· · · · · · ·

Author's Note : There's a kinda gross scene near the end, proceed with caution.

· · · · · · ·

Two craters adorned Zoana : the larger curtsy of a rampaging golem, the smaller the result of Lina Inverse's Drag Slave. By no means had either destroyed the kingdom, though the princess liked to claim such when explaining its impoverished state. In reality, that had more to do with poor reconstruction efforts and the hesitation of surrounding nations to trade.

A common saying in Zoana was that vengeance was futile, which was Martina's explanation for Lina attending her wedding, but below the cover of civility it was about the citizens not disposing of their shaky royalty and could the other states please stop holding a grudge?

He had to agree insofar that vengeance quests were futile in the grand scheme of things. Righteous anger had far greater crimes to be directed at.

Too bad Valgaav still had no idea how to go about that. Volphied was supposed to be here to help him, but she wasn't because ... it was ridiculous. She'd avoided a world of danger for seven years, just to lose her connection on a random chance.

In dreams he felt he was closer to her. She must still exist far away in the Black World, so he tried dreaming up worlds for her to appear in. He saw her world, where she resided in the depths of space, traveled past the stars and nebula, only to be drawn back to Zoana's ramshackle capital.

He woke from the cooing of a dove.

Squinting against the light, he turned over and kicked the blankets off the bed. In doing so, he accidentally kicked the bedpost to pieces. This place wasn't a palace, thought the Zoana royals pretending it was. Everything was small and fragile, though that might also be that he slept in adult form lately.

Taking care not to break the patched balcony door, he let the dove in. He should be able to absorb it and gain its knowledge that way, but he couldn't even do that. It was but an failing replica of the real thing.

The dove landed on a low cabinet, where it spun out into the ghostly form of Volphied. Only her form, for her essence was missing. It made for a functional spy, but nothing more.

"Speak," he commanded.

"The war in the Kataart Mountains has resulted in the release of Lei Magnus, who has become a chimera of human and astral. He wishes to live. Upon discovering this, the dragons and the devils banded together to contain him. They sealed him in Zenaffa armors," she said, her voice pleasant and unfit for this kind of news. Had she been Volphied, he knew she wouldn't have stuck this tone.

"Who are present?" he asked, no longer looking at it.

"Dragons from all corners of the earth were present, but Rangort's monks were getting ready to evacuate around the time I spied. They chose to leave some of their soldiers behind. The leader of the wind dragons spoke of departing and taking his troops along. Siephied's human rebirth is present. Lyos is outer guard for Lei Magnus. Milina is inner guard of Lei Magnus. Filia Ul Copt remains to treat the injured. The three retainers remain at a distance to avoid Lei's command. The density of Ragradia's magic is in chaos, rendering teleportation navigation impossible. It appears to congregate around Lyos, but he cannot yet merge with it."

Most of that was not a problem, except for Lei Magnus being free.

Valgaav slammed his fist on the table, which cracked. His plate clattered on the ground and he kicked it away.

He'd never been a strategist, that was Gaav's forte. Truth be said, he couldn't even recall what he was supposed to do with Lei Magnus. When Volphied's vessel had seen been in this world, she had gone around the world searching for useful assets, which had led her to Lei Magnus. At the time she couldn't contact him, and by the time Val had been near Volphied's vessel was already dead.

Talking to Lei had been such a hassle. Giving Jillas the idea to practice with his cannons in a valley near enough, without it being suspicious. Sneaking away, yet getting caught by devils in the process. All for nothing : even after filtering away Shabranigdu's influence, the man had been dismissive of Valgaav's ideals.

Granted, he wasn't sure he had said the right things. Volphied had meant to pull a spiel, but with her gone all he'd managed was to play out a projection of her into the mountain. He wasn't even sure what the projection had recited.

Maybe he could get to Kataart and try personally talking to him, or infecting him, or maybe get to the other two hosts somehow. As long as he avoided Siephied's rebirth and her dreadful power, it would be fine. However, getting to the sleeping hosts would be his better option. Dealing with mindless fetuses was easier than with a now chimerized Lei Magnus and all his opinions and needs. But ...

The golden dragons were in Kataart. Filia, Xelloss and Claire's power were. He wanted to set them right.

Normally he'd have gone with whatever impulse came first, but either action required him to travel thousands of miles. After half an hour debating with himself what was more important, he got up with the decision to stay. Some of those to be corrected were here, after all.

Though the sun had risen, the mansion was quiet. What few servants lived knew they could slack off because the royal couple stayed in bed long. Valgaav wandered to Claire's room, whom he could sense now she lay under his hollow all the time.

Cracking the door open, he found her as expected. Her physical body slept in child form, but her astral body was awake and looked nothing like a living thing. Just raw patterns of blue.

He let her see his astral body ever since her realization, but only sporadically. It threw her off if she wasn't sure who he was and so far she had not told Luna.

"Are you awake, little god?" he asked.

The covers stirred and she drew in energy from the surrounding so she could grow, but he didn't let her. Her head peeked from below the covers, her eyes glowing like a cat's.

"I'm not a god yet. We need another word for what I'll be, assuming you will let me be anything."

He closed the door behind him. "Oh, don't worry. You will be, but I can't promise for how long."

"Longer than Rangort will stay alive?"

"Maybe a little." He sat down on the bed's edge. "You will have to die, though."

"We'll see what you mean with that. Can you at least let me receive information from Lyos? If you can operate that hollow that well, information access should be possible. Or maybe you are that hollow without really controlling it."

He scoffed. "Don't underestimate my ability, little god. It's my choice not to let you. You'll be reborn, don't worry. Lyos does not need you right now."

Likewise, Valgaav didn't need her interesting in talking, but thankfully she said nothing else.

He stayed with her in silence, knowing his presence unnerved her. He had to keep a hold on her. Over breakfast in Wizer's house, Claire had randomly decided to develop humility. Just like that, out of the blue. Wanted to tell everything to everyone because of some absurd notion of this improving things.

There was a time for dramatic revelations. Breakfast wasn't it.

Especially not if that involved spilling the beans to a prickly Luna Inverse, who might just use her talisman to talk to her little sister. Maybe she couldn't figure that out, but he wasn't about to take the risk. The last thing he wanted was the apostle of chaos knowing he existed, because once she set her mind to things, chaos would help Inverse could not be controlled.

His handle on Claire was clear, though. Claire had to ensure the lives of people went on as long as possible, and Val was the perfect innocent victim to be protected. No victim was closer to her than Val was.

Volphied had devised the Val Ul Copt program as a neurological placeholder operating on a purely physical level. It had the body to produce emotions for the devils and gods to read, but did not exist engraved on the soul. This necessitated the astral hollow around him, which made him stand out but could be chalked up to Lina Inverse's void and creation magic going wrong.

Twice he'd been thrown off balance, but by now he had figured out how to stabilize himself. No more errors like the entire Claire Bible-induced memory mishap. Val could be switched on and off at need again. Nobody needed to know Val wasn't an individual.

Elsewhere in the mansion, Luna Inverse woke up. Valgaav switched on Val.

· · · · · · ·

That morning, Claire hurried through her food without speaking to him, which had become her new routine. Val didn't like it, but he did understand why.

To his surprise, instead of returning to her room she went outside. Glad for at least that much change, he followed her. Not that he wouldn't have gone after her otherwise.

"Where are you off to?" he asked.

"Luna wants to build a beacon so Filia with Lyos can teleport here in case of emergency. Since you won't even let me peak outside your hollow, I have to be close to help her."

The way she said won't even let hurt, as if she accused him. Yes, he didn't let her, didn't want to but ... it wasn't important to think about. Only that he did not let her. They could still play. She thought Valgaav was a different person and she should be angry at that version.

The "gardens" of Zoana were a technical concept. The mansion lay at the edge of a crater since Martina had insisted to rebuild as close to the original locations possible. The crater itself had overgrown with forest and had been dubbed Modernized Royal Gardens by Martina.

At the center of this forest, Luna had cleared a meadow. There she formed a six pointed circle with items she'd embedded with holy magic. Well, she did the embedding anyway. Dilgear, Martina, Zangulus and a few nameless citizens, rounded up by Luna no doubt, did all the physical work.

Val wasn't sure what he had to do. Stay close to Claire, but what else? Hmm, this was about saving his mother, right?

"I can help!" Val said to Luna, who bent over a random rock. He'd have liked to see what she could do astrally, but even if he had better sight, the clutter of wings and gore blocked him.

"Like hell I'll let you near this," Luna said. She snapped a crack of lightning from her fingers, Val just barely jumped out of the way.

Claire sat down opposite of Luna and quietly gave her new directions, sometimes pointing. Val kept the hollow at a wide angle, so the flow didn't carry away any messages, and his physical body at a distance from the work grounds. Luna wasn't nice.

Okay, so Claire wasn't nice either. She didn't help cause she felt sorry for anyone, but because she had to. It was all an accident that she did this, but while Luna did care for people, she was really mean about it. It confused Val, because he couldn't quite say who was the worst here.

"Ponytail, place those blessed rocks closer to the center!" Luna commanded Zangulus, once she'd finished the rock. "Oatmealgusto, you go get that tree upright."

"It's Zoamelgustar!" the demon shrieked.

"Oatmealgusto," Luna said, flicking him against the tree. "Tree, up, now."

The makeshift demon, or whatever he was, scampered up the tree. Considering he was a tiny sand colored humanoid without any features, not even fingernails, that was a huge accomplishment. Especially with a meter tall mask on its face.

"Must you do that?" Claire asked Luna. "Hurting people is not the only way to get them to do what you want."

"It's the easiest way," Luna said as she grabbed the next item, a gargoyle she'd broken off somewhere.

"So you acknowledge there are other ways. You were able to go about your day just fine without torture in Orun's village," Claire said.

"Must you always spy on people? That's pretty sick in its own right," Luna said.

"Would you cut out your eyes because blind people exist?"

"Yeah yeah. Whatever. At the time, I thought I needed Orun's cooperation. Not so much the case here, is it?" She inclined her head at the miserable mortals around her. Martina swore vengeance under her breath, but dared not say it aloud.

Luna was evil. Val didn't want her near his mother, it was a bad combination because the Siephied Knight with the Siephied Channel. Filia could provide Luna with an uncountable stream of energy, which Luna would be able to use due to resonance. Unlike Lina, Luna didn't need spells to control what Filia summoned. He was sure Luna only wanted to help her for selfish reasons.

It'd been good when they fought. It had hurt Filia and he did not like that, but it'd been for the best.

He knew that right now and nothing else mattered, even if knowing scared him. He was going to hurt Filia a lot when he did not think of her as mother. Yet he could not not want it.

Right as he thought that, Claire cast him a look that seemed to say I know something is wrong, let me help.

There was nothing to say.

· · · · · · ·

He'd been wrong, she had not surrendered, she had wormed her way inside his mind. Somehow ... one ... should he not have died? Yet here he was ... she was. They were.

The Igdu never spoke to each other. Death Fog Ronrazigdu, Ruby Eye Shabranigdu, Chaotic Blue Norayigdu, those who remained of the devil kings, destroyers of worlds and speakers of nonsense. What was there to talk about?

Not so for the Phied, as Dugradigdu learned. Volphied and the others spoke, even theorized, albeit they had hollow words.

Tazuiphied, Zeniphied and Habriphied had won their battles, but led very different worlds. Zeniphied aside, Volphied heartily disapproved of what worlds they held. Yaephied and Alraphied were lost cases, according to her. She could not be Zeniphied, so she had decided that the best way to go was a world without gods and devils. Even in the worlds where their supreme deities both had been destroyed, there would be new devils and angels born, now unchecked. Something else had to be done.

She believed true victory for existence was to get rid of the system that the Lord of Nightmares had imposed upon them, and now she had merged with him, he believed it too. Whether she had convinced him or had always been inclined to doubt he couldn't tell, nor did he care.

Had he ever believed anything else before? The rhythm of war, of getting food ... he had lost track of his purpose to the Lord of Nightmares. He went out of his way to inflict as much suffering as possible, even if it did not aid his meaning, even if he reached his limit of feeding. War for the sake of war. She had gone along, enraptured in the battle. Had he destroyed her, or had she driven him too far? He couldn't tell, she couldn't tell.

He had once thought that Volphied believed in the system of honor and ethics and compassion of her followers. How wrong he'd been. She had understood the necessity, but now she no longer needed to be fed or defended, their will did not matter anymore. It was all about them, Night Dragon and Dark Star. How alike they were, now.

She wanted to remake the world, and for that, all of this had to be destroyed. Not to be given to the Void, but to spite Her. She would never be Whole again.

After all, according to the Chaos Apostle, the Lord of Nightmares dreamed up new worlds anyway. He did not need to care for Her returning to her true form, just as she didn't care for freeing her children from their meaningless cycle.

· · · · · · ·

Someone shook him awake. Val almost lashed out, but realized who it was just in time. Claire stood aside the chair he'd fallen asleep in last evening. She had taken a young adult form, her hand still rested on his shoulder.

"Val, what were you dreaming of?"

"Why do you care?" he grumbled. He'd wanted to keep the dream, because in it he had absolute certainty of everything he did.

"I believe something is taking over you," she said. "Let me help you and we can fight him together."

"Don't bother." Val dropped back on the bed and tried to pull the sheets over his head, but she wouldn't let him.

"Yes, I will bother! I owe you my identity, without which I would have fallen apart during rebirth. Let me help you."

"So it's just about paying back debts cause Cone Thingy taught you that? If I'd known you'd be a creepy demigod I wouldn't have played with you," he snapped.

Claire took a step back, hesitant. "Xelloss did encourage in me to have personal values and I think they are useful ones. Is that a problem?"

"I just insulted you, don't you care!?"

She shrugged. "I've heard better insults during the Devil's Descent War."

Off course, she wasn't really a young woman.

Neither am I.

"You've got Lyos anyway. I don't need you." He needed Volphied.

"I don't have anyone. Lyos sticks with me because our power resonates."

"Get lost," he said.

"I'm not lost and will not be, but I think you are," she whispered. Though her voice had the monotone as ever, she might just feel sorrow for him. Perhaps even pity.

Right where he liked her to be.

Valgaav shut down the Val program and sat up. "Oh, you noticed me? And here I thought I had the kid down."

She frowned, confused at the wording, at the emotions she must have tasted from the child mode.

Let her think Val existed as a separate personality from him, that there was someone to save. It was a classic story : try to appeal to the true, conveniently kinder self inside the tragic monster. One of these days he'd have her plead, then he'd reveal the truth.

"What do you want from us?" She asked this often. He made a point of giving a slightly different answer every time. Don't you know? I bet you know. You know better than I do. You should know. You know why. Why do you think it is?

He smirked, made a dismissive gesture. "You know it already."

As he stood up, she stepped back.

"I should want to kill you," she said sadly. "End this game."

"Off course you do, even though I'm not doing anything. You're a god, after all. You're all alike, you just get rid of what doesn't suit you," he said.

Without a word, she turned to leave. He shot up and slammed his arm past her, closing the door.

She froze. "Well. What do you want now?"

He leaned in from behind, encircling her with her arms — reveling in how he could hold and bend her. Then he switched Val back on.

"Claire?" Val held a little tighter, and she relaxed. "I'm sorry. I don't want to hurt you, please don't be afraid."

He couldn't say he'd never do it again. He knew he would. Filia would want him to be honest — it was wrong to keep secrets forever, he shouldn't let Claire believe he was separate from another. There was nothing to say though. Besides, he'd tell her eventually.

"Are you real?" The doubt in her emotions was far stronger than the sound of it in her voice.

"I'm real," he said. It wasn't even a lie. He knew what he had to do. "Don't worry, it'll be okay. I'll keep him away."

He didn't tel her go until she felt safe. For the rest of the day, he allowed her to keep that feeling.

· · · · · · ·

"Night Dragon, do you know why the Lord of Nightmares has created the world as it is?" Almayce asked me. It's a hesitant question, one I know he's had for almost as long as I have. Should I tell him I know? Hmm, how about no. Omniscience perfected is not of his concern, it would only trouble things more.

"I don't know. Maybe she was bored." It's not the answer he desires, especially not in such a callous tone. I'm expected to answer some transcendental about perfecting our world through trial.

Omniscience ... the one thing we cannot see is the Sea of Chaos, or Her, our Mother. I am aware and linked to all my siblings that have yet to die. Raiphied, Alraphied, Tazuiphied, Zeniphied. They're in no better shape than I am. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like, if we were as mortals are. They can obtain comfort from one another's presence. We feed on their miasma, but gain no strength from anything else.

Then again, maybe not. It's such a nuisance. Sirius is just hurt himself by being compassionate, I can't stand to be around him. I should construct something more suitable next time.

I wonder what's going on in Siephied's world, now that he is gone. I can't see a lot between those six remaining fragments. His world had this strange concept of astral plane and magic, and its devils could see the Sea of Chaos through it ...

· · · · · · ·

One day and two 'visits' from Valgaav to Claire later, they sat on a hill as children. Luna still worked on the beacon, this time alone.

Claire and Val each had reeds to work on balls, but Claire's actual (and uninvited) job was to steer the local magic's balance so it could be reached even though Kataart's chaos. Two more days, they said. By then, Valgaav expected to have Claire willing to teleport him and her to Kataart. He wasn't sure what he'd do there, but it was better than sticking around.

"Is mom okay?" Val asked.

"She's alright. Most ill people have been healed by now, she's just helping those who have broken bones and things healing spells don't fix immediately. A bigger problem is the devils that keep getting close to Xelloss and Zelas. I'm having Lyos eat away all the emotions they shouldn't be having."

"Oh," he said. "Why?"

He knew why. It wasn't a big deal to him; being a chimera he knew devilhood didn't inherently make devils explode just for experiencing positive emotions. However, to the devil clan it indicated a traitor. It was why Gaav had been unable to pretend to still be on Shabranigdu's life.

"Xelloss likes things, and so does Zelas," she said. "Worse though, Zelas worries in ways she shouldn't be able to."

"Can I see if I learn to use Luna's power?" he asked, finishing his ball.

"You really ought to give that back, Val."

"I will if I knew how to." That was a blatant lie, which he felt a little guilty about.

The look on her face almost matched how sad she felt about that. "I should have told Filia when I had the chance."

She set down her work, regretted without really feeling guilty, and he hated that.

He shut down Val and said, "You would have betrayed me if you did that."

"I can't betray whom I never owed allegiance to." That answer was too much like Xelloss.

Then Valgaav processed what he didn't think about as Val : Claire was in touch with Lyos. She shouldn't be.

Claire grinned as she put the final straws in her reed ball. She pushed it into itself, but it bounced right back into its old shape. "Did you know there's a structure to the way an empty space is upheld?"

As his fist clenched over his own reed, it broke to pieces. Then he turned Val back on, because exploding in rage right then and there wouldn't serve him. Luna was close.

· · · · · · ·

Dugradigdu fell down as the night given life and body. I can't call the dark star enticing because I hate him, but I need him too.

It didn't even hurt.

I was there to greet him. How interesting he is, a chimera like I and Dugradigdu have become. Not only that, he is one of my dragons, feathered and black and mint. Even our wishes collide. The children Siephied dreamed up in my name. Excellent that one of them would come to meet me.

It is with ease that he blends with us, and ... I am here. I finally understand what my brother never did realize. How powerful mortals are, who have lived so small and with such perpetual detail.

Valgaav's hatred is small compared to mine, but it multiplies and spreads because he I we have so much more refinement. I want to escape my pain, he wants to escape the pain because of injustice, of knowing pain as having experienced it, as having fed on it, as having wanted to end it in others. There are so many ways to hate and love! He has faces and laws to hate, I have every fiber of the system. We agree it must end.

Who defines us, him, or us? Dugradigdu can't make sense out of most of it, he bends easily. Or have I bent to him? I never questioned things like this, I just wanted. Little mortal, what did you do to me? What have I done to you? It's symmetry, so it doesn't matter.

A ship in the cold black void, steered on the forces of light and gravity. Who is the one in control, the cold of space or the warmth of the ship?

We both decide there is no such simple absolution, bringing it all down with darkness and ...

White fire with a red sheen broke from the night, a little to the left.

A red, skeletal dragon, burning and bleeding and malnourished.

This wasn't how Valgaav remembered merging with Volphied.

"I am so going to tell Filia that you're head over heels with Volphied," Luna said. "Maybe that'll rattle her out of her sick little crush."

What?

"Hi. I have a beacon with extra shiny flow balance and you have a bit of my power. Got some enforced sleep from Claire. Guess who is dreamwalking?"

Luna Inverse. She was here, in his mind.

"Why are you here?" he snarled.

As if to answer him, reeds grew into a sphere around them and he knew it as the system of the hollow.

"Not seeing any Val," Luna said. "Just you. Huh ... I'm dying to know how you pulled off a fake personality so well that you fooled Xelloss for seven years. Bravo!"

From the other end, a blue light emerged, burning away the rest of the dark dream and the stars. Now only the two dragons remained in a scorching white space.

"I would put it differently," the newcomer. He didn't recognize Claire by voice because she spoke like a dragon in language and voice, but the wings gave her away. In her claws, she held a dreamed up variant of a demonsblood talisman.

"You took our Ruby Eye talisman in the Claire Bible dimension, didn't you?" Claire asked. "I could see you with the rest of the Copt family in my maze, but your doves I cannot see. At least not without physical eyes."

"Hey, back on topic?" Luna asked. "You were wrong. There's no Val in here."

"I know. The plot is more important."

He had to get them out, now. Too bad he never learned anything about dream walking.

"Did you gamble on Dolphin or did you feed her hints?" Claire asked.

Tapping into the Claire Bible was speaking to an automaton, but when she was in his dreams she could see even if he didn't let her. She riffled through the details, seeking the answer to his plan. If it hadn't been so slow, she'd have known already.

Why was it slow ... Oh. Luna. Claire had come on Luna's power, who was a relative newcomer at dreamwalking.

The moment Valgaav focused his anger on her, she braced, but the response was not what he expected.

"MY ESTEEMED SELF IS TERRIFIED OF YOUR POTENTIAL AND WOULD LIKE YOU VERY CESSATED RIGHT NOW!" a deep voices bore from the red skies that hadn't been there a second ago.

A giant, scorching plush mockery of Luna's red dragon hovered above them, illuminated from behind by the sun breaking through the clouds. It burned white, regrowing what it lost only to set along elsewhere. Through the burn patches, he could see flesh and blood, yet it had button eyes and sparkles on its tail.

"Are you mocking me?" snarled at Luna. "What the hell is that?"

Luna groaned. "It's my embarrassing inner voice or something. Blame Filia for how it looks."

"That's beyond embarrassing. Of all the gods I've heard about, you're by far the biggest disgrace."

"Says the guy who practically has a chorus singing ME ME ME ME. At least I know the world isn't about me." She looked around. "Aww, I'd hoped that chorus would manifest. Maybe you're more into laments? Wails? River dance?"

"Shut up! You don't know who you're mocking. I am the only one who really understands how flawed this world is, the only one who can fix it."

"If you need to say that, it's not really evident, is it?" Luna asked.

Enough. He tried to attack her, but in dreams nothing worked as he wanted. Luna's morbid plush thing fell from the sky, squashing him. Literary. He turned into a puddle of green.

"Uncomfortable when things aren't about you and your feelings?" Luna asked.

He tried to ignore her, but with them bending his dreams it wasn't so easy.

Claire pushed it aside. Valgaav tried to reform as Val hoping to uphold the charade, but since the program had no subconscious of its own, all that resulted in was random memories of Valteira playing outside the reed sphere.

"That confirms it then," she said. "I wondered since the first time Valgaav got out, some time in Wizer's house. Xelloss mentioned narcissists, I became curious and wouldn't you know? Wizer had some very interesting files on psychological profiles of criminals lying around his house. Malignant narcissists were of particular interest."

Detached eyes blinked open around her, like those Luna had created for herself.

Claire had learned from her, and she'd been learning even more when he thought she'd been asleep.

Going through Wizer to Zoana when Xelloss could have teleported them to Zoana ... he had probably spawned Zoamelgustar. He could zone in on it. Not that one could ever be sure with Xelloss, but Valgaav knew one thing. Strange as Xelloss was, he could not disobey direct orders even if he found new information along the way, but he could arrange for others to do what he needed done.

"You didn't create this on your own, did you, Valgaav? I bet Volphied helped you," Luna asked. Her dream shape grew larger, somehow. Sharper. Even in dreams, bloodlust could be sensed.

"Luna, wait. We need to find out more," Claire said. "We should figure out a way to restrain him, maybe keep him here."

"Yeah, let's do that after I took his limbs off."

· · · · · · ·

The door of his room splintered, forcing him awake. He needed a moment to realize that the woman in the doorway was the same creature as in his dream. As a human, Luna looked so mundane.

"Luna, wait! Without him, we'll be visible to the angels," Claire said somewhere behind her.

"Don't be ridiculous! Luna can clip the bastard without killing him!" Dilgear snapped at her.

"Right. If we're keeping this dog, we're keeping him safe." All four of those tentacles projected into the physical world, flames twisting off them without burning anything. Her projections ghosted through the wall as she stepped in, but they'd cut him just fine.

He shot to his feet and prepared to transformed. Luna almost truck, but was distracted.

A door down the hall opened.

"What's all the racket about?" Zangulus yelled. "This is going too far! You are guests in our kingdom and I demand you behave!"

"How about we do behaving somewhere else?" Claire said.

Valgaav saw a wing shoot up behind Luna, then Claire was off towards the humans. She dragged Dilgear along.

"I don't plan to make a mess!" Luna said, insulted.

"I'm just playing safe!" Claire called.

He could keep her in his hollow at a range of about two hundred meters, but was it worth it now? He needed to stay alive, but if that went at the cost of him, or even just his mobility, it wasn't worth staying.

From the sound of it, Claire had grabbed the royal couple and jumped out of a window, Dilgear following on foot. As their protests grew farther away, Valgaav made himself just as scarce. He shot out the window and dove into the undergrowth of the crater.

Luna followed him as leisure, sometimes running, somethings using her powers to jump ahead. Cats must hunt, but he could only appreciate that when he was the cat.

The worst about Luna was that she was a chimera too. Pure magic could be blocked out with his hollow, but she combined holy flow with a very organic way of projecting. The same way he had been preserved through the rebirth, and he couldn't cancel out himself. All the hollow did was blind her astral side, and as long as she grew extra physical eyes that didn't even impair her range of sight.

He couldn't hide for long.

When she caught up, she wore that cocky smirk begging to be torn off. He grew a dragon arm and swiped at her face, but she pierced his arm with a claw of her own. Twisting the arm behind his back, she forced him to his knees, keeping him down by setting her leg on his back. Even growing wings didn't throw her off, she just pierced them with her spikes.

"Bad child," she whispered as she pulled his arm further.

He turned into her twist, tearing off his own arm. In the moment of surprise, he lurched his other arm at the silver chain around her neck.

He touched it only for a second before Luna pushed him away, but that was enough. He knew the talisman's magical signature now. Volphied might be far, but he had enough of her power to impersonate her. He commanded the talisman to come.

The connection with Zelas's chain burned. When it dropped out of the chain, Luna caught it on reflex, but he using raw power to jerk it away. Magical items were pretty easy to apply telekinesis on, so it—

He noticed the rustling to the left too late. Dilgear threw himself on the talisman in mid air, dislodging Valgaav's grip with sheer presence — trolls were creations of Shabranigdu, they had an innate magic just sharp enough to disrupt his trick. This had nothing to do with his concentration.

Before Valgaav could readjust, Dilgear had brought the talisman to Luna. She caught it, encasing it with scales right away.

If Luna was anything like her sister, she could be distracted by targeting bystanders.

He dove right ahead, feigning to aim for her. Luna put the talisman behind her and raised her wings forward, but he never hit them. Instead, he sidelined and bore down his claws on Dilgear's back.

Dilgear crumpled down to the ground as a bloody mess, and for a moment Luna's miasma was thick with worry and rage. Valgaav prepared to strike the moment she lunged, but that never happened.

Her worry disappeared, as did the bitterness and the guilt. Rage remained, but it was a cold and calculated thing it turned her into. Her grip on the talisman tightened.

"Did you think I'd fall for bait that obvious?" No more worry for the hybrid, not even a glance. If she had noticed he still breathed, she didn't seem to care. "Don't touch my things."

Her skeletal neck on the astral plane snapped forward, the jawless skull at its end breaking as eyes grew through it. Dozens of eyes opened around him, as if embodying her blood lust.

Valgaav had just enough time to burn his wound shut before Luna attacked. He tried tearing off some of her power again, but she blocked and tore off part of his left wing. All his breath was lost to screaming, part for the pain and part for her infuriating existence.

She wasn't even serious about this. With her wielding Siephied like that, whom but the greatest god looked down on him now?

He wouldn't have taken the risk otherwise, but he did what he tried to get from her : a mindless lunge. He lost an eye, skin off his arm and several bones broke, but by increasing his weight he pushed her back. As she lost her balance, he rammed his claw through her projected encasing of the talisman. It cost him flesh and magic, but he got it. Luna's flow faltered.

What was left of Valgaav barely counted as a living dragon, but now he had the talisman he could fully use Luna's stolen power. He needed all of it just to stay alive.

He made it to the edge of the crater, Luna hot on his trail. She wasn't as sharp and focused anymore, he actually gained ground even without flight.

She had more emotions now. Still not as strong as they should be, but she felt.

"I get it," Valgaav said as he dodged another attack. "That stupid thing is your real self."

Finally the smirk dropped, and she stopped. They stood across one another, him triumphant despite the bleeding, her unsure what she wanted.

"What do you meant?" she asked at last.

"You do it all the time," he said. "A non-stop rezast effect on yourself. No wonder you act so much like a god."

It took her long to reply, compared to her usual quirk retorts.

"So what? If I do it, it's cause I feel better this way. Doesn't mean anything but that."

"That's all you've got to say, Luna Inverse? After you were so eager to rid yourself of godly power?"

She wagged her finger. "Ah ah, I don't hate the power at all. I just want my afterlife."

This woman just wouldn't react normal.

"Congratulations, you've become a monster like us," he said, but she didn't take that either. Why not? She felt confused, why didn't she act like she should?

Her smirk reappeared. "No. I'm just a woman who uses her power well."

"That was a welcome to the way I exist, not a claim."

"Pass," she said, followed by something else that drowned in the noise of grinding bones. The dragon ribcage she had on the astral plane pushed into the physical world, the start of the dragon he'd seen in his nightmare.

Valgaav had a policy about how to deal with power imbalance : act confident at all times. Lie when it's useful. Bail at first chance. Pretend he never failed.

He turned into a dragon himself, using projection of his own to fill his missing limbs. With a few forced wing beats, he rose to the sky. She fired after him, burning into his lower legs, but he pushed all energy into the talisman and teleported.

It didn't get him far. He'd never been that good at distance, but it was enough to avoid enemy fire until he was above the clouds.

"I am so gonna need to figure out real flight soon," Luna said. "I owe that guy so much painful death and now he isn't here."

He still heard her talk, her voice echoing through the power he'd taken from her. She seemed to argue with Claire, but the farther he went the less he heard.

For nearly two hours, all he did was fly south-west and try to calm down by thinking up ways he'd kill Luna Inverse. The idea of letting her sister return was tempting him so much, just so he could kill them together. But no, he had a bigger purpose. He made up his mind : he'd try to control the hosts of Shabranigdu. Part of the plan he and Volphied had concocted involved taking over Shabranigdu's power by hijacking the host connection. If nothing else, he could do this. If he coupled it with playing master to the devil clan, he could work from there.

His birds told him they were on the island of Deep Sea Dolphin.

· · · · · · ·

Dolphin's island was simple on the outside : a set of shallow sand banks from the top. The place curiously devoid of devils, he not only landed but found his way inside without encountering a single one.

Inside it he had to take on human form, small as it was. The interior reminded him of Filia's kitsch obsession, except worse.

He didn't encounter anyone till he reached the center, where the radiance of Shabranigdu's power was strongest. Between him and what was the vault was Deep Sea Dolphin. He knew her at once, for his doves had visited her before.

Seated on a pule of pastel pillows sat a woman in blue, pearls over her dress and her eyes black as her hair. Though the picture of elegance, somehow she still felt like a wild beast contained within. Not the kind that would burst forth, but the kind quite comfortable with its disguise.

"Welcome," she said without meaning it. "I have heard most curious rumors of an Ancient Dragon flying again. Might I presume you are the same that caused a stir in Kataart a while ago?"

"That depends on what you heard," he said.

"We've heard tale of a chimera attacking the golden dragons, a chimera of man and bird. Rather like you at this time, yet now you have been seen as an Ancient Dragon. Tell me, am I speaking to Valgaav or to a scarce survivor hidden for a long time?"

"There's no need to be so rude when I've come such a long way to meet you," he said. "After all, did you not offer a chimera to join the devils seven years ago?"

She laughed lightly. "I'm afraid we can't offer you the death of Lina Inverse. She is not in this world anymore."

"A vengeance spree is below me now," he said easily. "But I still want a part of undoing the mess of this world."

This was gambling on Xelloss not having told her he'd been rebelling against the Lord of Nightmares.

"Oh, have you now?" she said, unconvinced. She would not trust a dragon, but the sibling of her lord? He had the hatred to fill the role and no love for this world. Better to play it safe for now, that much he remember from Volphied's plans. Tact.

"Yes. I am Dark Star Dugradigdu," he said. "I have taken over this soul, who hated the world so much I could settle. I allowed myself to be reborn to blend in and survive."

Not a little startled, Dolphin inclined her head, not quite a bow but respectful. She would need more convincing, though.

"Oh, lord Dark Star Dugradigdu. Forgive my insolence, I mistook you for a lesser being. May I ask where you have come from?"

It could not harm to say this much. In fact, it could be a lot of fun and if he played this right, he could corner Zelas. He had always had a healthy understanding of peppering lies with truth.

"My host was adopted by another dragon, Filia Ul Copt. I bet you heard Xelloss rant on her. And yes, I caused a stir in Kataart a while back. That was my awakening. Rangort had sent Filia to build fusion vessels. The demon half was created using a demonsblood talisman tapping into the power of Lei Magnus, who had already become a chimera." She started to speak, but he held up his hand. "No, it wasn't the summoning pillar. Don't be ridiculous, woman. I steered my host to the talisman and used it to wake up, and after that ..."

He conjured up a dove. This she recognized : after all, he'd used it to deliver the talisman to her.

At his command, the dove turned into Volphied's ghostly human form and he had her say, "I whispered to you to take Lina serious because I suspected her involvement with the gods. She mentioned it while visiting Filia. I made a point of spreading rumors about her and movement of war so I could create a world to feed me."

That didn't quite come out the way he wanted, but close enough.

"And for what goal would this all be, lord Dark Star?" Dolphin asked. "You must understand why cannot let you destroy our world."

"Don't worry your pretty little head. I just want the power to return to my world and do that before the gods use that machine. So, don't we have a common goal?"

"Hmm. It does sound very tempting," she said. "I'm not sure whether we can be of help, though. We tried taking the hosts of our lord to the machine and somehow merge them, but we failed in that. We're at a roadblock."

"Off course you failed. You've never been cut into pieces, but I know how to reform. Show me the hosts." There were a lot of holes to be poked into his spiel, but he knew as much that he could not incriminate Zelas. They'd learn about Claire and the god revival plans, which he could not be connected with. That would conflict with his Dark Star act.

"I'm not certain. You have tried to destroy our world before, lord Dark Star. Why would it be different now?"

"Volphied drove me mad, she had sympathies for my host. I made sure to kill her remnant."

"Indeed? What a hassle, lord Dark Star. Are you sure you do not retain some of her power? Why doves, I wonder?"

"Inconspicuous, and off course it's her power. I use them to travel the flow."

"How can a devil wield holy power, if I may ask?"

"That's what this soul is useful for," he said. "It can use god parts easily, for learning things like the hosts you keep. Show me the hosts."

"Maybe I'd rather store you instead," she said, taking one dainty step off her pillows. She stood before him in a blur, pitch eyes staring down at him. "I appreciate your help, but you must understand I have little proof of your new claims."

Perfect. He closed his hollow around her at its deepest pit, cutting off his own connection to the astral plane entirely. "Go ahead," he said. "Try to attack me, see whether it works any better than on those from the other world."

The hollow tickled at her projection, forcing her astral form to shrink into itself, too dense to be comfortable. She did not plead to be freed, as he'd hoped.

"I understand, and I see," she said. "Will you let me go? I shall show you."

The moment he loosened up, she shifted thirty meters away. "Follow," she said lightly, but he caught a wisp of fear. She was stronger than he was, but what good was that if she couldn't touch him?

Dolphin had placed the two mothers in aquatic incubation chambers, deep within a double vault. Round spheres in marine glow contained them : one of them asleep, one of them cut open to expose the womb. The fetus drifted in the water before her, open for the mother to see. When Valgaav entered the room, she looked at him and moved her mouth as if to speak, but the water muffled the sound. She would have drowned if not for the tube through her neck. She didn't interest him for long.

The visible fetus bore no sign of Shabranigdu, but on the astral plane an unusual red glow surrounded the featureless blob.

Since magic held the water spheres together, he could reach in with ease. Careful not to cuts its life yet, he closed his remaining hand around it. Keeping his actions hidden with the hollow, he opened a soul window and began to engrave the barely developed mind. The brain was so small he couldn't do much with it, but without Volphied he couldn't create new systems anyway. The simpler, the easier it was for him to control. For now, all he needed them to be was weapons.

Shabranigdu tried to get out through the soul window, but it didn't work like that. It was no gate, just a drain for devil power.

He tore loose the fetus and grew a wing. By forcing the small soul to blend into his flesh, he could keep it and use it.

"I have contact with Shabranigdu," he told Dolphin. "He says he wants me to host him."

"I am not one to question my lord and master. Would you like the other fetus revealed?"

"Yes."

Dolphin picked the other human out of her container and held her up by the neck. Valgaav tore her stomach open, which got him screams and messy fetus. This time, he used Shabranigdu's power to burn off the cord. For those one, he grew his other wing.

When Dolphin realized he used her power, her suspicions waned entirely.

"What does our lord say?"

A royal helping of foul language, but Dolphin didn't need to know that.

"We have to subdue Lei Magnus," he said. "Shabranigdu says he has plans to take over the machine that the gods built, and he's still seeking to control you and the other two."

"I wish not to displease, but Lei Magnus commands the voice of Shabranigdu. If we go near—"

"I'll take care of that. Here's how we'll do it ... "

· · · · · · ·

Now he was here, he realized he could have done this before.

That was a downside to the Val program, it disrupted his active thought process. He could think independently of the program, but any information in the short term memory had some trouble getting through if the Val program didn't deem it worth remembering. When his messengers had told him the hosts had been obtained, he'd needed to activate Val in short order, and Val had not processed it in the same way. That, and he had a lot of fun playing with Claire, so he hadn't thought of it even as his complete self.

Claire wasn't fun anymore, but he had others to meet. Filia still had to atone, but what to do with her after that? It would be a while before he could rebirth the entire world.

If she and Xelloss agreed enough about the goal, they could be dangerous. He could kill Filia, but aside of this being contrary to his plans for her, it might just be her escape. Gaav could pass through Megiddo on human souls and retain his personality and memories. Filia had messed with Megiddo's flow before.

Speaking of rebirth risks, a more immediate problem went by the name Leyunso.

Siephied's human rebirth was one of the biggest sticking points in the plans. Yes, she was only human, but she was immortal. If he killed her, she would just be back somewhere else because hell didn't affect her. She was hard to detect and smart with magic. Worse, that curse of hers. All she needed to do was say, "you are Valgaav" and that'd be the end of him. It'd probably force him into sleep mode again.

That could be his salvation, though. He did not delete the Val program because that way, he could at least survive Leyunso with his sanity intact, if not be active. Keeping the program had the bonus of being able to use it later for Filia.

Certain pain is necessary for the world to keep turning, so he must hunt and deities must die. In his hands, the world would be in peace. He'd cut away all the personality traits, all the vanity, spite, whatever he wanted.

If Lina was the Apostle of Chaos, he would be the Messiah of Order.

His grand destiny just made it all the more embarrassing that the channel of his greatest ally, Volphied, had been killed by a house cat.

· · · · · · ·