The people of Sector Three came together in their living rooms in prayer. Circles were made around idols of the Cerulean Arbiter as hands were brought up and their minds reached out. They could not feel it blatantly but the touch of light flowed as freely as the air, breathing in and out of them to carry their every wish. They prayed for the future of the castle as Valerie instructed, certain that they'd overcome this challenge like they had done before. Sector Four might have fallen but there was nothing the Almighty Want could do. Many of them didn’t mourn the reported passing, but saw the dead as martyrs, warning them of the troubles to come. They prayed for peace for the Rejects’ souls, offering them thanks for what their deaths had done. All the while red light climbed above their homes like a tidal wave, crashing just as hard as harpoons broke through walls.

Screams could not be heard over the sudden devastation. One moment there was quiet and then came the crush of stone and bones. Bodies were thrown from their circles when their pieces weren’t scattered, and tears mixed with clouds of dust as the still living saw the condition they were in. Others lay prone with limbs they couldn’t feel as another red wave filled the sky above shattered roofs. Some prayed that this rain would finish them off, and others cried out as their homes were stricken too. Panic flowed through Sector Three more than cerulean light and Corrosion continued down the street as his Vengeful army spread their destruction.

In Sector Two Brigid stared down at the two she had interrogated. They had lasted longer than she expected, but now they bowed their heads in reverence. She had gotten everything she wanted to hear and more, and her mind swam as it tried to meet the flood of information. So much of it still wasn’t making sense, and the call of misery from Sector Three made none of it clearer. She held her head with her blue hand and looked at the men again. She needed them to repeat what they said. She needed to know this wasn’t someone’s delusion.

“What did you say…?” She glared and Micky dared to look up.

“It was all apart of the Cerulean Captives plan ma’am. I know we messed up, but we thought we were doing what god wanted!”

Her chest tightened; she had not heard them wrong. Something calling itself the Cerulean Captive had called out to their leaders, putting itself in the position of god above these men. They hadn't questioned it. They didn't wonder why it said things that made the Almighty Want a lie. Some strange thing had told them it was god and got them to eagerly kill. They whispered false words into selected ears and had them speak a cursed prayer to the first thing that would answer. She wasn't the type to look at military data but she recognized the truth in the influx of loose batteries. What else could happen on this wretched night? Never mind that! What else had they said? There was a ritual at the lab right now! If she got there fast enough, she might be able to stop it from getting worse.

And then Valerie made her call. If a person could freeze twice, then Brigid would be frozen over. There was an enemy in the cathedral? Was it already too late? She turned to Julius and didn't have to say a word to convey the urgency in her heart. Someone had to go to the lab and someone had to help her mom. He bowed with duty, bringing his wings out.

“I’ll go to the lab, princess!” He left the ground before she could object.

“You two stay here!” She turned back to the men, before leaving the ground herself.

Julius led the way but the two of them quickly broke off. She tried to find her siblings to see if everything was okay and felt only two scattered about the castle. Christoph and Celine were both in Sector One. The former was closer to their mom, but it didn’t feel like he was moving. She’d answer the call then, but couldn’t help but wonder where Elias was…

Elias was...having fun. Blade wings soared through the air around him, knocking back chains flying out from Peter’s hand. The chain sword came down and he brought his wings together, stopping its sawing blade with a spray of blue sparks. He knocked Peter’s arms up and launched a winged spear at his chest. Chains whipped around and towed it aside, and the sword fell ravenously upon his shoulder. Except the latticework armor pushed it away. He couldn’t see Peter’s eyes through the grate over them, but he could feel the frustration as the wings pushed him back again. If he could sweat, would he have been? His heart was certainly racing and he felt fire in his cheeks. He made two long swords from his wings and stood them at his sides.

“You’re impressive but your refraction could be better! You’re new to this, I can tell. There are a few things holding you back.”

Peter came at him like a missile, spinning around with his sword at his waist. Sparks flew up from Elias’s left side and his right hand drove the long sword forward. Peter pulled back as it stab for his chest. He drove the first attack aside with a chain, but the second sword swam under it and stabbed for his face. His body jerked back, but Elias felt the writing of the scar. Part of his visor fell away, and an azure eye glared out. The long sword swung for his head and as he ducked the other came for his body. The floor beneath his feet broke as he kicked away and both swords came flying after him. They stopped in Peter’s wings and Elias clapped. He snapped a moment later, tearing the wings apart.

“Do you want to know how to get stronger?” The swords spun back into wings on Elias’s back. Peter opened his mouth and a deep breath came out.

“Why are you trying to help me when you’re supposed to be capturing me?”

“Because this is the best! Do you know what we are? Do you know how rare this is! Not counting my mom and dad there are only six Lightbearers in the Castle! Me. My brother and sisters, and Celine’s two attendants. You make seven, and you’re from Sector Three! This is amazing, that means there are so many more people with potential. I want to see how far you can go with just a little coaching alone!”

As he was now, Peter could see that wouldn’t be very far. It wasn’t enough to get past Elias, he had to beat him so Rashawn didn’t get in trouble too. He didn’t know what the Reject was doing right now, but he didn’t think one of the royal children would approve. At the very least, he’d never approve of a Reject being in Sector Two. There was nothing else for Peter to do here as well. If it meant he could get away from the danger, he couldn’t see any fault in hearing Elias out. He nodded at this thought and spoke.

“What should I do?”

“First, throw that pipe away. You’re using it as a focus, right? That’s great for a newbie but you’re way ahead of one of them. As a Lightbearer, you don’t need anything that obstructs you. If I take your form as a sign, your Refraction favors Bending. Your chains suggest you’re good at Forging too, so we’re in the same fields. Try making a sword with your light alone.”

Peter tossed the pipe and turned his mind to the chains inside. Make a sword with your light alone? He wasn't sure how he made the chains beyond that moment he looked upon his soul, but if Lightbearers only had problems with things that obstructed them, he figured his soul might be the best place to start. Focusing out from that he felt the light radiating off him and pulled it into a shape. The chain sword was born anew, with a dimmer body humming with the whirl of its azure chain. Elias clapped, telling him he had figured it out. He brought a finger to his chin next, and Peter wondered what else there was to know.

“You should think about your form next! The way you dodged before suggests you have a very powerful body. The chains are nice and all, but focus more on what you already have. Use them to complement your base power.”

Those words immediately put an idea in Peter's head, making him wind chains around his arms. With them, he had defense and a few other plans too. As they settled he felt his body a bit more, he was some sort of intense machine, his pieces waiting to align and move.

“Now consider this. Forging is about what you can make, but Bending is about how you make it. Is your chain swords chain the best it can be?”

Peter looked at it. He supposed a chain could tear a thing apart if it spun fast and hard enough, but it didn’t quite go as far as a chain sword should. Chainsaws, for example, had teeth. He sharpened the links of his blade and could almost feel how brittle things would be upon it. Elias nodded, clapping again.

“That’s all I can think of without spending a bunch of time with you.” His wings pulled from his back, folding into swords.

While the lesson might have ended Peter appreciated everything he got from it. Even after his transformation, his body felt the same as ever, but now he could feel the deadly machine it had become. He was more than just a missile when he took off. He was wrath through and through, limitless in its desire to destroy. It was a shame Elias was the target, but that didn't stop him from swinging the chain sword down.

For a moment the wing blades rose to meet it, and as chunks flew away, Elias flowed aside. The wall behind him sprayed dust as Peter turned to follow, jumping at the last moment as the chunks sawed for his legs. Elias took this as his chance as his wings wound into spinning halberds. They hacked for Peter's shoulders and whipped aside as his chains spun out from his arms. As they hit the wall, Elias stared over with a wide-eyed grin. Peter spun for his gut and he let out a gasp, nearly blinded by the sparks flying up.

The chain sword didn't hit his stomach though. Instead, cerulean arms stretched out, shredding against the whirling blade. Peter leaped back and a spear stabbed into the floor. More of them flowed out from Elias's armor, stopped only by chains spinning into shields. They kept him in place though as Elias swam around. The wing swords were reformed, and Peter's vision flashed as they sliced across his back. He fell forward and spears rained down, almost pinning him as chains pulled him away. He took that chance to flip to his feet, swinging to stop another chain sword against his own. He and Elias stood there face-to-face and he saw something terrifying in the boy’s eyes. God’s Midnight Artisan? It struck him only now that artisans could carve stone and meat. Elias saw the perfect cuts in the person fighting him and had more tools than hesitation at his disposal. Wrapping a chain around his hand, Peter punched! The boy laughed as his head rocked back, but didn’t miss a beat as the chain sword swung down. Scythes grew out of his armor and bit into Peter’s body. He twirled, ripping pieces away. Peter crashed to his knees and his chain sword came apart.

“I guess this is it then.” Elias frowned. “You were so much, but at the end of the day, you are from Sector Three, right? It was impressive you got this far but I wonder what made you come in the first place.”

Peter hurt and wondered the same. Why had he come here again? It was to slay those false angels, right? No. There was another reason. He had a question in his mind that he almost forgot. He was here to answer it and almost lost it in the throes of the fight.

Where’s my sister? It echoed in his heart.

Suddenly a blue hand shot out from his chest, pointing off as it flew to get away. He knew it was trying to escape because it was familiar—the same hand that tried to pull him apart before. He hadn’t figured out what to do with it yet, and even if Elias killed him, he wasn’t going to let it get away. A chain still bound it to him, and it pointed out as if to offer treasure for freedom. Peter found himself making it a focus. Following the direction of its finger, he felt his mind race off to Sector Three. It stopped him at his sister's house and made him wonder who'd take care of it while she was gone. He couldn't, he'd be dead, but she deserved a nice place to come back to.

He felt a pressure against the back of the hand that made his mind snap back. The cause of it was something he knew well—his older sister's finger placed against it just enough for him to feel. Fiona was...home? Fiona was back in the castle! The pressure went away and the hand opened as if it had a gift. Peter reeled the chain back and squeezed the hand tight in his metal grip. He didn't know he could use it to answer the question, but while he was grateful, that pressure had a meaning. It was to show that the wrong action would push his sister away. If he let the hand go, he'd never see her again. Instead, he crushed it and pulled its power in.

Elias stood stunned as he watched the display, but his heart was racing now; his mind realizing what Peter did. It wasn’t quite the light of the Cerulean Arbiter, but it was something close enough to it that the man shouldn’t have been able to absorb it. And yet he did, and as the power flowed inside him Elias could feel the owner of the power changing. Peter wasn’t a Lightbearer… Lightbearers bore the power gifted to them by God. Peter was a Lighteater, and he just swallowed one. The pieces of his metal form split as light poured out. The man stood with his exposed eye burning, and Elias chuckled.

“Your Refraction doesn’t favor Bending and Forging. It favors Bending and Guiding.” He was a machine without his power source before, but now he had it.

The light from Peter’s palm became a Chain Sword and the floor came apart as he blasted forward. That side of the building came down as he swung, bringing the sword through Elias’s body. A smile went lopsided as he split. Peter vented dark blue steam and turned out to Three. Fiona was back! It was time to see what this night was really about. He took off, and as he did the pieces of Elias’s body swirled into a twister. He reformed, and as his body returned to flesh and bone he sat down in the rubble.

“A Lighteater…” He was already getting ideas. “I want to see what else people can do with God’s Light!”

Meanwhile, Julius arrived at the lab several miles away…