Rose finished casting her Siphon Strength spell and the mist vanished from the whole of the Forbidden Coast as every corpse – those of the angels, and those of the encased combatants from millennia ago – turned to dust and the surge of energy suffused her being.

She walked over to Fumi who held Echo gently. He was breathing, and had stopped convulsing, but lay still.

Fumi looked up, “Something’s wrong.” Her face was panicked.

Rose knelt and studied him. “That spell.” She waved a hand over him, “Let us share this bond, Spirit Link.” She cast a spirit Affinity spell as she felt connected to him.

“What are you doing?” Fumi asked, feeling defensive as an icy-blue stream connected Rose’s torso with Echo’s.

“I’m diagnosing him.” Rose focused. Echo’s soul was still in-tact and tied to his body and mind. Following that connection, she found no problem with the body. But his mind was cordoned off by a shadowy barrier.

“Ah, I’ve seen this before.” She cancelled the spell as the link faded. “He’s over-tapped his Quintessence.”

Fumi looked at Rose quizzically and filled with fear, reverting to her old self, “…What’s that mean?”

Rose explained that normally one would pass out when Quintessence was drained. But, if through some immense spell, a person ran out of Quintessence and kept going, then they would incur a future penalty to any Quintessence they generated. “Sort of like going into debt. If you go too deep into it, your body cannot compensate. It’s why you go unconscious before that happens – it’s a mechanism your soul uses to protect the body and mind.”

It also comes with a risk. If the debt is too big, you die. Instantly. And no Ability can bring you back from that.

She smirked. No Ability except her Phylactery, that is.

Fumi shook her head, “Can you fix it?”

Rose nodded, “I have more than enough after that feat.” She held up her hand, “Fill this vessel, Transfer Quintessence.”

---

Echo was in darkness. A black space where there was nothing but quiet.

I didn’t die, did I?

He hoped not. This wasn’t like the last time. This felt more like he was paused. Not a game over and the tunnel to Last Light Temple, but rather he was in limbo.

Then, a blast of cold gripped him.

 

Echo sat up and gasped as the world became clear again.

“Echo!” Fumi wrapped her arms around him and sniffled a few times. “You’re okay.”

He looked around as he held Fumi’s head and saw Rose standing next to them, “What happened?”

She explained Quintessence over-tap and theorized that due to how much damage was absorbed by that earlier shadow spell, he went over that limit.

Echo chuckled and helped Fumi up. “Let’s see what changed.”

The trio pulled out their Adventurer Identification.

 

 

Echo glanced at Fumi and saw a series of spectral, neon-green streams of light that crackled with crimson fluttering behind her – almost like a cloak with several slashes ripped along the fabric that moved about. “That’s cool.”

Fumi pointed at him, “You have some too!”

Echo tried craning his head back and saw silver streams of light just like what Fumi had, except his were less fluid, and took a more traditional ‘wing’ shape instead of just floating about like his partners’ did.

Full on flight.

He deactivated Immovable Object and willed himself to move. His body floated up several meters, and he laughed with glee as he took off at speed, moving incredibly fast in between the ocean and the mountainside. Fumi had caught up to him, and the two experienced the joys of flying, unfettered, rather than their stuttered substitute.

The two returned to Rose and set down on the ground. Echo thought for a moment, and the spectral wings vanished. “That’s awesome!”

Rose was lost in thought, staring at the vial. “Hmm?”

“You didn’t see us flying?” Rose shook her head, so Echo switched subjects. “What’s in there?” He asked.

“The archangel’s soul,” Fumi answered.

Rose nodded, “Yes. Cryssy.” She held the vial up to the two. The contents were obscured. “My younger sister.”

Echo’s face went taught, “You captured your own sister’s soul?”

“Yes. If she returns to Lux, she will be punished for her failings.” She turned the phial in place, “I will bring her back.” She glanced at Echo, “The Mimic Cube that Tiberius had – it is imbued with Malvir’s powers. Malvir is a god of life. I can use it to make her a new body. Then her soul can return to life. Actual life. Her mind, however…I just hope her soul remembers enough to form a new one in the body.”

Fumi smirked, “We’ll find the Mimic Cube and then get your sister back.”

Echo nodded and put an arm around Fumi’s waist, “Damn right. Want me to store her in the pocket dimension?”

Rose nodded, “It’s the safest place for her.” Echo did as instructed and placed the vial into the pocket dimension. She looked out to the ocean to the North. “Umbra said that we have a monster to kill out there?”

“Yes,” Fumi said with a glint in her eye.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Echo asked as he re-enabled the wings, looking forward to flying until he was sick of it.

Fumi glanced at Rose, “No more pocket dimension for you.” She put a palm on the Lich Queen’s shoulder, “Flight.” The air swirled around Rose and lifted her up.

“I do have the choker, you know.”

Fumi nodded, “Let me use the spell for now. That’s for emergency only.”

Rose’s face went stony once more and she nodded as The Undying flew off, over the now-barren Forbidden Coast, and over Dragon’s End.

---

Caeli flew as fast as the wind, gusting across the landscape. She stopped her travel as the world rippled in front of her, and cracks formed.

Isaac Grovesward, Guildmaster of the Adventurer’s Guild and New god strode out of the gap in space and stood in front of her. “Stop!”

Caeli did so and hovered in front of the man, “What do you want?”

“You murdered innocents across the Vaysha Rift. And for what?”

“I’m de keeper av de wends and wilds. De fhrest cries fhr saveng. De animals beg fhr protection. You should know, ‘Fhrest Lhrd!’”

Isaac shook his head, staring at the Artificial goddess. “You’ve broken divine pacts by coming here in the flesh. Where are you off to now?”

“Nwan av yooehr business!” Caeli surged past the Guildmaster and continued her travel. To her surprise, Isaac stood alongside her – seemingly a non-fixed point in space that kept up with her.

“It is my business.”

Caeli cursed and wheeled on the Guildmaster, stabbing her spear towards him as her Heat exploded, forming a tornado that encircled the two. The blade stopped as it impacted some invisible barrier.

Isaac raised his eyebrow, “Why so hostile? Are you upset that someone is infringing on your Domain? That I’m being worshipped as a god of the forest?”

Caeli cursed and manifested all her Heat, performing a miracle to draw all of the air from Isaac’s lungs. She felt the air leave his body and saw his chest collapse. “Leave me!”

The Guildmaster flickered in place, vanishing, and reappearing in an instant. “I desire neutrality. But if you attack me, I’ll have no choice.”

Caeli growled and ceased her flow of Heat. “I’m goeng to kell some mahnsters. Dun get in me way.”

“Did Lux send you?” Isaac chuckled at Caeli’s shocked face. “That’s a yes. Well, the two she sent you to slay are my adventurers. I will not allow gods to directly fight them.” He pointed up to the sky, “And I suggest you leave.”

Caeli ground her teeth. She knew she could not fight Isaac on her own. With one of her siblings? Easily. But in a scenario where he could focus his power on a single target…she stood no chance. She manifested her Heat once more and vanished in a torrent of wind.

 

Arriving in her Afterlife – The Cyclone – above Heimfold, she walked through the calm, green meadows and sat on a tree stump.

She channeled her heat and opened a small rift to Lux’s Afterlife. Quickly explaining the situation as Lux’s face turned to rage.

“Why caen’t we just kill de New gods?”

Lux shook her head, “They outnumber us, sister.”

“We caen fight dem.”

“If we all were united? I agree. But Umbra has been silent for seasons now.”

“Fook her. We caen doet with five.”

Lux nodded, “Perhaps. I’ll call for us to convene a council.”

---

The Undying flew across the ocean. If Echo had to estimate, it was around fifty kilometers per hour. Him and Fumi were performing aerial maneuvers at the speed of thought, their bodies simply floating as they willed, as they sparred through the skies. It was different from their more stilted and jolting style of combat from their use of Immovable Object – smoother.

It’ll probably be more effective to keep using the jerking pseudo-flight if fighting angels.

He reasoned that the more eclectic movements would catch Lux’s angels off guard, rather than fighting with this newfound freeform flight.

Rose yelled for them to stop their combat as the two heaved with exertion, glancing where she pointed. “The ocean. Look.” They followed her finger with their gaze and saw a weird sight. Far below the water had stilled completely in a huge square on the ocean. A defined, becalmed space.

“Probably what Umbra told us about.”

Rose’s eyes glowed pure white as she looked down. “I don’t see any signs of life. But, if it’s deep enough, the refraction would prevent me from spotting it.”

Echo looked at Fumi, “What do you think?”

The Ogo warrior shook her head, “We don’t know how big it is. Going into the water to fight it could be suicide.”

The trio winced as the air reverberated, and the water bubbled below them. Words reached their ears.

“Adiuva me capti!” (Help me, I’m trapped)!

Rose shook her head, “No clue what that was.”

Echo, to his surprise, recognized it. It was Latin. His mom insisted he learn it while he was attending middle school, so he recalled a bit of the language. He racked his brain and shouted a response, “Audimus te!” (We hear you).

Both Rose and Fumi looked at him quizzically, and he turned to them. “It’s a root for a bunch of languages in my old world.”

It also lends more credence to the idea that someone made both worlds.

All their sight was directed downwards as they witnessed a calamity upon the seas. A long, sinuous, bigger-than-leviathan form rose up from the ocean, rising to meet their level in the sky. Echo felt a shiver go down his spine. This was larger than the Colossus they had slain. The size of a skyscraper, extending out of the ocean.

“Parvus draco. Me intelligis?” (You understand me, little dragon)?

“Yes. Err…Paululum?” (A little).

Kill…

Consume…

Evolve…

Echo channeled his Quintessence into the Aether Shard and manifested a miracle to suppress the Instinct. But it left him winded. Glancing sideways, he saw Fumi did the same.

The enormous form let out a chuckle that shook the air. “Quid annus est?”

“Rose, what year is it?” Echo translated.

“It’s one-thousand fifty After Reformation. But, if you want to use the more accurate date from the inception of Heimfold, it’s been ninety thousand, nine-hundred and ten years.”

“I can only do the nearest tens digit. Umm…Decem milia?” (ten thousand).

The dragon looked at the trio and shook its head. “Non credo te.” (I don’t believe you).

“Veritas.” (The truth). Echo glanced at Rose, “Is there any way to translate with a spell?”

Rose nodded, “I’d have to link our spirits temporarily, but I can instill language. Ask permission.”

“Uttimur carmine interpretari possumus?” (Can we use a spell to translate)?

The dragon nodded its head, and Rose incanted her spell as a stream of icy-blue Quintessence tethered her to the creature for a few moments before fading.

“Ah, an interesting language.” The dragon dipped its head. “My thanks. I am Aestus Oceanus.”

“I’m Echo Asheron, this is Fumi Medrana Xulatar, and White Rose.”

Aestus eyed Rose, “That spell is handy.”

“Yes, it is.” Rose replied.

Aestus rumbled, “Monster siblings, you show restraint. And have the power of a dragon within you.” He eyed the two monsters as his head turned sideways.

“Why aren’t you eating us?” Fumi asked.

“My will is strong. No mage can force me to do what I do not desire.”

“Wait,” Echo said. “Tiberius got his hands on you? How! You’re…so big!”

Aestus explained that after The Void Invasion, dragons retreated to their lairs to recover. Tiberius found him in his lair and used the Mimic Cub on him.

Echo felt a pang of sympathy for the creature. Fumi showed an even deeper sense of the same emotion, having been trapped as well, as she floated over to him and put a hand on his enormous snout. “Where’s the rest of your kind?” Echo asked.

Rose interjected and explained that after The Void was defeated by the New gods, one of them – the now Arch god of Haven – retrieved all dragons and transported them to his world.

“My kin are gone, then.” Aestus sagged slightly.

“Maybe not,” Echo muttered. He closed his eyes and focused his thoughts.

Prayers send Quintessence to a god. If I use enough…

His silver and crimson sparking aura flared around him as a beam shot into the sky as he offered up a prayer to Vythin. Fumi saw what he was doing and followed along, sending her own prayer and power to the deity of dragons.

As if summoned by their will alone, a golden rift appeared in space as Vythin stepped through. “I heard your prayers.” He glanced quizzically at the two monsters, “You have wings. Eating some angels?”

Echo and Fumi nodded. “Thanks for coming. He wants to talk.” Echo pointed to the enormous dragon that dipped its head in respect.

Vythin looked at Aestus and switched to Latin, having a lengthy conversation with the sea dragon before looking back at the trio. “I’ll be taking him to join the rest of our kind.”

The sea dragon dipped its head. “My thanks, Goldenscales. And to you three, for the kindness.”

“You’re welcome,” Fumi grumbled. From her glance, Echo knew that she was looking forward to another massive stat jump from eating something this size.

Vythin raised his hands as the ocean dragon glowed bright white before condensing down into a human shape; like Vythin’s own appearance – akin to an Au Ra from Final Fantasy but covered in blue and silver scales. Vythin opened the portal once more to his world and led the human sized Aestus through.

“As a token of my thanks, I invite you to take whatever you wish from my lair. It lies below, deep under the waves.” The portal shut behind the god of dragons and Aestus.

 

Echo and Fumi glanced down into the water before looking back at Rose.

Rose chuckled, “I don’t need to breathe, but if speed is the name of the game, I should get into the pocket dimension.” Echo channeled and opened the ring, helping Rose into it.

Fumi began to dive towards the water, Echo a second behind, both whooping and shouting with the thrill of near freefall.