Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in this revealing conversation… especially for the ones who are nowhere near as ready as their enemies.

~保護者~

"Cherish"

~保護者~

In lieu of returning directly to his home, Espio nimbly leapt into the tree whose branches his home had been built amongst. He took a seat beside the camouflaged head of his dragon companion and tersely asked, "Why did you call for me?"

Aku didn't bother to open his eyes or even just stop making himself look like a particularly sizable branch. For some reason, that was irritating. "Your parents feared this time would come, my Little Shadow," he murmured. The old nickname made Espio frown disapprovingly. "Considering the nature of their own Darkness, in spite of how they overcame it, they worried from the moment of your conception about your own inevitable power… and if it would one day cease to be dormant as theirs had become." A single golden eye cracked open a sliver to stare at him. "I had once thought their fear unfounded… until you began to associate yourself with her."

Espio's frown deepened. "I have no interest in a lecture, Aku," he muttered.

"Bah!" the dragon scoffed. He closed his eye and shifted into a more comfortable position. "Interest… no interest… that does not matter. You will hear my words, and you will listen well. I did not spend all of these years helping to guard you from the sins of your blood just so that you could give yourself to them anyway."

This accusation made Espio grit his teeth in agitation. "I am not giving myself to it," he responded sharply, fighting to hold back yet another random surge of anger.

In a display of his own anger, Aku dropped his camouflage and rounded on him. In a fraction of a second, his large head with inches from Espio's face and their gazes were locked in an intense stare. Espio didn't flinch. "Then prove it to me!" he bellowed. "Show me you are more than a pawn for her and her machinations! Remove yourself as a player in her games!"

His hand balling up into a tight fist, Espio demanded softly, "If it were that simple, do you not think I would have done so by now? Do you not think that I have tried to cut our ties together more than once?"

Aku growled lowly at him, but lowered his voice. Some of the rougher edges to his tone smoothed out. "There are reasons why I was once somewhat grateful for your numbness," he suddenly admitted. He backed off a little, giving them both some space again. "Emotions are a vexing problem, and they have on more than one occasion utterly damned people to their fate. Yours are doing precisely the same here." Though Espio started to respond, Aku gave him a harsh look and continued talking over him. "No one may choose who they fall for. That is true. But anyone can choose when they are ready to let go of their love and move on with their lives. It has long been time for you to do that."

Resisting the urge to scoff openly, Espio turned his head away and scowled at a random branch. Nothing is ever so simple. Least of all when she is involved.

Perhaps in an effort to regain his attention, Aku deliberately slithered back into Espio's line of sight. "You are in a uniquely dangerous situation," he reminded in careful, controlled tones. "I have let it be for far too long. You asked once for my insight, and this is what I will tell you. There are many things that can be said about her - about you - that you already know. However, I believe you have overlooked one simple fact… The fact that what you want and what you need are two vastly different prospects."

Espio let out a slight sound of anger. "Pray tell," he muttered unhappily, though he really didn't care about the answer he was about to be given.

The dragon made very sure to catch his wandering gaze again and hold it before murmuring, "You have always cherished things quietly. Prior to her influence, your love, when given, was a very gentle and honest thing. It was not violent, it was not spiteful, it was not bloody. She has stolen from you the very thing which you have always needed the most."

Another frown, this one much deeper than before. Espio gave him a long look. "And what is it you presume that I need, then?" he eventually asked.

"To be cherished in return."

~保護者~

Several hours had passed since the attack on New Babylon. When Jet had been unable to calm down even with the aid of his parents, they had been politely shooed out of the room by Wave so that she could handle it. By some miracle, she had actually gotten him to sleep. But, though he was certainly calmer now, it had been agreed that giving him space was still in his best interest. As such, Alana was sitting with Sein in another room, each of them biding their time until they could go and check on their son again. Despite not normally being one to willingly show her vulnerability, she eventually laid her head on his shoulder. "I worry for him, Sein," she admitted in a whisper. "I have never… felt so much anguish from one person before."

"I worry too, Alana. I don't know what to do, and I feel like there's so much more that I- no, that we could be doing." I wish I could have done more beforehand to prevent this… Sein closed his eyes and lowered his chin.

Alana shifted her arms to hug herself tightly. "What could she have possibly shown him to evoke such an intense reaction?" she asked him in a soft voice. Though, in truth, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know.

Sein cracked an eye open and glanced to her, wrapping an arm around Alana gently. "My best guess is something extremely traumatic. You don't just get those kinds of reactions from plain fear or illusions."

"I know," she murmured back. "But there are so few situations that could have such a drastic effect on a person… particularly if a long time has passed since the onset of the trauma." Not that she knew for certain that a long time had indeed passed, but based off of their son's current demeanor overall he just seemed… fine. At least, mostly so. That didn't hint at any recent trauma.

"There's a lot we… don't know about his life, and what he's been through. When we get a chance, we'll ask Wave. She probably knows." Alana just nodded silently in response to this.

Li poked his head in the door, blinking a few times. "Hey… how are you guys…?" He asked carefully, slowly stepping in and pulling Novei with him.

At the sound of their old friend's voice, Alana turned her head to look at him. She wasn't feeling up to socializing right now, but nevertheless answered him to be polite. "We are fine," she told him, looking away again.

Before Sein could speak, Li rolled his eyes. "Alright, I know something's up. What happened?" He asked gently, walking across the room to sit closer to them. "Talk to me. You know I'm here for you guys."

"Something happened to Jet. Some woman attacked him and dug up some sort of trauma that caused a meltdown. Not sure… who she is, what she dug up… or… anything." Sein noticeably tensed up as emotions welled within him, but he managed to keep himself calm for now.

"'The Corrupted Light', Astra. Once a being of Light that corrupted herself with dark magic and has since been causing literal hell for many of the people she comes in contact with. She's allied herself with some of the biggest evils in the past, and has also managed to turn against them at the same time," Li explained, frowning.

Novei cut in before anyone else could respond. "She has been a threat to Therians as well, once before. During the Nocturnian war. She specializes in magic and the various capabilities of magic."

"Wait, wait... " Sein lifted his body into a straight position, clear concern and confusion written on his face. "Corrupted Light?" he asked incredulously. "That's possible?"

"Only barely," Alana mumbled, eyes still downcast. "I do not know all of the specifics involved, but the most likely cause would have been the dark magic." She thought for a short moment before continuing. "If her Light was weak enough and her magic strong enough, then it is possible that the imbalance of power was enough to allow her dark magic to force her Light into a dormant state. And, once dormant, that Light would no longer be automatically shielding her from further corruption. Such a thing has only happened once… maybe twice before, ever. It is borderline impossible, given the inherent strength of Light and its position as a primary energy within existence."

"I'm pretty sure she has a sister, too. Someone by the name of Rosalline?" Li said, somewhat unsure. "The girl has been searching for Astra, but never is able to catch up or find her. Kinda sad, really."

"A person as unstable as Astra would be remarkably skilled at hiding," Alana answered. "She will have made plenty of enemies throughout her ill-fated existence."

Novei nodded. "Yes."

Li frowned softly and glanced to Sein. "You mentioned Jet… but… why are you so deeply… concerned?"

Instantly, a flood of memories came back to Alana. He knew we had a baby coming, but he never had a chance to meet Jet before we were attacked and I had to flee with him. Swallowing back her emotions, she said quietly, "The baby we were expecting… Li, I named him Jet. When I died, he was… left here. But we have found him again. The Jet that Sein mentioned is our Jet."

Novei opened her mouth to speak, but Li quickly put his hand over her mouth. "I came here to try and find you… No... " His voice trailed off as several realizations hit him. "Is that why he's so talented as an Immortal and so powerful…?" he asked, mostly to himself as his gaze wandered around aimlessly for a moment. Alana didn't trust herself to speak anymore in this moment and so just weakly shrugged.

Sein coughed softly to grab the wolf's attention, intent on changing the subject. "So, do you know about what kind of trauma she might have drug out?"

Li blinked a few times as he returned to reality, frowning. "Before the Nocturnian War, he was apparently kidnapped by Syxans during a separate war he helped fight. Likely, he was… tortured…" Li trailed off, not wanting to get to other possibilities. Alana stiffened (froze, really) in shock, too stunned to reply.

"Long story short, she likely dug into things like that and potentially other things he's had to endure in the past." Novei explained, shrugging. "Who knows what she got ahold of, especially with her rumored mental capabilities." Still in shock, Alana was unable to formulate any sort of response (be it internal or external) to anything they had just been told. She stared at the floor in mute horror.

Biting back some vivid curses, Sein took a long and deep breath. "Let's… talk about something else." Li nodded gently, not wanting to continue the grim conversation longer than necessary. Novei said nothing, which prompted Sein to glance back to the wolf. "Apparently… Kath is back, now."

Bewildered, Li blinked rapidly. "He's what? How? Why?"

If only to try and force herself out of her currently darkening mood, Alana answered him. "Lady Teyan has apparently weakened her bonds enough to be able to interact with things outside of her home realm. She spoke with us briefly and said that our situation would soon be dire and that she was sending help. Then she revived Father in our timeline and sent him here."

Novei blinked a few times. "Who the f-"

Li clamped a hand over her mouth once more. "Lady Teyan? As in Queen of Chaos Teyan?" He asked for clarification. "How the hell?"

Another weak shrug. "We do not know. It only just happened, and she has not made contact since. It is possible that she cannot do so anymore at this moment."

The Therian tilted her head at Li. "You seem perplexed. Explain."

A long and deep sigh escaped the wolf. "So, Lady Teyan, Queen of Chaos, likely the first Semi-Immortal to exist, was once free to do as she pleased just like the rest of us. However, while the early days of existence were full of creation and peace and unity under the watchful eyes of the Faein, eventually they did leave. The second generation of Immortals eventually came to be following their departure, and one of them made the fatal error of granting incredible Privilege to a woman named Nareish. That woman began killing Immortals en masse using her newly gifted abilities, stealing new ones all the while. Eventually, she was confronted by Cere, Finis, Teyan, Ythene, and perhaps several others. While most were defeated and driven away, Lady Teyan remained strong. Nareish overestimated her own power and continued the fight until it was clear that she was doomed to lose it. Instead of accepting her defeat, she chose instead to enact a powerful seal on the Realm of Chaos, and tossed Lady Teyan into the realm. She did the same with Ythene, though the seal had closed enough at that time that Ythene was trapped beneath only a few layers of it. Lady Teyan was fully trapped, and she has been ever since. As powerful as she is, even she could never win against Immortal abilities."

His last statement raised a new question in Alana's mind. That is so… But, then, how did she weaken the seal? How could this be possible?

"Oh. Neat." Novei answered, blinking.

After a long and vaguely awkward pause, Alana stood up. They could continue this conversation without her if they really wanted to, but she was no longer interested. She just wanted to check on her son. She couldn't take continuing to sit here without knowing how he was. It was just too difficult to bear. Sein stood up with her, more than intent on following her. Giving him a brief look, she simply proceeded into the hall and began walking briskly toward the room they had left Jet and Wave in. She arrived there in short order and was vaguely surprised to note that she could no longer sense Wave's presence within the room. However, she also didn't sense anymore extreme emotional turmoil from Jet (whose energies seemed to indicate he was sleeping currently). Chances were, the swallow had gone to take care of things while her friend rested.

Taking care to be very quiet, she opened the door and stepped inside. Her previous surprise grew somewhat when she saw her father was already in there with Azerel dozing at his feet, leaning against the wall directly beside the bed with arms crossed and eyes glued to the window. Despite how his overly detached demeanor would tell most that he wasn't paying attention, she knew the truth was that he was, in fact, paying very close attention. In fact, she dared to believe he was actually keeping watch.

"So… hi." Sein said, unsure of what else to say in response to seeing Kath. "How are you?"

Glacial blue eyes immediately glanced at Jet as though to check if the younger Babylonian had woken up (he hadn't even stirred, curiously), then Kath's gaze shifted to Sein. In answer, he gave a vague shrug. Alana fully entered the room and sat on the edge of the bed. To fill the silence, she quietly asked, "Was he given medicine?"

Kath nodded slightly. "A sedative of sorts. His friend could not calm him otherwise. His emotions were escalating too greatly." He grew quiet for a long moment with a certain look in his eye, one that told her he was thinking deeply about something.

Glancing at her husband, she tried to silently communicate with him her desire to explain to her father who Jet was and why they were so concerned. Their concern was likely the reason behind him coming here to guard Jet at all, but she highly doubted he knew the truth yet. But, naturally, she wanted him to know. If only he or Mother could have been there to know from the beginning… A fresh pang of a grief slammed into her full-force, but she did her best to choke it down.

"So…" Sein glanced to the window for a moment. "Yeah… Uh, hello. I had a child with your daughter and I hope you don't murder me."

Kath glanced sharply at Sein with a disapproving expression, but said, "I know. His aura revealed as much."

Somehow, by no small miracle, Alana managed a small smile. Though she wanted to smack Sein for his utter lack of tact, she held off for the time being. Of course… Of course he could read that much from an aura. How silly of us.

Sein coughed, sliding back a few feet as if concerned that Kath might actually kill him for that. "So… uh… I assume that's why you're sitting here, watching over him?"

Looking away again, Kath simply said, "Yes." He paused, then eventually added, "And his friend requested I did so. ...Something about wanting me to be present when he wakes."

"That makes sense. Part of me is willing to bet that Jet would've known the you of this timeline a little, if not pretty well," Sein shrugged.

"Perhaps," Kath murmured, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with that statement.

Sein cast a glance over at Jet quietly, his faint happiness fading once more as worry creeped its back way in. "I wonder what all he's been through, both by choice and not. There's so much we just… don't know, and I want to know so I can be there for him."

Kath's gaze slid back over to him. "He may not hold the same opinion. The chance is high that he will be utterly unwilling to give you the answers you seek."

"That is so," Alana agreed slowly, "but his friends may have information they would be willing to share. I hate to go behind his back, but if that is what it takes to help him then it is necessary."

"I'm more intent on getting them from him if possible. I want as much of the information about him to come from the source as I can get, reasonably," Sein sighed.

"But if what Li said is correct, Sein, then there may not be much his is able to tell us," Alana pointed out carefully. "And he certainly will not want to."

There was a long moment before Sein could respond, obvious pain in his eyes as he gazed at his sleeping son. "I just want to understand…"

She got up and walked over to him. "I know," she answered gently, placing a hand on his arm. "We just have to do so in a way that will not further hurt him, however unintentionally."

"Yeah… I just…" Sein said nothing more for a moment, his eyes closing as he shuffled closer to Alana. "I want to help."

"By simply being here for him," Alana murmured gently and yet firmly, "you are helping him. Being here is the best way we can help in this very moment." When he didn't immediately reply, she accepted the silence and pulled him into a tight embrace. They could both use a hug right now.

~保護者~

A red portal opened in deep space, casting a faint light into the immediate area as the Goddess of Judgement stepped through. "Finis. Something drastic occurred that I wish to speak with you about," she said gently, eyes locking onto the Babylonian.

Despite not truly being a creature of Darkness, the God of Night was very closely related to them and, as such, shared some similar traits to them. One of those traits was a distaste for light, and he almost instinctively hovered away from it when his partner arrived in his isolated retreat. Then, via their mental connection, he directed simply, "Speak."

"Teyan spoke, albeit mentally, during the battle recent on New Babylon," Cere said slowly, as if she herself did not believe this. The feeling was more than reasonable, given the facts at play here.

In spite of the surrounding darkness, Finis's frown managed to be faintly visible within the dim light her energies had provided. "She has been sealed away since near the dawn of time," he responded just as slowly. "How is it that she so suddenly has managed to free herself from her bonds?"

The Goddess of Judgement frowned as well, unsure of how exactly to explain for a moment. "She is not fully freed. It is more that a crack has seemingly appeared within those bonds and as such allows her to perform actions, as she did."

"'Actions'," Finis echoed carefully. He then asked, "She did more than one thing, then?"

"Kath has been revived," Cere answered mentally, glancing about as if unsure whether they were being observed or otherwise listened to. "He is currently on New Babylon with Sein, Jet, Alana, and Wave."

His frown deepened considerably. "She returned the Soldier of Light to us…" he murmured. "For what specific purpose? Even his presence cannot miraculously turn the tide of this war."

"As always, there is that which is beyond our immediate comprehension. We will see in due time, but I wish to preserve the secret as long as we are capable due to the immense danger it poses," Cere replied.

Finis nodded once. "Understood. I will aid in monitoring the situation on my end."

The Goddess returned the gesture, her gaze shifting to the portal she arrived through. "As will I. I will have another monitor other sectors, especially in light of another enemy we will be facing."

Deep purple eyes narrowed, but he didn't comment on that. Instead he said, "There are greater forces at play thanks to her. Are you aware of what she has done? What she has awoken?"

Cere was dead silent for a long moment, her body turning away. "I am aware. There is not much that can be done regarding that situation at this time, so monitoring her is my solution to prevent it from growing worse."

He turned away. "Fine, then. But if things change, direct action will need to be taken... even at risk of harming him."

"I am aware and waiting to see if such an issue will arise. Until then…" After waiting a moment to see if he had anything else he wished to comment, Cere stepped back through her portal and let it slowly shut to envelop the Babylonian once more in darkness.

~保護者~

The space surrounding the ancient Temple of the Sun in its lonesome little realm was dark, yet filled with the blazing light of many suns. The contrast was start, fiery, and intense. It was also familiar… warm. The God of the Sun had called this place home for many eons by now, but never had being alone here made him feel quite so… tense. The silence was just as unnerving as the ever-present roar of the flames that illuminated the outside of his home, felt just as ominous as the space surrounding the world he had been so closely monitoring for so long. And I have to return there… Now, of all times. Stifling a heavy sigh, he walked through the spacious main room, headed toward a massive unlit floor brazier in its center. Kneeling before the ornately decorated gold, he reached a hand in and conjured up a flame. With it, the room itself was finally as illuminated in flickering light as the space outside.

"Hey! Where are you?" A woman called, loudly storming her way into the temple as she usually did.

The God sighed to himself again and stood up. With a light shake, he rid his hand of the flames still clinging to it. "In here, as always," he called back. "Where else would I be?"

"'As always'," she mocked teasingly, walking inside with her arms crossed smugly. "Hard to get you to show up for anything, ya know?" Sona smirked at the God.

Turning around to face her, he quirked an eyebrow at her. "I could say the same of you, when you aren't sleeping," he remarked casually. Then, without giving her a chance to reply, he asked, "Why were you looking for me?"

Sona shrugged gently. "Eh, dunno. Guess I got lonely with Li focused on trying to set up a temporary forge and all. Outside of that, I don't really hang out with anyone."

He took a moment to consider that before just telling her, "I can't hang out this time. I don't have enough… well, time."

The cat scoffed. "Don't have time to hang out with me? What's happening?" Despite the teasing nature of her tone, a slight glow to her eyes showed that she was seriously curious.

"He's gearing up for something big," the other God answered softly, turning away. "Possibly the biggest attack he's launched in years outside of those geared toward getting a shard. This has nothing to do with those, for once, and yet he's gathering a hellish number of forces on his favorite world."

"So, you gonna go out and get involved?" Sona asked with a raised eyebrow. "Cause, I wanna go if that's the case."

"You don't understand," the God insisted earnestly, quickly turning back around to face her. "He's gonna go after the kid. He's been waiting to do it for however long the kid's been back, and now he's got the perfect opportunity to actually get after him. I can't just let that happen. So, yeah, I'm going. There isn't any other option."

Sona closed her eyes for a moment, ruminating over the situation. "What does he want with the kid?"

The Sun God shook his head. "I'm not exactly sure. There are various possible answers, but at the end of the day… I can almost never fathom what his plans are. He's got so many of them and they're all so damn intricate that I can barely keep up these days." He pursed his lips together, frowned, and dropped his gaze before admitting, "...I do know what he's planning for some of the others, though."

"Eh?" She opened her eyes once more, frowning. "What?"

He took a breath. "You know the kid's got a brother, right?" he asked, seemingly at random.

Sona nodded slowly. "Uh-huh…? What about him?"

"He may not be a Light-bearer like the kid is," the god stated carefully, "but he's damn powerful in his own right. He's got his dad's power, even if most of it is dormant to this day. Chances are, however, that that power can be drawn to the surface and corrupted. Jet and I have been shielding him from it for a lot of years, but it's starting to look like our enemy might actually be interested enough to start trying to test out this little theory."

The cat's fingers twitched faintly as if she were going to form a fist, agitation showing on her features easily. "What about the others? There's that one guy from the other timeline, as well as the chameleon, a fox, and some others."

"Patience," he chided, albeit gently. "I'm getting to them. About 'that guy', his name's apparently Steam. He's a Balancer, too, mind you. Given what happened to the rest of them, the God of Demons has one of two fates in mind for him. Corruption, which I doubt he'd bother with in this case, or death. Chances are, he's leaning much more heavily toward the latter."

"That makes sense," She muttered in annoyance, huffing with a faint growl. "Bastard pisses me off with this kind of shit."

He shrugged, acknowledging her statement but not commenting on it. Instead, he said, "As for Tails - he's the fox - and several of the others… chances are he's just going to kill them. What other purpose would they serve him? And in the case of Wave, killing her would directly hurt his greatest enemy."

Sona's muscles noticeably shifted at this mention, tapping her foot lightly. "And that's likely a high probability, all things considered. Not to mention, getting at anyone else he's close to would still hurt him regardless."

A nod. "Yeah. She would just… hurt the deepest, I think." He started to open his mouth to say something else, but stopped and turned to a darkened doorway across the room. Sighing, he called out in a distinctly gentle tone, "Girls… I know you're over there. Come out."

Two sleepy orange echidna girls girls soon skulked into view, looking guilty over having been caught eavesdropping when they were meant to be in bed. The older and somewhat taller of the two yawned. Being the only one of the pair who was physically capable of speaking, she voiced what they were both wondering. "What are you two talking about? You sounded… upset?"

Sona coughed faintly and stored her anger away for now. "Yeah. Some big things are happening and we were talking about possibilities of what might come of it."

The littler girl looked at her with wide, innocent eyes and slowly signed with her hands, "Bad man coming?"

At this, the Sun God smiled wanly and knelt in front of them. "Not to here, no. I promised you two you would always be safe here, and I meant it. He won't come here. Not ever. We're gonna make sure of that."

Sona managed a small smile. "I wouldn't let him either. You both know I'll always have all of your backs."

Moving to stand, the God picked up the littler girl (seeing that she looked the most worried) and said, "Anya, you don't have to be so afraid. You're perfectly safe here." He reached out his free hand and ruffled the other girl's hair. "The same goes for you, Anthea." The trio shared a brief hug, then he turned to Sona. "I should get them back to bed. We can discuss this more later, if there's time for it."

The cat gave a gentle nod and a smile. "Yeah. I'm gonna go bug Cere and ask her about some stuff anyway. Got other curiosities I want answered." With a nod, he turned and began walking away with his daughters. They may have been adopted just a few short centuries ago, but he cared for them as his own. He couldn't just leave them in such a fearful state.

Chances were, some snuggles were in order to bring peace back to his little family.

~保護者~

They should have returned by now.

In the hours that had passed since their assault in enemy territory, the demons that had survived had wisely retreated. They had returned to the various demonic worlds they had come from, and the triplets should have done the same. Yet, clearly they had not. Alynn and her sisters were not where they were supposed to be. Troublingly, they no longer seemed to be on New Babylon, either. Though he would never put it past the Babylonians to have devised all manner of means to hide things from their enemies, there was just no way to be sure if that was going on. The God of Demons was not pleased with the uncertainty.

Throughout the duration of the attack he had ordered, he had been focused on other matters. It had been necessary for him to focus entirely on retrieving a shard from a particularly troublesome location. He always made a point to gather them himself, not trusting anyone else to do so, but this time he could not have let anyone even if he had for whatever reason wanted to. The creature who had been in possession of his shard had been… difficult, in its own right. It had required his full attention. Excitingly so. Which meant he hadn't been paying attention to where his daughters had been and when during the battle or afterward. They had disappeared specifically during that time, lending credence to the idea that it was possibly a planned kidnapping or something of the sort. That was unacceptable.

As it stood, the only likely people to be in possession of the girls were Jet and his allies. Since their little friend group had divided across two planets, it stood to reason that Alynn and her sisters were either on New Babylon or Mobius. It was just a matter of determining which planet was the correct one. Utterly pissed that someone had the three of them, the God made a rare split-second decision. Screw carefully searching one world and then the other. Screw punishing only some members of that group. They would all regret crossing him. They would all be truly faced with the threat of death. Both planets were going to suffer by his hand.

But ultimately, no matter how angry he was over the matter of his daughters, he made his decision for more than just that one reason. An attack of this nature had actually been a long-time coming. He had been generous with his treatment of these people for far too long, purely because he had had far more pressing and interesting matters to attend to. That was different now. He was closer now than ever to finishing the portal, and that meant he had more time. Time to focus on something new. Something… that would no doubt prove to be utterly satisfying at its end.

There was plenty of motivation to be found in the case of attacking Mobius alone. For one thing, he had been plotting for quite some time to rid himself of the minor nuisances that were Tails, the Mobian military, and the planet's general citizens. He could now add Cream to that list as well. That Balancer, Steam, had royally irked him as well with the little stunt he had pulled on the God's world during their last interaction as well. Said stunt was certainly punishable by death. It would be an easy way to rid himself of that irritation. And then there was the boy and his brother. He had been intending on confronting the pair face-to-face for rather long while. Why pass up such a golden opportunity? And then there was Espio, whose Darkness the God had very recently become aware of. The suddenly awakened power intrigued him. Its innate malice excited him. He could not help but wonder what might happen if he oh-so-innocently stirred those energies up further… and perhaps gifted them with a distinctly demonic edge.

But he couldn't direct all of his forces on just this one, decidedly insignificant planet. Oh, no. Babylon had proven itself worthy of his attention as well. Its residents were so fucking insistent on staying on his radar that they simply deserved a reward for their efforts. It wasn't that he liked any other race any more than this one, but he reserved a very special brand of hatred for this one. He wanted them gone. Dead. Extinct. That could be arranged. As was the case with Mobius, he had layers of motivation for carrying through with an attack of this scale on that world. His hatred for Jet alone, and not to mention his constant interference, was damn-near motivation enough on its own. But there was more to it than that.

Also on that planet was Wave. For her, he harbored a similar (albeit somewhat less intense) hatred for many of the same reasons. She was, after all, commonly involved in the acts Jet carried out against him. But there was a key difference. Unlike Jet, the sole bane of his fucking existence, she was someone he could kill. And there was one other key detail: she would stay dead once he stopped her heart. Oh, there was certainly fun to be had in being offered the opportunity to kill someone over and over and fucking over again. It could be exhilarating at times, exciting, even addicting. However, the same could no doubt also be said for killing off the one person his enemy cared for the most… and watching him suffer in agony in the aftermath of his loss. He wanted to attack Jet where it would hurt the most… and destroying his home and his special love would do the trick quite nicely. The fact that doing so would also sufficiently punish his people for their repeated trespassing as well as afford him a rare opportunity to study the two newly revived Immortals (allowing him to learn who they were, why they were important enough to revive, and so on)... well, those were just nice little bonuses.

The fact of the matter was, this all warranted an all-out attack. A bit of kidnapping was in order, but… well, he could leave his right-hand to handle that last bit. It was part of what he had crafted that demon for. Making people vanish was what it did the best. Handling this job would be easy enough. He had no concerns about this failing, not in the slightest. After all, despite sending his very weakest demons, the last attack he had launched had been a resounding success. Many of those demons had absolutely perished, but that had been the idea. Let the enemy think they stood some degree of a chance. Let them lower their guard. It would serve him well later.

In all truthfulness, part of the reason why his plan had worked so well was because he had managed to find and use… her. Casting a slow glance to the side, the God's gaze fell upon Astra. She had been critical to further both her goal and his own. He had used her to that end, yes, but he had no doubt that she had been willing. He had given her a prime opportunity, after all… a chance to get close to their mutual prey and strengthen the seeds of control she had so long ago planted. The fact that she had also aided in weakening Jet against his many other enemies was, to her, likely a mere byproduct of her own plan. In this situation, such a fact was more than acceptable. She had served her purpose exceedingly well. And now he was going to press the advantage she had so graciously afforded them both.

In two days' time, or perhaps even less… Mobius and Babylon would fall.

~保護者~

6,582 words this time. Hope you all enjoyed, and many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all his help! Posted (at about 7:25 a.m.) 11-20-19.