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[spoiler=Nine] Lilith found herself being pulled aside by her sister. She wouldn't learn why until they were on the far side of the throne. She wasn't sure how that would allow for privacy in the somewhat small inner chamber. Perhaps privacy wasn't what Nyx was going for. If not, though, then what? "She said you had a vision. Last time something like that happened, you turned on Lord Wrath. You understand my curiosity." So that's what this was. Lilith grimaced, her gaze leaving her sister and settling on a random book on one of the lowest shelves. She couldn't even make out the language of the words on the binder. "When I lost my spirit spring," she met eyes with her sister, again, "I became an emblem wielder. A proper emblem wielder. Raquel had opened herself up to that conniving son of yours at the time. I was briefly connected to her, almost the same as he was ..." "You had access to powers beyond the abilities of normal wielders, just like he did," Nyx summarized, "and that is where the visions come in." Lilith nodded somberly. "Yes. As for the visions, themselves, I saw nine different places, and nine people, myself and Raquel included." "So then," Nyx tilted her head slightly, "seven regular pieces, Raquel, and the core you forced into the Purgatory, which Obelisk likely has, now. Am I correct?" "He has it, yes. In order, I saw Raquel, then the core, surrounded by shadows. Obelisk, of course. Then myself ... and oddly enough, I was still wielding Ascension. Next, that Raquel lookalike. After that, I saw an avian girl with a box, and then one of the fallen ones. Then a man standing alone in a dark hallway. The last two I saw were a woman on some kind of ship and a man standing next to a beast I've never seen before. Nyx grinned mischievously, "I wonder which one you'll turn on, this time? Perhaps everyone else you listed?" "That's not funny." "I find it quite funny. You already know that nine pieces is nothing for Lord Wrath," Nyx said more seriously, "he'll gather them in minutes, not hours." "He will ... I'm sure of it, " Lilith hissed between clinched teeth, "I need time to come up with a solution. I was sure there were more pieces out there than that. The smaller fragments must have been consumed by the larger ones at some point. It's not much different from what Raquel did, earlier." "The emblem is going to assemble itself at this rate," Nyx said, "which means Lord Wrath is going to show up well before the year is out in order to stop anyone else from claiming it. For the second time he's coming here early to nip a rebellion. Hopefully this time things can be resolved." "I am not going to let that happen," Lilith locked eyes with Nyx. The latter wasn't reassured. "I won't let it happen," Lilith insisted. "I know you'll try, but you've lost a great deal of power, already. Why don't you just focus on Obelisk for now? Stopping him will buy us a little time, at least." "Fine," Lilith sighed. [spoiler=Reunions and Introductions] This was awkward, Jethro decided upon seeing Cassandra for the first time since his near death experience with Samael. He had been asked to leave his daughter in the hands of Nature and Nyx bu the former and he wasn't about to refuse a goddess. To his surprise, he was now face to face with Raquel's doppelganger. It was more than just her appearance. With Raquel's more recent memories missing, Cassandra was a closer approximation of what an adult Raquel would be like. Even she wasn't quite like the original, though, due to her training with Burke and her general view of herself. Cassandra couldn't quite keep eye contact with Jethro, but she still managed to step in and hug him. Jethro, too caught up in the moment to do anything else, hugged her back. For a brief moment, he was able to let go of all the wild events that had dragged him along for the ride. Once their hug ended, Jethro remembered that it wasn't just him and one of his three daughters all by themselves. Thanatos had brought him here, to Weyland's estate, just outside of Europa, along with Erion and Amalia. The dining hall was by no means empty, and Cassandra hadn't been the only one to greet them, either. A man with long, extremely pale blue hair, and Morgana Wyght, a noblewoman originally from out west, were also there. Morgana cringed. "I'm sorry, Thanatos. I wish we could have done something to help before things got so out of hand, but that was well beyond any of our abilities." "Wait, Morgana, you know him?" Jethro asked. He thought she was here because of Weyland. Suddenly, her dark long coat didn't seem like such a coincidence. The other man was dressed vaguely similarly. "Not as well as she'd like," Dominik smirked. By some miracle Morgana kept herself from reacting to Dominik. Instead she scowled at Jethro, and then looked at Thanatos. "They're keeping their memories, aren't they?" "Of course they are," Cassandra snapped. She understood why Morgana was concerned, her connection to Thanatos being revealed and all, but there was no way she was going to let her father's memories be tampered with now that, for all intents and purposes, she had him back. "Hello there," Dominik turned his attention toward Erion and Amalia. "I'm Dominik, sometimes known as The Destruction, other times known simply as 'monster.'" he held out a hand to shake either of their hands. "You seem to be in the know, so know this. Morgana and I are servants of Thanatos. If you're as deep in this mess as I think you are, it's better to just be upfront about these things." This time, he got a faint reaction out of Morgana. [spoiler=The Servants] As far as Raquel knew, today had been the most interesting and overwhelming day of her entire life. Even now she couldn't fully appreciate what was happening to her. She was now working alongside the new avatar of the Goddess of Nature on the kind of project she never would have dreamed of. The two of them sat side by side just outside the archives, at the heads of two bedrolls Raquel had materialized out of thin air. She didn't know how to make them, but allowing Nature's will to flow through her brought them into existence with almost no effort on Raquel's part. The next stage of this project would be more complicated, Raquel thought. Those bedrolls were there for a reason. Two men brought back into physical life would be occupying them, soon. Raquel didn't have the foggiest idea how to create living people. Nature obviously did and would once again be guiding her through the process. "Close your eyes," Nature instructed, "no more distractions." Raquel did as she was told, feeling relieved that someone, anyone, trusted her with this power at all. Had it been this way from the start, she wondered if she might not feel so bitter about the situation as a whole. She should have been happy to find any form of trust, especially in a goddess, but instead she felt little more than relief. "Follow my movements as closely as you can," Nature said, her voice narrowly above a whisper. "Don't panic if you feel your motions are inaccurate. Remove the concepts of time, and limitation." "Remove them?" Raquel opened one eye to peek at Nature. The avatar's eyes were closed, but she raised a hand up to point at one of them. Raquel got the hint and closed her eye. "Remove them, yes. It doesn't matter how long you think this will take, and it doesn't matter how inexperienced you are. Shut out these concepts so that you can work without any distractions." Raquel wasn't sure how to shut them out, exactly, so she decided to pretend they didn't exist. She envisioned herself as a powerful, shapeless force that was free from the constraints of time and space, and too powerful to be saddled with something as petty as 'limitations.' The idea of being that powerful, that omnipotent, brought a smile to her face. Before she could dwell more on it, she saw a shiny golden thread appear in front of her. Her eyes were closed but there it was, not something in her imagination, but a clear and bright thread. It hung there, its needle thin end pointing straight upward, while the rest of the thread seemed to come up from infinity. Raquel stared at it, wondering what it was. "Follow," Nature said. Suddenly a second thread appeared, one that Raquel herself could sense. It was as if the emblem's energy had been condensed and woven into a single thread. Upon focusing on that thread, it began to move and react to her. She could control this one. "Remember," Nature said, "there is no time or limitation." Raquel nodded, her eyes still closed. "Let's go." The first golden thread raced off, and reacting on pure instinct, Raquel compelled her own thread to follow. It caught up almost instantly, and no matter how far the two threads traveled together, Raquel's perspective of them stayed the same. There were endless twists and turns involved in following Nature's thread, and as Raquel glanced down, she saw a massive tapestry of golden lines forming. The whole thing reminded her of a runic pattern. It wasn't until, perhaps hours later, that Raquel began to wonder how long she had been watching one thread and mirroring its motions with the other. "There is no time," Nature repeated part of her earlier statement. Raquel got that hint, too and focused back on the task at hand. It wasn't that she was getting tired of this tedium, she was actually enjoying it. It was somewhat cathartic. There was simply this nagging feeling in the back of her mind that things weren't entirely as they seemed. It wasn't until Nature's reminder that Raquel even remembered what they were doing. This wasn't an exercise in weaving strange patterns over and over again, they were supposed to be creating bodies for two men. Raquel wondered when that process was going to begin in earnest. She had a sudden urge to open her eyes, but quashed it quickly. Patience, she told herself. There was purpose and meaning here, and she didn't need to understand all of it from the get go. Nemesis and Hypnos watched from just outside the entrance to the inner chamber, as golden light began to form two bodies simultaneously. The light moved from the tops of their heads to the middle of their torsos, revealing flesh and blood bodies of pristine quality. "Which one of those bodies is Raquel working on?" he quietly asked his older sister. "I think she's working on both of them at the same time," Nemesis clarified. "Nature's power isn't flashy like the emblem's, so this is probably all Raquel." "At the same time, though?" Hypnos cocked his head. "They must be hopping back and forth between the two," Nemesis concluded. By that point, the golden lights had left thighs and knees in their wake. "No wonder she warned Raquel about time," she winced, "they're weaving those two together atom by atom. This would take centuries if she was thinking about the timing." "Ah, true," Hypnos smiled. Lilith and Nyx appeared behind the two siblings. "Marvelous work," Nyx smiled. Lilith was far less enthusiastic about what was happening. "And it looks like they're just about finished." "I don't understand why she's letting Raquel experience so much of this power," Lilith said, "How is she going to be of a mind to give it up in the end?" "For you of all people to say something like that ..." Nyx gave her sister a knowing look, "You couldn't convince her to lay down that power, so leave this to the Goddess. Let's you and I focus on Obelisk, like I suggested." "Fine, but this ... I'm worried this will come back to haunt us," Lilith conceded. The bodies were fully formed and clothed, both from head to toe in black. One wore robes, the other, a long coat. The first's hair was brown, and short. The second's hair was white and quite long in the back. The style of cut matched Hypnos to the strand, though the color left Hypnos somewhat confused. "Why is his hair white?" "So we can tell you two apart," Nyx teased her son. Hypnos doubted that was the only reason, but it was a fair point all on its own. "My son's alter ego, Morpheus, and my servant, Lane Novak. It would have taken quite a while to make bodies for them on my own. I'm glad she took the opportunity to do me this favor and instruct Raquel." "Mother," Hypnos' expression suddenly changed, "do you sense that?" "I do, and keep your voice down, Hypy," Nyx reminded him. "It's a spirit spring," Hypnos said, keeping his voice as low as he could. Lilith was even more shocked than he was. "It's forming inside of-" "It will be alright," Nyx soothed. "Are you joking?" Lilith glared at her sister. Raquel could feel something strange, but familiar as she kept her thread in step with Nature's. It was a gathering of power, a gathering so immense that if it were any other type of magic, it would have already become critically unstable and destroyed the entire building. It was too much to ignore. "What's going on?" she asked Nature. "This is a spirit spring," Nature replied. Before Raquel could object, she added, "we are not creating a vasilus. Just as my siblings and I created the vasili to serve us, some of the vasili here on the Earth created servants for themselves. These servants have spirit springs of their own. They are known as manaketes. There are only a few that live in Sardius. They outnumber all but the humans in their homeland, however." "So he won't be as strong as a vasilus?" Raquel asked, turning her head slightly toward Nature, but making sure not to open her eyes. "This spirit spring cannot fully match the power of a vasilus. Give Morpheus a chance to prove himself to us," Nature said. "Alright," Raquel nodded. The threads raced on, weaving more and more patterns as the power Raquel sensed began to surge. Eventually, it began to calm, and the growing power seemed to fall into some kind of pit, all of it, all at once. It was contained, and yet it was still growing, somehow. Was that what a spirit spring was, some sort of ever-growing power held in check by an unseen force? "This work is finished," Nature said, just after opening her eyes. Sure enough, there they were. Raquel opened her eyes and was dumbfounded to see two living, breathing men just lying there in front of her. All of those random patterns they had been weaving for hours led to this? "That was the fastest forge I've ever seen," Nemesis smiled, "Great job." "Fastest?" Raquel repeated. It wasn't the word she would have chosen. "You two have only been sitting there for a few minutes," Nemesis said, noting that Raquel's sense of time was probably torn to shreds for the sake of the project. "Look on the bright side, you gained time instead of losing it. That's rarely the case." "Yeah," Raquel glanced down at the two men. Both began to stir, causing Raquel to gasp. "They're waking up? Is that okay?" Nature simply nodded and stood up. "Are they going to be feeling alright? "They will be just fine," Nature assured her. [spoiler=Spirit of the Nobleman] With Blake gone, their ability to keep tabs on Raquel was diminished. The truce was officially over. That wasn't what was on Clover's mind right now. She was far more concerned with what Desmond had told her before, that Lord Wrath had salvaged something of the late noble. Whatever it was, he had offered it to her in the hope that it would help her. Emotionally? Perhaps, or perhaps not. Mementos affected people differently. Clover didn't see herself being spurred onward by anything like that. She stopped just outside of Desmond's office. She'd been summoned back sooner than expected. Fortunately, she was composed, and ready for whatever assignment she might receive here. She knocked on the door twice, just loud enough to be heard by anyone inside. "Come in," Desmond's voice came back. Slowly, Clover opened the door and stepped inside. She gently closed it behind her and approached him. The Avatar of Wrath was standing in front of his desk, arms crossed, and facing off to the bookshelf on the left wall. He seemed to be contemplating something important. Rather than pry him from his thoughts, she decided to wait patiently on him. Eventually, he glanced at her, trying to read her. He seemed more interested in that now than anything on the bookshelf. "Clover, how are you feeling?" "Not particularly good," she admitted, "but if you need me for something, I'm ready." "I spoke with Lord Wrath and asked him if you could bear what remains of Blake's spirit. He decided to allow it. You may not have noticed the change, but it's already been bound to you." "Bound to me?" Clover repeated, a little dumbfounded, "his spirit?" "What remains of it, yes," Desmond nodded. "He was none too thrilled about joining us, at least not in the beginning, however, Lord Wrath was able to get through in the end. I can only imagine he showed him exactly what will happen to our worlds if the emblem is claimed by anyone but a god. What else would convince ordinary people?" "I'm not sure what to think of this," Clover frowned. "Blake's spirit is with me, now ... but I didn't even notice a difference." "Rest assured, Clover," Desmond nodded, "there is a difference. Call to him, and he will come." There was no reason to believe Desmond's suggestion wouldn't work, but his wording was vague, and Clover wasn't sure how to interpret them. Without a body of his own, Blake couldn't even speak, much less appear right in front of her. Or perhaps he could. Lord Wrath had placed the late noble's spirit in her. That was his doing, so why limit her god in this or any other area? She decided to call to Blake, and see exactly what Desmond meant. There was no need for interpretation. She would see with her own eyes. Blake, please, she closed her eyes, clasping both hands together, come to me, now. She was shocked out of her plea as a pillar of crimson flames burst forth from the floor right beside her. They writhed and twisting themselves into the shape a man. When the flames suddenly vanished, they left a fully armored warrior in their wake. From head to toe he was covered in armor, each plate fitting to him like the scales on a dragon. The man's helm obscured his face completely, but Clover knew exactly who this warrior was. She had no words left and could only smile up at the man. "He will protect you as you neutralize the emblem wielders, Clover," Desmond said, glancing at Blake afterward. "Please keep in mind that your greatest priority is to keep Clover safe. If you can do that, then by all means, handle the emblem wielders however you see fit." [spoiler=Lois and Behold] Finally, Gabbie had found her. She'd had to leave the fortress and head almost five miles north to do it, but she'd found her. Like they'd suspected, the Org had at least a minor base in the northern suburbs, and Lois was not only there, but well guarded. Gabbie also managed to find Zerachiel, but she wasn't surprised to find him there. What she almost regretted knowing, due to the fact that passing along the message would be difficult, was that Samael wasn't there. He in fact, was closer to Fortress Nature than she was. Much closer. She couldn't do anything about him except warn them when she got back, assuming she could return before the artificial made his move. "Can't stick around here much longer, either way," she noted, knowing the local authorities would get curious about a wyvern rider messing around on the rooftops sooner and not later. "Tacito, we're going back," she told the wyvern as she jogged over to him. She mounted up and took a deep breath as she looked in the direction she'd sensed Lois and her captors. "Just hang on a little while longer, alright? I'll come get ya myself if I have to." But let's see if we can come up with a decent plan first. Tacito took off carrying Gabbie south and back toward Fort Nature. Knowing where Lois was and that she was still alive was such a relief in and of itself that Gabbie was actually able to take in the spectacular view of the city. She had all but ignored it the first time, seeing the sea of architecture and people as more of an obstacle than anything else. Only now did she remember that she was in Ursentius, a modern day marvel, and a testament to human persistence. The city was so large that its full radius exceeded the range of her spirit seeking ability. Not even Kievan Rus was so expansive. While it was an amazing city, its sheer size was working against nearly everyone, now. Their enemies were hiding all over the place. At least now she knew where the most crucial of their enemies were, as well as their captive. She just hoped they could rescue Lois unharmed. "Lois ..." Zerachiel gently smacked the girl's cheek a couple of times. He got no response as Lois continued to stare off at nothing. Some part her body seemed to cringe every other second, and she was sweating profusely. Her breaths were shallow and came in brief bursts, as if she was crying. "Lois!" Her eyes finally met his, and he winced at the paralyzed desperation he saw in them. "Do you understand what I'm saying? Just nod." She nodded weakly as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "P-please ... it hurts all over." "Yeah, I bet it does," Zerachiel said, glaring over his shoulder at her handlers. He stood up to his full height, away from her and the chair she was tied to, and turned to face them. "Explain this," he demanded. Both handlers knew that Lois and their boss would be the only one left alive in this room if they didn't, so one of them took a fateful step forward to make the case for them both. "Sir, the usual methods weren't working, and it's impossible to get what we need from her through plain torture, so we decided to ..." he trailed off, afraid to say the rest aloud. Zerachiel nodded at the man, having put the rest together on his own. "So that's how you got her to design the rest of the upgrades for the new toy. You got her completely hooked on opium. Let her have a little more every time she completes a certain step in the process. Brilliant ... except you drop the ball and now she's a mess. So can we do anything for her?" "We can't give her anymore," the other shook his head, "finding the right amount for what we needed was half guess-work, and this latest attempt was bad. I think all we can do is give her light infusions to keep her from getting worse ... but that won't deal with the pain. At least I don't think it will." Zerachiel turned back toward Lois and knelt down in front of her, waving his hand in front of her face to get her attention. "I know it's the last thing you wanna hear right now but you're going to have to tough this out for a while." "Please no," Lois coughed. She inhaled sharply. "I haven't told you about my chambering idea, yet." "That can wait," Zerachiel sighed. Normally he would have loved to hear about it, but right now he was trying to think of a way to get her back to some semblance of normal. She was just an asset to him, but even he couldn't stomach seeing the feisty rich girl reduced to a desperate, incoherent mess. "Just try to bear with it for now." "No, it's a really good one," Lois urged between quick breaths, "I know it'll be worth a fortune, just please make the pain stop. I can write it all down, just please help." She gasped once she ran out of breath, "I'm going to die ..." "Sir," the first handler spoke up cautiously, "too little won't make a difference; too much and she'll be even worse off next time." Zerachiel didn't look back at either of them. His eyes were on Lois, and her gaze begged him for relief. "Hell ..." Lysandra "Well this is a nice place," Anna grinned, "at least on the outside. Here's hoping this isn't a waste of time." Gabriel shook his head in amusement, "If there's anyone to come to for information about them, it's her." He paused as they drew close to the house. "Then again ... it's been ages since she's had any run ins with them. Suffice to say, she knows plenty about the old, and I know a little about the new." Anna squinted at him. "She used to work for them, didn't she?" "No that would be me, in a sense," Gabriel said as he came up to the front door. His hand froze just in front of the door. "If she's not in right now, do you want to wait around or are we going to go after them, regardless?" Anna sighed and crossed her arms. "Mmm ... half an hour, then we need to head back and get ready. Any information could help but I don't want to miss this chance." Gabriel nodded his understanding and then knocked on the door. Settling In Following Lieutenant Colonel Miguel's order, Langley's forces managed to relocate all of their tents, supplies, and even their two tanks inside the fortress. The courtyard was beyond crowded, now, but not by soldiers. The tents were all kept a certain distance apart to allow people to pass between them with relative ease, which left just enough room for very small clusters of people to pass through them. The tanks were kept right at the entrance, ready to roll out onto the main road at any time if they were needed. Archers and mages now lined the walls, and the pegasus knights were on the lookout for any suspicious movement from the surrounding suburbs. Langley herself was being kept in the restored medical tent set aside specifically for her, and though she was awake, now, she was hardly in any condition to be doing anything more than listening to regular reports on the situation and chatting with Princess Athena between those reports. Set Aside Blake's body couldn't remain as it was forever. After having a word with Prince Athrun, and receiving the royal heir's promise that his people would find all of Frode's assets and notify his next of kin and beneficiaries, she ordered that his body be moved out of the barracks. Since she didn't much care about the mercenary guarding him, Isabella was able to oversee the move. Belo herself stayed behind as the soldiers began to wash away the blood and restore the barracks to some semblance of normal. The soldiers soon reached the area where the bodies of the dead were being kept. It was a well shaded area toward the southeastern quarter of the fortress, in the rear courtyard. The soldiers put up a relatively small tent specifically for the fallen noble, so there would be no trouble finding him, later. Once they were finished, they began to slowly drift away, back toward the more lively areas. Seekers "Nikoooo," Olga called into the stables as she walked around. Some of the horses were making noises in response, but that was all. "Okay, you check this isle," she pointed at the one to her right, "and I'll check this one," she gestured at the one next to it. "You don't have to go inside, but check every stall. He might be in one of the empty ones or he might have gotten in with one of the horses. These things are about as secure as a bank guarded by monkeys." Speaking of monkeys, Chip was watching the two women from the top of one of the stalls. His gun was holstered on his back, but was thankfully unloaded. He recognized Robin and that made him somewhat wary. As much as he would prefer to stay out of human hands, he was getting very hungry, and humans seemed to be the only ones to know where and how to get good food in this environment." Return Abrams As Reign opened up the sack he smiled at the infant vasilus within. She was still asleep, thankfully. Somehow that ruckus earlier, hadn't been enough to wake her. He knew it was too much to expect all infants to be heavy sleepers, but he hoped if he ever had to take care of another one, they would sleep the way this one did. Having checked on the precious cargo, he closed up the sack and made his way toward the Veronika, Nadine, Zachary, and the new recruits, who seemed to be chatting up the Red Wolf. He decided to head over and say hi or something. Unfortunately he was still being closely followed by one of Belo's grunts. "Well, we found your equipment," Miguel told Veronika and the mercenaries, "you can head on over to what's left of the armory to pick them up. Just look for the rubble and the row of tents. Far side of the main build-err rubble ... main rubble? ... pff, you know what I mean. Gods, this place is going to need some serious work." The boss smiled. "My bow was in no shape to use but at least I'll get everything else back." "Nice," James grinned, "whoa, who's that guy with the bag? Looks like nomad royalty ... that's not a thing, is it?" "I don't think that's a thing, but it's interesting," Zach said. "Looks like he's taking fashion tips from Griffin, now." "I approve," Nadine made a gesture at the approaching mage.