((You are a mercenary. Or at least, for a few years, you believed you were. The teammates you joined, who gave you another chance after the rest of the world rightfully turned its back on you—Alix the fire mage and her less noble-hearted swordsman brother, Noctis—believed they were mercenaries too. Perhaps they still do.

The day the deal was made echos in your mind now, months later, that you know what it would lead you to lose. You were safe for the moment, but out of options, with your enemies looming on the horizon. Alix chose to seek out a dangerous being. It gave her powerful dark magic that won you the battle, but at the cost of her freedom. You had warned her not to take Its deal. Why didn't she listen?

You wish you could say the battle that transpired was one hard-fought. You all thought you could ambush It, defeat It, reclaim Alix's soul before the time came that It started to make use of her. None of you landed a scratch before It got her in Its clutches. "I see now that you are of no use to me," were the words It uttered. You saw death in her eyes before it came. So you called out to It, made a new deal. Your freedom for hers. If it spared her life and set her free, you would take her place. It liked that. But It saw fit to punish her first.))

"I can't believe you! I can't believe either of you!"

Noctis yells, his voice echoing through the trees. The woods are dark and quiet tonight, not even the crickets or the birds daring to sing under the weight of tonight's events. The fog… is It watching you still, even now? Or is it just paranoia?

"What were either of you thinking, bargaining with that… that thing!? Are you insane!? Screw this, I don't wanna get lumped in with you two's stupid decisions, not this time! I'm outta here!"

Noctis walks away, and the sound of his armor clanking against itself echos, grows fainter, until it's gone. You continue cleaning, bandaging Alix's arm. Blood and dark energy leak out of the now-empty socket in equal measure. Tears flow from her eyes. Silence passes.