Silence.

I open the door gently, seeing before me a horde of thirteen men of various builds and heights, each wearing the same pendent around their neck; the only consistent piece of clothing between them.

"You want... me to leave? ...then lead me... out." I say... its still hard to speak, even when gifted this maddening clarity by that... thing.

"Hello, creature. Yes, we would quite like that." The largest of them says, the owner of the strong voice.

The one I assume to be Georgie lunges at me sloppily with what appears to be a chair leg, so I dodge his swing and wrap my fingers around his scrawny neck. His face, rat like in appearance and adorned with a poorly done combover, freezes in fear.

"Do you mind... if I hold this one... while we leave?" I ask, eleven of the men now readying their own weapons.

"Men, calm down... that would be fine by us, consider it Georgie's punishment for desecrating a temple."

We begin to walk away from the temple, the voices of my companions barely registering in my one-track mind.

"Hey! What are you doing, big guy?!" Ariel shrieks out, his cool entirely lost, as per usual.

"What... I want." I respond, keeping my voice as level headed as possible to hide my intent.

"Darn it, darn it, darn it!" The angel yells, stomping his feet.

I continue to walk with the men, looking back one last time before the tunnel back to the surface to see that Cilla has followed us, looking at me with one worried eye. I give her a nod, then proceed through the tunnel.

I ask the voice in my head silently the following "So... how will I do it, Madness? I have no idea what a fight is even like."

It responds, voice ever changing "But I do... our little jailers had me locked up with more than just memories. There was new knowledge in there too, ones that Logic was trying to scratch at during his time away. There are... concepts, ideas, know-how, all locked in here. All of it relating to this new playground, and this little toy of a body we made. I can share it with you slowly, which is quite safe, or I could give it all to you at once, which could put you into quite a delicious amount of mental anguish..."

I answer. "All of it, now. I don't have time to be safe."

My head feels as though its being crushed between a vice as I suddenly intake all of the inherit knowledge attributed to my monstrous core. How to use spells; of which I have three. Basic fighting strategies and techniques. Uses of my new additions, be it my tail or claws. All of which will be quite useful in the coming slaughter. We continue to walk through the tunnel, halfway through it by now considering our pace, and my past experience of going through here. Time for questions; information gathering.

"Why do you... want me... to leave?" I ask Georgie, loosening my grip on his neck.

"Because you're a freak!" Georgie responds, to which I give my own response; a tighter grip.

"Because you are impure, beast. Our Lady demands that such things be kept away from our townships and refugees." Responds that large one again, he's far nicer than the rest, I can tell.

"What about... Runacathies... Mister..." I fish for his name, knowing that it's needed for one of my spell's functions to take place.

"Sarmenti. Runacathies are an exception, as we are not permitted to harm those bearing the red cloak, or **** them to leave. You, however, bore no such cloth as you entered... and are free game." Sarmenti smiles at his last words; what I assumed to be niceness, was clever malice in disguise.

I remain silent, looking over who will soon be my assailants. Sarmenti is only slightly taller than me, and would be quite handsome were it not for that damn smile, like a predator about to devour its prey whole. He has long hair, easy to grab, and a thrusting sword of some sort at his belt; not good, that thing will go past my natural armor from my scales. His clothes suggest wealth, contrasting the twelve others, who appear to be working men of sorts. The long boots on some five of them suggest they are dock-workers, each of which carry butchers hooks, fishing spears; one even holding an old curved blade. One bares the look of a lumberjack, beard and all; enforced by the lumber-axe in his hands. The others have basic clothing, and random blunt objects similar to that of Georgie's table leg, which the poor fool dropped; leaving him unarmed.

"Who are... you?" I ask the Lumberjack, more names would come in handy.

"We are followers of Pyurus, Goddess of Purity, beast." He responds, practically spitting the words at me.

Sarmenti calls out to the Axe-Man "Come now, Jene, be more explicit. Should the beast know her mission, perhaps it would seek her mercy."

Clearing his throat, Jene says. "Ah, of course, Sarmenti. We are the Purity, the chosen of She Who Was Denied, Pyurus. The Goddess was denied a champion akin to those of the Great Heroines in the fight against the dark, and thus, we are champions in her stead. All who are of the dark must be purged in her name, or given her mercy, should they be so lucky."

"Come now, don't leave out what her mercy is!" Cries one of the fishermen.

Jene sighs, continuing. "Ah, yes. A miracle. One that destroys the body of those of the dark without human souls instantaneously. Very few can do it, but our beloved brother Sarmenti can! The soul of those taken by her mercy will be granted new life, among the light."

"Sounds... familiar...." I say, thinking back to the void where I was made anew into... this... who am I?

Before this, who was I? I ponder this; I should have the memories locked away with Madness, shouldn't I?

"Talk, now." I demand internally.

"Sorry little mouse, I can't give it to you now. It would impede our slaughter." It responds... damn it.

As we continue, nearing the end of the tunnel, I listen to the men's conversation; gaining the names of three of the fishermen and two of the normally clothed men. Eight names in total. Finally arriving outside of the tunnel and into the fortifications of before. I notice Sarmenti giving a familial hug to one of the guards who was giving me a ****-glare earlier; who I now see bares the same pendent. Looking at Georgie, who I still have held aloft in the air by the neck, I see the pendent is silver, in the shape of a octagon, with one side missing, and the others each baring single dots of paint; each a different color.

"What does... that mean?" I ask Georgie, my grip loosening once more.

He gasps for air dramatically before croaking out "Damn freak... it's the symbol of She Who Was Denied. Of the Eight Gods of the Light; six were granted champions, with our lady being denied; and the god of ****, Ihsrom, abstaining."

"Why was... she denied?" I ponder aloud, re-tightening my grip on Georgie's throat for the 'freak' comment.

"For none would be able to carry her light." Replied Than, one of the fishermen whose name I had learned.

Another, one of the basic men shouted. "No! Its because the other gods were jealous of her beauty!"

However, Sarmenti ends this bickering fight. "Brothers, please. Enough. We do not know why she was denied. Until she speaks her truth unto us, we should not waste our time pondering what might be."

Silence follows, with the other men bowing their heads in a mix of acceptance, and shame. They lead me further away from the fortifications, and back into the woods I appeared in at the beginning of this little misadventure. As we continue through the tree-lands of before, I begin to eye up the surrounding area; looking for ways of escape, places to hide.

"Its coming... I can't wait..." Madness sings in my ear; our ear.

Finally, the men come to a stop in a new clearing, which is ringed with pale white stones. Crossing the stone sends a shiver down my spine, as though ice water had replaced my blood.

Now dead center in this strange clearing, Sarmenti speaks. "Brothers, it is with great glee that we may now do our Lady's work. Let the purge... COMMENCE!"

Sarmenti himself takes a seat in the grass, using a whetstone from his pocket to slowly sharpen his blade.

The others charge, weapons in hand.

Let the slaughter commence.