"What the fuck happened to the sky?" 

When the dust finally settled amidst the execution of Aizen and the others mustered enough strength to pull themselves from their craters, a long and awkward silence enveloped the scene. Maeve and Oduduwa exchanged a lingering stare, while Menelik's gaze was drawn to the fractured and broken sky above.

"Oh," Zero muttered as he lifted his head from the snow. "Me and Aizen blew up the sky or something with our big spirit bomb thingys and made it so Highers can’t come to Arrithia anymore." Zero's head slumped back onto the ground. "Does anyone know how many are on Arrithia right now though? We are kinda stuck with them forever I guess." He propped himself up again and glanced at Aizen's headless body. "Oh shit."

Zero scrambled onto his stomach and crawled over to Aizen, reaching for his head. "Ah fuck." He grabbed Aizen’s head. "Uuuuuhhhhhh." Holding it in place on his neck, Zero placed his hand on Aizen’s forehead. "Here goes nothing." He took a deep breath. "Awaken, my new soldier."

Zero felt the ability work, but Aizen did not respond, prompting Zero to resort to other measures. "Wake up!" He slapped Aizen across the face, causing his neck to emit a bright purple glow that faded quickly.

Suddenly, Aizen's entire body erupted in purple flames, eliciting screams of agony from him as everyone in the group stepped away in surprise.

Aizen writhed in pain, rotating back and forth before his body crumbled into ash.

In the same moment, it rebuilt itself into the shape of Aizen, but made of what could only be described as black static—retaining his silhouette, wings, and voice, but not his physical features.

"What the devil is this?" Aizen called out, looking at his hands repeatedly, then to Zero. "Am I one of your bloody Soul Soldiers?" He clutched his chest. "I didn’t even know I had a Soul."

"At ease, Soldier," Zero stated, and Aizen vanished, dissipating into Zero’s shadow.

"What the fuck was that?" Menelik exclaimed. "The fuck is going on?" He continued. "And where’s Oduduwa’s heart?"

Zero glanced at Maeve. "You still got that?"

Maeve reached into her cloak and pulled out Oduduwa’s still-beating heart, gesturing it toward him. "Here."

Oduduwa took a step back, placing a hand on his chest, only to realize that his heart was not beating—or at least, he couldn't feel it.

After a moment of hesitation, he stepped forward and grabbed the heart.

As soon as his hand touched it, the heart illuminated in a bright glow, transforming into hundreds of tiny butterflies that flew into Oduduwa’s chest. His long curly mustache briefly ignited in flames before extinguishing itself. The light returned to Oduduwa’s eyes, and his vibrant red fur regained its luster.

"Woah, that felt great," Oduduwa exclaimed, slightly stumbling as he adjusted to the newfound lifelike feeling. He looked at Maeve. "I don’t know if I can forget, but I can forgive…" His gaze shifted to Zero. "...only because Senor Arrogant went through the ringer to get me back." Oduduwa glanced away from Zero for a moment before turning back. "Thank you, by the way. I know you had a hard choice to make." He took a labored breath. "I know none of them were family, but you knew me for the shortest amount of time and—."

"I said I would do it," Zero interrupted. "I said I would get you back, and I did. It might have taken me thirty-two years, but I did it."

"It did take you a long ass time," Oduduwa remarked.

"Y’all spend thirty-two years in the afterlife?" Idris asked incredulously. "That’s a long time. You’ve only been gone for three months and some days. How’s…how’s that feel?"

"Traumatizing," Zero replied, playfully flicking his fingers up and down. "But I’m goooood….I hope." His voice squeaked with his words.

"I was asleep until the last five years or so," Oduduwa stated. "I was in a queue or something. I don’t know; Death talks fast with everyone but Zero for some reason."

"I think we’re friends," Zero replied. "Maybe? I think we were hitting it off pretty well."

A lingering silence fell over the group until Loki cleared his throat, drawing their attention.

"Oh yeah, fuck boy," Idris exclaimed, turning to Menelik, Kazuka, and Elsa. "You probably ain’t heard, but ol' pierced nipples here is actually Dohon."

"You’re a Yeti?" Kazuka asked incredulously.

Loki let out an exhausted sigh. "No, I am a Frost Giant, just like you, using Magic to minimize my size, again, just like you, but I also use Illusion Magic…" Loki rotated his wrist, causing Dohon to manifest amongst the group, frozen in place with his arms outstretched to his sides. "...I use it to keep the Yetis in line after Dohon died."

"Oh… nice," Kazuka said, nodding in understanding. "That kind of makes sense."

"Yes…" Another rotation of Loki’s wrist caused Dohon to disappear. "...but I should be going now." Loki began to turn away when Idris scrambled toward him and grabbed his arm.

"Oh no, buddy, we ain’t paid you back for that whole execution display."

"Illusion Magic," Loki stated calmly, his hand melting into nothing but water, followed by the rest of his body, causing Idris to step backward.

Loki spoke up, now a few meters away, waving. "Like I said, I must be going. With The Old King gone, Dohon will want to storm Nazzaroth…and I have to stop it, because you know…I have a reputation as a Warlord to uphold." With that, Loki faded away into the blizzard, shredding into snowflakes of his own, disappearing from the group.

"What a fucker," Oduduwa exclaimed, stirring his comrades to rally against him with hugs, particularly Menelik.

"Come here, you bastard," Menelik couldn’t hold back his emotions any longer, and honestly, neither could the others.

"I know it ain't been long, but damn, welcome back," Idris exclaimed.

"Yeah, man, I kinda missed the flaming mustache when you got mad," Taharqa chimed in.

"I just miss you having my back against these two," Menelik stated, pointing toward Idris and Taharqa. "They're feisty without you here."

"So, what’s your plan now?" Zero interjected, feeling compelled to break the moment. The group turned toward him, each sharing a similar expression. "Are you all coming with us? To…" Zero glanced around. "…you know, I know we're on Ayce, but what the fuck are we doing here?" He looked at Maeve. "I’m kinda cold." He tapped his chest aggressively. "The dragon heart ain’t the biggest fan of the cold…" He turned back to the group, noticing them all clad in deep and fluffy Yeti coats and gowns. "…OOOOOOHHHH, that’s why Virgil told you to put those on before we left…." He nodded as realization dawned on him. "…and that’s why you're all wearing them too…because it’s cold here. Got it…" He kept nodding as he turned to Maeve. "…so, where are we going and what are we doing here?"

Maeve glanced at the group for a moment before turning back to Zero. "Maybe we should get there first, then we can talk…" She glanced back at the group. "…so I can talk to all of you about what happened to Sidra after you left."