It was cold. Freezing, in fact. To be perfectly honest, I'd never felt temperatures this cold before. Looking around, I saw that we were in a snowy tundra with very few trees in sight. In fact, there wasn't much of anything in sight but the color white. Not only that but it was snowing a good amount, obscuring my vision further away.

I'd never been in a place like this before. I mean, yeah, there was Jacobstown, but that place was never as cold and packed full of snow as this place is. The snow itself seemed to almost reach my kneecaps. How the Hell does that much snow accumulate on the ground? I suppose I have no reference, though, seeing as how the Mojave was always a more arid and hot climate. Combine that with the residual fallout and you have a very low chance for snow except for the rare occasions when a nuclear winter would occur.

Nuclear winters are a period of extreme coldness following a nuclear war, regardless of the natural climate. It's caused by the layers of smoke and ash from residual fallout rising into the atmosphere and covering the sun's rays, which causes significant drops in temperature and light. They have become much more uncommon so many years after the Great War, but they do still happen once every several years.

Pushing my hands into the snow and to the ground underneath, I was able to get to my hands and knees before I began to feel the need to vomit. Remembering the violent system purge caused by my [Artificial Heart], I digitized my Gas Mask and threw up onto the white snow. My bile covered the snow before causing it to melt down to the permafrost below. The bile had a normal coloration and included the bread I ate earlier, but all of it was seemingly shrouded in a black miasma, as if indicating the Demonic Energy was now out of my body.

After getting sick, I predictably began to feel sluggish and dehydrated, so I took a quick dose of Jet and chugged down a bottle of Purified Water to keep myself from passing out. Once that was done, I rematerialized my Gas Mask and moved on to my second order of business. Looking not to far from me, I saw Elt, lying in the snow, and Anastasia attempting to recover herself as she looked around in what seemed like awe.

"Impossible...teleporting without a spirit tunnel?", she said to herself as she looked around. However, I only felt one thing when I looked at her. Anger.

This bitch not only ignored my threat and came back, but she also had the fucking audacity to use an illusion of the children to try and trap me. Far all I know, she may even be the one who got the kids captured in the first place. Those were the thoughts on my mind as I shakily stood up and stumbled over to her.

"You fucking bitch…", I mumbled as I reached her. She whipped around to face me just as my fist connected with her face, sending her falling into the snow. I followed it up by materializing Blood Nap and attempting to bring it down into her heart, but instead, the knife merely phased through her, allowing her to float away from the knife and behind me. I quickly whipped the knife around to stop her from attacking me from behind, but again, the knife only phased through her throat.

So she can become corporeal and incorporeal at will. That's annoying.

"Stop! No more!", she screamed in panic.

"Oh yeah, I bet you've heard that a lot, huh?", I responded,"I bet those kids said something similar, right? Did you stop for them?"

"I…", her eyes widened as she tried to formulate a response."No, but that was-"

"Then why should I!?", I asked in a yell."You fucks always go on and on about love and understanding, yet when someone isn't down to get with you, you force them against their will saying that they don't know what they want. That it's what's best for them, whether they like it or not."

"Humans don't know what they want, Six!", she screamed back in response."They are simple, weak creatures that want to be herded, to be told who is good and who is bad. We offer them a means of escape; ascendance from their sad, pathetic selves. Humans NEED us!"

"Humans don't need anyone, and who are you to say otherwise?", I asked."Who the Hell do you think you are!? You don't want to love humans, you want to control them."

"What the fuck are you talking about!?", she yelled, clearly getting more and more angry given this is the first time I've heard her swear.

"You want humans to be dependent on you; to be good, obedient little fucktoys that will roll over and give you spirit energy whenever you please, and when someone doesn't want to roll over, you make them.", I explained,"Well guess what, bitch, I'm not rolling over. I've got my own goals and I'm not about to let some narcissistic, altruistic nymphomaniacs stop me."

"Why you-!", she began to fume before a moan of discomfort interrupted us. Turning to look towards where it came from, I could see Elt shaking and rolling back and forth with his eyes closed.

"Don't fucking move.", I told her, switching Blood Nap for Maria and training it on Anastasia as I went to check on Elt. Looking him over, I began to take note of his status. His skin tone was very red, likely in response to the sudden temperature shift. However, upon closer inspection, it seems like his forehead was also burning up, despite the cold surroundings. He was tense and I could make out a sort of black miasma coming from his chest. Shit, he got infected with a large amount of Demonic Energy, too, but he doesn't have the cybernetics to purge it immediately. He's gonna be out for a while.

On top of that, the wind around us began to pick up, and it began to snow heavier. I'm no meteorologist, and I've never experienced weather like this before, but from what I've read from books, this might be what is called a blizzard. If that's the case, then I need to find us shelter fast, or we're going to end up ice cubes before long. Picking up Elt over my shoulder like before, only he wasn't bound and gagged this time, I kept Maria in my right hand as I began to move away from the area in search of shelter, keeping an eye on Anastasia.

"Where do you think you're going?", she asked,"We're not finished."

"Yes, we are.", I responded."Nothing I say will change your mind, so our argument is pointless."

"So that's it?", she asked as she followed me."You're just going to leave me after getting me stranded?"

"I didn't do shit to you!", I yelled back, aiming my gun at her again."You came after me yourself. It's your own fault for getting stranded with us." After a few stern glares, I turned back around and began to search again. After a bit of walking, looking around in the ever growing snow storm, I noticed that Anastasia was still following me, though at a distance. I'm lucky that my duster also somewhat protects against the cold, but I'm not immune. I need shelter fast.

"Why are you following me?", I asked without looking back at Anastasia. It took her a bit, but she finally answered after several seconds.

"I told you before we teleported. I'm not letting you escape again.", she responded with a clearly frustrated tone."Besides, it's not like I really have a choice. I'm stranded, too."

"Yeah, well, unless you wanna get a bullet in the head, I suggest you fuck off.", I responded.

"If you're worried about me trying something, I can't without becoming corporeal and susceptible to your attacks.", she responded."Like it or not, you're stuck with me." I grumbled at that. Great, another thing to keep track of. If keeping Elt from getting raped or having a nervous breakdown wasn't enough, now I have to keep Anastasia from doing anything sketchy.

"Fine, but if you try anything, I will kill you without hesitation.", I responded, to which she was silent.

Whatever, as this was going on, I finally managed to spy a small cave in the side of a cliff not to far from us. Let's hope that there's nothing inhabiting it already.

Clearing the cave went off without a hitch. As I hoped, there was nothing inhabiting the cave besides a few animals that quickly ran for little nooks in the cave when we entered. It was a little long, sloping downward and winding until reaching a small dead end. I had laid out my bedroll for Elt and laid him on top of it as I continued to check him. It was cold in here, but not nearly as bad as the biting winds outside. After making sure he was alright, I quickly went back outside to collect a few dry sticks and leaves, which was an ordeal, but I manage to find some in a tree well.

I came back to find Anastasia kneeling in front of Elt and watching him with a neutral expression on her face. It was clear she didn't do anything, and I didn't expect her to, given her fixation on me, but I'll ask just to make sure.

"You better not have touched him.", I told her sternly.

"I didn't. I have no interest in Lady Fullmoon's knight.", she responded without looking towards me."It seems like he has idled in stage 2 of the monsterization process."

"I figured as much, given the black miasma.", I responded with a sigh before sitting down on the other side of Elt and started to set up the fire. Once I got it going, I made sure Elt was nice and close to it so he could stay warm before I took out some Salisbury Steak and Vodka, digitizing my Gas Mask in the process. As I ate, the cave was silent save for the crackling of the fire and the blizzard now raging outside. I knew that only rest would help him now, given that the monsterization process requires sex to go any further, at least for a guy. I wasn't able to get the complete details from the library in Lescatie, but from what I understand, men are only affected by the presence of monsters up to a certain point. From then on, they need to have sex with one in order to transform. Something about how the monsters need to inject demonic energy straight to the source of the man's spirit energy to corrupt him, unlike women who unwillingly draw demonic energy from the surroundings into their core.

Checking my Pip-Boy, it was getting close to 8:00pm. After making sure everything else was good, I finished eating my food and took a dose of Fixer to eradicate my addiction before noticing that Anastasia was glaring at me.

"What?", I asked in an annoyed tone.

"What? What!?", she repeated in disbelief,"That's all you have to say after everything you've done?"

"Jesus, are we back on this again?", I asked rubbing my eyes and taking a swig of Vodka."What is it with you and dredging up the past?"

"My issue is that you killed two more of my dear servants, not to mention an inexplicable amount of mamono.", she explained.

"Yeah, and whose fault is that, I wonder.", I responded sarcastically, causing her to get even more frustrated.

"You're a murderer!", she yelled."My love for you is only matched by my absolute hatred for you. I honestly don't know if anything will help change you now…"

"Good, I like myself the way I am.", I responded, taking another swig.

"You lied to me!", she yelled,"You said you had amnesia, when in reality you were just trying to avoid having to answer our questions. I felt for you, Six, but it seems that was all in vain…"

"I never asked you to care, I just wanted you bitches off my back.", I responded.

"All those poor mamono wanted was a husband. Someone to love, and you killed them for it! You're the real monster!", she yelled, starting to tear up.

"Yes, because a warzone is clearly the best place to find true love.", I quipped sarcastically again. Immediately, she began to reach over to hit me, but she was stopped by Maria aiming right at her neck."Do it. Become corporeal and hit me. It'll be the last thing you do." She glowered at me before grunting and sitting back down across from Elt. After a couple seconds, she began to openly sob.

"I...I...I'll never see them again…", she cried, hugging herself as tears and snot began to flow down her face."Elora, Nerys, Lexi, they're gone...and they're never coming back...you took them from me." Oh geez, another crybaby. Of course, because one just wasn't enough, huh?

"I may have been the one to pull the trigger, but they knew what they were getting into.", I responded to her."War is an awful, bloody place, and if you want to tell me that they signed up not knowing that, then you're a liar."

"...They didn't sign up.", she responded.

"Beg your pardon?", I asked, genuinely confused now. "What do you mean, they were conscripted?"

"No, I signed up. They are just my retainers...", she tearfully explained."They joined me to help me finally get a husband to continue my noble bloodline, but...in the end…"

"They paid for your mistake.", I finished for her.

"If I'd known that this would've happened, I never would have…", she began to sob louder, unable to finish her thought. I see, so she feels responsible and is trying to take it out on me. Honestly, I don't know what to say, so I didn't say anything. I just let her cry and get it all out of her system. Besides, she may be having a hard time, but she still tried to rape and trap me, I'm not helping her if I can help it. Thinking this, I finished my Vodka and put my Gas Mask back on.

With that, the cave was now no longer silent, filled with the sounds of the blizzard outside, the crackles of the dying fire next to me, and the crying monster sitting across from me.

It was now closer to 5:00 in the morning. Thanks to my cybernetics, I don't have to sleep, but it does help if I'm [Well Rested]. However, with Anastasia here, I don't feel comfortable doing so, even if she was asleep herself.

She ended up crying for the rest of the night until she finally cried herself to sleep. Even then, I don't think she's completely over it, though only time will tell. Not that I care, anyway, since the second she becomes corporeal, I'm going to kill her. I poked her with Blood Nap to see if she was corporeal in her sleep, but she wasn't. The blizzard was still going on outside, but it seemed to be slowing down somewhat. At least, I think it was.

"Hmm…", I looked over to Elt to see that he was beginning to stir, the black miasma that emanated from him long since dissipating."Six?"

"Elt, you're finally awake.", I stated in relief as he looked over himself to make sure he was fine."Don't worry, you're fine. No monsters touched you while you were out."

"Where...Where are we?", he asked slowly, still sleepy.

"Don't know. Someplace to the north, though it's rather snowy, so I imagine somewhere in Fenrim.", I responded.

"What? How? We weren't on a spirit tunnel.", he asked before flinching as he noticed Anastasia sleeping on the ground not to far from him."And what is she doing here?" I'm not to sure what a spirit tunnel is. Is that maybe like those ley lines I've read it about in novels?

"For you first question, too complex to explain.", I answered before moving on."Secondly, she is able to become incorporeal, so I can't kill her."

"What!? So you mean we're going to be followed by monster?", he asked.

"Probably.", I answered while shaking my head."Don't worry, she tries anything, I'll take care of her. Besides, she's after me, not you."

"O-Okay, if you say so, Six.", he said, still glaring at Anastasia. Maybe Elt and I can leave her here and try to-

"What's with all this noise so early?", Anastasia mumbled sleepily as she sat up and began to rub her eyes.

"Damn…", I mumbled, well there goes that plan in the making. After rubbing her eyes a bit and hearing my voice, she opened her eyes to glare at me again.

"Six...You better not have been planning on leaving me behind.", she grumbled.

"Of course I was, but then you had to go and wake up.", I responded.

"You are so hateful. Why did I have to fall for you?", She stated before almost asking herself. Again, I understand their physiology makes them this way, but it's still annoying.

"Don't know, don't care.", I responded, turning to Elt."How are you feeling?"

"I'm hungry and thirsty, but that's it.", Elt responded. Upon hearing that, I went ahead and pulled out some Potato Chips along with some Purified Water and handed them to Elt. After taking them, he gave me a look of confusion.

"Food and water. Just eat the food slowly, and let me know if you feel sick afterward.", I explained, to which he began to eat slowly, crunching the chips and letting them linger in his mouth a bit before swallowing.

"It's good, but there's something...stale about them.", he stated."I've never had anything like this before, where did you get them?"

"Ancient ruins. They're old, but have plenty of preservatives in them.", I explained before adding."They've also got radiation, so again, let me know if you start feeling sick at all."

"If that food can make him sick, wouldn't it be better to feed him something else?", Anastasia asked in her new tone."And don't I get something?"

"I would if I could, woman, but this is all I got. We'll need to hunt later for fresh food.", I responded."And no, you don't. Maybe if you hadn't helped yourself to those children, I'd let you help yourself to my food."

"I didn't touch the kids, I just-ugh, nevermind.", she gave up, turning away from me in frustration again.

After a couple minutes of silence, Elt finished eating and spoke up again.

"So Six, what's the plan now?", he asked. I saw Anastasia perk up and look at me for this as well. I'll have to be careful to not say too much.

"Well, thanks to this woman and her bitch superiors, the children are gone and likely beyond the point of saving.", I explained, causing Anastasia to roll her eyes."So, I'm going with my original plan of heading to Magicor."

"Magicor? Why there?", Elt asked."Isn't that place pretty unwelcoming towards humans?"

"I have personal business I need to attend to there.", I answered, not wanting to give away my intentions."I doubt you'd want to come with me, so if you want to head on back to Order territory once we reach a settlement, you're free to do so." I'm hoping that I can at least get him off my back since I don't want him around for when I head back to my world. Hopefully, he'll agree with me and try to go his separate ways as soon as possible.

"...I think I'll stay with you…", he responded. What? "You've opened my eyes to a lot of things I had no idea about, so I'm not too sure I even want to go back to the Order the way it is now…" I was rather surprised at that, as was Anastasia given her facial expressions.

"Well, yeah, the Order is pretty shitty, but maybe you could work on changing it for the better.", I explained to him.

"You're right, I do want to change it for the better.", he responded. Alright, there we go."But...I can't do so just yet."

"What do you mean?", I asked him.

"I'm weak, Six. Too weak to do something like that.", I said looking down at the ground."During that scuffle in Bartsville, I was so weak and stupid that I got caught by a trap almost immediately and had to be saved by you. I couldn't do anything to help, I was so useless. That's why I need to get stronger."

"Uh huh, and you think sticking with me will make that so?", I asked for clarification, to which he nodded. Well, I'll give the crybaby props, he has resolve."Well, alright then. However, you'll need to put forth the effort. I'll help you get stronger, but if you can't keep up, you will be left behind. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir!", he gave a quick salute.

"Cut that "sir" shit out, it makes me feel old.", I told him, to which he chuckled. Afterwards, I turned my attention to Anastasia who now held a neutral look on her face."What about you? You gonna fuck off like I asked?"

"As I said last night, I won't let you escape again.", she said before correcting herself."Or rather...I can't let you escape again."

"If you keep treating me like I'm property, I'm gonna blow your fucking brains out.", I told her bluntly.

"No, I didn't mean it like that…", she said before taking a deep breath and continuing."I hate you, Six. You killed my servants, my friends...If I wasn't a mamono in service to the Demon Lord, I would have you put to the sword. However, there's a part of me, deep down, that still loves you Six, and it won't go away no matter how hard I try to make it."

"So you want to follow me so you can hate-fuck me somewhere down the line?", I asked cheekily, causing Elt to begin stammering.

"No, Six, I'm following you because I don't have a choice.", she answered before adding,"Whether I like it or not, I have to make you love me, or else I'll have to live as an empty shell for the rest of my days."

"I don't get it, can't you just find some other guy? Why does it have to be Six?", Elt interjected.

"Because that's how their physiology works.", I explained from my stint in the library."Once monsters begin seeking out a mate, they use a sort of marking method to deem who it is they will marry and have children with. Once they have marked someone, they cannot unmark them. The only way for someone to be unmarked is if they are killed, and since mamono under the Demon Lord revile killing…"

"I see, which means my friends will continue hunting me no matter what…", Elt deduced, to which I nodded.

"Regardless, since I can't do anything about your incorporeality, I have no choice but to put up with you.", I told Anastasia."But, the second you do anything shady, we're leaving your ass behind by any means necessary. Clear?"

"Crystal.", she responded in a neutral tone.

"Alright, it sounds like the blizzard is clearing up. We should head out and try looking for civilization so we can get a feel for where Magicor is.", I said before standing up and digitizing my bedroll."You ready?"

"Yep, all set!", Elt said cheerfully.

"As ready as I'll ever be…", Anastasia said with a sigh.

"Alright, then let's go.", I commanded, to which they both began to follow me. At that, my Pip-Boy beeped signifying the start of a new quest.

The Three Musketeers

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