A massive Chaos Storm raged which had forced most to retreat hundreds of miles away or risk their lives to the randomly fluctuating bursts of energy. Deep in the heart of the storm, Entode stood, looking haggard but crazed as he defended himself from my attacks. Although I had left a number of wounds on his body, each one had only made him stronger. Most could only use techniques for a short period of time before it would damage their True Soul, but Entode had harvested countless Souls to fuel the technique and, when those ran out, he could use his children's Souls as they were all branded by his corruption.

The moment that my body would materialize within the storm, he would slash his sword, sending a crimson-black silhouette of a Fae Dragon at me. Every attack was an insult to me, feeding my anger and rage just as he wanted. Each time he used her Soul to damage me, I would crush the energy with my full strength in hopes of destroying the Soul Gem for good and freeing my daughter, but I was hemorrhaging mana at an incredible rate.

We had been locked in this stalemate for over an hour. I would appear and he would attack. After crushing the Soul Form of Annasia, I would charge in with my talons, delivering a heavy attack, then meld with the storm as his body powered up, again and again. It was madness as the only thing that changed was that I was getting weaker while he was getting stronger.

Suddenly, a crystal chime rang through my mind and the rage lost its hold on my mind. A pair of golden eyes were looking back at me, framed by dark violet hair around her face. Golunda was standing between Entode and I with my hand through her chest.

Coughing up a mouthful of black blood and her golden eyes flashing red, she said, "This is all I can do. Kill me before it's too late. Suwae won't survive much longer."

"I love you," I replied, cupping her cheek with my other hand, then ignited her body with gray flames.

Golunda's sacrifice created a backlash in Entode's spell that had entrapped my mind which damaged him directly, but also caused a major crack in the Soul Gem within his sword. As a Devil herself, the only way she could resist Entode's power over her was due to a Blessing from Suwae. Her spell was something that could only be cast at the price of her Soul as I felt it meld with mine to give me the strength to resist Entode's Corruption.

"Don't think that with Lilith's strength you can stand against me! I created her as nothing more than a slave!" Entode roared as he recovered from his backlash and pulled back his sword.

The raging storm clouds surrounding us turned silent as I looked at him with restrained anger. Two claymores appeared in my hands, one made of black metal and the other made of white, which I used to block his attack. We wrestled for strength, neither of us willing to pull back, but despite his power ups, I slowly pushed his sword away.

"Her name was Golunda, and she was free," I growled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No one argued against Katye's words after the display. That did not mean everything was settled with the Eligius Prisoners, but it was quiet for now. While Katye dismantled her traps on the weapons in the armory, I returned back to our house and gave everyone a simple update while I gathered a small bag of clothes and supplies to last a couple of days. Raven and Echo knew me well enough to know that I was hiding something, but Madi did not need to know that we had killed someone.

"Did everything go alright?" Echo asked in the doorway of my room while I packed my clothes.

"As good as managing a group of criminals labeled the 'worst of the worst' can get," I replied with a huff.

Echo blocked the doorway with a look that was more threatening than herself, so I sighed.

"We killed someone... someone I wanted dead last night, so it isn't that big of a deal. I just don't like seeing that side of Katye."

"Did he deserve death?"

"In so many ways," I agreed with another sigh. "My problem is not with killing him, but rather that we must resort to such measures. Does every enemy deserve death?"

"No, every enemy doesn't deserve death, but those that you allow to escape such a fate can still harm you," Echo said as she walked over to me. She slid an arm around my waist and placed her other hand on my chest, saying, "You might be able to deflect a bullet now, but what about Raven, Madi, or myself? It is an easy matter to end a life, but far harder to defend one. What you need to learn is when to spare a life and when not to... I'm no help since I've been killing at the orders of another nearly all of my life, but you are different than me. Trust yourself, and your heart. If Katye truly does cross a line, she will listen to you if you tell her to stop."

"But what if I can't find the reason to not kill someone?"

"Then they probably deserve to die," Echo retorted with a smirk. "Rebecca, not every person is good, and you know that. You gave him a chance and he proved exactly who he is. Stop beating yourself up over it like you always do; you're giving him more power over you than he deserves."

I gave a wry chuckle since I knew that she was right. Echo always had a way of cutting through whatever bullshit was going through my head and getting straight to the heart of the matter. I guided her by the chin and kissed her gently.

"Thank you for talking some sense into me," I said with a smile.

"Unfortunately, I can't beat it into you like I used to or maybe it would stick better," she taunted.

I smirked, "It might, but I'd return everything back to you with interest in the bedroom. Take care of Katye and Raven for me while I'm gone."

"Of course."

I placed a hand on her cheek and gave her a parting smile before I grabbed my bag and guitar case then slipped into the Shadow Realm. I rushed back down the valley and entered the ship without anyone but Katye knowing. She was easy to find since she was the only blue body on the ship, but there was another person with her. She gave me a signal to wait for a moment, no doubt alerting the other person in the room, and waved her hand when she was ready.

"Hey," I said, stepping into the room with Katye and Diyoza.

"Are you going to serenade us, or something?" Diyoza asked with a slightly mocking smile.

"Rehab," I replied, holding up my left hand. "My healing can do a lot of things, but it can't regrow limbs. It's done wonders for fine tuning my control over the Earth element, though I could have done without the injury."

"She's actually really good and probably knows more Old World songs than you do," Katye said with a light chuckle. "Well, I've cleared the traps off of everything in the armory, so now that Becca's here, I'll let you get on your way. Don't let her tease you too much, or she'll never stop."

"Thanks," I replied dryly.

"It's true though," she teased then stepped closer to me and gave me a kiss.

"Try not to have too much fun without me and take care of the others," I said with a smile as I cupped her cheek.

"I can promise the second," she chuckled before disappearing into the Shadow Realm.

"That woman," I chuckled wryly while shaking my head. "Sorry about that... So, where do you want me? I've got no problem listening to your orders as long as you don't tell me to do something too crazy."

"Just stay with me and try not to look too threatening. We need to get the ship moving," Diyoza said, standing up from the desk.

I followed her out of the room and onto the bridge where she ordered Shaw to take off. There were a few other people in the room that I did not recognize, but that did not bother me, and I just found an empty seat next to a window. The ship rocked as it took off from the ground straight up then it tilted upwards, and we started flying through the sky faster and faster. Like an excited kid, my face stared in the window while I watched the ground rapidly shrink. Although I could fly too, the ship easily outpaced me, so I was enjoying myself quite a bit.

As the ship pierced through the atmosphere, I could tell without even looking out the window as I felt a wealth of Space, Shadow, Light, and other types of manas that I did not know. It took a bit of effort to resist the urge to meditate and experience this on a deeper level, but I knew that I would have plenty of time over the next few days. The ship adjusted its course and flew towards what was left of the Ark and a large ship that must have been the Eligius. Shaw easily navigated to the open shuttle bay and landed the ship with a slight rock.

"Bower, shut the shuttle bay doors; we're back," Diyoza said into the radio.

"Understood," came a male's reply.

"Rebecca, what do you need for your healing? Katye mentioned sunlight," Diyoza asked.

"A room with windows and direct sunlight," I replied.

"That's doable. Shaw, get up to the bridge and reposition the ship, so that it can get the sunlight. Webber and Jackson, I want you to start making a schedule of everyone and when to wake them from cryo. How soon can you start, Rebecca?"

"Whenever you need me to start, Council Member."

Diyoza scoffed, shaking her head, and said, "I'm setting her up on the bridge. She'll go through everyone that's awake before we revive any of the others. Follow me, Rebecca."

I stood up and slung my guitar case over my shoulder as I walked behind her. It was my first time in a functioning spaceship, so I could not help but look around with a bit of excitement. Arkadia was impressive, but this ship was meant for deep space ventures while the Ark had been a collection of small space stations. There was a certain futuristic sleekness and powerfulness to the design of everything and my inner nerd was losing its mind. It was not quite to the level of Star Fleet, but it was still far more advanced than anything real in my past life, so I was amazed.

"You look like an excited kid," Diyoza remarked when we were alone in an elevator.

"I am one," I chuckled. "Aside from Katye, Raven, and Echo, the main thing that keeps me going is seeing and learning new things. My powers are nice, but I can be just as impressed with what normal people are able to create. I mean... I can't build a ship that flies through space, not yet anyways."

"You're a strange person, Rebecca," Diyoza said with a smirk.

"You're not the first to tell me that, and I highly doubt that you'll be the last," I replied, smiling.

Diyoza and I made our way to the bridge where I set myself up under the main window. There were digital displays set up all over the walls with different sorts of information that I could barely make sense of since there was just so much. There were eight stations, though what they all did was a mystery to me, and a seat in the center of the room with a console built into the arm which was clearly the captain's seat as Diyoza took it.

I spent the next ten hours healing members of Diyoza's crew or meditating. The abundance of Light mana up here had allowed me to further increase the speed of my healing spell and I had nearly made it through all of those that were currently out of stasis during that time. It was only a few like Diyoza, Shaw, and a few others that had specific jobs who had not come by yet.

It was about three in the morning, by surface time, when I finished my last patient for the night. Diyoza was the only person left on the bridge since she had sent Shaw and the others to bed several hours ago. Although she was stubbornly trying to stay awake, the long day was slowly making her eyes close for longer and longer periods of time.

"Alright, Colonel, I think it's time for you to go to bed," I said, waking her up in her chair.

"I'm fine," Diyoza said as she straightened up in her chair.

I sighed, "If not for your own good, you need to take care of yourself for your cute little girl."

Diyoza's eyes went wide as she asked, "How did you..."

I chuckled, "Because Hope Diyoza played an important part in the future that Katye and I saw, though this time, we are hoping to reduce the load that was placed on hers and your shoulders. We've had some luck so far, so with a little more, you'll just have to deal with a minor leadership role and raising the little one to be happy and healthy."

Diyoza sighed and rubbed her face, saying, "I don't know how I'm supposed to get used to this and working with you two."

"Maybe Kane and Abby can give you some advice. They were the leaders of Skaikru before I awoke these powers, and I threw a lot of crap at them, including the end of the world. Once you meet them, and Luna, I'm sure that you'll have a bit more hope for the future," I said with a light chuckle.

She pressed a couple of buttons on the chair's console, then said, "Shaw, wake up and come relieve me on the bridge. I need a meal and some sleep."

"I'll be there in five," Shaw groaned a few moments later.

"Once he gets here, you can come with me to the mess hall and then to my quarters. We are short on space, and it will be even worse once we start waking people up," Diyoza said to me.

"If it's all the same to you, I'll stay out here. Meditation can replace my sleep, and I have something to gain while I'm here in space," I replied as I turned around and looked out of the window. "I know it is just an empty void to you, but I can sense an array of energies from Light to Darkness, to Space itself, and others that I have no names for. It's incredible and creates so many questions for me."

"That's fine with me. I would hate to find out that Katye was the jealous type," Diyoza chuckled.

"Oh, I don't think any of them are," I said with a smirk, back turning around, "but I would get in trouble for not sharing."

It took a moment for the underlining meaning to click in her mind, but when it did, she chuckled again while shaking her head, "So, do you and Katye go around, picking up innocent girls?"

I laughed, "Echo is hardly innocent... It started off with Raven and I as a couple and Katye and Echo, but there were several months when Katye was alone with Raven while Echo and I had to pretend to be lovers when the two of us were acting as double agents. I'm pretty sure that's where the sexual tension stemmed from because that certainly was the case for me. It still took a year or two of living together before we finally acted on those feelings, but with everything that the four of us faced together, it was only a matter of time."

"You're pretty damn lucky to have one, let alone three people that care about you like that," Diyoza said.

"Oh, I know... I actually count that as my number one thing that I am thankful for over my second chance at life," I replied with a soft smile, thinking about the three of them.

Although that raised another question in Diyoza's mind, before she could voice it, Shaw walked onto the bridge.

Grabbing my guitar case, I chuckled, "Enjoy your evening, Colonel. I'll stay here and keep out of trouble."

 

 

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