As far as the eye can see, a sea of heads, a tsunami of bodies, walking down the forest corridor, banners in the air. There were white and black people, white, blond, black and mostly red hairs. A part of the army had on one type of armor, and the other part, other type. Weapons varied, with most of the front army not having a weapon at all.

What can I do? thinks Tomoe, in front of this army marching in direction of Aquamarine Port City “What can I do?” she whispers.

Mind is drawn blank, the arms start to tremble “the rivers that cross the Forest corridor?… no, there are too many to kill them all, or avoid them all in order to hit on their commander” Tomoe starts to duck, breath starts to get heavy “Something with the trees? No use! They are already too into the Forest corridor for this to work!” Tomoe starts to feel the cold sweat on her forehead, the legs start to tremble, the stomach turns heavy “Maybe… maybe… causing an avalanche? N-n-no! Too late for that too!” she falls to the ground, curling her legs towards her chest and embracing them.

The surroundings start to vanish. Everything starts to lose color, meld into a lifeless gray. Images start to appear on Tomoe’s mind: A dark night, with clouds covering the stars. A pale moon, a merciless rain, fleeting thunders, and the shadow of many large heads, towering over her.

“What can I do?… what…” tears join her face, like if the rain on her memories leaked out by her eyes.

A sudden sensation reaches her, a deafening touch. Everything loses focus, the heads turns more into shadows.

Another deafening touch. The rain stops, turns into mist.

Another one. A sound, like if it were distant, reaches Tomoe’s ears.

Suddenly, a burst of pain crosses Tomoe’s cheeks. Everything around her comes back, leaving the world of her mind behind.

“What are you doing you fool!” Tomoe hears, as she sees a girl with white hair and frowned expression in front of her coming into focus.

“Titania?” Tomoe whispers.

“Finally you idiot!” Titania whispers back. Her hands pinching Tomoe’s cheeks with all her strength.

“I’m sorry… I don’t know what happened.”

“This isn’t time for you to drop down and have an attack you know?!”

“Ugh… What an embarrassing show.” Says Tomoe, still breathing heavily.

“Indeed. Though it isn’t that I can’t understand… but I need you to pull through.” Titania says, as she rises her head over to see at the forest corridor.

“The army!”

Titania puts a finger on Tomoe’s lips “sshhh, silence.”

“Where’s the invading army?! How long was I out?” whispers Tomoe.

“Still crossing the Forest corridor, you were only some seconds out.”

As Tomoe composes herself, Titania adds “Keep it down, we can be definitively seen here now, and maybe heard.”

“What do we do? Should we wait for them to pass and jump attack their chain of command?”

Titania looks at Tomoe, eyes wide open “Moron” she whispers “Did you saw clearly that army? Did you see how large it is?! For the moment we have the chance to jump on the commander half of the army will be already at the city! What about Lacus too?!”

Tomoe sinks between her shoulders “It is true… a large army like that will need us to ring the bell about ten times.” She leans over, to catch another glimpse of the army.

“I agree.”

“How then about this? We ring the bell half the times needed, and run back to tell everyone about the true dimension of the problem at hand?”

“I…” Titania bites her lower lips “for how much I would love to run back right now, it would be impossible for only us to inform everyone properly of the problem at hand. Think about it, we run back, and by the time we tell Ray or Olga, they would have reached the city… we will just not be ready. Every Beheader understands the language of the bell though, if we ring it enough times everyone back at the city will receive the same information, no matter where they are.”

Tomoe could only agree, with some shame flowing through her face for having proposed such thoughts “There’s only one thing to do.”

Titania says “Our mission, and we need to work together.”

“I think I can handle the ringing to the bell alone. It will be dangerous, so go back, Titania.”

“Alone we can’t do everything Tomoe!” says Titania, raising her voice “I now that is your thing these last years, but we can’t, not against that” she says as she flings her right hand in the invading army direction.

Tomoe falls into silence. She raises her eyes towards the ceiling, were the giant bell is, takes a deep breath, while some tears escape her eyes, and says “What do you have in mind?”

“Thank you” says Titania, giving a wry smile. She then takes another glimpse of the army, now having crossed the middle of the forest corridor, and proposes “You have a stronger Aura than me Tomoe, so, I was thinking-”

“You sound the bell while I defend against any incoming attack?” Tomoe cuts Titania.

“Exactly” says Titania.

Tomoe snorts “Sounds fun” she says, as a smirk appears on her face.

“It will be” Titania gives a smirk back “Ready?” she adds, as her yellow Aura envelops her.

“When you are” says Tomoe, as her blue Aura envelops her.

Titania, infusing her own body with her Aura, throws herself against the giant rope, and with visibly great effort, rings the bell for the first time.

Tomoe stays hidden, looking at the army, waiting, making her best to stay on her foot against the powerful vibrations of the bell.

Titania struggles too with the vibrations, dropping the rope, but stays on her feet, and as she picks up the heavy rope again, she swings it, with all of her strength and yelling, ringing the bell a second time.

An echo could be heard all across the forest corridor, the echo of the bell, and after it, the echo of multiple voices yelling “attack!”

Tomoe’s heart jumps, as she sees the fire balls coming in direction of the tower. She steps out of hiding into the perch, Aura engaged, water drawn out. Tomoe engages her Aura in front of her, putting out a defense, while with the water, she rises it in the air, serpents flying like birds, to meet the coming fire projectiles. She hits the first one, then the second one, then a third one coming, throwing them to the sides. A volley of arrows are fired, but Tomoe’s Aura blocks them. Still, the arrows were shoot with such force that they stick to the Aura, instead of bouncing off.

So far, so good

The bell is ringed the third time.

Another volley. More arrows are stuck into the Aura, while the water deflects the coming fire projectiles. The bell is rung the fourth time.

“How are you hanging Titania?!” Tomoe yells, but she gets no reply.

If we keep going like this, we should make it.

Another volley comes around, with the same results as before. The fifth ring can be heard.

A horn can be heard, followed by a collective yell coming from the invading army.

“Keep it coming, I’ll stop all of your attacks!” Tomoe yells.

Another volley is shot, this time though, it is far more vast than the ones before: A cloud of arrows obscure the sky, and the many more fireballs take the place of stars. Tomoe’s heart sink, as the sixth ring can be heard.

Tomoe expands her Aura to cover all of her surroundings, one arm extra in all directions around her, as her water serpents rises once more into the sky. One, two, three fireballs deflected, but it is too little: a fireball hits the top of the tower, another one hits below, while three more hit the surrounding area, sending the temple and its surroundings into a sea of flames. The arrows still stick into Tomoe’s Aura.

As the rumble of the attacks shakes the tower, Tomoe can hear something hitting the floor. Turning around, she can see Titania on the floor.

“Titania!” she yells, as more arrows stuck into her Aura “stand up! We need four more!”

As she says this, something takes away her attention: A strange light reaches her eyes, coming in the direction of the attackers. A couple of arrows start shining in yellow and red hues.

“No way-” says Tomoe, as the arrows disappear in the light, being replaced with people wearing foreign, angular armor, lightweight like hers but with red, black and golden colors.

Tomoe takes out more of her Aura, as the woman of ashen hair in front of her yells “Go!”

Tomoe can hear some heavy footsteps behind her, running towards Titania, having now managed to stand up, with the rope about to be swing. She crouches, covering her ears, as Titania does too, while the seventh ring can be heard, shaking now the tower itself with its vibrations.

The woman in front of her tumbles, as electrical arcs run along her arms. Tomoe infuses her arms, and takes the chance, stepping forward and hitting her in the right knee. Falling into the ground, the tower shakes again.

The fireballs! bastards! Risking losing men of their own!

As the woman stands up, the other two get between them, having being sent flying by Titania.

“Cover your ears!” she yells with all of her lungs, as she swings the rope again, ringing the bell an eight time.

As Tomoe is standing up, her ground shakes, “This perch is…” Tomoe thinks, and moving into the tower, with the water she has left, she cuts the pillars that are holding the perch, and hits it, sending the three woman down the tower, before the only yellow one and a red one envelop themselves in their Aura and switch away.

No more water and another volley comes. Tomoe extends her Aura once again, now struggling to stand up, and turns to Tatiana, as the tower takes another couple of hits, shakes, and the floor twists, making it uneven, while the ninth ring can be heard.

Tomoe catches Titania, as another horn can be heard. One short, a second one large, the third, fourth, and fifth short ones, accompanied by a war cry. Tomoe sees the front of the army, now besides the outpost, starts to run forward, in direction of Aquamarine Port City.

“Titania, stand up, we need to ring the bell the last time!” Tomoe says, as Titania struggles to stand up, and pukes against a column.

Suddenly, multiple flashes reach Tomoe’s eyes. From the end of the army, now in the middle of the forest corridor, multiple electrical arcs start appearing, converging in one, bright point, one person.

Many times she has seen this sight before. She knows it very well, since it has always given her tranquility and has allowed her to feel secure even at the face of the most perilous danger. Even in her darkest night, this sight is what allowed her to not lose consciousness, which gave her the minimal hope that everything would be ok. Yet, this time this very sight now assaults her with the most anxiety and fear that she could imagine. She understood at that moment how dire the situation both of them were in right now. For the first time in years, Tomoe was overcome with sudden honesty, being brought up by her own basic instincts reacting in a violent way, as a sudden, pure, unadulterated fear got hold of her mind: She wasn’t enough to handle this situation, not anymore.

Tomoe’s eyes open wide, her mouth following suit “A white Aura” she says.

“What?!” says Titania, as smoke starts collecting inside the belfry.

Tomoe takes Titania’s arm, taking away her blue Aura and infusing herself with it. She catches another glimpse, as from that bright point, a thick white thunder raises to the clouds, making the tower started to crumble by the vibrations.

“We need to get outa here!” she screams, as she runs towards the perch at the other side and jumps with all her strength, Titania between her arms.

“Switch now!” she yells to Titania.

As they start to fall, enough to turn in the air and let Tomoe see, the thick white thunder falling on top of the tower, the power of the impact sending them flying away, as the tower is completely obliterated, reduced to ashes… and the girls envelop themselves in their Auras, switching positions with their respective switch objects, getting away.