**Somewhere in the Himalayan Mountains - Dawn**
The mountain air was thin and biting cold, each breath visible as white vapor that dissipated almost instantly in the wind. Snow covered everything in layers so thick that the landscape had lost its definition, becoming an abstract study in white and gray where earth met sky without clear boundary. The altitude made everything feel surreal sounds were muffled by distance and atmosphere, and the few living things that existed at this height moved with the deliberate care of creatures who understood that mistakes here meant death.
A figure approached through the snow, moving with surprising ease despite the treacherous terrain. He looked to be in his early twenties, though the precision of his movements suggested more experience than his apparent age would indicate. He wore a long coat that billowed behind him in the wind dark gray or perhaps black, it was difficult to tell against the snow and pants tucked into heavy boots designed for exactly this kind of environment. His hair was dark and cut short in a practical style, and his face carried the kind of neutral expression that suggested either complete calm or the ability to suppress whatever he was actually feeling.
He walked without hesitation, as if he knew exactly where he was going despite the fact that there were no visible paths, no markers, nothing to distinguish one stretch of mountainside from another. His boots crunched through the snow with rhythmic consistency, and his breathing never labored despite the altitude and exertion.
Eventually, he arrived at a structure that seemed to grow organically from the mountain itself a small building, barely more than a cabin, constructed from stone and dark wood that had weathered decades of brutal conditions. Smoke rose from a chimney, the only sign of habitation, the only indication that anything living existed in this frozen wasteland.
He approached the door and knocked three times, the sound barely audible over the wind. Then, without waiting for a response, he pushed the door open and stepped inside.
The interior was warm almost oppressively so after the bitter cold outside. A fire burned in a stone fireplace, its light casting dancing shadows across walls lined with maps, documents, and various pieces of equipment that suggested this was more military outpost than comfortable residence. The single room was sparse but functional, containing only what was necessary and nothing more.
And sitting near the fire, her back to the door, was Vera.
She looked different than she had during her meeting with Angela, Eve and Carmilla. The injuries she'd sustained the lost eye, the crushed hand, the various wounds that should have been fatal had all healed completely, as if they'd never existed. Her white hair caught the firelight, seeming to glow with its own internal luminescence, and when she turned to acknowledge his entrance, both her eyes were intact and focused.
"Miss Evelyn," the young man said, using the name she'd given him the maybe false identity she wore like armor against a world that would hunt her true self.
Vera's lips curved into a small smile at the sound of that name. "What is it, Lee?" Her voice carried warmth that suggested genuine affection rather than the cold professionalism of a superior addressing a subordinate.
Lee closed the door behind him, shutting out the wind and snow, and moved closer to the fire. He didn't sit just stood at a respectful distance, his posture relaxed but attentive. "Are you okay now?" he asked, his eyes scanning her face, her body, looking for any sign of the catastrophic injuries he knew she'd sustained.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Vera replied, her smile widening slightly. "I didn't expect that aim though. When you fired, when that bullet found me despite the distance and the conditions and everything that should have made it impossible I'll admit, you surprised me."
Lee's expression shifted slightly, something that might have been guilt or concern crossing his features. "I apologize for that thing," he said carefully, his voice carrying genuine regret. "But you told me to attack though. You said you needed the test to be real, that anything less than lethal intent would defeat the purpose."
"Of course I did," Vera confirmed, waving one hand dismissively as if nearly being killed was a minor inconvenience rather than a traumatic experience. "But your aim is so perfect, Lee. Even I got surprised. The angle, the timing, the compensation for wind and distance I've seen professional snipers with decades of experience miss shots less difficult than that one. And you made it look effortless."
She leaned forward slightly, her eyes studying him with renewed interest. "So tell me, Lee will you continue your mission? Because the next one is more dangerous. Much more dangerous than simply shooting someone from a concealed position."
Lee's posture straightened immediately, his expression becoming more focused, more determined. "Of course, Miss Evelyn," he said without hesitation. "I'm always ready for the next mission. Whatever you need, whatever the risk, I'm prepared."
Vera's smile took on a predatory quality, satisfaction mixing with something darker. "Good," she said, her voice dropping slightly, becoming more serious. "Now here's the thing there's a train in Nazi Germany. A flying train, one of their newer models with enhanced security and supposedly impenetrable defenses. It's currently traveling from Berlin to the Netherlands, carrying approximately three hundred passengers plus crew."
Lee listened carefully, his expression never changing, absorbing every detail with the kind of attention that suggested perfect recall.
"You have to destroy it," Vera continued, her tone casual, as if she were asking him to run a simple errand rather than commit an act of terrorism that would kill hundreds of people.
Lee's eyebrows raised slightly the first real surprise he'd shown since entering. "Why is that?" he asked. Not challenging the order, just seeking to understand the reasoning behind it.
Vera stood up from her chair and moved to one of the walls where maps were pinned, her finger tracing a route across central Europe. "Well, there are two people on that train that I'm particularly interested in. One tall man, one short woman. If that train which has the designation number 108, by the way then only those two should survive. Everyone else..." She made a dismissive gesture. "Collateral damage."
Lee processed this information, his mind already working through logistics and methodology. "Are they Blessed?" he asked, because that detail would significantly affect his approach.
"Indeed," Vera confirmed. "Both of them. Which is why I need you specifically for this task. Anyone else might be killed by them, might fail to create the proper conditions. But you... you can do what's necessary."
Lee's expression became more contemplative. "What should I do with them then? After I've destroyed the train and they've survived, what's the next step?"
Vera turned back to face him, her eyes gleaming with something that might have been excitement or might have been madness perhaps both. "Well, your job is to give them the location of Valenora. Make sure they understand where it is, how to find it, what they're looking for. They need that information."
Lee frowned slightly. "Can't we give them that peacefully?" he asked, genuine confusion in his voice. "If the goal is just to share information, why destroy a train full of innocent people? Why not simply approach them, explain what they need to know, and let them proceed on their own?"
Vera laughed a short, sharp sound that echoed strangely in the small cabin. "Well, I thought about it," she admitted. "Considered the straightforward approach, the diplomatic solution. However..." Her expression hardened, her smile becoming something colder. "I have to see if they're capable or not. Anyone can receive Blessed powers, Lee. But not everyone can actually use them effectively under pressure, in real combat situations, when their lives are genuinely threatened. I need to know if they're worthy of what's waiting in Valenora."
Lee nodded slowly, accepting this reasoning even if he didn't entirely agree with it. "Alright then," he said, his voice becoming more formal, more professional. "Allow me to go. I'll need to prepare, to position myself, to time the attack for maximum effect."
"You can," Vera replied, making a small gesture that served as both permission and dismissal.
Lee turned toward the door, but before he could take more than two steps, his body simply ceased to be there. He didn't walk away, didn't fade or blur or leave any visual trail. He was present one moment and absent the next, as if he'd been edited out of reality itself.
Vera looked at the empty space where he'd been standing just seconds before and smiled to herself. "He's fast, isn't he?" she said to the apparently empty room, her voice carrying amusement and approval.
A voice emerged from the shadows in the corner, smooth and familiar, belonging to someone who had been there the entire time but had remained perfectly hidden until choosing to speak. "Well, I didn't expect you would meet me."
Vera didn't turn toward the voice, didn't show any surprise at this revelation that they'd had an audience throughout the entire conversation. Instead, she continued staring at where Lee had vanished, her expression thoughtful. "Well, I should help you, darling, to get what I lost," she said quietly. "We both have things we're seeking, things that were taken from us. It makes sense to work together."
"Sure thing," the voice from the shadows replied, carrying agreement and something else something that suggested shared history, shared pain, shared purpose.
Vera finally turned toward that shadow, toward the figure that still refused to fully reveal itself despite speaking openly. "Well, can you give me my blessed power? I think I will need it. Fighting without abilities, relying purely on skill and preparation it's been educational, but I'll need every advantage for what's coming."
"Here it is," the shadow responded.
Power flooded back into Vera's body not gradually, not like something returning after absence, but all at once, like a dam breaking and releasing pressure that had been building for too long. Her regeneration snapped back into place, her enhanced strength and speed and durability all the various improvements that had been stripped away during her defeat now restored completely.
She flexed her hands, feeling the familiar sensation of being more than human, of operating on a level above normal physical limitations. "Thanks for that," she said, genuine gratitude in her voice. "I'm not gonna lie I want to end this all. Everything. I'm tired of this."
Her voice dropped, becoming quieter, more vulnerable.
"This is the 106th time I'm doing this."
Then, without warning, a memory crashed into her consciousness.
Not her current consciousness, not Vera's memories, but something older, something that belonged to a different time, a different life, a different being that had existed before all of this.
A child's voice, young and innocent and full of desperate attachment sitting in the restaurant. The words came with perfect clarity, as if they were being spoken right now rather than remembered from decades or centuries ago.
*"Please don't leave me. We can play more, I promise. We will marry each other when we grow up. We'll be together forever. Please don't go."*
And another child voice responding. This child voice was gentle, genuinely kind, full of affection and energetic. A voice that belonged to someone who genuinely cared about that child speaking, who wanted to stay with.
*"Sure, I will marry you I will wait for you,"* that gentle voice said, and the warmth in those words was almost painful in its sincerity. *"When you're grown up, when you're ready, we'll be together. I promise."*
The child's voice again, full of joy and relief and absolute trust. *"You promise me!"*
And that gentle voice, speaking with equal conviction, equal certainty. *"YesI promise you."*
The memory faded as quickly as it had come, leaving Vera standing alone in the cabin, her hands clenched into fists, her eyes staring at nothing. The voice from the shadow had gone silent as well, and when she looked toward that corner, she found she was truly alone. Whoever had been there had departed as silently and mysteriously as they'd arrived.
"I will get what I lost," Vera whispered to the empty room, her voice carrying determination and desperation in equal measure. "No matter how many attempts it takes, no matter how many cycles I have to endure, no matter what I have to do or who I have to hurt I will recover what was taken from me."
The fire crackled, and the wind howled outside, and Vera stood alone with her memories and her promises and her endless, futile seeking.
---
**Nazi Germany Train 108 - Somewhere Over Central Europe**
The interior of the flying train was everything one would expect from German engineering efficient, clean, comfortable in a utilitarian way that prioritized function over luxury. The passenger car where Ravina and Ignis sat was arranged with rows of seats, large windows offering views of the landscape passing far below, and soft lighting that created an atmosphere of calm travel.
Most passengers were quiet, absorbed in their own activities reading, working on portable devices, sleeping, or simply staring out the windows at the patchwork of farmland and forest and occasional cities that comprised central Europe. The train moved with barely perceptible motion, the magnetic levitation system creating a ride so smooth that water in a glass wouldn't ripple.
Ravina, however, was not quiet.
She sat in her window seat surrounded by food containers scattered across her tray table, the empty seat beside her, and part of Ignis's space. She was eating with the kind of single-minded enthusiasm usually reserved for people who hadn't eaten in days, though Ignis knew for a fact she'd had a full meal before boarding.
The sounds she made while eating were obscene smacking, slurping, satisfied humming that suggested sensory pleasure bordering on inappropriate. She'd ordered what appeared to be half the food car's inventory and was systematically working through it with impressive speed.
Ignis sat across from her in the facing seat, his book held up in front of his face like a shield, though he'd stopped actually reading several minutes ago. Instead, he was just staring at the same page, trying to use the book as a barrier against the assault on his senses that was Ravina's eating performance.
Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He lowered the book slightly, his voice flat with barely controlled irritation. "Stop making sounds, bitch."
Ravina looked up from her current container some kind of schnitzel with vegetables and grinned at him with her mouth still half-full. After an exaggerated swallow, she gestured at the spread of food around her. "Oh, come on! See this food? How tasty this food is? Don't you think this food is good? The seasoning, the preparation, the presentation it's all amazing!"
She picked up another piece and held it toward him like an offering. "You should try some! I ordered extra!"
Ignis didn't even glance at the offered food. His eyes stayed fixed on his book, though his voice made it clear he wasn't actually reading. "To be honest, I don't care about the food."
Ravina's grin widened, taking on that predatory quality that suggested she was about to say something annoying. "So you care about me then?"
Ignis's eye twitched. He lowered his book completely, meeting her gaze with an expression of profound exhaustion. "Can you stop with your failed flirty words?"
"Oh, please!" Ravina protested, setting down her food and placing one hand over her heart in mock offense. "I'm not that bad with flirting! I can be very charming when I want to be!"
"Of course you are bad at it," Ignis replied, his voice carrying the weight of absolute certainty. "Did you see how terrible you try? Every attempt is more painful than the last. You have negative charisma. Your flirting actively repels people."
Ravina's mock offense shifted into genuine annoyance. "Well, at least I don't date minors, do I?" she shot back, her voice sharp.
Then she paused, her expression shifting from defensive to curious. "Wait, what is your age anyway? I just realized I never actually asked."
Ignis had returned his attention to his book, but he answered automatically. "I'm seventeen."
There was a beat of silence.
Then Ravina processed this information, and her eyes went wide. "No way," she breathed, genuine shock in her voice. "I'm twenty-seven. I'm a whole decade older than you."
She leaned forward, her expression shifting through several emotions calculation, amusement, and something that might have been genuine concern before landing on her usual chaotic enthusiasm. "But you know what? Age doesn't matter in love, honey!"
Ignis looked up from his book slowly, his expression completely deadpan. "You are a pedophile."
"Only for you!" Ravina replied brightly, as if this were a romantic declaration rather than an admission of criminal intent.
Before Ignis could respond with what would certainly have been violence, something changed.
The windows began to crack.
Not slowly, not with any warning, but suddenly dozens of thin fracture lines appearing simultaneously across every window in the passenger car, spreading in geometric patterns that suggested tremendous force applied from outside.
Then the entire train exploded.
The destruction was instantaneous and catastrophic. The magnetic levitation system failed first, the carefully calibrated fields that kept the train suspended and moving collapsing in microseconds. Then the hull integrity compromised by whatever had struck it gave way completely, the pressurized interior meeting the exterior atmosphere at several hundred kilometers per hour.
The passenger car came apart like a toy struck with a hammer. Metal tore, plastic shattered, glass transformed into millions of deadly fragments. Passengers who'd been sitting peacefully moments before were suddenly thrown in every direction, their bodies subjected to forces that human anatomy wasn't designed to withstand.
The sound was indescribable a combination of metal tearing, people screaming, wind roaring, and the fundamental wrongness of something that should be solid and safe suddenly becoming chaos and death.
Lee stood on a small platform he'd created for himself using his powers a circular disc of solidified air that floated impossibly at the same altitude the train had been traveling. He watched the destruction with clinical interest, his expression never changing, his body language suggesting this was just another task to be completed rather than mass murder.
"I think Miss Evelyn was kinda wrong," he murmured to himself, watching debris fall toward the earth far below. Bodies tumbled through the air, some still screaming, others already silenced by the initial destruction or the simple fact that no one could breathe properly at this altitude.
Then two figures emerged from the chaos, landing on what remained of a section of the train car that was still somewhat intact.
Ravina appeared first, her clothes torn and her hair wild but her body completely unharmed. Her regeneration had activated automatically, healing damage as fast as it occurred, keeping her perfectly healthy despite having just survived an explosion that should have reduced her to scattered pieces.
She looked around at the destruction, at the falling debris and screaming passengers and the ground rushing up from far below, and her expression shifted through confusion and shock before landing on fury.
"My food!" she screamed, genuine anguish in her voice. "Who did this?! Who destroyed my food?!"
Lee blinked, staring at her with complete incomprehension. This was not the reaction he'd expected from someone who'd just survived a catastrophic attack. Where was the fear? The survival instinct? The concern for her own life or the lives of others?
Then Ignis appeared beside her, flames dancing across his body as he used his fire powers to control his descent, creating platforms of superheated air that let him maneuver despite having no ground beneath his feet.
Lee looked between them, his confusion deepening. He pulled out a small device from his pocket one of Vera's communication tools and activated the stored message, listening to her description of his targets.
*"One tall man and one short woman,"* Vera's recorded voice said clearly.
Lee looked at Ravina, who was maybe 6'3" if she stretched. Then at Ignis, who was perhaps 5'6" on a good day. Then back at his device as if it might provide clarification.
"Uh," he said, genuine bewilderment in his voice. "Miss Evelyn said one tall guy and one short woman. Then why are they...?"
He looked directly at Ravina and Ignis, raising his voice to be heard over the wind and falling debris. "Oi! Are you both Blessed?"
Ravina's fury paused, replaced by cautious interest. "What if I am?" she called back, her body tensing, preparing for another attack.
"Well, here I was told that one tall guy and one short woman," Lee repeated, still trying to reconcile what he'd been told with what he was seeing. "But you're both..."
He trailed off, unable to complete the observation without being rude.
Ravina and Ignis exchanged glances. Then, simultaneously, they both processed what Lee had just said about height. There was a moment of suspended realization.
Then Ravina started laughing.
Really, truly laughing full-body laughter that shook her entire frame and seemed wildly inappropriate given that they were currently plummeting through the air surrounded by the debris of a destroyed train and the bodies of hundreds of dead passengers.
"He's the tall guy?" she gasped between laughs, pointing at Ignis with one hand while clutching her stomach with the other. "This guy? Are you serious?"
She turned to Ignis, her laughter intensifying. "You know what you and Wolverine have in common? Both short! Both angry! Both have stupid hair!"
Ignis's face flushed with fury. "Hey! I'm not short!" His voice rose, genuine offense cutting through his usual flat affect. "I'm average height! Maybe even slightly above average for my age group!"
"Keep telling yourself that, shorty," Ravina managed between giggles.
Lee watched this exchange with growing certainty that he'd been given incorrect information or that these weren't actually his targets or that the universe was playing some kind of elaborate joke on him.
"Whatever," he said, deciding to proceed regardless of the height discrepancy. After all, they'd admitted to being Blessed, and there weren't exactly a lot of those on the train. "But then—"
Ignis didn't let him finish. Fury at being called short had pushed him past any rational consideration of strategy or caution. Flames erupted around his entire body, transforming him into a living inferno, and he charged directly at Lee with speed that suggested his Blessed powers enhanced more than just his fire manipulation.
"I don't give a damn, you moron!" Ignis screamed, his voice distorted by rage and the roar of flames.
Fire exploded from his hands in a concentrated blast, the kind of attack that should have incinerated Lee instantly, that should have reduced him to ash before he could even react.
Instead, Lee's body split.
The flames passed through empty space where his torso should have been, the two halves of his body separating like they'd been on hinges all along. The fire continued past him harmlessly, dissipating into the open air.
Then, just as quickly, the two halves merged back together, flowing like liquid rather than solid matter, reconnecting without any sign of damage or effort.
Lee looked down at himself, then at Ignis, then smiled slightly. "Well, I guess I'm not wrong about you being Blessed. That's something, at least."
Ravina, who had been watching this exchange while continuing to fall through the air, suddenly called out to no one in particular: "Please! If there's an author who wrote us, at least don't be a jerk! Make Blessed individuals rare as fuck! We should be considered as gods, not running into each other every five minutes like this is some kind of superhuman convention!"
"Shut the fuck up!" Ignis shouted at her, his flames intensifying with his irritation. "You are so annoying! Do you ever stop talking?!"
"Never!" Ravina replied cheerfully.
Lee watched this bizarre dynamic playing out while falling debris continued raining down around them and decided that Miss Evelyn's test was probably going to be more complicated than he'd anticipated.
*I should test them properly, right?* he thought, his expression becoming more focused, more serious. *If she wants to know if they're capable, I need to push them. Really push them.*
*Then I'm coming.*
In the next second, his hand transformed.
The flesh and bone didn't just change shape it fundamentally altered its properties, becoming something else entirely. His arm from elbow to fingertips became a chainsaw a fully functional, rotating chainsaw with teeth that spun so fast they blurred into silver streaks.
The sound it made was horrific a mechanical roar that cut through even the wind and falling debris, the noise of something designed to cut through wood or metal or flesh with equal efficiency.
Lee launched himself at Ravina and Ignis, moving with speed that belied his earlier calm demeanor. The chainsaw arm swept in a wide arc, aiming to catch both of them in a single strike.
They dodged.
Barely. Ravina threw herself backward, her enhanced reflexes allowing her to avoid the spinning teeth by centimeters. Ignis went left, flames trailing behind him as he used his fire powers to create burst propulsion.
"Wait, is that Chainsaw Man?" Ravina called out, genuine excitement mixing with her survival instinct. "No way! Is Denji really that smart? Does he have tactical thinking now? Has the series gotten good again?"
"This is not manga, idiot!" Ignis shouted back.
Lee didn't bother responding to this bizarre commentary. He simply adjusted his trajectory and charged again, his chainsaw arm cutting through the air with that same horrific mechanical roar.
This time, Ignis didn't dodge. This time, he charged back, flames erupting around his entire body, transforming him into a projectile of pure fire.
They collided in midair.
Lee's chainsaw caught Ignis in the neck, the spinning teeth digging into flesh and synthetic flame enhancement, cutting with brutal efficiency. Blood sprayed, Ignis's head separated from his body, and both pieces began falling separately through the air.
But even as this happened, even as Ignis's body was being destroyed, flames erupted from his hands in a final, desperate attack. The fire engulfed Lee completely, burning at temperatures hot enough to melt steel, hot enough to reduce a normal human to ash in seconds.