Nia stood in the middle of the courtyard, and everyone watched curiously as she sat down and took a deep breath. It had been a while since her brother had headed off, so she figured it was about time to get working on her plan. "Okay everybody, I just need a few minutes. If it looks like something crazy is gonna happen… it probably is," she warned. "Everyone be ready."

Before Sarasim or Higgs could ask her what she meant, she closed her eyes and started to concentrate. Everything around her seemed to just fade away, and she was surrounded by darkness. But once she opened her eyes and stood up, the floor seemed to light up, revealing a familiar stain glass image beneath her.

She was back in her inner self.

"Titania, where are you?" she asked looking around.

It had been awhile since she had been here. She didn't have many reasons to come here, and Titania usually only called out to her when it was her time of the week to have control of their body. They had come to an understanding about things, but… she was still kind of distant with her.

She needed her help right now though, so she didn't have a choice.

"I'm here…"

Nia turned around and saw Titaia standing behind her. She smiled at the girl. "Hey, I uh… I know it's been a while since we've been face to face. And I'm sorry to sort of just come here and ask for a favor, but you know what's going on, right?" she asked.

Titania hummed. "I know everything you do." They were the same person when it came down to it. She was a part of her, and whatever Nia was aware of, she was too. "I also know what you are scheming. I think it's pointless you know."

Nia frowned. "You don't think it'll work?"

"I know it'll work. But it's a waste of time. All this plotting and planning. Why not just give me control and let me put an end to this. I'll gladly get rid of the Ten and settle this entire situation," she said crossing her arms. Gods, titans, or whatever else it was. It didn't matter. She would stomp down any threat that stood before her.

Nia shook her head. "It's too risky. We'll be able to do plenty of fighting later, but for right now, we need to make sure the souls are safe. Astro managed to tear through whatever was stopping us from making portals, I know that we can too," she said.

She knew Titania wouldn't want to sync up with her again. It was when they were at their strongest, but she just didn't like doing it. It was easier to convince her to just do it herself. Once they used the eye to figure out where Astro was, they could open a portal to him, grab him and the souls, and get out.

"You don't think I can take them down without keeping the souls safe?' Titania asked, almost looking insulted. As if she couldn't handle something so trivial.

Nia frowned back at her. "Titania, this isn't about if you can or can't. Mom, dad, and Astro are all in trouble. We need to help them in the safest way we can. We get him and the souls and get out. That's it," she said. As strong as Titania was, she didn't want to underestimate the Ten. This was risky enough as is was.

Titania sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine, if you insist on taking things so slowly, I'll oblige you. But I'll be telling Asterossa that he owes us. This is the second time we'll have had to bail him out a mess," she said. Nia smiled and nodded towards her thankfully. "I suppose I should also thank him for taking that pesky burden from us."

Nia tilted her head, looking confused. "Burden? What do you mean?"

"The crown of course," she said waving her hand.

Nia winced. "Uh, right… you're not mad about that?" she asked. Titania could be pretty prideful, but she wasn't sure how she'd react to them giving up the throne. She still didn't entirely know how she felt about it after all.

"We're meant for much greater things than sitting on some seat and babysitting those weaklings. And he'll be a more capable fill in," Titania said. "Now, let's go."

Back outside, everyone waited for Nia to move again. It had been a while, and it didn't seem like anything had happened. "Is… is she dead or something?" Draco muttered.

Amber hummed. "No. I think… I think she's calling Titania."

Tor raised an eyebrow at the girl. "What? What the fuck are you talking a-?"

Everyone was suddenly blown back as Nia's whole body began to glow brightly. She slowly went into her mewberty form, and everyone could feel her magical powering shooting up to an insane amount. Many people there had seen Star and Moon's mewberty forms. Their magic was without a doubt powerful. But this? In terms of cheer magic, this was on an entirely different level.

"What the actual fuck?!" Tor asked in disbelief.

Higgs and Sarasim both looked amazed, and Breeze watched on intrigued. Nia had only shown her this form once before, and it was just as stunning as last time. Titania floated off the ground and lifted her hand. "All-Seeing Eye…"

The dark spell appeared in the air, and everyone looked up to see it showing an image of Astro. He was standing in front of the Ten, and the souls of the royal court were floating around them. "There are you," she said raising her other hand. She tried to open a portal, but while a small rift appeared, it didn't seem to open.

"It's still sealed off... " Hekapoo said. Has this been her plan the whole time? To make a portal to her brother? Why would she try that knowing it didn't work last time?

Titania narrowed her eyes. "And? Why exactly should that matter to me? If Asterossa could rip through this measly little thing, then I can tear through it as easily as paper," she said before waving both of her hands. Everyone could feel the magic crackling through the air, and suddenly the rift was forced open. "See?"

With that, she flew through the portal…

"Titania?"

"A Butterfly!"

"How did she get here?!"

Titania reached out and placed a hand on Astro's shoulder, raising her other one into the air as wind began to kick up around them. "Do it now…" she said, as the Ten began to prepare to move in. For just a fraction of a second, Astro wondered what she was talking about. But then he remembered how Nia told him to be ready.

The souls were all here, a portal was open, and she was grabbing his shoulder. There was only one thing he could see getting them out of this situation.

"Chrono Frostover!"

Just as the Ten began to move in, everything around them suddenly began to slow down. Time itself slowly creaked to a near halt, the Ten looked frozen in place. "Hmm, you actually knew what the plan was, despite us not telling you a word of it," Titania said as he began pulling her hand back. "Impressive."

The wind around them began moving in a swirling pattern, pulling off of the souls towards them and the portal. Astro struggled to catch his breath. "It was just the only thing I could think of in the heat of the moment," he said before smirking up at her. "I can't believe you came up with this. Or trusted me to get it without saying anything."

Titania hummed. "Well, you may not be as capable as me, but you're sharp enough I suppose," she said before glancing over towards the Ten. "So, these are the ones causing all the trouble. I could just take them out here and now," she said as she continued pulling the souls towards them.

Due to Astro's spell, she wasn't able to bring them towards it as fast as she could, but they were still moving far quicker than the Ten could react. "No, at best we might only be able to take out one or two. And I can't hold this forever. We need to just focus on-"

"Getting the souls, yes. Nia rambled on about the same thing. But we are going to have to deal with that one," she said nodding forward. Astro looked over and then went wide eyed when he saw Gadfly approaching. With time slowed down this far, he should have looked frozen in place like the others. But he was making their way towards them at a slow but steady pace.

"Shit, how fast is he?" Astro said glaring. He then looked over towards Argus, who was still holding the two crystals in his hand. Tom and Uran were inside of them, and if he didn't get them back they would still have leverage on them. "Titania, slow down Gadfly, I need to get them back. And be careful of the souls."

Titania hummed. "I'm not keen on being ordered around, but given the situation I'll play along with you just this one," she said as she raised her other hand. Glyphs appeared around her, taking aim at the insectoid, and the air current carrying the souls began to move so they weren't in the line of fire.

Astro stood up and began making his way towards Argus as Titania fired. The shots looked like they were about to hit Gadfly, but the boy suddenly seemed to move even faster, dodging each before it could actually hit him. It looked almost as if he was blinking in and out of existence.

Titania narrowed her eyes. "Well, you're a fast one…"

Astro reached Argus and grabbed his hand, pulling it up and then struggling to pry it open. For such an elderly looking monster, his grip was ironclad. It took everything Astro had just to move the first finger.

He was in serious pain right now. Chrono Frostover put a serious strain on his body. Usually he could barely move when he activated it. He tended to use it when he was in a serious jam and needed to think his way out before dispelling it. Him rushing over like he did only made the strain worst, and the throbbing pain in his chest didn't help.

But he had to hold on. If he released the spell before they got back to that portal, they were finished. He growled and pried two more of his fingers open, giving him just enough wiggle room to grab the crystals. "Asterossa, I suggest you hurry…" He looked back and saw that while Titania had gotten most of the souls near the portal, Gadfly had closed more than a fair bit of distance.

He growled and began running towards the portal as fast as he could. Gadfly was still being shot at, but Titanic hadn't actually been able to hit him. If they didn't shake him quickly he might follow them back through the portal and end up screwed.

As he kept going, he stumbled and fell forward. He winced once more as his chest throbbed, and for a moment it looked like the spell was about to wear off. Titania looked over towards him concerned. What was wrong with him? As far as she could tell he hadn't been injured. Was this one of their magic abilities?

Astro balled his fist up, his eyes turning black as he refocused on the spell. He got back up and rushed as fast as he could towards TItania and the portal. As he ran past Gadfly, he waved his hand and made a massive wall of ice between them and the titan. "Let's go!" he yelled, right as he jumped towards the portal. He turned off the spell, and everything seemed to happen at one.

The rest of the Ten began to move again, the Butterfly siblings slipped through the portal and closed, and Gadfly slammed into the wall of ice that seemingly appeared from nowhere. He fell back. He stumbled back and grabbed his nose. "Son of a bitch!" he shouted angrily. "What the fuck was that?!"

Argus looked down at his empty hand. "What the…? Why that cheeky little runt!" he said before letting out a chuckle. "He slowed down time on us. He's a clever one that boy!"

"It wasn't him," Echidna said, eyes narrowed. "Not the plan anyway. He clearly knew something was going to happen. He reacted much too quickly. But he looked just as surprised to see the girl there as we did. She's the one who plotted this. Although I have no idea how she managed to open a portal here."

Argus grunted. "I'm pretty sure she did what the boy did last time. Just… ripped one open. I should have made the barrier stronger. But to be far, I didn't expect any deities to be involved in the mix," he said scratching his cheek.

Python grit his teeth angrily. "That little…!" In one fell swoop, he lost both his nephew and the souls. There was nothing they held over the royals anymore. And to make matter worse, as Argus had pointed it, it seemed they had a few more tricks up their sleeves. "I'm going to go down there and-!"

"Wait," Kyu said, grabbing her husband's arm. "Let's not be rash. I know you're angry right now, but we must be careful about this. One of their warriors managed to harm Orthrus, another is a deity. We don't know what else they have hidden among their ranks. We need to proceed with caution."

Echidna nodded. "Kyu is right. Besides, they won't be able to restore the souls until we lift the curse. This is nothing but a delay of the inevitable," she said. "We need to decide how we're going to move from here…"

Python still looked angry, but then let out a breath. They were right. Charging in recklessly might have been playing into their hands for all he knew. No, he needed to approach this methodically. If his nephew wanted a war, he would get one. And all the grief that came with it.

Besides, they would have to cross paths again eventually. And when they did, he wouldn't let him escape with that extra heart of his this time...

Titania and Astro landed back in the courtyard of the Butterfly castle, and all the souls slowly floated down after them. Everyone watching was stunned, but then quickly let out loud cheers and chants of joy.

"They did!"

"They got the souls back!"

"That's our King!"

"Way to go Nia!"

Titania spun her finger, gathering all the sound around her. She looked over towards Corona. "We need to get these souls back to their bodies, quickly, before-"

"GAAAAHHH!"

Everyone stopped and looked towards Astro, who was on the ground and curled up in pain. He dragged his fingered through the dirt, pressing his forehead against the ground as he grit his teeth in pain. The pain in his chest, the burden of the spell, the struggle of keeping it up. It had all been too much for him.

He started to cough, and to everyone's shock he spat up a few mouthfuls of blood. "Astro!" Maria cried, quickly making her way over towards him. Titania reached him first, raising her hand and attempting to heal him from whatever was causing this. But it didn't seem to work. He was still writhing in pain.

Corona rushed over as well, but Astro's tail lashed out, and both she and Maria had to step back from him. He kept coughing, and eventually Maria rushed in anyway. "Asterossa! What happened?! What's wrong?!" she asked.

Morel, who had been just standing back, narrowed his eyes. Something felt off. Very off. And he was pretty sure he knew what it was. He walked forward and motioned towards Puff and Sting. "Guys, come over here. I know what's wrong." Puff followed him without a word, and while Sting looked hesitant, she followed as well.

He walked over to Astro and then knelt down beside him. "Maria, get back. You're not gonna want to see this…" he warned before suddenly Astro so he rolled over onto his back. "Hold his arms down."

Maria looked at him worriedly. "What are you going to do?" she asked.

"Something messy. Puff, Sting, you gotta trust me on this. Hold his arm down and keep checking his pulse. And no matter how much he screams you keep him still," he said. The two both knelt down, each grabbing one of Astro's arms and pressing down on it with all the force they could.

They both seemed to sense something was wrong when they checked Astro's pulse. Puff grunted, while Sting frowned. "No, that's impossible…" she muttered.

Before Maria could ask them what they were talking about, Morel suddenly pulled out a knife. "Sorry man…" He swung, slashing Astro's chest wide open.

Maria, and quite a few other people, gasped and screamed. "What are you doing?!" she shouted, moving in to stop them. Something grabbed her by the arm and held her back.

"Hold on now. I hear it too. Something is wrong with his hearts," Slick said.

Maria turned towards him confused. "What?! What's wrong?!"

"He's got too many of them…"

Morel kept cutting away as Astro's chest, and the king yelled out and trashed around in pain. Puff and Sting managed to keep him down though. Quite a few people turned away from the grizzly scene, and one person threw up. A bit later, morel reached down into the boy's chest and then yanked something out.

Astro suddenly stopped moving, and for a moment there was a wave of panic that washed over everyone as his body suddenly went lip. But then, his breathing began to steady. Morel held up the object he'd removed from the boy's body. A very much still beating heart. "What the hell…?" Hody asked, stunned.

He, along with many others, knew that titans supposedly had seven hearts. Lots of monsters had multiple hearts apparently. But he had never actually seen one, or expected it to still function while outside the person' body. "That's what was hurting him? But… I don't understand? What…?"

Morel pointed down at the boy's open chest. "How many heartbeats do you hear coming from him. Not including this one," he said.

Fum loomed over the group, wincing at the sight of his captain's open chest, but listening all the same. "Seven." He couldn't just hear them, but he could feel them beating through the vibration of the ground. He was sure of it. "But… wait, how? You just ripped one of them out. So how does…?"

"This one I'm holding ain't his. See this one still in his chest? It's smaller than the others are. It wasn't there before," Morel said. "When a titan's heart gets destroyed, unless all the other six get axed too it'll grow back eventually. This one looks like it was just starting to, and if I had to guess, I'd say the one I ripped out was already there, so…"

Corona followed up. "So it was pressing up against the old one, which was causing his chest pain," she concluded. She knew he was a titan, but having two vital organs rubbing against one another had to be hellishly unbearable. How had he been able to endure this up until now?

"But that doesn't make any sense? If that's not his heart, why was it in his chest? Whose is it?" Maria asked, confused. None of this made any sense.

"It's Typhon's…"

Everyone suddenly whipped their heads around, and were shocked to see Sirius making his way towards them. Titania frowned at him. "I thought we locked this one up," she said, clearly annoyed to see him walking about freely. Both Higgs and Sarasim glared towards the boy. How had he escaped the Handmaiden's chambers?

Morel looked at his captain wearily. He always knew Sirius was an oddball, but after hearing what he pulled earlier he didn't know what was going on with him. "Sirius, what did you do…?" Morel asked.

"I didn't do a thing," Sirius said bluntly. "I was just answering your question."

Sting then shook her head. "Wait… you said this is Typhon's?!" she asked looking back towards the heart in Morel's hand. "But that's impossible! They… they killed him! They destroyed all seven of his hearts! How could-?!"

"They only destroyed sixth of his heart. The seventh in his possession belonged to Asterossa," Sirius explained. "Which is why in began to regrow in his body."

"So… they were already switched then? But how?" Higgs asked. Astro couldn't have known about it. He truly thought his father had been killed. Sting hadn't heard anything about this from Typhon either. He would have told her if he had.

Sirius pushed his glasses up. "Neither one of them knew about the switch. She did it without either one noticing," he said.

"Who?!"

"Rosetta…"

A/N: Astro and Titania have retrieved the souls! And a rather shocking turn of events has gone down! Astro in possession of his father's last heart, and Rosetta being responsible for it? Just what in the world is going one?!