Loki found his target too easy to take care of. Ra routinely traveled to raise the sun when it was time for the dawn to emerge and for it to set. His boat would ascend to the heavens in the morning, and a separate one would deliver him to the Underworld once Nyx herself came to cover the night sky. Hardly any effort at all had to be extended by a God who thrived in being unseen. Ra barely had any threats left in the Underworld due to his caretakers defending their radiant King and so without his entourage, Loki had made short work of The Morrigan's mission.

Twin daggers dipped in the divine serpent's venom used to torture him had done the trick all too well. The cries of the Sun God continually rang from his mind, and the Trickster God snickered to himself. It was good to be back.

"Well done," The Morrigan praised Loki's efforts, the Goddess standing beside him and startling the younger God.

"No one saw me sneak up on him," Loki commented, trying to compose himself in front of The Morrigan.

"Yes," The Morrigan cooed like a raven. "Neith has already roused to comfort her child. The Sun failed to rise in Egypt." She laughed as she foresaw what was to come. The fear that would instill even the Gods this time around. All of her patience, her planning, everything was finally coming to fruition. "Wonderful devastation like this hasn't come since the fall of the Titans."

Loki paused at the peculiar statement. "You speak as though you were there." Something as ancient as the time of the Titans and the Olympians warring over the Earth had been before a great many Gods' time on Earth. It superseded even him.

"Simply gazing at us can change the outcome of the greatest wars." The Morrigan didn't give him a definitive answer as it served no purpose. Was it any of his business that alongside Nike, Kratos, Hekate, and the 12 Olympians, she herself intervened in the war? That Cronus, the Titan King of Earth had fallen the moment he gazed into her eyes? No. He would know what she chose to tell him and nothing more.

"What would you have me do next?" Loki asked. He wanted to be out of her servitude as quickly as possible. There were many preparations for Ragnarok.

"Ask your daughter for a favor of course." The Morrigan had something special in mind. Something Hel would be willing to do for not only her but Loki himself.

Sora found himself staring at the front of the class, specifically to the top left where a singular person sat. People began to murmur as she seemed content or ignorant of the fact she was being gossiped about. Sora scribbled a note quickly and slid it in front of Roxas.

'Who is that?'

Roxas quickly read the note and followed Sora's gaze to a familiar face. He immediately averted his eyes.

'Olette.'

Sora read and mouthed her name aloud. Thankfully, no sound escaped.

'Why are they talking about her? What are they saying?'

Roxas again read Sora's note.

'They're talking about her cuts. They think she's self-inflicting.'

Sora couldn't believe what he read. Did these people not notice? He immediately saw that there was something wrong. It wasn't some girl hurting herself and to be made fun of. Standing up from the table he walked over to Olette and cleared his throat to get her attention. Olette immediately stopped what she was doing and looked at Sora. "Can you come with me?"

"What?" Olette's immediate response was to blink and stare blankly at him. It was a particularly strange request for her to hear. People tended to only talk about and not directly to her.

"Come with me, please?" Sora repeated himself this time being more insistent. There was something he wanted to say to her but couldn't do it in front of the whole class. For a moment he stared at the glass window beside Olette. He could see what her problem was clear as day.

"...okay." Olette hesitantly packed up her books and nodded to Sora. Although her initial thought was to reject the offer from the new kid, for some reason she couldn't find it within herself to say no. Olette followed him out of class and eventually out of the school entirely. To say she was nervous would have been an understatement.

"Sorry." Sora immediately apologized to Olette. "I just needed to speak with you alone. How long has it been attached to you?"

"How long has what?" Olette didn't make eye contact with him. For some reason, she felt like she couldn't lie if she were to look at him directly.

"The spirit." Sora was insistent. He could see it for what it truly was and that was malicious. Evil. Twisted. Something that didn't belong in this world any longer and for better or worse needed to return to the Underworld. Which Underworld precisely he couldn't say but it was better than tormenting an innocent girl.

Olette gasped and shook. She made eye contact with Sora and immediately felt tears well at her eyes. He was the first person to ever ask about the problem. Everyone in school thought she was someone doing unspeakable heinous acts to herself for attention. "A while," Olette answered him honestly. She didn't know how long because it felt like an eternity. Everything she tried to banish it failed and she had long since given up hope.

"What have you tried to get rid of it?" Sora didn't know if this conversation had made it angrier or not but one thing was for sure- it was going to be banished.

"You name it," Olette shrugged her shoulders. "Crystals. Salts. Prayers. Offerings. I even read up on books, asked anyone and everyone for favors but nothing worked. It won't leave me."

"It's siphoning from you. Your magic." Sora could guess why it would pick someone like her. She was definitely an 'easier' target. Someone who was isolated, who probably felt lonely. Her peers looked down their nose at her for whatever reason and Sora couldn't comprehend why. Aesthetically, she was beautiful. Even if she was covered in scars and bruises. Couldn't they see this was the byproduct of abuse and not self-harm? "Can I see?" He looked at her wrists.

Olette nodded. She rolled up her sleeves and produced scratches on her wrists and loosened her collar. Undoing her tie, she produced more scratches along her neck and some minor bruising. You could see literal handprints left along her flesh and she had to remove her blazer to unbutton her shirt enough to expose her stomach. Sora had blushed and instinctively looked away out of politeness. Olette smiled at his reaction. In fact, she giggled. Nothing about the situation had been funny other than him acting like a typical boy towards her. It had been so long since something this normal had happened to her.

Sora gave her a clueless look. Had something been funny?

"Sorry. You just- you got nervous. I wasn't trying to flash you." Olette showed him the scratches that went horizontally across her torso. The skin wasn't as irritated as it had once been but still had a ways to heal.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did." Sora had tried to be serious but had been caught off-guard.

"It's okay. I get it." Olette began buttoning her shirt back up when Sora stopped her.

"Can I heal them for you?" Sora asked.

"Sure." Olette welcomed the action. She wasn't in love with having constant pain surge through her body. Healing spells had fizzled when she tried them. Maybe Sora would have better luck. For some reason she found herself trusting him so easily. His emotions were easy to read and she could tell that he was a good person that was just as anxious about the situation as she was.

"Cura," Sora uttered a singular word and placed his hands overtop her wounds, a green glow emitting from them and closed each cut, removed her bruises and didn't leave a scar behind.

"That's... Better." Olette blinked, staring at where her cuts had been to Sora. She could feel tears once again as she lunged forward, hugging the redhaired boy as hard as she could. "Thank you. Really, thank you."

"You're welcome..." Sora felt uneasy. Olette still hadn't finished buttoning up her shirt or blazer yet and was holding him really tightly. Something she clearly needed and he slowly reciprocated the hug.

"Sorry." Olette apologized and pulled back from the gesture. He clearly hadn't been expecting it. When Sora didn't make eye contact with her she finally clued in that her outfit was still messed up. After a moment she was able to fix her outfit and compose herself. "Do you know how to get rid of it?"

"I have an idea," Sora didn't want to get her hopes up too high just in case things didn't quite work out the way he expected. "Have you tried invoking the Moon Deity of Hollow Bastion?" It was a fairly simple question and the quickest solution he could think of.

"Yes," Olette nodded. "It didn't work out."

"What type of invocation did you use?" Sora was genuinely curious. The Gods tended to reach out to those who showed them genuine attempts to have an audience with the specific deity they called upon for a favor.

"A basic one I found off the internet." Olette felt a little ashamed when she told Sora something so silly. Of course, her ritual had flopped. She hadn't even bothered to put in the actual effort to do the real thing.

Sora nodded and understood. She was desperate and tried to fix things on her own. "It's almost the new moon... Would you mind if I tried the ceremony this time?" He knew a few things about moon deities and for some reason felt like if he were to conduct the prayer that something might happen. It was an odd feeling like when he just suddenly knew things without knowing why.

"You really think another one would work?" Olette sounded like she was starting to get hopeful.

"I do." Sora really thought it would work. He just needed one more thing. "You don't mind if I ask someone else to help do you?"

Olette shook her head. "I trust you."

Sora sent Roxas a quick text and waited with Olette for him to come. "How long did it take before the spirit got physical?"

"I don't know," Olette answered honestly. "At first it was little things here and there. Like shivers and shudders. I couldn't walk down long hallways without feeling like I was being watched. Then I noticed cuts on my body that I couldn't make sense of. It also just wasn't something I thought about at first. I brushed it off as me being clumsy. But like everything else, it eventually became worse."

Sora listened intently to everything she had to say. He nodded periodically to show that he was listening and accessing what had been said. Before he could say anything Roxas had come out. There was tension in the air. Sora could tell that there was something awkward between Roxas and Olette but he couldn't tell what. It felt every bit as awkward as his first meeting with Hayner.

"I'm here," Roxas casually spoke to Sora and made his way to sit beside the redhead. He didn't look at Olette nor address her presence.

"We need your help," Sora hoped Roxas would put aside whatever differences they may have had in order to help a person in need.

Roxas nodded. "I'm here aren't I?"

"We need to perform a ritual to ask the moon deity of Hollow Bastion to banish the spirit that's been plaguing Olette." Sora couldn't help but notice Roxas seemed as stone-faced as he did when Hayner was around. Even Olette had been awkward when he glanced at her.

"I see. You wanted to do it tonight, right?" Roxas sighed when Sora nodded. His initial response to such a question would be 'no' but because it was Sora asking he found himself agreeing to the rather tedious endeavor. The blond wasn't stupid either he knew that spirits couldn't just conjure themselves from nowhere and begin tormenting someone. This was either someone messing with her or Olette's penance for messing with powers she had no idea how to control. In all honesty, he thought it may have been the byproduct of an ouija board but didn't say anything.

"We need to pick up a cake," Sora said something unexpected to Olette that seemed to completely perplex the brunette. She stared at him as if he was the craziest person for suggesting such a thing.

"Why a cake?" Olette didn't think now was the best time for a sweet tooth.

"When invoking a deity of the moon and asking a favor you have to give something," Roxas spoke in a monotone voice that was neither cold nor warm and didn't bother looking at Olette when he spoke. He almost sighed and rolled his eyes when she said something stupid but refrained from doing so.

"Witches love cake," Sora added after Roxas spoke. "Hecate the Greek Goddess of Witchcraft particularly loved cakes. They're a common offering to her and she's also a Goddess of the Moon which I hope the God of Hollow Bastion takes into consideration. I'll do more research on him to make sure we're doing things right." Sora wanted Olette to have faith in him when it came to this delicate matter.

"Him?" Roxas asked curiously. More knowledge about the deities of Hollow Bastion? Maybe Sora had remembered more from the other day.

"Did I say 'him?'" Sora asked pointing at himself and seemingly confused.

"You did." Roxas nodded.

"Weird." Sora smiled at Roxas.

Roxas reciprocated his gesture and Olette found herself confused. She'd never seen Roxas genuinely smile before. Sure he'd been happier in the days he hung around Hayner, Pence, and herself, but he never smiled. Not like the way he did at Sora. Roxas must have caught on to her staring because he immediately stopped smiling and stared back at her with his stone-faced expression. He was always so hard to read. Tucking stray hair behind her ear, Olette picked up her things and smiled at Sora. "I'll see you later, okay?"

Sora nodded. "Should we swap numbers?"

"No need. Roxas has mine." Olette made her way back into the school without so much as another word.

Roxas found himself on the receiving end of Sora's gaze. The redhead's expression said he wanted to ask so many questions. Roxas sighed. "Alright. You get 10 questions. You can ask me on the way to the bakery."

"Why do you have Olette's number?" Sora asked.

"It's complicated. The short answer is that we used to be acquainted." Roxas avoided using the word 'friends' as it made it seem like they were close once. Like Hayner, he assumed Olette would have a differing answer from himself.

"Did you two used to date?" Sora asked the one question that was on his mind. They seemed like they could have been ex-lovers.

Roxas snorted. "No," he started to laugh at Sora's question.

"Why did you two stop being friends?"

"People come and go. Sometimes you think you get along with people and that isn't the case. It's better to be alone than with people who make you feel alone." Roxas gazed at the almost full moon looming over Hollow Bastion. Something about being in its presence made him feel comforted. If the town wasn't blanketed with ethereal moonlight he wasn't sure how he would have gotten this far.

"Do I make you feel lonely?" Sora hoped he wasn't being a burden to his new friend. Of all the people he met so far, he felt like Roxas and he got along fairly well. It might have been a little naive, but he would call him his best friend.

"No." Roxas didn't hesitate in his answer. It was the truth.

Sora was surprised by how quickly the answer had come from Roxas. He didn't even have to think about it. "Can I hold your hand?"

"Go ahead." Roxas shrugged and offered his hand to Sora.

Sora held Roxas' hand and felt that peculiar tingle once more. He had a theory that it may have been their magic passing through both boys and causing a tingly jolt through their bodies. Such an odd feeling. It was like hitting your elbow in just the 'right' way without it hurting. Sora saw the bakery and instantly got excited at all of the sweets he could see through the glass. His glee ended when Roxas let go of his hand.

"You go inside. I'll wait for you here." Roxas would rather wait outside then go inside a bakery. He didn't care for sweets in the slightest.

"Are you sure?"

Roxas nodded and Sora went into the store solo. He wasted no time in picking a suitable cake and a pastry that looked delicious. The clerk had told him it was a tropical fruit with a funny name that he hadn't heard before.

"Wanna hang out at my place for a bit?" There was still a substantial amount of time before they needed to perform the ritual and he wanted to research as much as possible.

"Sure." Roxas didn't have anything else to do for the day. It also got him away from the dynamic duo for a while.

Sora bit into the pastry and couldn't help but to gush over how delicious it was. "Roxas, do you want to try some?"

"No it's o-" Roxas felt like there was no way he could decline Sora's offer. He had puppy dog eyes and Roxas felt helpless. "I'll eat it." His will caved so easily when it came to Sora.

Sora turned it to the side he hadn't bitten and offered the pastry to Roxas. The cream filling was delicious. He wished he'd paid a bit more attention to what the woman said the fruit was. "Here."

Roxas leaned forward and bit into the pastry unknowingly causing the cream filling to ooze out the other side. Sora instinctively leaned in to catch it with his mouth and noticed too late how close in proximity they were. Roxas pulled back and felt his cheeks get warm. His ears felt like they were on fire. Sora also felt flustered.

"S-sorry! It would've been a shame to waste something so delicious." Sora tried to explain away the awkward situation that had arisen.

"Yeah..." Roxas agreed because he himself couldn't come up with a better explanation.

Sora walked the remainder with Roxas in total silence. Neither one wanted to mention the embarrassing moment that had past so they decided to say nothing. It was only when they reached his apartment and were nose deep in books pertaining to Hollow Bastion that either had the courage to speak.

"It says the altar to the God of the..." Sora hadn't meant to pause but he was trying to read Latin properly. "...Dark Sun?" He squinted at the page. A peculiar way of saying God of the Moon. "Is surrounded by... Do you know a place with Callanish stones?" He couldn't believe the fact that he'd overlooked such a sacred space in Hollow Bastion. Callanish stones? Could be a contender for the Morrigan's gateway.

"I do," Roxas nodded. He swallowed nervously. "Sora... There's a reason people don't go there. It's said to be a tomb. Defiling graves isn't necessarily on my to-do list. Are you sure it said Callanish stones?" God's of the Moon were known for their wrath and he didn't want to suffer the consequences for pissing off the wrong God. Callanish stones in itself were a sacred space but to desecrate such a space that was also a tomb with their presence. To say he was nervous about his redhead's friend's answer would be an understatement.

Sora checked again just to make sure. He nodded. "I know it's a long shot and it'd seem really stupid of us to go there and make a God angry- but it sounds like Olette's best chance. It's a place that's sacred, that the God likely protects and was given sacrifices to appease and I don't see anywhere else we could try." It honestly had to be this place. He could feel it in his gut.

Roxas nodded. He knew it too. Part of him had been struggling to try and come up with someplace better but there was nowhere else of significance that immediately came to mind. "Don't suppose you know how to satiate a pissed off God of the moon?" He joked.

Sora shook his head. "I'm pretty much just winging it." He felt like he should be honest in case things went wrong.

Roxas sighed. "Gotcha." He ran his hands through his blond hair and made eye contact with Sora. "If we die, I'm blaming Olette."

Sora smiled. "Deal." Roxas' aura said he was joking otherwise Sora wouldn't have agreed with him. He could never say something so cruel sounding.

"Since we don't have to wait for the full moon to come out should we just go to the Callanish stones now?" Roxas didn't see a point in waiting for Olette to finish her studies. She had a serious problem and like it or not he was roped into things. The quicker this fiasco was done with the less he had to deal with old acquaintances. He was sure Sora knew he wasn't exactly thrilled being around her.

"Yeah," Sora nodded and looked expectantly at Roxas.

"Oh. Because I have her number you don't. So I have to do it." Roxas spelled out the obvious. It was one of the things he disliked about Olette- she was so tedious. Scrolling through his contacts he found Olette's name and sighed. He sent her the quick text and pursed his lips.

"You really don't like her, do you?" Sora could see everything Roxas was feeling. Tinges of annoyance, frustration, slight bits of passive aggression. What had someone as sweet as Olette possibly have done to him?

"We have a history." Roxas wasn't shy about his dislike and he knew it wouldn't be hard for Sora to pick up on. His phone buzzed just as he finished his answer. "Speak of devils and they do appear. Let's go."

Sora nodded and followed Roxas out of his apartment with the cake in hand. He could see that Roxas was anxious. Sora instinctively took his hand in his own and continued following the blond's lead.

Roxas could feel himself settling down a bit when Sora touched his hand. He still had that magic touch. The blond almost snorted at his thought process. Almost. When the duo neared the spot of the Callanish stones Roxas instinctively stopped moving toward them. His redhead friend looked at him and Roxas shook his head. A chill went through his spine. "I don't feel like we're supposed to be here."

"I know." Sora nodded. "Do you feel it?"

"Yeah." Roxas swallowed nervously. He could feel the draw of the moon in this sacred place. A mystical force ancient and unlike anything he'd felt before. The Callanish stones looked at the very least thousands of years old and had been placed in a very specific fashion. Row upon row of the large stones dwarfed both boys who waited for Olette to show up. The longer they stayed the more unwelcome he felt.

"Hey," Olette called out softly to both boys. She hadn't meant to startle them but it seemed she'd done enough to rattle even Roxas.

"Hey," Sora returned her greeting while Roxas had barely managed a glance her way.

"Are you sure it has to be here? It's- I don't feel like we should be here." Olette felt nervous. Sure she had anxiety from her experience with the spirit that had been plaguing her, but this felt different. She felt like running at a full sprint away and never coming back. Ghost or no ghost.

Sora nodded. "It's a place of significance... It's attached to the God of Hollow Bastion and I don't know where else we could go." Sora tried to portray himself as confident but even he felt like they weren't supposed to be here. It was a sacred place where rituals of great significance had been performed for the God of the Darksun by people who knew what they were doing. These three were just simple high schoolers trying to ask a large favor with a cake bought from a bakery.

All eyes were on Sora.

"Do you know what to do?" Olette asked. She didn't have the slightest clue of what they were to do. There was also the chance that they'd anger the God of Hollow Bastion and things would get worse. Especially if the spirit was angered.

"Our offering has to go on that altar-" Sora looked at the very center of the Callanish stones, centermost stone and swallowed nervously. "-the God will either accept or reject the offer and then we need to ask the favor." Sora started to move toward the middle and Roxas followed him. He was surprised and sent a glance Roxas' way.

"We're in this together, remember?" Roxas had no qualms about following Sora into the proverbial lion's den.

Sora nodded. "Thank you." He didn't know if he could honestly brave it alone and was glad Roxas was so willing to follow him. Right when both boys neared the outer edge of the Callanish stones did they hear an authoritative voice speak up.

"Halt!" The seemingly European male's voice called from nowhere and everywhere all at once. "This is the Tomb of the Great Lord of the Sun. Tarnished not shall it be by the foot of men. If thoust truly are a disciple of the Darksun, heed the sound of mine voice."

Sora remained at the barrier. He knew that he had to reach the inner podium but didn't want to incur the God's wrath. He knew it was crazy and probably stupid but there was no other way. His heart was pounding so hard that it sounded like drums were blasting in his ears. Sora closed his eyes and took a step forward. When nothing happened he released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding in. Roxas was still holding his hand and even that wasn't enough to quell his anxiety right now.

"I-We don't mean to trespass. It's just- we need your help," Sora tried to appeal to the God's merciful and giving side. That is if he had one to appeal to.

"...Very well. Step forward, disciple of the Darksun."

Sora obediently went toward the innermost center of the Callanish stones and placed the cake on the podium. "There's a spirit that's been plaguing this girl Olette, siphoning her magic and abusing her physically and mentally. We look to you, God of the Darksun and ask that you help her." He bowed his head and tried to portray the desperation of the situation they were in.

"Step forward, daughter of the Darksun."

Olette obeyed the God and stepped into the Callanish stones and made her way beside Sora/Roxas.

"Spirits cannot re-enter the world of the living without an invitation. One must be careful in extending such invitations." The God seemed to be chastizing Olette and her apparent misuse of the occult. "However, the dead can not influence the living. I shall grant your request and it shall cast aside its ire. Do not call upon me again."

The full moon loomed overhead of the Callanish stones and the spirit was forcibly removed from Olette. Seemingly it had hidden in her shadow and the God wasted no time returning it from whence it came.

"Begone now. Return to your lives." The voice sounded weary and though he had granted their favor, wanted them to leave straight away.

Sora nodded. "Thank you."

Roxas wasted no time in leading him away from the altar and outside of the Callanish stones. "That was... Interesting."

Sora's legs felt like jelly. He never thought he'd have to personally ask a God for a favor or actually have said God come through. He started nervously laughing as the stress began to melt away. "That was scary, right?"

"Yeah. It was crazy. You're crazy. Fortunately for us both, I like crazy." Roxas smiled.

Olette paused and stared at the duo. It was such a peculiar situation that she hadn't been prepared for. Roxas was smiling at Sora. Actually smiling. He was showing emotion to someone he barely knew as opposed to someone like her who actually had a past with him. To say she felt a little bittersweet about the situation would be putting things lightly. He'd never been so close with her, Hayner and Pence. She wanted to be able to make him somewhat happy like this. But somehow, she never could. Maybe now she had her answer.

She tucked the stray hair behind her ear and walked over to the duo. "Thank you both so much. It means a lot. Really." Olette hugged Roxas and whispered something in his ear that Sora had been unable to hear. In either case, she was smiling when she did so.

Roxas nodded and Olette left without so much as another word.

"What did she say to you?" Sora asked as the duo began to slowly walk away from the Callanish stones. Maybe it was all of the stress and anxiety that finally started to leave his body but he felt like having a normal conversation for a change of pace.

"Do you want the truth or a lie?" Roxas left the decision making up to Sora.

Sora thought about it for a moment. "Lie to me." He decided to ask for something different.

"She said the cake looked good." Roxas went with the simplest thing to lie about.

"Liar." Sora scoffed lightly. He couldn't help but chuckle.