Y/n was angry.

That burning sensation had reached a fiery new height, leaving her practically trembling from the pain, but she didn't make a move to attack Dan Shu.

Her memories weren't intact, but the things she felt for this woman still remained. Was their friendship so precious to her that even now she didn't wish to cause her harm?

Perplexing.

"Dan Shu." y/n said quietly, "My memories of you may be in shambles but I don't want to fight you. What you're trying to do isn't going to be for the benefit of everyone, it'll throw the Luofu into chaos! Is that seriously what you want?"

"You don't understand. This power Merciful Medicus has granted you with is a gift, one capable of ending all suffering." Dan Shu shot back, "Stay out of my way, or I'll be forced to strip you of that gift!"

"You know, it would be nice if you could just take it away." y/n mumbled before letting out a heavy sigh, "The thought of hurting you makes me unwell, but my family is among the people who may suffer because of your actions. Sorry, but I can't let that happen."

Y/n managed a small smile.
"Because we were friends, and because something within me still treasures that friendship, I'm going to have to respectfully beat your 🍑. I won't kill you, but I'm definitely going to have to stop you from doing anything else foolish." 'Please don't make me fight you. I don't want to hurt you.'

"Fine. If you won't listen to the truth, I'll have to open your eyes to it forcefully—!" WHAM

"Sorry!" Caelus apologized as Dan Shu flopped after being struck in the back of the head by his bat after he'd swung a bit too wide at another cult member, "Oh 💩, is she okay?"

"Urgh... you...!" the woman was clearly not immune to concussions. Y/n would've preferred if Caelus didn't hit her again, but you can't always get what you want.

As Caelus and y/n opted to tie her up, all of the other cult members either weakened or downed, Dan Shu began to realize how bad the situation was for her.

"The one who gave us the Stellaron... said that the Ambrosial Arbor's descent would give us undying bodies!" she forced out through gritted teeth, "Phantylia... the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus have fulfilled our promise. You, Lord Ravager, must do the same... now! Quickly!"

Lord Ravager, wasn't that—

'This woman... has she gone mad?' y/n through in disbelief, 'A Lord Ravager, someone capable of destroying the Luofu... she was working with one?'

Danger. Her family was in danger again.
Not again, please, not them.

Y/n pressed a hand against her forehead with a small groan, staggering a little as March rushed to steady her, "Hey! Y/n! Keep it together-!"

It was a moment before there was a small "tsk tsk".

The source of the noise was Tingyun, the Foxian woman shaking her head, "Little pawn, must you really force me to intervene directly? I'm reluctant to flout my philosophy of destruction."
(Swapped the wording because I was like huh at first until I remembered what the word meant)

"Never mind, it would seem the time had come for other means of dismantling the Xianzhou from within." the woman hummed with a smirk as she slowly began to approach the weakened cult members, "Ah, what a shame... it would've been nice to observe for just a little longer."

She flicked one of the cult members on the face and all of them ignited into yellow and blue flames, flailing and screaming in pain as they transformed, "You received the gift of Abundance."

March 7th gasped and y/n covered her eyes, her expression grim as the flames shifted to purple and Tingyun turned to face them as her voice began to shift and change, "...surely you can withstand the blessing of Destruction."

The cult members emerged from the purple flames, now transformed into antimatter legion pawns and, ah— HER NECK.

The woman's neck kinda just snapped at a really odd and unnatural angle before she collapsed, March and Caelus beginning to rush towards her to check on her only for y/n to make it first just in time to keep her from hitting the ground too harshly.

"Miss Tingyun!" March shouted as y/n looked over her body with a frown, immediately catching sight of a strange ball of fire that rose from her with a chuckle.

"Benefactors. Allow me to reintroduce myself." the ball of fire hummed as the antimatter legion enemies immediately engaged the group in battle, "I am Lord Ravager Phantylia. I have come with a single purpose: to set in motion the self destruction of the Xianzhou."

"Great, a monologue." y/n murmured as she gently laid down Tingyun and prepared to fight.

"Miss Tingyun is a Lord Ravager of the Antimatter Legion? But... how?" March questioned.

"Girlie's neck snapped like a twig and that's what you're worried about?" Caelus asked in an incredulous tone.

"All of you, remain calm! This is a formidable enemy, we must remain together!" Fu Xuan ordered.

Formidable enemy?

Not really.

The last thing most of those creatures saw was y/n's fist headed right for their face or gut moments before she made impact and blew holes right into them.

Others were dragged into black holes created by Welt, crushed and destroyed before they even knew what happened to them while some were frozen by March 7th before being shattered into a million pieces by Caelus' bat.

This formidable enemy was facing over leveled opponents, so they made fairly quick work of them.

"You are fortunate that Zephyro and Celenova never set their gaze upon the Xianzhou." Phantylia continued as the last of the enemies were being picked off, "They have no qualms about dealing out destruction by their own hand... but since that stubborn General has forced me to take center stage, I'll make sure I steal the show."

"You 🚚er!" y/n suddenly snapped, "You try to cause any more harm to this place and I swear I'll make your sorry 🍑 regret it!"

"Oh my, threatening a Lord Ravager? You're either incredibly bold or incredibly stupid, little one." the ball of fire hummed before amusement began to creep into her tone, "Or perhaps that's the mara talking. I'd love to stay and find out but I'm afraid I just depart. I have an appointment to keep, but my friends here will be happy to entertain you."

I— did she just leave?

Y/ n didn't bother questioning it any further as her and the others handled the last of the Antimatter Legion without too much difficulty. What sucked was that Tingyun and Dan Shu were both gone.

"Wait, wait, wait, hold on, is it true that Miss Tingyun was a member of the Antimatter Legion this whole time?" March demanded with a frantic expression, "And what was that fire that came out of her? And her body... where'd it go? Mr. Yang, you're smart, what just happened?"

When the man didn't reply, Caelus' look became one of slight worry, "Mr. Yang...?"

The man let out a sigh, "The flame we witnessed claimed to be Lord Ravager Phantylia, a name I've heard other Nameless speak of in the past. She's one of seven Lord Ravagers who serve Nanook and finds pleasure in witnessing the self-destruction of mortals. She's led countless souls down a dark and hopeless path."

"Was Miss Tingyun one of those souls?" Y/n's voice was quiet as she joined the group, looking rather tired, "Had she been fallen under that thing's influence?"

"I don't believe so. Phantylia enjoys watching a corrupted mind eat away at its host form the inside out until the obliteration of both is achieved." Welt continued carefully, "But there was no indication that Tingyun had been misguided or manipulated. It's possible that the Tingyun we knew wasn't the real Tingyun, rather an image Phantylia devised to serve her own purposes."

Caelus glanced at y/n and gave her a nudge, '...Isn't it nice to hear Mr. Yang talk? Is voice is very soothing.'

Y/n didn't react, still unfocused from the looks of it.

The trailblazer heaved a small, worried sigh.
He didn't like seeing her like this...

"You're saying the real Tingyun is still..." March seemed hopeful, but still uncertain at the same time.

Welt shook his head, "I'm sorry, March, but I can't say for sure where the real Tingyun may be or when she was replaced by the imposter. Without knowing where the body vanished to, it'll be tough to find an answer."

"Right now, it's all just conjecture and hope. But if that body belonged to the real Tingyun, it does raise a question of why Phantylia would go to such lengths to destroy any evidence of her. Wouldn't it be more in line with her destructive nature to leave Tingyun's remains behind as a display of power."

Caelus glanced at y/n again and he could practically hear the TV static in her brain. Maybe it'd be best to remove her from the situation... give her a break. She looked like she was on the verge of cracking and breaking.

"I believe this to be Phantylia's goal — to sow seeds of doubt among us and ensure us in a malevolent trap."

Ah, such eloquence.

"It's clear that the sudden resurgence of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus is all related to the Lord Ravager. Pretending to be a Xianzhou Citizen, planting a Stellaron on the Luofu... it's all apart of her plan to bring about our self-destruction." realization crossed Fu Xuan's gaze, "The Ambrosial Arbor. That's Phantylia's aim. If she succeeds, the Luofu will be deprived of its roots, making its destruction all too easy! We must stop her!"

Fu Xuan immediately took off, the Astral Express crew following her while the Cloud Knights remained.

"Quickly, we must take a Starskiff to Scalegorge Waterscape!" Fu Xuan instructed and Caelus immediately turned to y/n.

"You should go back."

"Huh."

"You should go back." he repeated, "I know you don't like being unable to protect us, but you really seem to be on the verge of breaking down. What that Phantylia lady said..." Caelus lowered his voice a bit, "I don't like it. Just trust my gut feeling on this, okay?"

Y/n seemed uncertain, glancing between Caelus, March 7th, and Welt, "But... I can't protect you if..."

"Don't worry, I'll look after everyone." Caelus assured her, "You go back to where all the Cloud Knights are stationed, maybe even go back to your Mom. Just leave it to us."

The woman silently debated over the decision before sighing, removing Welt's scarf from around her neck before handing it to Caelus, "Fine. I'm trusting you with this."

Caelus beamed, "Thank you. I won't let you down."

Y/n watched her friends and Fu Xuan depart on the star skiff, staring after it in silence before her expression darkened.

"You sure won't have to worry about letting me down because I'm coming anyways." she hummed before turning and walking off to find another Starskiff to follow them on.

She ran back to where all the Cloud Knights were gathered, looking around before pausing and pondering for a long moment. The fog in the back of her mind was clearing gradually with each moment she spent burning up inside, and reality wasn't reality...ing at the moment.

"You sure we're not gonna get in trouble?"

"Of course, I'm here with you."

"That's not a valid reason. I don't care how important you are or whatever, I need solid reasoning for why I shouldn't be worried about getting flamed for trespassing."

Y/n turned her head, right as two figures disappeared around the corner back the way she'd come. The voices were coming from over there too.

She ran to go investigate, looking around only to find that they were gone. Huh, where'd they run off to!

"You make it sound as though you don't trust me."

"Can you really blame me for being wary?"

"This isn't the first time you've been somewhere you weren't supposed to be. You won't get in trouble, I promise."

"And if you break that promise? What then?"

"I won't. You have my word."

"Hm... bold words from a fish."

"You never will grow out of calling me that, huh?"

Y/n stopped when she saw a bunch of Cloud Knights and some kid. Mm... it'd be best not to go that way.

She took the path to her left instead, eyes lingering on the group a moment longer as she turned before she stopped.

There, further along the path, was Dan Heng.

Was she hallucinating?

No... she couldn't be.

Her hallucinations came with a side serving of headaches, echoing voices, and less of a burning sensation that she was shouldering at the moment.

So... unless Phantylia came back to 🚚 around with her brain, this was definitely Dan Heng. Y/n took a step towards him, he seemed to be dealing with a bit of a headache himself, and the barely audible noise caught his attention.

He paused, looked back, and surprise flashed across his features when he caught of the h/c haired woman.

"Y/n?" he began in an almost uncertain tone but y/n was already running at him at full speed, eyes bright.

He stumbled to remain standing when she threw herself at him with a bout of joyous laughter.

"Holy 💩, Dan Heng, it's you!" she exclaimed, kicking her legs as her friend struggled to keep his hold on her without falling over, "What the hell, dude, I thought you were still on the Astral Express!"

"You... you're okay." he breathed.

"Huh?" y/n pulled away with a curious look, "Yeah, I'm okay, why wouldn't I be? You know, aside from the Ambrosial Arbor and cultist situation we've got going on."

Dan Heng didn't reply, just pulled y/n back into the huff with a shaky exhale. Huh... seemed like he really needed one. Y/n wouldn't interrupt him then.

She waited until he released her again to finally asked, "What are you doing here anyways, huh?"

"I wanted to make sure you all were okay." Dan Heng replied, "Speaking of which, where are the others? Are they not with you?"

"Yeah, they left with the Master Divine to go to this place called... I dunno, Scalegorge Waterscape. Caelus told me to stay here." y/n explained with a shake of her head, "Something about me not being mentally stable or whatever, I wasn't listening."

"Are you mentally stable?"

"..."

"Okay, you're staying here."

"No, let me come with you!" y/n protested as Dan Heng turned to continue on his way, "It won't be a problem, I swear!"

"You remember the last time you said that?" the young man retorted as y/n picked up the pace to match his.

"Uh... it wasn't a problem?" she tried.

"You died right in front of March."

"Oh." y/n shook her head with a little laugh, "Well I promise it won't be a problem this time! Let's go help our friends!"

. 　。　　⋆　　•　 　ﾟ　　。 .　.　.　。 .　。
⋆　　　。　　 ⋆。　 ඞ 。　 . • .  .   ⁎ 。　. 　。　.　　⋆. 　　。 .　 .　　 .  ⋆.   。.   ⁎ 。•　 　ﾟ　　。

Dan Heng didn't know if he was grateful to have y/n there with him or ticked off about the fact that *as usual* she refused to listen.

She kept her grip on his hand firm as she took the lead, the two of them making their way down the the foggy docks of the Alchemy Commission.

"Ugh... these memories..."

"You doing okay, Dan Heng?"

Y/n paused to look back at him curiously, patiently awaiting an answer as he rubbed his temples to fend off the oncoming headache.

"I'm fine." he replied, his grip on her hand tightening s little before relaxing once more, "Yeah, I'm okay." 'Those memories have nothing to do with me anymore.'

Y/n stared at him for a moment longer before continuing to guide him along, "🐂💩. You forget that I have incessant voices in the back of my head almost all day every day, that trick doesn't work on me."

Dan Heng chuckled, shaking his head a little, "Of course it wouldn't. Still, it's nothing you need to worry about, y/n.

They continued towards the docks together, Dan Heng  focusing on his companion rather than the echoes of the past resounding around him. It was easier to listen to her footsteps and her breathing rather than the memories he had no desire to remember.

Despite the peace y/n brought to the storm of memories beating Dan Heng over the head, something about her made him briefly mistake her for one of those memories. For a moment, just for a moment, something about her changed.

It wasn't her appearance, though her eyes seemed much brighter, and she wore Cloud Knight attire rather than the clothes she had chosen to bring on this particular trailblazing mission.

She seemed less troubled.

"Woah, look, floating water!" y/n chirped and Dan Heng looked up, locking onto another one of those echoes.

"This surging power..." the echo murmured and y/n recoiled with wide eyes, looking alarmed, "It's you, High Elder... you've returned."

"High... Elder?" y/n echoed, glancing at Dan Heng with an inquisitive look, "That title. Isn't that...?"

Dan Heng didn't reply as he approached the echo first, y/n trailing along after him while regarding it curiously.

"Something terrible is happening in Scalegorge Waterscape. Please don't go any further..." the echo pleaded, "Your enemies... your enemies are waiting for you there."

"Enemies?" y/n echoed, "Who'd you piss off, huh?"

Dan Heng grimaced, "I'll... explain it to you later."

'Mr. Yang and Miss Himeko always said that there was something Dan Heng was running from. Could this...?' y/n frowned, 'If it is, I'll protect him from them. No matter what! It did say enemies as in enemy plural, right...?'

"I... I'm sorry." Dan Heng murmured with a shake of his head, "I cannot stay here, my— our friends have already left and we need to find them."

The echo sighed, "You didn't heed us then.. and won't heed us now. As headstrong as you always were. It seems you've already made up your mind. Here, take this vessel. It'll head for Scalegorge Waterscape."

The two exchanged a look before boarding the little boat, y/n crouching at the edge to peer down at the water while Dan Heng remained standing.

The boat ride was silent, but comfortable.

Unfortunately, the peace didn't last.
It never lasts when it comes to these two.

When the boat reached land, or rather some kind of stone platform leading somewhere, they were greeted by two familiar faces. Kafka, look fine as usual, and Blade... oh, he was kinda tweaking, was he okay?

Y/n and Dan Heng approached side by side. Now wasn't the type of situation where one could stand in front of the other as a sort of shield. Dan Heng didn't seem all that well, and y/n was sort of teetering on the edge of insanity.

Side by side, they could as least get to one another quickly enough if something bad were to happen.

Whether that was Dan Heng crumbling under the pressure of whatever was troubling him, or y/n finally shattering and becoming stricken with mara without the death that would typically come before it.

"You're here." Holy 💩, dude.

Dan Heng seemed wary while y/n was baffled as this Blade dude started... ahem. Laughing in madness.

Anyways—

"It's time to pay the price! It's time!!! You think changing form will