Irithal sat in her throne room, her court prattling on around her when it happened again. The walls shook, the windows rattled, people yelled and Irithal could only sigh. “Great, what is it now?” She looked up to see Saffron standing by the window, her back straight as she extended her wings out behind her as if trying to absorb the sunlight itself. Even from across the room she could see the sad smile on the woman’s face as she stood in the north facing window and Irithal shook her head. 

“Will you all settle down?!” She snapped silencing the now muttering nobles, a nervous energy filling the room as panic crept through the gathered people. “I cannot have my court panicking every time there is an earthquake.” She stood from her throne, striding across the room coming to stand beside the demon lord. “Saffron, I am assuming that was your wife.” She said as she stopped beside her.

Saffron only nodded, though she had a small smile on her face, there was a deep sadness in her eyes as she looked at the queen. “Yes, I can feel her power.” She brought a hand up to her chest, resting it gently between her own breast as a single tear threatened to fall from her eyes. “Hecatolite… has chosen another.” She took a deep breath, “Yes, Queen Irithal, that tremor was my mistress’s power, though I don’t believe there will be any more tremors following it. The family’s skill has informed me that it will be unusable for a time while Hecatolite is… predisposed.” 

Irithal couldn’t help but feel a twinge in her chest as she looked down at the red skinned woman, turning her head to look at her court, “Out. Go be sure everything in our lands is settled after that earthquake.” She commanded and soon she stood alone with Saffron looking out the window. “I… know a little of what you must be going through, if you wish to speak to someone, I will be happy to listen.” She offered, “You have sworn to protect this land, and as your queen the very least I can do is offer an ear.” 

Saffron took a deep shuddering breath, “That is kind of you, my Queen, but… Hecatolite is a goddess, I knew that when I got involved with her and… I have no right to try and keep her to myself. I knew she would find more lovers… I just… didn’t think it would hurt…” 

Black almond shaped eyes looked up at Irithal as tears slowly began to fall. “I am sorry for disrupting… your court, your majesty. My guild will repay any damages caused and… I should…” Irithal’s own chest ached as she remembered her own pain, the pain of a lover she knew would never be hers alone.

Hugging someone with horns was… a new experience for Irithyl, yet she didn’t know what else to do at this moment. When she looked at Saffron she didn’t see a succubus, a demon lord, or a monster. No, she was a young woman, one who knew Irithal’s own pain in this moment, the pain of love. Love so strong it hurts, so powerful that you would give the world for it; and even though it hurts, even though you know it will bring you nothing but pain and suffering, for them, you would step aside.

“It is ok, Saffron.” Irithyl said softly as she pulled the woman into an embrace. “Just let it out.” In an empty hall, in front of a stained-glass window with the noon sun beaming through, a queen of a nation consoled a crying demon lord. 

---

---

On the other side of the nation, however, was a very disheveled guard captain who was having a wholly different experience. Saffron was a demon lord, one tied only to Hecatolite herself, and as such was much more suited to dealing with the influx of power.

“I swear to all the gods I will kill them.” Hans ground his teeth as he sat at his desk, slamming the Lapidary seal down as he picked up a quill. The day after Taffeitte and Alistar departed, leaving him to govern their territory until they returned. Though it was only the minor day-to-day things that required an official seal he would have to deal with, it was still very… annoying, he was barely even a retainer at this point. Sure, he was a minor noble in his own right, and a named knight; but Hans was a shield guard, a protector, not a retainer. They could have left the territory unsupervised, though it would have created a back stock of paper work and halted a lot of trade coming in from Sandstone’s ports, as well as other small details around the territory that require approval; such as the pay for the adventures and crafters working on the new refugee settlement to the west.

Just what in the hells were they thinking, just dumping their entire territory on me like this! He slammed the seal down on yet another acquisition request from the refugee settlement requesting lumber. I have no idea how to run a territory! I’m not a noble, well a real noble. Sure I have a title but it was mostly for show, my family never owned any lands! The quill in his hand snapped as he clenched his fist. And of course the day after they leave this happens! 

“Sir… Is there a problem?” One of the guards present asked as he held a report in his hands, likely the aftermath of the earthquake, not that Hans was paying any attention at this point.

“You.” he pointed at the guard, “Go to the adventures guild and tell the guild master I need to speak to her… Now!” He growled, having no other options. At first, he could ignore it, he was a professional after all, but it has been hours, and he was unable to focus on his work at this point. How was he supposed to organize the guard, more or less run an entire territory like this!

Twenty minutes later he heard his office door opening, “This had best be…” His wife’s voice trailed off as she stepped into the office. Her wolf-like nose twitched as she sniffed the air and her golden eyes dilating as she looked at him sitting at his desk. 

Bell grinned, as she ducked her head to step into the office. Turning her head back she looked at the guard stationed there, “No one comes into this room until we say, understand.” She didn’t wait for an answer as she closed the door behind herself. 

Hans rose from his seat just in time for his wife to pounce on him. If he was going to be the stand in noble of the territory he guessed he deserved a little break after all. Though as she crashed into him, he was thankful for his armor.

---

---

To the north of Crown, hiking through a dense forest Fiori scouted the area in front of their party, annoyed by the new “addition” Ethan had picked up in the timberland tribes camp. 

Something about the girl grated on Fiori and she couldn’t quite figure out what; aside from her being a complete liability they needed to protect now. The girl could not only not speak any language any of them knew, but she was all but useless. She was slow, unable to protect herself, and had absolutely zero survival skills! She was a drain on their resources, and now that the trip will take twice as long as they drag her across the entire continent; that is going to be a big problem! They will need to either stock up on more supplies in towns or hunt while traveling.

Grinding her teeth as she walked, Fiori couldn’t understand Ethan’s desire to protect and help this girl. She was honestly safer with the timberland tribe than them, not to mention there is no guarantee Hecatolite will be able to help her. Or had they forgotten the attempts to teach Hecatolite magic of any kind always ended in spectacular failure?

Sure, Maria insists the girl has powerful magic, and she has been working on teaching the girl solarsol but it is slow; painfully slow. At this rate they will be lucky if the girl even learns how to speak by the time they find Amethyst and her sister.

Fiori’s ears flicked back as she heard the rest of her party behind her, the girl in question stomping through the forest without a care in the world, though at least the other two had managed to get her to shut up while they walked. how someone who couldn't speak to her companions managed to talk the entire time was beyond her, it was as if the girl was trying every word she knew in hopes something would catch their attention; like she doesn't realize they are technically in a monster infested forest! i should have let that last boar just gore her. Fiori grumbled in her mind as her three “companions” approached her from behind.

As they came up to her she said simply, “Area is clear for now. I think there is a field that way, flat ground, will make walking easier.” She said walking in the direction indicated, “I’m going to check it out.”

She dashed off before the others could answer, not wanting to even look at the girl. Something about the way she looked at Fiori gave her the creeps. The girl always seems to want to stand close to Fiori and keeps touching her arm as if feeling her fur. It's annoying, not to mention the way she only seems to stare at her ears is just rude. 

All of that compiled with what could only be described as a gut feeling that this girl will be trouble in the end, that somehow, she will cause a problem if they keep her around… but she was outvoted, and… helping people is never bad, or that’s what Amethyst would say.

She paused her scouting as the trees gave way to a huge open plain, not as flat as Fiori would like but it was better than trouncing through the forest; not that that didn’t come with its own risks. In the forest they had cover, out there they could be seen from way off though that went both ways.

As the scout it was her job to find the best route for their party, and if it were just the three of them, she would say the forest was the best option, after all they all trained to fight in forests where they can use the environment for cover and maneuvering. Out here in an open field however… 

“There are centaur raiders in this area if I remember.” She hissed scanning the field before her, she had no desire to get caught up in a centaur raiding party. Even less in an open field while dragging that dead weight behind her, at least in the trees they can’t be charged. 

As she was mulling over her decision the very ground beneath her began to shake, and even with her weak magic sense she felt… something pressing into her. “What the hell is that?” She hissed dropping low to the ground as it continued to shake, then she heard a sound that made her blood run cold.

A blood curdling scream tore though the air from behind her, “Fuck.” She dashed back into the forest, running at full speed back to her party as the screaming continued.

By the time she got back to them the shaking had stopped, and thankfully so had the screaming though she skidded to a stop as she saw Ethan and Maria both kneeling next to the girl as she sat on the ground clutching her head, rocking back and forth as she just kept repeating something in that strange harsh language she used.

  “What happened?” She asked as she scanned the area around them, wrinkling her nose as she got a whiff of ammonia in the air, “Gods, she pissed herself.” She covered her nose.

“I have no idea, there was that earthquake and that magical pressure… and she just started screaming.” Ethan said looking up at Fiori, clearly shaken by the situation as went back to trying to console the girl.

“What the hell was that magic, it was so… strong, it felt like…” Maria’s eyes went wide as she remembered feeling that pressure before. “A pressure so strong it shook the ground, Fiori did you feel it?”

“The shaking, kind of hard to miss.” Fiori replied, “The pressure… kind of, just a little, you know I am not good with magic, that’s what you two are for.”

“A magic so strong even you felt it.” Maria stood and looked around as well, “Ethan what direction does the compass point?” She asked bluntly and Ethan pulled out the magic device without standing up.

“That way.” He said pointing to the west and slightly north.

Maria nodded, “That makes sense then. That’s the direction the magic came from I think.”

“You can’t think?” Fiori laughed, “She’s all the way in Flennor right now, there is no way we could have felt that from here.”

Maria nodded, “I don’t have another explanation, do you? I mean, the only time I ever felt a magical pressure that strong was when the moon got destroyed…”

“And we were in the city when that happened, less than a day's walk from where she was if Amethyst’s story was any indication.” Fiori laughed again as she looked between her companions.

Ethan was clearly lost as he tried to console the girl who was still rocking back and forth holding onto her own head, clearly whatever it was spooked the hell out of her as she kept repeating the same thing over and over. “She's coming.” Falling from her mouth like a mantra.

“Would you two like to fill me in,” Ethan grumbled, “What do you think caused that?”

“She thinks that Hecatolite…” Fiori stopped as the girl went completely ridged on the ground, her whole-body shuddering as she stopped muttering. 

“That's odd.” Maria said, kneeling next to the girl who was sitting completely still now, her eyes wide as she stared at the ground. “Annabell?” The girl's eyes snapped to her, and Maria furrowed her brows. Sure she knew the girl's name but she still couldn’t talk to the girl… but… “Hecatolite.”

The fear on the girl's face was clear and Fiori couldn’t help but swear. “That’s just fucking great.” She said as suddenly it made sense in her mind. The other two looked up at her with puzzled looks as she chuckled, “Oh come on you two, you don’t see it. A strange girl that appeared out of nowhere, with a shattered mind right after the most powerful soul mage in the fucking world vanishes?” She couldn’t help but laugh, “I mean look at her, she's terrified of just her name.” Fiori leaned over the girl and repeated, “Hecatolite.” Annabell shivered as she shrank in on herself. “Suddenly dragging her in front of Hecatolite doesn’t seem like the best idea, does it?” 

Maria let out a long sigh, “The hero that got away.” She said, her voice barely a whisper as she looked at the cowering girl.

“Ding, I would bet my tail that this is the infamous “Banana, Anna, the summoned hero of Valor.” we would be better off leaving her here.” Fiori’s hand was already drifting to her dagger only for Ethan to block her. “Or stabbing her ourselves instead of dragging her across the world just so Hecatolite can finish what she started.”

“No,” He hissed, “Even if that’s true, look at her.” He pointed at the girl, “She’s terrified, and even if she is the “hero” that got away she clearly doesn’t remember it.” He glared at Fiori, “We cannot leave her here. And we are not killers, Fiori.” 

“She is a hero of Valor, she attacked Amethyst, our party member.” Fiori met his glare with one of her own, “Or have you forgotten we were supposed to be traveling with her though Ecrein, not this.” She jabbed a finger to the girl, “Dead weight.”

“I haven’t forgotten, but you know it's wrong.” Ethan said firmly, “What would Amethyst say if she found out you executed this girl because you “thought” she was a hero?” 

Fiori’s jaw clenched as he glared at him, “What will Hecatolite say when we show up with someone who attacked them.” 

“Enough you two.” Maira finally stepped between the two, “We don’t know if she is actually her or not,” she tried to reason, “And Ethan is right, we cannot just kill her, Fiori, you know that. We are better than that.” She said softly as she turned to face Fiori, “If she really is this “hero” then we will find out when we find the twins. It is possible that you are right, but… You could still be wrong. Hecatolite’s magic is unstable and more often than not effects much more than her intended target, she could have just been a bystander.” Maria placed a calming hand on Fiori’s shoulder, “I mean, there are a million and one reasons someone would be afraid of Hecatolite, and though your explanation is the most likely we cannot be sure of it. So I vote we continue like planned, and bring Annabell to the twins with us.” 

“Hecatolite is going to kill her.” Fiori was sure of it, without a doubt. 

“Fiori,” Ethan stepped towards her, “We can't…”

Maira stopped him, “Then she kills her.” She looked back at Ethan, “You know as well as I do we couldn’t stop her if she wanted to, but we will deal with that then. Ok?” Ethan clearly didn’t care for that answer, but he bit back his retort, understanding that now was not the time for this fight.

“Fine. But you,” Fiori pointed at Ethan, “Get to explain to the twins why she is here. And be sure your little pet doesn’t cause any trouble while we travel.” With that she stormed off to scout the area. 

Standing over the cowering girl Maria sighed, “She is… not wrong you know.” She said softly and even without looking at him she could hear Ethans knuckles popping as he clenched his fist.

“I… can’t just leave someone who needs help, Maria.” He replied, “We need to be better than that.”

“So idealistic.” Maria nudged him, “I know. And we will; Fiori will come around, she is still mad about Amethyst's disappearance, and well… I think being around the wolf tribes stressed her out. You know she wouldn’t have stabbed her, right?” 

He nodded as he bent down to help Annabell, “Yea, I know. She’s not that cold hearted… do you really think this is one of the heroes that fought her?”

Maria bit her lip, “It's… the most likely reason for her condition. And you can't deny how she reacts to her name.” She sighed again, “Yes. I do. It would explain a lot about her, the fact she has an abnormal amount of magic, and her strange appearance in the middle of a dangerous forest nowhere near any human settlements.” 

The two didn’t speak as they helped Annabell up from the ground, coaxing the girl to stand as Maria cleaned her off with a little bit of water magic and Ethan drying her with wind. And with that they began their trek anew, feeling a lot more like and executioners march now as Ethan tried to think of a way to convince Hecatolite to not kill this girl… not without fixing her mind first at least, no one should die for reasons they don’t even understand after all.

---

---

Of everyone affected by Hecatolite’s power, one man on ship got off easier than everyone else. Sleeping in his bed Wolf felt Saris roll over and slap him gently in her sleep, “Your… Burning up.” she grumbled as she pushed him away from her before falling back asleep.

Wolf didn't even wake up as power flowed into his blessing from Hecatolite, directly through him, and into Amethyst. 

---

---

For the first time in thousands of years all four primes sat in the same room, Mother having just finished explaining how a world was removed from the universal system leaving the four primes sitting in silence as they each thought of their next move.

“You know, as much as I love saying I told you so,” Darkness finally broke the silence, turning her obsidian eyes to Life, a sly grin on her blackened form as she did. “But I remember you saying it would not be able to escape.”

Life glared at her sister, “It shouldn’t have been able to.” She hissed through gritted teeth, clearly on edge given the constant prodding of her world tree over the last day. “But that is not the point, we need to go and contain it again.”

Light nodded, “I agree. Thought is far too dangerous to let run free throughout creation, the clear solution here is to travel to the Nova system and put it down, again.” His entire body glowing with a soft light that flared as he spoke. 

“Another all-out assault,” Darkness shook its head, its blackened form shifting as small particles of her mist like hair whipped around before slamming back down onto her head the moment she stopped moving, “Because that worked out so well last time, did it not?” Her voice was filled with mirth, yet they all knew no joy was in her words. 

The last battle with Thought had shattered two of them and destroyed an entire system along with dozens of worlds. Countless souls lost, worlds erased, and that was just in the final battle. “Not to mention it escaped once, what’s to say we can contain it again?” Darkness added. 

“No.” Life slammed a hand onto the table, “We, the four of us alone, will go confront it. No point in sending dozens of gods and devils again. And we will contain it, we have no choice.” Silence followed her declaration.

They all knew it was… the best option. Last time they had brought armies of divine level souls to bear against Thought, and it had simply torn through the legions of divine, not to mention the longer one fights though the worse it gets, giving its ability to heal itself and learn abilities by eating others. The best option was a quick decisive strike against it, like the one the system was supposed to deal with by self-destructing. 

But that was just another mystery, how did Thought escape and manage to disable the defense protocols meant to slow it down? Death couldn’t help but tap his chin as he thought about it. this is… unlike Thought. This is crafty, and clearly not afraid to let us know it is free. He pondered as the other three spoke around him. The simple fact that it hasn’t destroyed the world it's on is… odd, and its prodding of Life’s world tree instead of simply ripping it off the planet… What is Thought doing?

He looked up to notice Life had started to pace around the room, itching the back of her hand as she had been doing all day. Clearly Thought was still in contact with her essence, but why?

Just then Life stumbled, her eyes going wide as they all felt the surge of power flowing into her. “It's…” she shook, “It’s changing my tree!” She yelled, her dark cheeks flushing as she did. “Just what in all of creation is it doing!” She stomped her foot causing the entire realm around them to shake and crack as she did.

“What is it doing sister?” Darkness asked as Life began to breathe heavily.

“I… don’t know. I can feel it, like a… squirming inside me.” Life ground her teeth, “It changed my essence in the world tree,” she closed her eyes as if concentrating on something not that Death thought that would help her.

The world in question was so far away that even if Life devoted all her attention to it, she wouldn’t be able to shield the essence in the world tree from being tampered with. Honestly, that was one of the most annoying things about the world trees, they could feel their essence in them, but it was like a distant itch in the back of one's mind. If they were close to the tree in question they could alter their essence in it, but the further away they were the harder it is to “scratch” the itch.

Closing his eyes he focused on the world in question. “The gate of reincarnation are still in place… Though it feels as if they had been touched by Thought? Strange, Thought didn’t alter it, but it feels like they have been open…” It was strange, he could feel Thought’s power of altercation on the gates but there was another, much weaker power mixed into Thought's essence. 

Another wave of power washed into Life and this time the outcome was clear as she staggered again. “It’s… having sex on my tree!” She yelled as she slammed her hand against the table with enough force to actually shatter the realm around them. The realm exploded as they were all thrown into the vacuum of space. 

It really wasn’t that big a deal for them, as being in space was only inconvenient in terms of actually sitting in a chair, well that and they all now had to actively stay close to one another if they wanted to communicate as sound doesn’t travel well in the void of space.

None of them said anything as they were suddenly floating in space, shards of the realm floating around them in the darkness as Light's body provided a source of light. All four just lazily floated through space as they thought, not bothering to reform a realm until Life had calmed down.

And then something… bumped into Death’s side? Looking down a small red terminal bumped into him again, a single word displayed. “Hi.” Glancing at the terminal he cocked an eyebrow, this was clearly part of Thought, he could feel it. Just a small part, barely noticeable given life’s current predicament.

Looking at the others to see if they noticed he shrugged, tapping the tiny terminal with a finger word scrolled across it. “We need to talk.” 

Well, that certainly is new. He thought as he put the tiny terminal in his pocket. Raising an eyebrow as Life thrashed in the void of space, plants growing from her body before withering and dying as she clearly dealt with whatever Thought was doing to her.

He couldn’t help but roll his eyes as he saw Darkness trying to nudge Life towards a nearby world while Light tried to push her away, knowing that the thrashing Life would cause nothing but chaos if she were to enter a world right now.

Floating between them he pushed them both away from her as she glared at him with an intensity in her eyes that he hadn’t seen since before the last war against Thought. There was anger in Life’s eyes, and… something else… something he didn’t exactly want to explore in front of the other two primes.

“It's using me to bleed off power.” She hissed as she glared at him.

“And can you handle it?” Light's voice came from over Death's shoulder, “You seemed to be struggling there for a moment and I don’t want to reform an entire realm just for you to break it again.” He added only for Life to turn her glare on him.

“Why would it be bleeding off power?” Darkness asked, her shadowy black form all but invisible in the void of space as she came to rest next to them. “That doesn’t really seem like… something it would do, are you sure it's…” She didn’t finish as Life turned to face her. “Fine, we will go check it out.” Darkness held up her hands as if to placate her sister.

And like that the four primes chose their plan of action, they will travel to Sol3terra via teleportation and then from there they will need to travel to Nova4terra the old fashion way. It will be a long trip but if it means keeping Thought from escaping into the universe again it was well worth it. Then again, Death needed to investigate the little sliver of Thought he had in his pocket, preferably not where the others could see as Life would skin him alive if she found it.

Just what could our youngest sibling be up to now. He couldn’t help but ponder as they reformed a small pocket realm for their travels. And why take the risk of sending me a part of its essence. Just as it used Life to send it to me, we could in theory use it to track Thought. His hand drifted into his pocket, running over the small, jagged piece of stone as he considered that maybe, just maybe, there was a way out of this all without a full-blown war again.