I take the lead in the scramble back to the ground floor apartment with our prisoner sandwiched between Sera and I. ORPO will begin storming the building soon, we need to make ourselves scarce before they show up.

The handcuffed Hawk man quickly informs us, "Our leader had pouch on him, filled with security key cards. Still on corpse left in apartment. Grab it."

We burst through the apartment's front door and I quickly make my way to the corpse of the demon I had killed just a few minutes ago. A warm, rancid smell is already starting to rise from the body. A cursory search reveals the pouch the Hawk was talking about now smeared with its owner's blood and entrails. Stifling my sense of disgust, I unhook the pouch from what's left of the demon's waist and awkwardly clean it on its former owner's shirt.

"Remove handcuffs." the Hawk says, "Need to unlock secret passage."

Sera raps the Hawk in the head with the flat of her saber, dismissing the suggestion, "Nice try. Tell us how to uncover the secret passage and Tensei can do it for you."

The Hawk scowls and spits on the ground before answering Sera, "Secret passage under cabinet in this room. Just move cabinet aside and you will see hole."

I guessed as much. I had already noticed the scuff marks on the floor near the cabinet when we had finished rescuing Celeste but at that time had no reason to investigate further. I nod to Sera and push the cabinet out of its position, revealing a crudely dug hole in the floor with a rope ladder attached to its side.

"You were hoping to buy your freedom with something so obvious?" I ask the Hawk.

The Hawk snorts, "Hole is easy part. Do you know how to use key cards in pouch? Do you know where to use them? Remove handcuffs or I don't guide you any further."

Sera looks conflicted, her every instinct telling her not to let this criminal go. But we cannot afford to be dogmatic about things now. Like it or not, we need the Hawk's help.

"Let him go, Sera." I say, "We did promise to help him to escape after all."

Sera complies with an unhappy look on her face and the handcuffs fall off the Hawk with a clink. The Hawk massages his wrists gingerly and wedges the cabinet against the door of the apartment, hopefully buying us some extra time. The three of us then descend into the hole using the rope ladder, allowing darkness to consume us completely.

The hole leads to an unlighted, crudely excavated tunnel. Thankfully, the tunnel is also incredibly narrow, allowing the three of us to make our way through by feeling the walls with our hands. Cold sweat runs from my back. What if this is just a set up prepared by the Hawk? It would be an easy matter for the Hawk to escape using the darkness, leaving us behind. He might also me leading us to an ambush. My left hand shoots forward and grabs the Hawk by his shoulder, eliciting a cry of surprise.

"Its dark. We should hold on to each other." I suggest.

"Sure. Whatever. Just keep moving." The Hawk grumbles and continues blundering his way forward.

A pair of arms wrap around me from the back and I feel warm softness press against me. This time its my turn to cry out in surprise.

"Can't see." Sera murmurs, "This is fine, isn't it?"

"Can we hurry up?" the Hawk snaps irritably and I feel his body pulling me forwards. I feel Sera resting her chin against my shoulder, her tense breathing a light breeze against my ear. Her fingers pierce into my body. My heart begins to beat hard, and not just from the danger closing in on us.

Where are we going?

Where am I going?

....

The tunnel eventually begins gently sloping upwards, we must be close to the exit point. But that's not right. By my guess, we had been walking for roughly fifteen minutes only. That would still place us within the danger zone of the ORPO force. Just as I am about to press the Hawk on what exactly he has planned, the tunnel abruptly ends and the Hawk begins pushing against the ceiling. Sera and I get the hint and we join the Hawk in this effort, pushing against what feels like a concrete slab. The slab lifts, and the three of us climb out of the tunnel.

"What is this place?" I ask, casting my eyes about. It looks like we are in a warehouse, except that it is completely empty, save for a vehicle sized elevator sitting in the corner. A carpet of dust has settled over the floor, and as we make our way to the elevator, our footsteps stir the dust up, causing Sera to sneeze. The warehouse does not have any upper levels, meaning that the elevator leads back underground.

"The elevator seems to be shut down." I observe. Have we reached a dead end?

"Pouch." The Hawk gestures impatiently. I hand the pouch over to him without further comment. At the very least he knows what he is doing.

The Hawk checks the watch on his wrist and selects one of the cards carried within the pouch. He swipes the card across the reader built into the elevator and with a loud clank, a massive metal box built into the elevator's frame opens, revealing a keyboard. The Hawk then flips the card over and begins typing in whatever is written there into the keyboard.

"An Inclinator!" Sera exclaims, "How in the world did you get the security cards and codes to operate one? Those are only given out on a restricted basis!"

The Hawk looks up, rolling his eyes at the question, "By paying for it of course. How else?" He then goes back to typing on the keyboard, ignoring the both of us.

Sera grips my hand happily and leans close, "If its an Inclinator, we're saved. This will take us to the underground maintenance areas of The City. We can bypass ORPO completely down there and make our way across the Six Trees border."

Just as Sera finishes talking, the Inclinator's motor roars as it is awakened from its slumber. The Hawk folds his arms in a satisfied fashion and turns to regard us, "Inclinator needs time to warm up. Just wai-" All of a sudden the Hawk goes completely silent. He just stares at us quietly with a very knowing look on his face.

What? What's going on? I turn to Sera for a hint, but all she does is blush and look away, gripping my hand even tighter. I turn back to the Hawk and he just smirks to himself before going back to waiting for the Inclinator. My heart feels heavy, as if a moment of decision is pressing on me. All I can do now is wait for that moment to come.

.....

After riding the Inclinator down to the under city, the Hawk led Sera and I to a monorail station and pointed out the shuttle which would take us to Red Perch Cape. Apparently, the Inclinator at Dreaming Spires had been locked down, for reasons unknown to the Hawk. After instructing Sera and I on how to operate an Inclinator and handing over the relevant security cards to us, the Hawk hopped on to a shuttle heading in the opposite direction, parting ways with us.

So that's where Sera and I are now, sitting in a completely empty shuttle with only each other for company.

"Thank you." Sera says softly, her hands winding around my arm.

"For what?" I ask, honestly curious.

"You did not need to help me escape ORPO." Sera explains, leaning her head against my shoulder, "You could have just surrendered with Ken and Celeste. But you stayed with me. So thank you."

"I promised to never leave you." I reply. Sera nods contentedly and unbuttons her blouse, drawing out a locket. She flips it open and looks sadly at the carved cameo of a middle aged woman placed inside.

"Your mother right?" I say. I had seen this locket before while staying at Sera's home, but this is the first time she had opened it in front of me.

"I never knew her." Sera murmurs, "She died when I was very young. When father gave me this locket to remember her by, he told me that my mother would be with me forever."

Sera shuts the locket and closes her eyes, whispering sadly, "That's the only time that man acted like a real father towards me."

I hold Sera tightly in my arms. Its terrible how her father had treated her. Maybe that's why both of us grew so close. Shared experience in lousy families. To my surprise Sera presses the locket into my hand, urging me to take it. My heart leaps into my throat. This is more than a random gift, its an oath, a vow. If I accept the locket, everything will change between me and Sera.

And I would hurt Irene as well.

"But its the only thing you have of your mother." I protest.

"You will be with me forever right?" Sera asks with a smile, "So mother will never be far as well."

I swallow hard. I did promise Sera that and she has no one else beside me. Sera's arms embrace me tightly, hungrily. Her eyes are bright with expectation, waiting for my answer. The monorail suddenly jerks to a stop and all the lights go out. A power failure?

Sera gives a small wail of distress. Darkness. Both of us are plunged into darkness. If I abandon Sera now, she will surely be consumed by the dark. To save my friend, I must be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice of myself. To share myself, body and soul, no matter the consequences.

I merely do what must be done. Forgive me, Irene.

My fingers close in on the locket, and our destines are sealed.

....

"Good news Transmigrator." The Voice rasps happily, "We are another step closer to victory."

"Wow." I remark, "The Hero's really quite easy at the end of the day isn't he?"

The Voice laughs delightedly, "I would not put it in such terms. After all, surely good things must be shared?"

"And in this world, nothing's better than the Hero." I guffaw in agreement.