· · · · · · ·

"You see Zelas and that angel here," Leyunso said. "You see me here."

In silence and ready to shoot or flee, Zelas followed the Sage of Siephied as she brainwashed their way out of the area.

"You all see me and that angel and Zelas here. It is a good idea to talk about this time."

Zelas didn't understand why she bothered. They really didn't see them, so why brainwash them? What? How ...

She would have gone ahead, not needing Leyunso anymore, but Leyunso had claimed doing so was safe. It clearly was not safe, to Zelas stayed with her.

Milina held the hell gem, all her focus on its dim connection to Luke. They spoke quietly, with Milina assuring him over and over that she was alright and no, don't try to leave hell. Megiddo wouldn't allow it anyway.

Milina explained to Luke about Leyunso's curse and claimed she was Siephied. Where Milina had gotten that idea, Zelas didn't know. Maybe Leyunso had denied being Siephied, or she had misheard something about how Sages work.

Maybe she really is Siephied and told you this, then said she made a statement about her identity.

That was a rational idea that Zelas could entertain, but no, it wasn't real. Leyunso had been young then, and Zelas was overcautious.

Milina eventually got tired of telling Luke the same thing over and over and hung up. She pocketed the gem and tapped Leyunso on the shoulder.

"Why don't you just tell them they are individuals?" Milina asked.

"Ah yes. That's safe when Zelas is here. I like to take risks."

"Hmm."

Even if someone knew of Leyunso's effect, it still worked. It just ... Leyunso was only a human, she should be weak and insignificant. Yet she was likely the reason Valgaav had left so abruptly. He knew about her too ... how much did he know? How much did Leyunso know?

Zelas spent the time it took to escape the mountains fretting over that. The snail's pace did not help; they were limited to Leyunso's human steps. A few times they made short teleportation jumps, for which Leyunso used local magic or what Milina could offer.

The further they got away from the distortion of flow, the longer their jumps became.

"We're safe now, aren't we?" Milina asked when they appeared at the southern edge of the mountains.

"You're wrong," Leyunso said.

Barely had she uttered this, did Zelas stop projecting and shoot as far away as possible.

She reemerged on an empty acre in Dills. In solitude, she let herself come to rest. Hunching down, she dug her hands in the dirt, clinging at the for her distant physical world.

Shabranigdu's commands on her mind would never be something she had peace with, but she had thought she'd been used to it. Not so. Just ... words. Only words. He just had to make her understand what he demanded and she did it, regardless of sense or will.

She did not know whether Leyunso was better or worse. She could not command her, but she could affect her understanding of herself in a more severe way. Belief.

In her world yet to come, there would be nobody with such power over her.

She sensed Milina's holiness more than she saw her. The angel projected before her, eyes harsh and anger in her emotions.

"They caught Lyos and Filia. What will you do now?" Milina asked.

"I do not know ... they will not be killed, not yet. Valgaav has a cover to keep that will be blown if he ousts me just like this, but if he obtains Luna with the angelsblood talisman, he will not have to say a word. Dolphin will figure out whose magic is in her chain soon enough. Worse, I do not want to find out what he plans to do with Claire."

"So you're just leaving them there?"

Zelas didn't deign the obvious worth a reply. She left, even though she'd have liked longer to regain composure.

· · · · · · ·

Zelas had a limited headstart on Xelloss and meant to use it. Xelloss would be stuck with the conflicting orders of going to Zoana and waiting for more details, so he had an excuse to get out of Valgaav's range by saying, I need to find Lord Beastmaster. It would become suspicious when it took him long, but that could not be avoided. Valgaav knew where Luna and Claire were and might soon devise an excuse to collect her.

That's assuming they hadn't been collected by the gods yet.

Arriving at Zoana's flimsy capital exposed her to assuring chaos. Half the excuse for a castle had been wrecked, most likely due to Valgaav and Luna. Zoana was still being wrecked, actually, but the current battle had moved outside the city. Luna's sporadic projecting of dragon parts stood out from a distance — well then, she had survived.

Quite spectacularly, in fact, given the astral traces of angels that lay around. What had been a flock, Luna had reduced to a mere three.

Angels tended to not be very powerful. With gods being able to reach far through the flow, they were superfluous entities. Rangort was the only one to really bother with them and e had them work in groups. Certain that Luna could handle the remaining three, Zelas made finding Claire her priority.

After watching the movement of the angels for a while, she concluded they tried to bypass her to reach the palace. Right then, Claire would be there.

Zelas projected within the palace, if it deserved to be called that. For some reason, the astral plane was nigh impossible to observe and the natural flow oddly dimmed.

Barely a few steps in, a tiny demon ran screeching down the hall. At least, Zelas assumed it was some sort of demon, since it was no nature spirit. Most of it was a giant mask with tiny arms and legs, which waved frantically.

Was it threatening her?

"With whom do I have the honor?" Zelas asked.

"I am the mighty Zoamelgustar! You are not allowed to pass me, or you shall face my terrible wrath!"

Zelas quirked an eyebrow. "May I point out your sentence construction does not add up? You say I will face your wrath if I were allowed to pass."

"Eh ... "

How eloquent.

"Are you responsible for this obfuscation?" she said, waving at the astral plane behind Zoamelgustar.

"The mighty Zoamelgustar was only inspired by the Claire Bible a little," e shrieked, flailing tiny arms. "Absolutely!"

"I am an ally of the Claire Bible, would you be so kind as to show me to her?"

"Tel al-Metaliom."

"It is mine," Zelas said, entertaining the notion that this might be a trap, she might need to flee, what if Luna or another had arranged something—

"This way, wolf pack." Zoamelgustar gestured a tiny hand down the floor.

Zelas misprojected part way through a wall due to the obscured area. After ridding herself of the gravel, she looked around.

Against a wall, a blue haired child sat with a wounded angel in her lap. Claire, Zelas presumed, and what once had been an elf. The scene had all of those religious paintings in churches, a perfect image of a god's mercy, and an image only. Claire did not feel for the one she protected, only a aimless drive and mild annoyance surrounded her. That annoyance increased when she looked up at Zelas.

"Well met, Aqualord. I find you have told a lowly demon our password," she said, tapping Zoamelgustar with the tip of her shoes.

"It was of use and no great harm" Claire said. "We would have taken him if we had to leave, but for now, he proved useful for my attempt at a hollow — I do believe he is a chaos child."

"Hmm. Well, you may forsake this route, for I am come to take you away," Zelas said. "Discard that angel, I will suffer no risks."

"When Luna kills them, they don't go back to hell," she muttered. "There is nothing but lifeless energy and an empty soul ... when she does it."

"This would be a problem how, lady Claire? Correct me if I am wrong, but angels have a limited sense of clairvoyance, no? Where ever you go, they will call in aid," Zelas said.

"I know, I know," she said. "I thought like you did, before, but to Lyos it was so natural that we would spare people. It's a different logic to mine. Do we really need to? Did Laust need to stop existing?"

"No such time to argue here and now, lady Claire."

"I can tell what is happening in Kataart right now," Claire said. "We could have avoided this if we did not handle matters in such a lethal way. Thinning out our allies—if Laust had been around we could have sent him in with Leyunso. As the Knight of Shabranigdu, he is immune where you are not, and with her aid—"

"Oh? Do you believe this angel will be of use to us?"

She said nothing.

With one step ahead, Zelas scooped away Claire. Holding her under her arm, aimed a finger and burned up the angel until its identity fell apart. The soul slipped into Megiddo, but there was no person attached. Then she dropped Claire and walked to the nearest hole in the walls.

"Lady Corpse, stop playing around!" she hollered out.

"We could have contained the angels, Luna has the power for it, but she won't use it," Claire said, perhaps a little huffy. "We are handling our allies the wrong way."

Growing a personality after all, or just rigid adherence to poorly defined programming?

Contrary to her, Luna had an inconvenient excess of personality. When the Knight of Siephied jumped into the room, her aura poured into every crevice of the planes. The indifferent warrior on the brink of sickness had passed; living in happy, nutritious Sailoon had done wonders on her and the thrill of the hunt perked her up. Yet despite this, there was enough concern to keep her holiness from cutting it all away. Only now that Luna was unoccupied did her indifference return.

"Heeey ... look who is here. What do you want, doggie?"

"Valgaav now owns two hosts of Shabranigdu. The only reason you and I will see the end of the day is if Valgaav cannot find a way to reveal us without revealing his own plans. I've come to take you and Claire to Wolfpack Island. Did you ensure none of these angels sent a message to the others?"

Luna shrugged. "Didn't care to."

"Then we must leave all the sooner," Zelas said. "I presume mister Dilgear is still with you? Call him, we have no time to waste."

"Can't leave," Luna said, pointing into the palace garden. There stood the beginning of a holy beacon, similar to the one she had built at her home. "Gotta pop over to Kataart for a bit, then we can take a vacation."

"If you hope to allow miss Filia to teleport out of Kataart, you will be disappointed to learn that magic exists to prevent teleportation out of certain regions. Lady Claire, if you would please make yourself useful and retrieve the third member of this party?"

Claire actually got to her feet for that, grew wings and was off.

Not through the door, fortunately, since said door burst open to reveal Martina. A dramatic finger pointed at Luna.

"You! How dare you! You were our guest and you vowed a sacred oath on Zoamelgustar you would not be like your foul sister! Now look at my kingdom!"

Zangulus stood at her shoulder, nervously tugging her cape and being ignored when he told her not to piss off the deities, please, we don't want to die today.

"Anyway," Zelas said, "There shall be no debate, miss Luna. We will leave. I have no issue forcing you, so the choice on how we leave is yours."

"Do not ignore me!" Martina roared. "Zoamelgustar's wrath will smite thee!"

"How are your kidnapping plans gonna unfold when everyone and their granny can be asked about my battle here? This is Zoana. The only thing this place trades with other kingdoms is wild stories and gossip," Luna said, but it lacked force. Good. On some level she still respected their difference in power.

"And that they will receive," Zelas said. With a dramatic twirl, she turned to Martina.

Bowing a slight little, she said, "Do accept my apologies, your royal highness. Miss Luna Inverse ran away from my supervision, it shall not happen again. Out of respect for Zoamelgustar, allow me to restore the palace."

"You better make it neat!" Martina demanded.

"It will be perfect." And very much not credible once the gossip spread. Martina could be relied on to embellish it to make herself a grand persona in it, and it'd pass as Zoana talk.

Zelas grew her wings in human form, spreading them out as her focus of magic. As long as she looked at what she did physically, she could employ the superior senses of her mind on concord with it. Down to the dust on the floor, she could piece together what it ought to be.

Telekinesis took concentration since it involved expended broad energy beyond the self, but she could handle it within the range of her true expanse. The world was a puzzle of a myriad tiny piece. She took just a little pride in her ability to govern the physical, and so she added features to the Zoana mansion more worth of a castle. The tapestries were sturdier, the wood less brittle, the stones carved to fit without mortar, which she directed to fill holes elsewhere.

"I could have used this time to play some more," Luna said.

"Had you not made a show, I would not be cleaning up here," Zelas snarled under her breath.

When Zoamelgustar shuffled by and mumbled that he could have done this, Martina declared that it was polite to let guests pay their respects. Zangulus kept giving Zelas odd looks.

Zelas let them be, signing Luna to follow her out the gate.

Luna lingered, looking around and whistling. She ran her hands over the smooth pillars of the gate, gave a soft kick against the wood.

"Damn it, I gotta give it to you, this is neat work," Luna said. "Shouldn't being so constructive hurt you as a devil?"

"I'm not an ordinary devil any more," Zelas said, smug despite her intention. "That said, one must understand construction for optimal destruction."

"Guess that makes you the most dangerous devil," Luna said.

In the courtyard, Claire helped Dilgear lug a bag. Said bag was dropped once the hybrid noticed Luna.

"Luna, you won!" Dilgear cheered.

"Of course I did," Luna said. "The angels anyway. Not her. She's here to kidnap us. You better have packed everything."

He held up a bag, grinning.

"You have things now?"

"Graciously donated by the court of Zoana," Luna said.

"Of course," Zelas said. She led them to a place less visible, between a few trees in a park. Most citizens had evacuated after the battle was over, but from the distance the restoration of the palace was all too visible. Crowds swarmed out to observe the miracle.

On the balcony of the tiny palace, Martina appeared to proclaim Zoamelgustar had blessed her and the feared Luna Inverse had been defeated. Zelas slipped into the crowd and made a point of commenting how she thought the name of the Enemy Of All Who Live was Lina Inverse. Just the right kind of confusion.

When she rejoined the three, she had half expected Luna to flee, but no. Luna might have enough pride not to want another humiliating chase.

"Are you gonna let her get away with that, Luna?" Dilgear asked, pointing a thumb at Martina's ongoing speech.

"You bet, Spot," she said, patting him on the head. "Nobody will believe her, especially not with that wild story going round where she is the reason my little sister tamed the Lord of Nightmares."

Zelas did her very best to not shoot out of her skin about that casual remark. Whether it was Luna's words or Martina's did not matter, and should not matter, and she would be calm.

She did shoot out of her skin, but not of rage. Instead of her human form, she became a quadruped version of her wolf self. No armor or cloth, but her red mane remained long, allowing her to snatch her passengers if they dared to escape. At nearly ten meters long, they'd fit on her back.

"Warping space requires a lot of energy, I will only do it to get out of the city. After that, we fly the physical way, for I must preserve energy. I lost a lot on fighting Earthlord Rangort and freeing Lei Shabranigdu," Zelas said.

Luna ordered Dilgear to sit in front and catch the wind, she herself went behind him. Claire did not sit at all. She grew herself wings and flew above them, staying close but making no contact. Zelas did not care to ask why and did not complain, less work for her.

Where she reappeared, they might touch noctilucent clouds. The amount of spirits here was nigh nonexistent and astral beings never came here. After making sure she produced enough heat for her passengers, she seared off.

During the ride, Claire stayed close to her head and they updated their information. Claire slowly had regained connection with Lyos, now back to the point where she could once again see through his eyes. With the curse on him, teleportation would not work, but he could access rudimentary astral skills, like sight and emotional consumption — he'd used the latter to cover for Xelloss, who hadn't very much liked ruining his favorite pawn.

For her part, Zelas informed her of the encounter in hell, what went wrong, and they went over the risks of bringing them to Wolfpack Island. Dilgear found a hook to talk here, he wanted to know about whether he could fight anything and worried about the limits of his regeneration — Valgaav had done something he wasn't happy about, apparently. Unfortunately for his need to prove himself, there wasn't anything to do for him. Not against devils.

Over the hours, conversation drizzled to silence. Claire fed on the atmospheric energy itself, during which she slipped into a trancelike state. Zelas would have liked to know how exactly she had all three methods of feeding, but it wasn't likely knowledge she'd need any time soon. She'd rather not disturb her now, because they would need her divine ability to see.

Many of Zelas's court were chimera devils, who had merged with animals. A few had joined from other courts, and she had the usual legions of pure devils.

Her dark little secret was that many of the chimeras had merged with the souls of their hosts, and were traitors to existence. Not so for most of the pure devils. With the sole exception of Xelloss and five who had once willingly joined Gaav, they were the enemy. She kept them for show, but now they had lost their use as warriors.

That left one use only. She could recoup her lost energy from them.

"There is my island," she said once it appeared. She began a spiral descent.

Luna leaped over Dilgear and sat on her neck. After pushing the red mane aside, she plopped on the stomach and plucked Zelas's ears. All of Zelas's warning growls were ignored.

"So I take it you can't just order them to obey?"

"Only those I created myself, which is Xelloss alone and a handful of lesser ranks," she said through gritted teeth. "Now get off my neck, lady Corpse. We need you to be a surprise for now."

"Just say I'm a prisoner. Y'know, the truth. Though usually prisoners don't gotta do their own security. Don't you have dogs for that?"

She flicked her red mane, nearly throwing Luna off. But only nearly.

"I will order them to project first. Most devils cannot withdraw their projection swiftly enough, they will be an easy target. Even one escapee can jeopardize us. Valgaav will be looking for an excuse to incriminate me. Lady Corpse, can you fly? Mister Lyos figured it out."

"Nope, but I can jump and project. I get far like that."

"Do not go into the forest yet. Any devil that will remain there will be on my side, but not all of them are informed and some are ... complicated."

"Burnination green card only counts when above the veggies. Got it."

Zelas might have given a warning if only Luna had not been offensive, but since she had, Zelas howled her call at full force. Luna yelped.

"Fine, fine, moving back," she muttered.

Howls from the island answered her.

Zelas's twelve commanders projected in a half circle above the island. Zelas kept height above them and said, "Calxirs, go down and command all my servants to project and stay in the forest."

"As you wish," the winged serpent said. He departed at once.

The others gave her a puzzled look, and she descended so they could see her three passengers.

"Arinkiau, you will take mister Dilgear here, the werewolf-troll hybrid, and bring him to my palace unharmed."

She took obeyed at once, swallowing her confusion.

The remaining ten, a few of whom chimeras and one an ex-servant of Gaav, gave her very disturbed looks by now.

"From now on, only the loyal pack will inhabit this island. These two are allies and prisoners, I have yet to determine. Before I do, we will clean out my island of anyone who might betray us. I want you nine to deal with the higher ranks, while miss Luna and miss Claire here can handle some of the smaller ranks. She and I will ensure no one leaves the island."

"Nine?" asked Ingir.

"Yes, seeing as I know you are on speaking terms with Dynast Grauscherrer," Zelas said before spitting an energyball at him. He went up in flames. "The rest of you, go to work. Further explanation will follow."

Seven of them grew a healthy blood thirst, one of them was anxious, and one was horrified. She killed that one too.

Luna pulled at her sword. "Can I go now?"

"Yes, but keep Claire close for instructions and safety. Understood?"

Luna kicked her ear. "Heard you the first time."

She jumped off, while Claire spread her wings and flew towards a plateau, from hence she would coordinate Luna. Zelas instructed her loyal commanders that she would be kept safe, and her suggestions listened to.

· · · · · · ·

Zelas had half expected Luna to fall through the trees sooner or later, but she kept in the air the entire time through use of projections to stand on. Ah well, one less distraction while Zelas sorted through her legions. She consumed the survivors through taking their energy and torturing the right emotions out, left the escapers not worth chasing to Luna, and within a little over an hour she had stabilized her injuries, though it would take a few more days to be whole again.

This mingled with judgment, a tedious process of figuring out which chimeras had truly developed and embraced the instinct to survive. She needed soldiers, so for them she took the risk to figure it out.

Just as she got the hang of it, a few hours in, Arinkiau approached her with a bow.

"Speak."

"Lord Beastmaster, the Knight of Siephied has just left her position and is headed for the shore. The hill ranks say something strange is happening with the sea."

Zelas dropped her prey at once. "Finish him off, I shall handle this."

She rose above the canopy, high enough to see the sea defy the tides. A circular cloud had formed over an alcove beach and poured down water even as mist joined it above. Magic ... Luna had been building a beacon in Zoana. Right.

Claire was at the same place where she'd been left, on a green spot on the central plateau, legs crossed in a meditative pose. Her guards were in station, minus Luna.

Zelas landed with force, creating a shockwave that hurled the tiny humanoid off her rock, into the shrubbery.

"What on earth and beyond are you doing?" Zelas roared.

Claire crawled up from the bush and stared up at Zelas. Though she had fear, the resolve was stronger.

"Lyos and Filia and Milgazia and everyone in Kataart needs to be are only doing your best for yourself, I must do it for others."

"I will make a plan once I have more options and more strength."

In one move, the little girl changed into a woman close to Zelas's height. "We don't know what will happen in that time. Stop being cautious and move."

"Ah, the walking, talking bible admits her limits." She raised a hand and flicked her on the forehead with enough force to throw her back. "I begin to believe it is a universal law that gods must being either dramatic or dramatically boring."

Claire lacked the capacity for true anger, so the act harvested was irritation. She shrunk to her old lady form, eyes closed and lips drawn. Zelas did like it when those she handled acknowledged their place.

"You don't know better. You're just as broken as us, Zelas. You are a devil who loves existing even as you feel the need to end the world. Chaos as these times define it is not the same as chaos as it was called in the days of yore. The void is absolute order, because everything is exactly the same. Who are you fooling, Zelas? Do you think that you're ordained by Chaos, so everything that isn't your doing will fall in place?"

"Who are you yourself fooling? The Sea of Chaos isn't empty at all as long as she thinks. The Lord of Nightmares is—"

Claire shrugged. "She is not caring."

"Do you really want to convince me She does not? Then I should kill you now, for I am a devil and you are a god."

Claire froze.

Zelas left her there and used her sharp nose to track down Luna.

Luna had made it to the shore, where she had encountered opposition. One of these days Zelas would have to be there to see more than the end of her battles, just to gauge her skill.

Those of her victims that had been chimera left behind piles of blood and bones; much to Zelas's surprise, as she had assumed Luna a clean fighter. Luna herself was in the middle of finishing a dragon sized beast, the last one standing.

The sea itself rose onto the beach, brimming with white magic. One step into it and Luna would be gone. Zelas could not see how Claire could arrange this from so far, but then again, the flow was nigh untouchable for her.

Zelas expanded her own darkness quietly, chasing off the spirits in service of the gods and infecting the white magic. The sea didn't rise anymore, and the cloud turned to normal rain.

Luna hadn't noticed yet. She was on the brink of victory, albeit a messy one : she went for the whole dramatic climb and neck stab. That alone didn't kill a part astral chimera, so she set it on fire.

Luna's power hadn't diminished much, but she had become sloppy — ah right, she must not have slept between Valgaav, angels and the clean up. She had a human body after all.

When the body collapsed into the sands and Luna sank to her knees on its back, leaning on the hilt of the blade.

Zelas manifested with her wings wide.

Dazed, Luna looked up. When she froze, it wasn't the stock still pose of Claire, but the very human wide eyes and falter in motion. "Oh dammit, you're here already."

When the last spasm died, Luna found the sword stuck. She stayed there, clutching the hilt.

Zelas landed before her in her truest form, albeit short enough to look at her face to face. With Luna's damp hair clinging to her skin, her eyes were visible.

"You were not swift enough, or did you genuinely believe I had my guard down only because you did not run before?"

Shame was a favorite flavor of Zelas, tinged with fear it was delicious.

Zelas closed her claws around Luna's arm, meaning to remove her hand, but Luna astrally lashed a wing at her.

"Miss Luna, whether you like it not, you are already in my pack. If you step out of your place in the hierarchy, you shall be paid as any of my wolves are." She raised a wing around her, both stopping the rain and preventing her escape route.

"I don't belong to anyone's pack," she snapped. "Unless I decide to make one, and you wouldn't be in it."

Zelas gave her a toothy grin, grabbed the sword's hilt and tore it away. Luna had to invoke her projection to keep a grip on it, but nearly toppled ahead. Bracing her free hand against Zelas's shoulder armor, she leaned closer.

"I am not your wolf, I am not Siephied, I am human. I will always stand beyond gods and devils no matter what word tricks and power play you use."

"Oh, truly? I use word tricks and power play? Miss Luna, humans are not the only ones that stand between the astral creatures. Werewolves and any other form of beast folk do as well. Save for their genes, they share all cognitive ability with humans, yet you value your humanity? The concept is more frail than the touchable hierarchy of my island."

Zelas let go of the sword and shifted her projection a few meters away. Luna toppled forward, hands first into the sand. She was on her feet in seconds, sword drawn.

Luna estimated, longer than usual, then she lowered the sword. "I already did play, didn't I?"

Zelas nodded once.

"Alright, now what? Any particular pack duties I gotta know about?" she said with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

"There are none, other than that I expect you to keep the lady Claire safe, as you already have been doing," Zelas said.

Luna shrugged. "So, can I at least know what the hell is gonna happen? The world gonna end anytime soon?"

"Oh no, I would prefer to rule it, and I shall under the providence of chaos," Zelas said, flicking her tail in the way of an irritated cat.

"Really?" Luna asked. "How come?"

"I also want to destroy it, but I choose to ignore those instincts," Zelas added. "See it as a reverse of the need of every other creature to live : at times existence becomes so unbearable they want to die despite their instincts. The need to exist and to end are firm, but not an unbreakable law."

"You're not answering my question, just reciting vague facts. I wanna know why you're like that?"

She doesn't really know. Oh, she could trace down her own changes and her past thoughts, but why she and not others ... "Can you tell me why you are the way you are?"

Luna shook her head, and for a moment Zelas found sorrow in her emotional scapes. Just a moment, then Luna denied the feeling to herself. She didn't even realize it.

"Let's go back, you can have a room."

· · · · · · ·

The reformation of Wolfpack Island became an impromptu feast. Only other devils could provide such a pure meal of negative emotions; what little positive they could feel in sadism didn't surface when they were tortured. They could not hope, they loved none, and they had enough hatred for the whole world. Soon, miasma was so thick that Zelas could retreat into her palace and still feed.

Luna had been given a hefty dose of alcohol and a sedative, and given a luxurious room with no doors or windows. Should she get out, it would be noticeable just from the sound.

And Dilgear hadn't been given a room. Zelas had steered him towards chimera that he might find a place with, as they had some troll blood. Luna hadn't even thought about him.

From a distance, she observed her pack. Projecting as a human, the aristocrat this time, she lounged on a balcony with a wide sofa, sipping the wine that this projection was programmed to enjoy. For now, all she could do was wait until Xelloss showed up. She did not want to think about why he might not.

Xelloss didn't join her that night, but Claire did. In her middle aged form, hunched in a cloak not of her own making, she sat on the edge of the balcony. For a long time, they watched the wilderness together.

"Now that Valgaav has two pieces of Shabranigdu and the demonsblood talisman, what am I supposed to become, if I can be a god at all?"

"I thought you had plans to be a better deity than before, or did Xelloss misunderstand you?"

She shook her head. "He was not wrong, at the time. However, I cannot be a good leader to anyone. I died exactly because I fancied myself such a grand deity."

Zelas flicked a piece of her cigarette away. "The last part is new. How does this relate to deities?"

"I realized a lot of our plan went wrong because we did not consider the physically weaker assets to our plan worthy of knowing it," she said. "And that's what—"

"I have heard this sort alr—"

"Don't interrupt me!" Claire snapped, the closest to anger she'd ever gotten. "I was not yet done. When I realized that I meant to pour everything into Lyos. My mistake was that I said so to Luna, intent to tell her as well, and right then Valgaav came out and cut off my ability to communicate. We too are the weaker assets of his grand plan. It doesn't matter that you and Luna are physically strong, he had the monopoly on power because of the cognitive reins he holds."

Zelas stood up, striding to her side. "That may be an unexpected truth, but I do not see how it would disqualify you from being a better god."

"A better deity," she said. "A deity in the sense that we tend to the world, for better or worse. I do not know enough. I've judged wrongly before and my drive has led me to protect someone I should have recognized as an enemy. I cannot wholly rely on my own judgment."

Zelas blew out a thick cloud of smoke, and didn't know what to make of this. People never came to her for answers, yet Claire held the hope she'd hear something worthwhile. This little god here, who now underestimated her own potential thanks to Valgaav.

"I do say, Valgaav has planted doubt in you."

"I reached my conclusion independent of him."

"Then be independent and learn from where you erred. Is this not a saying among mortals?"

"You couldn't understand. I do not know how to learn because I cannot put my finger on how he got me so attached that even when he attacked me, I kept my tongue. I do not know enough about relationships or myself."

"Then do not entertain such relationships anymore, you cannot afford them anyway."

"No, I must understand in order to do things as well as I can. I have to manage life, Zelas, and I have to become at least decent at everything. My future task is far more complicated than your little hierarchy of sadism and rebellion."

"Well then," Zelas said. She flicked out her cigarette and poured the wine away. "Why do you sit here, if you need no affirmation for that?"

"You are my ally, it would serve us both if you would learn to listen to our advice."

"Ha! The advice broken persons with dead divinity to them? Neither of you know who you really are, while I know my precise nature and position in this world. I practice caution, survival and strategy."

"You also practice pride, and it has you neglect to see how any social behavior more complex than a world pack factors into survival. You are not dealing with sentient wolves, but sapient allies and enemies. You at least know that I have a weakness, and seek to leave it behind. You do not look at yourself."

Zelas couldn't stop the twitch in her lips. Never mind the accusations of pride. Talk of self administered personality adjustments soured her appreciation of anyone.

"Beastmaster, listen. I have to what I must. If I come in a situation and Valgaav presents me another lie, ... I do not want to fail myself and the world again. If you won't question yourself, at the very least give me another perspective on our common enemy."

Zelas turned, leaning her arms on the balustrade. Letting her head drop back, she looked at the stars. The center of the galaxy formed a pale path right above them.

"Are you afraid you might be tempted to his path?"

"Yes, in a way."

No harm in this.

"Knowing what I have seen and what Xelloss told me ... he wants the ultimate narcissist dream : a world without free will, where everyone gives him the reflection he wants. When he speaks of the end of suffering, those are merely words to dress it up. We know war will not end with the disappearance of devils and gods. He has seen it, we have seen it. However, Volphied is capable of compelling one such as Dark Star to serve her purpose, even if only to spite Her. Valgaav takes it further by removing the way She dreamed this world."

"Oh?" Claire said, and nothing more. "That does make it easier. I was his mirror, a tool. I still am. He is a priority to kill not only for being tied to Shabranigdu then."

"No desire for revenge, I presume," Zelas said. "Do you desire anything at all?"

"Do you not then? We both have goals, don't we?"

"We have them for different reasons. I would enjoy ruling the world, but I have no particular desire to plunge it into despair. I want safety, I want to exist without constant safeguarding against my enemies, without needing a web of lies or I die. I want those I hate to go down in flames, I want to survive and why not have fun while I do it? You understand fun at least, do you not?"

"No, not really. It doesn't matter, you made your point. Valgaav wants mirrors, you want a playground."

This was tougher than expected, no wonder Xelloss had such a hard time even convincing her to do anything. "Do you dislike anything?"

Now she took her turn leaning back to look at the stars. She raised a hand and painted invisible forms in them.

"Sometimes I dislike that I have to help others," Claire added, after some hesitation. "I help others because of an obsessive thought that became me. Not because I feel for anyone. I have to. I can't tell whether I want to, or whether a difference between needing to and wanting exists for creatures such as I. Would it be like that, if Valgaav took over?"

Or maybe this could be worked with. "Probably. He would want genuine emotions if he retains the qualities of an emotion eater, so the life he crafts would retain some self awareness. It is not a simple case of erasing all sapience. He would craft sapience to serve him. Perhaps that is why Volphied and Dugradigdu took to him : he aligned so well with them, they did not need to craft and alter much."

"Or maybe it would just be like when your creators order you devils," Claire said, a strange glint in her eyes. "How do I know whether you are not ensnaring me in certain ideas yourself?"

"You do not," Zelas said, but it left her with an eerie feeling. If even Claire starting to be aware of the grand game, then she had just spoken about herself freely. She couldn't be sure anymore where all the power lay.

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