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(Alright everyone I'd like to state that this isn't my story. It's written entirely by Zerrex Narrius. The entire 1100 page epic can be downloaded at Epiphany. I shall post 10 parts in all each approximately 100 pages long. Please direct all praise to Zerrex and not me. Alright this series is markes as extreme, if ya are under 18/21 GTFO yadda yadda yadda, NOW on with the show.)

Epiphany

Zerrex Narrius

Prologue: Outside the Firmament

The universe is layered with darkness, and yet filled with light: stars shine brightly until the day they die, many exploding with such force that they light up entire galaxies, their radiance visible light years away and eons in the future. Others still collapse upon themselves, their fiery passion and vain gravity clutching so desperately to the physical universe that they become deep and dark, so powerful and intense they absorb even light in a crushing singularity, making a feast of the glowing warmth in their bitter scorn until the day their hunger becomes so great they consume even themselves and they simply vanish into the ether.

Not even the gods know if the universe is finite, or if you can finish at where you started if you travel for long enough. Some believe the universe expands still, others believe that it has begun to slowly collapse, still others whisper that at the edge of the universe the bleak whiteness of the Nothingness or the harsh burning black fires of the Unworld. Some say that the physical universe is nothing but a vast dark hell, others blissfully praise the universe as a glorious heaven, and most only look at the universe as it is: a plane of existence, in which countless worlds spin, in which gods and monsters, mortals and demons and angels both battle and work together, in peace and at war with themselves and one-another.

Worlds turn, and their stories are told: to the heroes and the villains and the players in their stages, their stories, their worlds, their homes are the center of attention, that which burns in the spotlight... and yet in reality, none of them matter to the vast indifference of the universe. It is light and dark, it is balance, it is discord and order all at once: worlds must live, worlds must die, legends are told and reality becomes myth. To the universe, neither loser nor victor are of any accord: it is the players that give their stories worth, it is to the people who live, breathe, and understand the world around them, that the world matters to. Should the mightiest of the gods fall tomorrow, the universe will not care: it will toil onwards. Even should reality shatter and crumble, the universe will not care: all things must end, but even with all races wiped out, even with the Nothingness and the Unworld consuming everything and then each other, it does not matter to anyone, not even the consumed or destroyed once they are dead and gone. Their cares washed away with their physical bodies, their souls dispersed into energies, their memories always faintly reverberating, reverberating, though the unseen air. Even if all falls down, reality abhors a vacuum: the moment there is but a single thought, a new reality will blossom.

The universe does not care that it is old, or that it is cracked, how vast or small it is: the universe does not care that it exists, that it is full of darkness, that it is adorned with the countless beautiful stars and worlds that shine throughout it, full of good and evil, love and hate. The universe does not care; and that is why inside it, from lowliest insect to most-powerful of gods, all things are equal. Why neither the heavens nor the hells, the paradises nor the pits, can ever truly be places without corruption, without good, without evil, without emotion, without reason. And it is both blessing and curse, for even if the universe does not care for meaning, it does not mean meaning cannot be found within it.

And yet for all its carelessness, the universe has kept secrets: but from a great vibration that rang through its heart eight long years ago, the universe itself has begun to whisper its secrets to the players on their stages, changing forever the face of the uncaring universe, weaving together the most tangled of webs as a new story begins to unfold.

First Sphere: Foundation

It was beautiful here, and the lizard tented his fingers together quietly as he stood silently outside what appeared to be a shrine of some sort, breathing softly: a strange thing, considering that only two feet away, with no apparent shield, no apparent protection, was the vast, dead coldness of black space. Stars shone brightly all around him, some so large that they were visible balls of red flame, others sparkling motes in the distance... and the reptile closed his eyes, bowing his head silently forwards, the concrete-like walkway beneath his feet seeming to thrum under his combat boots.

He was a Drakkaren, a breed of reptilian species from a world far, far away from this place: and despite his looks, the simple black jeans and matching t-shirt he wore, he was no mere mortal. His emerald eyes opened slowly as he looked up at the shrine with sorrow, a tremble running through his muscular, powerful form as he slowly rubbed at the tattoo on his strong right bicep: a bold swastika inside a circle, over a double-helix of ivy that encircled his upper arm. Something from days long since passed, that reminded him of things hard to put into words, hard to explain, harder still to understand... but a precious gift once it was.

His green scales clung tight to his chiseled, solid frame as he rubbed slowly at his abdominals, pushing up his shirt a bit to reveal the navy blue scales that covered his chest, and then he sighed softly as he reached out and touched one of the concentric pillars going around the edge of the shrine, holding up the dome-shaped roof some thirty feet high above. There were sixteen of them evenly spaced around the perimeter, pillars so enormous they made the eight feet and some inches of the reptile look small, and he finally strode forwards over the stone floor of this shrine in the literal middle of space, this deep, strange temple in the Center of the Universe.

His shoulder-length white hair fell around his face as he glanced back and forth with a soft sigh, memories floating through his mind as he strode into the shrine, and he reached up to brush this quietly back. His boots made little sound against the smooth floor as he strode towards the center of the large, wide room that was dominated by eight statues surrounding a plain-looking pool: but the water of this pool was black, swirling slowly and constantly, darker than the deepest of black holes. It was the true Center of the Universe, the singular tie between the physical plane... and the deep darkness of the Unworld.

The lizard's eyes drew upwards, however, to the statues surrounding it, and he reached out to silently touch one even as blue energy sparked in violent arcs at the contact and his entire arm went numb, wincing a bit... but not drawing his hand away as he stroked down the smooth, marble-like stone, before finally letting his finger slip off. The energy settled immediately, and the reptile looked at the statue quietly: Creation, his features calm and somehow distant, large, thick horns extending outwards from either side of his skull, imposing and yet welcoming. He was familiar... and yet nonetheless the male's eyes found it hard to focus on the statue, to take in the details of the nude but genderless form. Not that it was any surprise: these were no statues of heroes, or alien species, or even beings of great power. These were statues of the First Gods, the unknowable creatures that had created the universe, that had first formed it from the Nothingness and put the first gears and laws of reality into motion.

Likewise, the other five statues were alien and difficult to comprehend: they were even more exotic, even more strange in the lizard's vision, and all pulsed with power and their own strange auras. Life, Order, Creation on one side of the pool... Death, Chaos and Destruction on the other, mirroring their parallel, and yet despite their opposing natures, their opposing stances... there was no hostility between the statues, only a sense of partnership, of mutual beneficence. Six statues, towering almost to the ceiling above, encircling the pool and filled with disharmonious energy... and then the lizard sighed quietly as he strode away from Creation to the side of the pool, looking at one of the two smaller statues that stood between the immense ones. It was of a male lion, only a little larger than the average mortal, his eyes closed and an expression that could only be called 'tragic' on his features, his mane detailed to look as if they were flames, long robes flowing around him, and hands pressing tightly down against the pool... and the tall lizard reached a hand up to squeeze the lion's shoulder, saying softly: "Hey, Camus. How are you, old friend?"

There was no response from the statue... not that the lizard had expected one, and he smiled a little even as the memories came back. Of this noble philosopher - no mortal, but instead a Broken, a being of such will that it had survived the ravages of the Unworld and risen up with powers so strange and terrible they struck fear into even the gods themselves - and the hard, savage war against him. Of the way he and Mersault Camus had fought here, at the Center of the Universe, because of what the reptile had become: of how they had been close friends, and yet they had killed one-another.

Camus had been trying to discover the truth of the First Gods, relentlessly pursuing the origins of the universe, longing, in his own way, to save it, or at least to adhere to the goals of the First Gods. Not that Camus had worshipped them... but he had called himself a Theologian, and felt a loyalty to them... and admiration, the lizard thought. Not for their power... but for their ability to create, something that a Broken like Camus could not do. The Broken were beings of the Unworld, anti-matter and anti-energy, rotting the ground beneath their feet, surviving by absorbing the energy of the living world around them. As the lion had put it as he'd lashed out in anger, it was like he had spent billions of years in a state of constant death, and even after he'd learned to repress the terrible energies of the Unworld to appear and act almost as if mortal, it only worked for so short a time: it was like taking a breath, before being forced back into his coffin, in the words of the heartbroken philosopher.

The lizard's emerald eyes looked up and across the pool, where they settled on another statue that also gazed down into the swirling, dark waters... a statue of himself, shirtless, every detail of his form, every last scar upon his body - and there were many, many of them - done in perfect definition. His features were cold, and just as sad as Camus's... and the reptile shook his head slowly before he reached up and silently touched the black burn scar that surrounded his left eye, circular but for a J-shaped twist that went down to his muzzle, almost like a dark trail of tears. "We were fools..."

The male closed his eyes as he glanced at the statue of his lost friend, and then he leaned down beside him, unconsciously mimicking the poses of the smaller statues as the energies of the room reverberated around him. In the intensity of their battle, they had destroyed what they had both been doing their best to cherish: once the Center of the Universe had been a planet, but the clash of the Broken and a God that had become so desperate to win it had inverted itself had resulted in the world being torn asunder... although how this temple had survived, the lizard didn't even want to guess at. It had been at the epicenter of the explosion... but of course, it was also the shrine, and in a way, the resting place of the First Gods. Who knew what power lay here, dormant until it was disturbed, wakening only to protect itself?

The reptile shook his head slowly, closing his eyes as he dropped his head forwards. Eight, almost nine years had passed since that great event... and the cruel part of the joke was that it wasn't even him Camus had truly been interested in. The reptile was no First God, after all... but burning inside of him was the energy of another god who may have once been a First God himself, before all six had mysteriously vanished from the universe. It was strange: once upon a time, he had only been a mortal, interested only in himself, and eventually protecting his family... and then he had died, learned the afterlife was indeed real as he'd been punished over and over again in the darkness of Hell until he'd become a demon, and faced angels and demons, mortals and gods in worsening and worsening battles... and then, long after another death, something had dragged him out of the Nothingness and pieced him back together, and instilled in him the powers of Creation.

Camus had wanted these energies, and was willing to sacrifice everything in the universe to get to them, had put the reptile through test after test, lured him into trap after trap, until he had finally brought the reptile here. The lizard, a being made of highly-charged energy, was an easy target for a Broken like Camus, no matter how powerful he was... and Camus had planned to rip him apart until he was able to literally peel the energies of Creation out of him. Not for power, never for power... but instead in a quest for knowledge and enlightenment that had become twisted, a need to understand what the First Gods had planned for the universe, and whether or not they had decided what they had built in it was a triumph or a failure.

The reptile, however, had fought back harder and fiercer than the Broken had expected... and then done a stupid, stupid thing in a desperate attempt to overwhelm his friend. But now the lizard clenched his eyes shut and pushed these thoughts away, not wanting to remember it... yet even as they went, other worries surfaced.

The destruction of this place had not been without side-effects: it had sent a vibration, a shockwave, a ripple through the entire universe, and released things the First Gods had sealed away unknowable eons ago. Things like the Strange Beasts, vicious and alien creatures that occasionally ripped their way through the fabric of reality, coming from gods knew where to do gods knew what. Half-formed gods, abominations, primordials that had been sealed away... and many other things that rose just as many questions in the lizard's mind.

He sighed softly... and then winced and staggered, looking up sharply as a female voice said gently: "Your head is heavy with thoughts, Zerrex Narrius. Strange, how you come here instead of sharing your burden with family and friends."

The lizard felt dumb surprise as he looked at the creature that had addressed him: not only had he never encountered anyone else at this shrine before, the being had snuck up on him... and he gritted his teeth as he realized it wasn't any god or monster, demon or angel, but a Strange Beast: not one of the more-animal Vipers, but instead it looked like the far-more-intelligent - and thus far more dangerous - Chanters, another breed of the monsters that they had encountered so far. It held up its hands though, smiling at him softly, and the reptile didn't detect any hostility in the air, making him hesitate even as he clenched his hands into fists and asked darkly: "And how the hell did you get here? And... wait, how do you know my name?"

"I don't blame you for being suspicious. My kind haven't done much to warrant a warm welcome." She said softly, and her voice was strangely-soothing. Zerrex let his stance loosen slightly as his eyes drew over her, and she smiled a bit, spreading her arms to the sides now. "See? I mean you no harm."

She was tall: maybe ten feet, and slender, with unguligrade legs that stood on thick but rounded claws. Her tail was long and curled slowly back and forth, with a leaf-shaped fin extending from the tip, and she had three slender fingers and a thumb on each hand, with small, polished-looking black nails. Two sets of small breasts rested upon her chest, and above these, strange, tube-like bulges stuck out of her collarbone and formed a natural collar around her throat in which gills slowly pulsed open and closed with her quiet breaths, and her features were somewhere between feline and draconic, her eyes intense but welcoming, blue with slit-like black pupils. Black, long horns extended from either side of her skull, and Zerrex frowned a bit, relaxing his pose a bit more as the female relaxed slowly as well, the long mane of hair that ran straight down the middle of her skull pulled back into a ponytail that fell across one shoulder, kept neat by several evenly-spaced ties. "You... look like a Naganatine."

"Like Creation, you mean." The features of the Strange Beast visibly softened, and she rubbed a hand over her naked body, taking a hesitant step towards Zerrex... and then another when he didn't do anything but frown a bit. She slowly approached... and then reached one of her long-fingered hands slowly up, and Zerrex winced when she grasped his skull, but he felt only a faint tingling before she smiled strangely and sadly as a tear rolled down her cheek. "Yes. Like Naganis."

Zerrex reached up and grasped her upper arm gently, pushing her carefully back a step, and her hand fell away as she stood quietly in front of him. For a few moments, they only looked at each other, and then the reptile broke the awkward silence by asking hesitantly: "Were you... made by Creation?"

"Yes. Creation, Naganis, whichever you prefer to call him. I am the mother of the first Strange Beasts, as you call us..." She turned away, walking towards the statue of Creation and gazing silently up at his back, clasping her hands in front of her groin as she murmured: "Do not worry. I don't hold it against you that you have killed many of my brood... I was created long, long ago, and my purpose was to serve the whims of my creator. Creation had me birth the race of Strange Beasts you call Vipers, and the Leviathans. But Creation sealed me away... to protect me, you must understand, he loved me. He loved me, and I loved him... but I did not love my children, and my children did not love me. I was not programmed for that, I was not told to love them. I was merely their incubator, that's all.

"Your thoughts for me turn to pity; that's unnecessary, Zerrex Narrius." She smiled a bit as she turned around, looking at him quietly. "I know that I am fortunate: there were other Mothers who never met Creation, and many who did not escape the wrath of the Strange Beasts after we awoke from hibernation. I am fortunate in that I have eluded my children and my siblings for so long... they do not know a mother's love, and all they did know has now been forgotten by the rest of the universe. Imagine, waking up in what was once your home after countless years of sleep in the deep and dark places of the world, to find strangers living in your home, changing it to their whims, now dominant in what was once your domicile? That is why they hate you, Zerrex Narrius. That is why they destroy. All they know is that their home has been taken by others... and that the ones they were born to obey are all dead and gone."

She stopped as the Drakkaren winced a bit, trying to understand all this... and then the female stepped slowly towards him, and he couldn't help but step back a bit before she laughed quietly, reaching out to take one of his hands. "No, I am harmless, Zerrex, do not fear me. Nor would I harm you... your energies clearly resonate with the powers of Creation, after all, and I have loved Creation all my life. I am sad that he has passed, but all things must... and I do not hold it against your kind that you have spread throughout this universe, or against the other gods who have seeded worlds. I think... I think the First Gods, as you think of them, would be happy to see their work being continued, however crudely and sloppily. But perhaps it is all the better for the fact it takes so much effort on the part of so many to make this universe grow now... to make these worlds blossom.

"I have watched you for a few years now, watched you come and go from this place, felt your thoughts." She stopped, glancing away as Zerrex looked at her with surprise. "I am sorry I never revealed myself earlier. But I was unsure; there are other energies in your body, and another part of you that is deep and terrible... I needed to know your character fully before I stepped forwards. Before I asked you to help me, give me refuge from the other Strange Beasts. They hunt us, the Originals, the ones who were first created by the First Gods... they hate us, they fear us, because we are a connection to the gods that once were, the times that have long since passed. They want to destroy us, because then they think they will truly be free, that none will have a hold over them, even though I hold no leash and bear no control as it is."

"Slow down, I can barely understand what the hell's going on here. This... this is kind of sudden." Zerrex said finally, and the female nodded to him, looking down into his eyes and studying his scarred features. It made the lizard blush a bit as he stepped back and turned towards the dark pool... and then he glanced up in surprise when the female grasped his shoulders and leaned down to silently kiss the back of his head.

"Don't suffer, Zerrex Narrius. You are not a bad person for what happened here." she whispered, and the lizard swallowed thickly as he glanced down in shock at how easily she was reading into the very depths of his soul. He tried to block her out, but he could almost feel her smile as she said quietly: "Do not be ashamed, either. I feel your emotions and see into the depths of your soul, and every part of your tragic mind. Your emotions, your senses are different than mine, Zerrex Narrius... and when you try and block me out, I only feel myself pulled towards a different memory, instead of the here and now."

She halted, then stepped back and away, and Zerrex turned around as he rubbed at his face slowly before she bowed slowly to him, and then she straightened and held out a hand, saying softly: "I see in your culture, however, I have been rude. I do not have a name as you do, but when I refer to myself as a mother, a peculiar image of love and sorrow appears in your mind. If I am not being cruel, may I suggest you call me Celeste, in memory of this figure you hold such odd love and a deep bond to, despite her passing?"

Zerrex felt a knot in his heart, and the female frowned immediately, opening her mouth... and then she closed it slowly when Zerrex simply gritted his teeth and projected his emotions towards her, making her almost recoil in surprise: and finally, he felt her recede from his mind, shaking off the shock of the sudden meeting as he met her eyes and said gently: "For one thing, you need to stop reading my mind, it's... also kind of rude in my culture. For another, I know you felt the... emotions that rose up when you mentioned my mother, but..." He stopped, then smiled a little at her. "I know you mean to honor her. And that, in turn, makes me feel... much better about you, Celeste."

The female looked at him for a few moments, and then she looked down at herself before wrapping her arms slowly around her stomach. At first, Zerrex thought he'd offended her... and then she glanced up and smiled faintly back at him, tears in her eyes, both sorrow and joy radiating off her form. "I could not help myself, Zerrex... and I cannot help but ask... is this what parents and their children feel, in this world? Your mind... your feelings towards your own parents are mixed, but then I look at these other connected memories, of your family, of daughters and sons... is this emotion called love? Is this what I never felt with my children, or they towards me?"

Zerrex didn't know how to respond, so he only nodded... and after a moment, Celeste nodded back, before she reached up and wiped at her face... and Zerrex was surprised to watch as her tears quickly became crystalline, hardening over her fingers before she brushed them away. She looked at her own hand for a moment, catching his thoughts before smiling at him faintly... but instead of answering, she instead said quietly: "And perhaps I am merely failing to understand your thoughts, far stranger than me... but why do you offer me sanctuary so quickly, despite your misgivings, your fears that have been amplified by the encounters you have had with the other races of Strange Beast over the years?"

"Get out of my head." Zerrex winced a bit and reached up to rub at his skull, but the female only looked at him curiously, and the Drakkaren sighed a bit before he said slowly: "And... well. You haven't tried to kill me yet, and that in itself is very different from... from the other Strange Beasts."

Zerrex stopped, memories running through his mind as he closed his eyes, and he felt Celeste's eyes not only on him, but the female also watching his memories of the last eight years. Memories of the monstrous, two-headed Vipers as they began to appear in greater numbers and as a worsening threat, of the terrible and mighty Leviathans that were savage alone and sometimes led vicious raiding parties of Strange Beasts. Memories of their first encounters with the Chanters, who looked smaller and less alien, but were a far more devastating threat than their brawny counterparts with their strange brands of magic and preternatural power that they unleashed over anything and anyone that got in their way.

"Creation did not make all of us alone... the First Gods for the most part shared their powers, and that is why our natures are as they are." Celeste said quietly, and she gently grasped Zerrex's face as he opened his eyes, guiding his gaze up to meet hers. "I am purely made of Creation, and it is why I have revealed myself to you... but the first Vipers were touched by Chaos, making them savage and ferocious... as the Chanters were imbued with Order, making them terrible in their coldness, unflinching and unemotional. There are other Strange Beasts as well, ones you have not seen... and some, I hope, that you never encounter at all."

She stopped, then drew back from him and studied him for a few moments before smiling sadly, shaking her head slowly as he looked at her quietly, and she whispered: "No. I do not know what happened to the First Gods, Zerrex. As I said, Creation sealed me away to protect me... all I know is that something went wrong here, in the Center of the Universe. The First Gods became anxious, and my last memories are of a grand meeting, where the First Gods held a grand assembly with their sharpest students and most-loved disciples... other gods that had sprung to life, children they had created, heroes of our time: for even in our time, there was a need for heroes, Zerrex. There were Strange Beasts back then that rebelled against the First Gods, and greedy beings of all shape and size, and mistakes made in their pursuit of knowledge and life that had to be destroyed. We are very different forms of life... but all forms of life are also very much the same in many ways, however we try to pretend otherwise."

The reptile nodded slowly, and Celeste sighed and looked away, murmuring: "I will have to adjust to your emotions, Zerrex, and the emotions your people, your kind feel. So strange... as are the thoughts that run through your head. Be assured, I will tell you everything you wish to know, and use my gifts to even show you my home, as it once was..." Celeste stopped and smiled at him, half-bowing towards the reptile as she looked at him for a few moments with her soft and deep eyes. "But I wish to first explore your home... and to meet these other beings you think of with such fondness and love as you do, and see if they will accept me as readily as you have. I fear, after all, that while your strange and exotic mind thinks of me so kindly... they will require time to adjust to my presence. I am a Strange Beast, as you call my kind: and from what I see of your friends and family, not all of them may be nearly as kind and forgiving towards me as you have." She stopped, then murmured softly: "I admire the way you think of me as a person instead of merely as a monster. I hesitate to think of myself as a person instead of just another Strange Beast, after all."

"We're all people... I can't hold it against you what your kind has done to mine. Not after everything I've been through myself... not with what my whole philosophy is based around, nor with what demons and gods once did to the world." Zerrex smiled a bit at her, glancing over her naked body awkwardly. "Do... you want some clothing?"

"No. I do not understand why you are clothed yourself. It serves little purpose to beings like ourselves." Celeste replied in her quiet, almost-distant voice, before she frowned slightly as Zerrex smiled a little and images danced through his mind, memories of others, of laughing children playing naked in the fountain long ago. "You... agree, yet you disagree. I do not understand."

"Call it modesty, then, I just don't like being without my pants." Zerrex patted his own hip quietly, and then he sighed a bit as looked at the pool of black water for a moment, before he reached out and touched the shoulder of the lion statue, saying softly: "Keep watch for me, will you?"

Celeste surveyed him for a moment as if measuring him when the Drakkaren turned towards her again, and then she said softly: "I do not wish to interrupt your meditations, Zerrex Narrius. If it is preferable, I will recede for the moment and allow you time alone. We are... safe here, for now. The other Strange Beasts... they do not like this place, and it would be difficult for them to enter. For, as I'm sure you're well aware, it's very difficult to enter the Center of the Universe... yet not very difficult at all to leave it."

Zerrex looked at her for a moment, and then he smiled a bit, saying quietly: "Why don't you wait out on the walkway for me, then? I'll join you in a moment, Celeste." He stopped, then said quietly: "Thank you for your considerations."

She nodded, looking over him slowly, and then she turned and strode quietly away... and Zerrex watched her as she left, the way her body swayed slightly from side to side with her walk, the tautness of her form, the way her gills fluttered with each breath she took. Then he shook his head slowly, turning back towards the pool as he reached down to dig in his pocket for a moment before pulling out a silver coin, rolling it between his fingers as he murmured: "Wishing well, I wish my friends well. I hope you're at peace, Camus... and you too, Celestial."

He flipped the coin gently upwards, watching as it rose... then fell, spiraling slowly before it plunged through the black water and vanished in a sparkle. Zerrex smiled for a moment, and then he turned away and headed towards the outer walkway, before wincing a bit at Celeste's deep stare. "Can... you tone it down, just a bit?"

"I apologize, Zerrex Narrius." She bowed her head for a moment, then looked out at the stars above, murmuring quietly: "The constellations are different... and the Great Belt is dying. The ageless stars have aged much since I was last awake..."

The reptile looked at her quietly, wondering for a moment if he had enough juice to carry both her and him to the nearest 'waypoint' outside the Center of the Universe he could jump - or, as certain members of his family referred to it 'shoop' - to, but before he could even think too deeply on the subject, the Strange Beast made an almost-dismissive gesture, and reality shattered like glass in front of them, pieces of space-made-solid tinkling upwards and vanishing into motes of energy as Zerrex stared in shock at a swirling tunnel that appeared: it looked like a vortex of black and white, and yet it had a core of pulsing golden light, much different from the magical portals used by demons and angels and gods to travel the great distances between worlds. "It is no trouble, Zerrex Narrius. As you seem to have almost forgotten already... I am a Strange Beast. We exist inside and outside of reality at the same time: exerting control over the fragile fabric of time and space is no mean feat for me. But let us go, before the Gateway closes."

Zerrex didn't even know how to respond, so he only nodded dumbly and strode forwards, Celeste matching his pace as they walked into the golden light... and the reptile winced, covering his eyes as the light grew more intense, almost stumbling forwards as heat and sound surrounded him for a moment... and then suddenly, he was stepping out onto solid ground, staggering once as Celeste reached out and steadied him and the golden light now at their back sparked before fading out as the Gateway closed, the reptile looking stupidly back and forth as he realized where he was standing.

They were in Elysium: a country upon the now-planet of Hell, which forever circled the mortal world parallel to Heaven, the two planets moving in an immense oval around both the blue planet and the burning bright star of the sun. Hell and Heaven had once been separate planes of their own, but decades ago, the torn fabric of reality had begun to heal itself, forcibly pulling both planes of the 'afterlife' into physical existence, in part due to the rampant attacks of a group of beings known as Old Gods. It sounded so ridiculous Zerrex wanted to laugh when he thought about it... and yet the memories of those times, the people he had lost, the pains he felt to this day about having to almost give up the mortal world he had worked so hard to protect when they had been outmaneuvered and outflanked always stopped him from doing so. It sounded impossible... but it was right here before his eyes, and it was a life he had spent many years living now.

And, even though there were less souls coming to Heaven and Hell - in part because the population of the mortal world was so low after the successive disasters that had befallen in, and in part because of how hard it was for some mortals to believe that Heaven and Hell were actually real, actually part of the afterlife, and not simply 'alien worlds,' as some had come to call them - they still did their jobs. Hell was a place not only of punishment, but of learning: they taught the 'sinners,' the criminals, the wicked people that ended up in the bowels of the pit to understand their crimes as much as they were punished for it... and demons, Zerrex had learned, had depths of emotion and compassion that often far surpassed their distant, cold angelic counterparts.

Heaven, after all, was not total paradise: it was run by a council interested only in itself and keeping tight control over its own world, aloof from the affairs of the rest of the physical world. And God, compassionate Naganis, was long dead, killed by Zerrex's own father. Ifret Narrius had been defeated and destroyed, but he had done irreversible damage and perhaps was responsible, too, for the way Heaven was now: the only remnants of Naganis's time were the Archangels, Lucifer and Lord, but they could not run Heaven alone and tend to their many duties at the same time, which was why the council had been left in place.

Hell, on the other hand, was governed by the Compass Thrones: four High Thrones that answered to the High Queen. Once upon a time, Zerrex had been High King of Hell, both a terrible punishment and a cruel honor... but after the Drakkaren had vanished in his battle against Athéos, self-declared creator of the universe, it had been passed down to Firenze, a tragic child of Zerrex who had once been unable to control his own powers, and spent many years sealed away in a medical facility deep beneath the ground. When Firenze had taken upon the crown, however, he had done a better job than Zerrex ever could have dreamed... but he had sacrificed his life to save his father's, and Hell still mourned his loss.

Now, the High Queen ruled: Vivien of Endless Nights, an original demoness descended from the first demons of Hell and who had been the Abbess of the Convent of Burning Harmony, one of Elysium's largest holy orders. She was a Celestial Devil, chosen because of both her serious personality as well as her leadership experience, selected out of a pool of a hundred other possible candidates. She worked well with the other High Thrones most of the time, and both kept control of the council and allowed them to work freely upon their own projects, balancing her duties well.

Zerrex glanced at Celeste, and she looked back at him for a moment as they stood in the empty feel, a faint breeze blowing by and ruffling the grasses under their feet. They were at the edge of a cliff, overlooking the Circles below: once Hell had possessed its Nine Circles, places of punishment, judgment, and even great joy... but during the Great Merge, they had collapsed, and even now they had not yet been cleared of debris. Only the top three layers were clean so far, and undergoing vast reconstruction... and then Celeste gazed outwards before pointing at the greatest landmark in all of Elysium - arguably, Zerrex thought, in all the worlds - the Central Spire. "Look..."

The reptile did so, laughing a bit and gazing at the immense black tower with a small smile. When Hell had been its own dimension, it had reached the spiraling skies above... and even now, it towered almost to the edge of the atmosphere, countless miles tall and thick, made of some powerful, resilient material that would never bend, never sway, not in the hardest of winds or the most powerful of earthquakes, stoic and unbreakable. "Yes, that's where Hell's rulers are... as well as the great library, and many other things. It was designed by Lucifer and Naganis countless years ago now, when the planes were first separated."

"It is an anchor." Celeste said softly, and the reptile looked at her curiously. "A tether-totem. Others like it once existed in the Center of the Universe... it is what holds a world to its course, it is a tie that binds. May we visit it one day?"

"Of course." Zerrex said softly... and then he looked down at his feet before turning around, gazing at a small village in the distance. Demons of all shape and size were in the street today, and he smiled a little bit: it looked as if they were gearing up for a celebration. The reptile had never been very good with holidays, however... and then he glanced over at Celeste when she quietly touched his shoulder, looking at him silently.

He looked back... and this time, he could feel her searching his mind, as if desperate for something... and then she slowly nodded, murmuring: "Yes. We should go to the Ravenlight Estate, and meet your family and Disciples. And this High Queen... why does she worry you so much?"

Zerrex looked at her mildly for a moment, but she only gazed back passively... and the reptile sighed as he reached up and rubbed at his forehead, reminding himself that she was from a different culture, a different time, and had different emotions than he did, telling himself to be patient as he answered mildly after a moment: "It's not... worry-worry so much as it is... I don't want to be scolded for the umpteenth time this week. Vivien has me appointed as an ambassador, even though I really don't like or want the job, and she hates it when I pull stuff like... well, this." Zerrex gestured at her, smiling awkwardly. "No offense."

"Do not worry. It is I who should apologize to you. It's difficult to remember what actions are considered rude in this world and what are not." Celeste replied quietly, and then she frowned a bit and glanced up, saying softly: "Something approaches."

Zerrex winced a bit, looking back and forth as he readied himself... but when a portal opened, the Drakkaren cursed and tried to hide behind Celeste's tall but narrow form, the female looking at him with curiosity before glancing up at the portal as a green-scaled female Drakkaren stormed through it with her teeth grit, her eyes flashing beneath the scars that crisscrossed over her features. More scars were laced down her body and along her forearms, some barely hidden by the golden plate that went across her flat chest, secured against her body by silvery chains... and her eyes widened as they settled with shock on the Strange Beast, immediately drawing a silvery sword from behind her back.

She began to open her mouth... then her eyes locked on Zerrex as he peered out from behind Celeste, and she instead gaped stupidly for a moment before looking at the Strange Beast again as Celeste only examined her curiously, before she said curiously: "Iuratus. A curious term; you are a loyal daughter, and from you I feel... love for Zerrex. Love... I envy you both."

The female dropped her sword as the portal behind her closed, now simply looking stupid, and Zerrex wheezed in relief as he carefully stepped out from behind the Strange Beast. He smiled awkwardly at her, glancing over her: the ceremonial Iuratus armor gleamed as if freshly polished, darker than the bright gold scales that covered her chest, pauldrons on her shoulders, leaf-shaped plates covering her groin and hips and held on by silver chain, heavy steel boots on her feet. The scarred female looked at the scarred male, and gemstone green eyes looked into emerald irises before Zerrex said calmly: "Serenity, I'd like you to meet Celeste. She's a Strange Beast who came to me asking for protection. She's a little awkward... but she means us no harm, okay?"

Serenity grimaced at him, shaking herself out of her stupor before she flicked her wrist, and her sword - made of a single piece of silvery metal - flew up to her hand. For a moment she held it indecisively, but then sighed when Zerrex looked at her pointedly again, and instead she nodded curtly and said dryly: "I'll honor your wishes, Zerrex, but I would prefer her to be in a secure location until we determine if she's a threat or not."

"You wish to protect your father... ingrained in protocol, laws, rules, but all to try and protect him." Celeste said softly, and Serenity winced as Zerrex slapped his forehead. The Strange Beast frowned at this gesture, and then she glanced down embarrassedly, murmuring: "I apologize, Serenity Narrius. I did not mean to pry into your mind."

"I... oh this is great. Like we need another Marina." Serenity muttered and rubbed absently at a tattoo on her right arm... and then she blushed when Zerrex smiled a bit and reached up to touch this quietly: a band of ivy encircled her bicep, with a single black, blossomed rose standing out from it, a short, ancient Hez'Rannan prayer written in runes surrounding this. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Zerrex said gently, and then he grasped her shoulders and kissed the female's forehead: with how tall she was, it required little more than to lean forwards a bit. "Serenity, you're the commander of my Iuratus, a Disciple, my daughter, and a psychic who can easily feel my emotional resonance this close. I trust her: you can feel that, can't you?"

"Yes, Father, I do. And... I'll help her." She looked grudgingly at Celeste for a moment, but Zerrex smiled a bit: he could feel her emotions, and it wasn't distrust that was prevalent now, but irritation with the disruption to the routine and the Drakkaren's lack of concern with rules and regulations. "We should introduce her to the others as soon as possible, however. And perhaps we should take her before the High Queen as well. Vivien will not take kindly to you harboring a Strange Beast without her consent."

Zerrex rolled his eyes, crossing his arms moodily... but then he glanced to the side as Celeste touched his shoulder gently to get his attention, before she said quietly: "Let us go before Vivien. I do not wish to put you in ill fortune, Zerrex Narrius, so perhaps we should listen to your daughter and acquire my sanctuary through proper channels."

Serenity looked thoughtfully at Celeste, her features losing some of their tenseness before she nodded slowly, and she slid her sword into the large links of the chain on her back, letting them hold it in place as the athletic-bodied female crossed her arms and said dryly: "Then I'll go to the Ravenlight Estate and the Cloister, and call a gathering in the main hall. With all due respect, Strange Beast, I'd prefer to have you stay in the Estate instead of our underground temple for now. For our sakes as well as yours."

Celeste only nodded, however, and she replied quietly: "I understand your concerns, daughter of Zerrex, and do not hold them against you. Nor do I question your ways of life and pleasure. Come though, Zerrex: soon others may be attracted to this place, and it is best we meet them before they meet us."

The Drakkaren made a face, but then he nodded before looking at Serenity, and the two smiled a bit at each other before nodding. Then Zerrex grasped Celeste's arm quietly and closed his eyes, and a moment later they simply vanished from the spot, only to reappear upon one of the four enormous balconies that surrounded the top of the Central Spire of Elysium.

Immediately, the Amazon guards on either side of the massive doors leading into the Throne Room both stepped forwards, snarling: enormous, masculine females, with flat, smooth chests and draconic features, tall, J-shaped horns extending upwards from their heads and muscular, powerful bodies covered by full plate. Then both winced when Zerrex stepped ahead of Celeste and rose his hands, and they immediately dropped to kneels, bowing their heads respectfully towards him as he said mildly: "She's not a hostile. I need to speak to Vivien."

"The High Queen is in session right now..." one of the Amazons said uneasily, frowning up at Zerrex... and the reptile looked at the two flatly for a few moments before they both quickly stepped aside, mumbling awkwardly as Zerrex rolled his eyes and walked forwards. Celeste, however, only stood passively... and the reptile sighed a bit before he headed back to her, taking her hand quietly, and she looked strangely-shocked at the contact before her fingers suddenly and tightly laced with his, and the lizard winced in surprise. "I... you okay?"

"It's... yes. It's simply strange, that's all." Celeste murmured softly, but then she reached her other hand forwards, smiling faintly as she clasped the reptile's hand with both of hers and fell silent, and Zerrex looked at her oddly for a moment before nodding hesitantly and carefully pulling her forwards. She walked beside him quietly, and the lizard approached the double doors, taking a deep breath before shoving one of the enormous doors open and stepping into the enormous, circular room beyond.

The dialogue at the immense round table that dominated the center of the room immediately lapsed into silence as Zerrex entered, grinning awkwardly at the faces there that looked at him with shock, frustration, and simple exasperation, the demons and other beings in the plainer chairs surrounding the black stone table all turning before, at the so-called 'head' of the round table, the female in the large, golden throne with a red plush backing standing up and asking sharply: "What is the meaning of this, Lord Zerrex?"

"Hi Vivien, nice to see you too." Zerrex replied mildly, but the Celestial Devil only fixed him with an icy glare. She was clad in flowing, regal robes of black, with silver plates over her shoulders and a draconic, gleaming metal mask covered in runes that covered her face and skull... but she reached up and tore this off, revealing the ivory, beautiful features of the horse as her long blonde hair spilled out from beneath the mask, seeming almost to float around her as it rolled slowly back and forth despite the absence of any wind, falling over her shoulders and down to the middle of her back as she stood up and tossed the mask angrily onto the table. "Oh great. You're in one of your moods."

Vivien glared at him, her bright gold eyes glowing intensely, and the reptile winced before the Strange Beast cocked her head and said softly: "You fear me... and yet your fear compels you not to attack me, but to lash out in anger at Zerrex Narrius, despite your respect for him. Why are your emotions so strange? All of you, so strange... so different from me. Yet I will try to understand you all as best I can, and if you wish me gone, I shall stay silently in solitude. I only wish for a safe place to hide. I do not wish to be slaughtered by my own children, or by hearts filled with this emotion called 'anger.'"

Silence fell over the room as Vivien frowned deeply, and then she slowly looked back and forth at the other High Thrones: each sat in a silver throne, all of them wearing the traditional silver masks like the High Queen had, the only difference that the design of these were more bird-like than draconic... but Zerrex recognized each and every one of them despite this. He knew them all well after all... and then he smiled a bit as Vivien slowly stepped around the table from behind the throne, voices murmuring as people Zerrex knew and ones he didn't know so well talked amongst themselves awkwardly, other eyes fixated on the two as the tall, ivory devil approached the Strange Beast.

Celeste looked at her with the same almost-detached curiosity she regarded much of everything else, drawing her eyes up and down the female's robed body as if her gaze was able to pierce to the devil's very soul... and for all Zerrex knew, it did. Vivien grimaced a bit, shaking her head, her hair smoothing down against her skull by itself so tightly it revealed the mostly-hidden black ridge of short, conical spikes that went from the top of her skull down to the back of her neck along the very center of her head for a moment... and then it bounced back up, swaying around her as she said softly: "I am High Queen Vivien, Strange Beast. Why have you sought sanctuary with us? Your kind has caused us much pain and trouble... as you well know yourself, Lord Zerrex."

She shot him a scathing look, but Zerrex only smiled dryly back as the long, whip-like tail of the demoness flicked to the side: not horse-like, like much of the rest of her, but smooth and furless and gold, ending in a spade. For a moment, their eyes locked... and then Vivien snorted in derision and looked at Celeste, who frowned slightly before she murmured: "Yet you two would die to protect each other... friendship, too. A concept I am more familiar with than love... but so very rare, in the place I came from. I was friends with Creation, and I suppose... I must have loved Creation too. But still..."

She looked down, and Vivien seemed taken aback, wincing away a bit before looking at Zerrex sharply again, but he only shrugged, his hand still gripped tightly by both the Strange Beast's. "Stop glaring at me. She's telepathic and empathic, there... doesn't seem to be a way to stop her from digging into your mind. She doesn't mean any harm by it, though..."

"Yes, I apologize. Zerrex Narrius has told me many times it is not acceptable in this society to read minds as I please... but it is a difficult habit to break. I look at a person... and I see their thoughts." Celeste said quietly, and Vivien looked disgruntled before she turned and strode away, putting her hands behind her back and frowning at the ground in thought before the Strange Beast's eyes roved over the council, and she murmured: "Curious. You all respect and know that Zerrex will act in the interests of doing the right thing at the end of the day... and yet most of you wish to argue with him."

"Arguing is what we do best around here." called a cheerful voice from the other side of the table, and Zerrex rolled his eyes as Ashcroft Ixin hopped up to stand on his chair, striking a pose and spreading his arms. A nine-foot tall, muscular Drakkaren with a chiseled build, he looked almost as eccentric as he was with the thick triple-belt around his waist from which all variety of pouches hung, his naked chest over which crossed a rawhide strap that attached into a single pauldron over one shoulder, and the flute that was twirling back and forth between his fingers. His scales were a bright green that faded over his chest, and his eyes sapphire: but despite the grin on his face, they never quite reached these, his irises dark and measuring even as he said teasingly: "What, you so needy you're trying to get in bed with a Strange Beast now? You might get a nasty disease that way, Zerrex."

"Sit down, Ixin." Vivien snapped, and the male immediately winced and hopped off the chair, his butt landing firmly in the seat as he cleared his throat awkwardly. Despite his build, Ixin wasn't very tough: his body was the result of lucky genetics and magical enhancement, and he was no demon, but instead an immortal. A rare, perhaps unduly harsh punishment on the one hand... but then again, if Zerrex had been given the choice to forever retain his mortal self or become what he was now, he knew he would have been sorely tempted to remain mortal.

The Strange Beast, however, was staring at Ixin... and he looked back, fluttering his eyes and opening his mouth, before he froze as she said softly: "Such deep and terrible sorrow has been etched onto your soul... yet the fall of the clans was not your fault, and your pervasive sadness is unearned, as you yourself are well-aware. Do not regret or despair; yet do not force smiles, either. None here will hold such against you."

Slowly, the joyful exterior drained from Ixin's face, the expression of mixed, pale fear and sorrow over his features making him look gaunt instead of handsome as he slowly stood up from the chair. For a moment, he glanced back and forth, then down at the flute in his hand, clenching the wooden, simple instrument tightly... and then he simply turned around and stormed towards the nearest set of doors, shoving them open and vanishing out onto the balcony as nervous murmurs rolled through the room, before Vivien said quietly: "You need to stop doing that, Strange Beast."

"My name is Celeste." the being seemed unaware - or did not recognize - the intensity in the air, as she looked back and forth... and then she tilted her head curiously as she looked at Vivien, who was rubbing the underside of her muzzle slowly and nervously. "A control collar?"

"I said stop it." Vivien barked, glaring at her as her eyes glowed bright gold for a moment, and the Strange Beast recoiled slightly, reaching up to touch her skull with a quiet frown before the High Queen said curtly to Zerrex: "Her psychic gifts make me uncomfortable, Zerrex, she could easily find out anything and everything from any one of us. But..." She stopped, looking hesitantly at the Strange Beast as Celeste looked back with her calm blue gaze. "She doesn't... seem like the others we have encountered. Still, I want her in quarantine, and with a control collar on at all times, restricting her psychic abilities. I don't want her reading everyone's minds and emotions, do you understand me?"

There were murmurs of both dissent and hesitant agreement around the council table, but then a wolverine in a dark navy suit stood up, her expression serious but also cultured. One side of her body was covered in pale blue fur, and the other gold, her eyes glowing black sapphires in her skull; two small, triangular horns also stood up from this, and large, leathery blue wings were furled neatly on her back. "If I may add my opinion, High Queen Vivien, I do not believe she is a threat. Not only because of my faith in Lord Zerrex, but because the Strange Beasts do not seem interested in gaining information. They attack large settlements at random, usually in disorganized groups, or accidentally enter our world through rips in reality and simply attack anything around them. They do not seem to have any interest in gathering intelligence or even putting together the most basic of tactics."

Vivien sighed at this, but nodded hesitantly before she muttered: "Be that is it may, Sabnock, I nonetheless want to be careful." Slowly, she rubbed at her face, then glanced towards the other High Thrones, saying disgustedly: "Shall we take a vote, despite full-well knowing where you four stand with the ambassador?"

The other High Thrones looked at each other, and then the sole male pulled off his mask and grinned awkwardly, his blue scales gleaming faintly as he rubbed slowly at his face. His features were a boyish mix of feline and draconic, with a proud, stiff mane and two large horns that stood up from his skull to either side of this. A Naganatine, a First Breed, one of the twenty children of Naganis... and one of the far-fewer survivors, as he said awkwardly: "I... I side with Zerrex. Not just because he's scarier than you, but... well. I dunno, look at her. These Strange Beasts... we know they don't resemble the Naganatine for no reason."

He stopped and quieted, crossing his arms as he rested back in his throne, and the female beside him stood up, removing her mask to reveal the face of a green-scaled female whose mouth was sewn shut by crisscrossing lines of black string, a tattoo of a black-blossomed rose around one eye... and a black leather collar with a simple platinum clasp around her neck. Sewn into the back of these, however, were the words "I Love You:" a reminder to her that her father would always love her for who she was, and that she would never need a voice to converse with him.

For the moment, however, she reached up and undid the clasp of the collar, letting it hang loosely around her neck as she leaned forwards and spoke in a gentle, soft voice, stitches stretching over her mouth: "I agree with Zerrex. Dad... often gives second chances. And it's true that sometimes, these second chances are abused... but we do not judge people based upon the actions of their race. We are demons ourselves, after all, and many who become demons do so because of evil actions in life, but we give all of them a chance to redeem themselves here."

She smiled a bit over at her father, then she reached up and quietly closed the clasp: whenever the collar she wore was on, she could not speak. It seemed cruel... but the reality of it was far different. The collar symbolized her bond to her father as a Disciple, a choice she had willingly made herself... and likewise, the collar was something she willingly chose to wear. If Zerrex had done the opposite, made it so she had to wear the collar in order to speak, it would have been like attaching strings to a gift: bribing her with the gift of a voice so she would be forced to wear the symbol of submission and loyalty.

Instead, she wore it in spite of what it did... and that fortified their bond, and made him prouder of her every day she went through life, taking it off only during council meetings and when someone was being particularly stupid about something. Mercy of the Ages Narrius, daughter of Zerrex and Lilith, a demoness born with a disability and the frame of a mortal in a world where power often decided your position in the grand hierarchy of things. But Mercy had risen above that, and gone far beyond what was expected of her... and now, she served as a High Princess, and was well on her way to becoming one of Hell's most-talented mages.

On the other side of the middle throne, another female stood up and pulled off her silvery mask, smiling softly as her golden scales glimmered, her rainbow irises seeming to glow with their own kaleidoscopic light. She looked like a simple mortal Drakkaren... but Lilith was an ancient original demoness and a master shapeshifter, and the form she stayed in was not her true body, but one she took on to feel closer to that of her husband. "I agree as well..." She paused, awkwardly putting the mask down on the table in front of her before adjusting the ceremonial silver armor she wore overtop her flowing white robes, and then she glanced up after a moment with a bit of a blush, even as Vivien looked at her moodily. "No, no, I have... I have my own reasons, High Queen, not just because of my relationship with Zerrex. She reminds me... of myself, if you must know."

"And I see myself in you as well, but different. Romance, emotion... things I do not know." Celeste said softly, squeezing Zerrex's hand slowly between his own... or maybe the tightening of her grip was just his imagination, as he looked over at her, and her eyes slowly drew their way to him as she smiled a bit. "Yes. Husband and wife. There is much similarity between you both... and yet also, much that is different. It is admirable, the way you two have come together through adversity. Much adversity, with others, and with yourselves. Lilith... but you prefer to be called Lily. I like that."

She fell quiet... and as Lily sat, the last throne stood, pulling her own mask carefully off and rolling her shoulders as she grinned slightly, putting her hands on hips covered by what looked like molten metal: and that indeed was what it was, black steel and rock made from solidified slag that the female's powers let her control, covering her groin and hips and breasts, but leaving chiseled abs with faint black trails of scar over it bare. Her horns were large and proud, one broken off near the end, and her eyes were a beautiful obsidian, reflective and passionate, her red scales clinging tight to a body covered in thick muscle. She was tall, her breasts enormous, looking very little like she belonged as a High Throne... but Vivien had kept her on for more reasons than just because she had once been an Inquisitor, or a demon in charge of punishing particularly-nasty or special prisoners around Hell.

Around her neck was a black metal collar, with a clasp that seemed so deep and dark it absorbed the light around it... and the Passion threw her head back and laughed before she leaned forwards over the table, muscular, tall body flexing as she said amusedly: "I know I used to be a bitch about this whole thing... but ever since we dragged Zerrex's sorry ass out of that goddamn forest and Aluinnia moved down here to Hell, it really seems like not even him picking up strays can ruin my fucking mood. Besides." The female's eyes roved over the Strange Beast, her stony, beautiful-in-their-roughness features tensing thoughtfully. "It might be good to have her around. The enemy of my enemy is my friend or some shit, right?"

"Selena, I almost miss the days where you'd beat me for even looking at other females." Zerrex said mildly, and Selena laughed again and sat back in the throne, grinning slightly even as she rose her right hand to her lips and quietly kissed the silver ring she wore. She was also a wife of Zerrex's: in Hell, polygamous relationships were the norm, although even now the Drakkaren sometimes thought awkwardly that he'd never really get used to having all these people dedicated to them... although the second, simpler black ring on Selena's finger belonged to the Passion's own wife. "We're a weird family."

"You're telling me." Selena said mildly, and then she glanced over at Lily and smiled a little, then she finally looked at Vivien, who looked disgruntled and unconvinced. "Okay, maybe it's because she almost made Ixin cry, too. I hate that fucking asshole. But... I've learned to trust the people Zerrex says to trust. I mean, none of us wanted to trust that bitch Anathema at first, but now look at her."

Vivien rolled her eyes as there were a few mumbles around the table, and then the horse looked over at Zerrex, her gaze half-apologetic, half-challenging as she said quietly: "Yes, but we also know the cost of trust as well... one particular instance comes to mind, someone whom I believe you were just visiting. Mersault Magnus Camus."

"And I trusted him even when he became my enemy, Vivien." Zerrex said quietly, grimacing a bit. It was a nasty subject to bring up, even after all these years, and he could feel the way several people tensed up over it... but the reptile also knew that Vivien nonetheless had a point, too. "But this isn't like Camus. He wasn't a Broken who came to me, telling me he wanted peace and then turning on me at the last second. I didn't know he was a Broken until..."

Zerrex broke off, glancing away and grimacing as memories came back... and then he looked down as he felt the Strange Beast squeeze his hand with both of hers, and she murmured: "You call them Broken... it is a fitting name for such creatures. So sad, so sad... living souls, trapped without living bodies, maddened by the very thing that keeps them alive. They existed even when the universe was young, after all... they will exist long after it dies, too."

"Enough." Vivien shook her head slowly, looking out over the council... but she sighed after a moment, saying dryly: "Does anyone have any serious objections to granting the Strange Beast a period of observation at the Ravenlight Estate?"

There were mumbles, but no one present spoke up... and after a moment, Vivien nodded, then sighed and rubbed at her face slowly, saying finally: "But as I said before. I want a control collar fitted on her, and for her to be under observation. Preferably from your own Disciples, Zerrex Narrius... I do not want Royal Guards playing nursemaid to her when we have the very real threat of other Strange Beasts looming over us constantly."

"Of course. I'll assign some of my Iuratus to the job." Zerrex replied evenly, and the two looked at each other for a moment before Vivien nodded curtly, and he withheld a sigh of relief as he began to turn away.

"I am not finished with you yet, Zerrex." Vivien said dangerously, and the reptile winced, half-turned away and grimacing as he looked over his shoulder at her. She glared at him, then glanced at the council, gesturing shortly at the table. "We are in recess for an hour. Lord Zerrex, kindly follow me, if you will, along with your new... companion."

Zerrex groaned loudly as people began to shuffle around, and then the reptile's shoulders slumped as he moodily followed Vivien towards a set of double doors. Amazon guards half-hiding in the shadows stepped quickly forwards to pull these open for her as she approached, and she grunted at the guards outside on the ledge, the Amazons wincing and hurrying inside as Zerrex and the High Queen walked out, with Celeste in tow, frowning curiously. The doors closed behind them, the male looking over his shoulder and grimacing to the other four High Thrones, who were all watching curiously... and then he slowly turned around as Vivien stood for a moment with her back to him, and then she turned around and glared at him.

"How many times do I have to tell you, you can't just go to the Center of the Universe any time you wish?" she shouted furiously, and Zerrex yelped and covered his head as she stormed forwards, gesturing violently and eyes blazing with light as Celeste let her hands hang by her sides, only looking curious and not in the slightest perturbed the fury of the female. "This is the tenth time this month! Zerrex Narrius, you idiot, you lunatic, you Lucifer-cursed... jackass! You're going to kill yourself if you keep this up!"

"I'm fine!" Zerrex retorted, and then he staggered backwards, pinwheeling his arms for balance as he barely avoided a wild grab from the equine. "Okay, okay! I won't do it again this month, I promise!"

The two glared at each other, breathing hard... and then Celeste said softly: "I see. You do not require a Gateway to reach the Center of the Universe... but instead, you use up a massive quantity of energy by travelling in and out of the dissociation. Her concern also has to do with the welfare of Hell... but mostly, it is for you. As a friend."

"Stop reading my mind." Vivien said darkly, and then she looked at Zerrex before she walked towards him, the two looking eye-to-eye as she crossed her arms. They were almost the same exact height, with her only an inch or two taller... but Zerrex shrank nonetheless under her gaze. "And you. You can't just bring Strange Beasts to Hell. You can't continue to run away from your responsibilities to Elysium's Thrones. And for the love of Lucifer, please rein in your Disciples and remind both Mercy and Selena they must serve their duties to Elysium first, and to you second in the public eye. I don't care about privately, but I am tired of running council sessions only for you to show up and Mercy to get up in the middle of things to give you a hug, and the way Selena sits and talks with you while we're trying to do the budget.

"Speaking of which," she said loudly, as Zerrex began to slowly step backwards, and the reptile winced and grabbed at his scalp as she glared down at him. "You need to start attending each and every council meeting. It is your duty, Ambassador... as it is your duty to go to the space colonies that still exist, meet with their leaders, and work on negotiating fair trade operations. Do not send your muscle-head son, do not send Naganen, and for the love of the seven sins do not send Mercy, who I must again remind you, is your superior, as is Selena, when we are in public meetings."

"Yell at them, don't yell at me." Zerrex mumbled, and then he squeaked when Vivien growled at him, wincing backwards.

"You arrogant little snot-nosed runt of a lizard! They don't listen to me, because you are their master, their god, their... everything!" Vivien threw her arms out angrily, and then she glared at Celeste when she gently grasped her shoulder, asking sharply: "What do you want?"

"Your emotions confuse me. Why do you not simply tell him that you feel hurt and upset, instead of trying to anger him? Why do you lash out... just as likewise, Zerrex Narrius, you act cowed and wince away, yet know none of her physical blows could harm you. You dislike being scolded, and yet both of you are aware you could easily kill her. Why act so afraid? Especially when you know from the start what is wrong. When you feel like you should give her a hug, instead of acting scared?" Celeste asked curiously, looking from one to the other, and both Vivien and Zerrex blushed and turned their backs on one-another, before the Strange Beast lowered her head embarrassedly. "I am sorry. I did not mean to upset you both."

They both mumbled... and then Zerrex finally muttered: "Okay, maybe we do need a silence collar on her or something. And... well..." She looked awkwardly over at Celeste, as if to ask a question, and the Strange Beast glanced at him, then nodded seriously. And Zerrex turned around, then stepped over to Vivien, reaching his arms up hesitantly, wincing as if he was trying to touch a hot iron or poke a large, angry dragon... and slowly, he hugged the High Queen, saying embarrassedly: "I'm sorry for. You know."

Vivien stiffened up... but then she only sighed and dropped her head forwards, letting him hug her before shaking his hands firmly off and turning around, shoving him a foot away... but she smiled a bit after a moment, saying dryly: "And I'm sorry too, for... being a bitch, as I believe Selena enjoys putting it. But I am a Pride devil, and I know that feeling as out-of-control as I often do with the High Thrones leaves me... angry. Yet I also know that despite their loyalties to you, despite how much they frustrate me, despite... everything about them, which is somehow magnified a thousand times worse when you are around - who, by the way, is a million times harder to deal with than any of them are on the nastiest of days - they are all also confident, capable, and know their jobs well. It would be a lie to say I've never considered other candidates... but I'm also aware that getting these other candidates to accept such a position would be a grueling task."

"Sabnock's still saying no?" Zerrex asked curiously, and Vivien nodded after a moment. The reptile, however, only smiled a bit, saying quietly: "She was always like that, though. She would never even accept the position of Grand Magistrate... says making laws and overseeing others is not nearly as fulfilling a task as discussing laws and maintaining the smaller gears of the legal system."

Vivien only shook her head, and then she sighed as she walked to the edge of the balcony, saying quietly: "But there is one other thing I want to talk to you about..."

"Are you going to actually talk to me or are you going to start hitting me again?" Zerrex asked mildly, and then he winced and ducked backwards, raising his hands when she shot a flat look at him. "Please don't explode me or something."

"Zerrex..." Vivien glared at him... and then she sighed and shook her head slowly before looking up towards the darkening sky above. The reptile frowned a bit now, becoming more serious as he let his hands drop to his side and beside him, Celeste cocked her head for a moment... and then Vivien said quietly: "I understand that it's been roughly a month since your last transformation. You and I both know that you need to go down into the Deep Temple more often than that these days, Lord Zerrex."

The Drakkaren grimaced, features hardening slightly as he said in a voice that was sharper than intended: "That's none of your goddamn business, Vivien. Besides, look at me, I'm fine... and if I keep myself exercised and occupied it... he... he doesn't bother me so much. Talking about it is only going to stir him up."

"Him is you." Vivien said pointedly, turning around and looking at him coldly. Their eyes met, intense wills clashing before she added darkly, pointing at him: "And don't speak to me like that, Zerrex Narrius, because it became my business the last time you lost control of Negative and he leveled a monument of Az'Iriel in the Northern Province. The costs to rebuild it were tremendous, and worse yet were the injuries... among them, your own Disciples, if I remember properly."

Now Zerrex flushed with embarrassment as well as anger, glancing away before Vivien stepped forwards and touched his arm, and the reptile was surprised at the contact as her features softened slightly and she said quietly: "Listen. I'm saying this because I care. I care about you, and I care about Hell. Yes, my concern for your welfare also has to do with the fact that you are a God of Energy, making you a very, very powerful ally to have on my side... but in the short time we've known each other, you've proven to be both loyal and courteous. At least when it suits you, which I wish was more often."

She glowered at him again, and then put her hands behind her back, turning around and striding slowly to the edge of the balcony as she gazed out over the land far, far below, the vast provinces and terrain of Elysium little more than splotches of color this high up as she said softly: "I know that you are... uncomfortable with the subject of Negative, and treat him as a different being from you. I recognize from the... few encounters I have had with him... that he almost is. But we also both know how he came to be. You, a God of Fertility and Energy, killed yourself in the battle against Camus with a weapon made by Anathema and the Reapers. As a God of Life, essentially, this went against what you stood for, caused you to Invert: you became a God of Destruction, you became Negative, and you and Camus destroyed each other.

"You tell us, whether we believe it or not, that when you and Camus were dying, your very souls dissolving in the dissociation, Camus... shoved you back. Gave you the last of his strength, died to give your soul the energy it needed to return to Hell." Vivien paused at this, rubbing a hand slowly along the banister as she looked at him, the Drakkaren silent. "And we know for a fact that you were dragged out of the Forest of the Departed by your Disciples, where your soul had been greedily snatched up by a Suicide Tree. We know it was destroyed and your soul recovered, and we know there was a great sacrifice..."

And now it was Vivien who fell silent, looking down slowly, and Zerrex softened immediately. The subject of Firenze was difficult for them both, and possibly the one thing they both agreed on all the time: but while Zerrex mourned the loss of his son, Vivien mourned the loss of a friend, and the loss of a mentor.

Firenze had been someone she had looked up to, had started to respect almost immediately after her first invitation to the Grand Council years ago, when Firenze had been working out the laws and regulations for the holy orders of Hell. As Abbess of the Burning Harmony, she was forbidden to pursue relationships, but Zerrex knew now that she had been attracted to his son... although the awkward, workaholic male had never really noticed, and she had never gotten to spend nearly as much time with him as she had wanted. And she had never told him how she felt: but it was also why, despite how much she yelled at him and how angry Zerrex could get with her, Vivien and the Drakkaren could still sit down every now and then and have a good, comfortable conversation.

The Drakkaren smiled a little, and Vivien frowned at him before Celeste said quietly behind the male: "It is true. Death does not have to be joyless: mourning does not have to be sadness. You two were brought together by a tragic loss... and yet, I sense that now it is more than simply Firenze that bonds you both. And although I never met him... I sense he would be honored by the love you both have for this Firenze."

Vivien looked sharply at Celeste, and then she shook her head quickly, muttering as she rubbed slowly at her skull: "Stop getting into my head, Celeste."

"You used my name. You thought of me as a person, not merely a Strange Beast." The creature looked down at the ground, and both Zerrex and Vivien looked at her before she gazed back up with a faint smile, her eyes shimmering. "This means much to me."

"I..." Vivien broke off as Celeste only continued to stare at her, and then she winced a bit before looking at Zerrex, speaking in a drier voice as she tried to act as if nothing had happened: "Your energies somehow retained the essence of Negative, despite... your revival as yourself. From the research that's been done, it has something to do with the fact you have the essences of multiple gods inside of you... and whether or not they've bonded fully with your own energies or not and made you into this... this thing you are now... they're still strong enough to have left imprints on your soul, like... like how sins imprint on the souls of demons, help shape them towards what they eventually become. And Negative has stained these imprints and clung to them somehow."

"Why the history lesson, Vivien? Especially about my history? I was kind of there." Zerrex replied flatly, but his anger had abated now, as he crossed his arms moodily and looked down at her... and he was surprised when she smiled faintly at him in return, shaking her head slowly. "What?"

"Because you have a tendency to refuse to look back at your past. While I admire your ability to leave things where they lay and not kick sleeping hydras, you nonetheless sometimes have to awaken bad memories in order to build a better future." Vivien said softly, and the Drakkaren glanced down, rubbing the back of his head slowly before he winced when she asked quietly: "Or would you prefer to reenact, again and again, the scenes that play out whenever you resist Negative for too long?"

Zerrex looked down quietly, knowing she was speaking the truth, and that she was right: what he was doing was dangerous. Slowly, he looked down at his right palm, examining the scales there, the natural green, how normal - if large and rough - his hands looked... and yet beneath his right arm was no natural flesh, but instead metal and stone and a terrible, ugly claw. "Vivien... I... how can I explain what it's like, though? Letting the darkness of Negative take over, trying to control myself when I can feel my very emotions slipping away and him... running my body, me barely able to resist when he starts forcibly taking over... it... it reminds me of what I almost did when Camus and I fought. What I would have done if Camus and I hadn't destroyed each other... and maybe worst of all, how many people suffered way back when I was still using my armlet on a regular basis to control my powers, and that goddamn bastard Ultima wormed his way into my body through it and made me... kill my friends and family. The fact that we only lost one person at the end of the day is still a goddamn miracle..."

"Negative is not an evil spirit, though... he's an Inversion. He's your sense of morals, of right and wrong, your values turned upside-down." Vivien looked at him for a few moments, and then she said softly: "And he is also still you, and I know that despite how much you hate it... you are learning to better control that side of you as well."

"But he's not!" Zerrex shouted, throwing his arms out in frustration as he stormed back and forth, and he gritted his teeth as he gestured violently, saying sharply: "I know, I know, no one else can... can see him when he's there, but goddammit, sometimes he's here, in this very same world! I know how insane it sounds... only I can ever see him, only I ever see the things he does, but the son of a bitch taunts me, talks to me, and sometimes just wanders around, looking at things. I know that not even Marina can see him, but... shouldn't that say something in itself? If I was really delusional, if I was really so crazy I was trying to make him real in at least my mind so I didn't have to feel guilty about the things he makes me do, then wouldn't she see him in my mind? But he hides himself somehow, even from her!"

"Calm down." Vivien said quietly, raising a hand to him, and Zerrex's teeth ground together... but then he nodded after a moment, making a face and crossing his arms moodily as he breathed hard in and out. "Whether he's real or not, you are still the physical presence. The person Negative uses to express himself through, because again, whether real or not, he doesn't seem able to hurt or even contact anyone outside of you during these... wandering sessions outside of your mind. And he does not possess you: you become him, your body undergoes a physical transformation and your mindset often changes with it. But there have also been times where you have successfully transformed into Negative and kept yourself at bay. Where, in fact, you utilized his form and powers to help others."

"If you can call annihilating monsters and Strange Beasts helping others." Zerrex muttered moodily, crossing his arms... but he nodded hesitantly nonetheless, glancing away. It was true, after all: although his emotions became... strange, and his thoughts felt distant and he had to work hard to control himself... the Drakkaren could still keep himself under control, and for increasing periods of time. "But gods know I don't want that, Vivien. I understand more and more every day why Camus went so... so insane, why he was willing to sacrifice so much for a chance to be able to create instead of destroy. All Negative does is destroy or corrupt... and it's awful, Vivien, it's... it's awful to only be able to do that, even the pleasure in it feels... sick, and often cowardly. I can't... I can't imagine how it must have felt for Camus, as a Broken."

The Celestial Devil looked at him for a few moments, and then she nodded slowly with a quiet sigh, rubbing at her face and murmuring: "Nonetheless, though, I thought we had an agreement. You don't have to wear a monitoring mechanism or a control collar, but you're supposed to undergo weekly transformations. The more often you allow your spirit to Invert, and the more time you spend in that form, the more you seem to adjust to it, as if building up a resistance to a poison. And the less it seems like Negative is able to control your actions... but when you start spending long periods of time without Inverting..."

"Negative eventually swoops in and takes over, I know, I know. But... Vivien, I'm scared." Zerrex said plaintively, and then he closed his eyes and lowered his head, a shudder passing through his body as the female gazed at him sympathetically. "Negative thrives off... pain, and hurting people. And he knows that my Disciples... because they're linked to me, they become linked to him as well, when I'm in that form. And Negative... enjoys hurting them. Putting them at each other's throats... trying to corrupt them. You don't have to tell me how nasty some of them get when I'm in that shape, either. I've seen the logs of what Cherry's done to other people, of how she... loses some of that restraint she has."

"It never fails to amaze me that Cherry actually does have restraint, however she acts." Vivien muttered as she crossed her arms, and Zerrex couldn't help but smile a little, even with the dark mood he felt slowly settling in. "But you also have Disciples who are extremely resistant to Negative's corruption. Who, as I recall, actually can help restrain him... and you also have the Deep Temple, or Acheron to go to and hide away in until you feel your body reverting to its normal form, and the control collar you can wear as well. You have options, Zerrex. You should put them to better use, especially considering how goddamn long your Disciples spent finding and building these things for you."

Zerrex smiled awkwardly despite himself, and then he nodded a bit when Vivien sighed and reached out to touch his chest, mumbling to herself before she grimaced. "But for now, just go and get some rest. Your energy levels are fluctuating and too low to safely undergo Inversion without risking your body's health right now, anyway. And take the Strange Beast with you."

"Do not worry. I will not betray you, nor Zerrex... and nor do I hold your fears against you." Celeste said softly, and Vivien gritted her teeth, which made the Strange Beast blush a bit as she glanced down. "My apologies. Shall we go, Zerrex Narrius? I would be glad to make a Gateway for you."

"No, it's fine. We can portal in Hell, I can do that much magic, at least." Zerrex said softly, as he began to hold up a hand... and then he glared at Vivien when she snapped her fingers and a white portal appeared, saying flatly: "That really wasn't necessary."

"Just get out of here." Vivien replied sharply, and Zerrex grunted, the two glowering at each other... before both hesitantly smiled, and then the lizard nodded to her before he carefully took Celeste's arm and guided her towards the portal. They stepped through it, and it was like stepping through a doorway, making Zerrex wince a bit at the strange vertigo it gave him to suddenly be standing not on the balcony, but instead in front of the double doors leading into his home: the Ravenlight Estate, an immense mansion with hundreds of rooms, many of which had been occupied once upon a time... but now, it was a little lonelier here, since Zerrex had lost many of his children, all of whom had once lived here.

Celeste looked at him, but didn't speak... and the reptile was glad for it, as he walked towards the double doors and pushed them open, stepping through into the enormous entrance hall. He glanced up towards the enormous chandeliers of gold that hung overhead, and Celeste looked slowly back and forth, her features lighting up at the sight of the interior: the paintings that hung on the walls, suits of armor that stood in regal display, the huge staircase that went up to a central landing. From there, stairs on either side of it rose towards the doors at the side of the hall... and Zerrex pulled Celeste gently into the room, walking towards the steps as he said quietly: "Come on, we'll head over to my room. I have a few different power restrictors... one of them should work on you."

She only nodded silently as they headed up the stairs, then towards the right door... and Zerrex pushed this open, smiling a bit as they stepped into a long hall, his boots quietly thudding against the hardwood floor. These rooms were occupied mostly by his wives: Lily, Selena, Anathema Sin... and the others were empty, or used for storage. The reptile looked over his shoulder, but Celeste's eyes were rapt as she looked from door-to-door, as if not seeing merely wood but looking through them, as if her eyes were picking up every detail inside every room... and then, as they reached the Drakkaren's, she turned her full attention forwards as the reptile pushed through the doorway and into his bedroom.

His large bed rested against the wall in the rough middle of the room, a table on one side of this stacked with several wooden boxes, and shelves along the other wall... and his dresser was near another corner, books haphazardly laying all over this. A rack that held a huge sword was inset into one wall, and Zerrex smiled a bit at this as he gazed over the silvery, foot-thick and six-foot-long blade and at the black metal handle, a ruby pommel glimmering on the hilt... and the sword seemed to glow a faint blue as his eyes roved over it before Celeste said softly: "Blackheart. An interesting choice in names..."

Zerrex looked at her mildly, and then he simply shook his head before approaching the table, absently moving aside a cane that was leaning against it: it had a polished black steel body and a handle that was shaped like the head of a dragon in mid-roar, intricately detailed and with red gemstones inset for its eyes. When Zerrex touched it, white runes glowed into brief life down the length of the metal, and he smiled a bit as he let his eyes linger on it before returning them to the boxes, picking one up and opening it as he muttered: "Psychic repressors, now... where are you..."

"She is beautiful." Celeste said softly... and Zerrex's face lost all expression for a moment as he looked quietly at the wall and slowly closed the wooden box, his hands gripping tightly into the material. Then his gaze roved slowly to the side, settling on the painting above his bed, of a softly-smiling female Drakkaren in simple black clothing, wearing gold armlets inset with enormous, oval rubies and a matching choker around her neck. "Alisha."

"Allie. I... always called her Allie." Zerrex replied quietly, stroking slowly over the wooden surface of the box, and then he cleared his throat before tossing it aside and picking up another box, trying to hide the faint tremble of his hands as he felt Celeste's eyes settle on his back. "I... here, this is a control collar. I think it used to belong to Firenze, but... it should repress your psychic abilities because it'll keep your mind calm and lucid."

He lifted the segmented black metal collar free of the box, blue, soporific runes pulsing warmly over the outside of it at the lizard's touch as he turned around... and he winced and reared back in surprise when he saw Celeste standing less than a foot away, looking at him silently. He looked back, and then she slowly reached her arms up, and the reptile thought for a moment she was going to choke him... but then instead, she awkwardly hugged him, and he looked at her dumbly, his hands and the collar pressed against her breasts as she said softly: "We never made such contact at home, but I had a sense that you were in need of this. It is a strange way to express emotion, physically instead of verbally, but I sense that it may be helpful to you creatures with your difficult minds."

Zerrex smiled awkwardly at her, appreciating what she was trying to do... and then he nodded slowly before gently slipping a hand out from between them and awkwardly patting her on the back. She gazed up at him, then, wordlessly, rose her muzzle... and Zerrex thought dumbly for a moment she wanted to kiss him... but she stayed still, almost frozen, and he realized stupidly a moment later she was simply waiting for him to put the collar on.

He carefully slipped the segmented steel around her neck, maneuvering it gently to the inside of the thick, tube-like protrusions that half-circled around her throat, then he slid the small steel prongs at one end of the collar into the slots at the other, and pressed down on a large button at the front, decorated with the symbol of the Compass Thrones of Hell... and the moment it clicked shut around her neck, the runes pulsed firmly before the collar pulled itself tighter against her neck. Celeste winced for a moment, her gills spasming... and then she closed her eyes before grabbing the lizard and trembling a bit, looking up at him with fear as she whispered: "My... my mind feels so empty, I can't hear anything, can't feel you as clearly... I... is something wrong?"

"Celeste, it's okay." Zerrex said quietly... and immediately, the female relaxed in his grip, the reptile feeling dumb surprise at how quickly she calmed down before he asked slowly: "Are... are you sure you're alright? I'm sorry, I didn't even think of how much of a shock it would be for you... you must be... so used to always sensing others and hearing their thoughts, it... it must not be nice for you to feel you mind... empty."

"It is... difficult, yes. But you told me nothing is wrong, and I believe you." Celeste said softly, and Zerrex looked at her with surprise before she tilted her head curiously. "Why would I not believe you, Zerrex? You gain nothing from lying to me. And if you wanted to hurt me, you would have done it long before now, and spared yourself the frustration of earlier when we met the High Monarchs."

She stopped, then added in her quiet, calm voice: "When we... make contact, I can faintly hear your thoughts, feel your emotions as if touching an object covered by thick cloth... and I see that I come across as... naïve. The emotion, the idea of this is a foreign one to me, and I am not offended by it, do not worry. I understand why you feel this way about me. But I also feel the gladness of trust... and I have faith that you will not mislead or injure me."

Zerrex nodded slowly... and then he stepped carefully back from her, saying softly: "But why? Why do you trust me so much? I can sense emotions too, Celeste, and even though yours are strange and hard to read... and I mean, I'm definitely nowhere near as good at it as you are... I know that you were more... more distant with Vivien."

Celeste nodded, and Zerrex couldn't help but admire the way she didn't hesitate at all. "Because as I have said before... in you is the essence of Creation. I am drawn to this. As well, I have observed you for a long period of time: years, during which I learned about you, your motivations, your sense of right and wrong. I have seen you when you thought no one else was watching, and I have witnessed your core, and I have come to understand why Creation... why Naganis... chose to save you when he could have easily let you dissolve, or given his energies to another. You are special, Zerrex Narrius. Not because of your power... because of your soul."

Zerrex looked away awkwardly... and then he finally shook his head, saying lamely: "We... we should get you into some clothes."

"I do not wish to wear clothing." Celeste replied calmly and seriously, and Zerrex groaned and rubbed at his forehead. "Is it of great importance?"

"I... well... no." Zerrex finally admitted grudgingly, rubbing at his face with a grimace. "We are in Hell, and there's... no shortage of nudity even in the mortal world these days. I... won't force you to put clothes on if it really bothers you that much, Celeste, although... well... were you always naked when you lived with the First Gods?"

He stopped as he realized he had a thousand other questions he wanted to ask... but Celeste only smiled at him in her strange way as she looked at him, likely not needing to be psychic to know what he was thinking. "Except during special occasions, when I danced for him, or sang songs. But I shall not sing for you, Zerrex Narrius, not yet: our songs are sacred, and honor the listener as well as our heroes. Our songs were written for the tribute of the First Gods. I would prefer to better know you before I sing for you."

Zerrex looked at her for a few moments, and then he finally smiled a little, shaking his head slowly. "Your culture is as strange to me, as mine is to you, Celeste. I... think I understand though. But come on, then, we should find Serenity and introduce you to my family, and whoever among my Disciples she's managed to dig up, too."

Celeste nodded slowly to him, and Zerrex looked at her for a moment longer as she reached up to touch her own skull quietly, before he asked softly: "Are you sure you're okay, though? We can find another collar for you to wear, there's all kinds throughout Hell... or something that just stops the voices and feelings from entering your mind without you concentrating, you know, an interrupt."

"No, I do not wish to inconvenience you further. I'm sure given time I'll adjust... it just... feels strange, without the voices speaking to me, without being able to feel others as clearly as before." she murmured softly, and then she held one of her hands out, looking almost timid. "Will you... hold this, as you did before? I would like to at least feel... your thoughts, your emotions, for the moment. It would soothe me."

Zerrex smiled softly at this, nodding and taking her hand gently... and she immediately laced her fingers with his, grasping his hand with both her own as she lowered her head forwards slightly, breathing softly in and out. With every breath she took, her gills fluttered... and the reptile watched this for a moment before he shook his head a bit and turned, saying softly: "Alright then. Let's head out to the main hall."

She nodded, following him quietly as Zerrex glanced up and concentrated, sending out a mental signal to his Disciples... and he smiled slightly when he pushed open the door at the end of the hall just in time to see a large portal closing near the front doors, Serenity standing at attention near the foot of the stairs and the other members of what many referred to as his core family gazing up at him with warmth.

Cherry Blossom Narrius, grinning a bit, her muscular arms crossed and thick body leaning complacently against Cindy: her blue eyes burning out of her skull, her green scales tight against her powerful frame, her enormous breasts barely restrained by the tight exercise top she was wearing. Five large, golden fins stuck out of her skull, going from her forehead to the back of her neck, the largest in the center and the smallest at the front and back. Dark trails of black scar that looked almost like faded spraypaint crossed her abdominals, yet Zerrex found they didn't mar her body, but only added to her beauty... just as the other scars on her form did, even the enormous web-work of scar tissue that covered one entire breast and branched outwards along her collarbone and over her body.

Scars weren't the only additions to her body, however: not only did she have a multitude of piercings - the visible ones in her nostrils, above one eye, and the tip of her tail only the tip of the iceberg - but she also had a multitude of tattoos: a wreathe of spiraling flames that went around one breast and curled down the side of her body to wrap around her waist like a belt, a 'II' with a swirling border just above her collarbone, a thick black swastika in imitation of Zerrex on one bicep... and her most recent addition, a blossomed black rose that surrounded her eye, much like the one Mercy had. Cherry had, in fact, grudgingly admitted that was where she had gotten the idea from... and she could think of no better way to honor the master she served than by wearing a symbol of him upon her features.

Her clothing, too, spoke worlds about her: from the exercise top to the tight leather pants that bulged almost ominously in the groin - Cherry was a shapeshifter who delighted in spending most of her time as a hermaphrodite, and not just because of her testosterone-charged body - and the heavy, spike-covered motorcycle boots she wore, she was unique from top to bottom. A single silver ring gleamed on one finger, and a collar was tight around her throat, made of supple black leather and with a clasp upon which was engraved the same stylized 'II' as was tattooed on her tailbone, clearly displaying her loyalties, and the position she cherished. As Zerrex's second, as a slave to her master, as a Disciple and servant to her god... and yet, too, she was also a beloved daughter to a male she looked up to as Father.

Cindy, beside her, had a softer expression on her face: features with the same emerald and navy scales as Zerrex, and eyes of a gentler sapphire than those of the female beside her. Her body was not quite as thick as Cherry's, but still looked chiseled and strong, a bit beyond the athletic frame of Serenity, and from her head fell long, white hair, currently braided into two long pigtails that fell along either shoulder. She smiled at Zerrex as their eyes met, rolling her broad shoulders as she stood with her arm wrapped loosely around Cherry's waist, the two females almost the same height: but Cherry's fins added six or so extra inches, making her a little taller than either Cindy or Zerrex, which she enjoyed gloating about every now and then.

A spiked collar rested around her neck, from which the Hez'Rannan rune for 'Iuratus' dangled, and similar spiked bracelets encircled either wrist: combined with rugged jeans, heavy black boots, and the ripped shirt she wore that clung to her bust and showed off her abdominals, and was torn to leave her arms and most of her back bare, it gave her a distinctly punk-rocker kind of look. And, only adding further to this, was the tattoo that went across her entire back: a massive tattoo of a cherry tree in full, beautiful blossom, detailed to the last petal... and with gnarled roots that transformed into vines covered in black roses in full bloom. A tattoo that clearly showed her own loyalties... her deep love for Cherry, who she saw as not only a sister, but a partner, and her endless love and appreciation for her father, Zerrex, to whom she had also pledged herself as Disciple.

Once upon a time, Cindy had been small and meek, and after she died she had become an angel... yet after the loss of her father, she had been unable to cope. She had turned to Cherry for comfort and love... but even though they had helped each other, they had also hurt each other, too, challenging one another's morals, forgetting themselves and their upbringing. When Zerrex had returned, there had been chaos... but after Cherry had reminded herself of who she was, Cindy had reminded herself that she had always loved Zerrex: Zerrex, her father, a male who had raped her mother... but when they had met, the two had no way of knowing who the other was. Years had passed where they had known each other, become friends, become closer... until Cindy had figured out the truth of the matter. And even then, she had been unable stop loving him... even then, she had given herself to him, but that was a story for another day, from a time so distant it seemed almost like a dream.

Cindy had given herself to Zerrex: not only to be closer to him, but to be closer to Cherry and more like those she admired, for their loyalty, their devotion... their fearlessness. She had been changed physically, reshaped, remade, and now she was his Iuratus, his Disciple, a lover of Cherry and a lover of her father. The two were almost inseparable, and yet Zerrex could never be jealous of either of them, because either would die to see him smile... and if anything, that was no exaggeration, but an understatement.

His eyes roved to the next in line, a softly-smiling female in only a loincloth and a simple cloth wrap around her breasts, her scales a pretty beryl that faded to a tan-green over her chest and her eyes vibrant emerald. A black, sectioned fin rose from her skull, going from her forehead to the back of her neck, and her frame was slender and beautiful, almost mortal except for her height... and the aura of pure power that radiated off her, as Zerrex felt mental fingers tickling through his mind gently as their eyes met.

Marina Narrius, daughter of himself and Cindy when they had long ago been mortal... and who had slain two of his other children to gain the powers she possessed, sacrificing them to become something between demoness and goddess. Yet she had been unable to totally restrain herself, always on the edge of insanity, obsessed with her father and devoted to him as a slave first, daughter second... until finally, with no real choice, Zerrex had made her a Disciple. Yet the process had not only given her greater power, it had also stabilized her mind... and the collar she wore, black and imposing, with a heavy lock on the front of it that could only be undone by her own mental powers or Zerrex's hands, restrained her abilities. Abilities that rivaled Zerrex's own... but the use of which rapidly warped and distorted her own body.

Three Drakkaren daughters... and two lupine sons also stood nearby, one waving happily and bouncing up and down as the other awkwardly rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish grin. Mahihko and Lone, two wolves that were at the same time one singular entity that nonetheless had possessed such a split in their personality they could manifest as two different beings. One was the cute little wolf that was hopping excitedly from oversized paw to oversized paw, wearing a pretty little black skirt and a pink blouse, his slender frame and large, black diamond-shaped ruff making it hard to tell that he was a male. His black-tipped ears twitched back and forth, and his grey eyes looked brightly up at Zerrex as the piercings in his body glinted: while Cherry may have plenty, Mahihko had dozens, with the two lines of rings down the underside of his muzzle, the rings and barbells in his ears, the rings in his nostrils.

He even put Cherry to shame when it came to tattoos: snowflake-like swastikas on either shoulder, purple flames on his sides, beneath each armpit, and a massive, arcing 'Property of Zerrex' tattoo that covered his lower back... not to mention the enormous crossed sword and revolver that went across his buttocks, and the lightning bolts that went down either leg. And, several years back, the wolf had added another set of tattoos as well, across either forearm: 'For' on one, and 'Daddy' on the other. A cute thought, Zerrex had felt... and he smiled a bit as the gemstones on the collar the lupine had tight around his neck glowed dazzlingly, the mood stone studs lighting up with the wolf's happiness as his tail wagged back and forth violently, the pink-dyed tip snapping through the air and making the ribbon tied near the end flutter wildly.

Lone, meanwhile, was a foot and some inches taller than his five-foot-nothing counterpart, a well-muscled white wolf wearing only a black, open vest and tight black jeans, his own large, bare paws shuffling awkwardly against the floor. He had his own large black swastikas on his shoulders - again, in imitation of Zerrex, and it both frustrated and amused him that the other members of his family seemed to think that it would help him deal with people if everyone thought they were Nazis instead of stopping to listen to the lizard's reason why he had a swastika of all things on his arm - and across the two knuckles nearest his thumbs on either hand, the letters L-O-N-E. The wolf had grinned exuberantly after he'd gotten this tattoo and showed them off to everyone he could find... that is, until he'd shown them to Cherry and she had cheerfully punched his hands, almost breaking his fingers.

He also wore his own collar... but instead of mood stones, this one had two long cloth ribbons, which could be tied together to form a bow at the front over the black half-circle clasp. Mahihko's collar, unsurprisingly, had a white half-circle: two halves of a whole, two parts of a balance. The wolves were very different, and yet very much the same, as Lone waved after a moment to Zerrex before bopping Mahihko on the head, making him pout and grab at his skull.

Like everyone here, they too had a story... but then he felt Celeste squeeze both his hands, and she said softly: "And yet you don't dwell on their past. Such twisted and complex relationships... a murderer who became a gentle servant, a meek waitress who fights now as a warrior, a child who now is a fearsome goddess, and a greedy sloth who is now two eager, dedicated children. The path here is a long one... but the journey is worthy."

"Oh shit, she's psychic." Cherry said plaintively, and Cindy sighed and rolled her eyes as Marina glowered at her. Cherry, however, only looked back and forth, unperturbed, before she asked loudly: "Boss, did you fuck her yet?"

Celeste looked curiously at Cherry, and the female grinned stupidly... and then it faltered slightly as she instead peered back at the female before leaning over to Cindy and whispering loudly behind a hand: "Dude, she's creeping me the hell out."

"Cherry, don't be a bitch." Zerrex said dryly, and the muscular female huffed before she squeaked when Cindy drew her arm back from around her and elbowed her firmly in the kidney. "Anyway, all of you... I'd like you to meet Celeste. And you can stand at ease, Serenity, this isn't a formal meeting."

Serenity loosened her stance, relaxing slightly but still looking both serious and somewhat suspicious as the male carefully led the Strange Beast down the stairs, Celeste clinging tightly to her hand... and then Marina winced slightly, touching her head, and the Strange Beast looked at her for a moment before murmuring softly: "I apologize, young girl. My mind is very different from your mind, and the minds you are used to gazing into. When you see into my thoughts, you must have seen a very strange world."

"Your emotions are so... so heavy. Hard to budge, hard to... understand." Marina murmured, touching at her head, and then she glanced at her father as Zerrex looked at her mildly, blushing slightly as she added quietly: "I'm sorry, Daddy. But I really wasn't trying to dig deep into her thoughts... I was only curious to see if her mind was... different."

"It's very different." Celeste said softly, and then she cocked her head slightly as Marina looked at her... and Zerrex was admittedly surprised with the lack of hostility in the female's gaze. Marina, after all, could become intensely jealous of anyone he looked at, much less spent time with, much less held the hand of... and while she was more stable and more sane these days, she nonetheless had never entirely shaken off her bad habits. "Perhaps you could teach me how you resist the temptation of listening to the universe. How you keep your psychic powers in check. I would feel safe with you, I think."

Cherry gaped stupidly at this, Lone also looking dumb even as Mahihko only looked inquisitive... but Marina seemed the most startled of all, as Zerrex looked curiously at Celeste. Only Cindy didn't seem to think this was an entirely odd request, as Serenity gritted her teeth... but the Marina slowly smiled and she half-bowed, saying quietly: "I think I would like that very much, as long as you're okay with it too, Daddy."

"Of course, Marina. I'd... introduce you to the others, Celeste, but it seems you already know who they are." Zerrex smiled wryly at her, but she only nodded slowly, looking at him with her strange, serious eyes before the reptile glanced over at the others, motioning to the Strange Beast. "This is Celeste, though, to the rest of you. She's a Strange Beast, yes, but she asked me for sanctuary when... when we met. She's got... a bad habit of reading people's minds and emotions without asking, but she's already trying to adjust to our culture, so try to be understanding and nice to her, okay?"

The others nodded, then Cherry put her hands behind her head, drawing her eyes along the female's naked body before asking mildly: "So like. Do I get to run around without my clothes on all day too?"

Mahihko looked excited at this prospect for a moment as well, the small wolf beaming before Zerrex said dryly: "Sure, Cherry, you do that. And if you do, then later we can play a game of kickball, if you get my drift."

Cherry cleared her throat at this, reaching down and awkwardly rubbing at her crotch as she muttered: "Point received, party-pooper-pants. Anyway, don't you worry, Boss, we'll spread the word and tell the others not to rag on her. We ain't gonna let shit like what happened with Anathema or Maria happen again, okay?"

For a moment, she looked a little embarrassed, and Zerrex softened as he nodded to her before rolling his eyes when the female leered at the Strange Beast. Before she could say anything to possibly try and offend Celeste, however, Zerrex quickly added dryly: "Also, Vivien said that for the first while, she wants someone... watching out for her. It sounds like Marina's already volunteered for that, but I'd like someone else, too, just so the High Queen will stay off my back."

"You wish she was on your back. Well, actually, I wish she was on her back, if you get my drift." Cherry grinned lecherously, rubbing her hands together, and then she wheezed and arched her back when Cindy glowered at her and slammed her elbow into her kidney again. "Fucking fuck! Ouch, the hell, babe? You can't still be mad about that little fun session I went and had without you?"

"Cherry, you were in bed with not one, not two, but five males. In our bed." Cindy said scathingly, and Cherry turned deep red as she began to gesture violently for her to shut up, as Zerrex covered his mouth to repress his laughter as Mahihko and Lone both stared at the two. "Look, I get that when Daddy isn't around, you go a little crazy sometimes. But I know for a goddamn fact you asked him before you could 'have a little fun' as you put it. And what do you say when I open the door and find this... orgy in my goddamn bed?"

"Hey, I was just trying to share." Cherry replied dumbly, holding up a finger... and then she yelped and ran quickly over to Zerrex, ducking behind him and peering nervously over his shoulder when Cindy glared at her angrily. "This is grounds for domestic abuse, you know!"

"You are a cunt." Cindy said flatly, and then she sighed and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms before saying in a milder voice: "But I'd be happy to spend some time with Celeste too, Daddy. Maybe I could even run a few tests on her... if you don't mind at all, of course, Celeste."

The Strange Beast only shook her head, however, looking over at Cindy and saying softly: "Your father thinks highly of you... and I am reassured by his feelings towards you. Enough that I am willing to... undergo any testing you feel necessary, although your methods of which are strange and complex. I do not understand your mortal mechanics... such designs and devices seem so alien."

Cindy only smiled a bit, however, replying quietly: "Well, don't worry, Celeste. I promise to take good care of you, okay?" She stopped, then looked at her father, adding gently: "And you look like you could do with some rest yourself, Daddy."

"He is tired. He tries not to show it, but he is. And depressed, although his main concern is not worrying any of you." Celeste gently squeezed his hand with both of hers, and Zerrex gave her a flat look, and she glanced away awkwardly. "I... forget myself. My apologies."

Zerrex only sighed a bit, however, gently patting her hands with his free one as he said softly: "It's okay, Celeste, you have plenty of time to learn our etiquette. Now why don't you leave with Marina and Cindy? They'll watch out for you."

The Strange Beast hesitated... but then she carefully unclasped her hands from the Drakkaren's before stepping down the last risers, wincing a bit at the bottom as if she had just stepped into an icy pool as she reached up to touch her forehead quietly. Marina, however, stepped forwards and held her hand out... and Celeste reached out and took this... looked sharply-surprised for a moment as her eyes locked with Marina's... and then she smiled softly and nodded slowly, and Marina nodded back as their fingers laced together, Cindy cocking her head slightly.

Marina, however, only looked over to her father, giving him a soft look before she rose an arm and created a dark portal, and Cindy followed the two through this, giving one last glance and shrug over her shoulder before vanishing through it behind them. The reptile felt a moment of worry for Celeste, but then he sighed and shook this off before wincing when Cherry grabbed his hips and pressed her front firmly against his back, asking teasingly: "Want me to help you cheer that ass of yours up, Boss?"

"Go away." Zerrex grumbled as he shook her off and walked forwards, instead looking at the wolves as Cherry huffed and pouted, sitting down with a loud thud against the stairs. The two lupines beamed up at him, and the reptile reached out a hand to squeeze the shoulder of Lone and ruffle Mahihko's headfur, asking curiously: "And so what have you two been up to, huh? Not getting in much trouble, I hope?"

"No Daddy!" Mahihko chirped immediately. His voice was bright and high and faintly-accented as he gazed happily at the lizard and grasped at his forearm when his hand fell away, rubbing his fingers along the smooth green scales. "We've been helping Priest!"

"Yeah, we've been working on that new generator system and shit with him, the one they're going to install in the Circle of Minor Sins now that they're terraforming it and all that crap." Lone added helpfully, nodding a few times before he winked and reached out to shove Mahihko playfully. "Don't worry, I've kept the little fag from trying to get into his pants."

"Lone!" the little wolf whined loudly, and then he paused and giggled a bit as he hugged the larger wolf around the middle, making him flail his arms with a wince. "You're silly! You're the one who was hitting on Daria earlier, anyway."

Cherry looked up at this, raising a hand and calling: "I'll hit you both, and totally in a good way, too!" She grinned, then glowered when everyone only glared at her, responding by shoving her fists out and raising the middle fingers of both, waving them back and forth. "Eat me, you bitches."

Zerrex sighed and rolled his eyes, then he petted Mahihko absently before looking over at Serenity, saying mildly: "Could you take the wolves back to Priest, then, and if Daria's still there, send her to the Deep Temple? I... I'm probably going to have to give in and Invert sooner or later, once I get a little more energy back."

Serenity softened immediately, saluting him sharply as the wolves quieted a bit, but before they could say anything, she quickly approached and ushered them away as she opened a portal. She shoved the two through this ahead of her, Lone yelping and Mahihko waving a frantic goodbye, before she hesitated and then glanced over her shoulder, saying quietly: "I'd like to be in attendance as well at your Inversion."

"Serenity, I might hurt you. Or make you hurt others." Zerrex said quietly, but Serenity only smiled at him and reached up to touch her tattoo, and the reptile couldn't help but smile a little as he nodded a little bit. "Okay, okay, I won't argue."

The female nodded, then bowed slightly before stepping through the portal... and as it closed, Zerrex turned around, Cherry much more serious and quiet now as she asked softly: "Is it getting bad, Boss? Or is this 'cause of something that stuck-up bitch Vivien said?" She smiled a bit though, adding reflectively: "The one thing I do like about her, however, is that now we got someone to undermine on a regular basis. I sure as hell missed that, after all... fuck knows it ain't no fun to undermine you anymore, since you can like. Snap your fingers and poof, there I appear next to you. Or you can choke me with your mind instead of your-"

Zerrex narrowed his eyes at her flatly, and the female's collar glowed faintly as it tightened, making her wheeze and grab at it before it loosened a moment later. Then she grumbled under her breath before hopping off the stairs, embracing him suddenly and tightly as the reptile flailed his arms a bit in surprise, but then smiled despite himself as she murmured softly: "Anyway, Boss. You know I'm gonna be there for you, too. Hopefully this Inversion will be smoother but... you gotta stop blaming yourself for what happens sometimes, even when you're wearing a control collar. It ain't your fault, and ain't none of us blaming you for the crazy shit that goes on... and fuck knows, if you're saying Negative is real, then I'm gonna believe you."

Cherry smiled at him as she stepped backwards, grasping his shoulders, and the reptile nodded hesitantly to her before he looked down... but before he could even open his mouth, she shook him firmly, making him wince as she said flatly: "Hey, connection goes both ways, asshole, and I can feel those negative namby-pamby thoughts of yours, you ass. But... seriously." She softened visibly, stroking under his muzzle and meeting his eyes as she said softly: "I don't blame you. Cindy doesn't blame you. And we ain't got to forgive you because we never held you responsible for the... the crazy shit that happened in the first place."

Zerrex grimaced nonetheless though, remembering all too well what had happened... how again and again when he Inverted, Negative always tried to pit Cindy and Cherry against each other, or in a war for his affection, or worse... and he closed his eyes before the memories could come on too strong before he felt Cherry gently kiss his forehead, opening them in surprise before she hugged him tightly again and murmured: "Listen, Boss. I'll go get the Deep Temple ready for you, okay? You want me to get Maria if she's around?"

The lizard nodded after a moment, meeting her eyes, and then he reached up and caught her arm as she began to turn away, asking curiously: "Don't... you want to talk about Celeste or anything?"

But Cherry only grinned over her shoulder at him, saying amusedly: "What, the fact she's got two pairs of tits or the fact that she's walkin' around naked everywhere? 'Cause that's all I care about. Who gives a fuck if she's a Strange Beast or not..." She stopped, saying quietly: "Almost nine years ago now, I went and took all my anger out on little Maria and Anathema, just 'cause one was a Broken and the other undead. And of all the people who fought hardest to save you, it was them... and it was Firenze, that poor bastard, another someone that a lot of us thought bad of for too many years just 'cause he couldn't control his own powers. Sin and Anathema royally messed themselves up for you, Firenze died, and Maria was the one who found that shard of your essence in the first place. If not for them, if not for... even what Anathema had to do to you, to let you beat Camus at his own game, you wouldn't be here right now. I ain't repeating the mistake of hatin' some bitch just 'cause she's different."

She stopped for a moment, then smiled at him, saying softly: "And on that note, Boss... I know the Inversion scares you a lot, and... it scares me, too. Because when you do get... dark and scary, it thrills me. It awakens that nasty part of me, and... well. I ain't much for morals or thinking in the first place. But even with my full, kinda-not-crazy facilities intact... I don't think all this Inversion shit has to be bad."

"Vivien was trying to make the same point." Zerrex said dryly, and Cherry glared at him, looking offended. "And I think you're both goddamn crazy."

"You're my god so you're... damning me so you... suck." Cherry retorted lamely, and then she cleared her throat before rubbing at her collar absently, and then she muttered: "But... even if it means agreeing with that cunt above all other cunts... I... still mean what I said. And remember what Nutty McSchizophrenic said? Inversions ain't just opposite-parallels, they... 'mirror darkly.' Fuck she drives me up the wall, but I think that's what I've come to love and adore her almost as much as you do."

"I wish you would leave Anathema Sin alone." Zerrex said dryly, and then he rolled his eyes, shaking his head with a grimace as Cherry shrugged amiably. "But I should probably go and find her, too, for this... do you know where she is?"

"Probably where she always is. I can't believe you built her a fucking cottage out by the Tower, you ain't never built me no damn cottage." Cherry huffed and put her hands on her hips, and Zerrex groaned and threw his arms into the air before she opened her mouth... and immediately the Drakkaren glared at her, the female looking stupidly-surprised for a moment before she simply vanished from sight, likely reappearing somewhere near Priest's current job location, and the reptile looked smugly at the empty space where she had been before turning and rubbing his hands together absently before he vanished as well.

The reptile reappeared a moment later in front of a prim black cottage on the plateau of a tall mountain, the windows edged in silver but darkly-tinted as well, the door inscribed with a circle of ivory runes that pulsed faintly in the smooth obsidian ironwood. In the distance behind it stood a half-collapsed wall of brick and mortar, an ancient, broken gate laying near this... and just beyond, down a dirt path, stood an immense tower. It was made of grey, heavy stones, the base surrounded by black roses and vines crawling all up its length, windowless and imposing, with a squat conical roof high above. Sin's Tower, which reached towards the sky... and below this, going deep into the mountains, was a dark, deep dungeon and a place of sick, sadistic desire.

For now, however, the reptile stuck with approaching the door of the cottage that looked like it had come right out of a nightmare fairy tale... but the door flew open before the reptile could reach it, and a female smiled warmly up at him, her features covered by a mask of bone from which two large, vaguely S-shaped purple horns extended upwards, her green eyes glowing through the sockets of this as she said happily: "It's good to see you, Daddy!"

She threw herself forwards and hugged him, and Zerrex laughed as he hugged her back: she was already some seven feet tall, her body slender and beautiful, covered in black scales mixed with faint splotches of purple here and there. Her limbs were straight and supple and toned, with natural cups of bone over either shoulder and small, ivory thorns that stuck out of her forearms and shins in three lines that went down the sides of her limbs and the top as well. Her vertebrae were also visible, the scales on her back smoothly separated on either side of the thick, large column of bone down to the tip of her thick, long tail: at the base of this, there was a large, spiked plate of bone, and then a narrow ridge of thorns that followed from the top of the appendage all the way down to where it ended in a sharp, conical spike of ivory.

Her good-sized bust bounced gently on her chest as she gazed lovingly up at her father, and the reptile let his eyes draw down her form: there was an almost-surgical cut straight down the center of her body, black string between this seeming to hold her front together from the belt made of vertebrae locked around her waist to the tight, simple black choker that was wrapped tightly around her throat. Apart from this, her body looked smooth and natural, covered only by two small skulls that barely covered her large breasts and were held on by almost-invisible black cord, a silver, spade-shaped clasp between her swells keeping it locked against her body, and a third, larger demon skull that hung from the belt of bone over her groin. The large, hook-like talons on her feet clicked against the hardwood floor as she stepped backwards, posing for him with her hands behind her head as she said softly: "Do you like it, Daddy?"

Zerrex smiled a bit, reaching up to stroke under her muzzle gently before he touched the choker around her neck: the backing was leather, and it was inset with a large onyx crystal that gave off an eerie dark glow. "You know I love anything you wear, Epiphany. Although most eight year olds would never be able to pull it off the way you do."

The female laughed and blushed a bit at this, looking up at him with deep affection in her eyes: it was true, she was only eight years old... but physically, her body was that of a seventeen year old. She aged twice as quickly as other people did, in part due to the way she was born... and Zerrex reached up to stroke her face quietly, and her face was hot against his hand as she closed her eyes with almost a purr and pushed her features against his palm.

"Well, let your Father come inside, Epiphany." called a voice, and Zerrex smiled slightly as the young girl blushed and stepped quickly out of the way, the Drakkaren walking through the cottage's entrance hall and into the living room to find, unsurprisingly, Anathema Sin resting on the couch and shoveling oriental food into her mouth, gazing at him with both amusement and gentle love. "What, did you forget about us?"

Zerrex shook his head, gazing at her softly: once two sisters, Anathema and Sin had been fused together in the act of saving him. Had they been acting as two separate entities, they probably would have been killed, like Firenze... but instead, since Sin had been allowing Anathema to puppet her body, they instead had been melded into one being from the force of the energy passing through them, and it still wasn't known whether this was permanent or not.

She was a Naganatine, with purple scales that had strange, shifting black patterns over them, tall and slender, with unguligrade legs and large claws on her feet. Her long, two-tined tail swayed back and forth behind her as she sat up a bit, brushing absently at some crumbs as she put the plate of food aside on the table to gaze at him softly through the mask of bone locked over her features: features that were half flesh-and-blood, half steel covered in white patterns and runes that subtly swayed and changed as Zerrex looked at them. The eye in the natural side of her face was purple and gentle, while in the socket in the left, metallic side, there burned a distinct golden flame. Two paralleling sets of horns curled forwards out of the side of her head through holes in the skull mask, one standing out above her temples and the other back and below an inch or so, made of black bone on the natural side of her face and the same dark-silver material as the metal on the other side, and four more proud ebony horns stood up from the skull itself, two at the front, two at the back.

More plates of bone rested over each section of her limbs, with three small, slightly-rounded thorns standing up from each of these. Cusps of ivory rested over her shoulders, and a tightly-gripping corset of ribs covered her breasts and sides, black leather extending between these to completely cover her slender upper body. Covering her lower was a belt of vertebrae, from which hung a miniskirt of dark leather.

She smiled up at him as she shifted, and the skeletal wings that extended from the back fluttered once before furling behind her: these, perhaps, were the strangest things of all about her: instead of leathery webbing, bright blue flames burned strangely and harmlessly between the long, thin bones. Then he smiled a bit, as she flexed her hands and held them up to him, and he reached out to gently grasp them, murmuring softly: "I can't decide what's weirdest about you. Your wings, or these."

Anathema Sin laughed as she let him pull her gently to her feet, which clinked quietly against the ground: they were made of solid but smooth-looking metal that was the same dark color as the alloy half of her face, and the warm hands he currently held. Yet, despite how they looked like segmented, beautifully-stylized gauntlets of metal... they felt like real flesh, felt firm but soft, didn't catch or scratch against his scales as he massaged them slowly before the female said in sultry but gentle voice: "Oh really? Because we think the strangest thing of all about us... is us."

Zerrex couldn't argue with this, as he smiled slightly at the female who had once been two sisters, sibling Naganatine... and then she stepped forwards and hugged him fiercely, and he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly back and kissing her cheek gently as he murmured: "It's good to see you."

Anathema Sin smiled softly into his eyes when she drew back, then she slid an arm around his waist as she gestured towards Epiphany, saying kindly: "And look at our daughter, here, she's getting better with necromancy every day... even though we're jealous of the fact she doesn't even need it."

"But I want to be like you, Mom, and I want to be as good and strong as I can be, for Daddy." Epiphany replied with a soft smile, and Zerrex smiled in return, unable to deny the joy she brought him as she looked at her parents with soft love. Then she stepped forwards and hugged the two of them firmly, and Zerrex laughed quietly as he wrapped an arm around her and Anathema Sin did as well, the young female murmuring: "I want to always be with my family."

Epiphany Felicity of the Endless Skies Narrius... a daughter who was aging rapidly to maturity, a side effect of how she had come into the world. Epiphany, after all, was not merely the daughter of Zerrex and Anathema Sin: when she had been conceived, Zerrex had been in an Inverted state... and when she had been given birth, her daughter had been stillborn.

Anathema Sin, possessing the maternal instincts of Sin and the passion of Anathema, had utterly refused to let her daughter die before she even had a chance to live, however... and with the help of Maria, who dredged the remnants of a soul from the Unworld, and Zerrex, who had acted as the conduit for the energy, they raised the babe from death. The newborn had been in terrible pain, however... and so Marina had been asked to help, quieting the child's mind, removing fragments of memories from the sacrificed pieces of broken soul, and at the request of the weakened Anathema Sin, gently pushing the smallest bit of knowledge into the child's mind. Not of what had transpired... but the happiest memories Marina had.

Anathema Sin had also given up some of her own energy to the child... and as Marina had looked after the baby, he had transferred some of his energies to her, reviving her a bit. It had been the strangest, most terrible and most wonderful birth Zerrex had ever seen; and the endless love that Anathema Sin had shown for the babe in going against her beloved 'Cycle' spoke worlds about the devotion she already had to the child. But then again, Zerrex had known from the beginning that the Naganatine would never, ever let harm come to a child of hers: the way she treated her son Naganen, after all, was nothing short of wonderful.

Epiphany had begun to develop almost immediately, growing rapidly, neither demon nor undead... but she was their little goddess, and despite the fact she distinctly looked like her birth mother - even though she had taken to calling both Maria and Marina 'mom' as well, which was one of the few things in the world that could make Marina blush scarlet - she had a living, pulsing heart in her chest, and she was very much alive, not undead. She was strange, true... but then again, saying she was born of corruption was not very far from the truth. Dark seed, spilled into the womb of a fused demoness and undead Naganatine, both of whom had once terrorized Hell... and yet the end result was a loyal and devoted child whom Zerrex had never seen abuse the powers she possessed.

And her abilities, despite how young she was, already rivaled Marina's in power: she was no psychic, but instead, Epiphany was capable of absorbing a person's genes and replicating them in herself, or even in others... or perhaps most terrifying of all, erasing genetic data from a person's body. With only a touch of her fingers, she could rip the genetic markers out of a person that gave it supernatural strength, or allowed it to control the elements... and in doing so, take those powers for herself, or simply discard them and leave the person - angel, demon, or anything else - enfeebled and broken, never to regain its former glory.

After all, even gods had genetic structures... and hidden inside their much-more-complex helixes of deoxyribonucleic acid were the secrets to controlling the elements, to teleportation, to so-called 'magic' and psychic abilities and every other power under the sun. Magic, after all, was simply a science that most mortals wouldn't consider real because it scared them to acknowledge that much of science they didn't understand... but many powers - supernatural and otherwise - stemmed from chemical reactions that began in the body, or the ability to emit a signal or pull that excited or forced a response from molecules in the air. Much of it Zerrex didn't entirely understand himself... but all he knew was that it was easy to call someone else an idiot because some figure in authority said it must be so, therefore it must be so... and it was hard to actually sit down and work out how a process could possibly be possible, especially when everyone around you was calling you a moron for trying.

Then he smiled awkwardly when Epiphany kissed the underside of his jaw, saying quietly: "You're thinking too much again now, aren't you, Daddy? You worry too much about what others think, and you try too hard to make everything make sense. You should allow yourself to just enjoy the mysteries of the world every now and then."

"And here I was just thinking you weren't psychic." Zerrex stroked her face gently, and Anathema Sin laughed quietly before she shivered a bit, arching her back with a grunt of pleasure when the reptile leaned down and quietly kissed the black leather collar around her neck, the circular clasp of black metal with a purple crescent along one side glinting quietly. "We have a wonderful daughter, don't we?"

"Yes, and a wise one too, so listen to her instead of arguing for once in your life, Zerrex." Anathema Sin replied softly, and then she smiled lovingly down at Epiphany as the female looked up at her mother warmly, then hugged her tight. Then the two glanced over at him as Epiphany rested against the larger female, Anathema Sin tickling her fingers along her exposed spine and making her shiver in delight as she said softly: "And we are all your Disciples. Your daughter, a Disciple since her birth with how we transferred energy into her... and yet we can't say we are either surprised or saddened by it, with how happy she always seems around you. How happy it makes us all."

"Stop referring to yourself in plural form, it's creepy. Besides, it's rarely both of you near the surface, one of you recede so you don't sound so crazy. It actually lends credence to Cherry's arguments, and we can't have that." He paused, glancing at the plate of food as Anathema Sin glared at him and crossed her arms, an expression that told him clearly it wasn't Sin who was the dominant personality right now. "Also, I wish you'd stop eating constantly."

She opened her mouth for a moment... then looked at him thoughtfully as she closed it, rubbing the underside of her muzzle before she said softly: "Now we see. You're going to the Deep Temple today, it's why your mood is going so up and down. Then Epiphany and ourselves... oh fine, Epiphany and I will come too."

Zerrex wanted to argue, but Epiphany only smiled lovingly, reaching up to gently touch his lips as she said softly: "Now don't argue, Daddy. Besides, you know that around me, Negative is calmer. He looks at me as his creation, his artistry, and he doesn't scare me. Let me be there for you... let me pay back a little more of what I owe you and Mother."

For a moment, the Drakkaren looked indecisive... but then Anathema Sin nudged him quietly, her eyes seeming softer as she said gently: "We think it's a good idea, Lord Zerrex. While we hesitate to put our daughter in any kind of danger... she is dedicated, and like your Iuratus, it would be more painful to tell her to stay away than allow her to come with you. She will be the safest of us all in the Deep Temple."

Zerrex sighed after a moment, and he nodded finally... and Epiphany hugged him tightly, saying softly: "Thank you then, Father. I will not disappoint you, I promise... would you like me to open a portal for us?"

"No, it's okay. I'll just take us all right there." Zerrex looked at the two with a hint of entertainment, and a moment later they all vanished, only to reappear in front of a massive, circular vault door countless feet deep beneath the ground, beneath both the dungeons and the hidden Cloister where Zerrex's Disciples spent much of their time. The room they now stood in was massive and square, runes glowing dangerously over the walls and the ceiling and the outer edge of the floor surrounded by a glowing circle of ancient and dangerous symbols. This was known as the Trap: anyone who wasn't one of the Drakkaren's Disciples, whose name wasn't elegantly worked into the immense runic circle, or who wasn't wearing an amulet that filled with Zerrex's own blood would be caught in the circle... and should they try to escape, it would vaporize them.

Zerrex gently let go of Epiphany and Anathema Sin, and they both half-bowed and respectfully slid to either side, giving the Drakkaren time to adjust as he looked down and felt a nervous tremble go through him. So much, after all, could go wrong... but then he closed his eyes and breathed softly. Part of him wanted to turn around, run to the two-foot thick sliding steel door that led back to the Cloister, and hide in one of the rooms... but he knew that he had to do this, whether he wanted to or not, so instead he faced the almost forty-foot tall vault door, the steel covered in ripples of steel like water that had been frozen in mid-splash, strange and maleficent shadows whispering over the ominous metal before the lizard spread his arms and said clearly, not in demonic but instead Hez'Rannan: "The Master returns to the Temple."

Locks all around the edge of the immense door clanked loudly as the metal visibly rippled, then solidified again... and slowly, it swung open on an immense hinge, Zerrex stepping carefully back a few feet to avoid being struck by it. He looked through the space beyond the door, into the immense cavern beyond... and then he breathed quietly as he stepped forwards, gritting his teeth as he stepped carefully up into the curve of the vault doorway: a ten-foot wide space lined with silver and iron, Anathema Sin wincing as her metallic feet steamed as she passed over the material.

Then Zerrex stepped carefully down onto a path made of ancient stone, flanked on either side by squat stone houses: abodes for the damned that made this place their home, places for storage, places for the few Disciples who preferred this place to rest. The Drakkaren tested the ground beneath his boots, as he always did, and then he gazed at the dome-shaped cavern roof high above, the bleak-looking brown stone supported here and there by cables, netting, and immense, intricately-carved pillars and joists detailed with pictographs that told stories of the lizard's past. The roof was a hundred feet high, and the cavern was almost a thousand wide and round, lit by eerie spheres of blue flames that floated slowly through the air and which burned eternally in the wire cages of tall lampposts and large braziers.

It was a fearsome place... and in the very center was the Deep Temple itself, a wide step pyramid topped with a square platform, towering some halfway towards the roof of the cavern above and made of dark, sinister-looking stone. The reptile looked at this for a moment, then he sighed softly as he began to walk slowly down the path, but he only looked moodily downwards as Epiphany and Anathema Sin followed quietly behind him, none of them speaking.

To either side of the pyramid were two fountains: one was filled with sparkling water, said to be the tears - although that was poetic exaggeration, as most of it was merely holy water - and the other filled with the blood of his disciples. The fountain of tears sprayed arcs of water into the air in all directions, often crisscrossing and curving in seemingly-impossible ways... while the fountain of blood was more of a bubbling, deep pool surrounding the statue of a Dius thrusting a bowl into the air above her head, slightly tilted and cracked so that the blood that constantly filled this to the brim spilled downwards and past her face... and from her eyes spilled two more streams of blood, red tears that flowed down her face, over her breasts, and spilled to the boiling, bloody water below, which covered her ankles and the thin pillar she stood on in the center of the fountain.

Both feats of architecture were surrounded by tall, metal fences topped with spikes and laced with ivy that moved slowly, twisting and curling like snakes through the metal bars back and forth, pulsating as if alive and eager. Large, ugly thorns stood up from these lengths of vine, deadly and dripping with poison. They were toxic enough they could kill even higher-tier demons with enough exposure... and the vines themselves were cruel enough they would wrap savagely around any unknown presence that came too close to them, squeezing the life out of them as they injected staggering quantities of poison into their victims. Disciples of Zerrex, at least, they recognized... and furthermore, despite their ill temperament, their poisons didn't work against anyone who had been bonded to the Drakkaren.

At the foot of the wide stairs leading to the top of the temple, he was greeted by two softly-smiling females, both with dark scales, waiting for him with looks of deep affection. To his right was Maria, the tall Drakkaren's scales such a deep hue of blue-purple they seemed black, their color revealed only by the shimmer of light cast over her scales from behind by a statue of a Dragokkaren whose hands cupped an eternally-burning sconce filled with blue fire. Tall, dark antler-like horns stood up proudly from her skull, and her body was voluptuous: curvy hips and a large bust and a taut, naked stomach, her dark eyes glowing with affection and immeasurable love as she looked at Zerrex quietly. "Grandfather."

She was clad in a two-piece bikini made of strips of silver chain, clutching tight to her body... and around her neck was a collar with a backing of red leather, a thick, layered chain choker overtop this, and all of it held together by a clasp in the shape of a raven feather. Zerrex smiled to her quietly, and then he reached up and touched her face... and she sighed in rapture, grasping his forearm with both of hers. Maria was one of his few Disciples completely immune to the corruption of Negative... mostly because she herself was not a demoness, not a godling, but a Broken. Yet if she had ever lost her mind... she had surely regained it now, with how loving and devoted she was and how she had long since left behind her past, and with it, everything that had once held her back.

Then his eyes roved over to Daria, who bowed her head to him with a look that was almost bashful: strange of the face of the newt, considering she was a Wrath demoness known as an Abhorrence, and her true form was terrifying. Yet her appearance now was anything but: she was tall and shapely, with large breasts and slender, taut limbs, abdominals faintly visible beneath a smooth stomach covered by charcoal scales; over the outside of her body, her hide was a deep, dark black, and her single eye a brilliant mauve, the other covered by a black eyepatch with the profile of a white butterfly emblazoned on it. From either side of her head, small, draconic horns extended, and a ridge of short spikes ran from behind either one of these in a double-line all the way to the end of her tail: this last appendage was also covered by beautiful tattoos of ivy and roses done in a purple almost as neon and vibrant as her eye.

Her only clothing was a black loincloth almost as dark as her scales, white butterflies stitched across the material... and a set of dark butterfly-shaped stickers over her breasts, just enough to keep her nipples covered but leaving everything else clearly visible. The two looked at each other softly, Wrath demoness and her Master, as she reached up and silently touched her collar: it was made of segmented black steel plates, each plate with a single thorn standing out from it, and with a rose-shaped clasped holding the design together. She looked at him, and he looked back at her, her history even stranger than his with the others here... but then those thoughts were brushed away when she reached out and took his wrist, saying softly: "Come, Zerrex. Cherry has already prepared the Monolith."

The Drakkaren nodded hesitantly... and like an honor guard, the four females fell into place around him, Daria still quietly holding onto his wrist as they walked slowly up the long flight of stairs. It seemed endless and eternal, and the reptile had a sense of eyes, dark eyes and bright eyes, of beings both benign and malign, watching as he ascended the temple steps until he reached the top, standing on the wide, square platform as Cherry smiled at him encouragingly from where she stood beside a black stone throne.

Eldritch light cast from dark fires that burned in braziers upon the backs of statues of kneeling Dragokkaren played over the obsidian seat, making the stone seem to pulse and writhe as if alive, and as if things moved beneath its surface, shadows unnaturally whispering back and forth through the rock. It looked as if it had been carved from one solid piece of black stone... and Zerrex slowly rubbed his hands together as he looked over this, from the rounded arms and up along the high backing, at the top of which was a single, elegantly-cut rose made of black pearl that hung from the back of the chair, held on by long curls of ivy.

Cherry held a thin rosewood case in her hands... and she quietly opened this as Zerrex finally turned around to sit slowly in the chair, Anathema Sin walking quietly forwards to gently remove a single object from the plush red interior of the case. Zerrex grimaced as he always did as he rested back in the throne: not because it was uncomfortable, but far from it, the stone warm and soft and massaging along his body... and yet Zerrex was well aware that it wasn't rock beneath him, but transmuted flesh, and beneath this were bones. Bones of both willing victims and sacrificed monsters, made by the talents of both Negative as well as Anathema Sin.

He looked at her quietly, thinking of the way she also got along strangely with Negative... as long as he wasn't in full-on evil mode, at least. But when Zerrex still retained some control, even when he gave into his primal urges or darker desires, Anathema Sin gladly played along, and obviously enjoyed herself to some extent or another... and he smiled awkwardly at her when she quietly opened the collar between her hands, made from the petals of black roses layered painstakingly together into they had formed into cloth, with a clasp of black ironwood taken from Hez'Ranna's jungles. "We begin."

Zerrex nodded, then he tilted his head upwards and leaned forwards slightly, allowing Anathema Sin to slide the collar around his neck, then lock it into place... and Zerrex felt his energies not settle, but sharpen, wincing a bit. The collar would inhibit Negative... but when he wasn't Inverted, it actually worked to increase his powers, the reptile breathing quietly before the others all came forwards, gently beginning to remove his clothing. As Negative, he wouldn't need it... and then the reptile's eyes widened as his vision became dark, before he was suddenly no longer sitting in the throne... but instead standing upon the desolate surface of a long, red desert, immense, crumbled ruins in the distance. The Center of the Universe that had once been... and Zerrex grimaced as he looked back and forth before turning around when a cruel, low voice said quietly: "You'll never accept the truth, will you?"

The Drakkaren gritted his teeth as he looked at a black-scaled being standing only a few feet away, a shudder running through his body even as he forced his gaze up to lock eyes with the crimson irises of Negative. He was ten feet tall, his body thicker and a thousand times more imposing with the exoskeleton of bones that armored his frame. Ivory plates clung to his breast, smooth and cut as if to imitate the muscle beneath them, heavy cusps of bone covering either shoulder and a belt of notched vertebrae around his waist, from which hung long, leaf-shaped white plates. Manacles of the same stuff were melted tight around his forearms and shins, small spikes of bone standing up from both of these, and a terrible skull-mask was melded over the black-scaled lizard's face, sockets sunken to let those wicked crimson eyes glare through all the more balefully, tall, proud black horns sticking out of the sides of the mask, standing out almost to either shoulder before the ends twisted slightly upwards, points glinting dangerously.

Negative pointed at him with his right arm: an arm that unlike the other, had no scale whatsoever. Instead it was layered with a stacked overlay of bones on the exterior, the inside of the arm longer, rounded white plates that locked smoothly together, the shoulder on this side larger and the hand not a hand but a gauntlet of bone that ended in thick, flexible ivory talons. "I am you, Zerrex. Trying to convince yourself I'm not, that I'm the remnants of someone, something else, is ridiculous. I am you, your true nature, and you are going to have to accept this sooner or later."

"Liar!" Zerrex spat to the side, and Negative looked disgusted as the Drakkaren stepped forwards and shouted: "You aren't me! I may be a monster, I may be as bad as you, but I know, I know in my very goddamn soul that you are not me!"

"Childish." Negative reached his scaled left hand forwards... but his hand was repelled, the male cursing under his breath as his flesh-and-blood fingers steaming faintly as he looked down at this in disgust, and Zerrex grinned coldly, but resisted the urge to taunt him, knowing full well by now what the dark, undead god was capable of and not wanting to push him too far. "So, you're wearing that goddamn collar again, aren't you? You're scared of me."

"No, I'm scared of what you could do to my Disciples." Zerrex said quietly, and Negative snorted in disgust as he crossed his arms, shaking his head and looking disgusted. The reptile, however, refused to take the bait, instead stepping back and breathing slowly as he spread his arms, forcing his emotions to settle before he looked at the male evenly, asking dryly: "Now what the hell do you want from me? Usually you're sneakier than this when I Invert."

Negative looked at him for a few moments... and then he slowly rubbed at the underside of his muzzle, his eyes becoming moody as he said quietly: "You went to the Center of the Universe again."

Now, Zerrex groaned in exasperation instead of fear or even anger, grabbing his skull with both hands and muttering: "Look, Negative, I just got scolded by Vivien about this. While I think it's hilarious and all when you try in your clumsy way to look out for my well-being, someone who thinks a good joke is 'So I walked into the bar the other day and killed them all' is not the same person who should be reminding me to take my vitamins before I do anything too strenuous, okay?"

"The thing I hate most about you is how you deal with discomfort with your horrible sense of humor." Negative said disgustedly, and Zerrex grunted at him, keeping his hands on his head as he looked flatly at the Inversion, who glared back for a moment before he shook his head in slow disgust. "You should have absorbed some of the disharmonious energy."

"And been driven insane, right." Zerrex said moodily, and Negative looked at him darkly before the Drakkaren glanced to the side, muttering: "This is what I hate most about the Deep Temple. It's the one place in the entire universe you can drag me into this dream-state. It's the one place where you can talk to me inside my own mind, twisting the physics of it to your desires. It's the one place where you're most likely to wake up instead of staying quietly in hibernation or whatever the hell happens to you when you're not tormenting me."

Negative only looked at him with cold silence for a few moments, and then he said softly: "I could make Cherry kill herself. Would you like me to do that?"

Zerrex gritted his teeth, snarling in fury as Negative flexed his claws slowly, his eyes terrible red spotlights as he murmured softly: "Or I could make her kill Cindy, which would be more entertaining... it would break her. It would destroy her... but not completely. I think, too... it would make her stronger. Maybe even fit to serve as my true second in command... but of course, then I would have to reshape her."

"Shut up." Zerrex whispered, but Negative only smiled at him, sending a shiver through the lizard's body as his mouth went dry. "If you lay a finger on her..."

"You'll do nothing." Negative said softly, and Zerrex snarled in fury, his eyes glowing solid green for a moment before Negative held up a hand. "No. I can harm Cherry, and you'll be angry with me, and you may even lash out at me, or manage to push me an inch or two into receding deeper into you. But I will regain the ground, and regain my strength, and we'll shortly be back where we started. I am more powerful than you... but I'm not stupid enough to think that means I will always have the upper hand."

The two locked gazes, both knowing what Negative meant. Negative, after all, wasn't the one with the physical body... he was the Inversion, the result of something, neither the beginning nor the end. Negative had terrible powers, a cold will, and next to no weaknesses... but there were still things he couldn't corrupt, flaws in his armor, weaknesses that he had... and people he would even obey to some extent. And Negative knew very well that if he ever pushed too far... Zerrex, already emotionally-unstable, already having demonstrated several times over that if it came to it, he would destroy himself to destroy his enemies, would do whatever it took to stop Negative, even if it meant sealing his own powers... or simply eradicating himself from the face of the planet.

"I am tired." Negative said suddenly, and Zerrex looked at him with dumb surprise as the undead being waved a hand irritably at him, turning around and saying disgustedly: "Your body calls for the transformation, but I have no desire to play with your toys right now. Besides, it's more entertaining to watch you feel responsible for your own actions than allow you the excuse that it was my fault when something goes wrong. Play with your toys, Zerrex Narrius. Leave me alone."

"You called me here!" Zerrex shouted at his back, even as Negative walked away and vanished into motes of darkness... and then he winced and looked down as the world faded out into blackness that greedily spread over his body, clenching his eyes shut... and when he opened them, he grunted and gritted his teeth, looking at the semicircle of females looking at him anxiously before he gazed down at his hands... and one was a white, flexible claw, while the other was covered in dark scales.

He had Inverted during the dream state... and Zerrex grimaced a bit before he touched his head. No white hair, only the skull mask... and he breathed slowly in and out before looking up at them all. He felt hungry, and greedy, and like lashing out at them... but although his primal urges and instincts felt so much more powerful, he also still clearly felt his own mind... and then Cherry smiled a bit, saying quietly: "Your eyes are still emerald, Boss. Usually that's a good sign that it's still you in there."

"Yeah, it's still me." Zerrex murmured, resting back in the throne and closing his eyes... and he didn't want to admit how much better the throne felt now, how powerful his body was, how energy and strength thrummed through his being. Even if all he could do was destroy and corrupt... Negative's strength and allure was undeniable, and it was hard to resist beginning to order his Disciples around immediately as he said quietly: "Only an hour or so. Then the Inversion will hopefully wear off."

He reached up and touched the collar, which fizzled quietly against his fingers, glowing a faint sapphire: more than restricting his abilities, it kept Negative's toxic influence from his mind, made him feel more in control of himself and more aware of his own actions. His eyes roved upwards to the females that looked at him lovingly, and then he smiled a bit when Maria reached out and touched him... and where she touched felt warm instead of cold, brought him even further down to reality, to remembering who he was instead of giving into his urges and lusts and feelings of power as the Broken said lovingly: "We are here for you, Zerrex. Never, ever forget that, okay?"

"Of course not, Maria." Zerrex said softly... and then he relaxed a bit back against the throne as he laced his fingers together, gazing out into the cavern thoughtfully before he glanced to the side as Cherry twitched visibly, rubbing lightly at her forehead. "Are you feeling it?"

"Yeah." Cherry muttered, and she shook her head before growling quietly, wincing slightly as her body thickened, muscles bulging more prominently. Her teeth became slightly larger and sharper as well as she clenched her hands into fists, and she said moodily: "Fuck, probably because I'm so close to you... I hope your other Disciples aren't getting it as bad as me."

She paused, then simply grasped her exercise top and ripped the cloth apart, tossing the remains of the shirt down to the ground to leave herself in only her bra, her eyes glowing blue as she breathed harder for a moment... and then she shook her head firmly again and slowly knelt down, murmuring quietly: "Then again... maybe it's just Negative's corruption, too. I can still feel it in my body..." She stopped and flushed, whispering: "And I can't say I entirely mind it, Boss, because it makes me feel... closer to you. I want... to always be closer to you."

Zerrex smiled slightly at this, leaning towards her before he gestured gently at her as Anathema Sin strode to one side of the throne, licking her lips slowly as Maria rested on the other, and Daria and Epiphany both watched from near the steps with strange longing in both their eyes as Cherry stumbled towards Zerrex... and then she slowly slipped forwards as the Drakkaren reached a hand up, gripping gently into the back of her skull and pulling her into a quiet kiss as she leaned over him, his right arm stretching out in the opposite direction... and then, with a simple flick of his fingers, a long needle of bone tore out of his upper wrist. For a moment, however, the lizard hesitated as he allowed the kiss to break, looking at Cherry... and she only smiled and slipped into his lap, leaning back and arching her back slightly as she looked up at the ceiling and whispered: "I am your second, and I am your daughter, and I am your slave. I am the darkness... I shall always be darkness... and I don't want to be anything but that."

Zerrex looked at her for a moment... and then he shoved the needle suddenly, savagely forwards, spearing it into her solar plexus and angling it into her before dark energy shocked over his arm, and Cherry gasped, clawing into his shoulders, gritting her teeth and clenching her eyes shut as her body flexed and her hips bucked, before the reptile tore his arm back and pulled the long needle of bone free... and there was no blood, not even any wound even as dark energy pulsed through Cherry's body, her eyes clenching shut, then opening slowly as they glowed solid blue, gasping quietly as a bit of drool dripped from her gaping maw... and then she rasped: "Thank you..."

She shivered hard, and her body almost rippled, a strange, terrible outline of dark energy forming around her for a moment... but then she simply slumped against him, and now Daria strode forwards, rubbing lovingly along the female's back as she murmured quietly: "We all long to serve you, Zerrex... and if anything, we're only jealous of the others when you share such gifts with them... never disgusted, never angry..."

Cherry's eyes fluttered... and she smiled softly as she slowly arched her back, which cracked loudly before she gazed over at Daria and beckoned to her... and Daria leaned down over the female's shoulder as Cherry grasped the back of her head, meeting her in a hungry, slow kiss as she ground herself slowly into Zerrex's lap, and the Inverted god half-lidded his eyes with a growl of pleasure before Cherry nipped suddenly, and Daria moaned as a droplet of blood spilled between their jaws to fall to the ground below... but she only flushed red with pleasure as the kiss parted, and Cherry murmured quietly: "I always want to share more with you, Zerrex... and I know you'll always control me and keep me in line, so that for you... I can become a monster. I can become a savage beast. I can be free to bathe in darkness... because this collar will always be around my neck, and you will always be there to guide me..."

She reached up and touched this quietly, breathing softly... and then she arched her back slightly as Daria ground against her and kissed the side of her neck, a shudder rolling through her as she whispered: "We are your Disciples... and not only is our duty to protect and serve you... but to pleasure you, our lord, our master, our god... we are toys to you... we are nothing without you..."

Zerrex closed his eyes, feeling a mix of emotions... and then hands gently stroked along his body, over the bone plates of his skull-mask, his shoulders, his chest, his arm, and they opened, still bright emerald, as faces and bodies surrounding him, soothing him without words as Cherry curled herself against his body and smiled softly even as her body burned with heat and strange energies. And it soothed him even as memories came back of what had happened when things had gotten out of control... not just when Negative had taken over, but Zerrex's own emotions had become too powerful, when his lusts had overwhelmed his mind, like when he had ordered Cherry to rape Cindy for his pleasure.

And Cherry had done it without question. She had thrown Cindy down, in the size and shape of a monster, making her scream, making her bleed, not simply content to thrust savagely into her with a shaft of impossible proportions but beating on her hard enough to shatter bone, to almost rip off her jaw, and leaving her nothing but a broken, abused mess... and yet it had only been half of the horrors. Then, Zerrex, Inverted and still hungry for more, had healed and yet warped Cindy at the same time... and turned her loose on Cherry, letting her beat her savagely, crush her down, and then use her as nothing but a toy.

Was it true rape? Difficult to say: they were both Disciples, and even in their agony, there was some degree of pleasure. That, however, did not negate the awfulness of what had happened. Of what Zerrex had done, neither able to go against his orders, especially against the dominating, wicked influence of his powers in this Inverted form. But somehow, Cindy and Cherry had not only moved past it themselves with little fanfare... they had never held Zerrex responsible for it. Negative perhaps... but both had told him again and again and again that they would do anything for him, repeating it over and over as they soothed him as he had panicked afterwards until they had stopped using their words and instead used their bodies to calm him and quench the inexplicable lust that had burned between them all.

They had all suffered at some point because of his Inversions. Negative would order them to do even more wicked things, but Negative's interests were usually in pain and suffering and power, little else. When Zerrex's personality was dominant in his Inverted form, he was not only interested in power... but in deep, unspeakable carnal lusts, warped reflections of his desires and powers as a God of Fertility as well as of Energy. And that, far beyond Negative, far beyond all the other reasons he made up, was why he was scared of taking on this shape and the mindset that came with it. Negative was a monster... but Zerrex would and did far worse things without his usual feelings of restraint and worry in place, filled with power as he was.

He opened his eyes to gaze at Cherry as she looked back at him, and she smiled a bit nonetheless even as she likely picked up on his thoughts, stroking over his face as she murmured: "Now stop it. Nothing matters but you, Boss, at the end of the day. You are our top priority... and you are the one who brings us all together, who keeps us all safe, who stops us from tearing one another apart. And you... know what's right for us. I know you're thinking about either your power over us, or what you... sometimes do to us... but..." She stopped, looking down and blushing a bit as she curled herself tighter, completely submissive to the male, her huge frame flexing against him and yet oddly-small in comparison as she whispered: "I think... you just bring out the true shape of ourselves, the primal darkness we repress. And even when I... become a monster... you make me feel beautiful. And it feels good, because I can better protect you, better be your second... I exist to serve you, Boss. Not only at your best... but especially at your darkest."

She looked down, laughing a bit as she stroked over the plates of bone covering his chest, and she murmured: "Fuck, listen to me, going on and on... ain't it funny, how I sound so girly now of all times?" She leaned back, half-lidding her eyes, body flexing as she said in a voice that had a strange hunger to it: "Better tell me to do something nasty, otherwise these bitches will think I've gone soft."

Zerrex grinned slightly at her, feeling his primal, dark urges rising as faint red cracks spread through the lizard's emerald irises... and then all present looked up in surprise as a voice said hesitantly: "Excuse me, can... I hate to interrupt, but... I need to talk to Dad for a moment."

All eyes turned around to look at an embarrassed-seeming Naganatine standing at the edge of the platform, rubbing slowly at the tall black mane standing up from his skull. His scales were a mix of navy-blue and purple, and he had four tall, proud horns standing up from his skull, each a deep ebony and slightly-spiraled. His eyes had a bright gold sclera, with white irises and small black pupils, and he smiled awkwardly and innocently as his long white robes fluttered around his slender body, long tail swaying back and forth indecisively.

Naganen, son of Anathema and Zerrex before she had fused with her sister... and as often happened in the presence of the male, Zerrex felt his mind immediately clear, his eyes becoming a softer green as the red cracks vanished and Cherry squawked and flailed her arms, falling out of his lap. Anathema Sin grumbled and immediately hauled the muscular female to her feet as she grinned lamely, and then she shoved the Drakkaren out of the way before smiling and leaning towards her son, saying kindly: "It's good to see you, Naganen."

"Hi, Mom, I'm glad to see you and sister too... I'm sorry I've been so busy with the scholars but... there's so much to learn." Naganen smiled awkwardly again, rubbing absently at one of his horns in a nervous gesture before he looked at Zerrex, who gazed at him softly. "Negative, is... that you?"

"No, it's me, it's okay." Zerrex said softly, and Naganen smiled again before he walked carefully up onto the platform, blushing a bit as his eyes roved over Daria and Maria, the latter of whom bowed her head respectfully as the former only winked and made him turn deeper scarlet. "What is it, Naganen? You don't usually like coming down here."

It was true, he didn't... and yet strangely, on the subject of Naganen, Negative was always dead silent... and yet despite this, Zerrex had learned his feelings on the subject of his youngest son by accident. Years ago the Drakkaren had been alone and moody, sitting here in the Deep Temple and Inverted: literal days had passed, but as rarely happened, the Inversion simply would not end. So he'd sent his Disciples away in a fit of childishness and decided to see if he could sleep it off - made a little difficult by the fact that he apparently could not sleep while Inverted - before he'd heard cries for help from his Disciples... and he'd found a godling of some sort locked in combat with his Iuratus Desire and Mist and Shine, as they fought hard to protect Naganen. Likely a hired assassin from Eslovius, a watery country neighboring Hell that was becoming more hostile with each passing year.

As often happened during particularly emotional moments, Negative tried to take the controls, saying coldly they should be able to handle the problem themselves... and then the assassin had knocked the twins backwards and taken the moment to throw his weapon at Naganen. It had left a thin cut along his cheek but done little else... and yet in that moment, Zerrex had felt himself overtaken by cold, furious hate. And yet it had not been his own, his own emotions dumb shock as in a flash, Negative had seized the would-be assassin by the throat, then simply vanished with him... and the Drakkaren could barely think of the things he'd done to him without wanting to vomit.

It was strange, how Negative actually cared about a few rare things in the world... and to this day, the reptile still couldn't entirely figure out why it was Naganen, of all his children, that Negative was so savagely-protective of. Why it was Naganen, not even Epiphany, who Negative would actually politely listen to... even bowing his head to him when Naganen a request. Naganen, after all, had been born before Negative had come into existence, before Zerrex had even fully understood what an Inversion of a God was... and the little Naganatine boy was kind, generous, sweet-tempered, easily-embarrassed, child-like, and deeply loved by Zerrex. All things that Negative usually tried to take advantage of, all things that should have made him a target for the monster's cruelties... but Zerrex could feel Negative almost... angry, in the dark place inside him where the creature usually hid itself, at the Drakkaren for even daring to think that he'd ever lay a finger upon the child.

"Dad, listen, uh... Aunty Vivien... I mean, the High Queen wanted me to let you know they detected Strange Beast activity down on the mortal planet. She said it was in an isolated area for now, but she wanted you to stay on alert and not..." He turned brighter red as he looked away from the group of females and Zerrex, clearing his throat loudly. "Not... get... involved... too much... with anyone and... let the Inversion end as soon as possible."

"Aunty Vivien. I still can't believe she lets you call her that." Zerrex smiled a bit nonetheless though. Naganen could be cuter than little Mahihko and could easily get away with just as much, if not more, than the little lupine... and then he rolled his eyes as his son only continued to blush, keeping his eyes fixed on the ceiling. "It's alright, I wasn't... getting very involved anyway, and you can look at them if you want, I mean. None of them bite."

"Unless you want me to." Cherry grinned and leered at him, and then she yelped when Anathema Sin booted her hard in the ass, sending her staggering towards the end of the platform before Maria winced and reached out to catch her, the muscular female gritting her teeth as she steadied herself and glared at the Naganatine. "I'm going to kick your ass later. Asses. Whatever the hell you two have."

"Fuck you." Anathema Sin retorted rudely, and then she glanced over at Zerrex when he reached out and absently touched her hip with his right claw, making her bluish deep red. "Sorry, Zerrex. Naganen, why don't you stay here with us for a while, instead of spending all your time getting tutored?"

Naganen shook his head quickly as he looked embarrassedly at his mother, however, mumbling awkwardly: "No, that... that's okay, Mom. Besides, if I'm going to work with Dad, I need to better understand mortal laws and culture. I should get back to studying... but... Dad, if it's no problem, could... could you take me with you when you head down to the mortal planet next?"

"As long as the next time I go there isn't to kill that Strange Beast, of course." Zerrex replied softly, smiling a bit, and Naganen smiled warmly at his father before his eyes were slowly drawn towards Daria again... and then he flushed deeply when she half-lidded her eyes and stroked her hands along her sides to grasp her large, sumptuous swells teasingly, and the Drakkaren sighed and rubbed at his forehead. "Daria, don't tease him so much. Naganen, go on ahead, go back to your studies. I'll call you when I'm ready to go."

"Thanks Dad!" Naganen squeaked and turned around, half-running, half-staggering down the stairs in his flowing robes as Zerrex shot Daria a look... but she only smiled back, and the reptile couldn't help but laugh before he finally patted his lap, and she strutted over to sit herself comfortably down on one leg before Anathema Sin sat on the other, the lizard allowing his arms to wrap tightly around the waists of both.

Either female kissed his cheek softly... and now the Drakkaren could feel Negative not only once more receded deep into his mind - or wherever the hell else he went - he could feel the Inversion starting to lose power, his mind becoming more stable as a faint tingling spread through his form. Cherry felt it too, he knew, as she arched her back and yawned loudly, grinning cheerfully and looking as if she'd just awoken from a rejuvenating nap.

Then the two slid slightly apart so that Epiphany could slide into her father's lap as well, and he laughed quietly as she kissed the underside of his throat before gently reaching up to grasp his collar, popping it open and carefully removing it... and the reptile felt a rush, like a spill of adrenaline, roll through his system before it receded just as suddenly, and Cherry winced, but then smiled slightly instead, muttering: "Damn, babe, you always know just when to do what, don't you? Thank fuck you got a nicer attitude than Marina. Nicer ass, too."

Anathema Sin looked sourly at Cherry, but Epiphany only blushed over her shoulder at the hermaphrodite, half-lidding her eyes and teasingly shaking her rear from side-to-side even as Zerrex rolled his eyes... and then he gritted his teeth as his body shivered before the ivory plates covering his form glowed a faint white, and then they pulsed once before slowly dissolving into dust and energy, the reptile wheezing quietly as he dropped back against the throne. A moment later, he was in his old scarred form, naked and grinning lamely as the three females gazed down at him tenderly, before clearing his throat... but Maria kindly came forwards with his clothes, reminding them softly: "Much as I'd love to indulge myself as well... we have to be prepared. The Strange Beasts can move fast... and it's unlikely they'll all be as even-tempered as the one you apparently gave sanctuary to, Zerrex."

The reptile grunted after a moment in agreement, as Maria passed the Drakkaren's clothes to the other females around him... and then she sighed when Cherry gleefully snatched the lizard's boxers and stuck them over two of her larger fins, looking proud of herself for a moment before Daria reached up and tugged them free, and she huffed as the others began to neatly dress the male: not at the fact the boxers had been taken back so quickly, but the lack of any major reaction, more likely. "You people suck."

"And it makes you jealous." Anathema Sin replied flatly, and Cherry looked dumb in response to this before the Naganatine held the rose-fabric collar out to her, and the Drakkaren grumbled as she took this and carefully carried it back to where it was kept in its black box. "How do you feel, Zerrex? Do you need us to come with you?"

"No, I think everyone can go back to doing what they normally do." Zerrex said awkwardly, admittedly enjoying the females so lovingly dressing him and paying such attention over his body, and he smiled a bit as he felt Epiphany buttoning up the fly of his jeans before her hands stroked lingeringly along his abdominals, ruffling the shirt that had just been put back on him before she slid away, and the reptile carefully stood up from the throne, reaching up to rub at his head absently. Now, however, he felt much less anxious, and much more at ease... and he looked back and forth over the females before his eyes settled on Daria, as he asked quietly: "Did you want to come, though? Spend a little more time with Naganen, and the wolves if they come along too?"

"If Serenity's okay with it... I'm supposed to be doing Iuratus training with her, after all." Daria blushed a bit though, smiling warmly up at him. "Ever since Desire graduated as a full Iuratus, she's been piling the lessons and pressures on. I never realized how much of Hez'Rannan culture I'd have to learn in order to be a proper Iuratus in her eyes."

"Serenity knows what she's doing, hard as it is to believe sometimes. She shouldn't have a problem with this then, though, since I was thinking I'd head to Hez'Ranna for a little while. I want to check on Acheron as well as explore the mortal world a little bit." Zerrex replied softly, and Daria nodded after a moment before the Drakkaren glanced over at Epiphany, who was standing with her mother's arm wrapped around her shoulders, almost shyly holding the Naganatine's hand with both of her own. "And what about you, darling?"

She shook her head with an embarrassed blush, however, saying quietly: "Thank you, Daddy, but Mom and I were going to be working some more on magic principles today. I want to finish learning about Necromancy before my next birthday."

"That's comin' up soon, huh? I'd better make sure I get you a good present, in that case." Zerrex smiled at her softly, and she blushed deeper but laughed a bit before the Drakkaren glanced over at Maria, and she nodded lovingly and immediately approached, wrapping an arm around his waist and dropping her head against his shoulder. He gazed at her softly, and then he smiled over his shoulder to Anathema Sin and Epiphany as the two looked at him tenderly as he made his way towards the steps, Daria and Cherry following a few paces behind him. "I won't be leaving for an hour or two yet, so come by the Ravenlight Estate if you need me."

"We always need you." Anathema Sin said softly, and Zerrex didn't know which side of the female was speaking before he looked ahead as Maria squeezed him gently around the waist, feeling touched and happy, enjoying the soft afterglow of the events and only glad the Inversion had been so short and gone so well. Then he closed his eyes, concentrating... and a moment later, he and the three females making their way down the steps vanished, reappearing in the front hall of the Ravenlight Estate, and Cherry stumbled and wheezed as Daria winced and staggered a bit, but Zerrex immediately half turned, spinning with Maria and making her laugh as they both reached out and caught the female firmly.

Cherry grumbled at this as she caught herself and glared at them... and then Zerrex slipped away from the two females to wrap his arms around her and heft her into the air, and she snorted laughter and grabbed at the Drakkaren's shoulder-length white hair, grinning down at him and wrapping her legs around his waist as he spun around with her. "Fuckin' asshole, making it so goddamn hard to stay mad at you."

"You're a bitch, Cherry." Zerrex said plaintively... and then the two kissed for a soft moment as the other females stepped up on either side of him, and he gazed back and forth as the kiss broke, adding amusedly: "And this really, really makes me feel special, by the way. It's not like my ego needs any more stroking."

"I need some stroking right now." Cherry leered down at him, grinding her crotch forwards against the Drakkaren, and Zerrex rolled his eyes before he grasped her waist, prying her free and dropping her firmly on her ass. She grunted and bounced against the floor, then glowered up at him and crossed her arms with a huff. "You know, it's amazing that I don't kick your ass for shit like this."

"Cherry, if you keep this up, I'm going to explode you with my mind." Zerrex threatened, but Cherry only pouted further before the lizard rolled his eyes, saying flatly: "Okay, then, why don't you go get the wolves? You can bother Priest, too, if they're at one of his construction sites."

"Done!" Cherry leapt to her feet, then she screwed up her face in concentration... and when nothing happened, she looked awkwardly at the reptile for a moment before Zerrex muttered under his breath, then concentrated hard. A moment later, she vanished from the spot... but this time the reptile winced a bit, feeling a faint twist of vertigo as both Daria and Maria supported him gently, looking at him with soft concern.

After an Inversion, the reptile had to limit the use of his powers, since his energy levels were minimal... and two 'shoops' in a row, as Cherry called them, was more than enough to tax what little energy reserves he had left, particularly when he was moving other people or objects instead of just himself. He shook his head firmly with a mutter, and then he looked back and forth before glancing over at Daria, saying softly: "Why don't you go find Serenity yourself, then? Don't worry, I won't send away Maria too. She can keep an eye on me, we'll probably just go and find some of my other Disciples or... maybe we'll just retire to my room, and I can rest my head and hope the Strange Beast just wanders around for a while away from civilization before leaving or whatever the hell they do."

Daria nodded hesitantly, and then she smiled over at Maria as she stepped backwards, holding out a hand to open a portal beside her as she said quietly: "Don't let him hurt himself now, huh? And if a Strange Beast alert does come in, try and get him to sit on the sidelines for once."

"I'll do my best, Daria. But you know Zerrex." The Broken gazed at Daria warmly nonetheless, however, and the demoness nodded with a bit of a blush before she turned and headed through the portal. It closed behind her, and Maria stood, looking at this for a moment before she glanced quietly to Zerrex, saying softly: "I'm... I'm so very glad that I've gotten to know her, grandfather. She's so wonderfully kind... even if she thinks... such evil exists in herself to this day."

"You're talking funny again." Zerrex muttered, and then he winced when Maria reached down and slapped his ass firmly, making him jump and then clear his throat when she shot him a half-challenging, half-playful look. "I swear, you're crazier than Anathema Sin."

But Maria refused to take the bait this time, shrugging a bit before she gazed up at the ceiling and smiling hesitantly as she laced her fingers together in front of herself, murmuring: "And... honestly, I can say I'm very glad I've gotten to know Marina better, too. It's... strange how we were such bitter rivals and hated enemies at first. Understandable of course, with... how she killed my two mothers, as I know they were often called. Maya and Shelly... one of them was my aunt and yet I can barely remember which was my birth parent... they..."

She broke off, and Zerrex softened as he gazed at her quietly, but then she smiled at him and said softly: "But the past is the past, is it not? I... why don't we take a walk through the Estate? See who else lingers here... unless you're anxious to lay down and rest, of course."

The Drakkaren smiled a bit, however, saying quietly: "A short walk might do me good, sure. And it's probably a good idea to see if... anyone else was affected during my Inversion. Cherry was hit pretty hard, after all... and you know how sometimes, when I Invert, my other Disciples can... change a little, too."

"And yet never us... the truly 'evil' Disciples..." Maria murmured thoughtfully, and Zerrex rolled his eyes even as he reached out to gently take her hand, and she laced her fingers with his as they headed towards a door. She was silent as they entered into a corridor, and for such a long time Zerrex had thought she'd lost herself in either memory or thought... but just as he was about to speak up, she looked at him curiously and asked quietly: "Why do you think it is, that a Broken like myself and a Wrath demoness like Daria... are so unaffected by your Inversion's corruption? Whether it's you or Negative who is controlling your Inverted form... why can neither of you exert the physical influence over us you do over the others?"

The Drakkaren shrugged slowly, looking down thoughtfully and murmuring: "It's a good question. I mean... Cherry, as we all know, has been exposed to so much corruption from my Inverted form that... it has changed her. Not much on the outside... but she has abilities very directly linked to my own, and she's... she's more dependant on me than she used to be, which is saying something." He stopped, smiling a little at the ground as they pushed through a doorway and into another long corridor. "Not that I think either of us mind the fact that she can't be apart from me for too long, or... bad things happen.

"And yes. With my other Disciples, when... I'm Inverted, I can pump them with dark energy or corruption and reshape them to various extents... but you and Daria well..." He stopped, looking at her softly. "It's easier to answer why I can't reshape you. You're a Broken, sheer will... and look at you." He reached up and stroked her face gently, making the female blush as he said softly: "I already reshaped you a little bit back when we first... indulged in each other's company, now didn't I?"

Maria nodded with a shy smile, and Zerrex gazed affectionately at her, his own smile spreading wider for a moment at the expression before he glanced down consideringly. "Daria is a tougher question, though. Maybe... it's because she's so afraid of this evil inside of her, that she bottles up her darkness, that she's locked it away that even Negative is slightly-concerned about what would happen if she unleashed it. Negative wants... control, and power, after all." He snorted in disgust, shaking his head and muttering: "It's horrifying that for all his lust for destruction... he still goes about it in a very ordered, articulate fashion."

The Broken nodded slowly, and then she halted in the middle of the corridor, blushing quietly as she looked at him, and Zerrex tilted his head as she took both his hands and said in a nervous but firm voice: "You... you shouldn't hate yourself, or even... him, though, Zerrex. I know... he scares you. Negative scares all of us, whether... he's really a separate being, as you and many of us are convinced, or he's... some expression of yourself. He's... I know he hurts us. He plays with us. He's... sick... but don't hate him, Zerrex. I think... he's just lonely."

"That doesn't give him the right to toy with all of you, though..." Zerrex said quietly, squeezing her hands gently back and surprised by the fact she was sticking up for a creature the Drakkaren despised... and likely all the more because it was inside of him. "Maria, you've seen what he's done to my Disciples, and-"

"And I know it scares you, but part of it is because you too, take twisted enjoyment in some of those actions, isn't it?" Maria said quietly, and Zerrex flushed deeply... but before he could look down, Maria reached suddenly up, letting go of his hands and grasping his muzzle to force his gaze to meet hers, looking into his eyes as she said softly: "We love you... and we knew from when we first made our pledges, our vows to you, about your darkest of lusts as well as your brightest of virtues. I am not made of the sternest of stuff: even as a Broken, I am scared, and I hesitate... but Zerrex, I would never hesitate to do anything for you, nor to suffer for you. I would gladly suffer through anything I've seen Negative do... or your own lusts drive you to ask for in that state... just to see you smile for a moment. We are your Disciples, and we are dedicated to you... and no one else has to understand but us why we do the things we do, why we... would gladly allow you to rip us to shreds for your joy, and how that would fill us with meaning ,with life..."

She stopped, glancing down for a moment before looking back up with a firmer smile, nodding to him quietly as she stroked along his face to grasp his shoulders... and she lowered her head, resting it against his chest as she closed her eyes and said softly: "Entertain me a favor, grandfather... when the lust arises, and you feel an urge to ask for something you normally wouldn't ask of any of your Disciples... do it anyway. Something solely for your pleasure... and see how we react. Actually watch, with your own eyes, instead of fretting over it, and over the consequences of it. Entertain me this, please, even though I have no right to ask it of you."

Zerrex grasped her arms gently, looking at her softly... and then he nodded slowly as she drew back, then reptile glancing awkwardly away as he muttered: "But some things... do need to be resisted, Maria, at least most of the time-"

"And if you bottle things up forever, they often overflow at the most dangerous of times." Maria replied quietly, and the Drakkaren made a face at her before she reached out and touched his chest silently. "I speak from experience, after all, Grandfather. I ran away from home, and I ran away from Lady Mary, and I ran away from life to become a Broken. Maybe had I once expressed the pain instead of trying to keep it all inside, I would never have ended up a monster, a Serviteur, trying to kill your most-loved of daughter's as part of a lunatic's game."

The reptile didn't know how to respond to that as he glanced up towards the ceiling, rubbing at the back of his head awkwardly... and then he grunted when Maria hugged him suddenly and impulsively, saying softly: "Thank you for listening to me, grandfather. I love you."

"Goddammit, stop calling me grandfather." Zerrex grumbled, and the Broken laughed and gazed up at him lovingly before the Drakkaren touched her face, saying quietly: "But I love you too. And I will... consider your advice at least. At least your pretentious accent makes it sound wiser."

Maria sighed and looked at him irritably, and Zerrex shrugged amiably before the female shook her head slowly and said dryly: "I'd like to see you shake off millions of years of being trained to be and follow the etiquette of a proper lady."

"Well, you had no problem shaking off the proper lady part, it just seems to be the accent that's flummoxing you." Zerrex said blandly, and Maria stared at him for a moment, and Zerrex grinned dumbly at her... and then she slapped at his chest with both hands and laughed when he hugged her firmly against his body, spinning around in a circle with her before they both looked up when a door opened near the end of the hall and a head peered out.

Then the female beamed brightly, a golden-scaled Drakkaren stepping out into the hallway and running down it to leap forwards, and Zerrex laughed again as he reached out and caught his daughter Desire in his arms, hugging her tight against his chest as she smiled brightly up at him and embraced him firmly. "Daddy! I thought I heard voices, but I wasn't sure... and Maria, it's so good to see you too!" She stopped, then looked up at him softly, her rainbow-colored eyes glowing faintly as she drew back and inspected his features, saying in a quieter voice: "I felt the Inversion... did it go alright?"

Zerrex nodded, reaching up to gently touch the scarred side of his daughter's face: almost one entire half of her features was covered in scar tissue, the glint of steel teeth visible in her muzzle as she blushed a bit... but to him, she was always beautiful, and he was proud of her for never concealing her pretty face from the world. "Very well, yes. It might have... gone worse near the end, but Naganen showed up with a message from Vivien for me, so Negative calmed down. Did you hear about the alert?"

Desire smiled warmly, stepping back and saluting proudly with an arm across her chest: she was dressed only in a cloth wrap around her breasts and a short white skirt, showing off her abdominals and the slender muscle over her frame, her golden collar cinched tight around her neck and inset with a large, perfectly-round emerald: a gift from Zerrex when she had passed her final Iuratus exam, and one she wore proudly. It looked beautiful on her, almost as good as the tattoos of black roses all along her forearms. "I did, yes. It's strange to have Serenity treat me as an equal after all these years, though... I still feel like I should be following her around, learning about being an Iuratus from her."

Zerrex nodded after a moment, smiling despite himself before he reached out and patted her cheek quietly, saying softly: "You're ready for this, Desire, and I admire and am infinitely glad of your dedication towards me. Listen, I'm going to be heading to the mortal world shortly... interested in coming along, seeing some of Hez'Ranna and visiting Acheron?"

Desire hesitated... and then she shook her head after a moment, looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Father, but Mom wants me and Vampire to head the platoon of Royal Guards supposed to watch out for her when she goes to visit an Eslovius ambassador near the border. And while I know my dedication is to you..."

"I would want you there with her, yeah." Zerrex grimaced a bit, rubbing at his face before he asked curiously: "Why didn't I hear about this? Our borders are in full lockdown at the moment with them... hell, even the Lost Lord refuses to do business with Eslovius right now, and his deserts are so inhospitable to the fish-heads even they're not stupid enough to try and invade."

"Well, mostly because you keep calling them fish-heads, I think." Desire gave him an amused look, and Zerrex grumbled even as Maria soothingly rubbed his back. "Daddy... Vivien has torn loyalties on this one. She needs to do what's in the best interests of Elysium, even if she hates them almost as much as you do for how they mocked Firenze's death. We can't enter into full scale war with them while trying to stem the tide of the Strange Beasts..." She softened, murmuring softly: "And Vivien knows that how she reacted last time they tried to attack us... sent a very bad message to the mortal world and Heaven. Yes, they hit first... but she used you like a weapon while you were Inverted and you killed... a lot of them."

"Several thousand." Zerrex murmured, glancing down as felt both nausea and anger in his chest... but he also knew he couldn't blame Vivien. He had been so bloodthirsty he would have attacked them with or without her permission... if anything, she had done him a favor by taking some of the blame for his actions. "Okay, getting the point now, yes."

"Eslovius is terrified of you. They think of you as a biological weapon now more than as a person... and despite our... our differences, Vivien wants to negotiate with them, not threaten them." Desire continued quietly, reaching out to gently stroke along the male's chest as Maria rubbed his arm slowly. "And we know that when... you get excited, or really angry these days..."

"Negative rears his ugly head, yeah." Zerrex grimaced a bit, rubbing the back of his head. "I know, I know, I do understand, I really do. I remember what happened last time all too well... the bodies in the water..."

He shook his head, rubbing at his face slowly: there had been little fanfare to the battle against the aquatic demons, who had assembled in the marshlands in both the shallows and hidden in the depths, where they thought they would be able to safely attack from and only have to worry about concentrated electrical blasts... but even these, they had shielded themselves from with their own brand of strange magic. Shark-faced giants with rubbery skin, squid-featured sorcerers whose tentacles writhed eagerly, other beasts who lined the marshlands... their raiding party long pushed back to here, but the water demons rallying to make another surge up onto dry land, to try and forcibly expand their territory, and with immense, strange tanker vehicles on ugly, rumbling treads...

Royal Guards had lined the area, and Gigataurs - for once on the Drakkaren's side, which the reptile had been infinitely glad for - and Gorgons standing with merciless hammers at the ready. And yet, at the end of the day, none of them had been needed when Negative had completely taken over as Zerrex had landed at the front of the line, skeletal wings with no webbing between them standing out of his back, blue flames boiling over them like Anathema Sin's, and the reptile remembered his words that day all too well: "May you drown in the lifeblood of your own people."

Negative had not simply attacked the Eslovius army: instead, he had corrupted the marshlands they had gathered in, pumping malignant energy into the earth... and the water had gone from murky and dark to a sicker color, the color of soured blood. It had spread into many of the Eslovians through their pores and gills, and as the army had readied itself, their eagerness had turned to horror as the fish-people staggered into the shallows, covered in black lichen and mosses that were growing out of their form, reeking of rot and gangrene. They had been an army of the already-dead, their bodies burning with corruption, only a sad few of them reaching the line of Royal Guards at the edge of the marshes... and those few screaming for death as they fell on their knees, covered in sores and rotting flesh and festering, parasitic plants as the water that had once given them such advantage now became their poison.

In Negative's eyes, it had been justice: and the toxic corruption had spread through the entire marshland, warping the ecosystem forever, and spreading like a black pulse into streams, rivers, and water tables nearby. Enough of the poisons were carried by it that nearby settlements were infected, and there was little the healers and priests of Eslovius could do to combat the corruption. Entire villages of the water demons had been forced to pack up and leave... and the sick, dark stain the immense, corrupted marshland had become was one of the few tracts of land neither Eslovius nor Elysium wanted.

The battle had been won, and no Royal Guards had died, no demons of Elysium... and yet the cost had been horrific. Terrified, Eslovius had been all too eager to put forwards a peace accord... and Zerrex had locked himself away in the Deep Temple for a week, not Inverted but wandering through the cavern of the damned, every now and then passed by the lingering spirit of an Eslovian with mournful eyes. Spirits of those Negative slew often attached themselves to the Drakkaren these days, but thankfully, most of them were restricted to the Deep Temple and the twisted village there... but even when he encountered the spirit - or more appropriately, the echo, the faded soul, as they were even more insubstantial than ghosts and unable to do much apart from stare blankly and whisper in broken voices - of someone he had hated and slaughtered... it brought pain to his soul. Death made them even: the fact their souls became so tarnished, so hooked by Negative's corruption that they couldn't move on was cruel, even in the eyes of the Drakkaren that was very used by now to the idea of torture and punishment.

He shook his head out a bit as Desire hugged him, hugging her quietly back before he gently pushed her back and smiled a bit down at her, saying quietly: "Just watch out for your mother well, okay? Lily can take care of herself but Eslovius has been known to turn on us at the drop of a hat."

"Yes, Daddy. I promise." Desire nodded firmly, and then she smiled softly when Zerrex kissed the scarred side of her face gently. The two embraced tightly again, and then she slipped away, looking at him longingly for a few moments before heading back into her room. Zerrex gazed after her, and then he shook his head a bit as he glanced over his shoulder at Maria, who smiled at him softly and nodded in understanding without the reptile ever having to speak.

She took his hand, and they headed silently back to the main hall of the Ravenlight Estate, up the stairs, and down the corridor to his room. She paused outside of this, however, looking over his features curiously as the reptile leaned against his door, not opening it yet, before she reached up and stroked gently along his scarred face, making him smile a little. "Your thoughts are heavy, Zerrex."

"I must seem like a pimp at times." Zerrex said mildly, deflecting the question, and Maria sighed and rolled her eyes, looking at him flatly. "Well, it's true. I surround myself with chicks, and even when I Invert, it's usually an all-female staff. Maybe I'm overcompensating for something. Maybe I'm-"

Maria firmly shoved her hands against his chest, and the reptile grunted as his back struck against the door firmly enough to jar it open, barely managing to catch the edges of the doorway as the Broken said firmly: "Now Grandfather, I won't stand for any of that. After all, you're a God of Fertility... and it's not like you don't have many male friends, either. Raze, a husband to you. Vampire, Lone, Mahihko-"

"That last one is debatable." Zerrex rose a finger, nodding seriously, and Maria sighed before gently pushing him back into his room and towards his bed. He huffed a bit, but grudgingly slid into it nonetheless... but then he smiled when the female slid in next to him and curled herself against his chest, closing her eyes and kissing the underside of his muzzle quietly as he wrapped his arms tightly around her, holding her close as he rested back and felt his diminishing energies settling. He didn't think he needed to sleep... but laying here, with this beautiful Disciple of his in his arms, was more than enough to not only let him relax, but start to rebuild his spent strength, as he murmured quietly: "I do understand it, though, I think. Or at least I'm starting to... and I guess I always have gotten along better with females than males, huh? Maybe it's because I'm such a big macho stud."

Zerrex flexed his right arm and kissed his bicep, winking at Maria... but she only rolled her eyes and shook her head a bit, rubbing a hand along his chest as she replied gently: "Now stop that. As much as you act like it, you're neither stupid nor muscle-obsessed. You're shy... and often you find it difficult to reach out to people outside your own family or inner circle. Combined with the magnetism you give off and... perhaps to a point, your build and body and even your long and decorated past... it's why you've ended up with more female friends than male. Although I must say that... I am very glad few of them are of the selfish nature who seem interested more in using you than they do in actually caring for you and being your friend."

"Well, that's because of my safety net of Disciples." Zerrex added mildly, looking at Maria with a bit of a smile. "I mean, remember how furious Cherry got when that Guile chick showed up out of nowhere, trying to get me to go on a date with her? Candy, yeah, that was her name. Cute enough girl, but couldn't really see me for me. Just saw... my past and my... well. You know."

Zerrex fell quiet, looking up at the ceiling... and then he shook his head slowly, murmuring softly: "I wish sometimes more people would... look past the exterior. Hell, okay, not just sometimes... all the time. I mean, I don't want to be known... for the things I've done. I want to be known for who I am..." Zerrex flexed his arm slowly, making the ivy tattooed on his bicep writhe, the swastika seeming to spin inside the circle before he relaxed, murmuring: "So much value is placed on external looks and some petty idea of what 'strength' and 'power' are."

He looked down after a moment, then shook his head out, smiling a little over at Maria as she stroked soothingly along his chest. "Then again, I'm not saying it should be totally disregarded, either... but... that complicates it even further. I don't even know the point I'm trying to make anymore, I think I'm just tired of people either... drooling over me or yelling at me all the damn time before they even know me."

"You're hard to get to know." Maria said softly, touching his face quietly, and the reptile blushed a bit as he glanced to the side before she carefully slipped up and out of the bed, and Zerrex sat up, looking at her curiously as the Broken bowed to him with a soft smile. "If you don't mind, Grandfather, I'll take my leave for the moment. I'd like to head down to the Unworld... I need to restore my own energies, and continue... moving some of Camus's texts from the Unworld Manse to the libraries here."

The Drakkaren nodded after a moment as both faint sorrow and embarrassment tinged Maria's face and he said softly: "I'd... really like that, Maria. I know you miss him... we both do, but I know you... knew him much longer than I did."

"And yet still. He was like your best friend, for the short time you did know him." Maria stepped forwards and stroked the male's face gently, and Zerrex leaned against her hand before their eyes met and she nodded slowly, stepping backwards as a rift slowly opened behind her, dark and foreboding and far more terrible than any portal as she murmured softly: "We'll always remember the good he did together, then, grandfather."

She vanished backwards through the rift... and Zerrex glanced down, laughing a bit as he murmured quietly: "I told you not to call me grandfather."

The reptile glanced down... realized he was still wearing his combat boots... and he grimaced as he kicked them off before looking at his bed and holding a hand out, muttering a cleansing spell. The bed almost glowed as dust and grime and other foreign substances vanished from it, and the lizard glanced down at his palm, shaking his head slowly. Magic wouldn't work properly for him anymore half the time... he put too much energy into his spells, or worse, the spell malfunctioned and something ended up melted or on fire from the particles in the air becoming too excited.

Still, it wasn't like he could complain. Simple portal spells worked, as did cleansing spells, and that was usually all he needed... he could shoop long distances, and he could create objects as he liked, and his ability to control energy let him perform almost limitless feats. Not to mention the fact that the ground responded to little more than his thoughts, especially when he was in Hez'Ranna... and the lizard smiled a bit, murmuring: "Closed a window, opened a door. Besides, I always hated magic."

He fell back against the bed, looking up at the ceiling and sighing a bit as he reflected on how far he'd come through life... mortal, fighting in war after war... and then dying only to become a demon, continuing to fight. And finally, a god... coming back from the Nothingness, reassembled by something... someone... and then the reptile looked up sharply as he heard a noise, before he winced and sat up when he saw Negative standing at the foot of the bed, his outline indistinct, darkness roiling around him as he looked at Zerrex with his baleful crimson eyes as if fixated.

The silence spiraled out between them... and then the reptile cleared his throat and asked awkwardly: "Can I... help you?"

"You think you understand me, but you don't. It irritates me when you try and put me in a box, call me 'evil,' despite knowing there is no good or evil, say I represent what is 'wrong' when I have done so much that even you cannot deny is right." Negative said quietly, walking slowly to the side... and he became translucent for a moment as he passed through the reptile's dresser before the illusion of the creature became solid again when it stepped past the furnishing... at least, Zerrex hoped like hell it was an illusion. "We've spent eight years together, Zerrex. Almost nine. I've seen the other faucets of your personality, whom you call Ravenlight, Good, and Cold, and I've learned much about you-"

"Wait, how can you continue to say you're me, and yet act like you're an entirely different person at the same time? Like we've never met before?" Zerrex asked sharply, frowning... but Negative only smiled at him patronizingly, and the reptile growled, but then forced himself to calm down, breathing slowly through his mouth before putting forwards the question for the thousandth time: "Who are you?"

"Inversion." Negative looked at him coldly, and then he turned and simply walked through the wall... but Zerrex heard his voice continue to speak, as if muffled, as if he really was in the hallway now and not just a voice, a delusion in the Drakkaren's head: "I didn't exist before you killed yourself for power, like a petty tyrant making a deal with a devil. And I think that you fight so hard against me because you envy me. Because you want me to be part of you. Because you know that I am you, and you want to exert this power over the entire universe..."

"Shut up." Zerrex grabbed at his head, refusing to be baited, curling his knees up to his chest as he held his skull tightly... and Negative's presence slowly faded, the lizard breathing quietly before he looked over his shoulder at the picture of Allie... and a twist of shame filled his soul as he gazed at her silently, rubbing at his own face and whispering: "I'm so sorry... but I'm so... lost... without you..."

Sex, and romances, and nights of passion and pleasure... and the reptile knew that all of it was just him trying to fill the hole in his heart, trying to stem the tide of pain. He had loved her for such a short time in all the millions of years he had lived, the transformations he had gone through from mortal to demon to godling to whatever the hell he was now... and still, he was a god who could not raise the dead, who could not summon her spirit, who could not do anything but stare at this picture of her. He had visited her grave only once in his entire life, and by now the entire cemetery was long-gone, destroyed with so much else in the mortal world...

It wasn't that he didn't love Cherry. That he didn't love Cindy, who had been his wife while mortal, who considered herself a wife even now, whom he considered to be one of his most devoted and beloved. He loved Anathema Sin, and he loved Selena, and he loved Lily, he did. He didn't want to imagine life without them... or without the children they had had, or without the friends and family and so many others he was so fortunate to have in his life. But Allie... had been something special, had been exactly what he needed in life, had been the one person who he could hold in his arms and suddenly everything, no matter what, was okay. And now, like him, in her death so much of that had been... Inverted. The good memories ached... the bad memories felt bittersweet.

He knew he needed to move on. For millions of years, he'd needed to move on... and yet he simply could not, no matter how hard he tried, no matter what he did. The reptile rubbed slowly at his face as he sighed quietly, looking back and forth before he carefully slid out of bed and walked over to his dresser, opening the top drawer and digging through his socks and boxers as ill feelings racked his body, somehow unable to process the good in every thought, the silver lining to every dark cloud that passed through his mind.

He found what he was looking for just as began to get frustrated, pulling out a purple, neatly-laced bag covered in imprints of black roses... and the reptile opened this carefully before he pulled out a set of prayer beads, the cool black beads cold against his fingers but rapidly warming to his touch as he tossed the purple cloth sack down and used his knee to shove the dresser closed.

The mala was composed of a hundred and eight black beads that looked like onyx... but in reality, they were beads made from bone, layered with black rose petals. The bones were taken from his Disciples as well as those important to the Drakkaren... every bead from someone different, and yet all of them pulsing with warmth and friendship and loyalty and love.

At the bottom of the mala, holding the two ends of the strand of beads together, was a guru bead: about twice as large as the others, and with a ring of beautiful silver around the middle of it covered with an intricate series of runes. This bead was made of the Drakkaren's own bone... and he smiled a little as he gently grasped the mala and spun it lightly, making it wrap around his hand before he kissed it softly, feeling the long, black strings that dangled from the guru bead tickling quietly against his nose before he smiled a bit. Small runic charms quietly clicked together at the end of each of these strands, Hez'Rannan and hellish runes both... and then the Drakkaren wrapped his other hand around the mala twined around his fist, closing his eyes as he sat back on his bed and murmured: "Bone and rose, held together by string made from Hez'Rannan ivy..."

He breathed slowly in and out, feeling himself calming further and further... and then he winced and looked up sharply as he felt a pulse in his mind, before Cherry kicked open the door and shouted: "Boss! Vivien wants you, pronto!"

"Great." Zerrex let the mala unwind from around his hand, and then he quickly slipped it over his neck, where it hung like a loose necklace... but it felt comfortable, kept him calm and focused even as Cherry grinned at him, and the reptile said sourly: "Don't make me put you in a time out on the goddamn moon."

"Hey, I think it's cute, in... in a non-offensive way." Cherry replied dumbly, and then she half-turned and opened a portal, muttering: "Anyway, we got no time for this. I think it might be a Congregation."

Zerrex gritted his teeth and nodded: while the Strange Beasts didn't seem overly concerned with battle tactics, sometimes they seemed to gather together into large or small groups, and then they would suddenly all vanish from one spot, only to attack an area that was either highly-populated or emanated powerful electrical signals: the Strange Beasts seemed like they were attracted to thermal signals and electricity. He passed into the portal, followed shortly by Cherry, walking forwards without hesitating as they entered onto one of the surrounding balconies and headed quickly into the Throne Room of the Central Spire.

Vivien looked over towards him as he entered: unsurprisingly, Priest was also here, grinning slightly as he rubbed his hands together almost eagerly. The son of Zerrex and Cherry, he was a massive red-scaled Dragokkaren, standing at fourteen feet tall and covered in rippling, powerful musculature. The same kind of yellow fins as Cherry possessed stood out of his skull, five large crescents that went from his forehead to the back of his neck, and his blue eyes burned with battle-lust as he fidgeted on the spot, saying loudly: "Come on, come on, are you two ready yet? You're such a girl, mom!"

Cherry glowered at him, and Priest winked to Zerrex as he adjusted his tight leather jacket, which was open to show off his powerful chest and the large, black tattoo of an oriental dragon that covered the left side of his body, stretching from the bottom of his abdominals all the way to his breast. His black jeans were ripped and dusty, and the heavy boots on his feet scuffed and marred... but the sheaths that each held a large, crescent-bladed knife with knuckle-duster handles were immaculate, crossed above the base of his tail.

"You're a fucking butt sometimes, Priest. I'm going to give all my shit to Markus when I die instead of you if you keep this up." Cherry threatened, and Priest huffed and crossed his arms, opening his mouth... and then Vivien slammed a hand down on the table, and both mother and son quickly snapped to attention with matching winces, looking very much like one another as they both saluted the glaring Celestial Devil. "Sorry sir won't happen again sir!"

"I've had enough idiotic antics for one day already, thank you." Vivien said moodily, and then she looked over at Zerrex, saying coldly: "There's an uninhabited region of tundra to the north of the region you identified as Lailland. A Congregation of Strange Beasts is occurring, and I suggest we preemptively strike before they start an attack. There should only be five or so, Vipers from what we've detected... they may be waiting for a Leviathan to appear and guide them."

"I wish I knew how these bastards thought..." Zerrex muttered, and then he glanced to the side, saying clearly: "Sammy! I need you!"

For a moment, nothing happened... and then a small skeletal beast appeared on Zerrex's shoulder with a loud chirp, sitting complacently and looking curiously back and forth. It was skeleton of a tiny dragon, with a mace-like end to its tail and sockets filled with burning golden flames... and Zerrex reached up and tickled him gently under the chin, saying softly: "We're going to engage Strange Beasts. I need you to keep an eye out for us and let me know if anything else is coming. You'll be able to sense a Gateway opening before any of us do."

Sammy nodded and chirped: more friend than pet, he was highly-intelligent, and the two had a deep bond and pact between them. The pseudodragon had given his life to try and save Zerrex's, and the Drakkaren was more thankful than he could ever express that Anathema had been able to revive him... and he knew that even if it was difficult some days for the poor skeletal beast, Sammy had nonetheless adjusted and was happy to be as close to alive as he was... and happier still that he could be of service.

The two smiled at each other for a moment, and then the Drakkaren glanced over to Priest and Cherry, asking mildly: "Are you two prepared? Cherry, do you want to go and get your whip or the Diviner?"

Cherry grinned a bit at the Drakkaren, saying easily: "What, and miss the fun of hand-to-hand? Fuck that, Boss. Besides, the Strange Beasts ain't use weapons to fight, do they? Why should we use 'em ourselves?"

Zerrex rolled his eyes at this sentiment, smiling nonetheless though before he looked at Vivien, saying calmly: "I think we're ready, in that case. Will you be sending anyone else with us?"

Vivien shook her head, however, replying quietly: "No, I'm afraid I can't afford it right now. As you may notice, High Princess Lily and High Prince Amiglion are both absent..." She gestured at the table behind her, which was surprisingly empty, only a few faces present. One of these was Selena, who Zerrex thought might actually be asleep, her mask on but her head resting on her crossed arms as if bored out of her mind. "They're meeting with Eslovius to discuss a peace accord. But I trust them as well as you do. I also had Desire and Vampire assigned to ensure their safety, as well as a platoon of Royal Guards and Gilgamesh."

"I knew about most of that, I didn't know Gilgamesh was going too, though..." Zerrex rubbed at the underside of his muzzle absently, and then he realized he was wasting time, as he reached up and carefully tucked his mala beneath his shirt, saying mildly: "Priest, Cherry. Each of you grab a shoulder, we'll try and do this without any shoop sickness."

The two nodded and did so, and then Zerrex glanced up as Vivien rose a hand to him. She smiled after a moment, her mask hanging from her other hand, and she said quietly: "Good luck, Lord Zerrex. May Lucifer protect you."

"Lucifer's got bigger problems than me to worry about." Zerrex smiled in return to her nonetheless, however, winking before he concentrated... and the three vanished from the Throne Room, reappearing a moment later on the physical world as Zerrex winced a bit, grasping at his skull... but when he looked over his shoulder at Cherry and Priest, they both nodded to him, indicating they were fine. Just recoil from the goddamn length of the jump...

Zerrex breathed quietly... but the energy of the earth beneath his feet and the sight of the dusky mortal sky above quickly renewed his vigor, and he straightened after a moment before looking back and forth over the ashen-colored tundra, few landmarks visible where they had appeared as he muttered: "I can't have been too far off... I wasn't trying to land right on top of the sons of bitches, but I don't see anything."

Priest grunted in agreement, the powerful male reaching back to draw both of his daggers, squeezing the handles firmly as his fingers fit securely into the holes of the metal knuckles. "I feel it too though, Dad. You don't think there's a Chanter, do you?"

"I hope not." Zerrex muttered... and then Cherry shouted a warning from beside him, and the reptile grimaced as he looked at her and she made a sharp gesture at him, the lizard leaping backwards as Priest turned around and then simply leapt straight up as a massive hand ripped out of the frozen ground, sending chunks of rock and a spray of black soil flying upwards as if the earth itself had exploded. Goddamn do I ever feel lucky both of them are blessed with the power of precognition...

Then the purple-scaled hand that had narrowly missed the Drakkaren clawed into the ground, and the Strange Beast that had been hiding beneath the earth leapt upwards as if propelled from a cannon, hissing in fury. It was enormous, perhaps twenty feet tall at the shoulder and with two long, twisting necks that both ended in snake-like heads; one of these heads lacked eyelids and instead had a gaping set of jaws with ragged, huge teeth, and the other head had three eyes and jaws that possessed only a large pair of fangs and grinding molars. It was covered in muscle, its shoulders unnaturally wide as both necks twisted back and forth, its arms huge and covered in thick muscle, its legs slightly stunted as the sexless beast's thick, enormous tail snapped back and forth behind it.

The blind head roared at them, saliva flying from its jaws as the air around its head became visibly distorted, a faintly-tinged green gas floating up around its features but rapidly dissipating. Vipers were not only enormous and so powerful they could rip a medium-sized house off its foundation and throw it like a toy if the urge so took them, they possessed a potent neurotoxin in their fangs that could induce paralysis and they exhaled poisonous mist. Thankfully, the poison gas only worked at extreme close range, meaning they had to seize their victim and howl directly into their faces... but if inhaled, it caused the insides of a person's body to literally rot, killing the hardiest of demons in seconds.

Four more Vipers tore their way up out of the hole, very similar, but never exactly the same. Every Strange Beast was a little different: one of them had a much longer neck on one side than the other, and another eyes and fangs in both heads. But it was the last two that worried Zerrex the most, as he gritted his teeth and focused his attention on them, as they stalked back and forth near the back of the front line of fidgeting monsters.

These Vipers were wearing golden armor ornamented with beautiful, swirling designs, intricately-detailed and wonderful to behold, yet also stained with blood and the scars of battle. Almond-shaped helmets locked over both sets of heads, and thick armor covered their upper chests and shoulders, and more plates their smooth groin and lower abdominals. And one of the Vipers also had a manacle around one arm, upon which was attached a thick shield shaped like the cap of a giant mushroom. It would likely be used more by accident than by skill, but Zerrex knew from experience that the shields of the Strange Beasts could repel almost any attack.

Three Vipers, and two Viper Aegis: more-intelligent, harder-to-kill versions of the Viper, marked by the armor they wore that they got from gods knew where... or perhaps they had simply always had it. Zerrex snorted as he reminded himself to ask Celeste about this later... and then he looked over at Cherry, saying quietly: "We'll take down the Aegis first. Priest, keep the Vipers off our backs as best you can."

"Got it, Dad." Priest said firmly, and then he grinned and leaned forwards slightly as the blades of both his daggers sparked with electricity, shouting sharply at the Strange Beasts: "Come and get some!"

One of the Vipers howled back, then loped forwards, taking the bait... and Priest immediately stepped towards it and reached out to seize it around the waist, half-turning with a grunt as it clawed at him before slamming it hard down onto its side. It shrieked, and the other two Vipers shot forwards as Priest's eyes flashed, grinning as he half-turned even as he gracefully leapt over the stunned Viper on the ground, slamming a fist into one Viper's head and making it howl even as the other head snapped towards him on its long neck, biting wildly, but a moment later both it and the other attacking creature were knocked down when Priest booted the stunned Strange Beast on the ground hard in the chest, its ribs cracking as it squealed and skidded backwards, bowling both of its allies over.

Zerrex and Cherry shot immediately for the armored monsters as they looked up, and one of them glanced at its partner, hissing a short command, and the other Strange Beast nodded before they both loped towards the two Drakkaren, huge claws ripping into the ground as they propelled themselves with their hands as much as their legs. Then Cherry leapt into the air, grinning savagely as she brought both feet up and slammed them hard into the broad section between the Viper's necks, and it was knocked hard onto its back with a shriek as metal screamed in protest against the hard earth.

Zerrex ducked under the other Viper when it lunged at him, slamming his right fist hard into the unprotected stomach of the monster, and it staggered backwards with a squeal, almost falling on top of him. The lizard winced as he threw his other palm hard into its armored chest with just enough force to knock it back upright before he brought a foot up and slammed it into the creature's knee, and the joint snapped loudly as the monster hissed in agony before lashing an arm out towards him, knocking the lizard staggering to the side with a wince of pain before a huge fist slammed out and smashed him backwards, the reptile flying through the air to crash onto his back some ten feet away and rolling several times before he managed to claw at the ground and halt himself in a crouch with a grimace. Forgot how goddamn fast they were...

The Viper Aegis roared as it forced itself to its feet and dropped into a staggering run... and Zerrex winced as he saw another Viper turn towards him, losing interest in Priest even as the Dragokkaren booted one of the Strange Beasts backwards and sank his knife into the throat of the other. It screamed, but then one of its heads lashed down and smashed into Priest's skull, and he staggered backwards with a grunt of surprise more than pain before the other monster lunged from the side to tackle him to the ground.

Zerrex gritted his teeth... and then he turned towards the Viper charging at his side, slamming a hard kick into the side of its leg and making it shriek as it half-staggered backwards before the lizard simply glared at it, lashing out with the full force of his powers... and the Strange Beast was blasted backwards, slamming into the two Vipers on top of Priest, knocking them all spilling backwards off the Dragokkaren with bestial squeals before the lizard turned towards the Viper Aegis... but a moment too late, as it slammed both claws down into his shoulders and knocked him backwards, making him curse in pain before it dragged him upwards with a roar and tossed him lightly into the air, the lizard flailing his limbs for a moment before he was caught by the monster and it crushed him against its chest in a deadly, powerful embrace.

Zerrex felt his bones grinding together, his arms trapped against its sides and his legs kicking uselessly at the large plate covering its groin as he howled in agony, arching his back as his eyes bulged and the Strange Beast's heads glared down at him furiously... and then the lizard's right arm flexed before long, metallic spikes ripped out all along its length, tearing through the hide of scales and into the beast's body and crushing limbs, making it squeal in pain as it loosened its hold enough for Zerrex to slide his knees up between himself and the huge chest of the creature, then kick savagely to knock it back on its ass and send him flying free of its arms, crashing to the ground on his back and skidding back a foot or two as he snarled, blood dripping from his mouth. "God, dammit!"

The reptile stood up, then rolled his right shoulder as the scales of his right limb peeled away, falling like flakes to the ground below even as the spikes receded into the rocky, warped purple-and-steel metal beneath, his hand becoming a warped, hideous claw before the lizard clenched this into a fist... and a moment later, the corrupted limb smoothed out, instead becoming layered in solid, gleaming silver-white plates, shoulder transforming into a tightly-locked cusp and hand a smooth, many-segmented metallic gauntlet, detailed fingers each ending in a small claw. The Strange Beast snarled at him... and then its three eyes bulged when Zerrex snapped his right arm out in front of him and a three-foot, elegant metal blade shot out of his upper wrist, saying darkly: "Let's play."

The Viper Aegis snarled, and the two both readied themselves to charge... but then each staggered to a halt as the other Viper Aegis stumbled into their paths, howling in agony as Cherry clung tenaciously to both its necks, riding it like a bull as it lurched and clawed at her, but she easily grinned and swung herself out of the way, shouting cheerfully: "Why the fuck ain't everyone else having such a goddamn good time as me?"

Then the Strange Beast tripped over its own feet, crashing to the ground with a loud hiss of pain, and Cherry landed neatly on her own feet before she spun around, her eyes burning with dark mischief as she wrapped an arm around either neck of the Viper Aegis and she twisted hard on the spot, making it gargle and claw at the ground as its heavy body was dragged over the ground in a circle... and then it lifted into the air as Cherry continued to spin, the creature screaming in shock and fear as its limbs flailed wildly before the female jerked into a sudden turn with a roar as she threw her arms out, and the Strange Beast sailed high into the air, squealing and flailing its limbs as Cherry dropped to a crouch and slammed her hands into the ground... and the moment the Strange Beast crashed into the ground, a pillar of flame exploded beneath it, red flames consuming the beast with such intensity that its armor melted and fused into its form, the creature shrieking in agony even as it managed to drag most of its body free from the flames, blood boiling out between its scales and charred bone visible as part of its lower leg tore entirely off, sparks of neon electricity bursting up from the creature's body.

Then the female straightened, grinning savagely as she flexed her hands and walked off towards it... and Zerrex and the Viper Aegis looked numbly at each other before the Strange Beast back stepped once, hesitating... but then it finally roared and charged forwards once more, stumbling only slightly despite its cracked leg. The reptile almost felt pity for it as it charged forwards, a look in its eyes that he almost recognized... these creatures, after all, had different emotions than he did, were alien and monstrous... but yet, they felt. And they fought so hard because they had woken up in a universe stolen from them, as Celeste said...

The reptile lowered his head... but then the Viper Aegis dived at him, and Zerrex snarled as he lunged forwards, slamming a fist out to tear the blade into its stomach, and it screamed as the reptile let his arm draw slightly back as his leap carried him close to the beast before slamming his right fist out, and not only did the blade tear deeper, his fist smashed into its body and sent it flying backwards. It crashed hard on its back, rolling a few times and leaving a smear of blood that sparked with pink lightning behind it across the terrain as it shrieked in pain... and the Drakkaren ran forwards, his eyes cold as he muttered: "Sorry, but I have to protect my home."

As it began to crawl up to its feet, the wound slowly but visibly regenerating in its stomach, the Drakkaren slashed hard downwards just as it began to bring a head up, slicing through the base of its neck and sending the spasming throat flying away to crash to the ground and bounce once or twice. Immediately, it skittered backwards, howling as its other, blind head snapped back and forth, biting madly at the air... and Zerrex winced as he ran around the creature. By now, they had learned that these monsters didn't have the same anatomy or even the same organs that they did, as he leapt up onto its lower spine and then immediately dropped to a kneel and stabbed fiercely downwards just past the lip of the golden armor. The blade pierced into the upper left side of its back, ripping through something solid to pierce into something soft and wincing as blood and a thick ooze splattered up from the wound.

The Strange Beast howled mournfully as it clawed at the ground... and then Zerrex tore the blade free and leapt off the creature, hitting the ground in a roll and wincing as the Strange Beast exploded into neon fireworks mixed with a few solid chunks of gore and bone. Their blood reacted violently to oxygen, creating neon electricity... and often when they were killed, they had the nasty habit of self-destructing, dying in a festive blast of fireworks and gore.

Another explosion went up a moment later as Priest slammed both knives deep into the chest of a Viper, and then he half-turned and lashed both knives firmly across the body of another as it tried to dive on top of him, sending it squealing backwards before he stomped forwards and slammed three hard punches into its chest, its ribs cracking loudly as it squealed before he brought a foot up and kicked it hard backwards, sending it crashing to the ground. It half-rolled onto one side before slowly attempting to force itself up to its feet, one head hanging limp and useless, the other twitching weakly... and then Priest slammed his foot down into it, crushing it into the ground and leaving it stunned and defeated as he grimaced and shouted: "Where's the last Viper?"

Zerrex looked back and forth, cursing under his breath: Cherry was just jogging back towards them after finishing off her own Viper Aegis, but the last Viper was nowhere in sight... and the reptile closed his eyes before he forced himself to calm down, raising a hand in front of his muzzle and clenching it into a fist as he concentrated on sensing out the creature's energies before he muttered: "Wait, it's... yes. I got it."

The Drakkaren vanished from the spot, then reappeared in front of the fleeing, wounded Viper, his arms crossed. It skidded to a halt with a squeak, staggering to a halt and almost falling over before the reptile reached his metallic hand up and snagged it by one long neck as it leaned forwards, yanking it flat down to the ground with a grimace and stomping just behind the back of its skull to pin its head against the ground.

The other head immediately lashed towards his leg, and Zerrex swung his hand out, catching it by the short muzzle and squeezing into it as its eyes bulged in shock, and the reptile slowly rose his metallic hand and waggled a finger back and forth, saying dryly: "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Wait." said a soft voice, and Zerrex winced and looked over his shoulder in dumb shock, his foot slipping off the back of the Viper's neck... and immediately it lurched backwards, tearing itself free before it swung a hand out and smashed the Drakkaren to the ground. He crashed to his back with a wheeze, wincing in agony... but then the Viper froze as Celeste walked forwards around the lizard, the reptile watching dumbly as she reached up and touched the wounded Viper, then spoke something to it, calmly and quietly, in the strange, hissing language of the creatures. Slowly, it seemed to relax... and then it turned slowly around and reached out as if seizing into reality itself, ripples floating around its hands before it tore to either side and a swirling Gateway opened. The creature hesitated, but then Celeste smiled and nodded slowly... and after a moment, it walked quietly into the Gateway, vanishing into the light beyond before the swirling portal closed.

"What the hell was that?" Zerrex shouted irritably, as he kicked his legs and then wiggled out of the slight indentation in the ground, climbing to his feet and glaring at Celeste. She only looked back at him calmly, however, and a moment later the reptile grimaced as he said quietly: "You're not wearing your collar. Celeste, what did you just do?"

"They are not monsters, Zerrex Narrius, much as they may seem like it. Nor are they animals, nor are they pests to be exterminated at will." Celeste said softly, and Zerrex winced, rubbing the back of his head and looking away as she added quietly: "Yes. I feel your misgivings. A few about me, a few about the creatures... but many about how you have been forced to ruthlessly exterminate the Strange Beasts."

The reptile sighed a bit, then he said dryly: "Yeah, but there's also the fact that when we do let them live, they inevitably come back to try and destroy more mortal cities, or even parts of Elysium or Heaven. Heaven I don't care about so much, but Elysium and the mortal world I do." He stopped, then reached up and touched his head with his metallic hand, murmuring softly: "Even if I do feel sympathy for your plight, Celeste... this is our world now. Our universe; times have changed and things have moved on. Your people were sealed away and accidentally reawakened by... by a stupid, stupid fight between me and Camus, and while I feel responsible for it in a sense, while if I could, I'd like everyone to be able to get along... the Strange Beasts just rip, and tear, and kill. You say they're not animals, but I've never seen them try and communicate with us, either. They just appear out of nowhere and start killing people."

"I understand. They do not know love; they feel robbed, and distorted. They wish to destroy now what the First Gods have built, and the loved ones who live across the worlds. Yet I have been thinking, Zerrex Narrius. Many of the Strange Beasts would not even know of the First Gods, or myself. I am among the First. I bred many of the Second. But only the First told traditional tales amongst themselves, and only the First know the First Gods intimately. The Viper you almost killed understood me, and thought I was a Chanter, and obeyed me when I told him to take a message of peace back to his masters. Do you understand the implications of this statement?"

Zerrex looked at her for a long time, then he looked down for a moment before looking back up, saying quietly: "It implies that despite how disorganized they seem... they have a leader somewhere. They do obey the Chanters, like we thought... and... what? Someone with a grudge wants to destroy civilization and put the Strange Beasts back in charge?"

"The Strange Beasts are always servants, never in charge." Celeste said quietly, and then she looked at Zerrex for a few moments before reaching up to touch his face gently, adding softly: "Perhaps when whatever is giving their orders is destroyed, they may be able to better recognize the value of what has evolved since our time, our rulership, and embrace it as they once did the First Gods' creations. Or perhaps we will all simply go back to sleep, in the spaces between worlds, in the deep places beyond the dimensions."

The Drakkaren looked at her quietly, and she looked back for a moment before nodding, saying softly: "That would be wise. I shall return then. Your daughter Marina awaits me anyway, I am sure. She is very kind." She stopped and smiled at him. "She is helping me understand these... powerful emotions possessed by your people. You should not be so surprised, though... I know that you yourself understand what a generous heart lays beneath her outer edges, after all."

With that, Celeste turned and opened a Gateway, vanishing through this as the Drakkaren grimaced a bit... and then he sighed, shaking his head slowly before glancing up as he saw Priest and Cherry approaching in the distance, likely both bored of waiting for him. He rose a hand to the two as he jogged lightly towards them, and a few minutes later the trio was back together, standing on the cold tundra as Priest asked: "Did you get it?"

"Kinda-sorta... no." Zerrex admitted after a moment, and Priest rolled his eyes before the reptile glanced over at Cherry as he said softly: "Celeste showed up and sent it packing. She says they're taking orders from someone... I mean, she spoke to it for all of four seconds but... I guess she can see into their minds as easily she does into ours."

Cherry grimaced at this, shaking her head as Priest frowned. "Shit, that ain't good, Boss... I mean, that could mean this whole time they've been playing with us, judging our powers and shit by sending these Vipers ahead of 'em as scouts. I mean, they even beat up my poor little boy here."

"They didn't beat me up, Mom." Priest said pettishly, and then he sighed and shook his head, returning his eyes to his father as he said quietly: "I sent the Strange Beast I kayoed back to Hell for observation and shit. I know that in the past, Marina hasn't been able to get shit out of their minds because they're so alien... but maybe this Celeste chick can talk to it then, get it to spill its guts."

Zerrex nodded after a moment, wondering how the Strange Beast would take seeing a Viper locked up in a cage, waiting to be interrogated... but he also remembered how she had said she bore no love for them, and they no love for her. "Maybe, then, I dunno. Why do I have the feeling like something's starting, though? Something bad, too, by the feel of it."

Cherry and Priest both grimaced at this thought, and then Cherry reached forwards and squeezed the Drakkaren's shoulder, saying softly: "Why don't you head down to Hez'Ranna, Boss? Priest and me can debrief Vivien and we'll send some of your sweethearts your way. It ain't like Vivien can complain anyway if you're going to Acheron."

The Drakkaren grunted, and then Cherry winked and nudged him lightly. "Hey, don't worry, I'll be comin' along too. I ain't gonna miss this crazy shit, I just gotta see if Cindy's up to come as well. What about you Priest?"

The Dragokkaren only smiled a bit, however, twirling his daggers before he sheathed them both and said softly: "Thanks, Mom, but I better get back to work. Reconstruction for the Circles is going really well, and I wanna keep up that momentum. Not that I don't mind stopping every now and then for a good cause like kicking some ass, though." He winked, and Zerrex laughed a bit before he traded a firm hug with his son. "Go on, Dad, go get some rest. You deserve it."

"I doubt that, but I will try to, anyway." Zerrex smiled a bit despite himself at the two, and he hesitated for a moment... but then Cherry made a shooing gesture and Priest imitated her, and the reptile sighed before rolling his eyes and concentrating, vanishing from the spot to reappear a moment later in a beautiful, immense jungle, feeling his energies diminish for a moment... and then suddenly surge upwards, as if he had just connected himself to a battery. He closed his eyes, breathing softly as he reached out and touched one of the immense trees that surrounded him, smiling as he always did as he looked back and forth through the tall grasses, hanging ivy, and huge ferns.

Hez'Ranna: the Cradle of Life of the Drakkai. It was said to be where all Dragokkaren and Drakkaren heralded from originally, and where immense temples stood, dedicated to a deep and ancient religion... and yet few knew that the Goddess that had originally created the Drakkai had been twisted and wicked. The reptile wandered slowly through the jungle as he lowered his head, laughing a bit as he murmured: "But that makes this place no less special... and now that after years of searching, Earth and I were able to find Acheron, the birthplace of the Drakkai... it just makes this place all the more special."

The Goddess had not seeded this place, after all: instead, she had created a pocket dimension in the land now known as Hez'Ranna, and there built a terrible, dark kingdom full of the first Drakkai, what she called 'Hellbreed.' She had ruled them with an iron fist, only interested in expanding her kingdom and her own glory, until one day, she had been visited by Naganis, drawn by the energy of the crack she had left in reality.

They had fought... and although the Goddess was powerful enough to drive him back, he had drained her so severely of her powers she had become mortal. It had driven her out of Acheron... and now Zerrex knew that with the last of her power, she had hidden the entrance to her pocket dimension, likely intending to return one day but never getting that chance. The Hellbreed had all escaped, freed by Naganis... but her dimension had survived even the Great Merge, even though much of what was inside of it had worn away with the passage of time.

The Drakkaren carefully made his way through the trees, stepping over a large, unevolved snake as it slithered by and glancing back and forth curiously as he heard the faint sound of chirping birds in the tree, and the clicking of insect life. Wildlife was spreading back through the world, and Zerrex knew he wasn't the only person glad to see it... and although no one knew exactly where a lot of it came from, considering how much of the world had been destroyed, the Drakkaren felt like it was a mystery better left unsolved, and instead things should just be cherished for making a resurgence that had originally been thought impossible. But, as the reptile learned more and more every day, impossible things often happened all the time.

The lizard smiled a little as he stepped past the edge of the trees and out onto a steep embankment, roots and stones sticking out of the dusty soil here and there, and the lizard carefully stepped onto this and slid his way down to the bottom with a grunt, stumbling a bit as he pinwheeled his arms. He caught himself before he could fall, and walked carefully through the long grasses until he reached the edge of a large, slowly-flowing river, the water rippling quietly here and there, glassy and beautiful and reflective... and Zerrex looked down into this, concentrating on the reflection before he carefully brought a foot forwards. The trick was to keep his eyes on his own, hard as that was: he hated looking at his reflection, at the way his eyes stared back up at him...

He grimaced as he brought his other foot forwards, the river deep enough he was already in to the waist, and strangely-cold, making his body tingle... and then he breathed slowly before diving suddenly forwards and forcing himself to swim straight down... and a moment later, he breached the surface as vertigo rippled through his body, standing up with a splash of water and a wince as he looked up at a crimson sky above, no longer in any river - much less Hez'Ranna - but instead the center of a small but deep pool of water that went up almost to his chest.

Zerrex carefully waded forwards, then pulled himself out of the liquid... and barely a ripple travelled through it, the surface looking almost solid as Zerrex rubbed at himself, the cold tingling vanishing... and his body perfectly dry. It was something he'd never get used to, grimacing a bit before he looked up as a voice called from the top of a long stone staircase: "Lord Zerrex! It's good to see you!"

The reptile smiled up at a female Drakkaren wearing a long, black cape that floated around her, strung with golden tassels. A matching black loincloth hung around her waist, but her breasts were left bare as she strode down the steps towards him. Lapis lazuli gemstones glimmered in golden armlets that surrounded either forearm, and a massive, terrifying-looking cleaver with a blade made of purple steel and platinum glinted on her back, the handle some two feet long and made of black steel wrapped in leather. The blade itself was as thick as the handle was long, and perhaps six feet: a deadly, dangerous weapon that glinted with powerful energies.

Around her neck was a choker with a leather backing, inset with an emerald the same color as her eyes... and resting upon her head was a circlet of black roses, and she smiled at him lovingly as she strode down the ancient, cracked golden stone steps. Zerrex embraced her tightly, and she pushed her head against his chest, murmuring softly: "I missed you awfully... I know that I must watch over this place, but it gets very lonely..."

Zerrex stroked gently under her chin, and she gazed up at him lovingly as the reptile said softly: "I know, Earth. But if there's anyone I can trust to rule this place in my stead... it's you."

She nodded to him after a moment, looking bashful... and then he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leading her to the edge of the platform the pool stood upon. It was at the top of a tall pyramid of stone, stairs on one side leading down the temple, and the bridge of stairs that Earth had just walked down leading across to the top of a high tower. Wooden bridges extended from this in three directions, leading across to other towers and huts supported by complex systems of girders and cables, but for now the reptile motioned out to the wide, yellow-stone square, through which Dragokkaren and Drakkaren and the occasional non-reptile walked back and forth, many of them in the process of helping with the reconstruction efforts of the golden stone city that made up most of Acheron.

At the edge of the city, stone merely gave way to darkness that seemed deep and vast and infinite... and Zerrex knew from his explorations that there was literally nothing for miles around, in any direction. They floated forever in a pit of darkness... but after some experimentation, the Drakkaren had found that he could build in this space, using his powers to create expansions to the city, or even small, floating platforms. Several of these he'd made permanent, calling them beacons: platforms that floated quietly at a short distance around the city, eternal bonfires burning on each of them, keeping a dusky glow around the edges of the city so no one would fall off.

Right now, their biggest project was in the heart of the square, which was at the center of the city, and which drew the attention of all but the busiest people: a massive circle of silver metal that thrummed faintly, two half-completed statues on either side of this that were covered by scaffolding and tarpaulin as sculptors worked night and day on them, and the base of an immense third statue just being started on behind the humongous ring. When completed, it would create a portal between Hez'Ranna and this dimension... although it would be guarded against unwelcome intruders, of course.

Acheron, however, had become Zerrex's so-called 'home dimension,' even if he would always think of the mortal world first and foremost as the place he called home. He smiled a bit as he stood with Earth, who clung to him lovingly, however: Acheron was a pocket dimension actually on the mortal realm, so he figured that really, that made it part of his real home, too. But it was nice to know he would always have this place to come back to... although it felt strange, because here his powers - already terrifying to begin with - were even further amplified, and he had to be extra careful not to make his idle wishes reality.

He gazed out over the people below... and then Earth kissed his cheek gently, and she murmured softly: "I want to thank you again, though, Lord Zerrex, for letting me bring these devoted here... and for agreeing to let them work, even though you could make anything you wanted reality with but a thought in this place. You've built for them a good home, however... and they thank you and pay tribute to you with their labors."

"I would rather build something with my own hands than simply think it and make it reality anyway." Zerrex said softly, then he smiled a bit at Earth. "Although I guess it's a little ironic that all these building materials I just wished for, huh?"

Earth nodded, but smiled lovingly at him... and Zerrex gazed back out over the people of Acheron, watching as they walked back and forth. Dragokkaren and Drakkaren for the most part, which probably showed that he was the speciesist bastard everyone took him for... but there were a few demons of other heritages, as well as the rare non-Drakkai reptile and mammal here and there. They were all handpicked by Earth, however, and the reptile knew by now he could easily trust her judgment, and he owed her more than he could express, anyway.

She seemed to pick up on this, however, looking up at him with her soft green eyes before she said gently: "My Sisters sacrificed themselves for you willingly, Lord Zerrex. And what little energy they couldn't give to you, was given to me. I am Earth... and yet I am more than Earth now." She halted, then held a hand out quietly, and electricity zapped over her forearm towards her fingers and transformed into fire that danced in her palm, which became water that swirled around in her hand, then dripped down between her digits to fall towards the ground below even as it solidified in midair... and Earth's fingers nimbly caught this object by the top of it, holding up a beautiful diamond the size of the reptile's fist as she murmured quietly: "I am not only Earth, but the Earth that cradles all the elements."

She looked for a few more moments at this gemstone... and then smiled lovingly as her other hand slipped down Zerrex's arm to lace her fingers with his, crushing the gemstone in her fist... and it became nothing but motes of blue energy that floated towards the sky as she murmured softly: "I am your Disciple and I alone... now bear the burden and the glory of the Judgment Cross. But I would have it no other way, I think... as long as I get to be with you."

She smiled over at him quietly, then added quietly: "And it is nice... to be home, too. To in a way, have taken my old position up... but your will is much sweeter to oversee than that of the Goddess's. Yes, I very much like being your Overseer." She stopped, then looked up towards the red sky overhead, adding softly: "Even the Crimson Beyond is more beautiful, now that you're here and ruling in the place of the Goddess."

Zerrex looked at her softly, and Earth laughed quietly after a moment before she let go of his hand and hugged herself, looking up at him warmly. "So. Will other guests be joining us? I expect that the Fifth Sister will... or maybe I should only call her 'sister' these days, do you think? And anyone else?"

"Cindy, Cherry... maybe Marina, I know she likes it here, but she's also busy watching out for a Strange Beast that came to me, seeking sanctuary." Zerrex said softly, and Earth frowned at this, tilting her head curiously, and the reptile smiled embarrassedly at her. "I'm sorry, I forgot you wouldn't know, being... here and all. Her name is Celeste... I... ran into her at the Center of the Universe, and she...

"She's different." the reptile said finally, after a long, awkward pause, but Earth only continued to look at him with the same interest. "I... well for one thing, she didn't try to eat me or anything, which is nice, of course. But she reads minds and emotions, seemed to do it... just as second nature. You would probably like her, though... and she's been honest and up front so far. She stopped me from killing a Viper, but she ordered it to go away and it did... said something worrisome about how the Chanters might be ordering them around, though."

Earth nodded slowly, and then she said softly: "Well, would you like to have her come here, Lord Zerrex? I imagine High Queen Vivien must be displeased with having a Strange Beast around while Eslovius threatens our country as well."

"Our country... I've always loved the way you can balance your love of Hell and of Acheron, Earth." Zerrex said softly, and Earth gazed at him happily before he nodded slowly. "And I may bring her here later on, once I show Vivien she's no threat. Apparently some peace talks are going forwards with Eslovius today, hopefully those will progress and Vivien will be less stressed about things and less likely to bite my head off in the future."

The female nodded, and then Zerrex shook his head a bit, continuing mildly: "Anyway, Naganen might show up too. I'm really hoping so, anyway, he deserves a bit of a break and I could use having him around."

"He's a good boy." Earth agreed, and then she reached out and stroked his chest gently, saying kindly: "Why don't you go to your chambers and get some sleep, Lord Zerrex? The Dragon Warriors will be glad to see your presence in the palace, and you look like you could use the rest. I'll entertain the others when they arrive, and then send them to wake you up before things grow too late. We have time on our side here, after all."

Zerrex hesitated, but he nodded after a moment: it was true. Time moved twice as slow in Acheron as it did on the physical world: in other words, in two years spent here, only one year passed on the physical plane. He hesitated a bit nonetheless... but then Earth only smiled softly and reached out to touch his chest, and Zerrex winced and flailed as he faded slowly from sight.

A moment later, he reappeared in front of the immense, golden-stone palace, and the two Dragon Warriors in the archway immediately saluted him with loud grunts. Zerrex rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, but he waved back to them after a moment, smiling despite himself as he looked at the behemoths: each easily twenty feet tall, covered in immense, rippling muscle and wearing long loincloths, with red scales and tall, mighty black horns as well as half-masks made of gold around their eyes and over their skulls. They each bore the tattoo of Iuratus upon their breast: a handprint inside a wavy circle with three sharp lines through the top of it.

The Dragon Warriors had been half-captured, half-rescued decades ago by Zerrex from two Old Gods who used them as expendable heavy infantry: once they had understood they were freed from the control of the Old Gods, they had quickly become docile and glad to be of service to their rescuer, and since Zerrex and his Disciples had looked after them, they had quickly bonded with the lizard. Now they served as his elite guard as well as personal servants, glad to do anything and everything he asked, loyal to a fault.

They pushed open the heavy steel doors for the reptile as he approached, and he nodded to them with a smile as he walked past the two guards, both of them slamming the butts of their spears against the ground in salute as he entered through the tall golden stone archway into a high-ceilinged hall. Everything in this palace was built for someone of great height, as the Goddess herself had been... and Zerrex always felt a little awkward, since he was all eight feet and some inches of lizard in his usual mortal body... and he didn't exactly feel like sizing up just so he could better fit into the rooms here, either.

The palace was being gradually reconstructed by work crews, however: much of the old furnishings - many of them rotten and damaged, many others made of skin, cursed materials, or just plain evil - had been removed and destroyed, replaced with more-sensible versions and decorations that appealed more to Zerrex's personal tastes. But it would still be years yet before they were done refurbishing the sections of the palace that were still intact... and years after that before they were able to rebuild the parts of the palace that had long collapsed.

Originally, the building had likely been U-shaped at the front, immense and protected by tall, imposing fencing, with a long, ramp-like staircase leading from the city and up the mountain the building rested upon the top of. The rear of the palace had then been circular in nature, with what seemed almost like a secondary castle built literally on top of the building: the Goddess's seat of power, where her throne room had been located and her own personal chambers, likely glorifying in how excessive and decadent the design was. The result, however, was that all the weight had caused much of the rear side of the palace to collapse... especially since its back was to sheer cliffs, which had themselves given away completely and thus caused half the palace to be lost to the swirling darkness beyond.

Zerrex had used his powers to restore the mountainside that had collapsed, and to shore up the edges of Acheron, so they wouldn't rebuild the castle just to have it all collapse. The reptile both loved and hated how this was like being inside his own twisted imagination, and being able to invite others to come and watch as he showed off, making everything and anything he wanted real with nary a twitch... and it made him wonder quietly how powerful Naganis must have been, to be able to defeat the Goddess in a place that likely would have fueled her powers in the same way. As he walked down the halls, he finally turned off to a side bedroom with a comfortable, wide bed and a quietly-flickering lantern filled with eternal blue flame. The reptile gazed at the bed thoughtfully for a few moments, and then he flicked his wrist... and instantly, there were three Dius, sitting and gazing at him hungrily, all beautiful, all clad in only two-piece bikinis as they bowed their heads and murmured in unison: "Come to bed, Master."

Zerrex rubbed at his muzzle thoughtfully... and then he sighed and flicked his wrist again, and the Dius vanished into motes of energy, murmuring: "I wonder if when I create them... knowing they're only simulacrum, not real, unable to possess actual emotions and only puppets driven by one desire, one memory, one emotion, one... idea-made-tangible... I wonder if that counts as masturbation or not when I have sex with them?"

The reptile glanced up, smiling a bit to himself... and then he kicked his boots off and walked over to the bed, climbing into it and pulling the fluffy covers back before wrapping the blankets around himself and curling up childishly as he dropped his head on his pillows. And then he glanced up quietly, looking back and forth before he closed his eyes... and a moment later, a hand stroked gently along his side, then brushed his hair back before a muzzle leaned down and kissed his temple, a female voice whispering softly: "Go to sleep, Zerrex."

And the Drakkaren curled up a bit tighter, knowing all too well now how gods of such magnitude and power could go mad as the female shade vanished, a figure that had been somewhere between his lost mother and lost love... but they were both dead and gone forever, and neither could he ever bring back to life... or dishonor by trying to recreate them himself, because he knew he could never capture what they had truly meant to him.

The male frowned curiously as he stood in the tall grasses of a courtyard: and yet this courtyard, in front of a vast, beautiful temple, stood not on any planet, but instead was on the deck of a ship of steel and metal, and surrounded on all sides by the vast darkness of space, stars twinkling quietly in the distance as the male said quietly: "And you want me to... what?"

The male across from him smiled kindly, charismatically: he was difficult to look at as reality seemed to bend around him, wearing beautiful, flowing robes as he spread his hands wide. A beak protruded from features that were furred, not feathered, and his eyes were luminescent gold: he had strangely-shaped ears that had no fur around them, from which hung earrings... and upon his skull sat a crown of silver and gold and platinum and gemstones, as he said softly: "I want nothing from you, Naganis. I only want you to be... one of us."

Beside the strange, bird-faced god, a tall female nodded, but her expression was cold, almost cruel, as she gently rested her hand on the shoulder of the male. He was tall, perhaps ten feet or so, but she was at least seventeen, maybe eighteen, and terribly gaunt: her sleek black dress hid her emaciated frame, but it could do nothing to hide her thin arms... and yet her face was full, and vain, and beautiful, with emerald eyes that burned with terrible vitality and the features of a lizard, her scales apple-red as she said softly: "The lord Athéos is generous and kind... and you are of great power, and great vision. Even I recognize that you would go far in our ranks."

The Naganatine hesitated as he reached up to rub slowly at one of the large horns that stood up from his skull, his bright blue eyes indecisive. He fidgeted, and although Athéos only looked at him curiously, the female, the Goddess, lost some of her amusement, her features tightening. Then Naganis looked up as he smoothed some wrinkles from his plain black shirt, saying quietly: "I... well, I've been looking for others like me my whole life... and if you really are... the Old Gods, I imagine there's no better place for me to learn."

Now Athéos smiled widely and nodded, and he clasped Naganis's arms as the Goddess's smile returned to her features. "Excellent, then, my friend. Thegragon, tell the others a new disciple joins our ranks, a new friend... and tonight, we shall celebrate this joyous occasion."

Naganis smiled, looking relieved as he nodded and reached up to gently pat Athéos's arm, his purple-blue scales almost gleaming with his energy as he stepped back a pace on his unguligrade legs, flexing his toeclaws absently against the ground as he gazed up as a massive spaceship passed overhead, murmuring quietly: "I must say, those are fascinating. How did you come up with their design?"

"It was just in my mind." Athéos explained calmly... but this was a lie. Athéos had seen great ships before, not ones that travelled through space, ones that travelled over water, when he had been a mortal child... but no one needed to know that but him. No one needed to know how he had traded so many souls for these powers, then outwitted the Judge sent to drag him down to Tuonela. No one needed to know that he had stolen ancient texts, from ancient gods. No one needed to know that he had fortified his powers when he had found the Center of the Universe, and tapped into the greatest of all power sources... and not even Athéos knew that he and Legion were no longer the children, the people, they had once been, but only puppets to the very power they had sought to control.

There was something... familiar to Naganis and Athéos about one another, but both dismissed it as Thegragon strode away, her features becoming ugly with jealously the moment her back was turned. And later, as Athéos and Naganis spent the night talking, philosophizing, and getting to know one another better, Thegragon returned to her own mighty warship, the Fellsfroth, and had grabbed one of her servants and ripped his heart out of his chest in a fit of pique, snarling in fury before leaving his corpse for her other Hellbreed serfs to clean up, terrified and whimpering.

Athéos was eager to show Naganis his own worlds, and had the fleet of the ships of the Old Gods turn around so they could visit one nearby. He, Thegragon, and Naganis landed on the surface, and Athéos basked in the praise and adulation of the mortals he had made, treating them like pets and animals as Naganis had looked disturbed and quietly-disapproving while Thegragon had been scornful.

It was their first disagreement: yet unlike with other Gods who dared cross Athéos, he allowed it, to Thegragon's disgust and horror. He did not change his opinion, but he did not force Naganis to change his own, nor did he either exile or destroy him, like he did with any other who disagreed with him but for Legion and a few other rare cases. Even Thegragon herself never dared disagree with Athéos... and it had only filled her with greater fury, as she spent much of the week storming around her ship, killing servants, creating new ones to replace those lost, and putting together the designs for her own world.

Other disagreements came and went, until countless years later, Athéos sat in his throne, silently leaning his head against one hand, ghostly light cast by the stars that twinkled through the enormous dome-shaped window wall behind him. Naganis stood in the middle of his throne room on thin air, long used to the twisted mechanics of Athéos's mind, and he smiled sadly as he said quietly: "We have to part ways, Athéos. I'm not stupid enough to try and fight you, especially when you have armies of gods and... things I don't want to think about, chained up in some of those places. But I didn't want to run away... without at least talking to you.

"Athéos... the people you create you're responsible for, don't you understand that?" Naganis gestured at him quietly, and then he motioned to the side, as the room became filled with images: smiling faces, different races of mortal, supernatural entities of every shape and size, worlds that spun slowly by. Athéos snorted and looked away, but his eyes were drawn back inexorably as Naganis continued softly: "These people look up to you. And yet you and these gods... when you come across something you don't like..."

Naganis clenched his hand into a fist, and the images shattered, illusions of worlds exploding, voices turning from laughter to cries for mercy before they faded... and Athéos leapt up from his throne, shouting angrily: "And it is our right! For centuries I've entertained this, Naganis, but no longer! All you ever do is question me... all you ever do is undermine my efforts! Even when we spoke to Thanatos, you took his side of the argument... but the Center of the Universe does not belong to him, it belongs to me!"

"It belongs to no one, Athéos." Naganis replied quietly, and Athéos snarled before he held a hand out, a golden sword appearing in it, the weapon bursting into unnatural flame... but Naganis looked at him resolutely, shaking his head sadly as he murmured: "Don't turn on me like this. Listen to me... and listen to yourself. Who are you really, Athéos? Who are you and Legion? Perhaps no god knows where they come from or why they exist, but the story you both tell changes every time you tell it. And no matter what, no matter if you're First God, Old God, or just a god... Athéos, we don't have the right to treat even those we create the way-"

Athéos leapt forwards, lashing out furiously... but his sword collided with some invisible, tremendous force, the Old God's eyes going wide for a moment before his sword was blasted out of his hand and he was knocked sprawling on his back, staring blankly upwards as his weapon flew across the room and clattered loudly onto the platform his throne sat on, the flames whiffing out around it. For a moment, he only stared, trembling, then he snarled furiously at Naganis... but the god only put his hands in the pockets of his pants, saying quietly: "Go ahead. Call your friends to help you, Athéos... but all you'll accomplish is showing them that you're not as infallible as you act like you are. I doubt that I could kill you, sure. You're powerful, and you'll have a thousand gods on me in a moment if I actually attack you."

"Get... get out." Athéos whispered, and then he slowly got up to his feet as Naganis gazed at him sadly, then turned and simply walked away. He faded from reality before he even reached the doorway, and Athéos trembled, and then clenched his hands into fists, roaring: "Naganis! I'll hunt you down and kill you, I swear it! Old Gods, all must know that the god Naganis is a traitor, and if he is seen, he is to be destroyed on sight!"

Naganis sat quietly upon the moon that slowly circled a beautiful blue planet below, rubbing at his face as tears fell down his cheeks. He had lost every friend he'd ever made in one fell swoop... and yet what was he supposed to have done? He had tried to change Athéos's mind, at least, but the Old God was too set in his ways, too prideful, too consumed with his own power to ever change, to ever acknowledge that he might be doing something wrong... and he sighed a bit, only glad it hadn't come to blows even as he stared nervously down at his own hand. He didn't know who he was, or where he'd come from... only that one day, he had awoken with a need to... discover, to find knowledge, and to create. Sometimes, things sounded familiar to him, like the Center of the Universe... and some gods, too, looked at him strangely: the implacable Thanatos, for example, whom Athéos had tried to wheedle, threaten, and bargain with, but who had completely dismissed him, had spent much of his time just examining him. When Naganis had asked about it, Thanatos had smiled, touched his shoulder, and said that he looked like an old friend, that was all. And then he had sent them both away, and Athéos had been forced to leave. Naganis got the idea that it wasn't because of the strength of Thanatos, either... but because Thanatos knew something Athéos direly wanted to keep secret.

And now here he was, alone again, and the only knowledge he had gained was that other gods thought their powers meant they had every right to destroy anything they wanted, and to create, but then abandon their projects once they grew bored. They were like monsters... and Naganis closed his eyes, covering his head as he murmured: "I don't want to be a monster..."

He sighed quietly as he let himself rest back on the moon, staring up at starlit space. He and Athéos had never seen eye-to-eye on most things, but still, they had been friends... at least, in the mind of Naganis. In the mind of Athéos, things may have been quite different, who knew? But it was never like it had been with Thegragon, who had hated him from the beginning despite her simpering smiles, her real feelings always visible in her cruel green eyes.

But friend or not, whether Naganis had been given special privilege by Athéos or not... Naganis couldn't continue to sit by and simply allow Athéos to do whatever he pleased. Not without saying something, at least... and the god sighed quietly as he rubbed at his forehead, pushing his hand silently back through his dark, Mohawk-like mane as he whispered: "Maybe now I've only made things worse, though... Athéos will hunt me down, and I can't fight all those gods at once... and some of them..."

He trailed off, not wanting to say it, but knowing it was true: in the few centuries he'd spent with Athéos, helping the Old Gods tend to their flowerpot worlds, investigating other planets and helping with their so-called 'duties,' Naganis had befriended more than one god. And some of them had taught him some very interesting skills... like how worlds could be linked and anchored together, how the planes could be separated, how things could be hidden even from the all-seeing eyes of Athéos and his Dream Gods, who were far blinder than they realized.

Naganis looked down at his feet quietly... and then he brought his gaze up from the moon to gaze at the world below. It was a natural planet, that was slowly beginning to develop natural life... not to the point that it interested Athéos, thankfully. And Naganis smiled sadly as he stepped forwards, vanishing from the spot to reappear on the surface of the nameless planet, rubbing at the underside of his muzzle quietly.

The last straw had been a few weeks ago, when Athéos had destroyed a planet they had come across supported by several small gods, who tended to its primitive people only just enough to help them get by. Naganis had been fascinated by this when he and Athéos had explored the surface of the planet, but Athéos had been disgusted and furious... and when they had finally hunted down the gods, who dwelled upon their own planet in quiet, quaint little homes that had immediately enchanted the Naganatine, Athéos had wanted to kill them out of hand. Naganis had barely been able to argue him into giving them a chance to explain what they were doing... but the so-called Eldest of the Old Gods had finally lost his temper with him and called his warrior god disciples down to take Naganis forcefully back to the ship.

Athéos had used his vast powers not to aid, but to destroy the planet, rupturing its fault lines, sending cracks down to its very core, making it rip itself apart... and Naganis had been unable to do anything under Legion's watchful eye. He had argued nonetheless with the Old God, and the two had almost come to blows to the horror of the assembled onlookers... but then they had simply parted ways, and Naganis had spent his time in quiet contemplation until he'd finally made his decision to leave, to escape from the Old Gods after one last try at convincing Athéos that what he was doing was wrong.

He shook his head slowly, closing his eyes as he put his hands against a large tree... and then he leapt backwards in surprise, looking shocked at the vibrancy of life that emanated from it. He looked down at his palms, then at the grasses that rustled around his feet before he carefully dropped to the ground, brushing his fingers through the plants... and they whispered to him, told him their secrets, told him about the planet as he smiled a little bit and nodded slowly. He had explored other planets, yes, but mostly barren and lifeless ones, and ones that contained hostile gods that would not bear his presence, and the flowerpot, impossible worlds built by Old Gods... and never before had he felt such primal, curious life.

Naganis needed to know more: for weeks, he explored back and forth across the surface of the planet, poking at trees, touching plants, rubbing along the backs of animals with his hands and ignoring the way they often growled at him. They never hurt him, though: he could feel their thought processes, and they were beautiful in their simplicity. Here, there was no pride, no anguish, no shame: the animal killed when it was hungry, predator and prey pitted against each other but bearing no malice towards one-another when the game ended with prey caught or predator eluded... it fascinated him, how all of nature here worked together, chaotic and wonderful, nothing like the forced, cold order of the Old Gods that was rife with betrayal, heartbreak, and terrible, crushing loneliness.

The Naganatine, however, knew that he couldn't spend the rest of his life upon this world alone. But likewise, he couldn't simply abandon it. In a few short weeks, he'd already become attached enough to the planet to start naming the species across it, to hesitantly experiment by creating his own flora and fauna and watching how they integrated with the ecosystem. Finally, after much deliberation, the god had created a shield around this world and the moon that circled it incessantly. It would block psychic signals out and create the illusion of nothing but dead space in this zone of the universe, and Naganis was confident it would stay in place until the people of this world grew strong enough to stand up to even the Old Gods.

And Naganis smiled at this thought, as he lay in a forest of enormous oaks and pines and birches, laying with his hands behind his head upon an immense, flat-topped boulder. Unlike Athéos, he didn't fear the idea of the world evolving and growing to the point that it didn't need him... hell, as it was, the planet didn't really need him much. He had come to it a stranger, walked all over it, been to the bottom of the sea and the tops of the mountains... and it was all functioning perfectly well with minimal interference from him.

Still, though, something tickled at his mind, some presence he couldn't quite put his finger on... and finally, after another month of exploring and roaming, he found himself walking through a lush jungle that was tinged with darkness, a presence he almost recognized surrounding him as he frowned quietly. There were things here that did not feel as natural as the rest of the world did, like immense spiders with terrible intelligence that had likely been mutated by some kind of perverse energy, and plants that seemed more dead than alive, full of poison and scorn and wickedness.

Naganis slipped his way into a field... and he touched the side of his muzzle quietly as he found himself standing near the base of an immense temple of golden stone, stairs leading up to the top, where an open archway gaped like a black socket. He could sense the dark, malignant energy of the Old Gods here, and he gritted his teeth, fearful of what was to come... yet knowing he couldn't back down nonetheless. In such a short time to him, this had become his new home, and the animals and the plants and the very soil of the world itself he wanted to protect... and he knew that sooner or later, whatever Old God had been given leave by Athéos to poison this planet would report eagerly back to their master that they had found Naganis. And shield or no shield, Athéos would find this planet and destroy it.

The Naganatine walked forwards, stepping carefully onto the bottom riser... and when nothing happened, he forced himself to carefully ascend towards the top of the temple. Beneath the golden stone, he could sense a terrible energy pulsating, boiling away, and he could almost hear the whisper of lost souls praying for salvation, almost smell the tears and blood being shed by slaves to the will of this evil presence... and he shook his head slowly as he reached the top of the temple, grasping either side of the archway as he gazed into desolate blackness. He sensed dark magic at work here... and thus he wasn't surprised when he forced himself to step forwards, and he found himself entering not a temple, but instead passing through a terrible tunnel of darkness to emerge out of an enormous portal.

Several tall reptiles gaped at him, dropping their loads of stone and wood, shackles jangling around their arms and legs as another creature snarled - also reptilian, but larger, with a frill of spikes on either side of his head and ugly claws, wearing blue armor over its red scales. It began to draw a whip back... and then faltered as its eyes fell upon the Naganatine, who looked at it for a moment before he shook his head slightly... and immediately, the slave-master called an alarm, and bells began to ring around the square.

Naganis was unperturbed, however: the air here was thick with the presence of the Old God, and by now, it would have known he was here. Instead, the Naganatine turned around and shook his head slowly as he viewed the portal: he had stepped into this world through the open jaws of a screaming Hellbreed, its arms shackled behind its back as two larger statues of slave-masters pinned it down, one with four immense horns and features that were more monster than sentient beast, huge wings half-furled around it... and the other with the same frill of spikes as the living slave-master he had just seen, a second ridge of spikes going down the back of the statue, covered in immense muscle.

"Disgusting." Naganis murmured softly, and then he glanced over his shoulder with a wince as Hellbreed slaves stumbled and ran out of the square, slave-masters of all shape and size, most of them in armor, many wielding spears and others with bow and arrow assembling over the rooftops... and the god glanced back to the statues after a moment, disregarding them before he rose a hand, then clenched it into a fist.

The statues trembled... then shattered, the wings of one of the two slave-master carvings exploding into chunks of stone that spiraled towards the ground as cracks formed through its thicker body before it began to simply fall apart. With shattering bangs, immense cracks ran themselves through the surface of the other slave-master next, and the statue crumbled half-backwards as its base gave out and its wrists snapped off hands crumbling to dust upon the back of the third statue. This, the pinned prisoner, seemed to gape wider for a moment before its jaws fell shut in front of Naganis... and as rubble spilled down from it, the god narrowed his eyes and yanked downwards, and the ground around the statues immediately, violently shredded itself, becoming a swirling maelstrom of dust and rock that greedily pulled down the debris from the statues.

Slave-masters quailed before the show of power as the vortex of rock and dust exploded upwards as Naganis turned around... but sand and stone reformed into a massive archway, blue light shining quietly in this as the god said clearly: "This is the portal to the outer world. All who wish to be free, who wish to seek redemption, can find both on the other side. But do not cross me."

In either panic or rage, a slave-master fired an arrow from a high rooftop... and Naganis's hand shot up, lighting fast, catching the arrow: a feat made doubly impressive by the fact the arrow was made of glowing energy. The slave-master that had fired it panicked immediately, turning and bolting... and Naganis shook his head slowly and let him run as the arrow dissolved slowly in his grip before he grimaced as a scintillating voice whispered: "So we meet again..."

Naganis turned slowly as he faded from view before the shock of the slave-masters... and with equal deliberation, his body faded back into sight on the roof of an immense fortress on top of the mountains high above the golden city below. He looked over his shoulder at this for a moment, grimacing as he stood on the wide, circular rooftops... and then he slowly strode ahead, towards the immense, cruelly-welcoming doors of the second palace that stood like a crown upon a crown, terrible in its perverse, decadent glory.

He passed into an enormous hall lined with pillars, each of them with a statue of a Hellbreed chained to it in various states of torture... and then Naganis closed his eyes, shaking his head in disgust as he realized they were alive, blood leaking from their wounds, their outer bodies petrified or simply frozen inside concrete shells as they moaned weakly, eyes rolling uselessly in sockets but unable to move. Naganis approached one... but a voice called him mockingly even as he reached towards it: "I thought you were here to see me?"

"I am here, Thegragon, to try and talk some sense into you... but I fear you may be well beyond that." Naganis said calmly as he pressed his hand against the concrete shell... and a moment later, the Hellbreed inside vanished, large, ugly black spikes and terrible javelins falling free from bloody hollows. "You created these creatures yourself, you know the depth of emotions they feel, and yet you put them through such awful suffering... why, Thegragon? Why toy with your creations like this?"

"And who are you to judge me?" asked the goddess coldly, and Naganis looked to the side with a grimace to watch as she slowly strode down the other end of the hall towards him, towering and terrible and imposing, a crown of gold upon her skull and a necklace of interlaced black pearls and black roses around her neck. A dress of gold slowly swayed back and forth around her... and Naganis felt a little ill at the sight of it, as the metal string made soft by the goddess's powers twinkled and shone with greed, not beauty. "I heard that you betrayed us... and that means you're no longer Athéos's favorite, Naganis. Now I finally have an excuse to take your head to the master of the Old Gods."

"Don't do this, Thegragon. You're powerful and ancient, true... but your bitterness and your scorn make you flawed." The Naganatine shook his head slowly as Thegragon snarled at her, her eyes flashing in her vain, beautiful features as her hands clenched into fists. "Even with you stealing tricks from Athéos's books... you've layered the air here with your energies, haven't you? And likely you're using some of the living souls you yourself created as batteries to further fuel your powers..."

"They are like toys to us, you imbecile!" Thegragon shouted furiously, and then she slammed a hand out into one of the trapped Hellbreed, and Naganis winced back in both revulsion and repressed anger as the stone shell shattered and the body of the male beneath it exploded like an overripe fruit, blood splattering around Thegragon... but halted before it could touch her, droplets of red floating eerily in the air for a moment as the crushed carcass of the Hellbreed spilled out of the shell. Immediately, the concrete housing repaired itself... and then Naganis cursed quietly when Thegragon rose her foot and cruelly crushed the skull of the dying Hellbreed beneath one foot. "You are soft and pathetic. Your emotions, your pathetic feelings for these... these inferior animals, it makes you weak and easy to hurt."

Naganis looked up at Thegragon evenly, meeting her callous emerald eyes fearlessly as he said softly: "I would rather be easy to hurt, and I would rather spend every day being hurt... than spend a moment thinking like you do, Thegragon. Convincing yourself you have power, simply because you can so easily hurt these very things you've created... but I've never seen a greater display of cowardice and weakness in my entire life. It's easy to hurt, and to lash out. It's hard to trust, and to leave your heart an open book."

Thegragon looked at him furiously for a few moments... and then she spread her arms as her eyes glowed, and Naganis winced covering his face and staggering backwards as the Hellbreed corpses exploded inside the concrete shells, spikes and torture implements and javelins flying back and forth in all directions as a wretched storm of gore and concrete flew through the air, not a speck touching Thegragon... but Naganis splattered by blood, covering his face in horror as chunks of bone and sharp torture tools tore against his scales, making him stagger... and when he finally lowered his arms, his eyes widened in horror as he realized the golden hallway around them had transformed into rusted metal and bone, the pillars supporting it no longer made of concrete, but instead screaming, petrified Hellbreed, long, transparent cables running through many of these and filled with black and red blood that bubbled as it flowed through to floor and ceiling, as Thegragon said softly: "Then allow me to show you the error of your ways... and by the end of the day, I shall have you worshipping my power, Naganis."

She shoved a hand suddenly forwards, her eyes glowing with psychic wrath... but Naganis only winced a bit in distaste, and Thegragon frowned before snarling when the Naganatine said quietly: "Your telekinetic attacks are as crude as they ever were..."

Immediately, Thegragon swept a hand savagely sideways, and massive spikes of ivory erupted from the pillar next to Naganis, the god wincing before he crossed his left arm over his body as spikes of bone shot towards him... and the entire pillar was blasted apart by a shockwave of force, chunks of shrapnel and bone flying in all directions as clear tubes tore and petrified Hellbreed were blown to pieces, blood exploding backwards in a thick ripple even as Thegragon laughed and clenched her hand into a fist, and the pillar immediately restored itself as she shouted: "I can alter reality, Naganis, and my powers are tenfold in this dimension! What can you hope to accomplish?"

She shoved a hand outwards again, and this time her telekinetic blast caught the Naganatine full in the chest, knocking him flying backwards before he crashed onto his back. Thegragon grinned... and then she screamed, grabbing at her head as blood exploded from one of her eyes, the Naganatine's teeth grit as his hands seized into an invisible rope in front of himself before he grunted and heaved, and Thegragon shot through the air as if propelled by an explosion, flying past the Naganatine to crash back-first into the steel doors and crash through them, rolling out onto the rooftop of her fortress beyond as she hissed in pain and grabbed at her face.

Naganis strode out of the hall a moment later, and she staggered to her feet as he said quietly: "Like I said. Crude as ever. Are you willing to listen to reason, Thegragon? Fighting should be below gods like us... we should be settling our disputes with words, not by trying to hurt one-another. It proves nothing."

"It proves everything!" Thegragon screamed, and she lashed a hand outwards, firing a blade of golden energy at Naganis, but the Naganatine winced and leapt out of the way, landing on all fours before Thegragon created a sphere of radiant energy in her hand and leaned forwards, throwing it hard at him. The male barely had enough time to throw himself forwards, covering his head with a wince as the ball of energy collided with the rooftop and exploded in a tremendous bang with enough force to send him flipping heels-over-head, crashing onto his back with a grunt as the goddess began to chant in a terrible, guttural language.

Energy crackled through the air around the Naganatine, and he winced before he simply vanished from the spot, and Thegragon stuttered dumbly to a halt in her chanting, the golden energy sizzling where Naganis had been a moment before, then dissipating... and then she frowned as a buzzing filled the air before looking over her shoulder in horror as a length of black chains shot towards her, spinning through the air before colliding with her hard enough to make her stagger as they violently wound themselves around her body and arms. Before she could fall, green vines ripped up out of the golden stone behind her, catching her and gently lowering her to the ground even as she screamed in fury and struggled against the chains, before hissing in frustration as the green vines looped themselves around her and pinned her firmly to the rooftop.

"Are we going to talk now?" Naganis asked quietly, as he walked forwards and crossed his arms, and the goddess screamed a barrage of curses and swears at him, making him wince and rub at his face slowly. "Thegragon, stop it. Those chains will stop you cold, at least for a little while."

"What the fuck are you?" the goddess snarled at him furiously, but there was fear as well as anger in her eyes now as she tried to pull herself free... but the chains barely rattled and the ivy stretched, then tightened easily against her. Fury blazed in her eyes as she clenched her hands into fists, and Naganis only watched her pityingly as she eventually tired herself out... and then she settled and sulked visibly as she looked at him grouchily, muttering: "Fine, Naganis. Say your pretty, meaningless words. None of it changes anything."

"Thegragon... look at this place." Naganis turned around, holding out both arms as he gazed up at the red sky above, saying quietly: "Athéos gave you leave to build your own world, but all you've built is a prison. Even your fortress is just a gilded cage with the way you live your life through fear... you spend so much time either terrified or hateful that your entire life is consumed by the need to lock yourself away and feel like you're the only person in power in the universe. All you've done is built a testament to the mire of delusion and pain you live your life in, but it doesn't have to be like that. You can change... you don't have to live by the rules of Athéos forever, or be a slave to the hatred of your heart, less free than those poor servants you've created who are toiling under the thumb of those tormentors."

He turned around... and Thegragon was silent as she looked away for a moment before her emerald eyes slowly turned to meet his... and then she grinned savagely as they glowed violently, and Naganis felt a moment of shock before he was blasted off his feet, flying through the air with a curse and crashing painfully onto his back some thirty feet away as the vines over the female's body burst into dark flames before withering away, and the goddess lunged up to her feet before snarling and tearing her arms to either side, the chains shattering to tinkle to the stony rooftop below as she thrusted a hand into the air... and like a living thing, the red sky trembled before bending and curling itself downwards towards Naganis as the god slowly picked himself up, shaking his head dumbly before he looked up in horror as the sky itself smashed into him like a living thing, like a stone hammer hidden beneath a soft veil of cloth, a burst of dust and golden stone erupting from where it struck.

Then it slowly lifted, seeming to dissipate more than shift back into place as reality returned to normal... and Thegragon snarled as her eyes settled on a hole in the rooftop before the golden stone beneath her feet erupted upwards in an explosion, knocking her into the air with a hissing curse before she simply floated, glaring down at the hole in the rooftop as her hands flicked out to either side, a bow of gold appearing in one and a long, slender arrow of energy in the other. She nocked it as she looked back and forth, her eyes glowing spotlights as she shouted angrily: "Show your face, coward!"

The air around her gleamed strangely, and the goddess readied herself with a hiss before Naganis suddenly appeared on the rooftop below, waving at her mildly... and immediately she grinned savagely and fired at him: the arrow, however, struck something crystalline and reflective only a few feet away, and Thegragon screamed as the arrow ricocheted, flailing her limbs violently back and forth as the energy bolt bounced wildly back and forth around her, reflecting off the clear walls of a crystalline sphere she had been trapped inside. The arrow dug shallow cuts over her shoulder, along her side, and then finally bounced off her crown, shattering it as the energy finally dissipated... and Thegragon clutched at her bruised skull before she swept her arms out with a howl, the crystalline prison around her shattering into glass that hailed down before she pointed at him and shouted furiously: "Don't play games with me, Naganis! I am older and more powerful than you!"

She clenched a hand into a fist, her eyes glowing with psychic wrath... but Naganis only grimaced and tensed his body before he made a brisk snapping motion, and Thegragon was yanked out of the air and hauled face-first down into the smooth stone, her features crunching loudly against the rooftop before she topped onto her back with a groan as the Naganatine said quietly: "We already discussed your psychic powers. Thegragon, your powers here may only be limited by your imagination... but all you can imagine is pain, and torment, and envy, and hatred. And even as powerful as you are, you can't simply whisk me away into a prison, into torture, into destruction. You are your own worst enemy."

The goddess snarled as she staggered up to her feet, lashing both arms upwards, and Naganis leapt backwards with a wince as the rooftop where he had been standing a moment before erupted into golden spikes of rock before Thegragon lashed both hands forwards with a loud shriek of fury, and the Naganatine's eyes widened as he looked up in shock, meteors of golden stone burning with terrible black flame shooting out of the red sky towards him.

He leapt backwards, cursing as the first crashed into the golden spikes and sent up a blast of dark energy and golden flames that washed over him, singing his scales as rocky shrapnel beat against his body before he rose his forearms with a snarl, and a second, third, fourth meteor crashed directly into him, sparks of blue energy travelling over the god's frame even as his forearms were ripped into and bloodied but the meteors shattered and the powerful eruptions of energy washed around him... but as a fifth meteor hailed down towards him, he stepped forwards and smashed his fist into the solid boulder of stone, and it cracked as it lazily arced backwards towards Thegragon, her emerald eyes widening with shock before the meteor slammed into her and exploded with enough force to send her crashing through the roof with a scream into the grand hall below.

She tore through five feet of solid stone, only to fall another fifty and smash down into the rock-hard floor of a large assembly chamber, an enormous throne of gold at the front of the room upon a raised platform that was flanked by two statues of Hellbreed holding enormous lanterns in their shackled arms... and the female coughed hard once before she slowly picked herself up, snarling as the wounds covering her body regenerated slowly, followed by her torn clothing. Her necklace fell from around her throat, however, the black pearls scratched, faded and broken, the roses mottled and crushed... and she kicked this hard after a moment, sending it flying into a statue of a slave-master at one side of the wide, immense hall before she staggered around in a circle over the cracked floor and ripped red carpet as Naganis said quietly: "Are you done yet?"

He was fully healed, standing with his arms crossed near one end of the hall, his eyes colder now, his body speckled with bloodstains... and Thegragon snarled at him, but now she looked desperate as well as furious as she breathed hard in and out through her mouth before Naganis muttered: "Fine, fine then. I don't want to do this, but you're not leaving me much of a choice in the matter."

He readied himself... and the goddess snarled before she created a sphere of golden energy in one hand, throwing it hard forwards towards the god, but Naganis winced and easily swatted it aside, knocking it flying into a statue, where it exploded with a thunderous bang. Then he cursed as the goddess made a wild sweeping gesture at one side of the hallway, and chunks of stone ripped out of the wall as the statues were torn off their bases, flying towards him in a whirling storm of destruction.

Immediately, Naganis flicked both wrists upwards, creating a solid half-dome of stone that he dropped against with a wince, rocks and debris and slicing winds smashing into this, tearing chunks of wall off but thankfully not shattering it... until Thegragon shoved a hand forwards with a snarl, and the half-dome exploded backwards, Naganis howling in pain as he was thrown free to crash down onto his back, rolling several times before he managed to claw his way to a crouch... and then his eyes widened in shock as he saw the goddess raise her golden bow, her emerald eyes alight with victory as she fired an arrow not of energy, but of black, evil-looking wood that tore through the air and then ripped through the male's side, making him gasp as he clutched at his stomach as blood burst between his fingers, his mind reeling with pain as he half-collapsed to a kneel.

Thegragon laughed, throwing the bow aside as she brought her hands back, terrible, dark energy crackling down her forearms as Naganis struggled to get to his feet... and then she shoved both palms forwards, dark lightning launching from her fingertips to collide in front of her and transform into a terrible white sphere that whistled through the air as it shot towards the god. The goddess grinned, in terrible triumph, as Naganis gritted his teeth, unable to bring his arms up as blood coursed from the wound in his side... and then his eyes flashed, and the sphere halted in midair, rippling quietly as Thegragon's grin slowly faded into disbelief, before the Naganatine suddenly lurched to his feet as he dug his fingers into the wound in his side, ripping the dark energy that the arrow had been laced with free from his wound and flicking it with a splatter of blood from his fingertips, the roiling sphere of darkness striking the white sphere before Thegragon screamed as the orb fired towards her as if it were a meteor, an ivory star with a tail of black darkness.

It smashed into her face and exploded, and she was slammed off her feet, crashing onto her back and skidding the entire length of the hall to crash into her throne, most of the scales of her face torn away and long, wicked lines left carved over the rest of her features, her emerald eyes stuttering as her wounds started to heal... and then stopped, and simply bled. She shivered hard as she slowly sat up, hauling herself backwards and banging roughly into the legs of the statue behind her... and the lantern supported between its arms slipped out of place and fell just as the goddess started to look up, smashing into her forehead and shattering, shards of crystalline glass and the metallic frame of the heavy lantern catching against her features, ripping merciless cuts and wounds over her face as blue flame greedily consumed her skull, and she screamed in agony as she convulsed violently, grabbing madly at the lantern.

Naganis's eyes went wide as he staggered to his feet... and then fell over with a groan to all fours, shivering hard as Thegragon continued to spasm and howl in misery, before she finally tore the lantern off her face, hurling it across the room, and she flopped onto her stomach, extinguishing the last of the guttering blue flames as she rubbed at her features... and then snarled furiously, her emerald eyes baleful and insane, her face covered in terrible scars and cuts and wounds that would never heal as she screamed: "Damn you, damn you, damn you!"

She threw herself up to her feet, then swayed unsteadily and fell over with a grunt, shuddering hard and rasping for breath before she glared at him... but Naganis only looked pityingly back even as he slowly sat back on his haunches, clutching the wound in his side as he whispered: "I'm sorry, Thegragon."

"I don't want your pity!" she screamed in return, then clawed into the carpet, hauling herself slowly forwards before she forced herself up to her knees, snarling at him furiously as blood dripped from her face and she glared at him again... but nothing happened, and Thegragon frowned before she looked to the side, visibly trying to exert her powers... and a single, small stone lifted slowly into the air, trembled... and then fell to the ground. She moaned weakly, clutching at the carpet, but Naganis already knew what had occurred... and he felt only sympathy for her now as he forced himself up to his feet, and she howled miserably: "I'll destroy you! I'll... d-destroy... y-y-you..."

The once-goddess's face dropped to the ground as she clutched into the carpet, sobbing hard, and Naganis shook his head slowly as he said quietly: "All I did was reflect your own powers, Thegragon. You destroyed yourself... and now, I'm going to leave. This wound... hurts pretty bad." He smiled a little, even as the now-mortal snarled up at him, and she tried to claw her way to her feet... but fell over again with a grunt, tears and blood dripping from her face as the Naganatine said quietly: "If I were you, I'd get out of here. You spent your entire lifetime hurting these people, making them suffer for your own gain... how long before they figure out what's happened to you and they decide to pay you back for everything you did to them?"

Thegragon paled, and then she began to shake her head wildly as Naganis turned away, crawling after him and whispering: "Wait, no, please don't leave me here... please... oh please don't leave me here, please help me... help me, Naganis, please..."

Naganis, however, only looked over his shoulder at her sadly as she begged and pleaded, whimpering as she stared up at him with terrified emerald eyes. "But I did try and help you. I told you to treat your creations better... to love them, and take care of them, to give them strength. Had you treated them with honor, they would have treated you with the same... we are gods, yes, but we are no better than anyone or anything we create, we are no better than anything else in this entire universe. What we create... is not our property. We can't demand worship from them... we can't even demand they love us, hard as that is. But we do owe love and respect and kindness and compassion to them... and yes, they must sometimes be protected from themselves... but most of all, they need to be protected from our whims."

He stopped, looking at her as she shook her head silently, not understanding... and he sighed before smiling at her faintly, saying quietly: "I won't help you, Thegragon. But I won't hinder you, either. Perhaps killing you would be a mercy, but either way, I'm not much of a killer, not like you and Athéos. Good luck to you, Thegragon. Maybe we'll meet again. But I have a feeling that we won't."

And the now-mortal, once-goddess screamed when Naganis simply turned and vanished from sight, before she forced herself up to her feet... and as self-preservation took over instead of rage, she hurried outside. Slave masters looked at her with horror, and she grabbed the nearest, then shouted at him to prepare the armies and cordon off the slaves... and as they had rushed away, terrified, she had stormed to the front of the fortress and then down the massive steps.

She was tired by the time she'd reached the bottom, hands scraped and knees bruised from falling over as she wheezed for breath, hugging herself tightly. Unfamiliar pangs jarred her senses, hunger, delirium, blood loss... and yet fear, and hate, and the need to survive drove her onwards. In time, she would escape, leaving her city, her fabled Acheron, to eventually collapse on itself as chaos descended, until Hellbreed slaves overwhelmed the slave masters that were now powerless without their terrible goddess to fuel them.

Unable to do magic, barely able to defend herself with only weak telekinetic powers, Thegragon hid herself away in the secret rooms inside the step pyramid. She eventually destroyed the portal linking Acheron to the mortal realm, breaking apart the blood crystals that fuelled the permanent link and instead scattering them in the deep tunnels beneath Hez'Ranna, sacrificing the few wild Hellbreed she was able to catch. Some of them became like feral animals, forgetting what they had learned, becoming what were called the Cubba: others formed into tribes, developing into both Drakkaren and Dragokkaren. It was the Cubbas that Thegragon captured and manipulated to her will, bringing them up as savage hunting beasts used to grab the more-intelligent Dragokkaren whenever she needed sacrifices with special potency: the more evolved, less-wild beasts had deeper emotions, after all, and from this and faith were where much of her power now lay.

And as Thegragon lost much of her mind as she withered as a mortal, only able to perform the most evil and vulgar of magic done by sacrificing her own former creations to steal the bit of magical essence that still pervaded their bloodstreams, and terrible alchemies, the secrets of which she never forgot even as her mind began to weaken and her memories to fade... Naganis sat quietly on the moon, tending to his wounds and wishing silently that he could have friends and family of his own.

Zerrex's eyes opened, and he stared silently at the ceiling. Memories, not of his life... but of the lives of the other souls that had mixed into his own. He reached up to rub at his face slowly as he sat up in bed, grimacing a bit as he muttered quietly: "The only thing I know for sure is that I sure as hell don't seem to fight like other gods. Not by waving my hands around and making stuff blow up but by punching things really hard in the face."

The Drakkaren sighed a bit, rolling his shoulders absently before he rubbed at the scarred side of his face slowly, muttering: "Surprising the Goddess didn't Invert herself with how vain she was... but then again, she was always a bitch, so maybe it was being nice that would have made her change."

He shook his head a bit, trying to throw off the strange tremble rolling through his body as he rubbed his hands together, emotions and alien memories whispering through his mind for a moment longer before finally receding back into darkness. They only surfaced on occasion, but when he had the dreams, the remembrances of other people's lives... he felt both blessed and terrified. After all, it made him wonder how much of these gods' powers he had really inherited... and how much of these gods still resided inside of him somewhere.

Likewise, though, he had never experienced any of the memories of Mephistopheles, despite the fact his powers were a large part of the reason why his arm was the way it was. He thought it had something to do with the fact that he'd gotten his powers through a Heartstone instead of directly absorbing his soul or energies, but the reptile couldn't be sure, as he sighed and rubbed at his face... and then, finally, he forced himself to dismiss these thoughts for now. It was easier when he reminded himself how fortunate he was that at least it was the memories of Naganis he was viewing... gods knew that any time he ended up witnessing more of the past of either Athéos or the Goddess, he ended up feeling chilled to the core.

Other thoughts contended for top concern, now, as Zerrex closed his eyes and concentrated, vanishing from the spot and reappearing instead on top of one of the towers around the enormous golden-stone square. He sat quietly back, crossing his legs as he wondered quietly what the hell Naganis, of all the beings in the universe, had ever seen in him: Naganis, after all, had been everything Zerrex wanted to be. Not power-wise, no, he far from envied the gods' tremendous gifts... but he was noble, generous, kind-hearted and never put himself above others. Despite how hard the Drakkaren tried, some days he still ended up preferring to spend his time throwing food at Cherry instead of giving it to the needy. And let's not even start on the Cloister and the other twisted places beneath Sin's Tower...

The lizard shook his head a bit, but he couldn't simply dismiss his thoughts: his mind was starting to run away on him, and he grimaced a bit as he hammered the side of his head with one fist before moodily heading for the door and tossing it open... and then wincing in surprise before he grabbed his chest and wheezed as two males looked dumbly but happily up at him from where they were seated on the floor, in the middle of a game of Hez'Rannan dice. "I really wish you two wouldn't do that."

The Dragokkaren-demon smiled awkwardly, looking over at Zerrex with fawning eyes: a sixteen foot behemoth covered in rippling, powerful musculature, even sitting down and hunched forwards he was almost at eye level with the Drakkaren. His scales were a deep, dark blue that lightened over his chest, and he had an almost-tiara of black bone spikes that followed the curve of his brow, and another longer series of spines that went from the back of his neck all the way to the tip of his tail. He was dressed only in a white loincloth and a simple black leather collar with silver runes embossed around it. "Sorry, Lord Zerrex. But we couldn't resist coming to see you."

The other creature nodded with a smile... but this was no Dragokkaren, but a crimson-scaled dragon, with long, angled ears and tall, elongated horns that pointed almost straight back from his skull. A short mane of dark brown hair ran from forehead all the way to the back of his skull, and a distinctly F-shaped scar went through one eye with a white iris that had once been blind, but now no longer was as he added embarrassedly: "You know how dedicated we are, ever since you revived me. We mean only the best for you, Lord Zerrex."

The reptile couldn't help but smile a little bit at the latter creature: a chiseled and athletic body about half the height of the massive Dragokkaren he was playing dice with and with much-less muscle on his frame, toned but covered in both burn marks and scars, one forearm and his entire tail both replaced with engraved and elegantly-detailed steel instead of flesh and blood. The former flexed and rippled, smooth with several large, stacked plates that covered the upper side of the arm, and the latter was made of what looked like interlocked rings that very gradually grew smaller, until they locked into a tail-tip that was a long, stylized cone. A black collar that matched the Dragokkaren's rested around his neck, and golden rings glinted in one nostril and above his unscarred eye, the iris of which was a deep, beautiful black instead of white.

Buluc-Chabtan had been a wicked, malignant god obsessed with two things: fire and destruction. He had completely and utterly refused to change, to show compassion for his wicked actions, dedicated only to tormenting anyone and anything around him: he had been the author of the Dragon Warriors, and who had been guilty of constantly sending them into battles, using them as toys and servants and weapons and never once treating them like actual, breathing people. Zerrex had defeated and captured him, and Buluc-Chabtan had ended up in one of his darkest playgrounds, being used a toy for the reptile's most depraved games... but if anything, it had only made the dragon more insane and vengeful.

Anathema Sin, however, had come to Zerrex with a curious suggestion one day... and with the help of Maria, they had strapped Buluc-Chabtan down, ignoring his screams, his pleading, his begging... and ripped his tortured soul out of his body. This soul had been crushed and reshaped into a Heartstone, the god's essence trapped for all eternity in a gem roughly the size of the reptile's fist... and his empty body had been nothing but a mindless shell that they had quickly put another soul into: a soul that had died valiantly fighting Jupiter, a soul whose twin brother was confined to a mental institution because he had such a difficult time living without the sibling whom he'd spent his entire life beside.

Terrance and Dray Hezrow: the reptile gazed back and forth from one to the other, laughing quietly as he shook his head a bit. He'd known them for years, and if anything, they had only become more dedicated to him, more childishly-believing in the legends about the mighty Lord Zerrex. They were exiled princes of Hez'Ranna, firm believers in the traditional stories and religion of the Cradle of Life... and now Disciples of the Drakkaren, almost demanding they be made such after Zerrex and his family were able to bring Dray back from the Unworld, which they both considered to be a miracle... and frankly, Zerrex did too, only glad that Dray's soul had held up well enough in the Unworld that he had only suffered minor amnesia... and thankfully, most of that surrounded the battle with Jupiter, which the Drakkaren would gladly forget himself if he could.

And while not normally a fan of stealing souls, the reptile thought this was the best possible use for Buluc-Chabtan's body: left alive, he would have only stirred up more trouble one way or another, and the reptile felt still like he owed the Hezrow brothers for all their dedication, and for the pain they had suffered for him. The male smiled a little, able to clearly feel how content and happy the two were here in Acheron, thought-mythical homeland of the Drakkai... and he finally nodded after a moment before saying softly: "Well, I'm glad to see you both as well. Do you know if the others have arrived yet?"

"Yes, Boss. Cherry, Cindy, Maria, Lone, Mahihko, and Naganen." Terrance recited after a moment, nodding a few times, and then he tossed three small wooden dice from his hand before smiling and pointing at them, saying easily: "King's Guard, Dray."

"I know, I know." Dray shook his head, looking with dry amusement at his brother before he returned his eyes to Zerrex with a shy smile, and the reptile looked back with quiet entertainment as the dragon said softly: "I believe Earth is having everyone focus more towards building the portal today... do you think we should be helping her?"

"You two are helping her." Zerrex replied with amusement after a moment, shaking his head a bit. "Keeping things running around the palace and directing operations here is the best thing you can both be doing right now, since it allows Earth to focus her attention elsewhere and get Acheron back in shape all the faster. Building that portal will be pointless if our dimension still looks like a mess once it's finished, after all."

The two nodded and looked up at him warmly, and Zerrex reached out and grabbed the foreheads of either, making them laugh before he touched Dray's shoulder and gazed down at the dragon affectionately. "Anyway, I'll come back and spend some time with you two soon. For now, I need to go make sure Cherry isn't chasing any of the Dragon Warriors around and Cindy isn't chasing Cherry around."

"Just call if you need us, Lord Zerrex." Terrance and Dray both leapt up to their feet and bowed, and Zerrex rolled his eyes, but waved and smiled, nodding to them both and letting his eyes linger on the dragon. He could feel that Dray was honestly happy nonetheless, however... and he had adjusted surprisingly-quickly to having the body of a god, complete with many of Buluc-Chabtan's powers. Yet strangest - and nonetheless what Zerrex was likely gladdest of all about - the Dragon Warriors had treated Dray with curiosity and kindness when they had first seen him, instead of the fear and aggression he was worried they would show the being that looked very much like their old master. Yet Zerrex was starting to think they saw things in deeper, different ways than mortals did: they didn't see the outside shell that Dray was clad in, but instead the soul inside the body, which was why they had so readily accepted him as part of their ranks.

The Drakkaren lingered a moment longer, and then he turned and vanished from sight, reappearing a moment later in the central square and crossing his arms absently as he stood beside Cherry, who was peering curiously at the scaffolding as workers swarmed around the slowly-being-completed statues, passing up large chunks of shaped stone, cutting tools, and yellow mortar used by the traditional Dragokkaren. Cindy was helping too, grunting as she lifted immense lengths of heavy golden stone easily in her arms, showing off an impressive strength that made Cherry leer and rub her hands together slowly in front of herself... and then Zerrex tapped her shoulder as he asked mildly: "How's it going?"

"Oh holy fucking shit!" Cherry squawked and flailed her arms wildly as she leapt backwards and then staggered before falling on her ass, then she glared at him furiously as Zerrex only looked at her mildly, only a few Dragokkaren looking at her sourly: by now, they were well used to the female's antics. "Fuck you, you fucking cunt! Holy fuck you scared the sweet corn out of me!"

Zerrex continued to look at her calmly, and finally Cherry wheezed and forced herself up to her feet, mumbling under her breath before she walked towards him with a grimace. "Crap sticks. But... glad to see you awake, Boss, and obviously with your sick fucking sense of fucking humor in-fucking-tact." She threw a punch at him, and then grinned when Zerrex caught it easily in his left hand, a slight smile spreading over his muzzle as she half-lidded her eyes. "Much better, ain't you, Boss?"

Then she laughed and the two embraced tightly for a moment before she smiled and pulled back, rubbing her hands over his chest as she motioned with her head to the statue, saying softly: "Cindy insisted on helping out... the wolves wanted to, too, but they got a different job for now. Earth is having them charge up some power crystals or some shit... says she wants to have 'em ready by the time the statues are done, even if that won't be for months yet."

Zerrex nodded after a moment, and Cherry smiled a bit as she pointed to the side, where Maria was standing with Naganen, her hand resting on his shoulder as the two watched the construction process with fascination. "Ain't those two cute? They're like animals caught in the headlights of an oncoming car or some shit, just not about to splatter and die all over the fucking place. Kids grow up damn fast though, don't they?"

The Drakkaren nodded after a moment with a grunt, and Cherry looked at him with quiet entertainment before she squeezed him around the waist, saying softly: "Go on, go spend some time with him, Boss. Fucking hell, I still can't believe he's the product of you and Anathema. I mean, our kids make more sense than that: Priest is still a gumball sometimes and Markus was all evil and shit."

The male slapped his forehead with a groan, but Cherry slipped out of his arm and danced away with a cackle before she gargled loudly as her collar tightened and choked, Zerrex extending a hand and the female wheezing as her body was dragged backwards by an invisible force, her heels skidding slowly along the ground before the reptile's hand grasped the back of her collar and he shook her firmly once, asking dryly: "Are you trying to screw up your relationship with Markus again or something?"

"No, it ain't my fault it's the truth." Cherry said blandly, and then she winced when Zerrex looked at her moodily, half-ducking away before huffing and crossing her arms. "And hey, this ain't about me and my shit, it's about you and yours. Go spend some time with your damn kids."

Zerrex rolled his eyes, but then he shoved her before heading towards Maria and Naganen. They both looked over at him as they approached, and then smiled and traded tight hugs with him before the Naganatine boy leaned back and pointed at the sky, asking curiously: "Is that really what the sky in Hell used to be like? Maria said it was very similar, back when Hell was its own dimension."

Zerrex nodded after a moment as he gazed up at the red firmament above, more ceiling than anything else and faintly distorting with ripples now and then, much like water... and he said softly: "It is... except Hell's was a swirl of black as well as red, always spinning slowly just above the Central Spire. And in some points in the Beyond, when you looked up, there was only darkness... just a solid roof of darkness."

Naganen nodded after a moment, looking at him raptly as he asked curiously: "And you explored the Beyond, isn't that right? All the way to the so-called 'different hells?'"

"That's right, I did. Although I wouldn't call it exploring... a lot of it was just walking in a straight line for as far as I could, for as long as I could, and hoping the whole time I didn't run into any Wyrms." Zerrex smiled a bit, squeezing his son's shoulder gently. "The thought is that they were... other Hells made by Naganis. Lucifer never talks about it, and Lord is always jovial but works hard to avoid certain subjects... and of course, me getting information out of Heaven's council is next to impossible, and Job and the other Naganatine were the only ones who really knew him up there."

"But you have the memories of Naganis... do you think you could ever find out for sure?" Naganen titled his head, and Zerrex laughed a bit as he nodded slowly after a moment.

"Maybe, but the memories that come to me... it's hard to describe. It's like something hits just the right switch inside my mind... and when my dreams come to me, I find myself... experiencing, watching his memories play out. Otherwise, they're jumbled and confused, locked down so deep even Marina has trouble finding them... let alone making them coherent." Zerrex replied softly, and Naganen smiled a little up at him. "What?"

"Maybe that's for the best, Dad. You're learning what you need to know, as you need to know it... there's no need for you to confuse yourself overmuch just yet." Naganen said quietly, and Zerrex frowned a bit as he looked at him thoughtfully. "I know that if the memories of Naganis were all in easy reach, after all, you may very well be tempted to... sit down and simply try and watch them all play out. And the emotions evoked from all that could hurt you."

Zerrex continued to look at his son for a few moments... and then he reached up and gently ruffled his mane, making him laugh a bit as Maria smiled warmly and stroked a hand slowly along the male's back, saying softly: "What a bright young male you are, Naganen. You're young, but very wise, and it's a pleasure to have you as my uncle."

"That's just awkward." Naganen mumbled, blushing a bit as he glanced over at Maria, and Zerrex laughed in agreement as Maria sighed and shook her head slowly, looking amused despite herself before she smiled and softened when Zerrex kissed her cheek quietly. "Dad, I was hoping that you could help me with some questions I had, though..."

"Of course, Naganen. Come on, let's go find a place to sit down." Zerrex said softly, and he rose a hand to Cherry as she waved at them with a grin before Zerrex wrapped an arm around his son's shoulders, smiling as they walked through the yellow-stone square and deeper into Acheron, cherishing this time with his family.

Zerrex rested quietly in bed, hands behind his head as he looked up at the ceiling, the long day ended and feeling content. Curled up against him, in only his boxers, Naganen was snoring away with his head on the reptile's bare chest, half-clinging to him with a small stuffed toy in his other arm. The reptile looked down at him softly, smiling despite himself before he leaned down and gently kissed his son's forehead, brushing his mane of hair quietly back as Naganen shifted but smiled in his sleep, clinging a little tighter to the Drakkaren, the covers pulled up over his shoulders and tight around his body.

Not that it was what it looked like, for a change. Naganen simply had trouble sleeping by himself in bed, especially in a strange place. It was cute, really, how sometimes he still wanted to curl up with Zerrex or Anathema Sin and sleep with them... and while yes, on the mortal world - and most other places - it would probably be taken as a sign there was something wrong with the Naganatine boy-child, Zerrex really couldn't care less. In every other field, Naganen excelled: he was innocent, intelligent, honest, and already enormously-talented in the field of magic, however he tried to hide his skills. Zerrex was more than glad to entertain his quirks, and even Cherry kept her mouth shut about it... and for once, not just because Zerrex had threatened to punch her face off, but because a softness came into her eyes when she looked at Naganen.

Everyone loved him: the Naganatine was pure and good and everything Zerrex wished he could be, adorable and happy and destined for such greatness... and the Drakkaren closed his eyes as he easily relaxed back in the bed. The only ones who ever teased him were Darren and Daria... but Darren and Naganen had been raised as siblings and were best of friends as well as brothers, and Daria just enjoyed the attention Naganen paid to her.

Then Zerrex tilted his head when the Naganatine stirred quietly, yawning for a moment before he pushed himself up against the Drakkaren's chest, blinking sleepily. It would still be a few years before Naganen matured fully... although he was definitely no demon, but very clearly a godling. Not that it was any surprise... and Zerrex smiled softly as he patted the boy's cheek gently as the male sat up blearily, still wrapped in the sheet. "Hey, kiddo."

"Hi, Dad." Naganen stretched and grunted quietly, then he shook his head out before smiling awkwardly as Zerrex sat up, glancing over the chiseled, powerful chest of the male before looking down at his own slender frame, mumbling: "I'm always amazed, Dad. You're so big and strong and I'm, well... not."

"Yeah, but you have a mind. And you're much more handsome than I am." Zerrex smiled a bit as he reached out and patted Naganen on the cheek, and the young male blushed deeply before the Drakkaren slid out of bed and stretched slowly, cracking his back with a grunt. "Anyway, as I've learned, a big body doesn't count for much these days... not when people can throw you around with their mind, or set you on fire from a distance, or even just shoot you. Sure, I can punch someone really hard in the face, but I don't think I could ever survive for long in a fight these days if I was still just a mortal, sad as that makes me."

"I think you could, Dad." Naganen said softly, and Zerrex looked over his shoulder at him curiously as Naganen awkwardly stood up, smiling embarrassedly as he adjusted his loose boxers for a moment before he reached up and touched the Drakkaren's chest, saying softly: "Dad, these scars... you got most of them long before you were even a demon, let alone a god. You fought beings with supernatural powers that would frighten even the hardiest of godlings... and you never once gave up."

The Drakkaren smiled a bit at this, reaching out to touch Naganen's shoulder as he said quietly: "That is a matter of perception and opinion, Naganen. It might very well be more fair to say that I spent much of the beginning of my life lost... and that I only tried to rekindle hope a little too late, after I had already spent much of my life... hurting people, tearing people apart for no good reason other than for my own pleasure and gain."

The Naganatine nodded as he looked at his father quietly, and then he said softly: "The point remains, though... you know you're stronger than you let on, but you're afraid to admit it because you don't want to sound arrogant. But yet, you're also even stronger than you know, I think." Naganen stopped, then he hugged him firmly, Zerrex looking down at him with surprise as the smaller male pressed his body against him. "Don't hide from who you are, Dad. We're all proud of who you are, and even now, even with Negative inside of you, you do an excellent job of protecting us all. Even from yourself."

Zerrex looked down at his son, touched... and Naganen smiled awkwardly before he stepped backwards, his long, dexterous tail swishing out to grab his robes off the back of the bed and lift them over to his arms, and he carefully slipped into them as he said softly: "Today I was hoping we could go over mortal cultures a bit more, though... maybe touch on their religions, too, since I know some extremist factions still consider us to be 'abominations' instead of actual supernatural beings, and I'd like to better understand that."

The Drakkaren nodded after a moment, then he picked up his prayer beads from the dresser, kissing the mala gently before slipping it around his neck, and Naganen watched him curiously before he blushed a bit as the Drakkaren shot him an amused look as he climbed into his pants. "Sorry, sorry."

"It's alright." Zerrex smiled, resisting the urge to give some crass, sexualized one-liner, since that would probably just scare the shy little male. "Do you want to meet me in the palace library, then? I want to check in on the others, see how things are progressing."

Naganen nodded, smiling as he rubbed at his head awkwardly. "I'll head up there now then, even though you'll probably beat me there. I get lost in this big place sometimes, after all."

"Want me to have Maria or the Hezrow brothers go with you?" Zerrex asked gently, but the Naganatine shook his head, gazing at his father warmly.

"No, no, it's fine. I just meant... you don't have to rush on my account." Naganen said softly, and then he rubbed at the back of his head before nodding awkwardly and heading towards the door, pushing it open and leaning in it for a moment before he looked over his shoulder with a smile. "Meet you up there, okay?"

Zerrex nodded to him and waved, and Naganen headed into the corridor with a bit of a blush, the Drakkaren laughing a little and shaking his head slowly. He figured Naganen would be fine, one way or the other, though... after all, Acheron was even safer than Elysium these days, and meek as he was, Naganen could take care of himself, too. The reptile paused, then made a face as he crossed his arms and vanished from sight, thinking of someone else who had a little bit of a problem taking care of herself.

He reappeared beside Cherry, who only winced a bit but didn't look up, glaring furiously across at Cindy as the two arm-wrestled, their hands locked together and muscles flexing with power, Cherry's bulging enormously and with such force her scales looked like they were starting to separate, a vein throbbing in her neck as her teeth clenched together.

Cindy, however, was only smiling indulgently, her hand firmly locked with Cherry's, elbow resting lightly on the rosewood table in the dining room instead of grinding down into it like the other female's was. She glanced at her father and nodded to him with a soft smile as Cherry hissed a slew of curses through her teeth, and then she returned her gaze to the female's, saying kindly: "Give up."

Cherry immediately grabbed Cindy's hand with both her own and yelled vulgarities as she tried to forcefully drag Cindy's hand down towards the table, and the female gritted her teeth as her hand slowly began to move towards the wooden surface, shouting angrily: "Stop cheating, you bitch!"

"I'm gonna win this time goddammit!" Cherry shouted gleefully, a maniacal gleam in her eyes as she stood up and yanked with all her visible might on Cindy's now-flexing arm, forcing it almost halfway towards the table... and then Cindy leaned to the side, grabbing the tabletop with her other hand before she heaved her arm forwards, and Cherry yelped as her arms were jerked to the side with such tremendous force her side smashed down against the tabletop, almost breaking it as she bounced comically off and knocked her chair over as she sprawled over the ground. Cindy grimaced a bit as she shook her hand out, and Cherry sulked on the stone floor as Zerrex rolled his eyes and sighed, the female mumbling: "Best fifty-one out of a hundred."

"Cherry, you suck." Cindy said plaintively, and the muscular female rumbled in half-irritation, half-agreement from the ground before the younger daughter of Zerrex adjusted her pigtails, then smiled lovingly up at her father, saying quietly: "Anyway, Daddy, what brings you here?"

"Just checking in. I know how things can get sometimes." Zerrex replied softly, looking quietly entertained as he glanced around the dining room... but Dragon Warriors and Dragokkaren were both peaceably eating at the other tables and down the row, everyone here by now familiar with the explosive personalities of the two females. Then he reached down and gently lifted Cherry back to her feet by her collar, and she grumbled, swaying unsteadily but then crossing her arms and glowering at her companion as Zerrex said mildly: "You should probably let her win more often, Cindy. Cherry's always had a bad habit of taking things personally."

"Cherry knows if she ever wants to have sex with me again she needs to accept the fact I let her win too often as it is. For someone that's only half-female, she sure acts a lot like a little girl." Cindy replied mildly, picking up a book up from the chair beside her and setting it down on the table, flipping it open as she began to read, and Zerrex snorted in amusement as the hermaphrodite sulked visibly. "Anyway, Daddy, we're fine... we're going to spend a week or so here, right? I think we could all use the vacation."

Cherry crossed her arms at this, blowing a loud raspberry at Cindy. "You could use the vacation? The fuck do you do all day, babe, you... work in a science lab. I kill shit and have to be nice to Vivien the cunt and watch out for shit and shit."

Zerrex slapped his forehead at this, but Cindy refused to take the bait, only raising her book in front of her face: it was a large, frightening-looking text on genetic algorithms. For a moment, Cherry looked moody... and then she sighed and leaned against Zerrex, saying grumpily: "Okay, okay, point made. I won't cheat next time, babe. I'm going off to sulk with Zerrex now."

"I'm going to be teaching Naganen, actually..." Zerrex began, and then he winced at the glare Cherry favored him with, as she slowly cracked her knuckles, the lizard clearing his throat and raising his hands. "Actually, that sounds wonderful, Cherry, glad to have you along."

"Bully." Cindy muttered, and Cherry looked at her for a moment before she booted the table hard, and it whacked into Cindy's chest and knocked her over, making her wheeze as she grabbed at one of her breasts. Then she glowered angrily at Cherry, but the hermaphrodite leapt immediately onto the male's body, and he cursed in frustration, flailing his arms before vanishing from the spot just as he began to tip over, and he reappeared in mid-fall in midair, crashing loudly into the library floor with Cherry still seated atop him.

The reptile slowly tapped his fingers against the stone floor, and the female grinned lamely down at the back of the reptile's head, reaching a hand up and awkwardly combing her fingers through his ivory hair as she said dumbly: "Everyone panics sometimes, you know." She stopped, then cleared her throat, mumbling: "She's going to kick my ass later, isn't she?"

"Why do you two have to act so much like... well... like you do?" Zerrex asked flatly, as Cherry got off his back and then reached down to carefully haul the male to his feet, awkwardly brushing him off. "I thought lesbians were supposed to be campy and peaceful."

"Yeah, totally. And gay guys like Raze are just big squishy faggots." Cherry said ironically, and Zerrex grunted before he flailed at her when she continued trying to sweep dust off him with her hands, and she flailed back childishly, the two slapping at each other's bodies before Zerrex finally managed to shove her backwards, and she huffed and rubbed at her face. "But seriously, I dunno. It's been kind of like... we've been trying to piss each other off, because it's scary how good we get along, you know? It's too goddamn weird to spend all this time together happy and... being nice."

Cherry shivered and hugged herself, and Zerrex rolled his eyes before he turned away, surveying the rows of shelves that made up the enormous, simple library, before he glanced over his shoulder as the female hugged him tightly from behind, her eyes closed and her head resting against the side of his neck as she murmured: "You shouldn't worry about us so much though, Boss... you gotta worry about yourself and take care of your own ass. You know me and Cindy are happy together... and that even with as much as we love each other, you still come first."

"Well, I shouldn't." Zerrex said softly, even as he reached up and gently took her hand, and Cherry laughed quietly as she ground herself slowly against his back, the reptile smiling a bit despite himself: "What?"

"You brought us together in the first place. You did everything for us... and you helped us grow to what we are now. We owe you everything, Boss. And we loved you long before we loved each other." Cherry murmured softly, gripping quietly into the Drakkaren... and Zerrex couldn't help but smile a bit before he turned around, the two looking down at each other as Cherry grasped his waist gently, saying quietly: "Don't blame yourself for the bad shit that's gone on, Zerrex. Remember that you're the one responsible for all the good, instead."

The reptile nodded slowly after a moment, and the two smiled hesitantly at each other before they kissed softly, Zerrex squeezing her close as their muzzles worked together for a few delicious moments... and then Cherry suddenly pushed herself back and away, Zerrex blinking and then rolling his eyes when she rose her hands into fists and said cheerfully: "Now come on, show off your omniscient powerfulness and shit!"

"Omniscient is all-knowing, Cherry. Omnipotence is all-powerful." the Drakkaren corrected, and immediately Cherry glowered at him, crossing her arms moodily before the lizard sighed and muttered: "I can't believe I'm doing this solely for your amusement."

He flicked a hand out... and a moment later he and Cherry were standing on a large floating platform outside of the city of Acheron, the circular stone beneath their feet solid and warm as Cherry whistled a bit... then grinned as Zerrex turned around and gestured both hands outwards as he closed his eyes, concentrating as platforms of yellow stone rose up from the darkness, forming into an enormous, elongated island of different levels of heavy rock, the Drakkaren mumbling: "Yes, that's a good start... but you want something more than that, don't you?"

"You know me, I need a challenge to keep me entertained." the female rubbed her hands together eagerly with a wink, and Zerrex rolled his eyes before he flicked his wrist, black-steel girders flying out of the darkness and quickly arranging themselves into all shape and size before ghostly, semitransparent Dragokkaren rose up out of the stone as well, solidifying slightly as they stood at attention, and Cherry leered at this for a moment before she grimaced as she realized how indistinct they were. "Hey!"

"I'm not giving you anything you can order to have sex with you. These are Sentient Shells, half-spirit and half-construct. They'll obey you, and they can put themselves back together after you break them, as long as you don't will them away." Zerrex muttered, flicking both hands upwards, and another set of girders appeared, rapidly slamming themselves into a tall, towering structure before ivy exploded along the length of it, more of the same thick green vines spreading along the floating stone platforms and long yellow-rock island. "They should let you work off some energy, and that's what matters."

"Yeah, but not in the way that matters." Cherry retorted, raising a finger... and then she winced when Zerrex glared at her, shrinking back and clearing her throat." Actually no, this is great and really generous and... have I mentioned lately it's really sexy how you hold ultimate power over this dimension and shit?"

"Yes, Cherry, I can alter reality here. But whenever I go to sleep here I either wake up and find I've accidentally created or demolished something in my sleep or I have those psychedelic memory-dreams." Zerrex muttered under his breath, rubbing absently at his face before he shook his head a bit. "Anyway. I need to get back to the library, Naganen's probably shown up there by now. You have fun, and be nice to Cindy if she shows up."

Cherry nodded, then she smiled a bit and stepped forwards to hug the Drakkaren firmly again, making him grunt in surprise as she half-lifted him into the air before winking and setting him down. "You have a good time, then, Boss. Don't push yourself too hard, hear? And for fuck's sake, enjoy yourself for once."

Zerrex glowered at her, and then Cherry cackled and booted him hard, the reptile cursing as he was knocked off the floating platform... and then he concentrated and vanished from the spot, falling once more to crash onto the library floor on his back with a grunt and a grimace as he sat up and rubbed at his face, muttering under his breath: "Oh what joy. I swear to Gods I'm going to stab her one of these days for doing that to me."

He carefully climbed up to his feet, rubbing at his side absently and feeling a tingle run through his body: sure, he could alter reality here, but what Cherry and the others sometimes forgot was that even in Acheron, his powers weren't unlimited. Bending reality too much inside this dimension, doing it too frequently, caused a backlash that would distort his own body. Unpleasant and painful, even if not debilitating... but it also seemed that the more he abused his powers inside Acheron, the higher the chance of Negative rearing his ugly head as well.

Zerrex glanced back and forth, then he approached a large rosewood table at the front of the wide, rectangular library, sitting down at it with a grunt and sighing a bit as he beat his hands absently against the surface. He couldn't see or sense Naganen's presence here... so he grumbled a bit as he reached up to absently play with his mala, twisting the coiling beads back and forth between his fingers as he felt himself calming gradually and his body relaxing slowly, murmuring: "I'm thinking too much again."

"As you often do." said a soft voice, and Zerrex grimaced as Negative stepped through the shelf opposite, translucent and ghostly before he solidified as he stood on the other side of the table. He looked for a few long moments at Zerrex, then glanced over his shoulder, half turning to lift a book off the shelf and open it... and the simple gesture sent a chill through the Drakkaren. It seemed like so small a thing... but the book was actually being touched, held by the hands of the creature, as he looked down and read quietly: "'The rose blossoms, the heart swoons, the thorn cuts, the pliers prune.' Poetry is worthless. Literature as a whole is worthless."

"Negative, you're worthless." Zerrex muttered, even as he covered his eyes and shuddered again: now the creature had just read something from the book... and if the creature really did somehow... read something that Zerrex was unable to see, unable to know... then he has to be really out there somehow. But no alarms are going off, no one is detecting him... "What do you want?"

"Funny... you're the one begging to use my powers all the time." Negative murmured softly, and Zerrex looked up with a snarl before the Inversion smiled coldly at him. "I'm just here to pass on a warning, that's all. You've become complacent... and the Strange Beasts are agitated. Worse, there's something else in the air... something far more sinister than me at work. Can't you sense it, Zerrex, even through the so-thin walls of the dimensions?"

The Drakkaren frowned at him, tilting his head quietly... but Negative only smiled cryptically before he tossed the book onto the table and turned away... and then the lizard stood up, asking coldly: "What are you talking about? Negative, if you put me in danger, you put yourself in danger too!"

"My existence does not matter, and is never in danger. Do you really think you can destroy destruction?" Negative looked over his shoulder at him with disgust. "Can you murder death, can you throw chaos into discord, can you create creation, organize order, and can you live life?"

"Aren't I living right now?" Zerrex asked sharply, and Negative looked over his shoulder at him patronizingly, contempt burning in his crimson eyes.

"No, Zerrex. You're just dying very, very slowly." Negative said softly, and then he looked sharply to the side when the library door opened and Naganen stepped in.

The Naganatine looked confused for a moment, Zerrex wincing a bit as he and Negative both looked at the boy... and then his eyes roved directly to the spot where the dark creature was, Naganen frowning quietly as he looked hard and long at the Inversion, who stood as if frozen, unable to move... and then he said softly: "Why do you hide, Negative? I can just about see you... static-riddled, indistinct, and yet there. If you really don't care about any of us... why do you always seem to show up just before something bad happens to Dad, as if trying to warn him? Why do you try and defend us, if you hate us all so much?"

Negative trembled... and then he snarled and threw his arms out, and the bookshelves in front of him exploded into black flames before the Inversion vanished, Naganen's eyes going wide as he staggered backwards before Zerrex winced and stood up, concentrating and gritting his teeth... and a moment later, the flames guttered out, the books steaming for a few moments before the burns that had spread over them slowly faded from existence, and the lizard sighed quietly in relief before he dropped his hands against his desk and his head forwards. Now, however, a new question surfaced, as he looked over to Naganen... but the young boy only smiled a bit, saying embarrassedly: "Maybe I just... had faith in the fact that if you thought something was there... something must be there, Dad, that's all. Or maybe I can see him and no one else can because... Negative's so weird around me anyway."

Zerrex laughed a little, looking at his son quietly... but what he felt mostly was relief, as he slowly sat down at the table and murmured: "Well, Naganen, I'm just glad that... I'm not crazy after all. Although... what worries me now is that you're right. Negative was trying to... warn me about something, almost, in that weird, hostile way of his... and he said there was... something sinister. Something worse than him on the horizon... something I should be able to sense."

The Drakkaren looked down and rubbed at his face slowly, feeling a nervous chill run through his system... but then Naganen walked over and gently touched his shoulder, saying kindly: "Then we'll just let everyone know when we go back to be ready, and until we have to deal with it, we'll stay alert... but also stay calm Dad, how about that? Panicking won't do anyone any good, after all."

"I... I know you're right." Zerrex glanced up at his son with a bit of a smile, nodding slowly before he rubbed at his head awkwardly and muttered: "How the hell did you ever get so damn smart? Anathema might know everything but she knows everything in a really dumb way, and I'm... well... me."

"You are you. And who you are is a much-wiser person than you let on." Naganen said softly, and Zerrex smiled a little wider as he glanced up at him before the young male sat down beside him, pulling a chair up next to him. "Anyway, Dad. This doesn't really change anything, does it? You knew Negative was something... something else from the very beginning. Now you just get to tell everyone who doubted you 'I-told-you-so.'"

"Which you know I love doing." Zerrex said thoughtfully, rubbing at his face absently. "Alright, that's a good way to look at it. But... did you want to go over... mortal stuff, then? Cultures, right?"

"And religion." Naganen nodded and smiled... and Zerrex sat back thoughtfully before he laced his fingers together, and as the young male looked at him inquisitively, the reptile felt himself simply... beginning to speak.

He talked about his own experiences as a mortal, how he'd never been 'lured in' or 'converted' by any religions... and how it had a lot to do with the fact that the Unity religion, one of the largest organized religions across the face of their planet, had refused to give his mother a proper burial because she had been involved in the adult film industry. This had led to an awkward tangent where Zerrex talked about his first sexual experiences until Naganen had almost turned red from head-to-toe, and then he had quickly dragged himself back onto topic, explaining how religion had been used by mortals as a means not of worship or tribute, but simply control, and as an excuse to wage violence against others or claim that one's creed was better than another's.

Naganen was fascinated by this, and even more so by atheism, which was still present today: the thought that there was no god, no higher power, no nothing, only the universe. Again and again, however, he interjected dumbly: "But then where did the universe come from?" which left Zerrex to try and explain how instead of people imagining that one day the First Gods started to put the world together, because nature abhorred a vacuum, nothingness became something. Instead of that something being Gods, however, that something was particles and protons and science stuff that Cindy could explain a lot better than he could.

Of course, then Naganen wanted to know how they explained away the fact that Heaven and Hell had appeared as real planets... and Zerrex had shrugged, saying calmly that they saw that not as any miracle, but again, some freak occurrence of science and particles, explaining away what was before their very eyes. Both religious fanatics and stubborn scientists did the same thing, over and over again, when they decided to believe in something: they saw only what they wanted to believe, and disregarded any proof of otherwise. Zerrex was himself very tired of being told that his powers were absolutely impossible, usually by a strangely-delighted Mengele Tstegi: the mad scientist who had first placed the swastika tattoo on the Drakkaren's arm, and who had been responsible for a lot of terrible evil in the world... and who had nonetheless redeemed himself a little by helping fix some of what he'd helped to first destroy.

Mengele, however, was an exception to the rule: he accepted new strains of thought as long as there was logical evidence to back it up, or even a coherent theory that he could test out himself and poke and prod at. He would be crass and rude about it, and he would show an utter disdain and disregard for the feelings and even lives of others... but he nonetheless accepted and understood that as the times changed, science itself often changed, even though scientists lied through their teeth and said it absolutely didn't. Then Zerrex had just smiled a bit and added that a hundred years ago, scientists had announced they had discovered every known particle in existence... only for another scientist the very next day to flail his arms around and show a proton analysis of a 'brand new' particle his colleagues had scoffed at the idea of existing.

"To really get an understanding of science... first you have to look at the really old textbooks." Zerrex said mildly, and Naganen cocked his head at this. "Because it's really amazing to read the things that these people, the so-called 'greatest geniuses of our time,' are dumb enough to put down. Things like 'We can never achieve flight into space because of gravity's force and the energy required to acquire enough lift,' and 'every possible genetic structure will have been mapped within the next twenty years' and 'we are the only intelligent life in the entire universe.' It's like when people get smart... they also lose the ability to remember that just because some dude in a fancy hat tells you it's impossible... it don't mean it's impossible."

The conversation had gradually shifted from religious theory to scientific theory, because Naganen was fascinated by how people were, to this very day, trying to disprove that the planets of Heaven and Hell were really Heaven and Hell. He was amazed that there were still people who couldn't accept that angels and demons existed, even lived among them... just as he was amazed by the fact that many people still believed that Hell was ruled by an evil master being known ambiguously as 'The Devil' and that God lived in Heaven and ruled all things and judged them all for their sins and threw them down into Hell the moment they pissed him off... when Naganis was sadly long gone, and had been so kind-hearted and generous that he had been willing to look past the most evil of actions to try and soothe the pain so many tormentors were driven by.

The Drakkaren was also careful to explain to the naive Naganatine about how mortals were less-than-understanding about many things... and despite how they had all worked together on numerous occasions and how many changes mortal society had gone through, many cultures still had a bad habit of looking at a person's outside and judging them for that instead of actually getting to know them. It meant they were often wary of demons, however harmless or kind they seemed, and more welcoming towards angels... but there were also a few rare places, such as the four enormous, floating space stations that still orbited the mortal planet, where any kind of supernatural being would be executed upon sight.

Prejudice and hatred were very difficult concepts for Naganen to understand, but he nodded slowly, following as best he could, asking quiet questions every now and then for clarification or about why this was bad or this was considered wrong. It was funny: the male's sense of right and wrong were so acute and so well-developed that he knew instantly whether or not an action was immoral or not... and yet he couldn't at all understand hate, or why anyone would bother hating anyone else.

Eventually, they were joined by Cindy, who sat down with them with a smile to Naganen. She relaxed across from her father, joining in on the conversation and helping out with her own views every now and then... and despite how she had changed over the years, despite the female she had become from the girl she had started as... she was still pure, in her own way. The influence of Zerrex and Cherry had transformed her some, and in more ways than physically and psychologically... but she still had a bit of that special innocence to her, as they moved slowly from the concepts of Heaven and Hell to mortals... to the concepts of the mortal world and Hell to Heaven.

The discussion lasted for several hours, and then Naganen finally began to tire a little bit... and the reptile had smiled, then decided they should all go and have a picnic on the rooftop. Zerrex had vanished to get Cherry - she was still running all over the platforms Zerrex had set up for her, blasting apart the Sentient Shells and training hard until Zerrex simply made everything disappear, and she had flailed her arms wildly as she had fallen towards the darkness before the Drakkaren had caught her, making her smile awkwardly - and then to pick up the wolves and Earth.

They gathered on the rooftop together, Terrance and Dray and Maria joining them as well, and Dragokkaren servants had brought them a variety of Hez'Rannan delicacies. Naganen stuck mostly to the salad as he sat beside Mahihko, the two comfortably sitting back-to-back as Lone bantered with Cherry and Cindy. Dray and Terrance sat with Earth and Maria, and Zerrex sat a bit apart, watching the group with a soft smile on his face.

He still hadn't mentioned the fact that Naganen had been able to see Negative, and Naganen didn't seem in any rush to blurt it out either as he passed the salad to the little wolf, trading him for a burrito the lupine had tossed together out of the strips of meat, cheeses, shrimp, and other foodstuffs available. They smiled at each other, comfortable with one-another: but species, orientation, and everything else had never mattered much to the male. The reptile felt comfortable and good, relaxed... and then he frowned a bit as he sensed a familiar energy signature, tilting his head upwards slightly as Earth looked over at him with concern... but then Zerrex only grinned at Cherry, who frowned at him before he said mildly: "Raze is coming."

"Oh shit!" Cherry dropped herself into Cindy's lap, trying to crawl into it and hide as Cindy winced and held her plate of food above her head, grimacing as bits of green leaf hailed down off the plate. "Hide me in your vagina!"

"Hide in your own goddamn vagina." Cindy muttered, and Cherry gave a muffled giggle into the female's crotch, which made Cindy blush with embarrassment as all eyes looked at her and Cherry. Zerrex only rolled his eyes as he got up and walked to the edge of the rooftop, watching as a figure flew through the air towards them... on large, raven-black wings.

Once they had been white, angelic and beautiful... but now they were deep obsidian, an effect of not only Negative's corruption, but of becoming an official Disciple to Zerrex. They flapped hard, propelling the male upwards as he swung his body forwards, and Raze touched gracefully down on the edge of the rooftop, his wings flapping again before furling slowly behind himself, crossing arms covered in scales of the same deep shade as his amber eyes almost glowed out of his skull, his slit-like pupils serious... and then Zerrex realized they were even more serious and cold than normal, as he said quietly: "We need to talk. Now."

"So talk." Cherry was immediately at the Drakkaren's side, her own expression becoming serious as she recognized the tone. Raze glared at her, however, and she winced, losing some of her professionalism as she slid slowly behind Zerrex and added in a mumble: "You can beat me up for burning down your garden later. Also, accidents happen, and um. I. Am sorry?"

Raze sighed a bit, then he looked around at the others and grimaced... and Zerrex smiled a bit, glancing at the group before returning his eyes to the male. Tall, powerfully-muscled, and almost the exact same height as Zerrex was, his frame covered in obsidian scales... except for the bright gold that covered his chest, and went down in two skunk-like stripes from the tip of his muzzle, over his skull, and all the way down to the tip of his tail. He was imposing, intimidating, and fearless... except he was also shy around people, awkward, and had trouble with things that even Zerrex had leaned to fake a little by now, and the reptile reached up and touched his shoulder gently, saying softly: "We're family."

"I hate family." Raze muttered, but he nodded and smiled a little bit, his fingers slowly digging into his plain black jeans. He wore no collar... but on his hip, he had a tattoo of three roses, red, white and black in a triangle, with Zerrex's name written in an arc over and between them. "Alright, alright. It's... serious, though."

He glanced at Naganen, and the Naganatine blushed a bit but said quietly: "It's okay, Sir Raze. I know that Dad often has to deal with... difficult and dangerous business, but he's... someone I look up to. And I'm not a young child anymore, but... a male being trained as an ambassador between Hell and the mortal world. Please don't feel like you have to hold back on my account."

"I would love to feel you and would never hold back on your account." Cherry said plainly, and then she wheezed when Zerrex elbowed her in the stomach before he grabbed her by the muzzle and shoved her over, which just made Cindy sigh and shake her head slowly as the female groaned and grabbed at her skull. "Sorry, sorry, sorry! Fuck you're such an abuser."

"Yeah, yeah." Zerrex shook his head, then returned his gaze to the angel, tilting his head and asking quietly: "So what is it? Serious enough that you can't join us for a meal?"

Raze hesitated... but then he nodded after a moment, heading over to join the circle, and the Drakkaren sighed in relief as he rubbed a hand through his hair. So whatever else, it wasn't a call to arms or anything... and he quickly sat down beside the male as Raze reached up and absently squeezed his shoulder, saying quietly: "There were two murders in Heaven recently. Jonathan Vance and Daniel Roper."

The reptile tilted his head, shrugging a bit as he glanced over at Raze even as Cherry frowned and looked up thoughtfully. "Why does that matter to me, Raze? I don't have a lot of friends who are angels... and the ones who are, well. They hang out with you and Francis and other scary people a lot."

"Wait, don't give away the answer, I know it!" Cherry scrambled to her feet, and now the reptile looked at her flatly before she said dumbly: "Danny I remember, that was the name of the OPOS head in Baskin's Grove. Don't you remember, Boss? You helped him set up the OPOS place, the crazy sex club."

Now the Drakkaren looked at her stupidly, and Cherry looked pleased with herself before she winced away from Raze when he looked at her. But he only nodded, saying quietly: "Maybe a coincidence on its own. Both were brutal: dismemberment, ripping and gouging. But the moment Little Arcy got wind of it, she said the only relation the two of them had was that they had lived in Baskin's Grove and were people you had helped. Apparently Jonathan Vance was-"

"That kid in the park." Zerrex murmured softly, reaching up and rubbing at his head slowly. "Yeah. And eventually he became a cop, it's... coming back a little now, bit-by-bit. Still, Raze, that could be coincidence and Little Arcy's obsession with me kicking into high gear-"

"And she located three murders in Hell fitting the same description by asking some friends in high places who are tasked with keeping records of the worlds. You know how Heaven likes to keep track of every little goddamn detail." Raze made a disgusted face, but Zerrex was looking at him seriously, and the black-scaled godling nodded after a moment before he said quietly: "Kenneth Gates, Becca Hez'Ostro, and Victor Hellabos."

"Shit." Cherry hissed through her teeth, and Cindy looked up sharply as Maria frowned a bit and tilted his head, but both the Hezrow brothers immediately lowered their own and laced their hands together, murmuring a quiet prayer at the same time. "That's... that's a fucking Godkiller, our informant friend, and... the fucking fuck who brought back Narrius. Him I ain't as sorry about, but shit... that ain't no fucking coincidence."

"Little Arcy asked Francis to put your friends in Heaven under high guard... while the victims in Heaven were Benevolent who weren't likely very capable of defending themselves, Hellabos was a Hez'Rannan demon and he had been as savaged as the others." Raze said quietly, and Zerrex cursed under his breath as he rubbed at his face slowly, a chill going down his spine. "Heaven isn't as all-seeing as it used to be, but it's still recording certain events across the worlds, keeping track of everything it can to be added to its halls of mostly-pointless information. A lot of it is useless data... but Little Arcy has been looking through other suspicious deaths and homicides in Heaven and Hell. The list is immense, but... when it comes to you..."

"She spares no expense." Zerrex smiled awkwardly, glancing down at the rooftop below... but he still felt a little horrified to learn that someone was killing people that had been associated with him, good and bad alike... and from the sounds of it, they're closing in, as if... building up confidence to start going after the people I care about. The people I'm close to. Daniel I barely recognized... but Becca, we actually worked together. I didn't know him well enough to know that he had died, but... still... "So Elliot, Balthazar, and Tinny..."

"Safe." Raze grunted and looked around the circle, which had gone silent as everyone looked to the angelic godling. "Little Arcy is researching backwards now, though... it was only a fluke that she caught these recent murders and put two and two together. She was working on a timeline of your life, preparing to do interviews, and when she found out that two of her early-on interviewers had become recently-deceased..."

The Drakkaren nodded, running his hands slowly through his white hair as he mumbled: "Gods above... thank you, Raze, for coming here so quickly and letting me know."

"Don't go rushing off though, Dad." Naganen cautioned quietly, and Zerrex looked at his son. Cherry frowned a bit at him as Raze looked distastefully at Naganen, both likely assuming the boy was talking out of his element... but Zerrex held a finger up to both of them as the Naganatine blushed, but then looked down and rubbed at the back of his head slowly. "If Heaven's Grand Council finds out about this, they'll interfere with Little Arcy's research... and if they see you investigating the murders of friends and enemies that have been involved with you in the far past and killed, they might try to spin it and make you seem responsible for it, especially... with your problems with Negative. Worse yet is that this may be someone baiting you, someone who wants to lure you away from people they might not want to risk confronting. They might know your weaknesses... and might also be well-aware that your Disciples don't share these weaknesses, and going after anyone in your inner circle might draw unwanted attention and put them at risk. Right now, they seem to be picking at the outer edges of your old life... trying to find the right nerve to hit to try and lure you away, knowing you... won't put your other Disciples at risk."

Cherry gaped as Raze looked stonily at Naganen... and then he smiled thinly, glancing over at Zerrex and saying quietly: "Keep him around."

Naganen blushed deeply, seeming to understand what high praise this was coming from Raze... and then Mahihko whimpered quietly as Lone looked up in concern, the smaller wolf asking hesitantly: "Does... does that mean that people... our old friends... could be in danger, too? My mom... more than her, my sister, she... she was in Heaven, I think. She never talks to me but... I don't want to think she might be in danger."

"I..." Zerrex stopped, then he glanced down and laughed a bit. "Oh hell. I did meet Jeannine once, didn't I? I..." He stopped as both wolves looked more concerned now, and then he sighed a bit, saying quietly: "Well, maybe it's time to try and talk to your sister again anyway. Okay, wolf, okay. Raze, do you think you can get Lord and Lucifer to give me clearance to enter Heaven with a few of my Disciples?"

"Oh hell no, I'm sure she's fine!" Lone blurted immediately, waving his arms wildly as a look of terror passed over his face, but Mahihko whimpered and tugged at the larger wolf's arm, looking up at him with his large, emotional eyes... and the white-furred lupine groaned and dropped his face in his hands, mumbling: "Okay, faggot, but... I'm going to hide for that trip, and you can deal with her yourself. She doesn't like you, and she downright hates me."

"We hurt her a lot when we were Lone Wulfe." Mahihko said softly... and then he smiled a little as Naganen reached up and gently stroked the back of the wolf's skull. "Will you come, too?"

Naganen shook his head though, glancing away... and Zerrex looked at him softly as Cherry glowered darkly at the ground and Cindy's own features tensed slightly. Although Naganen had made a wonderful impression on Lucifer and Lord when he had been introduced to the Archangels, the Grand Council had treated him with hatred from the get-go... but that was nothing compared to the disgust and rancor the arrogant Naganatine who still lived in Heaven treated him with. Job, Epoch, and Warden: Naganatine who thought that because they had never fallen from grace meant they were superior in every way to anyone else. The years had made them arrogant... arrogant enough to assume that with Naganis gone, it was they who should rule in his place. And Naganen was the child of Zerrex and Anathema, one of the fallen Naganatine: to them, he was no different from the mindless Terrors produced by Sin.

Then Mahihko hugged him firmly around the middle, and Naganen blushed a bit as the little wolf pressed against his back, saying softly: "Well, that's okay. Lone and I still like you lots and lots, and we're best friends, right?" He smiled warmly, childishly up at the male, and Naganen nodded firmly before he turned around and hugged the little wolf tightly back, and Mahihko rested his head against the male's slender chest as he closed his eyes. "And since Daddy is your Daddy too, I guess that makes us brothers, sort of."

"Of course it does, and I wouldn't have it any other way." Naganen said kindly, rubbing a hand gently along Mahihko's back, and Lone softened visibly, knitting his fingers together before he cleared his throat and shook his head a bit when the Naganatine looked at him, averting his eyes and instead looking over at Zerrex and Raze.

"Can you send me and Mahihko back to Elysium then, Dad? We gotta... take care of a few things before we go and see my... our... sister." Lone said softly, and Zerrex nodded before glancing over curiously as Maria rose a hand.

"Why don't I take them back, Zerrex? I can dimension-hop a little easier than you can, even from Acheron. And afterwards, I can check the Unworld for any traces of these lost souls... Little Arcy can search from above, and I'll search from below." Maria said softly, and Zerrex nodded after a moment, knowing it was probably the best idea they had: if Maria did manage to come across even a sliver of someone who had once known him, she would be able to dredge through its memories and energies for a sign of what had killed it, which would hopefully give them a clue as to what they were looking for.

She smiled kindly at the wolves as she stood up, holding her hands out... and the wolves hesitated, and Zerrex sighed a bit, smiling despite himself as he stood up and held his own arms out, and the two hurried quickly over to him, Mahihko hugging his leg and Lone firmly hugging him around the waist as the reptile embraced them both close, kissing the forehead of one wolf, then the other as he murmured: "You two be good for Maria, then, and when you get back home, let the other Disciples know what's going on. They'll pass the word along to Vivien or someone else high in the food chain who can put our friends and family in Hell under protection."

Zerrex felt a nervous bite in the back of his mind at this thought, however: if Eslovius became hostile again, all the Royal Guards and other security forces of Elysium would likely be put on high alert, and wouldn't be following their regular duties or assignments... and it wasn't like the Drakkaren could - or wanted to - fit everyone he'd ever known who'd died and gone to Hell into the Estate and the Cloister... but at the same time, a lot of them were also people he had already caused the deaths of once, and he didn't want to see anyone else dying unless they had to.

He shook his head out slowly, rubbing at his face quietly as he watched the wolves hesitantly step away from him and then head over to Maria. Some of his friends could take care of themselves, no matter what the situation or the opponent... but others were not even near that category. And he had children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, descendants of every shape and size he realized with something like terror he was responsible for. It would be his fault if any of them were killed because some nut out there was trying to hurt him, whether or not he even knew them... and then he winced when Raze hammered the back of his head lightly with a fist, grabbing at this with a curse.

"Thanks, Raze. He just would have hit me had I done it." Cherry said mildly, and then she pointed at the wolves, who were both looking worriedly at Zerrex. "See that? You're scaring those poor little wimps. Stop thinking so goddamn much and like. I dunno. Naganen, say something smart and reassuring."

"We'll deal with things as they come, Dad. Don't think about going rushing into things... because if you do, and you get hurt, then all of us will hurt as well, everyone who cares about you. We're here to protect you as much as you are to protect us." Naganen said softly, and he smiled encouragingly to his father, who smiled back after a moment with a hesitant nod. "Remember that. Don't just pretend. Remember it for real."

"I'll... do my best. You wolves remember the job I gave you too, though." Zerrex added, pointing at the lupines, and they both smiled and nodded as they each took one of Maria's hands. She gazed at her grandfather lovingly, and he looked back before blowing her a kiss, and she laughed a bit, blushing quietly before closing her eyes... and Mahihko and Lone both clung closer to her as a dark rift opened beneath her feet, sinking slowly down into it as Mahihko rose a hand and waved... and Lone, meanwhile, rose an arm above his head and gave a thumbs-up as he sank slowly out of sight, his hand the last thing to disappear as Zerrex rolled his eyes and sighed. Great movie reference to go to the Unworld with, really.

"Why don't I ever get to do that?" Cherry asked grouchily, and Zerrex simply looked at her before he approached Earth, Dray, and Terrance, kneeling in front of them as they continued their prayers for a moment before all three looked awkwardly up at the Drakkaren.

The reptile, however, only held a hand out... and three black candles appeared in it a moment later, engraved with ivy-like patterns down their length. "I might not have liked the guy... and I know both of you didn't, but you respect your traditions, and he was one of the Four Kings of Hez'Ranna. Earth will help you with saying a prayer for his family... and while you're down in the chapel, say a prayer for Albatross as well. He's dead too..."

Zerrex glanced down nervously after a moment, shaking his head a bit as he thought of the Dragokkaren who was now in Heaven, with both his eyes back... but possibly in danger. And Huck, on the mortal realm, might be in trouble as well... but the reptile forced a smile as he looked up at them, before saying quietly to Earth as the Hezrow brothers stood and she remained in a kneel: "Would you mind if I brought some people to Acheron? This place I know is safe, at least... and I can expand it to suit the needs of a large group. I'm not sure if I can make a large floating platform permanent, but..."

"Acheron is your place, Lord Zerrex... what you will, let that be done. I think that answers both your questions." Earth said softly, and Zerrex smiled embarrassedly at her before she stood and bowed, adding after a moment with a hesitant glance at Cherry: "I'd... like to say a prayer for my sisters then as well... even poor Light."

"Fuck Light." Cherry rumbled moodily, crossing her arms as Earth blushed deeper... but then she sighed when Zerrex nodded despite the grimace on his own face, and she added flatly: "You might as well say one for my goddamn mother while you're at it."

The Drakkaren rolled his eyes as Earth bowed a bit, and Cherry winced, raising her hands and shouting: "No, no, don't say one for her, that's sarcasm babe, that's sarcasm!"

Earth, however, only shrugged innocently as she followed the Hezrow brothers to the stairs leading down into the building, and Cherry sighed, rubbing at her forehead slowly before she glanced over the group. For a moment, her eyes lingered on Naganen, but he only looked quietly, calmly back... and he grunted before saying slowly: "Normally... I don't like letting the younger dudes in the family listen to our serious strategy sessions and shit. So far, however, you're the only person apart from tall, dark, and scary who's contributed anything worthy of note. Even my sweet little honey-pot has been quiet this whole goddamn time."

"I just don't know what to say." Cindy shrugged a bit, smiling faintly as all eyes turned to her, and she leaned back on her hands, murmuring: "Sorry? Or... we'll get through this? It just seems so unfair that... every time we survive one catastrophe, there's just something worse waiting around the corner. Daddy , you... you fought so much in your lifetime. You overcame yourself... Requiem... the Hez'Rannan War and Narrius... the Demon War and the Goddess and that bastard Narrius again... an invasion of Old Gods, and finally... Camus, and his Theologians. It all seems so unfair that now... we have to deal with these Strange Beasts, Negative, and on top of it all... a murderer who must be able to go back and forth from Heaven and Hell at will, hunting down people from Daddy's past."

"Life ain't fair, babe." Cherry smiled a bit, glancing down and rubbing at her biceps slowly, and Zerrex laughed quietly as he looked at the roof, Naganen frowning and tilting his head curiously. "Sorry, kid, guess that's kind of an inside joke. Boss would always get real mad when someone said that to him, and not just 'cause of all his crazy shit about how there's supposed to be a balance in everything and what the fuck. Nah, 'cause like he pointed out to me once, usually the people who say life ain't fair are the ones doin' their best to make it unfair to everyone else, you dig?"

Naganen nodded slowly, and then he glanced down, rubbing at his face slowly before he said softly: "Too well, after my experiences in Heaven... but I think... maybe it really is all about balance. I know how tough this is for all of you, I can see it and feel it... but we're all blessed with one-another, too, with such a big family full of love and affection... so unlike the family you talked about growing up with, Dad."

Zerrex nodded after a moment, rubbing at his head slowly as he said softly: "And I think that's what keeps me from going crazy, Naganen. Remembering that despite how the bad can get... so goddamn bad... the good can be even better than that, can leave the bad in its dust. I love each and every one of you... yes, Cherry, even you." The Drakkaren smiled amusedly over at her, and Cherry pretended to swoon as she put the back of her hand against her forehead, before the lizard rolled his eyes and sighed, muttering: "Well, sometimes I love you.

"But I've never forgotten that, Naganen, don't worry. I'm very glad I have a son like you, though... who can so clearly remind me of how lucky I am." The lizard gazed at him softly, and the Naganatine blushed as he rubbed at his face before he yelped when Cindy suddenly and impulsively hugged him, which made Cherry huff... then charge forwards and hug Naganen's other side, the young male turning beet-red and wincing away as she covered the side of his face in sloppy kisses. "And... well. Then there's Cherry."

"I'm good and bad. Like deep-fried ice cream." Cherry said cheerfully, and then she grinned and leered down at the Naganatine as Cindy glared at the female. "Wanna touch my ice cream? I scream, you scream, we all scream for-"

Cindy grabbed Cherry's forehead and shoved her off the Naganatine, and the hermaphrodite grunted as she landed on her back and splayed her arms out before the female smiled embarrassedly as Naganen half-hid his face in his robes. "Don't you worry about her. She's just... affectionate."

"I'll show you affectionate." Cherry muttered, and then she squeaked when Zerrex approached and glared down at her, curling up into a ball. "Please don't hit me anymore. Haven't you beaten me enough today?"

"Not really." Zerrex kicked her lightly in the shin, and Cherry huffed and then sat up before the Drakkaren shook his head slowly, saying dryly: "Since we really aren't getting anywhere, though, maybe we should just go back to the food."

Raze grunted from where he was helping himself to some of the Hez'Rannan meats, not using the utensils as he simply tore pieces of the roast off and shoved them into his muzzle, and Zerrex looked at him pointedly for a moment... but Raze only looked back before picking up an apple instead. He squeezed this lightly in his hand, however, hesitating before he said slowly: "About getting Lord and Lucifer's permission to head up to Heaven..."

"I know, you don't like Lord." Zerrex said mildly, and Raze shot him a dark look before Zerrex tilted his head, concentrating... and the black-scaled Drakkaren grimaced a bit before the white-haired reptile muttered: "No, that's not it... they want me to come see them, do they?"

Raze grunted, looking sourly at the reptile... but the reptile only shrugged awkwardly, clearing his throat. Normally, even talented psychics had difficulty getting into Raze's mind, which was the psychic equivalent of a bunker some ten miles beneath the surface of very rocky, mountainous earth... but ever since he had become a Disciple, the Drakkaren could easily look into the black-scaled reptile's mind... and it was how he knew that despite the dark looks the male gave him, he secretly enjoyed their silent communications. "Why do they want to see me?"

The black-scaled Drakkaren only shrugged in response, but when all eyes continued to look at him, he grumbled: "The hell should I know what goes on in Lord's head? Maybe he just wants to make friends, I dunno."

He muttered under his breath, but then added quietly: "Lucifer was interested in seeing you too, though... so that means it's probably something that neither of them want the council to know about."

Zerrex nodded slowly, rubbing at his face with a wince. While Lord was cheery and optimistic and tried way too hard to get on his son's good side, Lucifer was colder than Raze was on a winter's day in the arctic. They had only met a few times before, and while the Drakkaren didn't get the impression that Lucifer disliked him... he also knew that he was someone he very much wanted to avoid ever pissing off. Both the Archangels were, really: for all his cheery bluster, Lord was also a full-fledged god of tremendous powers.

"Well, at least you'll be able to check in on the wolves' sister, too... fuck, that's awkward as hell to say. Even more awkward to think about how they... have a real family, you know?" Cherry said musingly, and then she winced as Cindy and Zerrex glared at her and Naganen looked shocked. "No, hey, I didn't mean it like that! I mean, hey! Hey! Fuck you guys, I love the little bastards, I babysit them and everything!"

"Yeah, and the last time you did that, you gave Mahihko nightmares and Lone had that horrible rug-burn on his you-know-what." Cindy said flatly, and Cherry cleared her throat and rubbed at the back of her head awkwardly. "But we know what you mean... and it is strange. Does... Jeannine, that's her name, right? Does she still hate them after all these years?"

Zerrex nodded a bit, saying softly: "Ever since she died during the Demon War. Set herself up nicely in Heaven, probably the only member of the Wulfe clan to make it to the pearly gates instead of the sulfur-and-steel ones, but can she ever hold a grudge. Millions of years... it doesn't matter that the wolves were the ones who took down Tobias, not once, but twice, or that they've changed completely from who they used to be. She hates Mahihko and she hates Lone even more... every other time I've ever tried to breach the subject, Mahihko would almost start crying and Lone would just get miserable."

"Fuck, that's millions of years ago to her, though..." Cherry grimaced, rubbing at her face slowly. "Even I didn't hate Markus for that long. Bitch must be a real piece of work."

"Well, between what Tobias and Lone Wulfe did to her, I can't entirely blame her..." Cindy shook her head a bit, then murmured: "Even though I also remember... they tried to reconcile when mortal once, right?"

"And Lone had a crying fit, yeah, because he accidentally charmed up Jeannine's girlfriend and she thought he was mocking her or... trying to get in her friend's pants or something." Zerrex nodded and smiled a bit as the memories came back, rubbing at his face slowly as he murmured: "Gods, that must have been... before they split, even, yeah. When he was still Lone Wulfe."

There was silence for a few moments... and then Raze shook his head slowly, muttering: "Hatred is all that keeps some people alive. It's a pathetic way to live."

"That's a surprising coming from you, Mr. Bitter Berries." Cherry said dryly, and then she snorted in amusement as Raze picked up an apple and threw it hard at her head, catching it and grimacing as it squished slightly in her hand from the pure force it had been thrown at. "So does that mean you really have emotions and shit? Zerrex doesn't just put batteries in you to make your eyes glow and you walk around and stuff? 'Cause seriously, you always got the same damn expression on your face, like you just licked someone's butt after they forgot to clean it."

Raze glared at her silently, and Cherry slowly slipped behind Cindy, as the female said kindly: "She just hasn't been getting enough attention lately, that's all, Raze. I think you're a very handsome male."

"You really shouldn't worry so much about everyone judging you. It doesn't matter if other people think you're soft because you're kind... we all know how strong and proud you are, Raze." Naganen added softly, and then he winced and slid backwards a bit when Raze turned his baleful eyes on him next. "I. Forget I said anything."

Zerrex sighed, rubbing at his forehead slowly, and then Raze stood up and rolled his shoulders, muttering: "Lucifer and Lord won't want to be kept waiting long... and the longer I'm out of Heaven these days, the more suspicious the council gets of the devil-winged godling."

"At least your wings look badass." Cherry said helpfully, and then she winced when Raze shot her an ugly look. "What? Fucking hell, you can't take a joke or a compliment. You suck."

Raze continued to glare at her for a few moments, and then Zerrex reached out and gently patted him on the back, saying quietly: "Listen, why don't you head up to Heaven, then? When Maria comes back here, I'll have her take me to see the wolves. With the time difference in the Unworld, it should be any second, really... but then again, time moves strangely down there."

"Right." Raze shook his head a bit, then he said quietly: "That's for the best though, yes. I'll inform them that you'll be bringing visitors with you, see if they need any more messages couriered." He grimaced a bit at this, his wings extending from his back and flapping once in disgruntlement. "I can't believe after all these fucking years I'm still the delivery boy."

"You make a handsome one, though." Zerrex said softly, and Raze glowered at him for a moment... but then he smiled a little, and he nodded with a grunt before turning and simply leaping off the edge of the rooftop, wings flapping powerfully as he flew back towards the pool that overlooked the portal. The Drakkaren shook his head a bit, then he turned around and tilted his head when he saw Naganen looking at him funnily. "What?"

"It's just... funny. You and Cherry treat Raze the same a lot of the time, but he treats you completely differently." Naganen said after a moment, and Cherry nodded rapidly, looking immediately pleased as the Naganatine winced a bit away from her, but continued: "And more than that, he's... he's so short with words, but it seems like there's a thousand things he always wants to say."

"Raze is shy." Zerrex said mildly, and Cherry and Cindy looked at each other, then the two females laughed loudly as the reptile sighed and slapped his forehead. "Will you two shut up? I know it's hard to fathom when you've been around him for so long, but he is. He doesn't trust people, he doesn't even like people, and he gets embarrassed easily. The difference between me and Cherry isn't just our relationship, though, either... it's because Cherry has a little issue with coming across as a bitch even when she's just asking for a glass of water."

Cherry rolled her eyes with a grumble, and Naganen nodded, smiling a little bit as he said softly: "We all have our problems, don't we? It's funny how mortals think of the other races as either monsters or saviors, but we're really... all much the same."

"It was a lesson that took me a long time to learn myself." Zerrex said quietly, and then he glanced up as a rift opened and Maria stepped through, rubbing at her face absently. She smiled in relief at the sight of Zerrex, who gazed back as he asked curiously: "How long were you gone for?"

"Three weeks in the Unworld. Long enough to get lonely, not long enough to find any traces of anything as of yet. I'll probably have to spend a few years dredging through the black sands and the burning crosses to find even a hint of any energies that have been affected by your own." Maria replied softly, and Zerrex shook his head slowly as the female asked curiously: "How long was it up here?"

"Like. Ten minutes." Cherry said dryly, sitting up and making a face. "Fucking shit, that scares me these days, you know? The idea that like. You or me or anyone else could hop to one other place, be gone for fucking years, and come back and like. Two seconds have passed in what we call the real world, the physical dimension. How the shit does that happen?"

"Particle reactions, flow of energy, compression of what we refer to as time-and-space..." Cindy held up her hands, keeping them just slightly apart as she looked amusedly over at Cherry, who glowered at her. "Time is a relative concept, Cherry, it doesn't actually exist. Seconds and minutes and hours are all measurements we made up, same with days and weeks and months and years. It's just a speed at which-"

"Shut up." Cherry picked up a piece of meat and threw it at her, and Cindy winced and ducked under it, the food going off the edge of the roof and splattering loudly against something. Zerrex glared at her, but Cherry only looked resolutely back at him for a moment before she held up a hand, asking dumbly: "Can I go with you?"

"No. You and Cindy stay here." He hesitated, then glanced at Naganen, saying quietly: "Would you mind... spending the next little while here as well, Naganen? I don't want to see anything happen to you. I know you normally have an escort of Royal Guards who see you from place-to-place, but..."

"It's alright Dad, I understand... I like it here, anyway, and I'm sure Cindy and Cherry will take good care of me." Naganen smiled at the two, and they halted in their flailing at each other to both look at him awkwardly, then smile a bit in return even as Cherry blushed and rubbed the back of her head.

Then Zerrex glanced up to Maria, walking towards her and gently taking her hand, and she smiled softly as he said quietly: "Then let's head to Elysium and pick up those damn wolves. But first... can we stop at the Unworld Manse? I know Camus kept his own records on me there... I'd like to get my hands on some of his lists."

Maria nodded to him, saying softly: "Of course, Zerrex." She squeezed his fingers gently, and then a rift slowly spread out beneath their feet, the reptile wincing as shocks of dark energy travelled up his legs before they began to slowly sink downwards, and Zerrex rose a hand awkwardly to the others as Cherry, Cindy, and Naganen waved to him.

"Bring me back a taco!" Cherry called just before Zerrex sank completely into the rift, and the reptile rolled his eyes, then winced as darkness surrounded him for a moment, squeezing tightly into Maria's hand before the shadows lifted... and instead, they were standing in a beautiful, open marble room, their backs to a pair of heavy, beautiful and ornate doors, statues of various gods lining the walls to either side of this and a wide staircase leading up to a set of balconies guarded by flowing rails... but when the reptile glanced with a smile towards Maria, his eyes stopped as they caught on a figure frozen in mid, exaggerated tip-toe, its eyes wide with horror and surprise.