearts?

What even is a hero, anyway?

Never once did I ever think about that kinda stuff.

Now that I look back, it was like some transient dream.

I didn't care about the complicated things in life.

I swung my sword as my heart decided. That was good enough for me.

But they used me. Again, and again, I was used. Until the final moments, I was just another piece on the board.

So why... did I look at his smile and relent, again? Why didn't I kill him?

On that day, under those unfamiliar cherry blossoms of an unknown world...

"You're the only one who can do this, Izo-kun. Because of that passion of yours..." Smiling, that man tipped his white hat to me. He was hiding his eyes, I could only see that smile.

He knew how angry that made me. He knew how much I wanted to cut him down right then and there.

Yet he also knew that I wouldn't do that. I couldn't do that. This wasn't the way I wanted it to end.

"Ya mocking me again... just going to laugh behind my back and use me again, is that it eh?! Is there no end to ya games?! You need me here!"

"Maybe... we're all struggling, that's for sure. But... out there, the key to everything awaits."

Beyond the cherry blossom trees, he pointed. To a wall of fog on the horizon, rippling with lightning.

"Any shall lose themselves by throwing themselves into nothingness. To enter emptiness is to relinquish all that makes up your being." He then pointed at me again. "You, who holds such arrogance to your heart... you have the best odds of keeping it together."

I hated him.

I hated that he was right.

I hated how he used me.

I hated how I trusted him.

I hated him.

"I don't care what ya think! I'm not going anywhere! I won't let ya use me again!"

Maybe a part of me wanted to go back to the old days. Maybe part of me thought that the strange world was the place it would happen. Where I could forget all those regrets.

But it was just a transient dream.

He turned his back to me, and a monstrous shadow snaked out from beyond him.

In that moment, I felt weightless and tumbled towards the boundary of nothingness.

"Izo-kun. Don't mess up, okay? The key to the key... it must be you. Thank you for everything..."

It was a terrible farewell. I cursed his name as I fell into that fog and lost everything about myself.

But he was right. I kept it together, somehow. Maybe it was my pride. Maybe it was my hate.

After that, one day, I woke up in an alley of a strange new world without a name...

...

Now that it's come to this, after everything that's happened, in this final moment...

I still hate him.

===

Glass breaking could be heard throughout the summit of the Crystal Tower. Not a soul was there to hear it, save for the one that caused it. Madame Deficit sat on her throne in a queenly manner, her hand tipped forward slightly as she stared at the fragments of wine glass on the floor. "Useless mutt." She sighed and stood up, as if it was the most arduous thing for her to do. She descended down a set of silver steps from her crystal-embedded throne.

Following an illustrious red carpet, she came to a massive window that overlooked a portion of the Capitol. Pulling out a silver-lined spyglass, she peered at one region in particular. The Montmartre district, reduces to flames and rubble. The shape of Pantagruel could be seen as well, wading through the destruction it wrought. This did not satisfy her, not one bit. The casualty count was painfully low and the foreign interlopers known as "Chaldea" escaped. But the most cruel thing to happen to her on this eve...

"I wanted that foreign Heroic Spirit... I WANTED him! To take his own life so willingly, without hesitation..." Her fingers grasped her pale cheek, curling themselves a little bit as she gripped harder. Makeup could be seen staining her black glove as she did so, a strained moan escaping her lips. "I wanted him. But he is gone now." Her darkened lips twisted into a hideous scowl for a moment, before she took a deep and exaggerated breath. She moved away from the window, snapping her fingers. Great crimson curtains shuffled inwards to take the view away from her.

"Open." She said this like a command before massive ebony doors lined with platinum and gems, as the extravagant things started to slowly crank open. Gendarmarie guards in crystalline armour could be seen operating a door mechanism as the Madame left her chambers.

At the end of the wide corridor that led away from her chamber, there was a massive spiral staircase that formed the central spine of the Crystal Tower summit. Rather than use the complex of stairs, however, a mechanical lift attached to the railings arrived for her.

She stepped onto the lift and it carried her along the trajectory of the staircase, descending to the lower parts of the summit. Soon, the lift stopped before another wide corridor. She stepped off and wandered to soon arrive at another set of ebony doors, manned by a pair of guards. Above it, a sign said "GALLERY".

"Open." The doors slowly creaked open, as she stepped inside... magical lights flickered on as she entered, and a smile returned to her lips as she was greeted by a view that was pleasant to her. Rows and rows of statues, made out of radiant white crystals, were laid out throughout this huge chamber. An exhibition of sorts. Many resembled commoners and Highcastes from the Capitol, in a variety of poses ranging from being sat on the floor depressedly to looking like they are mid-fall. The detail on each of them was uncannily realistic...

Her prized possessions, however, were the handful of statues stood at the front to greet any that would enter the chamber. She hummed merrily to herself, as she gazed down at the nameplates of these special statues...

JEANNE D'ARC THE HOLY MAIDEN

ATALANTE THE HUNTRESS

VLAD III THE IMPALER

SIEGFRIED THE DRAGON SLAYER

SAINT MARTHA

"Heroes... are truly the greatest pieces for my collection." She licked her lips a little, as she stepped forward and laid a gentle hand on the crystallized cheek of Jeanne d'Arc. It was a loving caress, like that of a lover's affection. "Don't worry, my dear... soon, I will have more. The other worlds have so much to offer..."

However, she paused for a second as her smile dissipated. She let out a low sigh as she backed away from the statue, her time of pleasure seemingly disrupted. She pulled her fan out and waved it before her face as she cocked her head to the side. "Your foul odour is permeating throughout my collection. Make it quick."

Out of seemingly nowhere, the Lord Executioner stood before the Madame. He smirked, not even offering a bow for his queen or anything. Instead, he casually waved. "Want me to punish the big bad wolf? He failed his mission and is already preparing to jump ship to Oceania. Stinks of treason if you ask me..."

"I knew he would do it, he's too obsessed with that vixen for his own good." She snapped the fan shut. "Let him go."

The Lord Executioner's smirk disappeared, replaced with an unamused frown. "Why? I could just hack him to pieces right now, just give the word."

"Let the dog go. If it brings back some fine bones, then so be it. Isengrimmus is still loyal to me, which means he can still be of use. No matter where he goes. Besides..." The corners of her lips curled up a little. "I've been meaning to strike back at those Oceania wretches ever since the incident... to think, a band of petty scoundrels came together to pretend as lords. Outrageous."

She laughed, as if it were an ironically hilarious joke. It was a fake laughter that she forced out, since right now she felt anger more than anything. Why could things just not go her way? "Before you depart back to your filthy Kitchen, tell me something about the conflict in the Sahara."

Already looking bored, the Lord Executioner shrugs and scratches his behind a little. "Not much is new. We're still locked in a stalemate. Vauban's fortresses still stand but the assaulting forces are literally endless. Even with the technological supremacy provided by Cair Grauth, we can't make any ground at all. No fun, right?"

"That will do. Your grand project is still yet to reach completion, correct? Then we must make further delays..." She yawned, hiding her mouth with her fan as she closed her eyes. "Politics, politics... makes me desire the sweet embrace of a coma. Leave now. Tell the wolf to take the Mad Beast with him."

This was news for the Lord Executioner, who raised an eyebrow. "Eh? The Mad Beast? That dark knight we got shackled up in the deepest confinement?" He then suddenly laughed with zeal in his eyes. "Hahaha! You really do want Isenpuppy dead! Sure, I'll give him the wonderful news!" With that said, his grating laughter continued to ring throughout the chamber as he stepped out of it. "It's time to riiiiise and shine, Mr Knight!"

After the business had concluded, the Madame retreated to her private chambers. She completely shed off all of her apparel, before descending her bare and supple form into the steaming depths of a prepared bath. She took a sip of fine wine, before she relaxed and stared at the ceiling with empty, golden eyes.

Everything. Eventually, everything would be hers.

===

In the wake of Pantagruel's rampage, Montmartre had been utterly razed save for the gatehouses, the barracks and a select few estates that simply lucked out. Smoke and flames dotted the landscape. The giant had already departed, retreating into a vast canal and disappearing into its waters. The Gendarmarie had sent out small patrols to search for survivors. Any people who survived this ordeal could be put back to work.

They eventually did find a large chunk of the citizens, hidden away in a waterway access tunnel. The guards sent reports to the higher-ups of this result, before they started to distribute survivors into other districts. However... concerning a certain a group of guards, who decided to search deeper in the waterways for more survivors-

"... nnnggggghhhhhH!" A pained groan escaped the guard as he burned in azure flames, before he collapsed. The light from the flames revealed a grizzly scene. Burnt corpses of guards and undead alike strewn across the entirety of the chamber. Patches of blue flames remained on some of the corpses and surroundings, leading in a certain direction.

A mantled figure stepped across the burning dead without hesitation, following the trail. It didn't take them long to reach the culprit, in the midst of burning the final guard. Blue flames completely engulfed the area in a rough ring. The flames seemed to form into the shape of a serpent, before they shot forth and consumed the guard. Flames burst out of the seams of his armour as he screamed in agony, before collapsing to the ground.

The serpent of flames twisted around and lunged for the new visitor... except they became completely stopped and swept away by a barrage of blue-black lightning. "Stand down! Crazed woman... you have no sense of sublety, but perhaps that is your greatest strength!"

The figure peered from beneath his dark hat, a discerning yellow eye spying the girl that stood within the depths. "Where is he... where is he where is he where is he where is he WHERE IS HE WHERE IS HE-" She kept going on like this, her eyes glowing menacingly as another serpent of flames formed.

The man simply laughed, wreathing his hands in black flames and lightning as he prepared to defend himself. "Or perhaps it is your love? You wish to speak with action, but per chance, what would be your course of action... when I were to say, I am an ally to Chaldea? And that my best interests are for... the Master of Chaldea?"

The flame serpent stopped, as the horned girl froze in place at those words. Her eyes ceased glowing, as she stared at him with her own golden eyes of suspicion. "... You're not lying. But I still do not trust you."

"I need not trust. I need you to only know, we exist here for the same purpose..." He laughed a bit, the flames and lightning slowly starting to dissipate as animosity between the two decreased.

"And what purpose would this be?"

"Kuhahaha! Isn't it obvious within your heart? We're both here... because we followed him here!" His laughter continued, echoing through the rest of the waterways alongside the crackling of flames...

END OF INTERMISSION I