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The party returned to Balderwick's Manor immediately after they got to town. Sasah and Xongile wanted to go sleep in a real bed, but everyone else voted that turning in a book of pure evil was more important... For some reason... They arrived at the gate, which immediately opened as they arrived. Seems it knew them now. Sasah walked by the gate and said "Friends." as a joke, before entering the manor. The Butler, who's power Sasah and Rasvim was so terrified of, walked them to Lord Balderwick, who was again in his library of an impossible number of books.

"You've returned. Do you have the book?" He looked up to the party. Sammael pulled the box, which was both physically and magically sealed, out of his bag. He offered it to Lord Balderwick. After examining the box, he used a spell that the Sorcerer seemed puzzled by, which the box began to click and hum to. The box popped open, and the human examined the book without touching it, and he closed it shut again.

"You've passed the test, and with no deaths or insanities accounted for. You have the option of joining us, after an explanation." Lord Balderwick motioned for them to follow, as he headed toward the door. The party followed, and Xongile seemed most nervous. They came to a door made of a metal seemingly pure white. Sasah and Rasvim instantly recognized it, as they secretly wore it under everything. Mithril.

After chanting several spells, which again seemed to puzzle the sorcerer, the door made several clicks and made a humming sound before popping open.

"Where are we going?" Xongile asked nervously. Her tail was between her legs, and ears folded back.

"To the most dangerous vault known to all of creation." As they walked down, they saw entire walls filled with cabinets. Even Sasah, who knew nothing of sensing magic could feel danger in this room. Like nearly everything here could... End a civilization.

"This vault has no name. It needs no name, because it cannot be known. Every item in here is a magical artifact with power enough to destroy towns.. Cities.. empires.. " He pauses. "The world." He pauses again. "Our job as the Shepherds is to find these magical items and lock them away where no one will use them."

The man who they now both respected, and greatly feared placed the box with the copy of the Necronomicon on a table. It floated away, somewhere into a dark place above where it will never see the light of day again. "Sasah, Sammael, and Rasvim could sense my Butler as soon as he walked up to the gate. He is both my servant, and the defender of this vault. He is an Archdevil."

The room went silent. No one even breathed. One of the most powerful creatures in mythology is serving this man...

"Not just me, and not just mythology. My family has had this vault for thousands of years. And much of what you believe is Mythology is very, very real. Goblin raiding parties, Ferals using people for sacrifices to their wild gods? Bah! Start mentioning Dragons, or Fire Giants, and Dark Gods, and I might be interested. And him being an Archdevil is very real." He began to use a threatening tone. "Even if you choose to leave now, you may never mention what I speak here, nor this vault, or you will realise how real an Archdevil is." They all froze with fear. All except one.

"I'm in," spoke a small, squeaky though tomboyish voice. "I'll be a Shepherd. Got nothing better to live for." Xongile kicks the ground and keeps speaking. "Seems noble, seems like I'll stay off the streets. Exactly what I came here for." She looked to the rest of the party and smiled. She grabbed Sasah's hand, then Rasvim's. "I got something to prove... To myself." She spoke softly. "I need a noble cause to fight for. Not continue to eat some stolen bread that I could get my hands cut off for... If you can't go ahead, I won't blame you, it'll be pretty shit and we'll all probably die if we do. But for me, at least I died with my head held high." She smiled and tried to pull her hand away but the twins held on.

"We're in." They spoke in unison. They drew in Xongile for a hug. A silence came between them as they sat there and embraced.

"You weren't trying to, but you damn well convinced me, and-" Sasah was cut off.

"Yup, and me. Who knows.. Might become famous one day like father. And a bit less of an alcoholic hopefully." He chuckled.

"Yeah, I'm in too." Sammael spoke up. "Took a bit for nerves to calm, but it sounds like one helluva way to keep going.. Becoming powerful.."

"I don't have anything to lose. I made some brothers and sisters in arms this past week. I won't leave them to rot over a bit of fear. Besides, I won't let some Bat-eared Fox show me up in a game of courage." The male fox stuck his tongue out at little Xongile. She snickered.

"Then you're all decided? Good... You'll need these." He clapped, as his Archdevil butler brings sigils. One for each. "When you need to throw around a little weight, use this. But I warn you again, talk of this vault to anyone and you will not only die, but your soul will be destroyed." The fear returned to them for a moment, before they left the vault and Balderwick led them to the lobby. "Sasah, come with me."

"W-what?" She was afraid. "Come." He moves toward the stairs. She looked toward her brother, and he pointed to the cloak pin their father gave him.

"Touch it and scream if you need help." He said, sternly looking to her. He was just as terrified of Balderwick as anyone here, but if his sister was in danger, he'd gladly give up his soul to at least... Even at least see her one more time before they die.

Balderwick led her through back to the vault and he once again opened it. Sasah was terrified to go in there again, to feel all of the destructive power in that room. The powerful man offered his hand, a noble face always kept in tact. She grabbed his hand and was led down into the deep dark of the vault.

"Your father requested you come here." He says to her, which for a moment, caused disbelief, then confusion. "Your mother was the second most promising mage I've ever personally met."

"Who was the first?" She felt like she was forced to ask the question.

"You." He said, chanting a spell as a one of the lock boxes from far above in the darkness hovered down to them.

"I don't know magic." She didn't believe him at all. The most she's done with magic was make a coin disappear. And it wasn't real magic...

Balderwick could sense her disbelief and sighs. The metal box landed in front of them. And he spoke. "Say the word, 'Ignis.'"

The Vixen rolls her eyes and looks up. She yells out. "Ignis!" Before her, the whole vault was suddenly aflame. All the way to the ceiling, seemingly a mile up was fire with an intensity she'd never felt before. It was a mile high, she'd swear. The flames suddenly surrounded her and Sasah felt faint, and fell to her knees to vomit on the floor. She felt like she'd sprinted five miles.

She saw a barrier around them, centering around Lord Balderwick. It kept all the flames at bay. He seemed unaffected by the suddenness of it all. Magical wards sprung into action and all magic in the area was nullified. The flames were gone, the barrier was gone.

"What.... What the fuck..." She got out before vomiting a second and last time. Balderwick was unaffected.

"Your father, in his guilt, refused to let you learn magic. You've only heard of magic, and thought of it only as parlor tricks until our friendly sorcerer began using his."

"Why... Why did father feel such guilt? He did nothing! A plague took her!" She felt angry. Angry at her father, angry at herself for not knowing. If she had simply said a word like that on accident... She could have killed her brother... She began to cry.

"A plague took your mother, when there was no plague in the area? A Death Knight cursed her to die." Balderwick looked at the weeping girl. "A Death Knight that your mother and father hunted for years." He paused. "Your father blames himself because he did not take the head of his best friend while he was most vulnerable... While giving his soul to the Phylactery and turning himself into a weapon of chaos." Sasah continued to weep.

"The world is a strange place, Sasah." He chanted a spell and the large box clicked and hummed. "And it needs you." He reaches inside and grabs a tome, which wasn't old like all of the others he keeps in his library. Lord Balderwick held it in front of Sasah, still on her knees as she felt she's about to collapse even further.

"What.. What is this... Will it drive me insane like the other book?"

"Your mother wrote it while the plague took her. She wrote it for you. Powerful magic is in this tome, girl. She used the last of her life to give you this."

"What is it?!" She screamed the question. Her energy was fading with every movement she made.

"A diary." The man paused, and put her hand on the Vixen's head. "A diary with the dying breaths of one of the greatest sorceress to have ever lived breathed into it. Once you open it, you will gain the knowledge of every spell, language, and bit of knowledge your mother thought important for you to know. Once you read it, you will read what your mother wanted to tell you. And I recommend you read it along-side your brother." Through the whole conversation, Lord Balderwick never made any sort of emotion. He was cold. The things he knew... He was dead inside because of it.

"You know what's inside..?"

"I was there when she wrote it." Sasah fell silent as she contemplated everything. Whatever she did.. She couldn't even think...

"Your mother and father, after they served the Queen, joined the Shepherds. They quickly became the greatest agents I've ever had." Balderwick made his way out of the vault, leaving her alone with the tome. She read scribblings on the cover, and she began crying again. 'To Love.' the toast she made with Rasvim during their wedding. She hated how much she cried...

She didn't care what sort of horrors awaited for her if she opened this book. She wanted to sit and read this with her brother... No matter the cost. Hesitantly, she opened the book to the first page and heard a scream. She fainted.

Sasah awoke with a headache. Her brother was yelling... She could hear him as if he were right there.

"Sasah! Where the hell are you?! Sasah!" She remembered the cloak pin her father gave them.

"Bro..." She said simply. She felt like a stone had been shoved in her throat, and that her body was on fire. Talking was extremely difficult.

"Gods above what happened? You've been gone all night. I was about to assault this fucking Archdevil and demand to know where you are. Where are you?!"

"Vault..." She could barely speak. Her head felt like she'd been hit with a warhammer.

"Get me to the vault you fucking prick!" He screamed at the butler, obviously having forgotten to take his hand off the pin. Her consciousness faded again.

She awoke again, grasping onto the book she had opened. She was dizzy, and the headache was no better.

"Sis..." She could hear her brother's voice, with aching in his voice. He put a damp rag on her head.

"You have really bad fever. Balderwick said everything will be alright and... You'll explain when you wake up... I don't trust him one bit but I'd rather be here taking care of you then my soul being sucked out by some Archdevil.."

She could feel a second pair of hands on her. Small. She grasped the tome like iron.

"Hey, if you die because I said some stupid shit about having to prove stuff to myself, I'll -never- forgive myself." Xongile's hands were cold. No... She was just warm. "Love... you... both..." She heard muffled pleas, before she lost consciousness again.

This time, a dream came to her. A Vixen, a shroud of cloth wisped around her hovered above blue water. Beyond was a tree made of... Crystal. It shed flowers of equal material, yet they were thin enough to slowly float the water. She recognized features of herself in the woman...

"Mom...?" She began to well up in tears.

"Only a shadow. With a message." The shadow had no emotion... It wasn't her mother. Truly just an image. "You have made the most important decision of your life, opening that tome. One of many that will come. Destiny took me away from you. Destiny brought this tome to you. And destiny will tear the world asunder before you mend it back together." Sasah began to well up tears... Fear... 'Even in my dreams I'm a coward..'

"Keep your allies close. And the two you love even closer. Only you can protect them." The image pauses, and watches Sasah cry. "I know this image will not show emotion. It will not show who I really am but, Sasah, I love you and your brother more than anything else the world could have given me. Tell your brother I love him, and know that I love you too... Keep Rasvim, and Xongile close..."

She wakes up. Tears soaked her face. Her headache had not subsided and thoughts, images, and words swam around in her head that she'd never known before. She felt her head. Still a fever... She looks at her feet to find Rasvim slumped over her legs, snoring softly. Xongile was curled up at her feet. 'What time is it...?' She looked for a window, and saw none.

She noticed the tome again, iron gripped in her arms. She let go, which felt extremely painful, like she'd been tensing those muscles for... Days... She winced as her eyes returned to the title, scrawled on the book sloppily. 'To Love,' She decided that she'd open this book again with her brother at her side.

She laid there and waited for the two to awake. She'd caused enough trouble. No need to wake them up too. She kept still, thinking. All of these words, symbols, definitions.. Tactics.. Were coming to her head. She thought of erupting the flame in the vault, and thought to herself 'That was dumb. You used way too much power...' But she thought to herself... How would I have known then? How do I know now? And the words came to her head, foreign from everything she'd ever been taught. 'A magical phylactery. Liches use phylacteries for souls, but mother used it to put her knowledge into the tome... She made it into the most powerful Tome of Knowledge she'd ever heard of... Wait, what's a Tome of Knowledge? Sasah let out a frustrated sigh, waking the two up immediately.

"Sasah! I..." Rasvim hugged her, not even finishing his sentence. She knew exactly what he wanted to say.. It didn't matter. Xongile jumped awake and ran into the hug. She started crying in joy... She'd never seen Xangy cry before.

After their embrace, she told them what happened. The fire, the tome, the dream, and the thoughts coming to her head. They seemed more confused than they were before. "Let's... Let's read this." She holds up the book she'd been holding on to for awhile.

"You've out cold for weeks, holding onto that thing. Are you sure mom wrote it?" Rasvim asked. Sasah blinked.

"Weeks?"

The three sat down together, Xongile sitting on their legs, one each, laying back and listening to Sasah read. It wasn't a long read, but it was important. They learned her mother's true fate, read of Sasah's power though it was rather vague, and told them that she was shocked when she foresaw their marriage, though proud in the end. She had looked through as much of her children's lives as she could in the weeks before her death, because she knew she wouldn't be there to see it personally. No one was told. Final passage at the end of the diary read,

"Sasah, Rasvim. You were the world to me. Your fate lies with more than each other, but a little friend, reading this with you now. Let her in. She's more precious than you know, even now. Be the world for each other. All of you." Sasah's words cracked all over the place with the last message. They all had flushed ears. Xongile nestled into her lovers. "Guess you're stuck with me, eh?" She teased. She felt the heat coming off of Sasah still, and felt her forehead. "I'm gonna get some more medicine, and some water. Be back, loves." She hopped off the couch and left to the infirmary.

"She told me the same thing in my dream.. That our fates are bound... We have to let her... Be one of us I suppose." Sasah looked to Rasvim, who nodded without hesitation. "I agree. Mom knows more about this than we do... I love her, you do... She loves us. She'll join the marriage." They both agreed, and made sure they agreed a second time. Xongile returned ten minutes later with a potion for the fever, and a glass of water. She sets it down in front of Sasah, who takes the potion like a champ... Tastes like vomit mixed with shit left in a shoe for a month. She near-pukes.

"Balderwick isn't letting anyone leave until you're in good health, Sasah." She waddles along.

The garden at the rear of Balderwick Manor was gorgeous. The two decided they had a good spot, nodded to each other, and bent on their knees behind Xongile and turned her around. "We love you." Sasah said, before her brother came in with the next part.

"Just as much as we love each other."

"And we want you to join us in marriage," finished Sasah. Xongile squeaked in nervousness as her ears folded back. Fuck... She froze, looking at the ground. 'Ras had only just been able to get his tip in yesterday... Now they want marriage... Do they really love me that much? I..' She stops thinking "I love you both." She went to embrace their heads..

"Will you marry us?" they said in unison.

"Yes! Fuck yes!" She squeals happily. They engage in a three-way kiss, and head back to their designated bedroom. "Sasah, me and Ras have been working on stretching me. He got the tip in~" She said happily.

They locked the door and began undressing. "I want to pleasure you both somehow.. I just don't know how the fuck that works.." Rasvim, with his creative dirty mind, grabbed the nude Fennec from the floor and placed her face toward Sasah's crotch and her butt toward himself. She quickly got to work on Sasah, who seemed worked up. As her arousal rose, so does her temperature... She doesn't want anyone to know. This was Xangy's moment. Xongile rubbed her nose against Sasah's hot folds, as suddenly her legs were grabbed and she was lifted, and shoved into her lover's crotch. She doesn't mind though, since forcefulness was a kink of hers. She feels a large, hot object poke against her delicate, tiny nethers. Moans came from her mouth.

Sasah was already near orgasm before Ras even tried to enter their new lover. With a loud squeal and some violent shakes, she shoves Xongile even harder against her... Actually, she thinks she may have just shoved Xangy's entire muzzle into her pussy. She didn't care. After she finishes her orgasm, She let go of Xongile's head, as she pulls her muzzle out of Sasah's hole gasped for air. "Hah.. Hah.. You let go too early.. Could have totally gotten off if we went longer.." She pants, winking at Sasah. The larger Vixen giggles and patted her lover on the head. "Found another kink of yours~"

Panting, she unceremoniously shoved Xangy back into her hole. She felt her licking the insides, and it felt wonderful. She felt a zing and jerked. 'That's my G-spot..' And Xongile noticed. While her hole was still being stretched, and slightly humped, the little fox rat began licking the spot she noticed Sasah jerk to... She watched her favorite girl squirm. She was running out of air though.. 'So hot... I need to get off while in here..' she thought, still licking the g-spot and wanting nothing more than this. This... This was paradise. If there truly is a life after death, she wanted to be right here. Suddenly, she felt something hit deep inside her.

She noticed if she went any longer she'd probably pass out.. Not good for reputation.. She pulls out and a long, thick strand of her lover's juices came off her face. She takes a deep breath and coughs. Her face was beyond soaked.. It was juicy. She giggled, before remembering that something bottomed out from behind.

"You.. Nngh.. Okay... Back there?"

"I'm all the way in." Rasvim gave the small fox a toothy grin. "Well, all the way in... For you. I still have about two inches left of my cock but I hit your cervix, and I can't go any deeper... Just letting your pretty little cunt adjust before I ravage it." She didn't even notice the stretching, deep inside of her new female fiance. Maybe the amount she was turned on right now helped. She also noticed that Sasah was quivering, riding off an orgasm... 'Jeese.. I'm oblivious to everything in there.'

When the tomboy little fox felt confident that she was adjusted enough, she pleaded. "Fuck me please...! I'm ready." She paused. "Don't care if you can't knot me. Not on my priority list. I just want your cum inside me" The male growled and bent over her, nipping at her ears. He begins to move in and out. Slowly at first, but it moves quickly toward her truly being fucked silly. He felt him every time he hit her cervix. And the moans she let out could be heard in the vault for all she cared. She was in ecstasy. Only one thing could make it better.. She shoved her head into Sasah's cunt again, licking at her g-spot. She heard Rasvim say something as she got blue in the face, but she was losing consciousness. She suddenly felt ropes of hot cum shoot deep into her. She realized she needed to pull her face out to breathe, and pulled out only to let out a mix of gasps and loud moans as she climaxed. She kicks her legs around and arches her back, the tunnel vision subsiding.

They all laid there, Xongile's legs covered in cum because there's no way she could hold it all, her face what she'd consider 'juicy,' and Sasah a puddle, melted into the bed because she'd never had so many powerful orgasms in quick succession in her life... When they were together in the woods, they were both new. They will grow together, and learn to do this together. Her fever felt worse than before.

"All of us." Sasah said out loud. She felt her consciousness fading again, and a powerful fever suddenly set in. The two ask what's wrong, but the tunnel vision takes her before she can reply.

Two men and a woman stood by and watched on to something. She focused, her vision blurry. What came into view was a fox, naked and with runes etched on his skin, still bleeding. What looked like blue magic... No, it was a soul. The man's soul was being removed and put into a jar. A phylactery.

"You were a fucking Paladin!" Yelled a familiar, broken voice. The woman and the other man she saw before were gone. Only the handsome fox, clad in Mithril plate, stood there now. "A Paladin who swore to serve good..! To serve hope!" The knight had a sword to the man's neck. The marked man obviously couldn't move at this point, and the valiant knight was crying.

"Father..." Sasah tried to say, but her voice was mute.

"And we aren't enough to keep the hope." A dark, dead voice came out of the runed fox. "We need the power to fight the people who oppress hope, Bartho." Father... He couldn't bring himself to kill his friend... His.. She brought herself to recognize features on the fox's face. 'Brother... My uncle.' The dream explodes, as magic erupts from the man. The soul had left his body, and he became a Death Knight. One of the most powerful creatures in mythology to exist... 'Archdevils be damned, this man... My uncle.. Is one of the greatest threats known to our world, and it's my fucking destiny to kill him.' She falls to her knees and sighs. A slightly familiar voice enters her head, and dream... Vision... seemingly with magic... No, it was magic.

"Yes. That is your destiny, and more. And you can either choose to face it, or run away." 'At least he's honest..' She thought to herself. "But I know what happens if I run. This world of the living becomes a world of undeath. It's already swimming around in my head what that man is capable of."

"He is the force of death, and you, life. Darkness and light always come to meet each other head on in battle like this. The light rarely loses, but when it does most of the world's population is mostly eradicated." Lord Balderwick stepped into view, and paused for a moment, then offers a hand to the Vixen. "My family line has lasted through two of those losses. Don't make it a third." He said sternly. 'He truly had no emotion... He was born, bred, and raised with the single ideal of protecting that vault.' She thought to herself.

"And I know if I fail, there will be no light that can fight back anymore." He added. He's reading her mind.. Well he's already inside of it.

"What's happening to me? What's with this fever?" She took lord Balderwick's hand, standing up.

"You've absorbed the most powerful Tome of Knowledge that I've ever even heard of. A sorceress with the power to challenge gods killed herself to put her knowledge into that book. Even I didn't know what it would do, but ten years of training would mean the same fate for this world as if you would die from it." He paused again, realising he's being too hard on the girl. Her ears were folded back and she was weeping. "Only your mother knew your fate. She never told anyone, because that would change the course of destiny. But I doubt she planned to kill you with a book." He patted her on the head. After a moment, Sasah was able to get out a few words.

"I have one last question... Who was the other man? The other man I saw with mother and father?"

"General Abelard Tiberius. You, and everyone at that castle knew him as Master Abelard." If her ears could fold back any further, they would be inside her skull. Balderwick continued. "He was asked personally by Zereth to guard you two with his life, train you for war, and make you the best blades he could ever personally forge."

"And he did all of that... Bandits once came after me and Rasvim when we were kits. He told Rasvim to cover my eyes and take me home, but I knew he killed them all." Sasah was sad.

"And without your mother's guidance, you'd have been raped at best, killed at worst, and destiny wouldn't be the same. It's time to wake up." Suddenly the dream clicked off and her eyes shot open. Her two lovers were in the same position she found them in when she first woke up... Rasvim bent over her legs, and Xongile curled up at her feet.

She refused to wake them up. She laid her head back down and touched her forhead. Her temperature was scalding... She felt dizzy, and the headache from before was back. She knew she'd been dangerously hot for awhile. She looked around and noticed she was in an infirmary this time. The Vixen had a rubber tube in her arm that she didn't understand, but didn't touch... She thinks. 'It gives me fluids and medicine.. Interesting. They must have had to hold Rasvim down to put that in my arm.' She feels herself fading to unconciousness again... No.. She wanted to talk to her lovers again before she faded.

"I love... You both..." Her mouth was cotton.. How long had she been sick? They jerked their heads up to see her. They looked sad, noticing she was fading back to unconsciousness "We love you too Sasah... More than the world itself.. Please fight.." She didn't know who said that, or if they said it at the same time. She was gone.

She didn't dream this time, and awoke again to find them talking somberly. Quietly. She reached up to feel her head. A cool cloth was on it. "Fuck..." She said, shivering. She felt skinny and weak, like her life had been drained from her. Attention was immediately on her and she looked up at the two best people she'd ever met. "Water... Food..." Xongile dashed away to go grab the desired items. "Sasah..." Rasvim feels her head again. "Your temperature is a record low for the last month... Please fight, Sasah." How long had she been gone...? "Gods... I'll curse mom's soul 'til the day I die if you don't make it.." He teared up. She felt like she couldn't even move. She felt dead. "Food..." She says a bit louder. She didn't have much energy to speak, but damn was she hungry... Xongile charged back into the room, a tiny pill in hand, and a large glass of water. She walked over to her lover, tears in her eyes. "I know it's not what you want, but trust me. Balderwick said it's more packed with nutrition than ten meals." We couldn't get any to go down your throat for a month.." She didn't have any muscle to sit up... Rasvim helped her instead. She sat up just enough to have the pill put in her mouth, and be given water. Within seconds, she felt warmth in her stomach, like she'd eaten a full meal. Sasah chugs down the rest of the water and cries. Everyone embraces. Sasah was so weak though she can barely hold her arms up, but damn did she try her best.

Over the next few days, she worked on getting enough nutrition in her that she was out of danger of death. The fever reduced until she was normal again. Over months she spent as much time as she could exercising. She pushed herself past whatever limit she thought she had. Rasvim stopped her as she was doing push ups.

"Sasah... It's been thirty minutes, you're going to hurt herself." She collapsed and began to cry.

"I need to fight..."

"And you will.. But hurting yourself is the opposite of fighting some evil you won't even tell me about." Xongile was out with the other two, doing their own training. While she's been out, Balderwick said they would all be getting specialised training. He sent for an Archmage to teach Sammael, Xongile got lessons from Hosana, a famous rogue, and Eleidil and Rasvim got training by a man from legend itself Ace. Ace had been one of the heroes of old, and achieved immortality through a deal with an actual god. His skills with a bow have never been matched, and his swordsmanship was nothing to scoff at either.

Sasah... She'd been training with Balderwick. She began with getting her strength back, which potions and pills helped beyond measure. When she was near as fit as she used to be, Balderwick took her aside, and asked her to follow him again. "Last time I did that I ended up in the infirmary in a coma for a month and a half..." She glared at him.

"This time instead of learning, you'll be practicing." She followed him. They came to a gateway in a hallway she's never been down. This place was a damn maze. It was milk white, almost a foggy texture. Balderwick stepped through first, and she hesitantly followed. Then stood in a completely open space... By completely open, there was nothing. You could see thousands of miles and there'd be nothing but them, the gate, and a milky white floor.

"This is the Hall of Reflection. You can hurt no one in here, and we can finally practice on what you're capable of." He snapped and the gateway closed. The man chanted a spell and a simple wooden practice dummy appeared. "Catch that on fire." She rolled her eyes. She knew her problem the after first time. She put too much power into the blast which drained ever-living shit out of her. With her hand forward, the woman said "Ignis." And sparks fluttered from her hands.

"You've got to be kidding me.." Balderwick pinches the bridge of his nose. This was the first time she'd seen him lose even a little composure. "Oh, Zereth above, why did you not include the basics in your god-powered Tome..?"

He calms himself. "Don't focus on power. Focusing it is all you will ever need." He casts Ignis on the target dummy, a tiny little bead of magna, flaring and burning a hole through it. He casts it again, the same mannerism, and suddenly the dummy explodes in a shower of wooden splinters. "Controlling power is pointless and exhausting. Unless you want to -add- power to a spell, which Gods forbid -you- ever have to, you need to focus the magic." He proves this with several more demonstrations. "Focus can mean the difference between a small bead of magna, and, for you, incinerating a castle."

Balderwick gives her several explanations, and she gets the hang of her power some. Still... Some of the spells she knows are terrifying... She can sense him reading her mind. "Disintegration. Oh, and Meteor? Childsplay. Look deeper." She thinks, and feels him aiding her mind searching... Ultima.

"What's Ultima.." She questions. Her mother knew it, though never cast it.

"The most powerful spell known to both man and god alike. To be able to cast Ultima, is to become a god... to cause entire cities, like the Capital of Trivaria to disappear in a ball of white light. Only a crater of molten lava in its wake."

"Can... Can I cast Ultima...?" She asked, scared of the things she knew.

"It's very likely you can. But I warn you against using it..." He said, stepping slowly toward the ashes of dummies. "To have the power of a god is a heavy burden. You can be forced to do terrible things, with your terrible power." He turned again to her. "And I know if I simply held your brother, or your new lover with a dagger to their throat, you'd happily blow up any city to save them. Exercise caution. Don't go flaunting your abilities. That'll get a target on your back so large not even I can save you." He opened the gate back to reality and walked toward it.

"How powerful are you, exactly?" He turned to her. "As a man, I'm a mediocre wizard. As the leader of an organization that holds the most powerful artifacts known to existence..." He paused. "We've taken down rogue gods." He walked through the gate.

Sasah folded her ears back. Was that she was...? She was just another artifact to be used in the game of chess he plays with the entity he calls Darkness... She knew he couldn't read her mind now. They were a reality apart. She closed her eyes, and forced the gate closed.

"Well then, let's see if I'm what they hope I am..." She reaches into her mind pulling out the longest magical verse she's ever seen, even in books... Before she could even think, the world around her erupted in a bright light.

Sasah awoke three days later on a milk white floor and puked up a large amount of clotted blood. She looked at the floor, which was slightly reflective. Her eyes, ears, and nose had streams of dried blood coming from them. She laid in a dried pool of her own blood. She felt a gaze on her. It wasn't mortal. She shivered in fear.

"You tread on a knife's edge." Her fear melted. The voice warmed deep down.. She now knows souls exist, so she knows that was what was touched.

"Who are you..?" The Vixen turned to the voice, but her eyes were blurry, caked with blood. She wipes her eyes to see a Lion cub in white and gold robes leaning over her.

"Mortals call me Balthazar. Be thankful I noticed you cast God's Wrath before any of the others did." She felt too weak to stand, but wanted to hug this god, no matter his creed nor beliefs. The Lion cub sat beside her.

"What's wrong?" He asked her.. He's a god, he should know.

"I hurt..."

"Where?"

"Everywhere..."

"Your physical form doesn't concern me for now. Where does your spirit hurt?"

She looked at him, found the strength to roll over to put her hand on his pant leg and cry. The cowardly vixen, who was always sad when her brother got hurt because of her. When he'd fight their cousins when they pushed her. The brother who always stuck up for her and now -she's- special because of some stupid magic. She knew Balthazar already knew everything wrong with her. Everything down to the biscuit she stole from a servant as a kid.. Her father was so angry, and gave the servant a feast to apologize...

Her thoughts turn to herself again trying to think of what the hell was wrong. She thought of Xongile and her Twin... Bathed in fire.. The tears start rolling.

"I'm so afraid! I'm afraid of hurting the only people I love just because I have some damn power I still don't understand. Even if I understand it..." She sobs for a while, unable to talk for a moment. "Even if I understand it... How can I know I'll never hurt them?!" She got to the core of her emotions. "I'm afraid..." The God squatted down rubbed her blood-caked mane and sighed.

"Well, then don't hurt them." He says simply, a smile on his face.. A simple answer, for a complex issue. A cub god...

"God of Light, actually. I'm the one playing the little chess game you hate so much." He continued to rub her mane. "But it's not a chess game. It's the difference... On whether you want your brother dead, or alive. Same thing happens but to the rest of the world." She opened her eyes wide at him. "That's the difference of what happens if you fail. Not just for you, but the entire world." She somehow couldn't get mad at him... She knows she would be if anyone else was saying it. "And pulling stunts like casting God's Wrath in a reality where nothing matters... That puts everyone at risk of losing everything."

He pauses and hears her sob. He continues to run his fingers through her mane. "Now that I've scolded you... It's time to fix your problem." his hand glows, and the Vixen feels her strength return. Like magic just returned to her.

"H-how.." She says, wiping her eyes. "Simple. Those people you're afraid of hurting? Listen to your mother!" He giggles. "Hold your friends close, and the ones you love closer. They're there to share the burden. If they're not, why even get married? As for hurting them? Simply don't do stupid stuff like this." He patting her on the stomach... Ow.. "They love you more than the world itself. They'll go to the end of it with you." She blinked and the God was gone. She still felt the warmth in her soul. She just managed the gateway, and limped out to find Lord Balderwick just ahead of her, still stepping away from her. Time in that world was frozen...

"Fuck..." Sasah froze. The man froze, as he found his way in her mind. He turned around and saw the woman caked head-to-toe in dried blood.

"You fucking idiot." He grabbed Sasah and took her to the infirmary forcefully. As she laid on the bed, with pain all over, she still felt the warmth of Balthazar. She was alright. She overheard the doctor talking. "She'll be fine. The internal bleeding stopped a couple days ago on its own.. She's dehydrated, but she'll make a full recovery." Her lovers walked through the door and she smiled at them.

"I'm a god or whatever." She joked, smirking at her brother, as she coughed up a bit of clotted blood.

"Fuck you." Rasvim spat. She's never seen him... So angry with her... She folded her ears back. "We sit in here for a month and a half waiting for you to show some sign of life... Sometimes expecting you to die and now you go off and near-blow yourself up? For what?"

For some reason, she couldn't react to his anger. Xongile spoke up next.

"You trying to get yourself killed? 'Cause I'm sure as hell not going to let you!" Xongile spat as well.

"I met a God today." She said, somberly. "I know I fucked up... He was very adamant on telling me I did. The God of Light is sort of an ass when he wants to be..."

"She's hallucinating.." Xongile tears up a bit.

"No. An idiot, but she's all there." Balderwick walked in. "She cast a spell we mortals know as Ultima. It seems the gods call it 'God's Wrath.' and for good reason." He explained to them the situation for a time. They both cried but Sasah looked to them with only concern. She laid her head bad and quickly dozed off. She bled a lot. She needs rest.

Two days later, and Sasah was back on her feet again. She was using healing magics on herself. Slowly. She'd already blew out her mana pool, so taking it slow is the only option. She had a hard time getting words out of either Xongile or her brother, so in frustration she took a walk around the manor, and found herself in the gardens where she and Rasvim proposed to Xongile. "You're dragging your tail." Spoke a voice she'd never heard. She turned to see a fat human, wearing the greatest, cleanest pair of boots she'd ever seen. He walked over to her and sat down on a bench. "Talk."

"Where the hell are those boots from...?" She kept eyeing them, interested in going to whoever made them one day.

"Mmm.. Caught a Djinn. Had one wish, wished for the greatest pair of boots that the world has ever known."

"You're Ace..."

"Mhm..."

"How do you deal with it?" She asked, sitting next to him, her head low. "You're a legend for helping defeat evil hundreds of years ago... How do you deal with the responsibility on your shoulders?"

"Mmm? Don't think, just do it. You're better off that way. When the world's falling, you need someone there to pick it up. I'm retired, so don't think of asking me to come along." Sasah snickers, picking up her head. "You're right... I think it's time."

"Go get that asshole, champ," Ace says, picking at his teeth.

Sasah strode into the house and put on all of her combat gear.. It was looser than it used to be. Probably from all the muscle she lost from being in bed. She jumped in it, and put on her sword. Her sword...

She sat down and unsheathed it for a moment. It was beautiful. Through the mosaics, she noticed runes. Grasscutter runes. She smiles, thinking of the man that was an uncle to her... She looks down, thinking quietly. She sat in her armor as she thought how her real uncle, who she never knew existed, is the greatest threat to the Light that currently exists. But no, she shook her head. 'My uncle is at home. Probably helping my father through his terrible withdrawals, and maybe has even beaten him down a few times for it... They fought together, and he agreed to help raise them.'

The Vixen remembered him saying he knew about him and Ras for a long time... And she also remembered him telling the blades their names. Zweiling was hers. Ras' was.. She wipes some tears that were forming in her eyes. It took a couple of damn sword names to realise that she had fucked up. She had just about vanished on the two loves of her life to avoid them from dying... Time to come forward.

Sasah grabbed her twin's sword, and walked to find him. She didn't take long to find him with Eleidil in the training hall, practicing their technique. "Bro, think fast." She throws the sheathed sword at him. He easily grabs it with one hand and before he could look back at his sister she'd already had him in her arms, deep in a kiss. He closed his eyes and returned it with passion. Eleidil took this que to bow out, Xongile snickering from the discomfort from a corner. "You remember your sword's name?"

"Of course... Leibiel." He blinked at her.

"Well, mine's name is Zweiling. If you take away a few letters, it means Twin in a language they use in the west." Ras didn't get the point of this.

"Does mine mean 'blade', or something? They're nicknamed the Mosaic Twinblades after all.." She nuzzles into his chest.

"It means 'love'... 'Twin Love'..." He pats her on the head as she started to cry into his brother's fur. She suddenly felt Xongile's hug around her lower body. "I fucked up... I used some god spell to learn the limit of my power, and I nearly blew myself up and you when you came to ask why..." She sobs a bit. "'Why' is because I was afraid of hurting you two.. I can't stand the thought of some spell going wrong and blowing you two out of my life..." She thinks of Balthazar's voice, and his lesson. To the end of the world... She slowly stops crying, forcing herself into composure. "I ain't got a choice. It's the world I'm fighting for at this point." She grits her teeth.

It took until now for Rasvim to notice her in full kit... A bag sat by the entrance to the training area. She gripped his sister tight, bear hugging her.

"You're not going without us... I won't let my sister.. My beloved wife fight whatever evil this world faces on her own."

"I know..." She grabs Xongile by the scruff of her neck and pulls her up into their hug. "I expect even if I left without a word you'd find me. A god told me something the other day, and I sure in the hells know he knows everything better than I ever will." She paused, and kissed Xongile on the muzzle, then Rasvim's. She buries her face into them "Wherever we head, we'll go there -together.- Even if our destination is the end of the world." They all agreed wholeheartedly, she sat her new love down, and she said, "Kit up. We're heading out. Our destination is the Apocalypse!"