Alright, this is it. Long Author's Note at the end, but only read it after the chapter, unless you want spoilers.

WARNING: Rated M for language, suicidal tendencies, semi-graphic murder/combat, and substance abuse. Reader Discretion is Advised.

As soon as the group had pulled themselves together, they made to enter the metro. They had to keep going. However, a figure was standing in the door of the car where there had not been one previously. He was breathing heavily behind his mask, as if he had just sprinted to get there.

"I'm here, I'm here!" Taking a deep breathe, Zacharie calmed himself. "Welcome, Player and Co. Uhm… You're here in the Sugar ovens of Vesper, the northern part of zone 3." The Player blinked, before a small smile crept across her face, washing away traces of the bitter sadness she still felt.

"We know, that's already been explained to us." She gave him a sly look. "Zacharie, were you late?" The merchant paused, his brows furrowing behind his mask as a tint of red spread across his cheeks, hidden. How embarrassing. He was suddenly glad for the mask he wore.

"Ahaha, of course, of course. That's what I thought." Zacharie laughed, pushing his embarrassment away—and carefully not thinking of the reason he was late.

The Batter stepped forward, drawing Zacharie's eyes to him. The Batter tightened his fists, holding them at his sides. "I must purify this zone's guardian." He could feel his hunger clawing at his being, yanking at his mind. His eyes tinted the faintest of reds.

The merchant suddenly lost all of the cheer he had been wearing. He took a breath before responding. Dedan clenched his teeth. "…I have an Access Card for the monorail. Let's hurry to Area 4 to meet that mysterious director." He waved the group into the car, sitting down on a bench as they entered.

As the car hurtled along—much faster than it had going to any other area, the Player noted—the Batter was clenching and unclenching his fists. He seemed impatient, or bothered by something. As she went to ask him, he stood up and spoke.

"How much longer?" He was so hungry. The hunger had been growing so quickly, quicker than he remembered. It gnawed at him, tearing at the edges of his mind. He felt antsy, like he needed to move.

"Stop fidgeting. We're almost there." As the merchant spoke, the car suddenly lurched, its brakes screaming as it slammed to a stop. A ding from the PA system made the Player look up.

"Attention. Attention. Obstacle detected. Vehicle is unable to move forward."

"…It seems that there's a slight problem." The Batter snorted derisively. No really? He had no idea. Zacharie looked at him expectantly. "So… weren't you about to take a look outside while I keep watch with the darling Player?" The Batter stared at him, clenching his fists tight to keep them from twitching. He wanted to crush the man's head for his presumptuous words, but the situation worked better for him. With his pure, innocent Player in here, if he had to fight whatever was on the tracks, he wouldn't have to hold back. He would still have to hurry, though.

With a nod, he stepped off the car. The tunnel the car had stopped in was dark, even to his eyes. He could see a stumbling figure in the gloom, far down the tunnel. He grinned, moving swiftly over to the drunkenly moving Elsen.

"What are you doing in the middle of the track?"

"Hhhh….Hhhhheee…hhhhhhheeelp," the Elsen rasped, its eyes wildly darting around. Its mouth was moving slowly as it slurred its words, and the Batter could smell the Sugar on its breath. It's searching for more Sugar. He sneered as the Elsen grasped at his tunic, unable to see in the dark. "Hhellp," it cried again, weakly scrabbling at the Batter.

It was asking the wrong person.

The Batter grabbed the Elsen by its throat, lifting it up. The Elsen wheezed, grabbing at the Batter's clawed grip. He brought it close to his face, his muzzle almost brushing its face as he spoke. This close, he could see the skin of the Elsen seeping with black. "You don't deserve help." He tossed the Elsen against the wall, taking satisfaction in how it smacked against the pipes with a wet crunch. It wheezed, scratching at the ground as it struggled to stand, its form cast in the red light of the Batter's eyes, its skin seeping ink and soot. The Batter forced himself back into his skin of lies, drawing his bat to strike the Burnt Elsen.

"Help," it whimpered as the Batter crouched down next to it. He grabbed its head, digging his fingers into the Elsen's soft skin as he forced its head up. It was still pleading, eyes frantically searching. They were glazed, a film of white over the orbs as it begged. "help."

The Batter let a terrible grin split his face. "No." He tightened his grip, his nails digging deeper as the Elsen sobbed. He felt them scrape the skull of the pitiful being. It didn't move, just crying. The Batter tilted his head, confused. "Why aren't you trying to escape?" The Elsen gripped at the Batter, sobbing.

"Help," it cried again, and it grabbed the Batter's bat. "help, help," The Elsen pulled weakly at the bat, and he let it move his hand, curious. It pulled it to his head and pushed. The glazed eyes flitted around, meeting the Batter's own with no awareness. "help," it stressed, pushing the bat against its skin, soot and ink running over the bat in rivulets, and that's when the Batter realized.

It wasn't looking for Sugar.

It wanted to die.

"Help help help help," the Elsen chanted as the Batter stared at it. Oh. It…it had gone through the Sugar withdrawals. The Elsen they had fought before had been in the midst of the affliction, but this one… It had become aware of its existence, of how destroyed and worthless it was, and now it sought to die, to escape reality.

"Why?" The Batter finally asked, needing to know for sure.

"Free…" the Elsen whimpered, a smile pulling at its face. It gave a cough, the scent of ash fluttering from its lips. The Batter yanked his bat back and slammed it into the creature's skull, crushing it with ease. It gave another small smile as it melted into sludge, spilling over the Batter's boots.

The Batter stood up, his boots covered in the black sludge. He stared down at what used to be a Burnt Elsen, feeling his hunger and hate swirling within his soul. He could almost feel pity for the creature. But he didn't, it wasn't worth his pity. After all, it wasn't like Elsen were people. Elsen were trash, hollow shells that corrupted easily. To be a person, one needed a body and a soul. Elsen were just cattle to be used and abused as their betters pleased.

They weren't aware of that fact though. When the Elsen were first made, the Batterhad ripped them apart and every Elsen since was created apart. They were just toys, trash for him to amuse himself with, food for him to feed himself with. The Batter sneered. It was the Queen that had taken those souls, made them into her servants the Spectres.

Bodies to work, souls to serve; that's all Elsen were. The Batter scraped the sludge off his boots. It was a hellish existence for the Elsen, he was sure, but he just did not care. They were worthless, stained trash of beings, just barely linked to their souls. Kill the Spectre their soul was made of, and they would feel the break as an agony that could not be imagined, and often it corrupted their bodies to Burnt Elsen. The Batter could have made it so they couldn't feel it, but why would he do that? The screaming of these worthless pieces of trash was delightful. A demented grin spread on his face, all four of his eyes glowing red in the darkness, tinting his skin with their light. Of course, this was all long before the Batter had ever encountered the Player, back when he was… another*.

His Player… The Batter mused on her, his grin maddening to see. His perfect, pure Player was waiting for him, he—a filthy monster who killed and killed and killed and loved it—and with her he would finish his mission to purify the world. For her, he would make the world clean of the tar of sin that stained it. He spread his soul—filthy destroyed from his sins prior and sins recent—out toward the car, feeling for her. He could feel her sitting there, waiting for him, her purity and light burning at him. He had become more used to the pain, pushing it away, but now he relished in the reminder that pain brought. With her perfection, he would finally fix this world, make it how it should have been. He closed his lower eyes, turning away from the car as he retracted into himself. He had to calm down. It wouldn't do for him to scare her with his savage sins. Once he had brought himself under control, he returned.

Zacharie was watching him with knowing eyes as he climbed back in. "So, what's blocking the path?" His voice hinted that he already knew. The Player tilted her head, waiting for the Batter to respond.

"Just some trash. I moved it off the tracks," he replied, his eyes never wavering from the form of his Player. She furrowed her brow at his intense staring, and the Batter forced himself to blink and look away. He pulled his ball-cap down, shadowing his eyes.

"Obstacle disappeared. The monorail is going to re-depart. Please be careful during departure." The Batter sat down next to his Player, watching her as she blinked at him. Dedan leaned against the wall of the car, watching him the same unidentifiable look as Zacharie. It was only moments later that the car arrived at the station.

Zacharie stepped off the car first. "This time I'll precede. We'll meet up again later." He gave a meaningful look to the Player. "Take care of yourself." With that he turned on his heel and strode off, leaving them behind.

"Well," the Player said, "We had best get to it then." They followed after the merchant, and into the hall. It was excessively broad, the Batter noticed, enough for ten people to walk abreast, and the ceiling was twice that from the floor. Why would the halls be so very large? The Batter pondered this as he watched over his Player while she fiddled with the yellow box.

"Hey, Sweetheart." Dedan spoke up, drawing her attention from the box. "This area… I don't think it will be anything other than pretty fucked up. Are you sure you want to continue on?" The Player sighed, resting her hand on the floating box as she thought.

"No. No I'm not sure I want to go on here, but I have to. This is my mission, to help the Batter purify the zones of the darkness that has soaked into them. This zone… this affliction that they all suffer from is mine to remove." She met the general's eyes, a firm sense of determination lighting them. "No matter what, I must always continue."

The Batter tilted his cap to hide the horrible smile that spread on his face. Japhet saw it though, huddling close on Dedan's shoulder. That smile made him feel sick inside. It was so very wrong.

The Player stood up. "Well, we need to get moving. I have the strangest feeling that this might be another maze." Moving from the first part of the hall, they stepped into a longer section. Each side was lined with doors, which the Player found to be locked as she tried them.

"Why the hell is there a hallway of nothing but locked doors?" Dedan wasn't shy about nearly shouting that in the echoing hallway, his voice carrying easily. The Player shrugged, and moved to try another door. It was also locked, and so they moved to the next.

"Perhaps this is a restricted zone," Japhet suggested quietly, his eyes still watching the Batter with caution. Dedan gave an "eh" to that, not really convinced. A creak from the door the Player was trying surprised them.

"This ones open," she said, slowly pushing it open. Inside was an office, with two chairs split by a desk. A small note rested on the desk, just out of reach. The Player tilted her head, looking at the desk. It was going through the wall. "Hey Batter?" The Batter shivered at her address. "Could you try and push the desk that way? Through the wall." He stepped up and easily shoved the desk through the wall. Only a small portion was still in the room. He preened when she thanked him. He would always assist her.

"Now," she began, stepping out of the office. "If I'm right, this room should also be unlocked." Trying the door, she was pleased to find her assumption correct. It was another office, but the layout allowed her to reach the note from before. She picked it up, and furrowed her brow. The Batter and Dedan peered over her shoulder at the note.

It was a set of four Xs, each with a name next to them. Going around clockwise, it was Zacharie, The Batter, The Director, and The Judge, with the first letter of each typed in red. The Player pursed her lips and stashed the note in her Inventory. It was clearly part of a larger puzzle that she had not yet reached.

"Well, that will be useful later. We'd best start looking for the other parts to that puzzle." And the group moved on, back into the oddly proportioned hallways.

*Can you guess who the Batter was? I've left quite a few hints for this throughout the story, not to mention it's nearly original OFF canon.

FUN FACT: Each chapter of this story takes around eight hours to write, two hours to edit, and a week for me to remember to post. This one actually took longer, as exposition is hard to do with making it too exposition-y.

So no one managed to guess what ELSEN AREN'T, but some of you got so close. To be honest, Superanonymouscarrots was right there at the answer for a while, as were a couple of others. That said, I feel I should give you the list of hints, so you can all go back and do the whole "hindsight is 20/20" thing.

Alright, a breakdown of the hints leading up to the Elsen revelation, as they appeared. (Hint 16 might make you facepalm at what you missed…)

Hint 1: In Chapter 2, Judge notes that the Player and Batter are the "first living beings" he encountered in zone 0 "in this lieu". This is important, as neither Elsen nor Spectres are present in zone 0, but Sucrose is.

Hint 2: Starting at Chapter 4, the Batter acknowledges that killing Elsen is bad, but isn't on the same level as killing another person, which is noted again in Chapter 9, when the Batter puts an emphasis on killing Dedan while causally killing an Elsen.

Hint 3: In Chapter 6, the Batter speaks to the Spectres as if they have the ability to understand him, denoting the same consideration he gives to the Elsen.

Hint 4: Also in Chapter 6, upon killing a Spectre, an Elsen is heard in distress distantly. By some odd stroke of luck, the Spectre killed was linked to that Elsen. That same Elsen, in the absence of its link to the soul and having been Burnt for long enough, becomes the January in Chapter 7. After all, once everything inside an Elsen has Burned, what's left but the outer shell? This is called back in Chapter 11, where the first Burnt Elsen they encounter makes a sound "like a deflating balloon", just as January did. The Batter even notes that the sound was familiar.

As an additional note, during the battle in Chapter 11, the Elsen break apart into the Burnt Elsen we fight generally, but January was also an advanced form of the Burnt Elsen. This difference is due to the fight itself. January was an Elsen that was Burning uninterrupted until it was a husk. The Elsen in Chapter 11 were interrupted with the fight in their Burning process, which lead to the delicate skin splitting under the strain.

Hint 5: In Chapter 7, the Batter notes that "Elsen were nothing. They could not even fight to defend themselves". When combined with the other hints, this hints at how the Batter thinks of them as just shells, halves of lives. This is furthered in Chapter 8, when the Batter amuses himself by leaving an Elsen half alive underneath a metal boulder.

Hint 6: In Chapter 8, Dedan remarks that the Elsen are "all the same", a hint that there is literally no variation between individuals. As beings with no souls, they lack the capacity to develop individual traits and personalities.

Hint 7: Continually, the Batter will refer to "characters" with a gender, but Elsen as "it". While the Elsen are technically genderless, this also refers to their lack of soul, as the Batter has been able to feel the contents of souls (i.e. sins, purity, gender, etc.). As the Elsen lack their souls, the Batter does not register them as entities.

Hint 8: In Chapter 11, the Batter and Player fight two Tiburce. This one was more obscure, as it has more to do with the additional note I made on their name. Tiburtius was a martyr who was killed despite his innocence. Similarly, both the Spectres and Elsen are innocent but were condemned to spend their existences in agony, broken apart.

Hint 9: In Chapter 12, an Elsen asks to be liberated before attacking. After its death it says "Perhaps it will get better now, now that you're here". This has two meanings. One is that the Elsen is expressing hope that death will be more pleasant than living was, as Elsen exist in a constant state of pain. The other is that the Elsen recognizes in the Player an existence that it does not have, that the Batter and Dedan also do not have. What could that be, I wonder?

Hint 10: After killing an Elsen in Chapter 12, it says "Yet, I've never been ill…". This was referring to the theme in Hint 9, where Elsen are constantly in pain. It has never been sick, but it has always been suffering. As with the Elsen in Hint 9, it finds death a release.

Hint 11: In Chapter 14, Sucrose has Elsen heads as her toys. They are called "dummies" as their description.

Hint 12: In the entirety of zone 2, the Elsen are terrified of anything dangerous. Because Japhet had focused on giving them knowledge, they learned that they could corrupt if they were put into a dangerous situation, resulting in the state of zone 2.

Hint 13: The text from The Up Children Down. I won't put it here, but I recommend going back to read it. It not only is referencing what was discussed with how the Elsen were made, it has foreshadowing.

Hint 14: In several places, imagery associated with slaughter house methods of killing cattle are hinted at when the Batter makes a kill. Example: In Chapter 19, the Batter drains the Elsen of blood before eating it. Slaughterhouses bleed meat before processing it.

Hint 15: Both in Chapter 21 and 22, the walls make a sound like a "balloon deflating". This has been linked to the Burning of Elsen. The walls are also said to be able to speak, according to the Wall!Elsen. The same Elsen also notes that, like the Elsen and Spectres, the wall "must be suffering…all the time…". Interesting to think about, isn't it?

Hint 16: In Chapter 22, the Judge says "Fascinating. A corporeal corruption due to the intrinsic lack of internal machinations of a spectral manner. Indeed, a saddening process, the burning of a being." This is the Judge OUTRIGHT saying the Elsen corrupted and Burnt due to lacking a soul.

Hint 17: In Chapter 23, Japhet refers to the Elsen as children. While round-a-bout, this hint was that the Elsen are blank slates, with nothing on them but what they are taught. Lacking the soul, they lack the ability to form personalities themselves, beyond basic traits.