Chapter 3 - Unmasking Hope

There was a distinct feeling of determination in Amelia's apartment as she got ready for work. Now that she had a goal, to reveal Hope, her mind was swarming with possible plans.

A normal person would be scared of the mission she'd been given. Saving the world? It was such a massive, lofty objective that any lesser person wouldn't even know where to start with it.

Amelia wasn't a lesser person, though.

The first thing she needed to do was to figure out how Hope was hiding from Kronii and whoever else was up there with her. She had mentioned something about there being more beings like her, so maybe Ina'nis knew something about them.

It was fairly obvious to Amelia that the cloak Hope wore and the veil surrounding them was what she was using to hide. The problem was how Amelia was supposed to tear them away. Hope definitely wouldn't just let her, as she seemed to take her privacy very seriously. The only time she had revealed her face was when she was about to kill them.

The cloak and veil appeared to be made of Dark magic and from what Amelia had seen so far, Light and Dark annihilated one another. She could possibly test her theory with Ina'nis later, but that was something else entirely.

So she could destroy the cloak and veil with her magic… but how in the world would she use it? Ina'nis had mentioned something about needing an object to pass magic through in order to use it properly. So far, the only Light magic compatible weapon she'd seen was Hope's light dagger. That wouldn't be easy to get her hands on…

Another option was to avoid the veil entirely and get a lucky hit on Hope again. She seemed to use the dark dagger on Ina'nis to avoid killing her, so Amelia could try her dodging-at-the-last-possible-moment attack again. It was risky, but it could work again. She was getting better at reacting to Hope's attacks.

The problem with that was getting Hope out from under the veil. Something told her that if she and Ina'nis escaped the veil, Hope wouldn't follow them. It would be smarter to wait and attack again later. Ina'nis couldn't go to anyone for help it seemed, so she would continue to be a sitting duck.

Amelia forced herself to stop thinking for a moment as she powered down the stairs of her apartment complex. She had finished her morning routine automatically and was on her way to fix her e-bike's chain. It was almost time for her to leave for work, too.

The most pressing problem right now was how Amelia was going to convince Ina'nis quicker. She couldn't afford to wait the entire day for Ina'nis to start believing her. There had to be a better way…

Could she use Kronii's name as a bargaining chip? Amelia felt the front of her neck where the Warden had cut her, remembering the pain vividly. There was a possibility that Kronii wouldn't like being called out, but maybe she could dance around it. She finished fixing her e-bike and returned the wrench to her apartment.

Soon, Amelia was riding up the hill and down the street to get to her workplace. She didn't take her time getting there, pedaling as fast as she could.

Then came the issue of how to explain everything to Ina'nis. She couldn't reveal anything that might get her cut up again, so maybe she could say Kronii told her in the dream. It might work if she worded it properly. Leaving Ina'nis to assume some of it would help, too.

She arrived at her office building in record time. She parked and locked up her bike before making her way into the elevator. When she arrived on her floor, the first thing she did was find Ina'nis. She spotted her coworker sitting at her own desk. After grabbing the file from her desk, she quickly walked over to her.

She tapped Ina'nis lightly on the shoulder to get her attention. Ina'nis flinched slightly, surprised by the contact. She turned to look up at Amelia.

"Oh hey, Amelia. Is there anything you need?" Amelia probably had a crazed look in her eye at that moment.

"Come with me," Amelia practically commanded her coworker, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her up and out of her seat. Ina'nis resisted slightly, but followed after a moment.

"What's going on, Amelia?" she asked, confused as to why Amelia would be acting like there was a rush. "Did an important case come in?" Amelia didn't answer.

She instead pulled Ina'nis into an empty break room and shut the door behind them. She slapped down the case folder on the table and leaned over it, staring at Ina'nis. The other girl nervously looked back. She had never seen this kind of intensity from Amelia before, so it was making her feel nervous.

"There is something off about all of these cases, Anni. I need your input on them," Amelia asked firmly. Ina'nis slowly reached over and opened the file before sorting through the cases within. She looked through them carefully, trying to understand what Amelia was getting at.

"I-I don't know exactly what you're talking about, Amelia," she responded hesitantly. Amelia shrugged and pointed to the list of details on each report.

"All of these cases happened the same night, but there was little to no trace of break in besides the obvious searching. Nothing was stolen and the dust wasn't even disturbed. It all seems very fishy if you ask me." Ina'nis went back to looking through the files, noting that what Amelia said was true. She sighed and put the file back on the table.

"So you want to go and investigate these with me? I don't have anything else going on, so I can quickly grab somethings-" Amelia interrupted her by laughing and shaking her head.

"I doubt we'll find anything at the scenes since the perp was so careful. I just wanted your opinion as a fellow magic user, especially one that mainly uses Dark magic." Amelia launched her attack.

"Wha-" Ina'nis stood up abruptly and began to back away from Amelia. "What are you saying, Amelia? Magic? That's ridiculous." She laughed nervously. Amelia continued the pressure.

"You can trust me, Ina. I am just like you, hiding my magic to avoid suspicion. I woke up today feeling different and this case is screaming at me that something is wrong. I know you feel it, too." Ina'nis stopped backing away and narrowed her eyes. She dropped the facade of ignorance and inspected Amelia. Slowly and carefully, she walked over and touched Amelia's forearm.

"You've got to be kidding me…" she muttered. Amelia smiled meekly.

"Let's just understand that we both know about magic. I am definitely less experienced compared to you, so I need your help with this," Amelia said carefully and pointed at the case file on the table again. Ina'nis sat back down and picked the folder and files up again.

"I feel it, too. This is all so perfect that it has to be magic of some kind. I mean, the alarm was literally going off but didn't report until after the perpetrator had already left. Not to mention the dust being undisturbed…" Amelia nodded firmly.

"Last night, I was contacted by a woman named Ouro Kronii. Do you know her?" Ina'nis immediately looked up at Amelia with a shocked stare.

"K-Kronii?! The Warden of Time, Kronii?!" she said a little louder than she should've. Amelia motioned for her to calm down, which she did. After a moment, Amelia pointed to the files.

"She said that whoever did this is going to come after us. They were searching for you and I," she explained, "They are strong, calling themselves Hope. Later today, they will come after us and try to kill you for some reason. I will probably get attacked, too."

"That's so soon… I won't be able to get a message to Sana in time. We'll have to avoid them until I can or risk fighting on our own."

"Sana? Who's that?" Amelia asked. Ina'nis tilted her head, confused.

"So you know Kronii, but not Sana?" Amelia shook her head. "Do you know any of the other Council members?" Amelia, again, shook her head.

"Nope, Kronii just talked to me last night to help figure this out. She said that we need to reveal who Hope is and they will rescue us." Ina'nis leaned back in her chain and stared up at the ceiling. Her whole day, if not entire life here, had just been upended in an instant.

"How would we reveal them to the Council? Are they hiding themselves somehow?" Amelia nodded.

"They have two layers, a cloak they wear and a veil they will put around the building. That is how they committed these B&E's without leaving a trace." Ina'nis tapped her finger on the table, thinking to herself.

"You seem to know a lot. Is there anything else important that Kronii said?" Amelia thought for a moment.

"She mentioned something called the Elder Ones. A being that devours whole timelines for an unknown reason." This made Ina'nis' eyes go wide once again. She started muttering something that Amelia couldn't quite make out.

"That's why this Hope wants to kill me…" she said, speaking up enough for Amelia to hear her, "I am the Priestess of the Ancient Ones," she accentuated the 'Ancient' to make sure the difference was heard. "Hope thinks there is a connection, but I have never heard of the Elder Ones before."

"Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be able to talk our way out of it. She is apparently dead set on killing you and destroying your book." Ina'nis rolled her eyes.

"Of course you know about that, too," she mumbled. Amelia laughed lightly.

"I'm pretty smart, but even this stuff is over my head. I need your help to fight against Hope and make sure they don't kill you." Ina'nis looked at her with a slight frown.

"Why do you even care? Why would Kronii talk to you instead of having Sana talk to me?" Amelia bit her tongue in order to not say anything about her looping. She took a deep breath before trying to explain herself.

"I have a Light affinity, so Kronii seems to think I would be helpful. I'm guessing that she couldn't talk to Sana to inform you and instead chose to talk to me since it would be faster." Ina'nis nodded to herself, looking down towards the table.

"I guess. We'll just have to ask her if we make it through this…"

"Then let's get started on making sure we do." Amelia was also hungry for some real answers. "I have a theory that might help us. Can you create a small amount of Dark magic and hold it out for me?" Ina obliged without asking any questions and created a ball of dim purple magic in her palm.

Amelia reached out and grabbed the ball, feeling her hand begin to burn. She hissed from the pain, but didn't let go. Soon the burning sensation faded, and when she opened her hand again the magic was gone.

"Wow…" Ina'nis said in response. Amelia looked at her palm and saw that it was slightly red, but nothing too bad.

"That confirms it. Light and Dark magic do annihilate each other," Amelia said, satisfied with the result. Ina'nis looked over at her.

"What type of magic does Hope use? A cloak and veil to hide one's self sounds like Dark magic to me." Amelia nodded.

"She can use Dark magic, but apparently she can also use Light magic." Ina'nis was all out of surprised expressions, so she only rolled her head back and groaned at the ceiling.

"Of course…"

"I told you she's strong. But the veil and cloak should be made of Dark magic. If I can get a hold of something to channel my Light magic through, I should be able to destroy both and reveal who she is," Amelia explained.

"Well, sorry to break it to you, but I don't think something like that will just be laying around," Ina'nis sighed.

"Hope might have something, but I doubt it will be easy to get from her…" Amelia revealed. Ina'nis shook her head.

"You'll need to do it without that something then, or find another way in the time we have."

"Hope will put up the veil and flush out any non-magic users. I don't think she wants to hurt anyone unnecessarily." Ina'nis thought about that for a moment.

"I should keep the book on me just in case she tries something." Amelia shook her head.

"If we act like we know she's here, then she'll only attack sooner. She might even be trying to listen in on our conversation," Amelia said. She knew that Hope wasn't coming after them right now, since there was no ticking in her head, but it was important to get that idea out there now. Ina'nis instinctively covered her mouth with her hand.

"This room is nearly sound-proof, though. You think she might be able to hear us here?" she whispered. Amelia shrugged.

"I doubt it, but my point still stands. We need to be careful not to alert her into attacking too soon. She might not care about civilians at that point." Amelia was unsure about the last point, but from what she'd seen of Hope so far, it didn't sound too far off. It was best to avoid any deviations from her previous loops for now.

"Alright, then what is the least suspicious thing we can do?" Ina'nis asked, to which Amelia pointed at the case file.

"Do our jobs." Ina'nis quickly looked at the case file and then back at Amelia.

"W-What? Wouldn't that just get us in trouble faster?" she asked. Amelia put her chin into her hand and began to think.

It was very likely the reason behind Hope's crime spree the night before was to lure Ina'nis out. However, that meant that she was already suspected as being the Priestess, so it might not matter. Amelia didn't want to delay the fight to a day that she wasn't certain where or when Hope would show up.

"Can you sense my magic?" Amelia asked randomly. Ina'nis was taken aback by the question, wondering what it had to do with the conversation at hand.

"Uh, kind of? It is really faint, so I've missed it until now. But what does that-" Amelia interrupted Ina'nis' obvious question.

"Hope most likely will not be able to sense it either. If you can hold out for just a minute or two against her, I can take out the veil with little to no resistance from her," Amelia explained her new plan. She was slightly disappointed that she only figured this out now. Ina'nis' eyes lit up.

"Blend in with the other humans as they leave the veil. That's genius!" Ina'nis told her.

"The only problem is that I won't be able to accompany you anywhere today. If you get attacked or feel like you're being watched, head back here immediately." Ina'nis nodded.

"Alright, so when the veil is created you just walk out and destroy it while I fight," Ina'nis repeated the plan back to Amelia. She nodded.

"However, do not actually fight Hope. She is ridiculously strong and will kill you in an instant. Get out in the open as soon as possible, preferably near where I am," Amelia stated. She then pointed at one of the walls. "I'll go down the street that way and destroy the veil. Try to get near me, but without her noticing what I'm doing." Ina'nis nodded.

"Got it."

The rest of Amelia's day was filled with anxiety. Ina'nis had left to go investigate the crime scenes over five hours ago. It made her extremely worried that she couldn't tell if Ina'nis was in any danger. The only thing she could do was stay in contact with her through her phone.

So far, things have been going well, with Ina'nis finishing up the last crime scene. She said that she did feel like something was watching her, but it was distant for now. Ina'nis said she was hungry, so she quickly stopped somewhere to grab a to-go order.

It was there that she really felt herself begin to get watched. She sent multiple, rapid fire texts to Amelia saying that something felt off. Amelia instructed her to get back as soon as possible and to hide her anxiety the best she could.

Things were playing out in a near identical way as last time, which both calmed and worried Amelia. The changes would begin soon, though. Ina'nis said that she was nearly back at the office now. Amelia saw a few of her coworkers begin packing up early to leave. She followed suit.

The ticking in her head had not started yet, so she wasn't in any danger from Hope right now. After a few coworkers left, she left too.

When the elevator opened to take her down to the bottom floor, it revealed Ina'nis holding a bag of fast food. As they got closer to one another, the ticking began. It wasn't too loud, just enough to indicate that she shouldn't be here for long.

"Good luck…" Ina'nis whispered to her as they passed.

"Don't fight, just run," Amelia reiterated. Ina'nis gave a quick nod and they continued on their own paths. The ticking became intense for a moment just after they exchanged words. Thankfully, it calmed back down and eventually disappeared as they got farther apart.

The ride down the elevator was the most stressful seconds of Amelia's life so far. Even though she could just die and retry, there was no guarantee that she would die. Hope had tried to keep her alive last time and she'd gotten lucky that the dark dagger was close enough for her to stab herself with. This time she might not be so lucky…

The elevator doors opened several times to pick up more people from different floors. Amelia knew that as long as there were people to witness her attack, Hope wouldn't do anything. Finally, the doors opened to the first floor and the now packed elevator filtered into the main lobby. Amelia blended in perfectly and got out into the street.

A sudden sense of dread poured over her. It originated from one spot on top of the office building she had just exited. Slowly, she turned her head and looked up at it.

Looking over the side, a figure with a shadowy cloak looked down on the mass of people walking down the sidewalk. The ticking started again and Amelia quickly averted her gaze, cursing her curiosity. She walked in a straight line down the road, thanking any benevolent entity she could think of when the ticking left her head again, until she saw the veil directly in front of her. After one last look over her shoulder, she put her hand against it.

A wave of pain flooded into her outstretched arm, causing it to convulse against her will. She yelped out of surprise and pulled her hand back.

The amount of Dark magic contained in the barrier was absolutely massive. She would probably kill herself just attempting to neutralize it all. This meant that she needed to get back to Ina'nis as soon as possible and figure something else out.

Or she could…

Amelia fiddled with the pistol she still had tucked in her waistband. She hadn't given it back when she left, thinking that no one would stop her and that it might come in handy later. She shook her head.

Now was too soon to give up. She instead turned around and began running back towards the building, almost bumping into the few remaining people walking down the sidewalk.

She heard a distant explosion that sounded like it came from the floor that UnderCover's office was on and picked up the pace. Just as she got to the foot of the building, the glass above her shattered. She ran into the building to avoid it raining down on her.

Ina'nis came falling down with it, thankfully still in one piece. She had cuts and scrapes all over her, but she was still alive.

"Oh thank god…" Amelia whispered to herself. She didn't want to see Ina'nis die for her yet again.

"D-Did you take down the veil?" Ina'nis asked, breathing very heavily. Amelia shook her head.

"It was too much for me. I said for you to not underestimate her, but I did myself…" Amelia felt herself getting angry at her own short-sightedness. She shook it out of her head, though. Right now she needs to stay focused.

"Where did she go?" Ina'nis scanned the sky where she expected Hope to dive bomb her from. Amelia knew that wasn't where she would arrive from. The elevator dinging behind her gave it away.

Both Amelia and Ina'nis turned to see the cloaked Hope walk out of the elevator and stop just beyond its doors. The ticking sound began inside Amelia's head.

"I knew I sensed something off about you," she said in her distorted voice, "How can you resist the veil?" Amelia laughed at her.

"You're really shit at noticing magic users then!" she mocked. Hope appeared to be the calculating type like herself, so if she could make her act with emotions instead it might bait her into making a mistake. Hope seemed to get really pissed off at Amelia's remark. The ticking spiked in volume.

"Maybe you're just too weak for me to care about." Hope suddenly vanished from Amelia's view. A wave of pressure approached from her left side, which she knew was Hope trying to cut her down. Amelia quickly leaned backwards out of the way of the strike.

At the same time, she drew her pistol and squeezed off two shots towards where she thought Hope was. The sounds of the bullets being deflected told her that she had guessed right. She back pedaled out of the building and regrouped with Ina'nis.

"Think I'm weak now?" Amelia taunted. Hope tilted her head and sighed.

"Maybe I should start taking this seriously," she responded.

"What were you doing on the roof earlier?" Amelia asked quickly before Hope attacked again.

"Preparing to kill your friend here. What were you doing trying to blend in with the normal humans?" Hope asked a question back.

"Destroying your shitty barrier. In fact, it should be coming down any second now," Amelia bluffed. Hope quickly glanced up at the top of the building, giving Ina'nis and Amelia the opportunity they needed.

Ina'nis launched herself forwards with several tentacles to close the distance. She charged several beam attacks at the same time. Amelia fired three more shots from her pistol to keep Hope from moving towards them. Hope attempted to run, leaping into the air, but Ina'nis matched her trajectory with another push from her tentacles.

Two beams connected, one into Hope's stomach and the other into Hope's face. She was launched into the building, cracking the concrete on impact. The cloak surrounding her was torn away, as well. She screamed from the pain of the attack.

"How do you like that, Hope!" Amelia cheered. Ina'nis tried to grab and pin Hope against the building, but she just barely slipped around her attempts. Hope hissed in pain, grabbing her face and doubling over in pain. She floated against the building, using her free hand to attach herself to it.

"Very impressive you two," she said in a low growl. A wicked smile crept onto her face, "But I think you were lying about the veil."

Shit, she'd already seen through Amelia's bluff. Without thinking, Amelia fired another shot at Hope, which the woman just deflected. The bullet grazed Ina'nis' face, showing that firing again wasn't an option.

"Just leave us alone! What do you even want?!" Ina'nis pleaded, knowing that this fight was about to swing in favor of the other side. Hope laughed, not bothering to cover her face with her cloak again.

"I want you dead, Priestess. You've brought the Elder Ones here and I won't let you fully summon them!" Hope declared. Ina'nis recoiled from what she had just heard.

"What in the world are you talking about? I serve the Ancient Ones, not the Elder Ones!" Ina refuted. Hope clicked her tongue.

"I know they are linked. Just look at their names! Either way, there's no guarantee that you won't side with them anyways, so I'll just take you out just in case." No one got another word in before Hope dropped down to the ground at lightning speed. She closed the distance between her and Amelia in an instant. The detective tried to raise her gun to fire again, but Hope got her hand around it just in time. Just like in the previous loop, it turned to sludge and was absorbed into her cloak.

Amelia felt a sharp pain in her stomach and when she looked down, Hope had dug her light dagger into her. Amelia bit down incredibly hard, trying not to scream in pain. Hope got incredibly close to her face and wrapped her other arm around Amelia. The ticking became quieter, but only slightly.

"So you have Light magic, huh? Is that how you knew my title?" Hope mockingly asked.

"Amelia!" Ina'nis screamed for her friend. In response, Hope dug the dagger deeper into Amelia's stomach. She felt blood rise in the back of her throat.

"J-Just a lucky guess," Amelia shakily said. Hope smiled demonically at her.

"My name is IRyS, bringer of Hope and destroyer of Despair!" IRyS proclaimed. Amelia would have laughed at how ridiculous the sentence sounded if there wasn't blood building up in the back of her throat. She coughed and felt it begin to run out the sides of her mouth.

"W-Well then, IRyS… w-what's the D-Despair you're h-here to d-destroy?" It was becoming increasingly harder for Amelia to form words.

"I felt a terrible amount of Dark magic flood through this area last night. It was so strong that even I was scared of it. I searched for an easy source last night, but to no avail. I continued to watch and survey, when eventually the Priestess wandered into my sights. She's the only Dark magic user around here, so she must have been the source," IRyS explained.

"But how does that link me to the Elder Ones?!" Ina'nis cried.

"I couldn't tell where the Dark magic originated from, but I could tell where it was going," IRyS said, turning and looking at Ina'nis with a smirk, "It left this timeline and shot out into the Temporal Void."

"Wait, like the Spatial Void?" Ina'nis asked quickly. IRyS nodded.

"Your Ancient Ones come from the Spatial Void, while the Elder Ones come from the Temporal Void. Your patrons have calmed down over the last few millennia, becoming acquainted with the Speaker. However, the Elder Ones are still running loose and are being led here by you!" Amelia felt her legs beginning to wobble to an insane degree. She couldn't keep listening to this for much longer.

"Th-Then why d-do I have t-to d-die…?" Amelia asked. IRyS turned back around and looked Amelia directly in the eye. The detective shakily spread all her fingers out, hoping Ina'nis would see it and understand what she was doing.

Five.

"Because you are helping her!"

Four.

Amelia couldn't risk looking over at Ina'nis to see if she was receiving her signal.

Three.

"For all I know, you are in on this, too!"

Two.

Hope pushed the light dagger into her a little more, reminding Amelia that she had her on a hook.

One.

Amelia furrowed her brow and screamed at the top of her lungs. Hope recoiled away from Amelia in shock. Ina'nis began to move behind her, meaning that she did see Amelia's countdown.

While the light dagger was stabbing her, Amelia had realized something. She was being pushed away from it. Hope had been holding her against it, keeping her from being moved away. She also felt her own magic for the first time. It had been pushed away by the light dagger, repelled by to the far corners of her body.

She forced all of her magic to surge back towards the light dagger and when IRyS stopped holding Amelia against it, the dagger went flying out of her. It pulled IRyS back several feet before she lost her grip on it and it shot up into the building. It became embedded into the side of the building near the top.

Ina'nis wrapped a tentacle around IRyS and threw her even farther away.

"Throw me at the dagger!" Amelia commanded to Ina'nis. Without a moment's hesitation, Ina'nis wrapped another tentacle around Amelia and threw her up the side of the building towards the dagger.

"Oh no you don't!" IRyS reached out to have the light dagger return to her. It began to be pulled out of the concrete, but Amelia got to it first. She yanked it out using the immense speed Ina'nis had launched her with. She used the dagger to pivot herself and angle trajectory so that she disappeared over the edge of the top of the building. Ina'nis reengaged IRyS, stopping her from pulling the dagger back to her.

There was something else that Amelia had noticed. When she had bluffed that the veil was going to fall, IRyS had looked up at the top of the building. Sure enough, the source of the veil was up here.

A small dark crystal spun rapidly in the middle of the roof. Out of the top, a dark mist spiraled into the air, creating the veil. Amelia dragged the surprisingly heavy dagger towards the spinning crystal. She got within a few feet of it, almost close enough to swing at, but her stomach wound started to become a real problem. She coughed up a lot of blood, feeling lightheaded.

No… not when she was this close…

A crash behind her made her turn around. IRyS stood on the edge of the roof, panting with most of her cloak now destroyed. She held a defeated Ina'nis in one hand and put the dark dagger against her throat with the other.

"Don't…" she said sternly. Amelia coughed again, almost doubling over in pain.

"I-Ina…" she said weakly. Ina'nis barely moved her head up and looked at Amelia with glassy eyes. Even without one of her daggers, IRyS still beat Ina'nis to a bloody pulp.

"Step away… and you'll live…" IRyS proposed. Amelia gripped the light dagger even harder. IRyS still planned to kill Ina'nis.

"Thanks... Ina…" Amelia spun around and with every ounce of willpower in her body and tried to slam the dagger into the crystal. It stopped only a few inches away.

"NO!" IRyS screamed, dropping Ina'nis to gain a free hand. She reached out and stopped Amelia from hitting the crystal, pulling the light dagger back to her. Amelia strained, feeling blood running down her chin and neck. She needed to keep going. There was no point in resetting until the very end.

The light dagger began to slowly drift away from the crystal. Amelia just didn't have the strength to resist. Amelia felt tears join the blood running down her face. Maybe she was crying blood, too…

"Go…" Ina'nis wheezed. She grabbed the dark dagger that IRyS was still holding and used the same trick she'd just seen Amelia use. The two sources of Dark magic repelled one another. The force generated was weak, but it was just enough to cause the dagger to shift in IRyS' grip. This caused her focus to slip, allowing for Amelia to give the light dagger one last push.

Screaming up an obscene amount of blood, Amelia pushed the very tip of the light dagger into the dark crystal. Only a tiny spark flew between them, but it was enough.

The crystal stopped spinning and the veil disintegrated. Amelia fell backwards, letting go of the dagger in the process. She collapsed to the ground and saw IRyS collect the light dagger. The woman raised it above her, still trying to kill Ina'nis.

"There you go… Kronii…" she said as her world began to fade to black. "Save… us…"

The last thing Amelia saw was IRyS being launched away from Ina'nis and a familiar pair of blue heels walking over to her.

"-probably the stupidest thing I've ever seen you do! That conclusion doesn't make any bloody sense and you didn't even bother to talk to us 'bout it!"

Amelia woke up to someone tearing into someone else with their words. It sounded like they were incredibly pissed at whoever it was. She blinked rapidly, trying to get her bearings. She was laying down on something very comfortable. When she looked above her, she got an idea as to what it was.

A woman with green hair and what looked like small antlers hovered over her. She was in such an orientation that it made Amelia realize that she was laying on her lap.

"She's awake," the green haired woman called out with the most soothing voice Amelia had ever heard. The yelling stopped and her head was gently picked up and laid on the ground. It was disappointing to not have such an amazing pillow anymore.

"Thanks, Fauna," Kronii said. Amelia took several deep breaths, taking in the fresh air around her. She could feel that her stomach wound was closed up, but still raw. She slowly picked herself up from the ground.

"Amelia, are you feeling ok?" Ina asked. Amelia looked over and saw that Ina was standing near another woman who had darker skin. She nodded.

"Yeah. It's good to see you up and moving after all that," Amelia replied. Ina walked over and sat down next to Amelia, giving her a nice hug.

"Awww, you got yourself a friend there!" the tall woman said. She walked over and crouched down next to both Amelia and Ina. "Name's Sana, pleased to meet ya!" she said, extending a hand for Amelia to shake. She reached out and shook it after a slight hesitation.

"So this is that Council you mentioned?" Amelia asked Ina. The Priestess next to her nodded.

"You've already met Kronii and you just met Sana. Fauna was the nice girl letting you use her lap as a pillow and helped speed up your healing." Fauna gave Amelia a short wave, which she returned.

"Mumei is the one hanging onto Kronii like a vine." Amelia looked over and saw a short, brown haired girl literally clinging to Kronii. She smiled brightly at Amelia.

"And Bae is the one talking some smack into IRyS." Next to a lazy-eyed, collapsed IRyS stood another short, but this time red haired girl. She did not seem happy, but flashed a very toothy smile at Amelia to show that she wasn't mad at her.

"So now that introductions are done," Kronii said, walking over to Amelia. She put out a hand for her to pull herself up with. Amelia did not use it, instead electing to push herself up. Kronii rolled her eyes, but continued talking, "I bet you have a million questions right now."

"Yeah…" Amelia said, out of breath from standing up, "just a few…"

Author's Note: Sorry for the long break between chapters. I wanted to sort some things out with the overall story before I progressed any further, but now I've got a very solid idea about where I'm going to be taking this.

This is the first time I've written Council all together, so that's cool. I know that Sana has graduated, but I will not be removing or sidelining her in any of my stories. I want to keep her spirit alive in my writing rather than trying to hide her away.

IRyS finally got named dropped and I can start saying 'Ina' instead of 'Ina'nis' all the time. It got pretty rough trying to find all the points where I accidentally mistyped a name (pretty sure I still missed a few though).

The fight was exactly how I wanted it to be. No beating the bad guy with the power of friendship, but instead a desperate struggle to get out alive. IRyS also helped out and dropped a couple clues as to what has been going on. Hopefully next chapter they can all get some real answers from the Council.

Next Chapter: Explanations

Any feedback/criticism is appreciated!