A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I hope this chapter starts the action.


"So this is what we know," Sara was standing in the large main tent in front of all of Rhea's remaining guards and her own team. Ammariah had left after a brief discussion about their plan, and now it was up to Sara once again to lead the group.

"We all know that the group is very large and made up of the Ruler's old followers. We also know that unlike the Ruler's old guard, there are mages involved, which makes our task a whole lot harder. After a small trip to look at our opposition, we found out that the Ruler, demons, a king and reincarnation is somehow involved in their scheme. We also found out that their numbers are larger than we thought, but what I'm about to tell you is much bigger than that." She paused to make sure that she had everyone's attention before continuing "After consulting Ammariah, we're pretty sure that we're dealing with an age old idea that - if done properly - would bring back to life the ancient Demon King. Don't confuse him with the father of all demons, because they're not the same, though the Demon King possesses a notable amount of power that can't be overtaken by a group, no matter how large. If brought back to life, the King will only be able to be defeated by a single person with strong, pure, latently powerful characteristics including power, natural ability, purity, will, loyalty, good, evil, leadership and ambition." Everyone in the tent murmured anxiously amongst themselves, and Sara waited until it died down on its own before speaking again.

"For now, until we figure out the complexities of this action, we're going to continue in depth surveillance of the building, using all resources available to us. I want observation on all sides of the building from all angles possible. Divide yourselves up as you like, but don't spread yourselves too thin. Remember that all times we need at least four observation points set up, ideally more than that, guards at the camp, and people on standby to trade off with the guards and observers. Any questions?"

"Yes." One of the female guards in the front spoke up "What should we do if we get caught watching?"

"You're all trained in your ability." Sara said, letting her eyes roam over all of them, including her team who, though they hadn't had their powers as long, were still competent and extremely able.

"Yes, but that doesn't answer my question."

"Even though I know very few of you personally, I trust your judgement as warriors and as loyal members of the new government. Do what you see fit, but just try to keep a low profile overall."

"So, who do you want where?" A man who looked to be no more than nineteen years asked in a deep voice.

"You're all grownups. Split yourselves evenly as you see fit. Come see me or Rhea with any problems. Ammariah left us piles of literature on the theories about the demons' idea, so we'll be sifting through it for a while."

"Everyone clear?" Even though Sara was technically the new Ruler, the guards were simply more used to listening to Rhea's commands, and her question had them all nodding and dispersing into natural groups. Soon the tent was empty, with even the CSIs gone - they had split up into groups with the rest of the warriors, showing Sara just how comfortable they had become.

"So," Rhea said, placing one hand on each of two large piles of paper "You want to tackle Demon Mythology or Common Theories about the reincarnation of the Demon King?"

"I'll take mythology if you don't want it." Sara said with a sigh, sizing up each of the piles "There's waaaaay too much of this stuff for two people."

"Well, we already have the rest of our group doing other stuff, and it'll just get confusing if more people start working through this. They'd have to report their findings to us, and then stuff would get lost in translation..."

"Okay, okay." Sara said, pulling the first of many papers into her lap "There's still a lot of it to go through."

"What part of 'countless number of centuries' do you not understand?" Rhea asked raising an eyebrow. Sara just rolled her eyes and went back to the ancient piece of paper she was holding.

-------

"That's it." Sara threw another brown, decaying piece of paper onto the pile "There is nothing here that's even mildly helpful."

"You sure? Because the scroll I read a few minutes ago on the in-depth anatomy of demon social structure was a real scream." Rhea said with a wry grin.

"Well, at any rate this stuff is absolutely NOT going to contribute anything useful to our...plight."

"Plight?" Rhea laughed "How cultured of you."

"What would you call it, then, if you're so smart." Sara shot back, placing the scrolls and papers back in the box they had come in.

"I'd call it knee deep in shit, but it's not as poetic."

"No, I agree with you." Sara sighed "But in all seriousness, we need to get some information on this demon prophecy. I mean, we can't just go in blind. That would be a suicide mission."

"We could keep looking through this stuff until we find something useful."

"That is always an option, but I think that we would have found something at least suggesting that there was more useful information in here. It's all myths and legends and descriptions of what people think that the Demon King looks like and what he can do. There's nothing concrete about any of it."

"Well, we can't very well go back in time and see for ourselves what he looked like, and to my knowledge nobody who was alive then is alive now."

"I know. They've all died, or been killed for what they know, and even if there was someone who's still alive, it's not like they'd just come right out and tell us. I mean, that's how most of the witnesses got killed the first time."

"Why aren't there more immortals in the world." Rhea grumbled, mostly to herself.

"Wait...I think I know someone who can help us."

"Who?"

"The divines. They're all immortal."

"Yeah, but I asked Ammariah and she doesn't know anything about it. Most of the divines were inducted after the Demon King was killed because of the huge number of divines that were killed for knowing too much. There's literally no-one left, Sara."

"There are a few left." Sara murmured, lost in thought "A few who are untouchable."

"What? There can't be."

"There are. I told you, the divines." Sara grinned "But not the ones you're thinking of. I'm thinking of the major divines, not the minor ones."

"The majors were killed too. As I said before, nobody's left."

"Not all the majors were killed. There are still a few left who know."

"Oh, and who would that be."

"The Primordial Deities. They can't be killed like normal immortals, and nobody would dare try in fear of the backlash."

"You want to talk to one of the primordial deities!?" Rhea's face was a mask of disbelief "You've got to be insane!? They don't talk to anyone, and even though you're someone special, you're not that special. Even if they did agree to talk to you, you'd have to wait months to get a private audience. We don't have months, Sara."

"Ah, yes, but you forgot one teeny tiny fact." Sara told her in a patronizing tone "My major goddess is a Primordial deity, and she happens to love me, so I know she'll see me."

"So you're going to go see Nyx and just plain ask her to talk about the Demon King? Just like that?"

"Yeah, just like that." Sara grinned and encircled herself in a veil of colourful magic.

"Now why didn't I think of that." Rhea mumbled to herself as her friend disappeared into a cloud of mist.

-------

"Try one more time." Sara heard her major goddess say from behind a wooden door. She saw a flash of magic through the crack between the door and the floor, and grinned. Seemed Nyx was training a new divine.

"But it's haaaard." A voice whined as Sara walked in. Both Nyx and the young man she was training turned towards the door as it creaked open, and Sara smiled sheepishly.

"I can come back if I'm interrupting." The young man's eyes were pleading her to stay, and Nyx smiled warmly, pretending not to have seen.

"Not at all. Derion has earned a break at any rate. Sara, this is Derion, Derion this is..."

"I know who she is." he said, a look of awe in all his expressions "She's the one who killed the old Ruler."

"And what does that mean?" Nyx quizzed

"It means that she's the new Ruler."

"Good. Glad to see you remember yesterday's lesson. Now, off you go. I'll send for you soon, and I expect you to return here using only magic. Be prepared."

"Yes ma'am." Derion bowed as he practically scurried out of the room. Sara was sure that he was anxious to tell anybody who would listen that he had just met the new Ruler personally. She frowned unconsciously.

"Now you see why I hate it so much when people bow to me." Nyx said casually as she sat down on a wooden chair, gesturing for Sara to do the same.

"The attention is... annoying at times."

"It can be." The Goddess said with a short laugh "So, I gather from the spontaneity of this appearance that your visit isn't of a social nature?"

"Uh...yeah. That'd be about right." Sara was suddenly very nervous. Sure, Nyx was nice to her and always completely friendly and welcoming, but usually nobody liked to talk about big battles against powerful opponents, no matter if the opponent was dead or alive. And, usually when people were uncomfortable, scared or intimidated, they lashed out in some way with their power, and Nyx was very powerful.

"Well, come on. Out with it already." Sara let out a small burst of laughter at the casual tone her very powerful, very formal Goddess was using. That was one of the things she loved about Nyx - the fact that she was a friend as well as a mentor, and didn't use her power to seem superior, even though she was.

"Well, I want to ask you about something you've experienced."

"Are you having trouble with something?"

"I might...in the future. I'm not quite sure, but at any rate, I want to be prepared."

"Always a good decision. So what can I help you with."

"I want to talk to you about...the ancient demon war...and the Demon King." Nyx froze

"I'm sorry, did I hear you correctly?"

"Yes. The Demon King."

"Why? No, wait. Don't tell me here." Her face turned stern "This is a very serious topic to bring up. You know that?"

"Yes, and I'm extremely sorry for asking. I wouldn't unless it was absolutely necessary."

"So you need to know?"

"Yes. And you're the only one who can help me. Please. It is important."

"Fine, alright. I'll help you. But not here."

"Where?"

"Don't worry about that. I'll find you."

"It has to be soon, Nyx. I wouldn't push, but..."

"I will find you soon. Leave it in my hands. I'm more than capable."

"I know that. I wasn't implying..."

"Yes, I know." Her tone was warm again "Don't worry. I will help, I promise you. Now, if you'll excuse me..." she gestured towards the door, waving her hand in the general direction that Darion had disappeared to "I have things to finish."

"Thank you. So much." Sara said, truth ringing from every word. She was halfway out the door when Nyx spoke again.

"It's him, isn't it." Her voice sounded haunted and far away. "He's come back."

"Yes," Sara didn't even try to lie "He's back."