He felt light and unburdened for the first time in what might have been eons. Every moment felt longer or shorter as the Malevolence burned through his very being, tried to corrupt his soul like it did his body. But Maotelus had persevered, and now he was safe. Or at least he believed so; he could not feel his neck or tail anymore, and his four legs appeared different than he recalled. He felt odd in general, too. Perhaps he was dead, with everything being black?

His eyes slid open moments later, disabusing him of that last notion. A blue sky greeted him, free of clouds. Though Maotelus could not rule out a dying dream yet; his own flame did not suffice in pushing back the darkness, so being freed was... unlikely, at best. Not to mention, he remembered hearing Velvet's voice in his neverending nightmare; so he must be delirious.

Blinking, he realised that he could still hear Velvet's voice, as well as another that was faintly familiar. Turning his head and wondering why his neck was so short, Maotelus beheld a sight he never believed he would see again: Velvet Crowe, the greatest woman he knew. Her raven hair fluttered in the soft breeze, falling open like a curtain; it was pretty like this, so well maintained. Although the perspective was odd; she must be a giant with how she towered over him.

Waking further, he wondered why his claws were so soft. Why did his wings not brush against anything, even though he lay on his back? Uncertain, he rather listened in on the... bickering?

"And where would we build it, genius? We just obliterated everything and then tore a crater into the earth."

"We could fill up the chasm," the other voice answered thoughtfully. "The lifepool was damaged, but with the way the land changed, it will grow deeper still. Or we construct something in the chasm's center. Just imagine! A temple held up by fantastical foundations, right on top of an endless abyss!"

He liked the idea, though Velvet heaved a sigh. "Boys," she muttered. "We can't rebuild it the same way. Even if people forgot, it was a symbol to the enslavement of the malakhim."

"But we can build in a similar scale, turning it into a symbol to the wonder of their artes. Besides, we did want a temple for ourselves, right?"

This time Velvet chuckled; it was nice to hear her voice again, though Maotelus could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. The earthpulse kept flowing beneath, mana pooling up as it had for millennia. Except, like the other voice said, even more pronounced now. Turning his head a little further, he found that they were at the edge of a great chasm... where he felt a village should have been? And the Empyrean's Throne?

He blinked dumbly, trying to recall what happened; his memories were hazy. Trying to grasp for the lifepool and its Earthen Historia was futile; something blocked his approach, as if slapping his hand away. He got a momentary impression of frightening gold. That was when he finally remembered who that other voice belonged to.

"Oh, he's awake."

The warmth within Maotelus receded, even when Velvet turned his way with clear surprise. She leaned over him, expression quickly becoming tender. A calloused hand stroked his head and... hair?

"Hey."

He was more than just confused now; without any understanding of his situation, the dragon of light figured once again he must be dead. Except that everything felt too real for what he imagined death to be like. Not to mention that Innominat would never feature in his dreams; the former Empyrean's humanoid avatar appeared next to Velvet, expression carefully blank. A surge of old anger and despair made Maotelus buck, but his body was strangely numb; he could not move beyond a pitiful twitch. "It's okay," Velvet soothed him immediately. "Just lie down for now, everything will be fine." He reluctantly believed her, lying still and focussing on her face.

"What... what happened?" His voice was scratched and different, no longer the full and strong timbre he adopted as Empyrean. It sounded higher even to himself.

When Velvet made to explain however, a small hand squeezed her shoulder. "Keep to what you're doing," he told her with confusing gentleness. "I will explain." She yielded without any resistance and returned to comforting him. Maotelus began to understand that his body had changed by now; he returned to his original form.

"Now," his predecessor began matter-of-factly, though he was loath to look at him. "The Empyrean Maotelus is no more." He blinked in response, being unable to even voice his disagreement; he was still there after all, not that the other boy cared. "You were so far corrupted that even your own flame couldn't purify yourself. So we took drastic measures and rent your greater form apart. All we saved was the original you... though I suspect some of your divine power remains. Even without it, you would still be one of the most powerful living seraphim, barring us Empyreans."

Maotelus, no, Laphicet listened quietly. The odd knot in his stomach pulled taut even while he slowly familiarised himself with his old body. It was true, the vast power he once held did not answer his call. He was Empyrean no more, the duty and might of both stripped away. Innominat already claimed the planet as his vessel.

"So I failed?" He could not help but ask. His voice broke, eyes stinging before his vision grew blurry. He took the position for Velvet's sake, and for the people. He failed.

"Yes," Innominat confirmed nonchalantly, drawing his attention. "But that is in the past. We are busy fixing your mess." He did not gloat, though Velvet's sour look might have distracted him. He scowled back at his sister. "I'm not going to praise someone for messing up. I'm not going to comfort him for you, either."

Yet Phi could not even bring himself to be angry. He slowly turned his head while those two bickered, beholding a partly collapsed mountainside and piles of rubble. Fragments of memories surfaced, his fight with the golden and a black dragon. Not even a trace of Malevolence remained, except that which approached them.

Shifting his gaze, he found a group of five closing in. The four women were all strangers to him, but Eizen he recognised just fine. Faintly, he thought there was something about Eizen that he forgot, but the sight of a friendly face put him further at ease. A seraph girl skipped ahead to tacklehug Innominat; he caught her without any issue, holding on tightly. Neither spoke, though the blonde human chuckled at the sight. "She was worried," she informed everyone as the group drew near. "And speaking of, Alisha needs help."

She indicated the blonde hellion, who was more dead than alive now that Phi saw her up close. The other hellion steadied her bloody, broken form.

Velvet was with her in moments, producing a shroud of darkness that she fed into the woman's drooped tail. "What happened to you?" she asked hurriedly while Innominat floated over to weave a healing arte. "Did Maltran mess you up that much?"

In response, the spindly hellion chuckled heartily. "Me?" she inquired, "No. I could leave hardly more than a scratch on her. Alisha threw herself between us and Maotelus' arte. It is a miracle she yet lives."

Did that happen? He could not remember. Velvet and Innominat were just as stumped; the other boy glanced between a mountain and a space where there once was a mountain. "He, uh, shot that away from where you were, though."

"It goes to show the might of a Great Lord," the foxy woman commented wearily. "Regardless, we all survived."

"Sorry," he mumbled from his spot on the ground. His hoarse voice was barely loud enough to be heard, though he made sure to meet Alisha's eyes when he caught her attention. "Didn't mean to."

She immediately inclined her head. "It is of no concern, I am well aware of the situation." As she spoke however, she unclasped her cape and stepped forward to spread it over Laphicet. He blinked up at her, befuddled before realising he had not manifested any clothes; a grateful smile came out more as a twitch of his lips. Alisha smiled back before turning to Velvet again. "And to address the matter of our new addition," to which she motioned for the other hellion who had been watching the proceedings, "Lady Maltran surrendered herself."

"And you think she will behave?"

"She will," the only human confirmed with deceptive calm. "It appears that Hyaci Maltran is blinded by neither pride nor anger. She fell in line when it became clear she lost, once Alisha offered her mercy." The hellion nodded once, her vertically arranged eyes flicking this way and that. "On another note," the human continued, "was that truly an Armatus? That was your emergency measure?"

Velvet and Innominat shivered as one and another memory tugged at Laphicet's mind; he recalled a feeling of great wrongness, and a serpentine dragon. Velvet presented a partly deformed and molten blade, black as well as gold having merged in places. "It was," she confirmed. "And it was necessary. With Magilou dead before she could finish teaching Laphi how to synthesize the silver flame, we had to go by way of force."

"And against the so-perceived chief god?" Innominat chimed in grimly, "even the might of both of us was found wanting. I hoped we could go without using it, that maybe we could subdue him between us after all. Becoming one with Velvet felt wrong on every level." Odd, how Laphicet could agree with the matter even from the outside; going by some other comments, everyone had felt and acknowledged the iniquity of it.

"So that's what you were working on," the black-haired seraph girl mused. After a moment however, she poked Innominat's shoulder with a Magilou-esque, toothy grin. "But maybe you should stop phrasing it in a way that could also apply to incest." Laphicet blinked. The other Laphicet did likewise. In fact, everyone had but a flat stare for the girl, who giggled quietly to herself.

Heaving a sigh, Innominat shook his head. "Only you, Symonne. Only you. Besides, this covers my thoughts on that matter just as well. Not to mention that being fused to Malevolence like this still hurts in the aftermath. I will destroy the remains of this catalyst soon, and then no one will ever speak of this again." He cast severe looks at everyone, including Laphicet who weakly nodded his assent. For some reason however, Innominat immediately covered the girl's mouth when she made to speak. Perhaps that coy grin had tipped him off. "No more lewdness for now, Symonne," he chastised her before turning back to his sister. "Speaking of. Really, Velvet? Zaveid?"

While his comment confused to everyone else, the former therion merely arched an eyebrow at him. "I am the Empyrean Minkkubi, and I do what I want."

"Care to share?" Symonne requested, but neither Empyrean appeared willing to do so. Innominat told her he would get to that later. Laphicet was still wondering about when Velvet ascended and kept quiet.

"While we are at it however," the spindly hellion, Maltran, chimed in while taking a knee. "I wish to learn who exactly stands before me. Knowledge of two Great Lords ought not to have been lost so easily." She still matched Velvet in height even while kneeling.

An old voice answered in their stead, turning heads around. "Mayvin obfuscated knowledge of Innominat in order to raise the banner of Maotelus. Lady Minkkubi, meanwhile, has only ascended to divinity in recent years." Zenrus meandered toward them, a wry smile gracing his features. "Though you would have heard of her regardless, child. Before you stands Velvet Crowe, the first Lord of Calamity, slayer of Shepherd Artorius. The only being who ever bested a god."

Maltran stiffened visibly as the old malak went on, though her head lowered even further. "I see. My apologies if I offended," she offered in a more quiet tone.

"To your feet. No one bows before me."

"...very well."

The hellion rose under Velvet's curious gaze. She relaxed greatly, holding herself without any intention of doing battle. Laphicet liked to see her like that, so content. He took a deeper breath and forced himself to focus; a soft, white sweater and pair of pants formed around him, together with the black half shoes he remembered wearing. Then he rose up despite his body's protests, the faint huff of exertion drawing attention to himself; Margaret was by his side near-instantly, a strong arm snaking around Laphicet's shoulder to steady him. "Thank you," he murmured before addressing the crowd: "Before we get to anything else, could you all please stop using my true name? I'm not the Empyrean Maotelus anymore, so just call me Laphicet."

Innominat scowled, Velvet smiled, Margaret and Maltran nodded, Symonne laughed at Innominat, Zenrus inclined his head, and Alisha glanced between Laphicet and... Laphicet. "Pardon, but is there a reason you two share the same name?"

"I wonder," Innominat drawled back with a sour look to Velvet. "Just who might have named him after me, hmm?" Laphicet threw a spark in his face, then glared back when he glowered. They relented when Velvet grabbed them by their ears.

"And that's enough of that from both of you," she declared, her momentary sternness replaced by a softer tone right after: "We are going to make this easy on everyone. While you're both around, this young man is Laphi, and this one is Phi. Am I understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," they both muttered obediently while Symonne broke into renewed giggles. Alisha and Margaret joined her while Velvet kept staring between them. Only when she let go did Laphicet, Phi, dare to move; he still exchanged a pointed look with Laphi, who appeared to have similar thoughts.

"Such obedient boys," Symonne cooed. "You need to teach me how to get mine to behave sometime, Velvet."

"Maybe I will," she returned indulgently before focussing on Phi. "But for now we should get going. We had enough excitement for one day." He obediently followed her prodding, by now utterly exhausted; even the second wind of gut-churning anger could only carry him so far.

As they passed by Zenrus however, he halted to meet the old malak's eyes. "I'm sorry," Phi told him. "I couldn't be what you hoped I would." When he averted his gaze however, a soft pat on his head drove away the acrimony. Zenrus' wrinkled face held a rare, gentle smile.

"Do not be, my boy. The world will change once again, yes, but that needs not be a bad thing. The others are certainly excited." A soft breeze caressed them all as if in agreement and Velvet perked up. Zenrus chuckled. "My, you didn't notice? They have been watching this whole time, my dear. You certainly have proven yourself in their eyes, and in mine as well." His gaze wandered over the arrayed people who made to follow Velvet. "All of you, really. I have rarely been so proud in my life."

They may not know him well or at all, but everyone appeared abashed by his praise nonetheless. Having met Zenrus before, Phi knew he just had that effect on people. The wisdom of eons spent on Desolation radiated from him like a tangible force. Nonetheless, he could not help but clench his fists in the silence. "I will get back there," he vowed. "Even if it takes tens of thousands of years, I will become Empyrean once more. This time of my own power."

The pledge was followed by a tug on his hand. "You can do that once you had a good night's sleep," Velvet chastised kindly. "Now come along." He nodded, the exhaustion flowing back in from wherever it vanished before. Velvet nodded to Zenrus as she passed. "You can come along too... is your village alright?"

"Destroyed, I am afraid. But it was transient either way, I did not expect it to last as long as it did."

"I see. As for you," at which point Velvet's gaze went back to Maltran, "return to Hyland for now. We will contact you sometime soon."

"Very well."

Everything after that was more of a blur to Phi, though he clearly remembered the warmth of being tucked into bed, and a kiss pressed to his forehead. He was out in a heartbeat.

In the living room meanwhile, Alisha finished her recounting of the battle with Hyaci Maltran and her forces. "I offered her clemency, were she to lower her spear and surrender. Perhaps my invoking the both of you swayed her mind in the end." Laphi nodded in understanding while Velvet tapped her knee a few times; then however, Alisha recalled an unresolved matter and addressed the younger Crowe: "If I may, what was that regarding Zaveid you mentioned?"

He huffed, sending his sister an exasperated look. Everyone else eagerly awaited his explanation, though Alisha felt he pontificated on purpose: "Well, you have to remember that during armatisation, both sides become as one. It is an almost complete union, incomplete only because going further might make separation impossible. Minds and souls join together, which includes thoughts and sometimes memories. Or, in other words, I finally know who my sister's mystery suitor is."

That... was not where she expected this to go. Going by the baffled silence all around, neither had anyone else. Curious gazes went to Velvet, who merely shrugged. "It wasn't really important, was it? I'd rather keep things quiet, not like our little charmer over there." As if to prove her point, Symonne was leaning against her boyfriend for a while now. Both seraphim pouted at her.

"That is not exactly the type of man I thought you liked," Margaret admitted shily, though the comment only earned her an amused huff. Eizen shrugged, as did Symonne. Alisha felt it was none of her business, especially because she had her own matters to keep in mind. Then again, her arrangement with Eizen might just be more casual than Velvet's.

"Edna will be shocked," Symonne commented idly. "She'd never think Zaveid would score."

"Well, Velvet might just be the only woman desperate enough to be charmed by him."

All motion froze and eyes turned to Laphi, who wore an amused grin. Velvet scowled at her unrepentant brother. Into this stalemate however, Alisha could not help but laugh. Such a bold comment, rude as it may be, set her off after the stressful day she had. Alisha almost had to kill her teacher, almost died, and beheld the glory of true gods. The laughter drew all tension out of her as she bent over, clutching her belly helplessly.

By the time she got a hold of herself and straightened up with a quiet apology, the tension was gone and there were more smiles all around. "What happens next?" she inquired to change the subject. They let her.

"Phi needs to recuperate for a while," Velvet mused with a glance to the bedroom she deposited the exhausted boy in before. "Laphi and I will see about drawing more Malevolence from the world. Yes, Margaret, I know you want to bond with him. Give him a few days before bringing it up, alright?" Alisha's fellow blonde fingered her pendant again, which the princess now knew was once carved for Artorius' beloved wife. She nodded absently, not even commenting on how Velvet predicted her thoughts.

Thinking of Maotelus, no, Phi and shepherds however, Alisha recalled that there was another problem approaching. Given how well everything went so far, she had to hope. "What about Sorey?"

"He will have noticed the absence of Maotelus' domain," Laphi answered her. "So we should prepare for wariness at least, if not outright hostility." Alisha nodded, though her heart ached. She did not want to fight Sorey, even after their last encounter. He meant well and he was good for Glenwood.

"Well," Eizen chimed in for the first time in a while, "now that we have Laphicet, er, Phi," he corrected after a glare from Laphi, "back, we can start working on this matter in earnest." He had a point, and so they got to it.