Armin saw this.and bit his lip. "Takahisa..... Please..... There must be another way..." he murmured. "There always is..."

---

Eren followed silently, dropping to the floor. He stood and brushed himself off.

"...I'm sorry..." Takahisa turned around quickly, he didn't want to be seen crying or even shedding a tear. The ground began to rumble, as if Takahisa was actually summoning many vines to come up and prevent anyone else to go after him, he wanted to do this alone. Though, Takahisa was then reminded of the very words that Ayimu said.

"I knew it....you're just like him....your pathetic brother...."

Those words echoed in his head, he then started to realize something.

"I can already tell you're going to die the same way as your brother, Takahisa Yakao."

By now, the vines were starting slowly come out of the ground, about the height of their knees. Takahisa knew those words from Ayimu were just usual demon jabber, but for some reason, he was starting to realize that she may be referencing the mistake that his older brother Monoso made, the very mistake that costed his older brother his life. It was only now that Takahisa realized it, that he was taking fate too seriously, that fate wasn't the absolute future, there was always another way. Realizing that he was about to make the very same mistake, of going alone and believing that there was only one way, Takahisa quickly turned his head towards Armin, his eyes full of worry and regret. And then...the vines grew over to the point where Takahisa and Armin couldn't see past the vines which separated them. Desummoning vines would take forever, and he knew that Ayimu was going to break free soon, there was no going back anymore, even if he wanted to now.

"...I....I can't even hold up my promise...Monoso onii-chan..." Takahisa cried, but he had to do this method now as he was technically trapped here once Ayimu awakens. Closing his eyes, Takahisa held out his two hands, a magic seal began to materialize in front of him.

Back outside the vine prison that Takahisa had made, Armin would see that the flame inside Takahisa's soul gem was starting to get even more radiant, as if Takahisa's soul was being used to it's full potential to whatever he was doing.

---

Kaika took a moment to track down anything nearby, but saw that there were two possible spots of a Shadow Essence. "Alright, we split up here. Remember, a Shadow Essence is really easy to feel, and I'll meet up with you if you find anything and vice versa," Kaika said to him, and quickly headed down one end of the hallway.

"Takahisa! No!" he cried, running to the vine prison. "No! Please!"

---

Eren noddes. "I'll try..."

Even if the vines were quite thick and even blades couldn't cut through them, Armin would be able to see a blinding light peek out of the vine prison, surely enough it would attract some unwanted attention from far away, but then the light flashed away and a slight burst of power was enough to break apart the vines that Takahisa had made. As the vines vanished, Armin would see both Takahisa and Ayimu. Ayimu was on the ground, lifeless as there was a seal on her chest and that her eyes were void of color. She wasn't exactly dead, but sealed into the deepest depths of her body. As for Takahisa, he was knocked unconscious, but was left in a very fatal situation as his entire body had went pale. Blood trickled from the edge of his mouth, signifying that he had some self-injury while trying to seal Ayimu away. Armin would finally notice that the flame in Takahisa's soul gem had faded a bit, to the point where the flame was even smaller than how it was earlier.

---

Kaika silently snuck herself down to the first floor of the night club, where it seemed to be active with strobe lights and very energetic party-goers. Being casually dressed and somewhat appearing a lot older than what she was really, Kaika was able to blend in with the many partying people here, though it was quite tricky to pinpoint the shadow essence here.
*
Eren would hear footsteps and two men having a conversation coming up from a corner and towards the hallway he was in.

"Takahisa.... No..." he dropped to the ground next to him, picking him up in his arms. "Please.. Please be okay...."

---

Eren turned, lookung around. "Where to go where to go..." he mutterrd.

Takahisa was breathing, but it was very unsteady and raspy as if he were clinging for life at this point. Even if he could take hits and endure them much more times than a regular person, Takahisa appeared like he needed medical attention before he would eventually give out and die...

---

There was a hallway that Eren could go back and hide in as the two people were getting closer to his location.

Eren slid into the hallway, keeping quiet.

---

Armin looked arpind. "Hanji! Marco!"

Hanji and Marco ran to him, lifting Takahisa and rushing him to Hanji's office.

"What are we doing up here exactly? I rather be arranging drinks for the party-goers downstairs," one man says.

"Like I would know, the boss just wants us up here, just for tonight for some reason. Actually, he's been quite on the edge today. It's like he's going to get killed or something," the other man says, referencing this "boss" as if whoever it was is actually the "Shadow Essence" here.

"Meh. The guy gets drunk all of the time, I'm sure he's just fucking around. but I've got to go to his office and see what's up with him," the first man says the two passing by the hallway that Eren hid in, and they didn't see him.

"Well, I'm heading back down if that's the case. Not gonna waste my time with his drunk ass," the second man says before leaving the area by going downstairs while the first man goes up to a door that could be assumed to be the "boss's" office. Eren would feel a strange presence inside, this office was probably where the Shadow Essence was.

---

Takahisa was still unconscious, struggling to even breath at this point.

Eren bit his lip. "I think I've found it...." he whispered.

---

After a while, Hanji was able to stabalize him and Marco was mixing an elixir. Armin was sitting at Takahisa's bedside, holding Takahisa's hand in his own.

The moment that this man would enter the office, several gunshots could be heard downstairs. "What the hell?" the man said before running towards the stairs while taking out his own gun.

---

"Gomene......" Takahisa mumbled once in his unconsciousness, his voice sounding very raspy and dry. He was once again saying Japanese phrases, especially saying "sorry" in that language.

Armin bit his lip. 'It's okay..." je murmured, leaning down and placing a light kiss on Takahisa's forehead.

---

Eren took a derp breath and peeked around the corner of the hallway.

Takahisa only stirred in his unconscious sleep. Armin would then notice that Takahisa's soul crystal had it's flame slightly get brighter but it was still dim, meaning that at least Takahisa was slightly getting better.

---

The door to the office was left unguarded as the other man had left to go downstairs, to where the gunshots continued. Maybe Kaika had started up something by accident, but it would serve as a perfect kind of distraction for Eren go into the office and see the "boss" for himself.

Armin smiled. "At least you're okay..."

---

Eren slipped inside quietly.

Luckily for Eren, the man in the office, who was most likely the Shadow Essence and the "boss" mentioned earlier, was asleep, probably from too much alcohol as there happened to be wine bottles on his desk. For a split second, the soul link that Eren had started to show him some kind of mental image, showing that there was a darkness coming out of this man, definitely confirming that this was the Shadow Essence that Eren and Kaika were supposed to destroy.

---

Soon, Takahisa finally woke up groggily, worn out from whatever he did to completely seal Ayimu. ".....Armin...." Takahisa mumbled as his vision was still blurry, but could barely make out that Armin was there next to him.

Eren swallowed thickly. Was he to kill this man?

---

Armin smiled. "Hey..... how ya feeling?"

The man was too asleep, but from the floor below the gunshots and fighting kept on going. It was a little surprising how this guy was still asleep despite the sounds coming from downstairs.

---

"I...I'm still sore...." Takahisa said, unable to even sit up due to his body feeling weak from the sealing technique he had done.

Eren looked arpund. This man can't be the Shadow Essrnce.... It would be wrong to kill him.

---

Armin smiled. "You should rest..." he said, standing. He release Takahisa's hand and leaned down, placing a kiss on his temple. "I'll ne back later..."

Just as Eren hesitated with the kill, physical shadows began to pry out from his body, one of them a mass of shadows was hurling towards Eren.

---

Takahisa gave a weak smile to Armin as he left the room.

Eren stepped back quickly and ducked, covering his head and neck with his arms.

---

Armin went out into the hallway, beginning back to his office.

Just like that, the shadowy masses coming out of this man practically devoured the man whole, the Shadow Essence becoming unstable. In time, Kaika burst out of the floor, and landed next to Eren. "So...that's the Shadow Essence..." Kaika said, wiping the blood off of her hidden blade. She probably got into a fight with all of the workers in this nightclub, which explains the gunshots from earlier had died down.

---

Takahisa then fell asleep, but didn't have any nightmares this time...