“So you didn't watch any of the Earthling's movies?” Syraviel asked. “Never? Not even one?”

“There is a difference between a casual perusal of Earth's timeless classics and what you did,”Lisaseron said. “Hmph... 'slow learner' indeed. I specifically reminded you to study their sciences and philosophies. Instead you learned english almost exclusively from their cinema and television shows. Shadow, You cannot advance with battle alone you must broaden your-”

Syraviel gave Jack a dirty look, as Lisaseron continued lecturing her. The boy winced, mouthing an apology. When Syraviel's sullen glare lingered on him, he turned his eyes downward in embarrassment.

Below him, Jack saw fields full of strange beasts, all of them larger than the void worms he faced before. Jack smiled, even if The Weaver was a little disingenuous with them, the monsters she promised he could fight were still very much on the table.

Further afield, hints of a towering forest drew closer as they passed over the monster infested plains. Diana's aura came out unconsciously as she looked down on the world with bright eyes, radiating curiosity and ambition and a fiery tenacity.

Jack felt himself pulled along by her drive as he started to think about he was doing and what he really wanted. He looked at the girl in his arms and nodded. That's a good goal, he thought to himself.

“So where are we going?” Jack asked.

Lisaseron interrupted her dressing down of Syraviel as both of the Goddesses looked at him, then back at each other.

“We'll find a destination soon enough,” Syraviel said. “Right now, we're just trying to make as much distance as we can.”

“Why?”Jack asked. “Are we in danger?”

“We're always in danger,”Syraviel said. “How do I say this... if you threw a brick through someone's window, you wouldn't just stand around, right?”

“I see,” Jack said. “So how long do you think... oh. Things are about to get hectic.”

“He's catching on,” Syraviel said. “You're going to do well here, Jack. I can tell.”

They continued gliding away from the meteor while slowly descending. Syraviel and Lisaseron quietly talked while Alicia was wrapped in a cocoon of shadow, covering Jack's arms as well.

“Um...” Jack said.

“Jack, you won't mind carrying, Alicia, right?” Syraviel asked.

Before the boy could answer, the glider dove down, angling for the forest. Lisaseron closed her eyes, muttering a few words under her breath before she opened them again.

“Faster,” Lisaseron said. “The formations may still be down but the Stone Behemoth will not last much longer.”

Syraviel brought the glider into a nose dive. Jack could see the massive beasts below recognizing a disturbance above, tilting their heads upwards, some of them even shaking limbs or tails upward while they looked. Despite the increased attention, none of the beasts seemed to lock on to them, their gazes sliding off the the glider.

As they got lower he saw almost all the beasts look up, except this time their attention was nowhere near them at all. Alarm bells rung in his head as he tried to look up beyond the glider's wings.

The sky darkened a shade, the ground itself growing darker by the second as if a solar eclipse was happening. The beasts scattered, running into taller grasses, behind large rocks or towards the woods themselves. Jack laughed, seeing most of the 'hiding' beasts fail to vcover the majority of their immense bodies.

“It is nice you are still in good humor,” Lisaseron said. “You will do well in the coming days, Jack. I remember Diana not sharing quite the same amusement when she first arrived.”

“You dropped me into a snake's mouth!” Diana said.

“It was perfectly docile,” Lisaseron said. “The organic formations in a Jade Whipviper's gullet were informative, no?”

“I mean they were but you can't just throw me in like I'm bobbing for apples!”

Syraviel smirked.

“I remember that,” she said. “I also remember you mentioning something about not wanting... 'a swirlie'?

Diana glared daggers at the shorter Goddess.

Syraviel laughed, lifting the nose of the glider up to slow their descent. They were just above the grasslands full of beasts but closer to the forest than before. Syraviel steered them into a patch of tall grasses beneath a tree. Her glider dissipated a foot above the ground, sending the humans sprawling into the dirt while the Goddesses smoothly rolled into a crouched position.

The Goddesses quickly crawled over to the humans and huddled next to them. Syraviel conjured her own stalks of shadowy grass, blending them with the natural grass to form a magically improved duck blind. Lisaseron carefully unbent the grasses they'd just flattened while Syraviel extended her shadow grass to continue concealing the Goddess.

“Not a word, from here on out,” Syraviel said. “If they sense speech in an area where beings should not be speaking, it's a dead giveaway. That said, get comfy. It might be awhile before we can move.”

Jack mimed zipping his mouth and throwing away the key while Diana nodded, seemingly unsurprising. Syraviel let out a sigh and flopped back on the ground, massaging her temples.

Diana took out her book of formations, squinting in the shadows as she tried to decipher the interactions between the minuscule arcane arrangements. Jack rubbed his chin, observing the girl while his thoughts wandered. Infusing his aura into Alicia was draining but didn't require much of his focus now that he'd gotten the hang of it.

The boy took a good look overhead. His skin crawled. The golems descended like a locust swarm, blotting out the sky above as they swept over the grassland. A few landed on the ground but most hovered in the air, scanning the area before moving away.

Having seen enough of the legions of death above, Jack scanned the area around him. He could barely see Lisaseron six feet away from him still fixing the bent grass, giving him a bit more confidence in their ability to remain undetected. He craned his neck looking for the hiding animals. From his vantage point on the ground he couldn't see much, but he was finally able to get a better look at them. They were all the same beast: dull red hide, shaped like a bull on steroids but with more horns on their head. He wondered if they liked humans.

Syraviel waved to get his attention, propped up on an elbow instead of fully sitting up. Jack held his hand out, miming to write on it. Syraviel sighed, beckoning the boy over. Jack pointed to the unconscious Alicia in his lap. Syraviel slowly made her way up to a sitting position and scooted over to Jack with a pout.

'Want me to teach you about stealth?' She wrote on his hand, her fingers gliding with an unnaturally smooth speed over his hands.

Lisaseron scooted over to the two of them, a frown on her face.

'You want Jack to learn aura suppression techniques while infusing his aura into Alicia?' Lisaseron wrote on Syraviel with blurring speed.

Syraviel twisted her lips, writing back to Lisaseron with a sigh.

'Might be a bit too much for a beginner.'Syraviel wrote.

'I would think so. I myself would enjoy taking a break right now and I am sure Jack is quite tired as well. Now if you will excuse me.' Lisaseron wrote.

Lisaseron slid past the unconscious Alicia and sat behind next to Jack.

'What was that? She was teaching me?” he wrote.

'An excellent idea but not something to learn while you are assisting Alicia.' she wrote, her hands still moving at faster than his eyes could register.

The boy blinked and shook his head. Lisaseron tilted her, before closing her eyes and nodding in understanding. The Goddess wrote her message again, her hands moved quickly but not to the point where the boy couldn't interpret.

Jack shrugged his shoulders.

'Ok. You're teaching me?' he wrote.

Lisaseron smiled, slinking her body behind him.

'No, I wanted to speak with you alone, Jack. You see, I have noticed that you are quite the depraved young man.'Lisaseron wrote.

Jack stiffened and shook his head slightly. Lisaseron clicked her tongue softly at him.

'I saw the way you pounced Alicia while on the Disk. Did you think I could not see you in the mirage formation?' Lisaseron wrote.

'You displayed such intense ardor earlier. I cannot help but worry you may be struggling to deal with increased urges due to your increase in Rank.' Lisaseron wrote.

'I'll be okay. It's a lot though.' Jack wrote.

'I am still quite concerned. I would not wish you to think of me as only a strict taskmistress intent on relentlessly driving you to surpass your limits. I want you to be able to come to me with any problems you might have.'

Jack felt two heavy and soft mounds press into his back. The boy's blood went hot. Jack turned to face the Goddess but she blocked him quickly. Lisaseron's quiet laugh tickled his ear.

'You must display patience. We are within a hundred yards of an enemy that could bring the full wrath of this world around us. Also, I am a lady. You cannot take me out in the open.' Lisaseron wrote.

Lisaseron ran one hand down the boy's torso, tracing a line of kisses from his shoulder to his neck. The Goddess wedged her hand deeper between Jack and Alicia's bodies until she found her way inside his pants. She delicately brushed his cock, giving him just enough stimulation to keep him on edge but nowhere near enough to cum.

Jack traced out words on her forearm.

'You said patience? What?' He wrote.

'Yes dear. You are going to be very patient for me.'

She put her other hand beneath his chin, turning his head to kiss him. Jack obliged, savoring her sensuous and nimble tongue like a starving man presented with foie gras. His need built up within his loins but the Goddess's touch remained light and teasing. He gave the Goddess a pleading look but she just laughed, tracing another message on his chest.

'Not until later.' Lisaseron wrote.

Jack winced.

'The wait will make it all the better, Jack. I want to be thrown in with a caged beast tonight. I want you full force. No hesitation. No inhibitions.' she wrote.

**

Diana sighed. Between the terrible lighting, her built up exhaustion and the incessant heavy petting between Jack and Lisaseron, her study session wasn't going as well as she'd hoped. She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to relieve the growing strain on her eyes. Diana's stomach rumbled and she closed her book in frustration.

She looked up to the legions of patrolling golems still blocking out the sunset with a sigh. Diana found Syraviel turned on her side, staring at her after her silent outburst. Diana patted her stomach, fixing the Goddess with a questioning look. Syraviel shook her head, taking the girl's hand.

'No dinner yet. The smell will attract the beasts. The golems will investigate if they see them crowding us.' Syraviel wrote.

'How much longer? Is this normal?' Diana wrote.

Syraviel gave Diana a smile and shrugged her shoulders.

'What we know, you know. Their planetary defenses aren't something we've been able to study much. It's always us on the defensive. I can tell you they're shaken right now. We hit them harder than they thought possible, harder than I thought was possible.'

Syraviel squeezed Diana's hand, giving the girl a big smile.

'It's happening, Diana. We're here. We're making it work.'

Diana looked at her own hands, her weathered book of formations and her fellow humans. Her hands trembled.

'We're not ready. How can you put so much trust in us? Me especially. To-' Diana wrote.

Syraviel stopped Diana's fingers from writing further.

'I told you not to put yourself down. Look at how far Lisaseron pushed herself to give you a real shot. Do you think that's how someone who doesn't believe in you would act?'

'But what if I can't?' Diana wrote.

'The only things certain in life are failure, regret and death. You know what that means? It means pulling this off isn't impossible. And if it is impossible, so what? I told you it wasn't likely from the beginning, right? All I need is for you to keep growing, keep learning and keep clenching your teeth when life comes to smack you in the mouth. After that, what happens, happens. Life sucks enough without you beating up on yourself.' Syraviel wrote.

Diana nodded quietly.

'Thanks. It's all just so unreal, you know. Sometimes I wonder if I really can be that person. These are formations set up by true masters. They've studied magic thousands of times longer than I've been alive!'

Syraviel shook her head, giving Diana a pat on the back.

' You're looking highly upon them as you should. They are worthy opponents. But the fact that you were able to make it onto this world undetected, shows me how much they look down on you. Show them how foolish they were to allow an unleveled mortal onto their world. I've said it before, you don't have to be a God or Goddess to create a legend. An ant can blind an elephant if it bites in the right place. A single termite can bring down a wall if it eats for long enough. Humble them, Diana. You struggled for so long just to be able to stand here today. You've got to make them pay a little for your sacrfices.'

Another hand, paler and larger than Syraviel's, reached out to Diana. Diana's eyebrows raised in surprise.

'Even if you doubt yourself, you can believe in us. You are not alone with this burden. Although you have the most crucial role, this mission will need every one of us for it to work.' Lisaseron wrote.

Syraviel raised an eyebrow at the Goddess.

'Well now, you're finally done? Did you really have to go and do it in front of us?' Syraviel wrote.

'Oh please, it was just a bit of skinship. You two will get your turn soon. Rather than that, is it dark enough yet? Twilight approaches soon.'

Jack scooted over to them, still carrying Alicia's limp body.

'What's up? Dinnertime when?' he wrote on Syraviel's hand.

'Dinner? We're taking a little evening stroll to the forest first. We'll have a little picnic in there.'Syraviel wrote

Syraviel conjured four misshapen ghillie suits interspersed with her shadows.

'Put these on and we'll be on our way.'Syraviel wrote.

Jack looked at the odd ghillie suits and gave the Goddess a thumbs up.

TheAscendentQuill

So it begins, the Midnight Arrow Arc. Imagine writing the equivalent of two thirds of the first Harry Potter book without even starting your first arc. *Sweats nervously. Couldn't be me.

Bit of a teaser for my 'plot' warriors, Jack feels your pain too. I used the downtime to explore Diana more. She's gotten the least spotlight out of everyone so far, so I wanted flesh her out a little bit more. The cast will eventually expand, but I want to get some nice depth with our main five.

As always, let me know if you see any errors or inconsistencies. If you have any ideas or adjustments you'd like to see, feel free to share and get my creative juices going! Thanks for your support!