Velvet looked herself over and found the only remaining kind of covering to be her long hair, as well as the strips of skin covering her left arm like snugly tied bandages. Those had remained, naturally, seeing that they were her own skin ever since she was transformed into a daemon.

She was in the nude, though little embarassment followed that realisation; the only people around were her little brother and a talking rapig, after all; she did not feel any cold either. Yet nurture, having worn clothes most of her life, made Velvet try to cover herself instinctively; she failed at that and then ceased her efforts, rather focussing on her brother who was very much clothed even though her own garb had been disintegrated by a thousand years in their seal. "How am I the only one naked?"

Laphicet chuckled at that and took off the ground, floating over to orbit his sister. "I'm a malak, Velvet. We're pure mana, so we can weave clothes out of mana whenever the need strikes." He kept circling her as if to brag and she threw him unamused looks whenever he passed by. "You should be able to do the same, being a daemon and all. Er, hellion, I mean. We should probably get used to calling them that."

He had a point, though she realised she never asked about things like that before. Then again, this new information also confused her. "Wait, that can't be right. I know Eizen went to a tailor to get new clothes made at least twice while we traveled together." And he had paid a decent amount of money for his sharp suits and sturdy boots, she distinctly remembered that.

It was here that Zui Fuu chimed in from the side, having sat down on her rear but with her forelegs still straightened: "It is a common skill," she explained, "but few are willing to spend the time on bringing it to mastery; the important part is that keeping any construct made of pure mana in its shape requires a constant amount of focus, which is impossible to hold in battle unless one goes through special training. Most human-shaped malakhim prefer to clothe themselves in physical cloth instead, but especially those who expect to see battle."

She glanced between the siblings, Laphicet now hovering next to his sister while they listened to her. "Naturally, non-human malakhim do not need to bother; the others only began doing this so as to not stir up issues with humans who can perceive them. Ah, I remember a few rather amusing events from fourty thousand years or so ago..." Zui Fuu trailed off when she saw the Crowes' flabbergasted expressions and grunted. "Well, Zenrus' embarassment aside, an Empyrean's greater mind should allow you to keep up the focus on any projected objects far easier, or at least that is my assumption for why Innominat would not even have noticed an issue."

Velvet just nodded slowly and decided to keep this an emergency measure; considering that most humans could not even see malakhim, her crafting clothes out of mana might make them invisible to normal folk. Nonetheless, she let the two malakhim, no, seraphim run her through the basics, which boiled down to focussing on what she desired and weaving her power into the given form. The difficult part lay in managing to do something with her mind instead of her body, but Velvet quickly began to form a simple blanket and covered herself.

They immediately found a problem with her work: "That's not mana, Velvet." Laphi poked at the pitch black cloth while she forced it to become brighter. "That's Malevolence," he judged with a nod. "It makes sense, I guess; you aren't a malak like me, so you wouldn't weave mana on instinct."

"Curiously," Zui Fuu chimed in as she stepped closer to sniff the cloth, "I can barely sense it at all. Concentrated Malevolence like that should be quite a bit more noticeable." She raised her head to look up at Velvet, then back at the blanket. "I reckon it is either something in your nature, or that this Malevolence takes physical form."

Velvet could not help but clutch the blanket a little tighter. "Something in my nature?"

"Yes. You are indeed Empyrean, but in difference to the other six, you ascended from being a daemon and not as a malak. Yet I can not sense much of any Malevolence from you, even though you should be a maelstrom." She had a point; daemons constantly emitted great amounts of Malevolence from the moment they first turned, whether they were originally human or not; only humans produced Malevolence otherwise, after all.

Apparently disregarding their conversation, Laphicet tore off a piece of cloth and stuck it in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. "Tastes like blanket," he told the women once he swallowed, to blank stares. "And some wrath, I think? Anyway, my guess would be that it's because Velvet was a therion, a daemon who devours Malevolence. Her nature as an Empyrean would align with that, similarly to mine as Innominat."

With Innominat being the only malak, from the lowest to the very gods, who lacked the racial weakness to Malevolence, she saw what he meant. "So you're saying you can't sense Malevolence from me because I keep eating it?"

She received a poke to her side before Laphi put his ear against it. "Yes and no. I can sense it in you and you're not digesting it like I do. You still do it like a therion, integrate it into your own being after consuming it instead of digesting it into mana. I think the reason it's super difficult to sense is that you don't emit any Malevolence for others to sense, and the same goes for that blanket."

When Zui Fuu had nothing else to add, Velvet nodded at her brother. "Let's go with that for now. It should be fine either way, I saw Kurogane make a hammer out of nothing before." It had been quite the sight, though she did not stay around to watch the master blacksmith work back then and promptly forgot about it.

"Alright, that's good." Laphi returned to the ground and crossed his arms as he said that, which Velvet found amusing with how she stood more than a head taller than him. "Back to the other thing, you can't just rush out there and into the thick of it."

The siblings' eyes met and both frowned at the other. Velvet's tone was low as she responded, deceptively calm: "And why is that?"

"Because we don't know enough." Laphi motioned for the planet lying beneath after that and she followed his gaze. "A thousand years are a long time and much will be different. We do not know the people involved, how many there are, where they are, how powerful they are. Are the elemental Empyreans under threat as well? Is Maotelus in enemy hands instead of simply falling? What is the Lord of Calamity planning?" With every question he asked, Velvet understood a little better.

"We are Empyreans, sister, but you are young, still gestating up there." He motioned for her cocoon. "And as you yourself proved, I am not invincible, either. Even if it took a few coincidences and a good amount of luck for you to pull this off, I don't want to be defeated again. That's why we need to stand back for now, to observe and learn about this new Desolation. We need to accumulate strength, gather allies, find our enemies. If possible, set up a single, precise, overwhelming strike before they even know we're around."

He was right and she knew it. Even though parts of her were still urging to rush to Phi's aid, there were too many unknowns. Velvet forced her emotions under control and nodded, which drew a relieved sigh from her brother. Something about his wording had surprised her, though. "'Our' enemies?"

Laphi blinked up at her and tilted his head. "Your enemies are my enemies." He left it at that and Velvet decided not to push, thinking the entire argument over for a moment instead.

In the end, she sighed. "I guess I'm still in the underdog's mindset. A small group of misfits against the world doesn't have the luxury of picking their targets, or to stand back and watch their enemies go through with their plans." The consequences of inaction had been greater than those of failure; it would take some time to get used to this new situation. They were unknown, they had time, and they had options.

She was lost in thought for a while, but Laphi brought her out of that with a non-sequitur: "You should cut your hair." When Velvet raised an eyebrow at him, he pointed at the curtain of black hanging down to her calves. "It grew a bit too wild for me to like, you know? I think you're prettier with neat and tidy hair."

Velvet felt for her long tresses and considered them, as well as their length. "I think you have a point. It did grow a bit long over those three years on Titania." After that, she was on a mission and without much care for her appearance. So she focussed as she had been taught just before, creating a small mirror and a pair of scissors. Zui Fuu at the side made an amazed sound while Laphi just shrugged it off. Velvet sat down and began to see to herself.

. .

. .

With his sister busy, Laphicet turned his attention back to Zui Fuu. He felt surprisingly good after being woken; weaker, yes, but whole now that he had the wrath Velvet held so long ago. But he also felt different, like he was now more despite his sister having taken a part of his power. Without doubt, he was the Empyrean Innominat. But he was also Laphicet Crowe, despite having been reborn as the god whose awakening his life was sacrificed for. He was with his sister again.

More importantly, only now did he realise just how much he hurt Velvet in the past. Horror surged through the boy for one long moment, but then understanding made it subside. "It seems my emotional range was impaired after my rebirth," he told Zui Fuu conversationally. "I can't say whether gathering all eight types of Malevolence or being sealed in this cycle of consumption restored it, but it did."

"It was likely your consumption of your sister," the ancient malak replied after a moment of thought. "I encountered some of Innominat's previous incarnations and none were particularly emotional."

Laphicet sighed and slumped down next to the winged rapig. He was not happy with what he did, but there was nothing he could do about it now. So he put it aside it for the time being, instead beginning to truly take in his surroundings to the infrequent snapping of scissors.

The air was crisp and clear, filled with traces of mana and not a speck of Malevolence; he could feel it thrumming through his larger body, the cosmic earthpulse he once created; it was still there if slowed and almost inert, mana flowing in an endless circle and maintaining the area within his body as if it were part of the land; moreover, it drew mana from the void above, from the direction of the moon. Sensing that, Laphicet wondered whether there were earthpulses running beneath the moon. He wondered whether he could connect them to those running on Desolation below, on their world. It was a thought for later, he decided when something else caught his eye for the first time since his awakening.

There, but a few metres away from them, lay a body. Clad in pristine white with golden trims and decorations, a longsword stuck in his chest. A small pool of blood surrounded the fallen warrior, looking almost new, as if it had been shed but a few minutes ago. His eyes were closed, face relaxed.

Arthur. Artorius Collbrande. His brother-in-law, his pactkeeper, the shepherd. Felled by his sister, impaled with his own sword. The fallen saviour of mankind. Laphicet averted his gaze and looked out onto the planet below instead, trying to ignore how his gut clenched. He stepped closer to the platform's edge, looked out at Desolation, watched the great clouds of Malevolence which partly stole the breathtaking view from him. He understood why he was awakened.

But something bothered him and made him turn back to Zui Fuu, who had remained in place; now that he was mostly awake and paid more attention, he realised she was filled with Malevolence. "Are you alright?"

"I will be," she answered after a moment, blinking her beady eyes. "My blessing is a mostly personal one, for it allows me to bleed off any amount of Malevolence over time and regain total purity as long as I do not turn."

Laphi raised an eyebrow at her in wonder; he knew every malak held a personal power, a blessing, but he never heard of one like this. Moreover... "I doubt it's pleasant." Even if a malak, no, seraph did not turn from it, Malevolence was still poison to them. "But if you say so. How did you get up here? There is no earthpulse leading this way and not even a dragon's wings would reach this far." Excepting his own wings of course, but an Empyrean stood far greater than any other dragon.

Zui Fuu chuckled at that and got to her feet, tapping over to stand next to Laphicet. "To be honest, it hardly even burns anymore, ever since I set foot into this chamber. That aside, while the younger malakhim have lost the arte of teleportation, I have not. The gate you once set at the lowest ring of this structure still persists, even if the other end has been removed by Maotelus. I merely needed a few years to find the correct frequency, attune my own arte, and gather enough mana from the earthpulses to power it. Exposure to the Malevolence in them is the reason for my current state as well."

She paused and slumped down again. "I merely hope I made it in time."

Laphicet put a hand on her shoulder at that, taking a moment to marvel at the smooth, pearly white skin. "I'm sure it will work out. You worked hard for this and we will do what we can." He gave the far older being a soft pat and then turned his gaze back to the planet. "Can we use your connection to return to Desolation? I would rather not risk putting down an arte at this distance and, well, freeing up my main body would definitely draw attention to us."

Innominat's true form, the eight-headed dragon, was quite massive after all. The entire flying fortress surrounding them was this form turned into solid matter, large enough to accomodate an entire earthpulse. No one would miss a city-sized dragon descending from the heavens. Thankfully, Zui Fuu agreed. "I traveled here from the Heavenly Steppes; from there, the two of you will be able to access the earthpulses beneath the planet and ascend to the surface. Feel free to pass through once you are ready."

The scissors stopped and Velvet chimed in from behind them: "Good. We will make use of that later."

Turning around, Laphicet found that his sister was done and rustled around; a surprising amount of raven hair was slowly swiped into a pile, Velvet's own mane now having lost some of its volume and merely reaching toward her thighs. The younger Crowe could not help but nod his approval. Scissors and mirror vanished, their tasks fulfilled. After a moment however, he realised that something was missing still. "Can I braid your hair?"

Velvet gave him a sidelong glance while she finished up and burned the excess hair with a quick flash of fire; she measured her brother for a long, anxiety-filled moment. But then she smiled softly and nodded, extending at least that much trust to him. Laphicet braided her hair before on occasion, but that was before everything happened. He could not help but smile as well while he hurried over.

Meanwhile, Zui Fuu toddled toward the staircase, excusing herself. "I need some rest, I am afraid. Please find me once you brought your affairs into order." She received no response from the siblings, but did not expect one at this moment either. She had been heard and knew that.

. .

. .

While Velvet sat down and began to practice creating clothes once more, Laphi kneeled behind her and separated strings of hair for her braid. He worked slowly and a little clumsily, knowing that it had been a while and not wanting to mess up.

Silence enveloped them for a while; a calm, almost forgotten kind of silence that put them both at ease. Velvet did not require her entire attention on the creation process, but her thoughts wandered. Sometimes she felt a slight pull on her head, but Laphi tried his best to be gentle with her hair. Yet he was Innominat, and there in the corner of her eyes was the body of Artorius, right where she struck him down. Velvet had a feeling that she was not the only one thinking of the past. As proper trousers began to form on her legs, she sighed. "We need to talk."

The motion behind her ceased momentarily, then Laphi continued his work. "Agreed. I'm sorry, Velvet. Terribly sorry about what I did to you, and what I let others do. There is no excuse for that." He was right and they both knew it. Velvet would never be able to forgive those hellish years.

At the same time, she still loved him. Her unbandaged hand reached back to pat his knee a little clumsily. "It's okay," Velvet reassured her brother. "I won't forgive you, but I accept your apology. You and Arthur both, you were punished. So let's leave all this in the past and go back to being a family." She paused for a moment, then nudged her brother, her sense of humour reemerging. "We can call this your rebellious phase."

Laphi let out a silly giggle at that and Velvet had to smile as well. "I don't mind that," he ultimately said, then went to hug her from behind. "I'm just glad you give me the chance. I still love you, Velvet."

"And I love you, Laphi. I always have." She did not try to turn around, just let herself be at ease now that she had her brother back. After a while of them just staying like that, he went back to working on her braid; it came a little loose during their embrace, but they had time right now. Velvet's smile dimmed as she thought of where to go next.

"We will have to put down some ground rules." Laphi slowed a little as she began to count up: "First, no genociding mankind. Second, no suppressing anyone's emotions unless it is necessary or you have my explicit permission. Third, no eating people needlessly. Actually, make that not eating anything beside food needlessly; no, blankets are not food." She could vividly imagine the face he made at that and found herself grinning. "Fourth, no killing people needlessly. I feel I should say something about mental torture, but you should understand that one on your own."

"Alright, alright, jeez." He sounded so exasperated that she could almost feel the force of his eyes being rolled. "There you go trying to eradicate mankind once and they never let you hear the end of it!" Velvet just huffed at that and let the conversation stall. Now that she had her brother back, she felt herself relax more than she had in a long time.

At some point her braid was complete, but Laphi undid it and started from scratch. She let him, just for the novelty of it. Halfway through the second attempt, he spoke up: "We need true names." Velvet inclined her head to convey she was listening. "I want a new true name to commemorate this new chapter in our life and you need one period. You're an Empyrean now. Actually, you will need a more fitting name for your station, too."

"Ah, like you being Innominat?"

"Exactly."

"Alright, what do you suggest? I don't know the ancient tongue."

Silence settled once more while her brother considered the question. Velvet knew that true names were important to the mala-, seraphim. A name in an old language, one that only their beloved and most trusted friends even knew, resonating with their very being. After a little while, Laphi poked her shoulder. "Just tell me something you consider for my true name and I will translate it, then I'll name you."

And so it began; Velvet first considered just using 'Laphicet', but remembered that made Maotelus before she even suggested it. She tried a few simple things like 'Beloved Brother', but found that none worked; that one ended up being 'Dumipuy Dwishuw', which both agreed was unworkable just like her other initial ideas. She considered doing something mean, but felt it inappropriate for a name meant to be eternal.

After a few attempts, she found a winner. "What about 'Kind Light'?" Once she was given the literal translation of Geby Mexhs, Velvet played around with it for a bit. "So we could make Geb Imesch out of it, right?" He confirmed that and she decided to pick this one. It felt appropriate.

After that, now that it was his turn, Laphi just considered for a few moments. "Considering your primary colours, I think you will be best described as 'Mib ncajs kubbitt', Red Black Goddess. With some adjustments, that makes you Minkkubi, the red and black goddess. That I declare the name the world shall know you by." There was no actual weight to this name, but Velvet knew she would treasure it anyway. "As for your true name, it shall be Sub Smuyaw, which means 'Gentle Dark'."

Once more she was touched; Laphi quite clearly adjusted the length and number of syllables in her true name to match the one she chose for him. Velvet repeated it to herself and internalised it, felt it sink into her very being. It became a part of her, different from Minkkubi or Velvet. And as the true name took hold, a small shock went through the room. Velvet shuddered as more sensations connected to her, feeling herself surrounded by darkness. Both siblings looked up to the cocoon as it began to pulsate.

"We might have affected your gestation, sister, Laphi noted idly. "See if you can take hold of your body?" He put the finishing touches on her braid while Velvet did as he asked, casting her mind outward on instinct. She pulled on muscles she did not realise she had, saw the cocoon buck a little bit. A pair of bright crimson eyes opened within, shining outward. Suddenly she could see herself sitting on the ground, her brother standing behind her and finishing the braid.

Looking up, she found that the cocoon began to fade, Malevolence being drawn in and revealing a draconic head peering down at them. It was long and sharp, attached on an even longer neck that connected to a massive body, which flopped onto the ground with a wet sound; the impact sent a weak tremor went through the platform.

Both siblings looked over the newborn creature, still as it lay to watch them in turn. Velvet felt quite weird to see from two different bodies, but even more so at the sight of an unfinished dragon. Her scales were a pure obsidian and covered the entire body, in some places run through by pulsing crimson veins. She was, however, missing all four legs apart from a few centimetres of stumps, her tail, and one wing. Stepping forward and running a hand over her scales, she found them to be warm and sturdy. Each one had about the size of her hand, the body itself roughly as big as a horse; if this body of hers had its legs, it would roughly compare to an equine in height as well.

"Hm. I'm not sure if this was supposed to happen, or if we turned you into an early birth on accident." Laphi stepped next to her and she felt power flowing from him even while he rubbed his hand over her scales. Empyrean Minkkubi's eyes closed for the time being, she only needed one pair. At the same time, one of the giant spires in the distance lost its solid form and became a golden scaled head, attached to a giant golden neck which reached down and terminated in solid matter further down. It leaned closer and became bigger, finally revealing itself to be the size of the entire platform they were standing on. An eye bigger than Velvet glanced down at the comparably tiny form.

"I would like to protect you until you can spread your wings on your own," Laphi explained sadly, "but there is no Malevolence here to feed you with. We will have to take you down to Desolation so you can feed."

"Yeah." Velvet did not like the idea much, but she also knew the earthpulses were generally empty of threats. Thanks to her previous exercises, she put some effort into creating proper clothes now while Innominat's head leaned closer still, garbing herself in something reminiscent of her old villager clothes; sturdy boots and light, black trousers together with a maroon tunic. It would do.

"Well," Laphi noted with a glance over her attire, "with you dressed nicely and smiling again, maybe you can find yourself a man this time instead of scaring them all away." He just grinned about the unamused look that earned him, even when Velvet went and ruffled his hair.

"I think I will have my hands full running herd on my cruel god of a brother, don't you think?" He chuckled and so did she, but at the same time Velvet wondered just how long it had been that she even considered romance at all. It felt like a lifetime away that she even cared and now she wondered whether it should matter in the first place. She was an Empyrean now, a goddess. Immortal at that.

In the end, she decided to wait and see what life brought her on that end.

"Either way, I will pick you up and set you down at the teleportation arte below; you can't fly like this." They both stepped back while the giant head leaned down and gently picked up Minkkubi with his teeth. Velvet felt weird about those sensations, but gave no reaction beside a faint shudder; from what she could see, her body would have fit five times into this single maw of Innominat. Turning away, she found her gaze once again drawn by Arthur's body. He looked more peaceful in death than he ever had in life.

After a moment of consideration, she walked over with Laphi following; the giant shadow above them slowly left and light once again illuminated his face. Something had preserved him in this state, perhaps the direct presence of their seal just a few dozen metres away.

They stood over him for a long moment, then Velvet slowly pulled the blade out of his chest. Instead of throwing it away however, she considered the pendant still attached to it; Celica's pendant, the one Arthur himself crafted for his beloved wife and which he kept carrying after her death. Two lightly coloured feathers crossed over a round, dark plaque.

Her hands shook when she undid the knots and took it off the blade's crossguard; Laphi watched her but said nothing, receiving the weapon to carry along. The pendant went into Velvet's pocket, then she crouched to pick up Arthur's body. "Leaving him here feels wrong," she told her brother, who just nodded solemnly.

With nothing left on this fateful platform, they made to leave and wake up Zui Fuu.