The Angel of the Owl House

by OwlHouseAngel

Luz Noceda is a young half-angel girl living with her angel mother in the Human Realm. Her attempts to be good always backfire, and after one too many mistakes, her mother sends her to Camp Reality Check. But a chance event leaves Luz in the Demon Realm, where she meets the Owl Lady, who teaches her that in a chaotic world like the Boiling Isles, Luz might be the perfect angel.

54. EP 12: An Angel's Fall

The Angel of the Owl House

Season 3: The Divine Realm

Chapter 12: An Angel's Fall

The number of conflicting emotions occurring outside the ruins of Barcarib was monumental as the Divider and his four Archivist Companions descended down from the sky, the starry portal closing behind them as they landed in front of the gathered CATTs and Wings of Rani. The CATTs were all immediately on guard, with the regular members all pointing spells, staves, and potions at the Divider with looks of pure terror on their faces, while the Elites (equally terrified) just stared at him and subtly prepared to fight or flee if he should make any sudden moves. Meanwhile, the Wings of Rani looked ready to break out in song; they all dropped down to one knee and bowed their heads reverently, practically worshipping the man even as they shot looks of confusion and apprehension at the four Archivists, who all looked fairly unhappy to be here.

Of course, seeing the Divider appear again was bad enough for the CATTs, but the fact he appeared when they were exhausted made everything even worse, and returning with the Archivists in tow!? That turned this situation from terrible to outright apocalyptic; the CATTs couldn't even imagine how it could be worse!

The Divider looked the same as he had four months ago, not a thing about him had changed, though the Archivists did look a little different from the memory versions Luz and the Hexsquad had seen inside Samael's mind. The Keeper looked largely the same and was keeping a stoic disposition, even as she observed the gathered rebels and angels with a critical eye. The Watcher looked rather neutral and had their cap over their eyes, not seemingly looking around at all; they'd also cut their hair and gone for a slightly more reddish orange on their robe, which still left all features but the bottom half of their face obscured. Then there was the Scribe, who despite being the middle child, now looked to be the youngest (excluding Samael). She looked to be barely 18, and she was staring fixedly at the floor, initially refusing to look at anyone… at least until she sensed something and looked up, immediately spotting Samael. The sight of him made her gasp softly, before breaking out into a big smile and perking up immensely, barely restraining herself from running over to the boy. Then there was the Huntsman; he had grown up a bit since the memories the Hexsquad saw and now appeared older than the Scribe, as well as still looking like the Archivist with the closest resemblance to Samael (though this was perhaps because they were the two boys of the group). His expression was one of anger as his eyes moved between King and Luz, with an extra look of disdain thrown to his baby brother sandwiched between them.

The Divider only had eyes for Luz at first though, and upon landing, he took a step towards her and smiled brightly, just as he'd done before he was "completed" on the Day of Unity.

"Truly, while I had not expected to see you back here before the completion of Project Paradise, I am overjoyed to see you!" he said, before looking Luz up and down. The girl was on a mission, so she was in her full Divine Regalia, complete with eight wings and halo behind her head. The sight of it almost made the Divider giddy with joy.

"Oh, look at you! You've grown into a true Seraphim! Immaculate! I'd heard all about that, and your other exploits…" he gave her a wink and a waggle of his finger, as if her acts of sabotage to his plan were no more trouble than a kitten knocking over a glass of water, "… when I stopped off at Rani's Eden earlier, but seeing it in person feels so much more incredible! I am proud of you!"

He reached out to pet her head and Luz initially stepped back, before seeing a spark of sadness in his eyes that made her change her mind and instead step forward, allowing him to pet her hair. He beamed with joy at this, and despite everything, Luz felt a flush of pride and happiness, imagining that it was the Rasiel she knew who was complimenting her. Perhaps it was, as the look on his face was so much softer than what she remembered of the Divider during their brief time together.

"Thank you, Divider." Luz said softly; "I went through a lot to bond with the final glyph and attain this power."

The Divider's face fell; "So I've heard… I specifically warned the Seraphim Council to stay away from you! But it seems Raguel went against that…" he sighed sadly; "Raguel is a dear and loyal friend, but he massively overstepped the mark! I won't ask you to forgive him; heavens know I will struggle to forgive him myself! For now he can remain imprisoned within the Divine Realm. When I see fit to free him, he will be divided and will do some form of penance to repay your suffering, Luz."

"I'm not interested in anything from the Divided." Luz scowled.

"So I see… Eda, Lilith, Raine, Darius, Alador, Severin… even young Derwin! You've undivided a lot of them. Tell me; how do you all feel to have all your negativity back?" the Divider asked.

"A lot better." Eda scowled, returning to Harpy Mode despite her exhaustion. "Do you have any idea what it feels like to accidentally hurt my son because of you!? Do you know how it feels to have had a part in that Reformation plan of Raguel's!? I was almost partly responsible for MURDERING MY DAUGHTER!" Eda snarled, growing more angry as she let out her stress. "My child almost ceased to exist because of me, and all because I was divided by you!"

The Divider cringed; "I know how awful that would be… but it would only have ended up being her physical age that was lost! I could restore her mind and memories, like I did with Raguel himself!"

Eda growled; "I don't care! That doesn't make it better! The point is that I ended up fighting my kids because of your messed up Division!"

"And I my sister." Lilith added, also taking her Harpy Mode.

"And I my daughter!" Alador growled, Darius and Severin nodding along beside him.

"And I my niece, nephew, AND lover!" Raine growled, taking their new Dhampyr Mode.

The Divider sighed (though inwardly he was fascinated by Lilith and Raine's new forms); "None of that would have happened if they'd simply chosen not to fight you."

"We don't care! We're glad they did! All of us are happier as ourselves, warts and all, than we were while we were divided! It was a negative emotions that made the positive ones so much better!" Eda declared. "Without the bad to put the good into perspective, everything feels so much duller!"

The other formerly divided people cheered, and the Divider found he could do nothing but sigh; "You still don't understand…"

"No, YOU don't understand!" Amity growled; "You're just forcing your ways on people, and it's causing suffering! Do you know what Odalia was able to do thanks to you!? Or what Terra and Arboriel got up to!? They abused your system and your deals to hurt people!"

The Divider shook his head; "Amity, do you not see that they were able to do that because they themselves were not divided? I gave them a chance to prove they could be good, gave them every incentive to BE good! And they chose not to! If I had divided them, how much suffering would have been averted? I showed mercy and they abused it, just as these kinds of people always do!"

The CATTs just glared, knowing nothing they said would change his mind. The Divider seemed to realise the same thing on his side and decided to stop wasting his breath right now; this wasn't a time for debate, but for joyous reunions!

"But forget all that "business talk" for now. How are you all? I'm so happy to see the Hexsquad doing well! Though a little sad to see Gus and Skara couldn't be with us today." the Divider said, noting the two's absence.

"They were too tired from yesterday." Luz said simply.

"After ransacking the castle! So I've heard." the Divider said, giving Luz another waggle of his finger, before looking to Camila and Vee; "It is nice to see you ladies again. You're both looking well!"

Vee shivered and hid behind her mother, while Camila gave a forced smile; "Hello, Divider. It's been a while."

If the lukewarm greeting bothered the Divider, he didn't let it show and instead smiled at and greeted each member of the Hexsquad one after the other, getting awkward smiles and hellos from Matt and Lyra, cautious nods from Willow and Amity, and hostile scowls from Hunter and Boscha, who still had their staves readied and pointing at the Sephiroth (who chose to ignore it). Finally, he looked to King and beamed.

"King; naturally it's wonderful to see you too! You've grown a little more too! You'll be a full grown Titan before we know it!" the Divider grinned, reaching down to pet the little Titan's skull. King wasn't having it though and swatted away his hand.

"Don't try and act all buddy buddy with me, Divider!" King snarled, then pointed an accusatory claw over at the Archivists; "Not when you've got the murderers of my people and the ones who cursed my Mama right behind you!"

The Keeper and Watcher both shifted uncomfortably, while the Scribe looked down in abject shame. The Huntsman, however, scoffed and stepped forward with a sneer; "What your tongue, Baby Titan! We still need to add your kind to the Archives, and right now you're looking like an ideal candidate!"

The CATTs all readied for battle in an instant as the Huntsman took another step towards them. King prepared to attack with his roar too, but that proved unnecessary, as the Divider suddenly snapped his fingers and a heavy iron collar appeared around the Huntsman's throat, with a chain connecting it to a band on the Divider's wrist. The Divider then yanked on it hard and made the Huntsman yelp as he was forced to his knees.

"If anyone should mind their tongue, it is YOU. Do not presume to speak that way to one of my friends again, Huntsman." the Divider said dangerously, his expression warped into one of anger. None of the CATTs, especially Luz and the other elites, had ever seen the man make a face like that since regaining his old memories, and the sheer amount of hatred in his ice cold eyes was enough to make them all shudder.

"W-We are Archivists! Our whole purpose is to complete the Archives and he is one of the pieces we need!" the Huntsman argued, not completely able to keep the fear out of his voice; "Do you really expect us to-!"

The Huntsman was dragged towards the Divider by the chain around his neck; "You forget yourself, Huntsman. You and your siblings are not my partners or my friends… you serve me as penance, specifically because of your genocide of the Titans! A genocide you are largely responsible for!" the Divider said dangerously, his lips curled and his gritted teeth on display; "We did not merely come to an agreement; you were defeated and chose to serve me rather than share your little brother's sentence of being sealed away for all eternity!"

The Divider threw the Huntsman back onto the ground, where he gasped and coughed, rubbing his neck where the chain and collar had strangled him. Both disappeared at a snap of the Divider's fingers, but everyone present could tell they were still there; ready to be summoned again the instant the Divider was displeased.

The Divider then turned and looked at Samael with a small frown; his hate disappearing to be replaced by some annoyance; "Though speaking of your little brother's sentence, it seems King has seen fit to commute it."

Samael whimpered in fear and Luz and King both shielded him from the Divider. It was at that moment that another Archivist, the Scribe hurried forward and actually stood between them and the Divider, facing towards the latter.

"Wait! Please Lord Divider, leave the Collector alone! Remember our deal?" the Scribe asked desperately.

The Divider huffed; "Of course I do. You may relax, Scribe; I've no intention of imprisoning the boy again. Thanks to some of my people at Rani's Eden, who were present in Gran Seraphia during that disgusting trial, I know all about the service you rendered to my young saviours, Collector." the ancient Sephiroth said smoothly. Thankfully, since no one outside the CATTs were made aware of what Samael had done when Belos tricked him, the Divider only knew that he'd saved Luz from Reformation and caused a bit of trouble in the Divine Realm afterwards, which was enough to make the Divider a little more accepting of him.

Samael peeked his head out from behind Luz; "S-So you're not gonna be mean to me?"

"No, child. So long as you give me no cause to fight you, I will not be "mean" as you put it." the Divider said with a roll of his eyes as he felt an annoying stab in his chest that he knew was his conscience making him feel guilty again; it had been doing that a lot in these last four and a half months.

"The same goes for all of you; give me no reason to fight you, and I shan't." he added, looking to the rest of the CATTs; "Besides, we've already had that song and dance once, and I think you recall how that went. Do not believe Luz and the Hexsquad will be enough to change the outcome, especially now that I have the penitent Archivists to assist me."

The obvious threat had the CATTs once again feeling a spike of terror as the idea of fighting not just one Sephiroth, but five had them all on the verge of freaking out. Their fears were only slightly alleviated by the Huntsman bitterly complaining; "Any one of us could defeat them all right now if you hadn't left up that barrier to weaken our power!"

So it seemed that the Anti-Archivist Barrier remained in place, and would likely stay that way for the foreseeable future… that was good for the CATTs, as while 4 powerful new Seraphim level foes was a tall order to deal with, at least it felt doable with Luz, Samael, the new Palisman Fusions, and the Anti-Magic Trio, not to mention King!

Luz, tired from a long day and stressed beyond belief by the sudden appearance of the five Sephiroth, stepped forward and gestured for her friends to all stay back as she spoke. "Alright Divider, I think it's time we got some answers from you. You hurt me deeply by banishing me to the Human Realm and taking me away from half my family, not to mention the harm you did to King and my friends by banishing them too. And don't even get me started on some of the other things you've done; dividing our friends, separating them, letting the likes of Odalia, Terra, and Vitimir…" Luz said that name with such venom that the Divider was genuinely shocked (and a little confused) by it; "… roam free and in positions of power… and now you reappear after over a month of being gone and you bring the murderers of the Titans with you as minions!? I think we're owed an explanation, Divider!"

The Divider's eyes widened; "My, you really have gained a new fire in your belly. The little girl I met almost a year ago has grown up! Very well, you're right that you deserve some explanations, but here and now is not the best place for it. We will speak and I will explain all when the time is right."

"Don't give us that lame excuse!" King growled; "At least tell us why you thought it was a good idea to bring them!" he glared at the Archivists with well-deserved hatred. The Huntsman glared back, while the Scribe once again averted her eyes in shame.

The Divider looked sympathetically at King and nodded; "Of course. You have a right to know, King. You of all people, deserve answers for this."

With that, the Divider gestured dismissively to the Huntsman and Scribe, ordering them back to their siblings silently. He then said; "It began with the day Luz freed Cassiopeia from their curse. In doing so, Cassiopeia moved on from this world and the residue of her magic in the Archivists' wounds faded, allowing them to fully heal and finally leave their Archives again for the first time in five millennia."

The Archivists all shuddered, and the Huntsman once again glared at King, who smirked back at him, glad they got some suffering for what they'd done.

"I sensed them immediately, or rather, I sensed that one…" The Divider pointed to the Watcher, who merely nodded their head slowly, "…observing the Demon Realm from a distance almost immediately. I realised they were looking for signs of threats and surviving Titans, but as there were none in the Demon Realm after I sent you to the Human Realm, I decided to ignore them for now. I had work to do with building Project Paradise. This was careless of me however, as around six weeks ago, I sensed them appearing in the Human Realm."

The Hexsquad and Nocedas gasped; the Archivists had been going after them!?

"Naturally, I knew they would go for you, King. And Luz too, since she had a massive amount of Titan Magic by that point and still carried magical residue from her Titan Bile Overloads. I wasn't about to allow that, so I told my comrades in the Wings of Rani that I was leaving, left some instructions and an Anti-Archivist Barrier that I devised after seeing the Collector's prison in the In-Between Realm, and then made contact with the Archivists. I quickly drove them off to distant space a long way from the Earth and then tried to be civil." the Divider continued.

Luz blinked; "Wait, from Earth? You've been in the Human Realm this whole time!?"

"Yes I have. Oh, by the way; in a few decades, the humans will begin seeing some very pretty lights in the night sky! My battle with the Archivists was rather… explosive." the Divider chuckled sheepishly, "But I'm getting ahead of myself. I warned the Archivists to stay away; despite my extreme issues with their treatment of the Titans, I was willing to resolve things peacefully out of respect for their mother, the Celestial. Only the Scribe was smart enough to listen, and even offered to willingly serve me in return for my help freeing her beloved little brother."

Samael gasped softly and looked over at the Scribe, who gave him a sad smile; "I wanted to come rescue you right away, but after we retreated from the battle with that powerful Titan, we became trapped in the Archives. Mother set up enchantments to keep us contained if we're injured… something we can thank Huntsman's recklessness for." she said, shooting the older of her two brothers a frown, which he responded to by curling his lip angrily.

The youngest Sephiroth didn't know how to respond to that; he'd assumed he'd just been abandoned by the others, who were too busy licking their wounds… knowing that at least the Scribe wanted to save him did make him feel a little better about her though, and the fact she effectively gave herself up to the Divider to get his help in saving her littlest brother also helped Samael feel better. Still, she'd helped their other siblings lie to and trick him, and then kill the Titans with those creepy Trappers, so he wasn't inclined to just forgive her entirely. Instead he averted his eyes and hugged King like a plushy (which the little Titan allowed, since it gave them both comfort).

Getting back to his explanation, the Divider continued; "However while the Scribe was smart enough to not fight me and instead make a deal, the Huntsman decided to attack me, believing that three Sephiroth Seeds was enough to defeat a True Sephiroth. The Watcher and Keeper eventually joined him solely because I wouldn't let them leave, and the Huntsman was no match for me alone."

"So you beat all three of them in a battle!?" Luz gasped; she knew a Born Sephiroth (or Sephiroth Seed as the Divider had called them) were supposedly weaker than the true ascended ones, but was the difference truly that large!?

The Divider chuckled; "Eventually yes. In truth, if we had been mortals I would have been killed many times over by the three of them. But as immortals, nothing they did to me tended to stick, and of course…" the glyphs on the Divider's body began to glow a little brighter, "… I have a way of damaging them! Still, my Titan Power is limited and it took me almost six weeks of straight fighting to whittle them down enough to trap them in a barrier, just like the one around the Demon Realm. In a battle of the Sephiroth, it is ultimately the superior willpower that comes out ahead. With them defeated, I offered them a simple deal; make themselves useful by helping me build Paradise, or rot inside a seal for a few million years. They made the smart choice."

"The only choice." the Keeper said with a deep sigh; "We are doomed to be divided like all of you are, but at least we'll be allowed to continue work on the Archives after our job for the Divider is done."

"I suspect we'd be divided already if dividing another Sephiroth wasn't such a pain in the rear." the Watcher agreed.

The Divider nodded; "Indeed. The unique powers of a Sephiroth don't usually work on any other Sephiroth besides themselves." he turned back to Luz; "But don't go thinking you can use that to your advantage, Luz; I don't need Division to deal with the Collector if I must."

Samael whimpered again, and both Camila and Eda put hands on his back as Luz pointed her staff at the Divider.

"Don't threaten him, Divider." Luz scowled, all nine of her glyphs glowing on her skin; "He's my and King's Little Big Brother now, and we won't let anyone hurt him again! You got that!?"

The other Archivists (save the ever stoic Watcher) gaped at Luz, having the nerve to threaten the Divider, while the Keeper and the Scribe were also shocked (and in the Scribe's case; a little bit pleased) to hear that their brother was now considered the brother of the last Titan and the youngest ever Seraphim! However the Divider merely smiled, unthreatened.

"Oh Luz, still the brave, big-hearted child I've grown to admire and respect. I wish I could respect your wishes on this, but the fate of Paradise is too important for me to risk by promising to stay away from such a powerful adversary." he said. His eyes then travelled up her staff to the Palisman atop it, making him gasp a little; "Is this your Palisman?"

Luz nodded stiffly, watching as the Divider reached up and scratched the top of her Palisman's head. Luz allowed her to turn back to normal and then curl up on her shoulder as she gently stroked her. "Yes. This is Stringbean; she's a Snake-Shifter."

"She's beautiful." the Divider said, the look on his face looking so much like the old Rasiel that it made Luz's heart twist painfully. "And to think, you'd end up with a snake Palisman… the world is a funny place."

Luz looked at him oddly as the Divider winked at her, then summoned his sword. Immediately, the CATTs were even more on guard, and Eda practically grabbed Luz and tossed her behind her wings, ready to shield her. "Be careful Owlet! That sword is how he divides people! One cut and you're not yourself any more!" Eda warned.

That got the Hexsquad and Nocedas to go back on guard, and for King to take a deep breath in preparation for a roar, but the Divider shocked them by gently raising a hand; "I, the Divider, do hereby swear that I am not summoning my blade with the intent of dividing anybody here. I merely wanted Luz to see something."

Everyone exchanged looks, and Luz peeked out from behind Eda's harpy wings; "What did you want me to see?"

The Divider smiled and held up his sword, the hilt in his right hand and the blade itself in the other. Upon closer examination, the hilt was a metallic reddish gold colour with a scaly pattern to the metal, and two white wings forming the guard of the blade. The pommel had a red diamond shaped crystal on it, and the blade itself was long and silvery like any other blade, but with a slight wavy pattern to the metal (despite the blade being straight). After letting Luz get a good look at the sword, the Divider whistled softly and the entire thing went limp and floppy, before shrinking and reshaping itself. The blade turned the same reddish gold as the hilt, and the guard wings moved up and the weapon as a whole shrank down a little, the metallic sheen fading to a more natural colouration as the true form of the Divider's sword was unveiled.

"Luz and Stringbean, allow me to introduce my own palisman; Hesperus." the Divider smiled, holding up his arm as a red, orange, yellow, and gold serpent was wrapped around it, with little horns on the back of her head, white wings on her back, and a red crystal on the end of her tail. She was almost like a larger, winged, sunset-coloured version of Stringbean! Even her face was similar!

Hesperus nuzzled the Divider's hand and made an adorable little chirping noise, making the man chuckle and bring her towards his face so she could flick her tongue against his cheek and gently butt her head against his, before she turned back to Luz and Stringbean. She somewhat shyly bowed her head to Luz, then looked to Stringbean and hissed softly. Stringbean returned the hiss and slithered down Luz's arm to greet the other snake. The two hissed and gently butted heads, Hesperus seemingly becoming quite taken with Stringbean… until Ghost, Clover, and Flapjack took exception. Clover buzzed over and took Stringbean away from the confused Hesperus, flying the little Snake-Shifter over to Ghost and draping her over the cat Palisman's back, where all three began to groom Stringbean.

The Divider and Hesperus looked amused and bewildered, while Luz shrugged with a small smile; "They like to baby Stringbean a bit." she then pet Hesperus and said; "Nice to meet you, Hesperus. You're a real beauty yourself! And proof that the Divider still has a soul somewhere in there!"

Hesperus gave a hissy laugh and the Divider frowned, but didn't comment. The others present all felt like a strange mood had descended on the forest… they'd just been fighting Terra and her army of plant monsters, while rescuing their brainwashed friends, and now the Divider had returned in an almost casual manner, bringing with him four beings of incredible (if currently limited) power. The tension in the forest was through the roof, with everyone wound up with so much tension that they were like coiled springs, just waiting for something to go wrong and the forest to become a war zone. Even Luz and the Archivists were in this state as they watched the Divider for signs that his jovial and friendly talk would give way to violence.

In the end, it was the Huntsman who tried to escalate things (something Samael and the other Archivists had expected he'd do). He carefully approached the Divider and spoke softly, though not soft enough to keep everyone from hearing.

"We should end this now. You want to make this Paradise, right? Well the Titan and the girl with Titan Magic, literally the only two people in the world who can still stop your plans, are right here and vulnerable. They look exhausted, along with their friends! Let's take them down now and end this in one fell swoop!" the Huntsman urged.

The CATTs glared at him and the Wings of Rani actually looked ready to protest too, but surprisingly the Divider waved the Archivist off.

"No. I will not capture Luz and King until I have no other choice; they are my friends." the Divider said, the coldness of his eyes strangely fading for a second, making them look more like they'd done when he was Rasiel. The Divider turned to Zirael and gestured for her to step forward, which she did before bowing again.

"I really wish you'd all stop with the bowing." the Divider said with a rueful shape of his head. "Are you well, Zirael?"

"I am, Lord Divider. I was briefly controlled by the Mandragora Terra Snapdragon, but the CATTs have since saved me." Zirael answered.

"I am glad. Speaking of Terra; that is who I wanted to discuss with you. During my brief stop at Rani's Eden, where I was made aware of Luz's antics and disruptions to Project Paradise, I was also informed of the truce you made between my Wings of Rani and Luz's CATTs. You agreed to a full peace until 24 hours after the defeat of Terra Snapdragon." the Divider said, wanting to make sure he had the details correct.

Zirael nodded; "That's right, Lord Divider."

"And where is Snapdragon now?" the Divider asked.

"Dead." Willow answered; "Arboriel killed her by tricking her into devouring her essence, which was laced with a herbicide."

The Divider frowned; "I see… and what of Arboriel?"

"Also dead. She succumbed to her injuries and the herbicide." Hunter answered for Willow.

There was a long pause as the Divider's face fell and became one of pity. He eventually said; "What a pity… two lives wasted. If they'd been divided, they might have made amends for their crimes… do you not agree, Luz?" the Divider asked.

Luz shook her head; "I wasn't there to see it, but it sounded like Arboriel chose her own fate, and Terra chose hers too, even if she didn't know what she was really choosing. I can't speak for Terra, but I'm sure Arboriel would rather be dead than stuck as one of your puppets forever."

The Divider scowled, but chose to ignore that comment; "Regardless, Terra has now been defeated and each of you is exhausted and weak. The Huntsman isn't wrong that this would be the perfect chance to end this rebellion…"

Tension rose as the CATTs and Wings of Rani began to exchange looks, wondering if a battle was about to happen… a battle the rebels stood no chance of winning.

"… but I will not." the Divider continued, seemingly struggling with himself a little. He appeared conflicted by his decision even as he explained it; "You saved many of my people today, and Zirael made a fair bargain with you; one that her fellow Arch-Angels agreed to. I won't risk her by going back on that deal, or disgrace the choice my people made. So for the next 24 hours, you CATTs are safe from me. Besides… I still want to talk to you, Luz. I know that the two of us can come to a peaceful solution… I can make you see my vision for Paradise, I am sure of it. But until then, I will leave you in peace."

The CATTs, especially the exhausted elites, almost melted with relief right there on the spot, while the Wings of Rani seemed rather pleased by this decision as well. Enemies or not, they'd have felt wrong turning on the CATTs so soon after their truce and work together. The Archivists said nothing, though it was clear the Huntsman was angry with the decision and simply unable to protest without incurring the Divider's wrath… it had already become clear that aside from the Scribe, the Divider had no patience, affection, or mercy for the killers of the Titans.

It was at that moment that the summoned airships for the CATTs arrived and began circling in the sky above Barcarib. Darius wasted no time in ordering everyone onto the ships, and then turning to the last of the Mandragoras still in the forest. He gave them each a choice; swear oaths of secrecy and join the CATTs, or remain behind with the Wings of Rani. Since the truce agreement only extended to the CATTs, and none of the Mandragoras wanted to be Divided, they opted to quickly swear the secrecy oaths and hurry up onto the airships, carried up on the staves of the CATTs since none of their own staves could fly. The Elites of the CATTs went up next, including Hettie, whom the Divider complimented on largely getting past her prejudice against all Grimwalkers, with the Hexsquad following after, leaving only the extended Noceda-Clawthorne family down on the ground.

"Can I trust you not to follow us?" Luz asked, staring into the Divider's eyes.

He chuckled; "I will not. I'm sure I'll be able to find you easily enough when the truce ends… in fact, I suspect you'll come to me one way or another."

Luz huffed and turned away, though she couldn't help but whisper; "Despite everything… I'm happy to see you again, Tio Rasiel."

The Divider felt his heart nearly leap out of his chest as a flood of both overwhelming joy and apprehension filled him. Joy, because he still had a place in Luz's heart despite their opposing sides… and apprehension, because he wasn't sure what she'd said had truly been meant for him. Nonetheless, he placed a hand on her head and gently pet her hair; "As am I to see you, Luz. I will answer your questions soon, and make you understand my vision. Until then… I wish you pleasant dreams tonight."

If anyone noticed the slight glow to the Divider's finger tips as he ran them through her hair, then they kept their silence.

Luz didn't look back at the Divider, feeling too many intense emotions in her exhausted state. She didn't want to bottle things up again, but she also didn't want to start crying out her mixed feelings while the Divider was right there, so she kept it together for later. The combined Noceda and Clawthorne family then began boarding the airships too, but as Samael went to fly up, the Keeper called out to him.

"Collector, where are you going? Come here." she said, keeping her tone soft yet leaving no room for argument.

Samael shivered and turned to face his siblings fearfully, but King and Luz flew between him and them while Camila, Eda, Vee, Lilith, and Raine flew behind him as emotional support.

"He is coming home with his family." Luz said.

"Yeah! So leave him alone!" King yelled.

The Keeper blinked in surprise, then frowned; "WE are is his family! Collector, enough of this silliness; come here immediately."

"N-No! I don't want to! I want to stay with King and Luz, and my Tia Cammie and Cool Aunt Eda and everyone else!" Samael yelled, taking courage from his family.

"Collector, be reasonable! We are Archivists; we have a job to do and we do it together. Just come to us; the Divider won't hurt you, and once this is all over, we can go back to the Archives as a family." the Keeper said, trying to get through to her youngest brother without simply ordering him around… not that he'd listen if she did order him.

"I said no! I'm not going with you! You all lied to me so you could hurt my friends! All my Titan friends disappeared because of you! Y-You killed them! I got locked up for 5000 years because of what you did!" Samael yelled, tears of anger and sorrow in his eyes; "I hate you! You don't care about me; you only care about the stupid Archives! Well I'm done! I quit! I'm not gonna be an Archivist any more!"

All four other Archivists reeled back in shock, with the Scribe beginning to leak tears down her face, and even the Huntsman looking completely thrown by Samael's angry declaration. Though as was common for the violent Archivist, his response to most emotions tended to be angry.

"You spoiled brat! You'd turn from your own flesh and blood for the sake of a Titan!? You'd betray us!? What do you think Mother would say if she were here!?" he demanded.

Samael looked away with an angry huff as he wiped his eyes; "I don't know… because Mama isn't here. And when I needed you, neither were any of you! But King was! And so was Luz! Even after I did bad things to them and helped their enemy, they still called me their Little Big Brother!"

The Huntsman looked ready to fly over and strike his little brother, but both Luz and King stared him down, the former making her glyphs glow so he was reminded that she had Titan Power too, and the Divider also gave him a warning glare, forcing him to back down. Instead, the Scribe cried out; "I'm sorry for what happened, Collector! We did lie to you, but it wasn't supposed to turn out the way it did, and I tried to come for you but I couldn't thanks to my injuries! Please believe me!"

Samael DID believe her, and did feel a little warmer towards her than he did the others, but that wasn't enough to make him even remotely willing to go back to the Archivists. The Scribe had always been kind and loving, occasionally playing games with him and reading him stories, but the rest were neutral at best. The Keeper had never been cruel, but she treated him more like an employee than a little brother and rarely acknowledged him except to talk about the Archives. The Watcher was… well, they were the Watcher; they didn't seem to like or dislike anything or anyone and simply spent their life looking elsewhere, barely acknowledging their littlest sibling. And then there was the Huntsman… the less said about him the better! Terms like "Big Brother Bully" were practically made for him.

Shaking his head, Samael asked; "Do you remember my name? Do any of you remember it?"

The Huntsman scoffed and averted his eyes, clearly having no idea. The Keeper's eyes widened as she mentally searched for the answer, then bit her lip as she sheepishly admitted; "I barely remember my own…"

The Watcher said nothing, giving no indication of if they knew or not, but the Scribe nodded; "I do. Your name is Samael: the Joy of our mother."

Samael was genuinely surprised, and so was the Huntsman and Keeper. "I'm glad you remember, Scribe. I wish I knew all of your guys' names… any of your names. But you chose to just be Archivists, and I don't want to be that any more! I'm Samael Clawthorne-Noceda now!"

"Dang right! You birdbrains didn't know what you had until you lost it! We're not so dumb!" Eda grinned.

"We'll treasure Samael like all of you should have." Camila added, glaring at the Keeper, who averted her eyes.

"You ungrateful whelp!" The Huntsman snarled; "Completing the Archives is the only way to bring Mother back! You'd just abandon it and her!?"

"I don't know why Mama disappeared!" Samael yelled back, taking courage from his family and the fact that the Divider was watching the Huntsman carefully; "But if Mama could come home and wanted to, she would! If she only wants to come home when we've been useful to her… then I don't care if she comes home at all! I'm sick of being used!"

"Samael…" King said softly, knowing how much his brother longed for his Mama.

"It's okay, King. If Mama has stayed away all this time on purpose, then it doesn't matter any more. And if she didn't, then finishing the Archives won't bring her back! If she really is a nice lady, then I think she'd be okay with this." Samael said.

The Huntsman's eyes narrowed and he growled as he looked ready to fly towards Samael, only to be stopped by the Divider.

"Enough." he said coldly; "Samael has made his choice and so has his family. That is enough."

Forced to back down, the Huntsman scoffed and turned his back on his younger brother, choosing to stomp away towards the woods and refusing to look at anyone. The Keeper watched sadly as Samael was gently herded onto an airship by his new family, whilst the Watcher's face fell into a small frown but otherwise didn't react. As for the Scribe, she watched for a moment as she wiped her eyes, then suddenly flew at Luz and King, shocking everyone. The Divider raised a hand to restrain her and the CATTs all readied spells to blast her, but the Archivist Girl made no aggressive moves and merely stopped inches away from Luz and King, her ten Sephiroth wings flapping behind her, revealing that they were pink, not unlike part of her robes.

She kept her hands visible to everyone as she leaned close to Luz's face and whispered to her; "Starting tomorrow, you and I are going to be enemies fighting on opposite sides of this war. I have nothing against you personally, but I made a deal and I mean to keep it. However, I need to give you and your little Titan brother my thanks… Thank you for saving Samael, taking care of him, and being the siblings we failed to be…"

Those words were said tenderly and earnestly, but the next ones were said with a cold sharpness to them; "… but mark my words; if you hurt him, then not even the Divider will protect you from me! I failed to be a proper sister to Samael once; I won't fail again!" the Scribe threatened. "I swear it on the name Azazel the Scribe!"

Luz and King stared at her for a moment, mildly surprised to see the girl acting so threateningly, especially since she had previously acted so meekly. Nonetheless, the two were not intimidated even if they did feel some respect for her now (begrudgingly in King's case).

"We'll look after him. If he gets hurt, it won't be because of us." Luz assured the Scribe; Azazel.

"Tch, like we'd want to anyway! Do we look like you psycho Archivists!?" King snapped.

Azazel said nothing, merely shooting guilty looks at King and Samael, before nodding to Luz and returning to her other siblings. The Divider whispered something in her ear, and Azazel looked at him with an odd mix of affection and intimidation, before turning away; unable to watch her little brother leaving after only just getting him back.

Luz and King boarded the airship and they began to fly northward out of the Navel Woods. As they flew, Zirael and her fellow Wings of Rani gave the CATTs a salute and shouted their thanks for defeating Terra, while the Divider suddenly created a large pearl-like orb that he tossed to Luz. She caught it easily, and the Divider yelled;

"Some of the Mandragoras you've taken might be among the Divided. Since most weren't likely divided by me directly, distance from their dark sides will likely render them emotionally unstable, making them behave erratically. Cast a light spell on that orb and all the Divided within its light will be soothed. You also have my word that it's not a tracker or anything of the sort."

Luz eyed the orb carefully, then waved at the Divider to show she was going to trust him on this. Sure she knew he could be lying and hiding the pain, but something about the look in his eye made her believe him.

The Divider smiled, then yelled one last message; "I'll look into undoing the Mandragora Transformation too. If I find a solution, you may send your Mandragoras to me for restoration without fear of capture or division. But if you figure out a solution first, I expect the same offer from you! Do we have a deal, Luz?"

Luz was too far away to really gesture to him now, so used a Monster Glyph Combo to conjure a giant Titan hand to give a thumbs up (and as a subtle warning to the Archivists). The Divider smiled at the sight, and the CATTs airships each began to turn invisible before taking their intended route home to the Teleportation Circle in the Western Fingers.

As they left the skies of the Navel Woods, the CATTs heard a resounding finger-snapping sound followed by a massive eruption of green magic from the forest. A massive version of the Divider's Plant Glyph appeared around the entire forest, then promptly exploded into balls of green energy that sank into the soil and trees, making the entire forest glow. This lasted for a few seconds, and when the light finally faded, the Navel Woods had been restored to their pristine state, as if Terra and her army had never ravaged it. Willow gasped in delight; the only remaining proof the battle had even happened now was the lack of Spriggan Manor, which had instead become the sight of a new, monstrously large tree that could easily hold the old Spriggan Manor in its branches.

"Whoa… the Divider's power really is no joke!" Willow whispered in awe. She'd felt bad about the state of the woods, but it seemed she no longer needed to.

"No kidding. And now he has the Archivists with him." Amity frowned; "I thought we'd gotten lucky taking out Raguel and the Valkyrie before he returned, since it'd mean he had no more super strong lieutenants! But now he's gone and gotten four more!"

Luz nodded grimly; "Luckily for us, they seem to be effected by the Divider's Anti-Archivist Barrier too, and I doubt the Divider will drop it any time soon."

"Definitely not." Darius agreed; "It keeps us from utilising Samael's incredible power, and makes it easier to tame his siblings. The Divider would be foolish to unseal their power without some other method of control in place, and I doubt some chains and collars will be enough."

The man had sensed the collar the Divider had used on the Huntsman, and had found no traces of any extraordinary magic… it appeared to be more symbolic than practical.

"But even weakened, the Archivists are still going to be at least Seraphim level." Raine pointed out; "If not stronger. They'll likely be tougher than Samael after all, being older and more experienced. We should be cautious."

There were some murmurs of agreement from everyone, though Samael stayed pretty quiet. While they were all shaken by the Divider's return, they were also all exhausted enough to feel kind of numb. However Samael had been sent away from the fight along with Amber, so he was fresh and raring to go, and the double whammy reveal of his Archivist siblings being back and now stuck under the command of the Divider had left him far more shaken. The only people he feared were now back and being bossed around by the onr person he feared most! Combine that with the mixed feelings he had around Azazel the Scribe, and the poor boy was very conflicted and upset, spending the entire flight laying on the laps of Eda and Camila, who sat side by side to accommodate him, with Camila petting his wings and Eda stroking his hair. King briefly whispered to him a little, and Samael whispered back, after which King had left him alone to nap on his aunties' laps.

The entire trip back to Digale Island was fairly quiet as everyone wanted some time to decompress and get their minds focused again after the ordeal with Terra; everyone cuddled with their loved ones or family, with the exception of Boscha who was instead cuddled by Severin. Hunter and Willow were also snuggled up together, making it clear to everyone that something had changed between them, but no one asked yet due to lack of energy, so the only reactions had been some tired smiles, especially from Lyra and Darius, who were snuggled up together besides Alador and the twins, since Lilith had insisted on putting Amity in her lap alongside Luz, using her larger Harpy mode to accommodate them and cradle them in her wings.

Once they finally arrived back at the Teleportation Circle, Luz thoroughly checked the area to make sure there were no spies or tracking spells, wanting to avoid another situation like yesterday. During this process, they also noticed that the Wings of Rani Airships checking out CATTs Cradle and the Desert Union Pillar were also gone, so Darius told the others to go on ahead to Digale Island while he took Lyra to check in with Mason and bring him back to the island too for a meeting.

The meeting for the CATTs elites was scheduled to take place in a couple of hours, to give them all a chance to get some more rest, and most of the gang spent that time napping, helping the Mandragoras get settled, or otherwise just finding some way to relax themselves. Luz went off to see Golsi the Therapist for an hour, then took a brief sojourn back to the Isles so she could use the Portal Gate near Bonesborough to go back to the Divine Realm and fill them in on the Divider's return and his team up with the Archivists. Unsurprisingly, the Seraphim Council were in a serious panic over this told Luz that they would discuss allocating more resources to supporting her and the CATTs, since she, Samael, and King were the only real defences they had against the Divider now.

At the same time, Boscha and Severin went to hang out with Skara, who had already found Amelia and the Eden Family and were helping them get settled in, while the rest of the Hexsquad (sans Lyra who was still off with Darius) went to check in with Gus, who'd been having a relaxing day with his Dad. Willow and Hunter weren't ready to reveal the full details of what happened to them yet, but they did reveal Willow's new fused form to Gus, who was ecstatic for his oldest friend. They talked while roaming the island, Amity using her Light Magic on the Divider's Pearl to soothe the Divided Mandragoras now that they were far away from their Divided Orbs.

Then there was Samael, whom King had dragged off to see Emiliel, Simi, and Asher, who were playing with the orphans and other young children staying with the CATTs, all while Hooty ran around with them, being the best friend and caretaker for the kids he could be, especially after Luz had approached him before leaving for the Divine Realm, so she could tell him that she met his Mother Cawla, who sends her love. The quintet of Samael, King, Emiliel, Simi, and Asher acted as leaders for other kids thanks to their charisma, outgoing natures, and in Emiliel's case, gentle kindness, so along with Hooty they helped the Mandragora children and the Unconverted children from Barcarib integrate with their friend group, and soon all the children on Digale Island were playing together and having the time of their lives. Not one of them cared that one was an Angel, one was a Titan, one was a Sephiroth, and everyone else was a mix of Witches, Demons, and Hybrids; to them they were all just kids getting wrapped up in their game under the watchful eye of Hooty. The playtime cheered Samael up immensely, and did an amazing job of helping the Mandragora Children (who'd been struggling with their new identities after being freed of the pheromones) feel like themselves again. Simi had causally said they were still just kids, only a bit greener and leafier, so they shouldn't feel like they were something else entirely, and it had helped break the ice for them.

But finally, two hours of resting, relaxing, and taking care of small errands was complete, and the CATTs elites gathered at their HQ to talk properly about what had just happened and make sure everyone was on the same page. The gathered people were the usual crowd; the Hexsquad, the combined Noceda/Clawthorne Family, the Blight/Deamonne Family, the Magic Mixers, Raine and the BATTs, Steve, Treble, Hanu, Severin, Mason, Hettie, and Hooty, as well as the surprise addition of Amaranth Secuna, whom had been invited on the recommendation of Darius and Severin since she had been a legitimate Coven Head and was a powerful Witch. Amelia and her mother Legume and other parent Tsuru had also been invited as the unofficial liaison between the CATTs and the rescued Mandragoras.

"Alright everybody, let's get this meeting done so we can all get back to resting! I don't know about you guys, but while I feel better, I still feel pretty tired!" Luz smiled, drooping a little in her seat.

Everyone who'd been in the Navel Woods chuckled, while those who'd been major players in the woods AND Manubrium also nodded emphatically. They were all more awake than they had been before, but were still exhausted.

"With that in mind, for the benefit of Mason, Gus, Skara, and Amaranth, we'll begin with what happened in the temple…" Luz began, before she, Raine, Willow, Hunter, and Boscha took turns giving a moderately detailed account of what happened. Gus was fascinated by the trials and how they compared to Volcarpalis, while Skara groaned that she'd missed out on another Elemental Temple. They were all amazed by Raine's transformation though, and Raine was cajoled into taking their new Dhampyr Mode again to show it off, earning them looks of praise and amazement. When Luz had excitedly explained that their blood powers were not part of the curse, but rather using their enhanced magic and control to perform the Rondo of Blood with their own heartbeat, Skara, Severin, and the BATTs had all gaped in shock, utterly stunned by the amazing feat… for all of five seconds, before exploding into enthusiastic praise for the bashful Bard.

The jovial mood didn't stay that way for long as the tale moved on to Terra's betrayal, the hunt for her, and what was discovered in the Snapdragon Estate. Opinions of Terra had never been high, but learning the truth of what she'd done to her own flesh and blood, and the number of other lives that had been lost and ruined because of her made those opinions drop even lower. In fact, her actions were so heinous that they actually knocked Odalia out of their Top 3 most hated people list, knocking Vitimir down to 3rd place and leaving only Belos as the undisputed top of the heap.

Hearing that she'd become a Supreme Dragon had also shocked those who hadn't been there, and thanks to Steve, they even learned exactly how the ritual had been performed.

He held aloft a scroll he'd taken from the Snapdragon Estate; "I spoke with some of the Mandragoras who were at the ritual and after showing them some of the scrolls and tomes we took from the estate, they identified this as the ritual Terra used." Steve said seriously. "They also told me something else; apparently Terra had the body of the previous Plant Coven Head, Rosalia Gallica, preserved in amber in her secret lair."

Willow hummed; "We didn't find any sign of that when we went down there. Terra either hid it somewhere else, or she absorbed it. Honestly, I think it's the latter; turning into a Dragon Priestess did seem to magnify her Mandragora ability to absorb plants, so perhaps Gallica being encased in amber was enough to make it work."

"That or Gallica was left inside the Dragon Skeleton before Terra fused with it to become a proper Arbor Lindwurm." Hunter suggested; "Either way, I think we can safely say Terra consumed Gallica, and since we saw no bodies when we beat her, it means Gallica's body is gone for good."

Everyone shuddered; Gallica HAD betrayed the Spriggan Manor Cabal to Belos and helped turn Terra into the monster she was, but being killed, kept like a trophy, then devoured by her apprentice was definitely not a fate they felt she completely deserved.

Steve then returned the subject to the scroll and the rite, using the Mandragoras' testimonies to fill in the gaps of what Terra was doing while they hunted her. Following that, Willow and Hunter continued the story of their brief encounter with Terra inside Spriggan Manor while Eda told a grand tale about the battle in the front lawn.

Following this, they finally got to the dragon battle with Terra, which pretty much ONLY Willow, Hunter, and Boscha knew the full details of, since everyone else was dealing with her minions; brainwashed or conjured. It was also the part they were dreading most, as it would mean finally confessing what had happened to Hunter, how Willow had saved him, and how Boscha had helped give Willow the boost she'd needed to make Hunter a new heart out of his old one, as well as attain her fused form with Clover. Everyone knew they were in for a rough story when Willow prefaced the story by making them all promise to stay quiet until the end and not freak out; something Darius and Lyra were especially reluctant to do given the looks Willow and Boscha kept shooting a very sheepish Hunter. However promises were ultimately made and everyone listened in increasingly grim silence as Willow told her story. She gave a fairly accurate retelling, even confessing to her breakdown, and only omitting the fine details of Boscha's apology… though she needn't have bothered, as Boscha had blushed and confessed it all herself, getting a blinding smile from Skara and proud looks from Severin, Luz, and Camila.

"...and well, thanks to my fusion with Clover, the Galdor Heart Bloom was grown successfully and Hunter woke up, good as new!" Willow finished, almost hastily.

She was met by a sea of silent, grim faces as every one except for Amity, Boscha, and Hunter just stared at her, then slowly looked towards Hunter. The silence was eventually broken by Darius turning to Lyra and giving her a sweet smile; "Honey, would you mind opening a shadow portal for me? I just need to see something for a moment."

Lyra, still stunned by what she'd just learned, didn't even hesitate and just opened a shadow portal on the wall behind her, using Darius' own shadow. He smiled and ruffled her hair in thanks, then headed over and stuck is head inside it, remaining like that for almost five solid minutes. Hunter gulped and plucked up the courage to ask;

"Um, what's Dadrius doing?"

"Screaming." was the answer from every parent in the room (which included those without biological children, like Raine and Lilith).

"Oh boy… why do I get the feeling I'm about to be grounded until I'm 30?" Hunter winced.

The adults chuckled wryly and the teens gave him looks of commiseration as they tried to process what they'd just been told. Finally Darius removed his head from the shadows and once again patted Lyra's head in thanks, before they both lost their composure entirely and ran at Hunter. Darius turned into his slime form to warp behind his son before turning back to normal and embracing him tightly, holding Hunter to his chest, while Lyra hugged her brother so tightly that she wrapped her arms, legs, and even wings around him like a koala. It would have been an adorable display of familial love (and in a lot of ways it still was), but Hunter found it hard to enjoy as much when he could literally feel both of them shaking as they held him.

"Oh Titan… we almost lost you. That evil, disgusting, wretched….UGH! She almost killed you! Oh my little Prince…" Darius whispered shakily, trying to hold in tears of both terror and relief.

Lyra, who was pressing her ear firmly against his chest to listen to his heartbeat, was crying softly too; "I-I'm so glad you're okay! I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost you! You're my big brother! I can't lose you!" she said, her voice cracking a little.

Hunter smiled sadly and kissed the top of his sister's head, then leaned back into his Dad's hug; "Dad, sis; I'm okay. It was scary, and close… but I'm okay."

"Scary doesn't come close to describing that, bro!" Gus said, only holding back from hugging Hunter and Lyra due to not wanting to intrude on their moment.

"You almost died! You came so close! It was almost a repeat of…!" Skara began, only to trail off as she looked towards Camila and Luz.

Both Angel Ladies were staring fixedly at Hunter's chest as they felt a huge surge of relief and a deep pang of sorrow. Hunter, like Michael before him, had taken a lethal blow to protect someone he loved… but unlike Michael, he had been with someone who was able to heal him, admittedly through a roundabout method that Camila would never have been capable of. It gave them both mixed feelings; a combination of immense joy, incredible relief, and a deep, impossible to shake regret.

"Hunter… I am so, so happy you are alive! Words alone cannot express how relieved I am." Camila said, walking over to him and joining the hug as Lyra and Darius relaxed their holds a little.

Luz went and joined them too, shakily whispering in his ear; "Please don't be so reckless again! I know you were protecting Willow and Boscha, and that's a great thing, and I know this is rich coming from me, but… just… please be more careful. Losing you would break us."

Hunter nodded slowly and squeezed Luz tightly, then as she and Camila stepped back, Eda stepped in to roughly ruffle Hunter's hair.

"You're a survivor, kid. I'll give you that! But maybe don't cut it so close next time! Today could have ended a lot worse!" she said, smiling toothily to hide just how freaked out she actually was. While they hadn't had too much time to bond, Eda still called Hunter her nephew and considered him a true member of the Clawthorne family. Lilith felt the same, and while she didn't hug the boy, she did give him a smile as she nodded in agreement with her younger sister.

Hunter was touched by the outpouring of emotion and support, truly realising how many people loved and cared for him… once upon a time he'd thought the only ones to love him were Lyra and Belos, and obviously Belos had turned out to be nothing but a liar. But now he saw that he had a ton of people who loved him dearly, as a son, a nephew, a brother, a cousin (plus some mix of those two), as well as a dear friend and comrade. It brought a huge blushing smile to his face…

… though not as huge as the one he aimed at Willow as he said; "And I wouldn't even be here if not for Willow!"

In a flash, everyone's mind went from relief at his survival to amazement towards the person who'd achieved it.

Just as they had with Hunter, Darius and Lyra practically leapt at Willow, capturing the girl in a hug between them.

"Willow, I cannot even begin to tell you how thankful I am!" Darius said, pulling away just enough to make eye contact with Willow as he kept his hands on her shoulders; "My son is alive because of you. You did the impossible to save his life! I can never thank you enough! But I will happily spend the rest of my life trying to! Thank you Willow; thank you for saving my boy!"

Lyra nodded, crying happy tears; "You're the best, Willow! I almost lost my big brother, but he was saved thanks to you! Please, if you ever need anything from me, just ask! I owe you the mother of all favours!"

Willow giggled; "I'm glad to have helped, Darius, Lyra. You both know Hunter means the world to me, and I'd do anything to help him! Especially now."

Hunter blushed as everyone looked at him and Willow curiously, a few smiles beginning to form in the crowd as they guessed where this was going.

"Especially now?" Darius asked with a knowing grin.

"Especially now that I'm her boyfriend." Hunter said, blushing as he took Willow's hand and kissed her cheek. She did the same to him, and the two blushed adorably.

Immediately, the teens in the room all burst into cheers, while the adults chuckled and gave their congratulations.

"Bro, finally!" Gus cheered; "One of my best bros and my oldest friend FINALLY hooked up! Man, we've been betting on when you'd get together since Hunter first joined the CATTs!"

"Who won that bet anyway? I wagered it'd be after we got back to the Demon Realm, so I think I win." Matt said with a grin.

"Dang it, I wagered it'd be after we were at peace!" Skara complained; "I figured it'd take those two way longer to get the courage to confess!"

"I know I lost. It ticks me off, but Hunter actually asked out Willow instead of the other way around, so that's 10 snails down the drain." Boscha griped.

"I bet Hunter would ask our Willow!" Lyra chirped, before pouting; "But I wagered it'd be back in the Human Realm…" she then hugged Willow with delight; "Who cares about that though; I'm so happy for you two! Thank you for loving my adorable lug of a brother!"

Hunter pouted; "Hey!" but he was ignored by his giggling sister and girlfriend. Meanwhile another of their friends was still focused on the bet.

Amity grinned smugly; "I am the winner! Matt and I both got the time right, but I also knew it would be Hunter and that it'd be during a battle!"

The rest of the Hexsquad groaned and reached into their pockets, pulling out 10 snails apiece and giving them to Amity, who happily pocketed them. "Thanks Willow, you and Hunter being adorable just funded my next date with Luz!"

The new couple chuckled, with Willow saying; "You're welcome. I seem to remember winning a few snails on wagering on you and Luz too! Though I only barely won more than I lost, since Eda cleared house on that!"

Eda smirked; "What can I say, I know my baby! Speaking of… Luz, you've been kinda quiet."

Everyone turned to the young Seraphim, who'd been staring at Willow and Hunter with wide, sparkling eyes for quite a while now. Her lips were quivering in their smile as Luz tried desperately to keep herself under control, knowing she could get a bit overexcited when it came to shipping, especially when it involved her best friend and her half-brother/half-cousin!

Seeing this, Willow giggled and said; "It's okay Luz, you can let out."

In response, Luz promptly screamed in excitement and leapt at the two, hugging them tightly and practically screaming her congratulations. When she finally let go, Luz could barely stand still, instead wiggling back and forth in an adorable happy dance that King and Samael (despite not caring about the dating thing) couldn't help but dance along with her, whilst Hooty wiggled in his own happy dance beside them.

Luz squealed; "Yes! Finally! The SS. Huntlow has sailed! Oh man, it's been months but it finally happened!"

Willow and Hunter both blushed as the others smirked, amused by the girl's excited happy dance. Amity was almost as excited, though her reaction was tamer thanks to her exhaustion.

"Wait, Huntlow?" Willow repeated.

"Yeah! You know, like Hunter and Willow! Like how me and Amity are Lumity, and Skara and Boscha are Skarscha!" Luz chirped happily.

"Okay… I guess that makes more sense. But why not call us Winter? That sounds cooler in my opinion. Literally!" Hunter grinned, making Willow roll her eyes with a smile at his little pun.

Luz tutted and shook her head while waggling her finger at him; "Oh no, Huntlow is way better! Winter comes and goes, but Huntlow is year round!" she grinned cheekily.

Her friends were torn between groans and chuckles at the play on words, with Amity outright kissing Luz before she could make any more corny (yet adorable) quips. Boscha, on the other hand, crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow.

"Wow Luz, that was a bit much even for you! Did you really come up with that all by yourself, or did you and Skara brainstorm cheesy lines like that for all of us?" she asked.

Luz giggled; "A little turtle living in my head told me it! He's also been screaming "Plantamania" every now and again pretty much ever since Steve and Carabace starting going on about it."

Her friends looked at her like she was going insane for a second, before Stringbean turned herself into a small Galapagos Turtle and they all suddenly realised Luz was talking about one of the Palisman souls. They sighed with relief; they thought Luz was going nuts for a second there!

"One of the Palismen came up with that?" Willow asked.

"Yep! His name is Shelly and his shell is the prettiest." Luz smiled dreamily. Within her mind, the little Turtle Palisman made an adorable squeak of delight.

The others just looked at Luz though, and Willow asked; "Are you really okay Luz? You seem a little loopy."

Luz chuckled and wilted a bit; "In my defence, I am absolutely exhausted! Two big missions back to back with barely a night's sleep between them… I'm at the end of my rope!"

The others eyed her sympathetically; "Then perhaps we should move on. Congratulations on your relationship; Hunter and Willow." Darius smiled, then leaned close to Willow so he could whisper; "Take care of him. He's awkward and a bit clueless, especially regarding the fairer sex, but he's a good young man."

"I know, and I will." Willow smiled in return.

With the congratulations on the relationship over, the topic switched back to Willow's new grafted plant, which both Hettie and Camila had a massive number of questions about.

"I can't even think of where to begin with this!" Hettie began, looking more excited than anyone had ever seen her; "I need to examine Hunter as soon as this meeting is over to make sure he is stable, but if this new plant-based heart works like a true heart and keeps him healthy and stable, then this could be the beginning of a whole new field of medicine! Botanical Organ Transplants! If we can find a way to make them work for non-plant based lifeforms, then we can revolutionise healing in an all new way! Miss Park; your discovery, if replicated, could save countless lives!"

Camila nodded; "Hunter, being a Grimwalker, is already a lifeform that integrates plant matter without being plant based too; perhaps in him and Lyra, we can find a way to make all Botanical Organ Transplants work with everyone!"

"I don't mind being examined or tested, so long as you don't mess with my new heart, Hettie. My new girlfriend gave it to me and I'm quite attached!" Hunter smiled.

The others chuckled at the double meaning behind his words, whilst Willow was paying more attention to the faces of Luz and Camila. She knew they must be experiencing some complicated feelings of their own now that she'd effectively found a way to repair the very damage that had killed Michael. Camila noticed her looks and smiled.

"Thank you for this discovery, Willow. Thanks to your hard work, no one will have to die like Michael did ever again. For that, I am very grateful." she said.

Willow smiled sadly; "I'm glad. I'm just sorry it couldn't have been invented sooner…"

Camila and Luz both nodded, the latter saying; "It sucks… it sucks really badly. But no amount of "What if?" will bring my Dad back. You needed to develop a new kind of Plant Magic, bond with Orion's Plant Glyph, fuse with your Palisman, AND know enough about plants from three different realms in order to graft them together and save Hunter. No one but you could have made this discovery, and while nothing can be done for Dad, like Mami said, no one else will have to suffer like he did ever again. We're both really grateful for that, and incredibly proud too!"

The praise of her best friend and her best friend's Mami (whom Willow looked up to) made the bespectacled Witch feel warm and fuzzy inside; almost as much as when she and Hunter had visited her Dads earlier to tell them the news (since they didn't usually attend meetings). They had both been extremely proud of Willow for her achievement too, as well as overwhelmingly happy for her and Hunter (her Papa had tried to be strict and intimidating to Hunter, but he liked the boy so the effect didn't really come across like he'd intended).

"Thank you Luz, Camila. It maybe 15 years too late, but I'm glad I was able to do this." Willow eventually said, before exchanging a hug with each of the Noceda Angels.

Following that, they finally got back to the debrief and finished explaining everything else that had happened; the reason for Luz's bouts of weakness being due to the fusions, the defeat and then death of Terra, followed swiftly by Arboriel and her final fate. That ended Willow's part of the tale, and Luz finished it up by going over what happened in the aftermath, the clean up in the forest, and then finally the return of the Divider, in the company of the Archivists.

"...and then we returned here and that's the full story. The meeting with the Divider was just past noon, so we have until that time tomorrow before the truce ends and he starts doing… something." Luz said.

"I bet he's gonna go after Mama and her body parts! He wants to build Union Pillars on her after all!" King scowled.

"That could be really bad for us! What if he decides to come here to Digale Island first!?" Vee fretted.

"Our only hope at this point would be to run away. I can set up barriers around the Teleportation Circle to make sure he can't just destroy it immediately, but we'll still need some other way of delaying him, especially now that he has the Archivists…" Luz began, only to cut herself off with a yawn. "Ugh, sorry. I wasn't kidding when I said I was at the end of my rope."

The others nodded in understanding; "Then let's wrap this up and continue the meeting tomorrow morning. In the meantime, the rest of us will try to come up with good defences." Darius said. "Samael, can you help us find ways to stop your siblings?"

Samael nodded; "Keeper, Watcher, and Huntsman aren't my siblings any more! And Scribe… I don't know. But I'll help my new, nicer siblings anyway I can!"

"If they're willing, I would like Hunter, Lyra, and Miss Eden to assist me too in the Digale Hospital." Hettie said; "I want to begin comparing how Hunter's new heart is effecting him compared to Lyra's. I'm also hoping that the study into his new botanical heart could provide some insight on how I might reverse the Mandragora Conversion."

The Grimwalker siblings agreed, though Darius and Willow both insisted on being there too. Boscha and Skara would be there too, to keep Amelia company and help her ease into life with the CATTs a bit. The rest of the CATTs dedicated themselves to resting or trying to think up a new plan for the Archivists and Divider, and since most of them ended up doing their own thing with family, Luz found herself just relaxing on the beach of Digale Island with Vee. Their Mami was off helping Hettie at the hospital, Eda was having some alone time with Raine, King was helping out Samael as they come up with Anti-Archivist strategies, and Amity was being coddled by Lilith, Alador, and the Twins, so the two Noceda sisters were left to their own devices.

Vee, in her humanoid form, sat beside Luz just out of the reach of the tide, the two of them giggling together as their bare feet barely touched the sea water, which Luz had cooled with ice magic.

"I hope I'm even a little as strong as you someday." Vee commented as she enjoyed the cold sea water; "I'm a little jealous; you can fight dragons and monsters and Seraphim without breaking a sweat, and even cool the Boiling Sea! But me? I can barely show my true Basilisk form without feeling anxiety."

"Don't compare yourself to me, Vee." Luz said with a smile; "You're awesome! You can thrive in the Human Realm while I can't; that's just as impressive."

"I guess… but it's just… you're so fearless!" Vee sighed; "While I'm always afraid."

Luz shook her head; "Sis, I'm not fearless at all! To tell you the truth, all these missions and fights terrify me! The Supreme Dragons are crazy powerful, with even Terra being scary! Then there's the likes of Belos, Vitimir, and Arboriel… people who don't just want to hurt me, but who want to twist me into something I'm not! And let me tell you; Belos especially knows how to make things hurt! That red lightning he uses is vicious, and even now I still remember how it felt to be transformed into a wild Titan Girl because of him. Not to mention how violated I felt having him possess my body…" Luz shuddered in revulsion; "Being scared of this stuff is normal; but being brave means facing that fear. It's not bravery if you're not afraid. And you're very brave, Vee."

"I am?" Vee asked, raising a doubtful eyebrow.

Luz leaned over and ruffled her little sister's hair; "Of course you are! You said yourself that you're always afraid, but you're still out there with us every day! Sure you're helping with the support team rather than fighting, but you're still out there, doing your best to help! You came back to the Demon Realm despite the trauma it made you feel and what you suffered here! Being stuck in the Human Realm nearly broke me, and I wasn't even in danger! So if you ask me, you're WAY braver than me!"

Vee blushed, feeling a little better about herself. She shape-shifted her tail out from the base of her human form's spine, as well as her wings, both of which she wrapped around Luz, who in turn cuddled Vee to her side. "Thanks Luz. You're a great big sister."

"And you're an awesome little sister, my Hermana." Luz beamed, kissing Vee's temple; "Take my advice Vee; go pay Golsi a visit sometime. I think we could all use therapy and they know their stuff."

"Mama already insisted. Mx Golsi is super busy with all the people going to them, but they did make time for me. They're nice and not scared of me at all! Everyone in the CATTs is so accepting!" the little Basilisk said.

Luz nodded; "Most of us were oddballs, outcasts, or weirdos of one flavour or another, so we get what it's like to be different from the crowd and not accepted. But yeah, Golsi is great; a real Titan Send!"

Vee agreed; Golsi had already given her some good advice about a certain subject that had been bothering her, regarding her place in the Noceda Family. The thought of that discussion compelled Vee to open her mouth and say; "Luz, I wanted to ask you something… or maybe, I guess I wanted your opinion on something?"

"Sure Hermana. What is it? You want some tips on how to woo Masha?" Luz asked with a grin.

"N-No! It's not that! It's… well…" the poor little Basilisk tried to find the words for what she wanted to say, but after a few false starts and the increasing pounding of her heart, she ultimately gave up. "N-Nevermind."

Luz frowned; "Vee? You know you can talk to me about anything, right? I won't judge or get mad; I promise! Mami won't either, if you'd rather talk to her."

"I know, I just…" Vee bit her lip; "Maybe another time. You're already exhausted and we had a stressful day, so I think we should leave that talk for some other time."

Luz had a sinking feeling that the topic Vee had wanted to talk about was more serious than she was letting on. Her curiosity burned, but she didn't want to push Vee to talk if she wasn't ready, so as frustrating as it was, Luz accepted it and cuddled Vee a little tighter. "Whenever you're ready, Hermana."

The younger girl smiled and the two enjoyed watching the ocean for a little longer, before Vee asked; "Something else I wanted to ask was about you and how you're feeling."

"Tired! But otherwise okay." Luz answered honestly. "I could do with a nap, but it's only the afternoon and if I sleep now, I won't sleep well tonight and I'll be cranky for tomorrow."

Vee giggled; "Cranky" Luz was basically the same as normal Luz, but with her mental age turned down to 9 years old. She was even more emotional, a lot more cuddly, and lacked motivation; it was cute, but not a good thing for her to be when they had serious work to do in the morning.

Still, that wasn't quite what Vee had meant.

"I meant about today… seeing him again. The Divider… Rasiel." Vee asked.

Luz's smile fell and she stared out at the sea in silence for a few moments. Vee winced; "I know he was important to you. You called him Tio Rasiel; that's not something you'd do for someone you weren't close with."

"Honestly, I called him that today because I hoped it might stir something in him… maybe wake up the man he used to be, the man I know is still in there. He's just so different now. He was always quiet, calm, and introspective, you know? He was a lot like Tia Lily in that way! Just one day after I met him, he gave me advice I've been living by ever since; that trying to change things for the better doesn't mean I'm trying to force my views on others… that I don't need to be like Belos to get people to listen. And now? Now he's the "Lord Protector" of the Isles and forcing his paradise on everyone."

Luz dug her fingers into the sand; "Sure, the isles were peaceful and a lot of people were happy, but look at what else his plan has caused! The Supreme Dragons were split up again, Mom was brainwashed along with Alador, Darius, Tia Lily, Titi Raine, and so many others! People like Odalia, Flora, Carnar Vanily, Arboriel, and Terra were able to take power… I'd bet anything Vitimir is off doing something too, and I just know the Archivists are not as tightly controlled as he thinks they are…!" Luz took a shaky breath; "The man I looked up to as a mentor and an uncle; the first Angel like me who loved this world the way I do… and he's become the very thing he taught me to stand up against. It's like a sick joke… Almost like he was grooming me to oppose him all along, all without even him knowing it. My heart is breaking… I just want the old him back."

Tears began to streak down her face, and Luz made no attempt to stop or hide them. It was healthier to let her feelings out than to keep them bottled up, and she knew Vee wouldn't mind. Sure enough, her little sister didn't mind, and snuggled closer to Luz while Stringbean wrapped around her partner's neck and purred comfortingly.

"I really hope we get Rasiel back; he means a lot to you, which means he's important to me too. I don't know how we'll do it, but we WILL get him back." Vee said. "You and Mama taught me how important family was, so if I can do anything to help you get back any member of that family, then I will."

Luz sniffled and then wiped her eyes with a smile; "Thank you, Vee. You really are the best little sister anyone could ask for."

"I do my best." Vee grinned, wagging her tail adorably. Luz responded by running her hands through Vee's hair, lightly scratching her head and especially her ears, nearly making the Basilisk melt.

"Well, now that I've had a bit of a cry and some hugs from my Vee, I feel nice and refreshed! Let me teach you a little more magic; it'll help pass the time and keep me from nodding off and ruining my sleep schedule!" Luz offered.

Vee nodded readily, eager to expand her repertoire; as a Quetzalcoatl Basilisk, her powers were mostly limited to the usual Basilisk mainstays of shape-shifting and eating magic, and a few added abilities like giving pseudo-blessings by giving the magic she devoured to others or flying with her angel-like wings, but she also possessed the power to cast very simple elemental spells. She couldn't cast other kinds of magic unless she blessed herself with another person's devoured magic, but for a fairly pacifistic and timid Basilisk like Vee, that was just fine.

And so, for the rest of the afternoon, Luz and Vee passed the time together by practicing their magic. Luz taught Vee primarily earth, wind, and ice spells so she could more easily defend herself with elemental barriers and push enemies away or trap them without doing direct damage, as Vee was still squeamish about that. Vee also took the time to teach Stringbean some tricks involving shape-shifting, to the point that the little Snake-Shifter was almost able to take on a Witch-like form, though she got tired before completing the complex transformation and spend the rest of the afternoon napping in Luz's hair.

When it was time for Dinner, the elites of the CATTs were assembled back at HQ along with their families, where they discussed their afternoons and burgeoning plans. Hettie had examined Hunter thoroughly and discovered that thanks to the nature of Willow's Galdor Heart Bloom, the power of the Galdorstone it had incorporated was being more effectively mixed into Hunter's bloodstream, which had increased his ability to use Flapjack and allowed him to use four Bestial Blessings instead of three, with Hettie suspecting his magical compatibility was only going to increase. Hettie, Camila, Viney, and Meesha had also begun studying how the Palistrom parts of Hunter and Lyra integrated with their non-plant parts, slowly mapping out how their DNA changed and adapted. They felt they were close to figuring out the way it worked, and were already starting to have ideas of how the information could be used to turn plant cells into animal cells; the first step in reverting the unwilling Mandragoras.

Willow had also shown up to dinner with a new necklace, courtesy of Hunter. It was a simple blue crystal heart that Hunter had carved from the piece of Galdorstone that he'd coughed up earlier that day, which he'd attached to some conjured chain to make Willow a proper thank you gift. It didn't appear to have any power left, but still Willow sighed romantically as she told Luz, Amity, Skara, and Vee all about how Hunter had given it to her; saying "You gave me my new heart, so it's only right I give you all that survives of my old one. Since meeting you, it has belonged to you anyway."

Hunter had blushed, but the others praised him for his romantic gesture, with the girls expressing how lucky Willow was, the boys looking at the Hunter with new respect, and Darius especially beaming with pride at his son.

Few, if any, new plans had been prepared for the inevitable encounter with the Divider and Archivists, though with Samael's info and King's help, they'd set up barrier glyphs that were empowered with King's blood and the Galdorstone they'd taken from Barcarib, ensuring that even a Sephiroth as powerful as the Divider would not be able to get through too easily. Samael had also given a brief overview of what to expect from his siblings, though his knowledge was limited.

"The toughest is the Keeper." Samael said, repeating everything to members who hadn't hung out with him all afternoon. "She is strong enough to boss around the others, and I think she was Mama's apprentice too. She can control the Archives too, but aside from the puppet spell we can all use, the only magic I ever saw her do was related to Suns."

"Makes sense. You're children of the Celestial, so I guess it makes sense for you to all use celestial magic." Luz commented as she took a bite of the fried griffin breast her Mami had whipped up for dinner.

Simi and Emiliel, who were eating with them too, alongside Asher (who was happily chattering away to Skara) both piped up; "Sammy says they all have different celestial magic!" Simi chirped.

"Yeah! But Sammy hasn't unlocked his yet. They can't do it until they're grown ups apparently." Emiliel nodded, feeding a bite of food to King.

Samael nodded; "That's what Mama told me once. Since Gus and Lyra have been teaching me meditation stuff for their magic lessons, I've been doing it a lot and getting more memories of Mama! She said that once I grow up my medallion should change and I'll get a bauble on my cap like the Archivists do."

Luz hummed in thought; come to think of it, she did notice that Samael's cap was the only one without a bauble, and his medallion was a smily version of his shadow form's face. "So the Keeper has a gold sun medallion and a gold star cap, and uses sun powers. The Watcher has a planet cap and medallion, so must use planetary celestial magic. The Scribe has a star medallion and a red star cap, so her magic probably involves the stars, and then the Huntsman has moons and likely uses lunar celestial magic, right?" the young Seraph asked.

"That's right! The Watcher's power also lets them see anything and everywhere, but it never worked right on Titans, so I don't they they can see you or King, or stuff on Titan land that still has a soul attached, so I think we're safe here on Auntie Cassie's arm or back on Uncle Orion." Samael said; "Azazel is different; she knows everything the Archivists have found and can cast any spell she's ever heard of! She knows all the magic! And her celestial magic is all about those funny pictures made of stars."

"Constellations?" Lyra asked.

"That's it!" Samael nodded; "It used to be that Watcher and Azazel were the second and third strongest, but I think that Huntsman is stronger now. He felt tougher… maybe because he likes fighting? I don't think he'd sit around all these years; even when badly hurt by Auntie Cassie, I think he kept practicing and getting stronger."

"And the Huntsman presumably uses celestial magic derived from the moon, which means we'll need to be mindful of its phases. Not only that, but magic revolving around hunting and beasts… I suspect he'll be like an extremely powerful Beast-Keeping Witch." Darius said grimly.

Eda frowned; "He's gonna be the one to give us the most trouble, I just know it! I didn't want to say anything at the time, but the sight of him almost sent the Owl Beast into a wild frenzy! If Luz's Blessing didn't have such a strong calming effect on her, I might have transformed and attacked right then and there! It could have broken the truce!"

Luz shook her head; "I'm not sure it would have; I don't think the Owl Beast technically counts as a member of the CATTs, and Terra using her pheromones to make Zirael and the Wings of Rani attack us didn't break the truce either, so I think we'd have been safe… well, as safe as possible attacking an Archivist right next to the Divider!"

The rest of the CATTs agreed emphatically; with them as exhausted as they were, fighting a foe of at least Seraphim level would have been tough! Especially if the Divider and the other Archivists had joined in!

"Putting that "what could have been" scenario aside, we now have at least some idea about what the Archivists can do and have some Titan defences set up to give us time to at least evacuate if things go badly." Raine said; "I already worked out an evacuation plan and had it distributed to everyone on the island; if the Divider shows up here, the barriers will go up around Digale Town and keep the Archivists out for a bit while we use the Teleportation Circle to flee back to the Palm. Darius and Alador have already worked with Lyra to leave some airships anchored there under some illusions, so we'll be able to flee if the worst comes to worst, and with the inspection at the Desert Union Pillar finished, we might be able to occupy it and CATTs' Cradle again."

"Oh right! I almost forgot about that! How did the inspection go, Mason?" Luz asked.

"'bout as well as could be hoped." Mason said gruffly, wiping crumbs out of his beard; "I fixed the place up in time and them Wings o' Rani didn't look like they saw anythin' amiss. They tried to insist that I take some back-up Angels to help protect the place, but I set 'em straight. Told 'em "Ain't no way them rebels would be dumb enough to risk the Ash Moth just for little ol' me." and they understood and backed off right quick."

That brought a smile of relief to everyone's faces, though Luz felt the need to say; "For the record; I'd totally fight the Ash Moth to save you, Mason!"

Mason chuckled; "Oh I don't doubt it. Let it never be said that you ain't a good soul, Luz. Mighty foolish I reckon, but you're a good lass."

Luz blushed as all her friends and family readily agreed, though Eda chimed in that they were all foolish to be fighting five Sephiroth, but that it wouldn't stop them. The conversation had next moved to more proactive things they could do against this new threat; Samael, King, and Luz were the only ones who stood a chance against them thanks to their similar level of power (in Samael and Luz's case), and their Titan Magic (in King and Luz's case), but all three also had something working against them. Samael was weaker than his siblings and by far the least experienced, King was still only 8 years old (he turned 9 within the next two weeks) and didn't even have magic up to par with the Hexsquad in raw power yet, and Luz's own Titan Magic was not going to be enough in its current form; she'd need to master it and harness the Titan Transformation just as her Tio Orion had told her.

King's problem couldn't really be fixed, but he was developing fast for a baby Titan and working very hard. Samael was similarly training a lot; his every spare moment these days was spent in lessons (though they'd been gamified by his understanding tutors, so he never complained and it got the other children training too), and was hoping to use proper technique and skill to close the gap in power. That just left Luz, who was already making plans to speak more with Golsi about the trauma she suffered thanks to the Titan Bile, and how she could move past it and conquer that power like Orion had said she should…though the irony that she'd only be able to save the world if she got sufficient therapy was not lost on her.

Dinner ended soon after, and the rest of the evening was spent on proper decompressing and some team-building exercises, or more accurately, playing board and card games from the three Realms and just generally having a good time. Luz stuck with it for as long as she could as her eyes began to droop, but as soon as it was late enough that going to bed wouldn't mess up her sleeping habits, she excused herself and announced that she was finally going to get some sleep. Her siblings, Tia, and Titi gave her hugs, her Mothers kissed her on the cheeks, and Amity shared a sweet, romantic kiss with her, all of them wishing her goodnight.

When Luz finally got to her room and swapped out her Divine Regalia for some comfy pajamas, she lay down in her nest and yawned. She lay back and was almost asleep before her head even hit the pillow, entirely unaware of a faint aura of white and gold magic forming around her head. The aura, containing an extra potent sleeping spell, sent Luz deeper and deeper into the land of dreams, ensuring that nothing short of a bomb going off would wake her. Luz drifted in that blissful state for hours upon hours, helping shake off the fatigue and stress her body had accumulated over the last two days of missions.

Finally, after an unknown amount of time, Luz began to surface again, slowly regaining consciousness. She rolled onto her front, then stretched like a cat in her nest, yawning loudly and smiling happily at how good it felt to stretch her limbs. When she finally opened her eyes, she found herself sitting up in her familiar nest, with Stringbean doing her own adorable wake up routine right in front of her, which never failed to brighten the start to Luz's day. She picked up the little Palisman and kissed the top of her head, getting a cute nuzzle in return, then looked over to King's nest in hopes of seeing her little brother. King and Samael often shared King's nest (despite Eda offering to build one for the little star child), so Luz was used to waking up to the sight of the two of them curled up and tangled together, but today they were absent.

Luz briefly wondered if the two had somehow managed to wake up earlier than her, but then she registered that the light coming through the window of their bedroom was brighter than normal.

"Did I oversleep?" Luz muttered to herself, looking around for her cellphone. She wasn't fully awake, which is the excuse Luz told herself when she couldn't find it, but then she tried to summon her scroll, only to find her magic wasn't responding to her at all! She snapped her fingers over and over, but her scroll didn't appear, and when she tried to draw a spell circle, nothing happened and Luz began to panic. That was made worse when Stringbean tried to transform or fly, but found that she couldn't; she was only able to slither around in her base snake-shifter form.

"What the heck is going on!?" Luz cried, leaping to her feet; she couldn't be that tired! She felt far more refreshed than before, so why couldn't she used her magic!? Not only that, but as she leapt out of her nest, Luz found that her clothes were not her pajamas, but rather her favourite cat hoodie, shorts, and leggings that had been her go-to outfit in the summer she'd spent on the isles.

"Something really strange is going on here! I haven't worn this outfit in months!" Luz scowled. She didn't even think she had it with her in the Demon Realm! Her normal outfit these days was her Divine Regalia, which she only really dropped in order to sleep or bathe.

Stringbean hissed worriedly and slithered up to Luz's shoulder as the Seraph threw open the bedroom door with the intention of running to find help… only for her to be shocked by what she saw. The door didn't open up to the hallway of the CATTs HQ, but rather the second story hallway of the Owl House. Luz gasped and tried to pinch herself, thinking this had to be a dream, an illusion, or joke of some kind being played at her expense. It failed to change anything though, and after feeling her clothes and the world around her and determining them to be real, Luz had a sinking feeling in her stomach.

Cautiously, she crept through the second floor of the Owl House, finding everything exactly as it always was, only devoid of people. She peeked out of every window, but never saw anything but the view of the Boiling Isles that she'd expect to see from each one. Finally, she decided to head down to the living room of the Owl House, finding no sign of anyone there either… Hooty was even missing from the front door! Luz began to panic and tried to open the front door to flee the empty house, but found that it was locked tightly, leaving Luz unable to escape, as she lacked the magic to blast her way out either.

Her panic began to build, continuing until she suddenly smelled something delicious coming from the Owl House kitchen. With no other signs of life in the house, Luz hurried through to the kitchen immediately and promptly gaped in shock at what she found.

"D-Divider…!?" she exclaimed.

Sure enough, the Divider was roaming about the kitchen of the Owl House, dressed in his simple regalia with his halo and ten wings showing, creating a regal and ethereal image that was slightly ruined by the fact he was also wearing an apron as he cooked breakfast.

"Ah, hello Luz. I trust you slept well?" the Divider said with a smile.

"I-I guess!? What the heck is going on here!? W-Why am I back home in the Owl House? Where is everyone!? What are you doing here!?" Luz cried, utterly confused.

The Divider chuckled; "Be calm Luz; you are safe. In answer to your questions, in order; this is a pseudo-dream world that I created and summoned you into. You are currently halfway between true sleep and the waking world. You are in the Owl House because it is a comfortable setting that unites the two of us, providing an ideal place to serve as the connecting point between our minds. Everyone else is either asleep in their own little worlds or they're awake and doing their own thing. As for what I'm doing here…" The Divider grinned and show a frying pan full of Divine Realm style Pancakes known as Dawn Cakes, which were halfway between a traditional pancake and a conventional layer cake, having layers with syrup and jam between them.

"… well obviously I'm making breakfast! This may be a dream world, but you can taste and feel things here, so you can eat and not need to worry about the calories!"

Luz's eyes widened; "A dream world!? But I can feel things! And pinching myself didn't wake me up!"

"A pseudo-dream world. I created this space by using my own subconscious, or "Inner World". It's basically like when you entered Belos' mind, only this time I invited you in." the Divider explained.

"How!? And why!?" Luz demanded.

"How? I simply cast a summoning spell on you that would draw your consciousness here." the Divider answered, putting the frying pan of Dawn Cakes back on the stove and then reaching out to pet Luz's hair. It made her flinch, but then she realised that it was the same gesture he'd used before they'd parted ways earlier.

"You put the spell on me back in the forest…!" the girl gasped.

The Divider nodded; "I did, though it only worked once your mind was in that strange place between sleep and consciousness. You needed to be awake, but not so awake that you could resist the summoning. Have no fear; I swear I will not hurt you and when we are done here, you will return to your body in the real world in the same condition that you left it, in both body and mind. As for why I brought you here…" he turned from her and conjured some plates, which he began to load up with Dawn Cakes; "… I promised you answers. You wanted to know why I'm doing all the things I'm doing. Why I choose to divide people and force my will upon them to create Paradise."

He went to the kitchen table and set plates down on either side, then sat down and gestured for Luz to do the same; "You want to know what turned the man you thought you knew, into me. Well, I brought you here to answer that and to unveil the truth of the world."

Luz slowly took a seat at the table and looked down at the food; it looked and smelled delicious, and she could feel it's warmth wafting up into her face as she leaned over it. It was hard to believe this was just some kind of dream world! Still, she grabbed her fork and took a bite and the flavour almost brought a tear to her eyes.

"You always did make great Dawn Cakes. The day you first made them for us, King demanded more and more until he ended up with a tummy ache." Luz said wistfully, lost in memories of happier times.

"Indeed. I did warn him that would happen, but in the end I couldn't deny him and as a result, he suffered from his mistakes." the Divider said, snapping his fingers and causing a plate of orc sausages to emerge from the Oven and set themselves down on the table between the two of them. Hesperus then slithered out from beneath the table and coiled up beside the plate to eat them, though not without offering one to Stringbean, inviting her to eat with her. Stringbean looked to Luz for permission, and after receiving a smile, she happily coiled up beside Hesperus and ate, the two Palismen freely enjoying one another's company.

"Tell me Luz; do you think it's better to allow a person to make mistakes that will hurt them, so they can learn their lesson? Or is it better to use your greater wisdom to deny them what they want in order to protect them?" the Divider asked.

The young Seraphim knew the Divider was talking about more than just King here, but replied anyway; "I guess it depends. It was better to let him mess up that time, because if you'd just told him "no", he would have just pouted and complained, and eventually snuck some or did something else stupid. Some people can't be told; they have to learn the hard way. If the consequences are temporary, it's better to let them play out. At least that's how I think it would work with King."

"Oh?" The Divider hummed, before taking a bite. He chewed for a long time before swallowing; "And what about you? Did your Mami or Papi ever do that with you?"

Luz thought about it, then nodded; "Sometimes, I think when I was pretty little. But most of the time they just told me no if I was doing something dumb; I was scared to disappoint them, so I tried to be obedient."

"So the short version of your answer is; "it depends", correct?" the Divider asked.

"I guess so, yeah." Luz said; "What about you though? With your whole dividing thing, I guess you'd rather just stop people from wanting to do the thing that gets them in trouble, right?"

The Divider simply nodded, and the two then ate in silence for a bit more. Once their plates were empty, the Divider snapped his fingers to make the dishes disappear, then smirked; "Another good thing about cooking and eating in here; no need to wash the dishes."

Luz couldn't help but chuckle, while the Divider looked to the Palismen; they still had some food left as Hesperus was playfully teasing Stringbean by playing tug of war with her using a sausage.

"Hes, don't play with your food so much. You'll teach Stringbean bad habits." the Divider tutted, then shook his head with a smile as he scratched the top of Hesperus' head. "Well Luz, I think these two will take a bit longer… so why don't we catch up a little. Thanks to my people, I know what you've been up to since you were arrested by the Divine Realm, and once again I apologise for Raguel's actions there, but what were you up to before that?"

"A lot." Luz frowned; "Being trapped in the Human Realm, cut off from half the people I love and the world I call home, worrying for my friends stuck in the same position, and dealing with mental health issues that I couldn't go to a therapist for because any human therapist would have me thrown into a mental hospital… you know, all those fun things."

Needless to say, Luz was still pretty bitter about all that.

The Divider at least had the good sense not to try and defend his actions there, instead opting to bow his head apologetically; "I am sorry. It's nowhere near enough to make this right, but I AM sorry."

"You're right, it's not enough and I don't forgive you." Luz frowned; "You have no idea what we all went through… Not to mention you kept Samael locked up for 4 more months!"

"He helped Belos!" the Divider argued.

"As a clueless child! Meanwhile you've recruited the four willing murderers of the Titan Race to be your new minions!" Luz yelled back.

The Divider winced; "Okay, I'll admit that perhaps my treatment of the Collector was unfair; I had just gotten my memories back and become my true self, so was understandably erratic. I'm sorry. But I'm not forgiving the Archivists; I can't kill them, seeing as they're true immortals, so I'm instead making them repent for their crimes by serving me and building Paradise!"

"Penance by serving the ambition of a guy who took over the Boiling Isles and is acting like a dictator to reshape the world… where have I heard that before?" Luz asked rhetorically.

The thinly veiled reference to Belos was not missed and certainly not appreciated, causing the Divider to reel back as if Luz had slapped him; "I am nothing like him! I don't want to kill people, hurt people, or make them miserable! I want to take their misery away!"

"Well sorry if it's hard to tell for all us little people living in the shadow of that pedestal you built for yourself." Luz muttered bitterly.

The Divider scowled; he knew Luz was never going to forgive him for sending her away, and after what Raguel, Odalia, and Terra had done under his nose, he couldn't blame her for being even more bitter towards him… but still, he could tell this wasn't all about him. Luz was angry about something else too.

"I get the feeling I don't know the full reason you're upset with me." he said, "Did something else happen?"

Luz bit her lip as she contemplated telling him, but ultimately decided that if he was going to be sharing answers, she might as well do the same.

"Remember what we learned shortly before the Day of Unity? About my Mami and Papi being Cassiel and Em?" Luz asked.

"Of course. I take it you know the full story of that now?" the Divider asked.

Luz nodded; "I do. I learned it the day after you banished me back to the Human Realm. It was… not a happy story."

As the Divider sat in silence, he listened to Luz's retelling of her parents' history. The story of how her Mami and Em had found their way to the Demon Realm, formed a triad relationship with Michael, produced Luz as a result of that relationship, only for Michael to be murdered by Belos and Manny to be lethally poisoned by Vitimir left the Divider reeling in shock. Suddenly he realised why Luz was so angry… Vitimir was now one of the Divider's Overseers and as far as he could tell, he was being largely obedient.

"I see… You have my sincere condolences for your losses." the Divider said earnestly; "What Vitimir did to you and your family is unacceptable and he WILL pay for those crimes, I swear it. If I'd known ahead of time, I would never have spared him and instead divided him."

Luz shook her head; "You still don't get it… dividing him doesn't fix the problem! And besides, even if you didn't know what he did to my Papi, you DID know what he tried to do to me! You were there during that whole messed-up bloodline potion thing!"

The Divider sighed; "And I intended to divide him, along with the likes of Terra and Odalia! But after the fight with Eda and the CATTs, I…" he ran a hand through his hair; "… I just didn't feel right. My conscience was screaming at me and I didn't want to divide any more people lest it get the better of me! I decided to give everyone a clean slate and a chance to prove they might be able to change and be better on their own! Instead they just proved why my division plan is the right way forward; they abused their second chance, whilst dividing them would have spared many people a lot of suffering."

He looked Luz in the eye imploringly; "Surely you have to admit that things would have been better if I'd divided them."

Luz couldn't deny that division was better than what he'd done, but it wasn't the best solution either. "There's a pretty big middle ground between Total Division and Total Freedom! They should have been punished for their crimes, not given positions of power or an opportunity to steal that power!"

The Divider groaned and shook his head; "This conversation is just going in circles. It's still too soon to be having it; you don't understand yet. Once you understand, I'm sure you'll change your mind. You're a smart girl, after all."

Luz was really starting to hate that argument. Every enemy she faced was so confident that the reason she fought them was just because she didn't understand what they were doing… as if she was nothing but an ignorant child. Belos had done it, Arboriel had done it, Raguel had done it, and of course, the Divider was now doing it, and it drove her nuts.

"Fine then." she said, crossing her arms stubbornly; "Make me understand. Explain everything about how you ended up like this! That's why you brought me here after all."

The Divider nodded; "I did… now I think it's time we begin that journey of understanding." he said, getting to his feet. "Follow me. I will take you to where it all began… the very start of this long and winding road of ours."

The girl stood, and Stringbean (who'd finished her meal) slithered back up to her shoulder, while Hesperus did the same with the Divider, who walked out of the kitchen after snapping his fingers to banish the last of the now-empty dishes. The man led Luz through the house and up towards the top of the stone tower behind it.

"Tell me Luz; what do you know of me, my plans, and the world of the past and hopeful future? I know you were told a bit about me by the Seraphim, but I'd like to know exactly what they told you and how much I need to correct." he said.

"They told me a bunch of stuff. About the Arcane Realm, how Angels, Witches, and Demons evolved from these ancient species, and how you became a Sephiroth, eventually became who you are now, and now want to undo the division of the Arcane Realm while dividing all the people instead." Luz replied. "They also explained about how the Titans are Nephilim and share a common ancestor with us."

The Divider gave a quiet hum; "A crude and oversimplified explanation, but not exactly inaccurate. Very well; I shall truly explain things from the beginning. Come."

He led Luz up to the Teleportation Circle on the roof of the tower, then hummed a simple tune that caused the two of them to be warped away to a different part of this strange dream world. When they arrived, Luz found herself standing on a cliff that overlooked a massive and verdant land. There was a forest with a crystal clear river running through it, mountains in the distance, and the sounds of chittering insects and other animals filled the air. In the distance, Luz could also see some kind of village with architecture unlike any she had ever seen. It was hard to tell from so far away, but Luz felt that they resembled a mix of the ancient cities of Volcarpalis, Caplacier, Pulvoltary, and Barcarib, as well King's tower and the older parts of Gran Seraphia, making the town look like an odd mix of Divine and Demon Realm buildings. But the truly shocking part was just how big everything was! Everything was twice the size of what she'd seen back home in the waking world!

"Whoa… what is this place!?" Luz gasped.

"An ancient memory, one that belongs to the Universe itself. Not all the memories I show you today will be mine alone… our world has tales of its own to tell." the Divider answered, sitting down on the cliff beside Luz and beckoning her to sit too, which she did.

"This is the Arcane Realm, as it had been 750,000 years ago. It was a beautiful place, but it was not like the Human Realm or any of the other realms… it was a realm with magic. No other realm has ever been created with magic of it's own, and this is why it became known as the Arcane Realm." the Divider explained.

Luz's eyes widened a little; "When you say created, do you mean like something or someone created it?"

"Yes." The Sephiroth replied simply.

"W-Who could do something like that!? Make a whole realm from nothing!? I-Is it like G-God!?" Luz asked, terrified by the idea of such a being.

The Divider made some unsure noises and gestures as he tried to find the words to explain things properly. "Not exactly. The Universe itself created the Arcane Realm via one of its intermediary parts. It's a gross over-simplification, but explaining it in cosmic terms is basically impossible at this stage, so let's just think of the Universe as a biological organism, and one that is still in its infancy. By comparison to a human or Angel life cycle, it's not even truly born yet."

"Okay, so we're not pretending the Universe is like a giant unborn space baby… it's not the weirdest comparison I've heard." Luz said with a giggle. "What does that have to do with the Arcane Realm?"

"I'm getting to it. Basically, the Universe is still in a growing state and so has various functions that need to be developed and managed, and a kind of… consciousness was created by the Universe to over see that. This consciousness came to be known as the Arbiter of Power, and it's one function was to oversee and ensure the creation of the Sephiroth System; a collection of Ten Immortal Organisms with the purpose of managing the functions of the growing universe. Think of it like a Sephiroth being the equivalent of a gland; managing specific hormones to promote growth and health. The Sephiroth do the same for the Universe; managing concepts and the very laws of reality."

Luz blinked and tried to wrap her head around it; "That's… honestly a little confusing. So the Universe is like a living thing, and this "Arbiter of Power" is responsible for finding Angels to become the Sephiroth that manage the "bodily functions" of the Universe? But the Arbiter isn't a person so much as it's just a part of the Universe's subconscious?"

"Close enough. Or perhaps to use your mother's Cosmic Frontier as the frame for a better metaphor, think of the Universe like a Star Ship, with the Arbiter of Power being the Installer that sets up the Sephiroth Programs, which handle the ten most vital systems on the ship." the Divider explained.

"Or the Universe is like Fae Kingdom in the Glade of Galgaroth in the Good Witch Azura! The Arbiter is the spirit of the kingdom who chooses the Sages of the Elemental Crystals, who in turn govern the element for the Kingdom!" Luz smiled.

"Ah, there's the Azura nerd I know and love. Those books were the strangest I ever read, but I'd be a liar if I said I didn't kind of love them." the Divider chuckled; "But getting back on topic. The Arbiter of Power possessed the powers of all Ten Sephiroth and was responsible of handing them out. The Arbiter decided that rather than creating ten vessels for the power outright, it was better to give the powers to mortals who prove they're in-tune with the Universe. After all, a being who exists within the Universe would have a vested interest in ensuring its continued existence and would have a deeper perspective of the Universe than a creature born for such a purpose." the Divider said, creating an illusion of a cloaked figure that held ten orbs in a ring above their head, almost like a halo.

"I guess that makes sense. I guess the organs and stuff inside my body probably better understand how to run things in there than I do." Luz nodded; "So based on what you've said so far, the Arbiter of Power used the Sephiroth Powers to create the Arcane Realm, and the Proto-Angels were the race that was supposed to create the Sephiroth?"

The Divider gave a short nod; "You're half right. The Arcane Realm WAS created as a seedbed for the Sephiroth and became the first and only realm to be created from scratch with magic, or the power to alter the Universe in small ways. This was meant to test if the people could use the power responsibly; as you can yell, that has had some mixed results."

"Pfft, tell me about it. But then what part did I get wrong?" Luz asked; "Were Proto-Demons eligible to become Sephiroth too?"

"Yes, for a time they were." the Divider said, "But you were wrong about the Proto-Angels and/or Proto-Demons being the race created to become the Sephiroth… they came later, inheriting the Arcane Realm from its original owners. Follow me."

Luz was puzzled, but as the Divider took flight and began heading towards the village in the distance, she promptly flew after him. She caught up quickly and the two entered the village itself, finally giving Luz a good look at the people living there. Her heart rate sped up as her eyes widened and sparkled at the sight of them, a broad smile beginning to stretch across her face.

"Oh my Titan… I mean, oh my Titans!" Luz gasped as she gazed upon the people of the Arcane Realm.

They truly did look like Titans! Suddenly, the reason for everything in this realm being double the size made sense; the people were double the size too! This still made them far smaller than the Titans she knew, but the other resemblances were uncanny. They were fur covered humanoids with clawed, five-fingered hands and slightly more humanoid feet, though they walked on the tips of their feet. Their fur seemed to come in any colour there was, with some being purple, black, green, orange, white, or even gold, silver, or bronze! They were only ever a single colour it seemed, but they were all quite different! They also had long tails that were like a much longer, thicker Lion's tail, and they ended in a large brush that reminded Luz of King's tail, and the tails of Orion and Cassiopeia. Their faces also looked like fully-fleshed versions of the skull-faced Titans, though they all had the same rough skull shape as King (albeit a little more draconic and angled compared to his smoother skull). Lastly, they sported a pair of wings on their back that resembled draconic wings, but had feathers instead of the traditional membranes.

Luz watched them with amazement, listening to their conversations (which she could understand for some reason), watching their adorable children run around and play, and even watching them use magic in a way that was extremely familiar to her; by waving their hands and causing glyphs to appear. Every one of these people had their own unique set, but strangely enough, she saw some of them with glyphs glowing on their bodies when they used them, just like she did.

"These people are the original Titans… the original Nephilim." Luz whispered; "And their magic… do they bless each other so they can all use all the elements?"

"They did. In those days, they received their first glyph blessing from whichever parent was only able to give them one of their glyphs from birth. They received their second blessing from one of their family members; usually a sibling or grandparent, after they bonded with the first blessing. Then the third would come from their best friend or some other valued companion. Then the fourth would come from their beloved, or whomever the loved most in the world. It was all done through instinct; they were a tight-knit people." the Divider said wistfully; "Their society is part of what I modelled my Paradise on. Legends of them even persisted into the Human Realm; the Angel Race adopted many of their practices, which in turn influenced the Human idea of Heaven. And before you ask, since I can see you thinking about it, they didn't speak English or the Common Tongue as the Demon Realm calls it; my magic is translating the memory."

Luz nodded in understand, but then had a strange thought; "These people are the original Nephilim… but they died out somehow. But then the Proto-Angels and Proto-Demons were able to somehow breed together to bring back the modern Nephilim? Does that mean…?"

The Divider smiled; "Division and Unity; two sides of the same coin. Once upon a time, this race was known as the Elohim; a name that meant: "Seed of Creation" and they wielded the powers of the Arcane, which became known as magic. But Elohim were still mortals… still people, and at the end of the day, they were flawed…"

He snapped his fingers and the world around them shifted, and suddenly the peaceful people in the village below (which had now expanded into a larger town) were divided into two sides who were furiously shouting and debating with one another.

"Like Humans, Angels, Demons, and every other form of life in this Universe, the Elohim found reasons to disagree and divide themselves into groups and factions." the Divider frowned. "And as always, those disagreements eventually escalated into arguments…" he snapped his fingers and the scene changed again; the town grew into a larger city and the arguing Elohim grew more intense, and to the surprise of Luz, they began to change. One side's fur was starting to become lighter in colour and their faces less rugged, while the other side got darker and more vicious looking. Both sides also began to get smaller, like the average height was going down.

"… and of course, arguments lead to fighting…" the Divider continued, snapping his fingers once again. The differences between the two types of Elohim grew more pronounced, the city grew larger yet also scaled down to fit the smaller inhabitants, and the two factions began fighting with each other, brawling in the streets as riots raged around them.

"…and finally, fighting leads to full-on war." the Divider finished grimly, snapping his fingers one last time. The memory now depicted two entirely different species of creature warring with each other in the remains of a destroyed city, killing one another with wild abandon. One faction was lion-like, resembling lion Cait Sith with more human-like faces, tails like the old Elohim, gold, silver, or white fur, and feathered wings reminiscent of Angels. The other faction had black fur as well as scales, with their lower body being furry and the upper body being scaly, with reptilian tails, horns atop their heads, which were more varied than the first faction, and with long claws, almost hoof-like feet that looked halfway between the cloven hooves of a goat and the feet of a Titan, and most shockingly of all, no wings at all.

"The Elohim eventually split into the Proto-Angels and Proto-Demons, then when they interbred, they made the Nephilim; reincarnations of the Elohim race!" Luz gasped, deeply shocked; "That's what you meant by Division and Unity! The race was divided, but somehow came back together!"

The Divider nodded with a sad smile, then snapped his fingers again to revert the memory back to the point in which Elohim lived in peace within their little village in this corner of the Arcane Realm. "That is exactly right. But you're no doubt wondering what could have caused them to divide themselves, and how that division caused them to evolve into different races. It was a process that took almost 150,000 years, occurring over many, many generations, and was caused by a single disagreement; the "proper" way to use magic."

Luz blinked; "Wait, really? That's it!? They couldn't agree on how to use magic!?"

"You forget that as the only naturally magical race, the Elohim held magic in high-regard. They, like modern Angels, needed it to live! And the division of magic is still one that exists to this day, within the descendents of the Elohim. You and I are among the only beings who still use magic in its true, original form." the Divider began.

"We do!? But how? Oh! Through the glyphs right? They're Titan Magic, and since Titans are the reborn Elohim, their magic has to be the same as the original unified magic!" Luz smiled, feeling like she was starting to piece things together.

"Very good! You are correct." The Divider praised, ruffling Luz's hair as she tried to pretend like the gesture didn't make her feel warm and fuzzy inside; "You see true magic, or Arcane Magic as I call it, is magic born from two different energies mixed together. Natural Energy or Earthly Magic, which comes from living things, and Celestial Energy or Spiritual Magic, which comes from non-living things; primarily celestial bodies. While true Arcane Magic is a perfect 1:1 ration, different ratios are better for different types of magic; for example, Plant Magic is more effective with more Natural Energy, while Divination Magic is more effective with more Celestial Energy. The elements themselves belong to these two classifications; Water, Earth, Plant are natural elements, while Fire, Wind, and Lightning are considered celestial elements. Light and Darkness are a blend of the two, but Light leans towards the celestial and Darkness towards the natural."

Luz could see where this was going and made an educated guess; "Different people have different elemental affinities, so I bet some people were better with Celestial Energy and some were better with Physical Energy. Because they had an affinity towards it, they thought it was better; right?"

"Right." The Divider nodded; "You're starting to see the problem already. Elohim naturally began to see the type of magic they were better at as inherently better, since in their eyes it performed better. But to make oneself feel superior is also to make others feel inferior, and that invites competition, which breeds conflict. Eventually the Elohim began rejecting whichever side of the spectrum they weren't as good at and things began to change. The Elohim were literally built as a magical race, so in a similar fashion to the Basilisks, they began to change as the magic they used did too. An Elohim generated natural energy within their stomachs by consuming food, and then absorbed celestial energy from the outside world via their wings, with both energies then blending in their hearts to create Arcane Magic. But as they began shunning half of their magic, their bodies slowly shrank so they could still survive on the lesser intake, and they otherwise evolved to better use their chosen form of Magic."

He snapped his fingers to conjure two illusions of an identical Elohim, then snapped them again to cause one of them to begin changing into a Proto-Demon.

"Elohim were able to hide their wings like Angels can, so the Naturally-Inclined Elohim began keeping their wings stored and instead consumed more food to fill up on Natural Energy without any Celestial Energy. The result was their wings eventually becoming vestigial and disappearing altogether, while their bodies became better at generating magic from just food, water, and oxygen. This caused their heart to develop the ability to generate natural magic in and of itself, creating the Bile Sacs. They became stronger, more rugged creatures, and became the Proto-Demons you heard of, also known as the Malakhim, which means "Root of Creation". The name Malakhim is still used in some parts of the Divine Realm to refer to modern Demons too, though Malakhim technically only refers to the Proto-Demons."

The Divider then snapped his fingers again and caused the second Elohim illusion to change into a Proto-Angel.

"On the flip side, the Celestially-Inclined Elohim began spending a lot of time meditating and absorbing as much Celestial Energy through their wings as possible. They ate less to minimize their Natural Energy intake, and used magic to sustain themselves. This resulted in them keeping their magic dependency while the Malakhim lost theirs. Their wings also grew larger and more efficient at absorbing magic. Since they were less physically inclined, they also became softer and gentler looking and became the Proto-Angels, or as they called themselves; the Bene Elohim, which means "Sprout of Creation". Their affinities towards the Celestial is also what caused their colouring to become heavily dominated by white, silver, and gold; the colours of Light, Wind, and Lightning, while the Malakhim were more diverse."

Luz listened avidly, mentally piecing it all together with what she already knew. "It's so strange… to think that Angels, Witches, and Demons all have this common connection! I knew Angels and Witches were related since we share human ancestry, but to think we're related on the magical side too! And Demons too! It's all so much! And I guess it explains the beginning of the war between our races, which led to you being, well, you. But I already knew about the war; what does this have to do with the Sephiroth?"

The Divider snapped his fingers once more and transported them into a new memory. This time, they were on the edge of a forest that looked out onto a massive grassland, which was riddled with weapons and ancient war banners, marking it as a battlefield from a long time ago.

"I brought up the history of the Elohim to explain how the Sephiroth come to be. The first requirement is to be a Seraphim; which means "Bloom of Creation" in the old tongue. In the old days, Elohim AND Bene Elohim could both ascend like modern angels; they became High Elohim, then Arch-Elohim, then Seraphim, who were "Sephiroth Candidates"." the Divider began.

Luz held up a hand; "Wait a moment; I get how an Elohim could ascend, but why could the Bene Elohim do it but not the Malakhim? Shouldn't they have become High Demons and Arch Demons or something?"

"A smart question." The Divider complimented; "That is because ascension requires a certain amount of pure Arcane Magic. Malakhim no longer had access to Celestial Energy and so stopped ascending, losing the ability entirely when they became Witches and Demons. But since Natural Energy is gained through eating, drinking, and breathing, the Bene Elohim couldn't completely live without it and thus retained the power to ascend, though the amount of Arcane Magic needed and the limited amount of Natural Energy they gathered makes ascension hard, especially at the highest levels. Why do you think you ascended so easily? The glyphs are basically pure Arcane Magic! One is enough to trigger an ascension at any level up to Arch-Angel to Seraphim, at which point four are needed."

Luz frowned; it seemed horribly unfair that the Malakhim didn't get the same treatment as the Bene Elohim, but she supposed there wasn't much more to be done about that… maybe if modern Witches and Demons embraced Celestial Energy again somehow, they'd be able to unlock that power again!

Getting back to his explanation; the Divider said; "In order to ascend to the final level of Sephiroth, a Seraphim had to become powerful enough, at which point the Arbiter of Power would judge if they were worthy of becoming a Sephiroth. For a long time, they all failed and had their memories of the meeting wiped. That changed with the birth of the first Sephiroth; the Guardian."

The Divider began walking into the battlefield and Luz followed, soon realising that he was leading her towards what appeared to be a person. It was a Bene Elohim with eight silvery wings, making them an Ancient Seraphim, and strangely enough their fur had equal parts black and white. Luz couldn't tell what their gender was, but their feline-like features were soft, relaxed, and contemplative. They were meditating in the shadow of two banners, one from either side of the old battle, judging by the way roots and grass had begun to grow over their bodies, it appeared like they hadn't moved for quite a while.

"This is them; the Guardian as one of the Bene Seraphim, as I call them. I don't know their name; I think they cast it away, but I do know that unlike other Bene Elohim, they considered Natural Energy to be as important as Celestial Energy and spent a great deal of time meditating on the conflict that divided their race. Eventually, their meditations and embracing of true Arcane Magic granted them an audience with the Arbiter of Power, who judged them worthy and granted them the title and power of Guardian, Leader of the Sephiroth."

"They're your leader?" Luz tilted her head.

The elder Angel nodded; "That is literally their role. Their job is to assist the Arbiter of Power in creating and assembling the Sephiroth, and ensure each of us is doing our job. Their magic revolves around keeping other Sephiroth, and the Elohim, in check."

Luz couldn't resist a light jab; "I guess they're asleep at the wheel right now then."

"Ha ha." the Divider deadpanned; "The Guardian was always… quirky. They're off doing who knows what and aren't likely even aware of my return. Sephiroth are not omniscient after all. Besides, they are largely responsible for stopping my Paradise plan the first time."

Luz made a mental note to look into that; if she could find a way to summon the Guardian and alert them to the Divider's return, maybe they could do something about him?

"But regardless, that ends the first era of our tale. The creation of the Arcane Realm, the separation of the Elohim into the Bene Elohim and Malakhim, and the birth of the first Sephiroth, the Guardian. The second era of our tale begins 500,000 years ago, and is the story of the Nephilim AKA the Titans' creation."

With yet another snap of his fingers, they were brought to a new memory, this time of an active battlefield. Luz gasped in horror as Bene Elohim and Malakhim slaughtered one another all around her, spraying golden and crimson blood, filling the air with its coppery smell as well as the stench of burning flesh and the sound of pained screams. The Divider took Luz's hand and slowly began to lead her through the throng of battle, the two Angels like ghosts as they slipped through the violence without being seen, heard, or felt by the soldiers. The eventually arrived back at a small hill, which the Divider gently carried Luz up as the girl kept her eyes clenched tight, unwilling to watch any more of the violence. Once they reached the top of the hill, the Divider cast a spell that created a cone of silence around them, ensuring they could talk.

It took a few minutes for Luz to open her eyes though, as she was badly shaken by what she saw. "T-That was horrible! All those people… they were just slaughtering each other!" she cried, almost in tears. She wanted to be sick, suddenly regretting her breakfast, but the Divider sat down on the grass of the hill and sat her down beside him, rubbing her back as he held her to his side.

"There there. It is not a pretty sight, I know… this battle will eventually end in victory for the Bene Elohim, who'll kill ever single Malakhim present. No prisoners, and the only survivors will be those who feigned death and were lucky enough to not be trampled in the mayhem." the Divider said in a monotone, forcing himself not to look away from the carnage; "This is what war truly is, Luz. Kill or be killed in its rawest form. The closest thing to a real Hell as exists in this Universe."

Luz sniffled and opened her eyes, only to immediately feel her stomach churn again at the sight, causing her to instead look fixedly at her own knees; "Why are you showing me this?"

"Because you need to understand what it is I'm fighting against. This exact scene is unremarkable; it has played out billions upon billions of times throughout time and for stupid reasons every time. This particular battle is part of a war that was kicked off by a petty dispute between a Bene-Elohim Noble and a Malakhim Noble, who couldn't agree where their property line was. So like any "logical" Ruler, they sent thousands of innocent young people to kill each other over it." the Divider said, a hateful sneer on his face as he thought about it; "But these people never understand the truth; they are like children playing with matches and setting off an entire conflagration! Their petty dispute ballooned into war as their allies came to their aid, new alliances were forged, and people cry out for justice in the name of their murdered family and friends."

Luz looked at the Divider with horror on her face; "All this bloodshed… because of an argument over property!? B-But people are dying! Or I guess, they died over it a long time ago…"

The Divider nodded grimly; "You've been lucky so far, Luz. The wars you've been fighting have been relatively bloodless, but that is rarely the case. How many times in history do you think Angels, Demons, or Humans have gone to war and slaughtered each other? How many times do you think that war has been justified? Because you know wars against unabashed evil like your war with Belos? Those are rare enough to be counted on one hand."

"S-So this is just to make me agree with you? That dividing people and taking away their negative feelings and free will is worth it because it stops stuff like this?" Luz asked, gesturing towards the battle.

"No." The Divider said; "While I want you to eventually understand and join me, that is not the sole reason. Like I said, I want you to understand me… I need you to understand me, and for that to happen, you need to learn what created me."

He turned back to the battle; "While this battle is an unremarkable one, the war it was part of was not. That war would be the first of bout of the much larger, Eternal War between Angels and Demons; the war that would not truly end until after I was sealed away. Think of it like the Human World War. A property dispute started it, but previous little wars and battles had resulted in nobles and governments forming such complicated webs of alliances that as soon as one side began calling in their allies to help them, the entire Realm was at war with itself, and it quickly became a racial war in which the Bene Elohim and Malakhim sought to exterminate each other."

The Divider snapped his fingers and the memory changed, causing Luz to find herself sitting beside him atop a small building in what looked like a Bene Elohim city. The city was under attack by the Malakhim, who were killing everything in sight. Luz grimaced, not wanting to see more slaughter.

"What's special about his memory? It looks like more killing to me." she said miserably.

"It is the moment that this war changed. Look there." the Divider pointed a courtyard a short distance from them, where a battle was going on between many Malakhim and a single being… a being that Luz could only see as a swirling mass of light. That being was easily defeating, but noticeably not killing, the Malakhim that attacked them.

"That is the Guardian. When the war became one of extinction, with each side trying to wipe out the other, the Guardian intervened. Despite being a neutral party, the Arcane Realm was the seedbed for the Sephiroth so it was their duty to defend it. But the Guardian, as I mentioned earlier, is not known for conventional thinking. Like I eventually did, they realised that peace was not possible to obtain, so decided to end the war the only way that made logical sense to them; removing one side. They chose to side with the Bene Elohim." the Divider explained grimly.

Luz could scarcely believe it; "The Guardian was willing to wipe out the Malakhim!?"

"They were still relatively young and naive in their way of thinking. They considered their role as the Guardian to be sacred and irrefutable, and with that logic, they realised that since only Bene Elohim could become Seraphim, and only Seraphim could become Sephiroth, it made more sense to preserve them and wipe out the Malakhim. There is a twisted kind of logic in that… though you may feel better to know that they never killed anyone themselves." the elder Angel said.

That didn't really make Luz feel better; did it matter that they weren't killing people themselves if they were still helping others to kill them? And while she did understand the twisted logic behind the Guardian's decision, she couldn't help but think there had to have been a better way! They were an almighty Sephiroth! Surely they must have been able to do something about the war without killing anyone at all! Luz began to wonder if she was just being naive, but she felt in her heart that a peaceful option existed… though she couldn't think of a way that didn't involve using force to stop the killing.

In the end, she just sighed heavily and tried to focus on other things, honing in on the Guardian's appearance; "Why do they look so different as a Sephiroth? They don't even look like a person any more." she pointed out.

"That is just you. A Sephiroth's true form cannot be properly perceived by those who've not seen them directly. Pictures, memories, even reflections and illusions; they all appear shrouded or like a swirl of colour until you meet them yourself. You need to see a Sephiroth with your own eyes to comprehend them. To me, the Guardian looks similar to their Seraphim state, though with more wings and a halo." The Divider explained.

Suddenly, Luz remembered what King had mentioned about Samael's memories; King had seen the other Archivists clearly (likely due to them being born Sephiroth rather than ascended ones), but the Celestial had appeared foggy and unfocused. At the time, King had chalked it up to Samael's young age making the memory faded, but in light of this new information, it suddenly made a lot more sense!

Luz was about to ask if the Guardian's fight was the sole reason for the Divider showing her this memory, but the instant she opened her mouth, there was a rumbling in the distance, which shook the city. Luz, along with the people of the memory went silent and still, before another tremor hit the city. People began to trip and fall, and the Malakhim looked around in shock while the Bene Elohim continued to escape their city. The tremors repeated, and it soon became clear why; these were not mere earthquakes; these were foot steps.

A thunderous roar shook the city and sent the Malakhim running in fear, before one of the taller buildings was suddenly smashed down and a colossal creature appeared. The creature resembled the old Elohim, but their tail was just a fox-like brush tail, their wings were pure white but draconic and featherless, and their head was clad in a skull of sturdy white bone. The creature was also as tall as the largest building in the city, which it was careful to avoid.

"STOP! STOP THIS NOW! I WILL NOT ALLOW THE DESTRUCTION OF MY MOTHER'S CITY, OR THE EXTINCTION OF MY FATHER'S PEOPLE!" the being bellowed.

Luz gasped as a smile pulled at her lips; it was a Titan! And one whose white wings were a lot more like King's than the greying, hole-filled ones that Orion and Cassiopeia had. She watched as the Titan picked up the fallen building they'd just crashed through and began using it like a makeshift club, waving it around threateningly and using sonic roars that knocked everyone off their feet. They weren't hitting anyone directly though, and as they moved through the city, they were extremely careful not to step on anyone, instead using their tail, a wind glyph, or their roar to sweep people out of the way before they took each step. It didn't take long before they reached the central courtyard where the Guardian was fighting, though their battle had since ended so the Guardian could observe the newly arrived Nephilim.

The Guardian flew up towards the Nephilim's face and spoke in a strange voice; it was androgynous and carried an unusual echo, making it sound supernatural.

"Hold, large one. Who are you?" they asked.

"I am Torram, the child of a Bene Elohim who once called this city home 1000 years ago, and of a Malakhim whom fell in love with her." the Titan proclaimed. "They are both gone, but I remain! I will not allow my mother's home to be destroyed by my father's people! Nor will I allow my father's people to be wiped out by my mother's! HEAR ME ALL OF YOU: I WILL STOP THIS WAR ALONE IF I MUST!"

The Guardian went very still, but others in the city did not. With the Malakhim advance stopped, the Bene Elohim soldiers evacuating the city and trying to hold them back turned and rushed back into the fray, aiming to attack the Malakhim and drive them back completely. However they were swept out of the sky by the Titan's tail, as a green plant glyph appeared on the tip of it and vines shot out, capturing Bene Elohim and pulling them into the expansive fluff of the young Titan's tail and trapping them there, where sleeping pollen of some kind knocked them out. The Guardian acted to stop the Titan, especially as the Malakhim were now using the capture of the Bene Elohim soldiers as an excuse to recommence their attack and attempted slaughter, but unlike the other people, the Guardian was not spared by the Titan, who swung the building-turned-club at them and knocked them flying miles away. The Sephiroth crashed into a distant mountain, and Luz couldn't help but cheer.

She then watched as the Torram gave the Malakhim the same treatment they'd given the Bene Elohim; capturing them in vines and putting them to sleep. Seeing that the colossal creature was not on either of their sides, and hearing how they were the result of a union between their races (something most considered abominable), both sides of the conflict actually seemed to unite against them, but Torram was massive and powerful. With a roar they blasted back waves of soldiers, with a wave of their hand they conjured a barrier that blocked their barrages of spells and weapons, and with a flick of their finger, they cast spells to paralyse or knock out everyone who approached, killing no one. When the soldiers finally began to get the message that this creature was beyond them and stopped fighting, Torram then began sniffing out the injured through the smell of blood and healing them with their magic.

It was the sight of healing that greeted the Guardian when they pulled themselves out of the mountain and flew back to the city, and the sight was enough to stay their hand.

"You are mighty, Torram. Yet despite that, you use your strength to defend, disable, and heal, rather than kill. You have my respect." The Guardian said, floating around Torram's head to observe their work. "Do you truly believe you can stop this war? Do you mean solely to protect this city and the lives of the Malakhim?"

"I mean to protect both my mother's and my father's people." Torram answered. "Even if I must fight both sides and become a common enemy to unite them; I will do what must be done."

The Guardian looked at them for a long time in silence, and Luz wondered what was going on inside their head. She looked over at the Divider, and he was looking up at Torram with respect in his eyes. Eventually, the Guardian said; "You are a fascinating being. The original people of this world, the Elohim, were large too; not as large as you, but their stature was a sign of their superior status within the universe. They lost it as they split themselves up into the current warring tribes, as their inferior magic forced them to become smaller so as not to be spread too thin. But you represent a reunion… that which was divided has since reunited, and in a stronger form than ever. Fascinating… But I can sense your powers; you do not have the ability to ascend through the ranks of the High and Arch Elohim, nor the Seraphim… it is a shame, but your evolution seems to feed straight back into your size. You are not a true Elohim, but perhaps their successor or reincarnation. I think I shall call you the Nephilim: "The Stem of Creation", for you stand above the sprouts and roots, but do not yet reach the Bloom. You may never be able to become a Sephiroth… but I am curious to see what possibilities you unlock."

Torram looked bewildered, and Luz was similarly surprised, turning to the Divider for an explanation; "What did the Guardian mean by all that?"

"You remember how the Malakhim could not ascend? Well Torram of the Nephilim inherited that aspect of their father, even though they possessed true Arcane Magic. Instead of gaining new wings and ascending through the ranks, Torram simply grew larger and larger. It wouldn't be until later that their species became known as Titans. A Titan's size is dependent on both their age and their power; that's why King has grown a bit despite still being so young. It's also amusing to think that they were named Nephilim because they were seen as stronger than the Bene Elohim, the Malakhim, and even the original Elohim, but weaker than the Seraphim, considering Torram was still quite young and weak for a Titan, being only a millennia old. Once he grew larger and older, he'd become far stronger than even the Seraphim." the Divider explained.

Luz smiled; "It's nice to think that King will be even stronger than me someday. He's grown up a lot… and if there's one good thing about me never dying of old age now, it's that I can watch him grow up and be the amazing Titan I know he will be."

The Divider smiled and nodded; "It is a wonderful thing, to see the next generation surpass you. I look forward to it too. As the last of the Titans, King will become the father of the entire species going forward… all future Titans will be born from him, just as all other Titans were born from Torram's bloodline. Torram and King; the Grandfather and Father of the Nephilim… it has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

Luz nodded, and turned her attention back to Torram and the Guardian, who seemed to be speaking about the war and its causes, mirroring the conversation Luz had with the Divider just a short time ago.

"You represent a solution to this problem that I did not see." The Guardian said, floating around Torram as if examining them; "I had chosen to side with the Bene Elohim to preserve the Seraphim and thus the Sephiroth Candidates, but you present an alternative solution; proof of plausible coexistence between the two species. I had thought it impossible, hence why I chose to join the war on the side I wished to see survive, but if it truly is possible…" The Guardian trailed off, seemingly deep in thought (though Luz had a hard time telling what they were thinking since she only saw them as swirls of colour).

"Perhaps peace in this scenario is not a futile endeavour after all. If you wish to stop this war through peaceful means, I will assist you." The Guardian said.

Torram frowned; "You mean to say you had the power to stop the war but chose not to?"

"Yes. I tried to apply logic to the situation; peace seemed impossible for the Bene Elohim and Malakhim to maintain, so decided that it was pointless to try. The war I stopped would be replaced by another before long and it would cause further disruptions to the Arcane Realm. The only long term solution was one side's erasure. I considered a single decisive act was better than the slow "death of a thousand cuts" that would come about from countless future wars."

Torram and Luz had the same bewildered expression on their faces at the Guardian's words, making the Divider chuckle. While Luz didn't agree with the Guardian and definitely felt their way of thinking was deeply flawed, she did understand where they were coming from; if left alone, the two races would have endlessly warred until one side killed the other, causing monstrous suffering for eons upon eons. At least acting to wipe out one side decisively would ultimately involve less suffering and bloodshed, and short of removing their ability to wage war at all, Luz didn't know how else a lasting peace would be formed.

She quickly shook that thought out of her mind though, especially as she realised that this was the Divider's line of thinking too.

The Guardian continued; "However since you are the product of a union between their races, it means peace is possible on a small scale. If it is possible on a small scale, then perhaps it is also possible on a larger one. "Love" may well be the thing that brings peace. I wish to explore this possibility. Shall we?"

Torram looked at the Guardian suspiciously, but since they'd seen them defeating but not killing Malakhim earlier, they ultimately agreed; "Alright. We will work together for the sake of peace."

They offered their giant hand for the Guardian to shake, and they did so. At that point, the Divider snapped his fingers and Luz suddenly found herself inside the ritual chamber of some kind of strange temple, which resembled a mix of the four elemental temples she'd visited so far, with white stone and gold detailing. Only instead of the murals she'd seen at Barcarib or the sealed Supreme Dragons she'd seen at the other temples, the walls of this chamber were covered in stained glass windows, shining plenty of light into the room and depicting various scenes from other memories that the Divider wanted to show her. He gestured for her to follow him around the room, looking at each one.

The first showed Torram and the Guardian (still a swirl of colour, even in stained glass form) stood back to back whilst surrounded by Bene Elohim and Malakhim. "The Guardian and Torram were each true to their word and worked together to end the war. Torram studied magic under the Guardian and grew larger, eventually becoming the largest Nephilim to ever live, being twice the size of Orion. With their massive size, neither side could hope to defeat them and the Bene Elohim quickly grew to hate and fear Torram, as they not only turned the Guardian against them, but prevented them from winning a war that was sure to end with their ultimate victory before Torram's intervention. Not only that, but Torram spared all lives but did not shy away from viciously punishing those who committed atrocities, often destroying everything they owned and leaving them penniless and powerless."

Luz gulped, remembering how the animosity that Titan Worshippers had towards Angels like her in the past; it seemed that may have had a more complicated origin than simply the Archivists' actions. The next memory window showed there was more to the Witches and Demons' love of the Titans too, as it depicted Torram surrounded by Malakhim who worshipped him and studied magic under him, likely resulting in the early forms of both Wild Magic and the Titan Faith.

"While the Malakhim were initially conflicted by the Guardian and Torram helping them without killing the Bene Elohim, they quickly realised that Torram was responsible for bringing the Guardian around to the idea of peace and saved their race from extinction. As such, they began to worship them as a god-like figure, not unlike how the Bene Elohim and Angels would view the Sephiroth. Peace truly came, and Torram earned a reputation for fairness by crushing even those Malakhim who tried to keep the war going."

The Divider lead Luz to the next window, which depicted Torram and the Guardian side by side in front of a cloaked and hooded figure. Luz couldn't tell who they were supposed to be, but they were the same size as Torram so had to be huge, and something about the framing of the scene made her think this figure was someone very special.

"That is the Arbiter of Power. As I said before, they aren't so much a person as they are a fragment of the Universe with the purpose of creating the Sephiroth, but after seeing Torram's deeds, the Guardian wanted to bring them before the Arbiter, in hopes of perhaps making them a Sephiroth after all. The Arbiter supposedly accepted the request and was going to make an exception on the Seraphim-only rule, but Torram refused. They didn't want to live forever, and so declined to become a Sephiroth… an act that has sent ripple effects all the way to the modern era." the Divider said, turning to look Luz in the eye.

"My dear, this is why the Titans are extremely resistant to the power of the Sephiroth. It's why their magic can counter ours… and it's why their power is needed for new Sephiroth to be born." he said, pointing at the glyphs on his skin.

"The Arbiter… they gave some kind of reward to Torram and his descendants, right?" Luz asked in a whisper, eyes wide at the revelation.

The Divider nodded; "It was decided that as the closest people to the Elohim, and the rightful inheritors of the Arcane Realm, the Nephilim would become living Arbiters, with only a Seraphim who gained their favour and glyphs being seen as worthy of an audience with the True Arbiter of Power. The Arbiter also made them resistant to the powers of the Sephiroth so that they could act as a check against us, balancing our power. After all, the Guardian's faulty decision to aid the Bene Elohim had proven that it was possible for us to make mistakes, and it was a Nephilim who showed them the way."

Luz smiled; "I see! So because the Guardian messed up and Torram corrected them, the Arbiter decided to entrust the Nephilim with the job of keeping you all in check! I guess that explains why you all have such an issue with Titan Magic. But Samael said his powers don't work on Titans at all, while you just said they were incredibly resistant; why is that? And why only make you resistant and not immune?"

The Divider grinned; Luz was starting to spot all these little details on her own, impressing him as she always did.

"Samael and his siblings are not true Sephiroths. While they have incredible power and immortality, they are actually considered Sephiroth Seeds, or Profane Sephiroth in less pleasant terms. They are what happens when a child is born with only Sephiroth parents; though since only three real Sephiroth exist and neither myself nor the Guardian fathered the Celestial's spawn, she must have found a way to conceive asexually… not something we Sephiroth can normally do. But regardless, the Arbiter of Power treats them as priority candidates for True Sephiroth ascension and allows them to keep their immortality and powers as a result, though the latter is far weaker than a true Sephiroth, hence why Titans are fully immune to their power and Titan Magic is more damaging to them than it is to me." the Divider explained.

"Wait, so there are only three Sephiroth and five Sephiroth Seeds? Does that mean seven new Sephiroth can still be born, or do the seeds take up a slot?" Luz asked.

"You really ARE asking all the fun questions aren't you?" the man chuckled; "Seeds do not take up "slots" as you call them, though once all the slots are filled, the Seeds will lose their true immortality and become glorified Seraphim."

The girl giggled in response; "Well I AM an Azura fan! Convoluted magic systems and backstory is my thing! Amity and Lyra are gonna be jealous when I finally wake up! But back to the other question I asked; why aren't Titans fully immune to the True Sephiroth?"

The Divider's smile lessened a little as he replied; "So that a rogue Titan cannot completely rage out of control with no way for us to stop them. We Sephiroth are as much a counter to them as they are to us; we're just more heavily restricted because we're immortal and more powerful."

"R-Rogue Titans!? Like bad guys!?" Luz exclaimed.

The Divider nodded grimly; "Torram lived 500,000 years ago, and the Titan Race became borderline extinct only 5000 years ago. Even with their relatively small population, do you think 495,000 years passed without a single evil Titan?"

Luz sighed sadly; "I guess not…" she said, feeling dejected. She felt a little silly in hindsight; since the only Titans she'd met were King, Orion, and Cassiopeia, and the only other one she knew of was Torram, Luz had begun to think of Titans as these inherently good beings. She felt like she should have realised from the start that like Angels, Witches, Demons, and Humans, the Titans were just people like any other.

"Chin up, my little niece; it is not a bad thing to assume the best of others. So long as you're not stupid about it." the Divider said; "Now come, we've got more memories to show before we get to the next era; my era."

Luz, feeling a little happy to be called his niece (she had called him Tio Rasiel after all), trotted along behind him, starting to get really into the history lesson, even if it was dealing with horrible subjects. The next stained glass window she was shown to depicted Torram with another Titan with silvery fur and more deer-like horns. They were surrounded by little Titans like King, and there were hundreds of different glyph designs all over it, dozens for each of the original eight types.

"Torram found a mate and had children!" Luz smiled happily.

"They did. Torram's parents were not the only ones to break the taboo about the two races marrying each other, though they were the only other ones who successfully conceived a child; chances of a successful pregnancy were low and the mother basically had to be a Seraphim for their body to be able to withstand the Arcane Magic of a growing Titan. Torram's mate was about 50 years younger than them and came out of hiding after Torram became famous and respected. Her name was Velli, and she was a good person. She was reclusive and didn't take the worship of her kind very well so not a lot is known about her besides that. She and Torram had eight children, each birthing four of them, and those children went on to have children either by themselves or with partners from the other races, until the population reached the hundred thousands. Torram eventually passed away, and due to his size, he began the Titan tradition of going out to the sea when he felt his time nearing its end, dying and becoming a landmass for others to live on." the Divider said, showing Luz the next window, which showed precisely that.

He then led her to another window, which depicted the Bene Elohim being watched over by the Guardian and the Malakhim by the Titans. "Since the Bene Elohim were still the only ones capable of becoming Seraphim, the Guardian spent a great deal of time observing and guiding them, but could not find any who could even win a meeting with the Arbiter, as the fear and hatred of the Titans kept them from getting too close to them and receiving their blessings. At the same time, the Nephilim kept out of the Bene Elohims' way and watched over the Malakhim that looked up to them. Things were relatively peaceful; wars would crop up but if they ever escalated too far, the Nephilim would intervene and stop it. This continued for 300,000 years, during which time the Guardian began to distance themselves from the people of the Arcane Realm as they searched for a way to create more Sephiroth, and the Nephilim slowly forgot their role as peace keepers, instead becoming increasingly reclusive as they grew tired of worship and fear from the other races."

The young Seraphim sighed; "And I bet their absence meant the wars started getting worse a lot faster, and things went back to the way they were before Torram, right?"

The Divider gave a sad smile; "Naturally. That's the thing with time; given enough of it and anything can be forgotten. However things changed most drastically 200,000 years ago, 50,000 years before I was born." he led her to the next window, which depicted the Planet Earth within a portal, and two prehistoric humans stood beneath it, with the Bene Elohim and Malakhim surrounding them with covetous faces.

"The Human Realm…!" Luz gasped.

"Yes. Thanks to Titan Blood, both races discovered how to make portals to other realms. Most were too young to have intelligent life, but the Humans were not. They were physically strong and sturdy, and fairly superstitious to boot. Both sides also saw them warring with each other in their small tribes and decided to "Uplift" them, as they say in Cosmic Frontier. Both sides recruited Humans to fight for them too, with the Bene Elohim sharing magic with them via the Blessings technique, and the Malakhim sharing their weapons and martial techniques. You already know how that went, don't you?" the Divider asked.

Luz nodded, remembering what the Seraphim had told her back at her hearing a couple of weeks back; "The Bene Elohim bred with them and created the modern Angels, and some of the Malakhim bred with them too, becoming the Witches. The rest of the Malakhim slowly evolved into the Biped Demons we know of today, as well as some species of Bug and Beast Demons, thanks to the influence of the Titans and their Primordial Wellsprings. Other wildlife used them too and became the rest of the Bug and Beast Demons, and even plants were effected to become Botanical Demons."

The Divider once again nodded and showed Luz to the next window, which depicted the Bene Elohim and Humans stood together with the modern Angels held in their arms between them. The window directly after that showed a similar scene, except it showed the Malakhim and Humans embracing Witches, and then a third window depicted the remaining Malakhim becoming Demons in a rain of Titan's Blood.

"The process happened over the course of only 10,000 years, but the Bene Elohim and Malakhim ceased to exist, as these new races proved stronger than them. Humans are creatures dependent on natural energy, so they brought the Angels more access to Arcane Magic and made it much easier for Angels to ascend compared to the Bene Elohim, while the power of the Titans made the new Demons stronger than the Malakhim, and the Witches became a shockingly sturdy race thanks to their high affinity for natural energy. These new Angels, Witches, and Demons were more appealing as partners due to their power, and the old races eventually just aged and died out. Even the few Seraphim of the old Bene Elohim eventually died in wars or accidents, leaving only distant memories" The Divider said, before moving to the next stained glass window.

Luz followed him, feeling a big melancholic over the old Bene Elohim and Malakhim peoples; they'd died out not because of battles and genocide, but because of being replaced by a new generation… though as Humans were only introduced due to their warfare, it had still ultimately been war that brought about their end. As Luz looked upon the next memory window, she knew that war would bring about more ends still.

"But memories fade, and things that ought to be forgotten are left to finally disappear, while things that ought to be remembered sadly share that fate." the Divider said, staring at the memory window. It depicted Angels and Demons fighting one another, both sides using humans as proxies and allies.

"They forgot the reasons for their differences, but did not forget their hatred for one another. Angels grew to hate Demons and fear Titans, yet didn't remember why. Demons did the same and worshipped the Titans, but again, they didn't remember why. So war continued to rage and the races hated each other without knowing why. It all became so tiresome… but something good did come of it. The second Sephiroth was finally born."

The Divider smiled as he showed Luz the next window, which depicted a hooded and cloaked woman surrounded by a night sky full of suns, moons, stars, planets, comets, and more. This person was the Celestial; the mother of Samael and the Archivists.

"Some people are more forgetful than others, and some are also more critical in their thinking. The Celestial's family were forgetful and did not know why their people feared the Titans, and so they decided not to. Their young daughter was a powerful young woman though and deeply curious about everything, so she actively sought the Titans out, eventually gaining their favour and receiving at least one glyph blessing. I do not know which glyphs she bonded with, or the number of them, but I do know she bonded and eventually became a Seraphim, fulfilling the only two requirements to meet the Arbiter. I don't know what happened in that meeting; each Sephiroth experiences something different, but I do know it ended with her becoming the Celestial. Her role was to govern the flow of Celestial Energy and oversee the Celestial Bodies that helped produce it."

"Until she disappeared." Luz softly interrupted; "Samael doesn't know if she abandoned him and his siblings or if something keeps her from coming back."

"And neither do I." the Divider confessed; "She became obsessed with what would happen when the Sephiroth were fully united. She was afraid of something… some force that equalled the Sephiroth's power. The Demons had begun a cult worshipping this force, focusing it around what would eventually become the Seven Deadly Sins. In response, the Angels created a monastic order based on the opposing Seven Heavenly Virtues, which was the precursor to the modern Crest Orders, but the Celestial didn't see that as enough. Still, we are getting ahead of ourselves; the Celestial disappeared long after I was sealed away, and I know not how or why, or even if that old fear of hers was related. I can only speculate."

The two Angels walked to the final stained glass window, which depicted the Divider himself.

"Now we have reached the period 150,000 years ago, in which I was born. I have taught you how the Arcane Realm came to be, along with the rise and fall of the Elohim, Bene Elohim, and Malakhim, and the birth of the modern races and the Celestial… You know all that I can teach you about what led to my own creation; now it is time to witness the events themselves." the Divider placed a hand inside the window, making it ripple like water as he passed through. He then turned back and offered his hand to Luz; "This is where you'll find your answers."

Luz slowly and hesitantly took the Divider's hand, and the glyph on her chest began to glow softly. The Divider didn't seem to notice as he stepped backward into the window, bringing Luz into the memory with him. However as Luz passed through the window, she felt a strange ripple pass through her very being, and no longer felt the Divider's hand. The world around her became pitch black and silent, and all Luz could see was a glowing light in the distance and no sign of the Divider.

Looking down, Luz saw King's glyph was still shining and realised that it was likely responsible for whatever had just happened; it looked like it interfered with whatever spell the Divider was using to send her into his memories. With no other choice, Luz went towards light and touched it, whereupon the entire world around her exploded with light and she found herself entering a memory.

When the light faded and Luz was able to see again, she suddenly found herself alone in another war zone; it was nighttime in an Angelic City of some kind and it was being sacked by Witches and Demons, who killed any Angel they came across and destroyed everything in their way, showing no mercy. The Angels of the city were fighting back valiantly, using every scrap of magic and willpower they had to defend an unusually large number of children.

"This city must have been run by Crest Chastity. I can't believe people would attack a place like this! If it's anything like back home, this is purely a place for children and heavily pregnant mothers! It's hardly some secret army base for the Angels!" Luz exclaimed. She looked around for signs of the Divider, but found nothing at all. Alone and disturbed, Luz wandered through the memory in search of the Divider or something specific she was supposed to be seeing, but only saw more carnage, more bloodshed, and more senseless violence. Eventually she flew up to the top of a spire and perched there, high enough to avoid seeing the blood and gore, though sadly not enough to muffle the screams and crying.

Luz closed her eyes tight and went to cover her ears, but the moment her eyes closed, the world suddenly went silent and the smell of smoke filled her nostrils. Slowly, she opened her eyes again and found that the night had ended and given way to the day, with grey, overcast skies up above and a stillness in the air. No wind, no sound, no anything; just a dull grey day in a dead city. Luz guessed that at least a couple of days had passed since the attack, as the fires had long gone out and left only blackened stone and earth, and wisps of smoke rising up into the air. Most of the city was in ruins, with only a few buildings left untouched, and the corpses of thousands of people of all ages were lying in the streets; civilians, soldiers, and invaders alike. Birds circled the sky above, preparing to swoop down for their next meal… Luz morbidly wondered if this massacre was a Titan-send to the birds; they'd survive on all this food for a very long time.

"I guess the birds are the only ones to benefit here." Luz whispered to herself.

She began to wander the city ruins, calling out for the Divider. She called for him over and over, but got no response. Something had clearly gone wrong; King's glyph had reacted with the Divider's attempt to bring her into his memories, and now Luz was lost somewhere. She didn't even know what this memory had to do with the Divider! Had he perhaps lost someone in this massacre?

Her desperate search for the Divider or a window out of this memory was suddenly interrupted by an unfamiliar but childish voice yelling; "Rani! Stop playing around! Come back here!"

Luz's eyes widened; Rani!? That was the name King heard Rasiel scream before he got his memories back and became the Divider, and the one that his cult and Rani's Eden were named for! Luz didn't hesitate; she turned and flew in the direction of the voice, racing all the way to the outskirts of the city ruins. What she found there was a group of four children…

Four Titan Children.

Luz gasped in amazement (and nearly squealed at their cuteness) as she saw the four young Titans clambering around on the remains of the city's outer wall, which had crumbled in this section. One of the Titans was further ahead than the others, who were calling out for them to come back. All four were very young; they appeared only a little bit bigger than King, but noticeably none of them had their wings yet, hence why they were struggling to climb the rubble in pursuit of their friend. Luz flew down to look at the three other Titans, calling out for the fourth; these three were all a tiny bit bigger than the fourth, indicating they were likely older, and to the surprise of Luz, they each bared a resemblance to King, Orion, and Cassiopeia. One looked almost exactly like King, but with flatter front teeth akin to Orion's. Another had Cassiopeia's fur colour and skull shape, looking just like a young version of her, while the last one had had a skull that was shaped more like Orion's, but without the flat front teeth, instead having the narrower snout that King had.

"Rani, seriously! The gates of the city were blown off! There's a perfectly good entrance to walk through! Why do you have to climb over the wall!?" yelled the one with the narrow snout, their voice fairly androgynous.

Luz looked to the climbing Titan and flew close to get a better look at her. She was a bit smaller than the other Titans, being about the same size as King, and they had cream coloured fur and blue eyes, with a skull shaped like a prepubescent dragon with two sets of horns; one that were shaped like lightning bolts and jutted out from the back of their head, while the other two were ram-like horns that curled forward from the sides of their head, like rounded versions of Orion's second set of horns. This little Titan, giggling in the voice of a little girl as they clambered up some rubble and debris, was Rani.

Suddenly, a lot of pieces suddenly fell into place; Rani had been someone of immense importance to the Divider, and now that Luz knew she was a Titan, she realised that Rani must have been the Titan that had raised Rasiel… and whose death had turned him into the Divider she knew.

Rani turned back to the other Titans and laughed; "You're such scaredy cats! If we climb up high, we can get a better view and see where the best stuff is!"

"You make us sound like looters!" said the Titan that looked the most like King. His voice was similar too, though a little deeper.

"Well I mean, we kinda are? Right, Civa?" Rani retorted, grinning over at the Titan that looked like a young Cassiopeia.

Civa spoke in a girl's voice; "We're not here to steal; just to find supplies and shelter that survived the destruction of the city! The old owners are all dead or gone anyway, so it's not a big deal."

"That just makes us sound like grave robbers instead." complained the male Titan.

"Give it up, Nilam." sighed the first of the Titan Children; "You know Rani and Civa won't listen."

Nilam huffed; "You being so wishy-washy is why Rani does stuff like this and doesn't listen to you, Mancal!"

"Hey! I'm my own Titan! I don't do what Mancal says because they're not the boss of me! They're not my parent!" Rani pouted.

Mancal gave her a deadpan stare; "You don't have parents, Rani… that's probably why you only just grew out of your Tyrant phase!"

"Hey!" Rani protested, while the others snickered; "12 is a normal age to grow out of it! Civa is 13 and she only grew out of it like a month before her birthday!"

"It's not like any of us have parents anyway! Stupid Angels…" Civa scowled.

The Titan Children all nodded at that, making Luz's heart go out to them. So these four little Titans had been orphaned and now scavenged battlefields and ruins for survival… Luz wondered what had caused their parents to be killed; it sounded like Angels had been responsible, so had they gotten caught up in the current war? Or had something else happened? Luz doubted most Angels could take down a Titan, so either they'd been quite small still (unlikely since they had children), or they'd been killed while possessing their Avatar forms.

Luz continued to watch the four Titan Children as they entered the city, with Civa, Nilam, and Mancal eventually just giving up and following Rani up the ruined wall and along the perimeter of the city, then into the city proper. They began to scavenge and Luz was disturbed by just how professional they looked; Rani used a light glyph to shoot beams of light from her eyes to kill the birds that were swooping down to prey on the dead, then gathering them up with vines from a plant glyph so she could begin preparing them to eat. Nilam and Mancal were searching through ruined buildings for useful items and a good place to make camp, with the former freezing any perishables with an ice glyph so they could be kept for later, and the latter using lightning to stun the few rodents and other animals that had already begun making their home amidst the ruins and corpses. Lastly, Civa was using an earth glyph to dig a big pit on the edge of the town, which she then began using a plant glyph of her own to drag corpses to so they could be burned by her fire glyph, giving them all a kind of impromptu funeral. It was both touching to watch these children work together and give respect to the dead, and horrifying because they were so good at it, meaning they'd likely done it a lot. They were completely desensitised to the sight of the dead and blood, though they did still treat the dead well, as even Rani (who'd finished hunting birds) had a sombre expression as she began assisting Civa with the burial and used a wind glyph to disperse the smoke of the pyre so as to avoid being spotted.

For a time, Luz just watched the Titans go about their business, with Nilam and Mancal coming to help with the funeral and Civa taking a break to begin cooking their dinner for the day. It was during this that Luz noticed that Rani had suddenly gone very still, so she walked over to the littlest Titan to see what was going on. The Titan began to look around, acting as if she'd heard something, so Luz listened carefully, before hearing a noise that nearly made her heart stop.

The soft whimpering of an infant.

Rani and Luz both gasped, and Rani rushed off to the source of the noise; a pile of bodies that had yet to be cremated. She began digging through the pile for the source of the noise, and Luz instinctively went to help her, only for her hands to pass through the corpses and remind her that this was just a memory. As such, Luz could only wait with bated breath until Rani found the source of the sound, whereupon Luz covered her mouth in horror.

"Oh Titan…!" she whispered.

Rani's own eyes widened in shock too, and she shouted to the others; "We've got a survivor!"

Instantly, her three companions were on guard, their fur standing on end as they acted almost like wolves ready to pounce on and rip apart a threat, only for Rani to raise a paw, then reach down to the survivor.

A tiny baby boy with pale skin and a messy head of golden hair, and dressed in only a simple baby-grow and a white swaddling clothe, with his hair, skin, and clothes caked in dirt and dried blood. The baby was mewling helplessly, with his tiny cherub wings behind him, though as Rani carefully picked him up, she and Luz were both horrified to find that one of those little wings remained on the surface he was lying on (an unfortunate male High Angel) and a tiny, shallow slash could be found across the baby's back. Considering the High Angel he'd been laying on was just about cut in half, it was likely he'd been fleeing with the baby when he was cut down from behind, and the spell or blade that did it had gone through him to the baby, severing one of the poor thing's wings. Luz wondered if the High Angel was the baby's father or a nurse or even just a helpful bystander who'd been trying to get the baby out of danger. Luz and Rani would never know.

"By the stars, look! It's only a little baby…! Oh, and one of his poor little wings! That's a big deal for an Angel!" Rani cried, gently cradling the baby to her chest.

"This is really bad! How is he not screaming with a wound like that!?" Civa asked.

Rani shrugged, but Luz knew the answer; it was the result of the silver medical bracelet worn around the baby's wrist, which served as the ID for infants and toddlers in Crest Chastity. Not only did it have the baby's name and gender (which Rani was reading, hence how she knew the little fella was a boy), but it also possessed special enchantments to reduce fevers, clear congestion, provide emergency sustenance, and dull pain caused by trauma. It was a useful tool that her Mami told her reduced infant mortality among the Crest Union to a virtually zero.

Rani carefully examined this bracelet, smelling its magic and reading the engraving. "The Angelic Script is kinda hard to make out; the metal is all tarnished and scratched up… but I think it says "Rasiel". The symbol next to it is also the character for "male", so this little boy must be named Rasiel! Nilam, can you heal his cut and wing? I'm not so good at Healing Magic." she said.

Nilam nodded and began casting as Rani held the infant Rasiel against her shoulder, giving her friend a clear shot at the baby's back. As Nilam worked, Mancal and Civa panicked.

"What do we do now!? We've never run into a baby survivor before! S-Should we just leave it?" Civa asked.

"No! We can't do that!" Rani yelled; "He's a baby and he'll die if we leave him!"

"But what else are we supposed to do!?" Mancal yelled back; "We can't take him to the Angels! One look at us and they'll either capture us for our blood or kill us! And if we take him to the Demons, they'll kill him and take us captive!"

Nilam shuddered; "Unless we want to spend our lives as a glorified mascot for one of their temples, we need to stay away from them! And they'll milk us for our blood too, even if they're nicer about it!"

Rani frowned; they had all briefly been raised by Witches and Demons at a temple, but since they were treated as religious figures, they were forced to live up to the standards that the Demons felt a Titan should live by… the lessons had helped them master their elements, but they'd run away to escape the stifling life.

"There is always the other Nephilim?" Civa suggested.

"We can't do that either." Rani frowned; "There's a war going on! The Nephilim always go out to sea when war starts and we're not big enough get there on our own."

At that moment, a worried Nilam stopped his healing and shook his head, holding up Rasiel's amputated wing; "I'm sorry, but my healing isn't good enough to reattach it; the wing itself has started to decay. But I fixed up his cut and stemmed the bleeding on what's left of the wing still attached to him."

Rani turned the baby around and saw the stump of his missing wing all tied up in scraps of white cloth that Nilam had cleaned and turned into makeshift bandages. Rasiel was now cooing softly, his pain gone and the soft feel of Rani's fur comforting him. Hearing this noise caused Rani's eyes to sparkle, and the watching Luz immediately knew what Rani had just decided.

"I think I'm going to keep him." Rani said, staring into the little boy's eyes. Predictably, her three friends went into an uproar.

"Keep him!? He's a baby, not a pet! We can't just take in an infant Angel!" Civa yelled.

"We don't know the first thing about caring for babies! What do we do if he needs something we can't provide!? Do you know the first thing about Angels besides them getting more wings as they get stronger!?" Nilam exclaimed.

Mancal shook their head; "This is going too far, Rani! He'll endanger us and take resources we can't afford to lose! Not to mention the danger of what'll happen if people see him with us!"

Rani listened to them all, but her eyes didn't leave baby Rasiel, whose tiny, blood-caked hand reached out and touched her bone snout, fascinated by her. Rani smiled and said; "I'm doing it, with or without your approval. Besides, you all proved that we have no choice! We go to the Angels, we die. We go to the Demons, we end up forced to be their wards and Rasiel dies. We can't even get to the Nephilim, as if we could we wouldn't be surviving on our own!"

Her friends frowned and exchanged worried looks, each trying to wrack their brain for a solution. Aside from the two options given (which would be disastrous for all of them), the only other options were to do as Rani said and take Rasiel in… or leave him where they found him, abandoning him to die. Rani knew this too and held Rasiel out so he was facing all of them, then said challengingly; "Look me in the eye and tell me you're okay with leaving him to die."

None of them did.

"If taking this baby in is a bridge too far for you three, then I'll handle it alone. We can part ways here." Rani then added.

"No." Civa shook her head firmly; "You're the youngest of us; I'm not leaving you… OR the baby. But since this was your crazy scheme, you're on diaper duty permanently!"

Nilam shook his head; "Stars above, this is insane. This puts us all at risk… but it's the only choice. If we abandon him to die, we'll never forgive ourselves."

Mancal nodded; "I don't like it; this is a terrible plan, but it's still the best one we've got. Worst comes to worse, I guess the kid can be our mascot!"

Rani beamed; "Thanks guys! I knew you'd come around! And hey, maybe this'll be a good thing! This little fella is pretty cute, and Angels can be pretty strong too! I don't know what his magic will be like with only one wing, but we can work around it! This'll be great, I just know it!"

She turned Rasiel back around and hugged him, making the little boy giggle and coo happily. "First we need to get you a bath; you smell kinda bad. And we should finish burying the fallen… but then we can get you some food! They must have had milk somewhere around here if they were a Crest Chastity place!"

"I found some and put it on ice. We can warm it up after we bathe him… and maybe change his diaper too; he's been in that corpse pile for at least three days and he smells all kinds of ripe!" Nilam said.

The little Titans quickly began getting to work, making a stone cauldron to serve as a bath tub, filling it with water, and heating it up to a safe temperature before Rani stripped off the baby and began to wash him gently. Luz was a little disturbed by the sight of Rasiel's single wing (missing a wing for an Angel would be like having severe deformities for a Human), but her heart was warmed to see Rani and the others taking care of him.

However, mere moments after thinking that, Luz suddenly found the world around her beginning to spin wildly, becoming a maelstrom of colours and sounds that disoriented her. She closed her eyes and covered her ears to try and stop the overwhelming amount of sensory stimulation from completely stunning her, but in doing this, Luz began to experience a series of smaller, mini-visions that showed snapshots of the next phase of Rasiel's life.

The first showed Rani feeding him with some milk and a salvaged bottle, while her friends watched on jealously. The second showed Rani kneeling in front of Rasiel as he took his first, toddling steps towards her as the other Titans giggled and cheered him on. The third showed Rani and her friends making some kind of special harness with a prosthetic wing that could help Rasiel keep his balance when walking with only one wing. The fourth showed them all playing with him with a variety of hand made or scavenged toys. Finally, the fifth showed them all cuddled up together, with Rani sleeping with Rasiel curled up on her chest as the other Titans curled up around them both.

When the maelstrom of memory flashes came to an end, Luz found herself in the midst of a snowy forest in the depths of Winter. The forest was full of trees that suited the larger size of the Arcane Realm, though Luz couldn't see a lot of them as snow and ice blanketed them, making the forest almost look like a fake one carved from ice. The sole exception to this winter wonderland was a single thawed out tree with an area free of snow extending for about 20 feet in all directions with the tree at its epicentre. Beneath this tree was a little eight year old Rasiel, dressed in a winter robe that had been repaired often based on its patchwork appearance, and with much longer golden hair.

"I guess the Titans never considered giving him a haircut." Luz commented to herself as she watched the boy. He still had only one wing (which had grown to match his size, rather than remaining tiny and stunted) and now sported a larger prosthetic, and he was repeatedly drawing spell circles and conjuring tiny flames, though even these little spells were visibly draining for the poor boy, who would go pale and sweaty for a few seconds after each attempt. He would then meditate and stretch his one wing out over the little campfire he'd made to warm it and absorb the heat energy to regenerate his magic.

Luz felt a whole new spark of kinship with Rasiel as she watched; she'd often done the same as a child, though she'd never even managed a proper spell circle… Being born mostly human was obviously worse for magic than a Cherub with only one wing, but it still made Luz feel like she emphasised with Rasiel even more.

Rani suddenly appeared a few moments later, flying down from the sky with her white draconic wings. She'd grown a lot and now had the size and rough proportions of an androgynous Witch or Human, with longer horns and, of course, large wings that were just like King's. She was carrying the body of some kind of Deer-like creature that Luz didn't recognise, and which she dropped to the ground beside the campfire.

"Rani!" Rasiel beamed, hopping to his feet to run over and hug her around the waist.

"Rasiel! Still practicing hard I see! How is it going?" Rani asked as Rasiel detached himself, allowing the two to sit by the fire as Rani began skinning and cleaning the prey she'd just caught.

"It's going okay. I can draw spell circles and make tiny fires! But with only one wing, I'm super duper weak…" Rasiel said, starting with a smile, then growing excited, then becoming crestfallen; "If I don't get better soon, I'm just gonna get in the way."

Rani sighed and leaned over to gently peck her snout against his head, giving her approximation of a kiss. "Rasiel, you're still young. None of us are expecting you to suddenly be amazingly powerful! And even without magic, you do a good job helping us all out! You're got a keen eye and you're a hard worker whose always determined to help!"

Rasiel's smile briefly returned, but then it fell again; "But I keep messing up! Those berries I found gave Civa a bad tummy ache, and that mean Witch zapped Nilam with a lightning bolt that was meant for me! I only got spotted by her because I wasn't being careful… and you and Mancal both had to take care of me because I got sick last month."

Luz's heart went out to the little Cherub, knowing very much how he felt; when all you are trying to do is be helpful and it all backfires, it can be soul-crushing!

Rani seemed to understand too, and like her Mami had done for her, Luz watched as Rani hugged Rasiel and eased his worries; "Oh, my little Siel… these things happen! You didn't know those berries weren't good for Nephilim to eat, especially since they were fine for you! And you're not at fault for someone else trying to hurt you! Not to mention you getting sick was our fault for not keeping a better eye on your health! You see, we're not perfect either!"

"I guess…" Rasiel mumbled, not looking convinced.

Rani hummed, then smiled and said; "Well, how about I give you a present for working so hard? That'll cheer you up!"

The little boy perked right up; what kid wasn't excited by the prospect of a present? "Really? For me?"

"You bet! You've seen me and the others summoning our glyphs to make spells right?" Rani asked.

Rasiel nodded; "Uh huh. Civa said I'm not allowed to draw them though, 'cause it's dangerous. I don't really get how though…"

Rani grinned; "I'll show you how it's dangerous… and very useful. But first, I'll give you my present; be warned, it'll make your eyes feel funny for a bit."

Unsure of what that meant, Rasiel just watched his mother-figure as she cupped her paws together (which were still only three-clawed) then opened them to produce a blinding flash of light. Luz flinched back, but saw nothing but a flash; however she recognised what had just happened; Rani had just blessed Rasiel with one of her glyphs! And judging by the colour of the light and the fact the blessing had come from pure light, Luz correctly guessed it was her light glyph.

"W-What was that?" Rasiel asked, blinking hard; "Your glyph is burned into my brain! That felt weird!"

"That was a Titan Blessing! I've now bestowed on you the knowledge of the light glyph, and if you can master it and the aspects of the Light Element, you'll be able to bond with the glyph too and receive an even bigger blessing! One of these blessings is supposed to be able to turn people into Dragons if you do a fancy ritual first, so you know it's strong!" Rani explained. "But the real fun comes when you draw the glyph! Give it a go!"

Rasiel obediently drew the glyph in the nearby snow with a stick, allowing Luz to finally learn the design of Rani's light glyph. It was unfamiliar to her, and unless it was hidden in his eye, she was sure it wasn't engraved on the Divider's body. It left her to wonder if he'd ever bonded with it.

Once he'd drawn the glyph and looked back up to Rani, she smiled and gestured for him to touch it, and as expected, the result was a glowing ball of light rising out of the glyph and into the sky. Rasiel gasped in delight and immediately began drawing more and causing more light balls to rise up, making Rani giggle at how happy he was.

"Once you get used to it, I have more glyphs to teach you too! And I'm sure Civa, Nilam, and Mancal will share theirs too! Between the four of us, we possess all eight elements and by putting the glyphs together in the right combos, you can cast any spell you want! So even if your personal magic is always stunted, you'll still be able to do anything you want!" Rani boasted proudly, before giving an expectant grin; "So, pretty cool right?"

Rasiel answered that question by throwing himself at her and hugging her with all he had, happy tears in his eyes as he said; "Thank you Rani! I'll be the best Angel ever and make you proud!"

"I know you will. You always do." Rani beamed; "Who knows, maybe you'll be the one to finally help end this stupid war! They say the first of the so-called Eternal Wars ended when Super Angel and the first Nephilim worked together! Maybe we can do the same!"

"Yeah…!" Rasiel said wistfully; "Then there'll be no more ruined towns, and the other Nephilim can come back to the mainland! Maybe you and the others can even finally find mates!"

Rani snorted; "Ha! As if! I'll leave that to the other three! I'm about as interested in mates as you are, Siel!"

The two giggled together, and Luz was once again sucked into their moment of familial love. However the memory filled her with a slowly building dread as she waited for the other shoe to inevitably drop. This story wasn't going to have a happy ending, just as the story of her own origin hadn't… yet another thing she and the Divider had in common.

The scene around Luz faded as she was once again subjected to a sudden swarm of memory snippets that flashed various scenes of the past into her mind. It was just as disorienting as last time, but Luz had a handle on it this time and was able to relax a bit and lose herself in the memories. The first was of Rasiel excitedly showing off his mastery of the light glyph, and then being taught the plant glyph by Rani. The second showed Nilam teaching Rasiel his ice glyph on Rasiel's 10th birthday, while Civa gave him a journal to begin writing in. The third memory showed how that journal had ended up; Rasiel filled its pages with glyph combos and used it like a spell tome to summon spells and fire them off at threats, or to solve problems. The fourth memory showed Civa giving Rasiel her Fire Glyph on his 11th birthday, and the next three memories repeated the theme; Rasiel would show his mastery of a glyph and be taught a new one for his birthday, next getting the wind and earth glyphs when he turned 12 and 13, then finally getting the lightning glyph from Mancal for his 14th.

It was at this point that Luz realised that aside from the first gift of the light glyph, none of these gifts had been blessings, as Rasiel still hadn't full bonded with the light glyph. From what Luz could see, he was fairly positive and caring, but had yet to grasp the concept of purification.

That would change in the next memory, as it solidified out of the swirling fragments around Luz. The new scene that formed began on the top of a tall cliff side that overlooked a ravine in which a city had been build. The city was of Malakhim origin, and was now inhabited by Demons and Witches… who were currently doing their best to repel an attack from an army of Angels. It was a repeat of the earlier battle scenes that Luz had the displeasure of viewing, only with the roles of invader and defender reversed. With this city being in a ravine though and Angels being able to fly even without Palismen, there was no conventional escape for the people in the heavily outnumbered city. Luz could see some people trying to flee into an old quarry at the end of the ravine, but Luz could also see some flying Angels observing this and smirking, giving her the sneaking feeling that they planned to just destroy the quarry too, or perhaps cave in the tunnels the innocents were hiding in. It had been hard to watch the Witches and Demon she loved butchering Angels, but it was somehow even harder for Luz to watch her own kind butchering the Witches and Demons that she'd come to consider her people too. The fact that the Angels also had a battle cry of "Destroy the Agents of Chaos" only made it worse.

Turning away from the slaughter that she could do nothing about, she saw Rani and her three Titan friends, all now a good seven feet tall and hiding within an illusion as they and a teenage Rasiel watched the massacre with grim expressions. Rasiel was right on the verge between cute and handsome, and Luz (being Bi) had to admit that he was quite attractive; the sort of boy that would have made her flustered before her heart became fixated on her wonderful Hermosa. His golden hair was still incredibly long, reaching all the way to his heels and he now wore an outfit very similar to his future Divine Regalia, consisting of patchwork white pants and nothing else besides his prosthetic wing. His one real wing had also grown to be full size for him, and from what Luz could see of some of the modifications to the prosthetic, Rasiel or his guardians had adapted it so he could glide with it, which combined with some wind glyph carvings would allow him fly in a rudimentary fashion.

While Rani and the Titans were watching with faces of regret, Rasiel was biting his lip hard enough to make it bleed as his fists shook.

"We need to do something! We can't just let this slaughter go on!" he cried, truly on the verge of tears.

"We have no choice, my child." Rani said softly, "It would take a giant Nephilim to stop the Angels now, and we're just 4 regular ones. We have no hope of stopping this battle or saving this city. All we can do is wait for the battle to be over and then bury the dead."

Rasiel shook his head; "I'm sick of it! Year after year, all we've done is bury the corpses of Angels, Witches, and Demons who were slaughtered in their own homes! Now we've finally come across one of these attacks in person and we're supposed to do nothing!? This isn't like the battlefields where two armies clash! This is a massacre of innocent people!"

Nilam shook his head; "Those "innocents" would be cheering if it was their forces exterminating an Angel city. The only true innocents left in this infernal war are those poor children stuck living in a world their flawed parents created."

Civa and Mancal nodded grimly, but Rasiel shook his head; "Thousands of those innocent children are going to die, here and now!"

"We know, Siel." Civa put a hand on his shoulder; "But if we go down there, all we'll achieve is joining them as they all end up as food for the birds and beasts of the world."

"Maybe you're right… but I can't just do nothing!" Rasiel exclaimed, running to the edge of the cliff and preparing to glide down. He was stopped at the last minute by Rani, who gripped his hand.

"Hold it, Rasiel! What are you even planning to do!?" she demanded.

"Save someone! Anyone! Even if all I can do is help the people in the quarry evacuate! With the earth glyph, I can dig a long tunnel out through the other side of the ravine! The people evacuating there would stand a chance at escaping the massacre! It wouldn't be much, but it'd be something!" Rasiel cried.

Rani stared at him for a long moment, then said; "I want you to live Rasiel… but I also want you to live without regrets. If this is something you feel like you have to do, then I won't stand in your way."

She then released his hand as her friends protested. "Rani, this is madness! He's going to get himself killed!" Civa yelled.

"The Angels won't spare one of their own if they're seen helping Demons!" Mancal agreed.

"He's just a kid; it hurts, but he'll get over it! We can't let him go!" Nilam said, trying to be reasonable.

Rani smiled; "I know none of you are wrong, but once upon a time, I made a reckless decision to save a life instead of leaving that life to end on its own. I can honestly say that even if I'd died, I would have been happy with that decision. If this is what Rasiel feels he has to do, then I won't stand in his way! That said, he IS just a kid… which is why I'm going down there with him!"

Immediately her friends protested even louder, and Rasiel himself looked shocked and opened his mouth to argue, only for Rani to press a finger to his lips and silence him; "You have the right to make your own decisions with your life. But so do I, and I choose to go down there and help you save those people."

Rasiel opened and closed his mouth a few times, before eventually just giving a bashful smile; "Thank you, Rani. We'll save some people, no matter what!"

With that, Rani and Rasiel both leapt from the cliff and began flying down towards the quarry, still hiding under illusions to avoid the sight of the Angels. Rasiel had to work quite hard to glide properly with his prosthetic, but he clearly had experience as he made a difficult job look quite easy! As they descended down to quarry, Luz prepared to follow them when she heard the other three Titans cursing and then jumping down into the ravine too, using their own wings and illusions to follow their friends.

Rasiel and Rani arrived just in time to slam into a pair of Angels that were about to blast a handful of Demons rushing through the large gates leading into the quarry. Rani was large and heavy enough that the one she landed on was knocked out immediately, while the one Rasiel landed on was merely stunned for a moment. When he recovered, he took one look at Rasiel and gasped.

"A-A Cherub with one wing!? What have these Demons done to you!?" he cried.

"Nothing at all! Now go to sleep!" Rasiel demanded, suddenly opening his journal-turned-spell book and activating one of the glyph combos in its pages, creating a sleeping spell that knocked the Angel right out. Rasiel then quickly scrambled to his feet and turned to the Demons who were still evacuating. They were eyeing him with distrust and hostility, but none dared make a move against him with Rani stood beside him.

"Everyone get into the tunnel within the quarry! We'll dig through and help you escape!" Rasiel told them.

"How can we trust you!? You're an Angel too!" one Witch demanded.

"Trust him because I raised him!" Rani yelled; "He's here to save your lives, now do as he says! I command it!"

"As do we!" came the voice of Civa as she, Nilam, and Mancal landed down outside the quarry too. All four Titans then flanked Rasiel and put their hands on him to show their trust in him and make the Demons and Witches see that he was safe. It didn't work completely, but with a massacre going on around them, the evacuating civilians didn't feel like stopping to argue, so they simply nodded and kept running into the old mine tunnel within the quarry to take cover from the Angels' attacks.

Smiling, Rasiel turned to Civa, Nilam, and Mancal; "Guys, if Rani and I stay out here, we can hold off any Angels and help the evacuation! You three can dig the tunnel through the mountain with your glyphs! If two of you dig while one of you keeps the Angels from collapsing the mountain on top of you, you should be able to get it done in no tme!"

"Got it! In for a Copper, in for a Gold as they say!" Mancal said, before rushing into the tunnel with Civa and Nilam hot on their heels. From there, Rasiel and Rani guarded the gateway into the quarry, with Rasiel (and some reluctant Demon and Witch Soldiers) guarded the ground level and Rani did the same from the sky, using her Titan Roars to knock Angels out of the sky and stun them, allowing Rasiel to tie them up with vines, though that ended up being largely pointless as the City Defenders would end up killing them while they were helpless, and since they refused to listen to a teenager Angel in the middle of a battle, Rasiel stopped trying to stop them and instead just focused on saving the innocent. It was grim, but those Angels HAD been trying to attack evacuating civilians!

Grimness aside, Luz was impressed by Rasiel's abilities! He kept his spell book of glyphs opened in his left hand and would use his right to slap the pages and pull out the spell he wanted, then toss it at the enemy, reacting quickly and accurately to what the situation demanded. It didn't take him long to get into the groove of fighting, and he even used his prosthetic wing to great effect, using the reinforced wood, stone, and metal that made it as shield to repel weaker attacks and weapon swings. Despite his skill though, Rasiel never took a single life, and while he received no thanks, he also tossed out healing combos whenever possible, healing the wounds of the defenders and a handful of passing evacuees, especially the children.

Things were going quite well… but as the fight drew more attention, the invaders began to turn their attention towards the quarry which led to two High Angels, each leading a squad of regular Angels, to take notice and head over to snuff out the disturbance. Their opening salvo of spells had killed two of the Demon Defenders and a handful of fleeing evacuees before Rasiel got between them and the rest, making the Angels gape in shock.

"A Cherub!? What in Heaven's name is going on here!?" one of the High Angels yelled.

"Your defeat is what's going on!" Rani yelled, flying at one of the High Angels and knocking him out of the sky. His unit of Angels cried out in rage and attacked her in retaliation, forcing her to pull away a bit so Rasiel wouldn't be caught up in their fight. Seeing this, the remaining High Angel landed in front of the teenage Cherub, aiming to grab him and pull him out of this war zone, but Rasiel sent a fireball at him, making the High Angel sidestep the attack, then stare bewilderedly at the boy.

"What madness has addled your brain, boy!?" the High Angel demanded.

"None at all! I'd say I'm the only sane Angel for a thousand miles!" Rasiel yelled; "Order your people to retreat and leave the innocent alone! You soldiers can all slaughter yourselves to your hearts' content, but leave the innocent out of it!"

"Innocent!?" the High Angel growled, his unit of Angels scoffing and sneering around him; "There ARE no innocents here! Demons and Witches are tainted creatures of chaos! This realm is ours, and we will purge the corruption from it! How is it you don't know of our holy mission, boy? And what befell your wing!?"

Rasiel narrowed his eyes; "They're not tainted! They're just people, like you!" he yelled. "And my wing was lost when I was an infant. Another massacre just like this destroyed my home city; I would have died if not for Rani."

As he said that, he glanced towards his surrogate mother, who was fighting against more and more Angels. The High Angel followed his gaze and gasped; "Now I see! You've been brainwashed and manipulated by that foul Nephilim! I knew those things were monsters! Enough of this!" he turned to one of his men; "Apprehend the boy so we can send him to Crest Chastity; they might be able to salvage the child."

The ordered Angel rushed forward to grab Rasiel, but the boy smacked him with his fake wing to stun him, then used a lightning glyph and then an ice glyph to stun and then freeze the Angel.

"I'm not going anywhere with you murderers! Rani and my friends are not monsters; they're kind and loving and want to live in peace! You're the monsters, slaughtering the innocent!" Rasiel insisted.

"Foolish little brat! You've been corrupted by those foul Nephilim! We'll gut them and send you back to the Union for rehabilitation. Crippled as you are, we might still make a proper Angel out of you!" the High Angel said, shooting a disgusted look down at the boy.

Rasiel glared as he used his tome to conjure a sword of crystal and light; "I am not the corrupt one here! I am not the one massacring innocent people who can't fight back! Including children!" he pointed the sword at the High Angel, who sneered back at him; "But you? You and all your people fighting here today? I can see your corruption! The festering blood that stains your souls! But I will stop you even if it costs me my life! I am Rasiel, Blessed of Rani, and I will burn away your corruption in the light of purification!"

The moment Luz heard those words from Rasiel, she knew what was going to happen next. She could feel the magic in the air shift, then saw Rani's eyes flash gold before her golden light glyph appeared on the chest of Rasiel, right where Orion's had once appeared on Luz. The blinding light given off by the bonding process caused the other Angels to recoil in shock and cover their eyes, then when they finally opened them again they were met by an unexpected sight. Rasiel's prosthetic wing and the harness attaching it to his body fell to the ground, and from his back had sprouted a brand new and shining Angelic Wing. It was a dazzling white, and fully sized, proving that he may be only 14, but Rasiel was no longer a Cherub, but a true Angel.

The look on the boy's face was one of bewilderment and joy, while Rani (who'd used the bright flash of light as a window to knock out the Angels fighting her) cheered at the top of her voice.

"Yes! It took a while, but I knew you'd figure it out! Well done Rasiel! You bonded with the Light Glyph!" Rani declared, doing a giddy little dance right there in the sky.

Rasiel flapped his wings slowly, then gently took flight and flew on his own power for the first time in his life. A tear trickled down his cheek as the raw emotions he felt threatened to overwhelm him, and he looked up at Rani with pure, unadulterated gratitude.

"My wing… you gave me back my wing! Oh Rani… thank you so much! I-I finally feel… whole!" Rasiel said, his voice cracking a little. Luz knew just how amazing he felt in that moment, having experienced it herself, and she also began to understand why getting his wings taken from him by Belos had been even more devastating for Rasiel; even if he didn't consciously remember this moment at the time, it must still have triggered something deep within his very soul. It made Luz feel even happier that she'd helped him get them back… even if what had happened next still broke her heart.

Unfortunately, the stunned High Angel and his minions were less impressed and more confused about what to do.

"A-A blessing from the Nephilim…!? Isn't that just like the legend of the Celestial!?" one of the lesser Angels whispered urgently.

"I heard she got markings like that too!" another said, a bit louder.

The High Angel shook off his shock and scoffed; "Nonsense! It's nothing more than some magic tattoo from a Nephilim! There's no way the greatest of Angels would need these corrupt monsters to become what they are! Now kill the Nephilim and capture the boy; a green brat fresh out of his Cherub Wings is no threat to us!"

Of course, Luz knew that they were very, very wrong. The glyphs were powerful, and while Rasiel may have appeared to be a newbie Angel, his power was far greater! Not only that, but unlike Luz, Rasiel's magic had only been stunted by his missing wing, so he had experience with spell casting and none of the odd developmental issues that she'd had, so he could use all the powers and magic of an Angel without trouble!

The following battle could hardly be considered one; Rasiel demolished the High Angel by charging his crystal and light sword with Lightning Magic, then delivering a tiny cut to paralyse the fool temporarily, making his body convulse. He'd then conjured a rock and launched it at the High Angel's gut with a bit of fire, knocking the man out cold. The rest of the Angels went down easily too; Rasiel shot light blasts just like Luz did and hit their joints with burning, but not piercing, strikes, causing them to collapse as they couldn't move, then once they were all on the ground, he produced some sleeping gas using a glyph combo in his book to finish the fight.

It took mere moments for the group to be defeated, and when evacuees and more soldiers began running over to continue the evacuation, they nodded at Rasiel with some degree of respect, which was also enough to make them stop when he ordered them to stay away from the fallen Angels. They had been beaten by him and so their lives belonged to him… or at least that's what he said to make them leave the unconscious Angels alone. Rani also agreed with him, and the Demons and Witches' respect (and fear) for the Nephilim and their new Angelic Saviour was enough to make them leave the KO-ed Angels alone.

The rest of the battle continued like that, with the city's defenders getting as many survivors as possible to the quarry tunnels whilst covering their escape. Rani and Rasiel flew around, using their full might to drive back as many Angels as possible, shocking all of them with the sight of one of their own attacking them. Finally, when there were no survivors left to evacuate, the two promptly made themselves and the last few Defenders invisible, then flew them away from the doomed city and the rest of the Angelic Army. They watched from a distance as the enraged Angels levelled the city and tried to bring the mountain down on the heads of those in the tunnels, and while it looked like they'd succeeded from the outside, Rani whispered to Rasiel that she could still feel her friends alive underground, where they were keeping everyone alive and stopping the tunnels from collapsing.

Luz, still able to see them despite their invisibility since this was Rasiel's memories, followed them as they flew to the other side of the mountain and waited for Civa, Nilam, and Mancal to finish digging the tunnel all the way through. The mountain was a large one, and while the tunnels already went more than half way through it, it still took several hours for them to finish digging their way through. The other side of the mountain also happened to be surrounded by a fairly dense jungle, and since the Angels were certain they'd collapsed the tunnels, there was little chance of them being spotted escaping.

When the rocky slope of the mountain finally cracked open and a tired looking Civa emerged to find Rani, Rasiel, and a handful of Demon Soldiers waiting for her, she sighed with relief and moved aside so the evacuated citizens could all come out and take in the fresh and humid air. After hours underground, even the mugginess of the jungle was welcome to the survivors, of which there were a few thousand. For a city population of hundreds of thousands, it was a meagre percentage that made Luz and Rasiel frown when they realised how few survived, though they were heartened by the fact that the majority of them seemed to be children, implying most of the city's youth had survived. It had taken a lot of sacrifices, but they'd saved many lives!

As the people of the city emerged, they took some time to catch their breathes, recover their stamina, organise themselves, and mourn the loss of their homes and loved ones. A few of them shot dirty looks at Rasiel (particularly those who'd been in the tunnels before he showed up in the city), but they kept their mouths shut after many of the children thanked him for saving them. The last of the city's defenders also began to take stock and make plans for what to do next, while the four Titans gathered together with Rasiel to congratulate him on his ascension and his bonding.

"We're so proud of you, kid!" Civa grinned, slapping him on the back.

"No kidding! Kinda sad I can't keep making new prosthetics for you though. Still, this is amazing!" Nilam smiled.

"Congratulations Rasiel! You've grown up a lot! What made it finally click for you?" Mancal asked.

Rasiel smiled bashfully, a cute blush on his cheeks as he hugged himself with his wings; "T-Thank you! I couldn't have done it without all of you! And I guess what made it finally click was realising that purification meant fighting against the things that I believe to be corrupt. We've always avoided the war and if we ran into it, we fled or hid… but this time I faced it head on and my desire to fix things just… I don't know how to describe it… everything fell into place?"

His Titan family all beamed and ruffled his hair or stroked his wings, which made Rasiel trill adorably. Luz's heart melted and she wished she could hug him too!

"So, who gets to give Rasiel their blessing next?" Civa asked. "Because I'd like to put my horns in the ring!"

Nilam and Mancal both nodded and volunteered too, making Rasiel feel warm and fuzzy, but before a decision could be made, Rani cheekily grabbed Rasiel and said; "He's my kid, so I get first dibs!"

"You already gave him the first one!" Nilam protested.

Rani blew a raspberry at him in response, then conjured a rose that she handed to Rasiel along with a kiss on the forehead; "Here! A good show gets a rose, right?"

Rasiel giggled and accepted the rose, but as he took it, the petals bloomed a little more and a green flash of light emerged from within, imprinting Rani's plant glyph upon his mind. The boy blinked in surprise, then used his sword (which he still held) to draw the plant glyph on the ground. Luz recognised it as the same glyph she'd seen on his abdomen after the adventure at Pulvoltary, which once again brought a smile to her face, as well as a flash of dread as she was reminded that sometime in the future, Rasiel would lose the light glyph just like she had.

Rani's three friends protested and squabbled with the smug youngest Titan, while Rasiel just giggled and smiled. It was this scene that some of the city survivors interrupted as they nervously approached, with an older female Witch acting as their spokesperson.

"P-Please forgive this interruption, Mighty Nephilim! We of the city of Vacras wished to thank you and your fellows for your valiant rescue! Without your help, we would have been exterminated by the Angels!" the old Witch said, bowing her head.

"You're welcome, Ma'am." Rani smiled; "Besides, my fellow Nephilim and I can't take all the credit! If it weren't for Rasiel here, we would have chosen to stay out of the battle. We're usually neutral in this never-ending war."

All the Witches and Demons in the little entourage looked to Rasiel, who nodded his head politely. He was met with some confused and bitter looks, as well as a few grateful ones. One of the soldiers was a bit suspicious too.

"Why would an Angel want to save us from his own kind?" the soldier asked.

"I was orphaned when Demons and Witches like yourselves slaughtered the people of my city. Rani and my Nephilim family found me and raised me, and in that time I've seen both our races slaughtering each other. I couldn't stand back and watch any more as innocent people died. I'm not going to help your people murder mine, but I'll try to stop them murdering you too." Rasiel declared.

The survivors didn't know how to respond to that, especially as Rani grinned and clapped Rasiel on the back; "We're very proud of our boy!"

"W-Well I can see why! He's a fine lad." the old Witch said with a nervous smile.

"Guess that's what happens when an Angel is raised by a Nephilim! Proves his lot can turn out alright at least." the soldier agreed.

"You're one of the good ones!" another Demon grinned. The words were meant as an earnest compliment, but Rasiel had to fight to keep his smile from becoming a cringing expression, while Luz outright cringed. The "one of the good ones" line was one she'd heard in both the Human and Demon Realms before, describing her and her mother, and the implications had always upset them a little.

Changing the subject before her boy could get more uncomfortable, Rani asked; "So what will you all do now?"

"Well that's part of what we wanted to talk to you about. Would the five of you be willing to help us again? To find a new place to call home? The war has stretched resources thin and refugees and survivors aren't really accepted into other cities. We'd end up in a shanty town outside the walls, and those are always the first to fall." the old Witch said.

"We had one back in Vacras. No survivors from there made it out since the city gates were closed." the soldier frowned.

Mancal crossed their arms; "You want us to help you establish a new city?"

"If possible, yes." the old Witch nodded, already looking ready to begin bowing and scraping.

The four Titans looked unsure, but Rasiel liked the idea; "That could be great! We could make our own refugee city! A place where anyone displaced by this stupid war can live! Angels AND Demons! Everyone would be welcome!"

The Vacras Survivors looked ready to protest Angels being allowed in, but the Titans all grinned and praised Rasiel's ideas, so they opted to stay silent and just do what the four giant beings wanted.

"Great! I know just the place! Remember that giant lake we found with the huge peninsula? We could build it there! Defensible and with plenty of fresh water and fish! Plus the forest nearby was huge and full of fruit and meat! It'd be perfect!" Rasiel beamed, growing excited.

Rani smiled; "Then lets do it! We'll wait for the people of Vacras to fully recover their strength, then we'll head out!"

The other Titans nodded semi-reluctantly; while they were now old enough to not need to fear being forced to stay at a temple or shrine, they were still uncomfortable around others. Despite this though, Luz watched the rest of the memory as the people of Vacras were slowly healed and got some rest, before they all began the long march towards the lake peninsula Rasiel had mentioned.

For the third time, Luz experienced the memory world breaking down around her and then being replaced by a swarm of wild colours and snippets of other memories, which seemed to depict the construction of this new city and Rasiel's continued growth and blessings.

The first memory fragment had Luz watching as they arrived at a truly beautiful (and massive) lake with a large peninsula jutting out towards the centre of it. A forest surrounded the rest of the lake and a rather large mountain was just a short distance from the entrance to the peninsula, meaning they had a good source of wood, stone, food, and water. Luz briefly wondered how such a place had gone without being built upon for so long, only for Rasiel to wonder the same thing and investigate, eventually learning that the "lake" was actually an intentionally flooded pit in which a large Angelic City had been build, before Demons flooded it all the way back in the first Eternal War. The remains of the city were still down there, reminding Luz of Atlantis, but were millennia old and really just a minor curiosity by this point, as sad as that was.

The second memory fragment showed the beginning of the new city's construction, which was named Nephalia in honour of the Nephilim and was split into flashes going over a few years. In this memory, Rasiel also bonded with Rani's plant glyph and ascended to the rank of High Angel when he was somewhere in his 20s. The next flash of memory had shown a very proud Rani, followed by Nilam giving his ice glyph to Rasiel as a blessing before anyone could stop him, much to the amusement of Rasiel and the annoyance of the other Titans.

The third memory fragment showed Nephalia growing, and survivors and refugees from other cities going there and being taken in, as well as the first arrival of Angel Survivors from a Demon attack. They had stumbled upon the area by accident and been let in by Rani and Rasiel. That had started some major tensions between the races, but the Titans had refused to accept any fighting in the city, using their ever-increasing size to stop any battles before they could really start. They were initially segregated to their own districts on the east and west sides of the city, but over time, they began to be integrated with each other. It was also during this time that a nearly 30 year old Rasiel had bonded with Nilam's ice glyph and ascended to the Arch-Angels; a rank significant enough to let him keep the Angels of the city on their best behaviour. That memory had then ended with Civa managing to bless Rasiel next, bestowing on him the fire glyph.

The fourth memory fragment began with outside forces discovering Nephalia. It began with the army of a Demon Nation trying to annex the city and exterminate the Angelic Population, but the Demon residents of Nephalia had risen up against this barbaric attempt to conquer them and actually fought alongside their Angelic neighbours to defeat the invaders. It was during this assault that a 35 year old Rasiel had bonded with the fire glyph, though one glyph was no longer enough for an ascension beyond Arch-Angel, as Luz well knew. He'd been blessed with the wind glyph by Rani right after the battle too, though wouldn't bond with it for another 10 years as the Eternal War officially came to Nephalia, causing Rasiel to have less time for his meditation and training, which seemed to be the number one way in which he bonded with glyphs, compared to the faster, but often more emotionally and physically harrowing situations that Luz found herself in.

The fifth memory fragment showed the bonding with the wind glyph in full, as both Angels and Demons began to try and conquer Nephalia, only to be driven off by the Titans and Rasiel, as well as a steadily growing army of Angels and Demons of their own. Some of them had even received blessings from the Titans too, creating four mini orders of warriors and mages within Nephalia. Angels received ascensions while Demons and Witches received regular power ups (though the strength was the same between the two races). The city also became progressively more integrated with the old separate districts opening up to more people from the other races. Children of the different races began to play together openly, many forgetting or just not knowing about their people's animosity for each other. It was during meditation in this era of the city that Rasiel bonded with the wind glyph and was promptly blessed with the earth glyph by Rani, causing Mancal to become upset and make the others promise to let them give Rasiel his next glyph, since they were the only one to not have blessed him yet.

The sixth and final memory fragment showed Luz how the city of Nephalia eventually became known as the first Free City, a concept that would eventually be taken by the Divine Realm for those living outside the Union. As the Eternal War beyond its borders continued to rage, more and more people began fleeing there and the city grew ever larger, eventually expanding over the surface of the lake, into the forest, and even onto the mountain, which was just about hollowed out and turned into a massive city itself. During this time, 50 years passed and Rasiel bonded with the earth glyph, then was blessed by Mancal and received their lightning glyph, which he also bonded with. This made four glyphs since his ascension to Arch-Angel, and just like with Luz, this caused Rasiel to ascend into a Seraphim, gaining the halo that Luz now knew him for, albeit made from light like her own rather than the solid gold material she'd expected. Rasiel became known as the Seraphim of Nephalia, though he received no more blessings as his four friends did not wish to give him the darkness glyph due to his affinity for Light Magic, fearing it could make bonding with it difficult, and with one of the aspects being death, they didn't want Rasiel doing something reckless to gain an understanding of it. Unfortunately, as the memory fragments came to an end, Luz had a sinking feeling that things were about to change… after all, Rasiel had first introduced himself as the Seraphim of Crest Humility, and since that position was the unofficial head of the Seraphim Grand Council and thus considered the leader of the Union, something must have happened to get him there!

Luz learned exactly what had happened as the memory fragments solidified around her and formed a new memory for her to observe. She appeared on a chunk of ice in the middle of the Nephalia Lake, with the city in the background being besieged by a MASSIVE force of Angels, including huge numbers of Arch-Angels and High Angels. Luz gasped at the sight, especially as she looked around and saw the four Titans fighting valiantly around the region; Rani was fighting on the other side of the lake, Civa was fighting in the entrance area of the peninsula, Nilam was fighting out in the forest, and Mancal was fighting up in the mountains. All four were over 100 years old now and had grown quite large, being too big to really fit inside the densely packed city any more, though they were obviously a good few thousand years away from reaching Orion or Cassiopeia's size. The sheer number of Angels was overwhelming them, with the local Nephalia soldiers being totally routed and forced to bunker down in the main city, where a Titan Barrier was protecting them from outside attacks.

Looking around at all this, Luz tried to spot where Rasiel could be amongst all this chaos, but didn't find him until she turned around and discovered the ice chunk she was stood on was actually a large frozen battlefield upon which Rasiel had been fighting… against four other Seraphim. The poor man was on his knees on the ice, severely battle damaged and with no halo, having expended it on a Seraphic Art at some point in the preceding battle. The four Seraphim, to Rasiel's credit, were not exactly in pristine condition and had taken a lot of damage for people who were likely far older and more experienced, as well as greater in numbers. However they had won in the end and each conjured golden chains to bind Rasiel tightly, leaving him helpless and on his knees.

"W-Why are you doing this!? Why attack us!? We do nothing but defend ourselves!" Rasiel gasped out, struggling to stay conscious.

One of the Seraphim, who looked like a bearded, short-haired version of Rasiel (they both likely descended from members of Crest Chastity) knelt down in front of him and said; "Believe it or not boy, but we came here for you."

"M-me!?"

"You are Rasiel of Crest Chastity, correct?" asked a tall, dark skinned Seraphim from Crest Diligence.

"I-I don't know? I was found orphaned in a city destroyed by Demons." Rasiel answered. "But the bracelet I was found with did say my name was Rasiel."

"As expected." said the sole female Seraphim in the group; a woman who looked a little bit like Luz and her Mami, marking her as a former Seraphim of Crest Kindness. "In truth, the greater Crest Union has no intention of conquering this city or harming its people, but when we heard of a Wild Seraphim running the city along with four Nephilim, we had to look into the matter."

"Has no intention!? Look around at what you're doing! At the people you're killing!" Rasiel yelled; "You're murdering thousands to get to me!?"

The final Seraphim, a young man with tan skin, golden hair, and blue eyes, knelt in front of Rasiel so they were on the same eye level and said; "No. Our soldiers are not killing; they are merely knocking your people out. Their blades are coated in a paralytic poison that slows the heart and will promote coagulation, ensuring their victims are left unable to move but also unable to bleed out and die from their wounds. We were made aware that your people spare the lives of as many as they can in battle, so we decided to do the same."

Rasiel's eyes widened; "Y-You're not killing anyone?"

"No." The Seraphim said. "Now call off your Nephilim friends and we can discuss things peacefully." they ordered.

"If you wanted peace, why did you attack!?" Rasiel demanded.

"To show we mean business." the Diligence Seraphim said sternly; "Your city of misfits would never have listened to our demands unless we took drastic measures. Now they've been taught the folly of ignoring us and will keep that in mind as negotiations go forward."

Rasiel sneered, but kept his mouth shut. He had a sinking feeling that if he refused to try and call a ceasefire, the Crest Union Army would suddenly be a lot more liberal with those blades and Rasiel did not want lives on his hands. Dejectedly, he sighed and nodded; "Alright. We can talk this out. Tell your soldiers to retreat beyond the city limits and I'll tell my friends to stop fighting."

"You're not in a position to dictate terms, Boy!" the Diligence Seraphim growled.

"I am not some supreme commander! I can't force the others to stop fighting and they won't stop so long as your soldiers are in the middle of their home! Pull them back or we'll all die today!" Rasiel growled right back.

The Diligence Seraphim took a threatening step towards the young man, but he was grabbed and pulled back by the Kindness Seraphim and the Chastity Seraphim, whom both glared at him.

"Stop picking fights, fool!" the former scolded.

The latter turned to Rasiel and said; "We accept this. We'll give the order immediately."

Luz and the chained up Rasiel then watched as the four Seraphim truly did give the retreat order, telling their forces to pull their wounded out of the city and reform their battle lines beyond the border. The people of Nephalia were totally confused, and Rani immediately rushed to Rasiel's location, finding him in chains. A four vs four battle between Seraphim and Nephilim almost ensued as a result, but Rasiel was able to calm his surrogate mother/big sister's ire before she could take things too far, and announced the negotiations meeting.

Half an hour later, they had all assembled inside a meeting room within the Nephalia City Fortress; the four Seraphim were in attendance along with three Arch-Angel Ophanim, while the Nephalia city council of five members were present, as well as the Avatar forms of Rani, Civa, Nilam, and Mancal. They all sat on opposite sides of a long round table, with Rasiel still chained up and sat awkwardly at his own section of the table. The sight of him still being chained up and visibly weak (even though the Kindness Seraphim had healed his wounds) was making the Titans and Nephalia council very angry, but they were restraining themselves as much as they can.

"Alright, now we're all here and you've got your precious meeting. What exactly are you after!?" Rani demanded.

"I guess we're skipping traditional introductions then?" the unknown Fourth Seraphim sighed.

"You've attacked our home and taken our friend hostage! Not to mention that despite your claims of debilitating and not killing, 54 people of our city have died in this attack!" Nilam growled.

"And 323 of our people have died too." the Diligence Seraphim sneered; "We could kill another 269 of you to make things equal, or you can stop whining over a few corpses."

The Nephalia side of the table burst into outraged shouting, which only ended when the mystery Seraphim grabbed the Diligence Seraphim by the back of the head and smashed his face into the table.

"Remember your place." he said coldly; "You yourself are nothing but a fresh-faced brat whose barely earned your halo! Speak out of term again and I'll end your life and replace you! We have a new Seraphim right here and ready, after all."

The Diligence Seraphim was released and cringed as they snapped their broken nose back into place. He refused to make eye contact with anyone, his cheeks burning with humiliation, and he didn't say another word for the rest of the meeting and glared only at the Kindness Seraphim and his own Ophanim when they tried to offer him healing.

Ignoring his fellow Seraphim, the unknown one finally introduced himself; "I apologise for my young companion. I am Metariel, Lord Seraphim of Crest Humility and the Head of the Seraphim Grand Council. You have my sincere apologies for the deaths of your people; we will offer reparations for their loss… should this negotiation go well."

Rani narrowed her eyes on Metariel; "You still haven't told us what you want."

Metariel sighed; "I suppose that's as much civility as I can expect in this situation. Very well then, I will be frank. We are here to return Rasiel of Crest Chastity to his rightful place within the Crest Union. We have been aware of him for some time but have had no reason to interfere with him, but the Crest Union cannot abide a Wild Seraphim."

"Rasiel is IN his rightful place!" Rani yelled; "We found him and raised him as one of us! He is a borderline Nephilim!"

"That's right! He's the one who helped bring our people together! Nephalia would be a paradise if we didn't have your Union and the Demon Coalition constantly trying to annex us!" one of the Angel Councillors yelled.

Metariel actually smiled at that; "Perfect. That gives me even more reason to recruit him! You see, I am in need of an Ophanim; I am tired of this eternal war and wish for a replacement that might end it."

Rasiel and the entire Nephalia council, plus the watching Luz, all gaped at the man, who seemed amused by their surprise. Luz especially began to wonder if she'd misjudged the man.

"Care to explain yourself, Metariel?" Mancal asked, narrowing their eyes on the Seraphim.

"Of course. It is quite simple." Metariel said; "In short; this Eternal War has been going on since before any of us were born. Excluding some of your Nephilim comrades out in the Great Sea, and the Guardian and Celestial, no one alive today was even born yet when it began. Yet we kill each other for it over and over. It's little more than revenge at this point; you killed some of our people so we kill some of yours and then you kill some more of ours in retaliation. It's a bitter cycle without end! However, you have managed to achieve something we have not; a lasting peace between the races."

He looked at Rasiel with a broad smile; "One of my foolish Arch-Angels that led that last attack on this city managed to bring back a feather of yours, and with some lineage testing we were able to find, to our surprise, that you were one of the children believed dead after an attack on a Crest Chastity Outpost about a century ago. Imagine our shock to learn that an Angel blessed by a Nephilim became a Seraphim in only a century! Most don't even reach High Angel within their first 100 years! You, my boy, represent a chance at getting the Union out of this war."

Rasiel blinked in shock, then frowned; "Wait, aren't you the head of the Seraphim Grand Council? You're basically in charge of the Union; why don't you just order the war to stop!? Send envoys to the Demon Coalition and negotiate an end to the fighting!"

"I would like to, but the Coalition and the Union despise each other enough that neither side trusts the other… but both sides trust in Nephalia's neutrality. You've warded off attempts at alliance as often as attempts of invasion! If we propose a negotiation, the Coalition will never agree… but if YOU do it, they might just listen." Metariel smiled.

"So you attacked us to recruit Rasiel into a peace negotiation!? Am I the only one who sees how ridiculous that is!?" Rani yelled.

Metariel shook his head; "No, we attacked you to make sure you knew who had the power in this "negotiation." In reality, this is more of a demand. By Union law, Rasiel was born into our custody and legally belongs to the Union; we have full legal right to take him back in any way we wish. We could have continued our attack, sacked this city and burned it to the ground… but we'd prefer to have Rasiel fully on our side. He'll likely be needed to create a lasting peace between our people, so we launched this attack to show our might and begin this little "negotiation" from a superior position."

Luz glared at the man. She changed her mind; he was just as bad as she'd feared!

The Nephalia Council also glared, with the Titans looking ready to outright attack. "You've got some nerve… we could destroy you right here and now!" Civa threatened.

"I doubt that. Your Avatar bodies may be able to use the same level of magic, but they're physical endurance is far weaker. We could kill these bodies before you could return to your normal ones." The Kindness Seraphim said casually.

"But we don't want to do that; we'd rather end this peacefully." the Chastity Seraphim added.

The Titans were ready to pop a blood vessel, but Rasiel gave them a gentle look to calm them down, before speaking for himself; "You still used the word negotiation. So what are we negotiating? You've made it clear what you want; for me to return to the Union and become your Ophanim, and to help end the war. But what does Nephalia get? Because if we do start fighting again, there's no guarantee you'll win and even if you do, your massive army will be crippled by the attempt. It'd cost you a lot and win you nothing. So tell me; what do we get out of this?"

Metariel grinned; "Smart boy. Good; I like that in an Ophanim. First, you get peace both for your city and the world. Making Nephalia a neutral state safe from both factions will be part of the negotiations. Second, you will become the new Lord Seraphim of Crest Humility upon my death or retirement, and will have the loudest voice in the Union. Third, if negotiations fail with the Coalition, the Union will protect Nephalia without annexing it, and all future attacks by the Union will stop. How's that for a deal?"

Rasiel looked to the Nephalia councillors and saw that the Titans were unhappy, but the others were clearly deeper in thought. It DID sound like a good plan; long term safety for the city, Rasiel high up in the Union, and a potential end to this infernal war? All in return for Rasiel joining the Union and leaving the city? That wasn't such a bad deal!

Of course, Rani had a different priority.

"Will he be able to return and visit us?" she asked.

Metariel shrugged; "If he has no work to do, then that is fine. Be warned; I intend to keep him busy. I've been keeping this Sephiroth-forsaken Union together by myself for too long!"

Rani did not like the sound of that answer and neither did the other Titans, but Rasiel pre-emptively quelled their concerns by saying; "Rani, everyone; I think we should take the deal. We've wanted to end this Eternal War for decades, and now we finally have a chance! I can bring peace to our home and the entire Arcane Realm and all I need to do is work for the Union and perhaps build something good there!"

Nilam scowled; "You're not wrong, but it gets my hackles up. They attack us like this and then take you away…!? If the fools had just asked for a meeting and made the offer, we could have been convinced without almost 400 deaths between us!"

"That was my suggestion too." the Chastity Seraphim said.

"And mine. Metariel kept out of the vote since he proposed the negotiations to begin with, but the other four Seraphim, including that young fool…", the Kindness Seraphim nodded to the Diligence Seraphim, "…voted to just attack and kidnap you. This was the compromise."

Metariel looked at Rasiel with the most exhausted expression he'd seen since his time visiting the one of the city's daycares; "This is why I want to retire. You've no idea what it's like wrangling this pack of feral chaos children whilst fighting a forever war that nobody even remembers the purpose of!"

"You're making this deal look less appealing." Rasiel deadpanned, before sighing; "But we both know that I don't truly have a choice if I want to avoid bloodshed. So yes; I accept your terms. I will become your Ophanim and join the Union… but I will not accept mistreatment or abuse! I lost our last battle because it was four on one, but if I feel like I have to, I'll challenge you for leadership of your Order and the Union Council without a second thought!" he threatened.

Metariel chuckled; "Be my guest, Boy. Depending on the time of day, I might even let you kill me just to be free of the paperwork!"

Rasiel gave a wry smirk, and since he'd agreed to the terms, he was released from the Seraphim's chains, allowing him to stand and rush over to Rani and give her a big hug. Rani held him tightly and stroked his hair as she whispered into his ear; "Say the word and we'll ambush and destroy these bastards!"

"No, Rani. We'd only end up drawing the wrath of the Union. And as awful as this plan of theirs has been so far, it really is the first plan we've found that really could win us peace. I'm willing to risk it if it saves our world. Please trust me, Rani." he whispered back.

Rani's eyes softened as she nuzzled the top of his head; "Always, my baby boy."

Luz watched the hug with a smile, then felt the world shift as the memory skipped ahead to a few days after the battle. The city of Nephalia had been repaired and there was a tense truce between them and the Seraphim's army, who had helped fix what they'd done. The few deaths the Angels had caused in the battle still hung over their heads, and the city council had been forced to hide the truth behind the Angels' motives to keep the city from rioting when they announced that Rasiel would be joining the Union. Civa had lied and claimed he was going as an emissary of the city to help negotiate a truce and eventual peace treaty with the Demon Coalition, and while there were some doubts from many of the city's people, none spoke out against the decision, as they were all sick of war.

The memory Luz landed in was taking place outside the city gates where Rasiel was stood, fully healed and with his halo restored, and saying his last goodbyes. Luz had to do a double-take at first to make sure the Rasiel she was looking at was not the present day one finally meeting up with her again, as he had cut off his long hair and now looked almost identical to how he did in the present, only with his halo being made of light and a light glyph resting on his chest. He was also wearing a satchel full of his possessions, and had tear-filled eyes as he stood in front of the four Titans who had been his family for the last century.

"I am going to miss you guys. I'll come back and visit as often as possible, and I'll write you letters in the meantime." Rasiel promised.

"You better! If you don't, we'll come find you!" Civa grinned, ruffling the young man's hair.

"Please don't forget; Civa isn't kidding!" Nilam chuckled nervously, "Be well, Rasiel." he said, shaking Rasiel's hand.

"You've grown up a lot from the infant we pulled from the ruins of a city. You've achieved a lot here, so go achieve it there too!" Mancal smiled, their eyes glistening with emotion.

"I will. Thank you guys." Rasiel said, hugging each one in turn and trying to keep his tears in.

That didn't last long as he finally got to Rani. She immediately took him into her arms and held him to her heart as both of them began to cry softly. "I'm going to miss you so much, Rasiel. We've never been apart for more than a day or so! It's going to be so strange not having you rushing about or gushing over some new idea you've had for the city."

Rasiel chuckled; "I know. It's going to be so weird! I-I'll miss you so much. I promise I won't let this all be for nothing; I won't ever let you regret raising me."

"Oh, my little Rasiel; I could never regret that. The time I spent with you was the best of my life. I wish I could keep you here with me, but the Arcane Realm as a whole needs you now. So go out there and make a Paradise where we can all live in peace! We'll be supporting you from the sidelines!" Rani hugged him a little tighter and whispered in his ear; "I am so proud of you. The years I spent raising you were the happiest of my life."

Rasiel had to hold in a sob as he hugged her tighter, then whispered; "I love you, Mom."

Rani made a little choked gasping noise, then promptly hugged Rasiel a little tighter as Luz found her heart swelling at the scene. It reminded her of how she felt when her Mami and Mom had each held her and told her they were proud of her. It made her heart soar to see that Rasiel got to have that moment with Rani, his Mom in all the ways that mattered.

Finally though, like all good things, the hug came to an end and it was time for Rasiel to leave with the Seraphim from the Crest Union. He waved goodbye as they all took to the sky, and the people of Nephalia screamed their farewells, cheering him on with banners and fireworks, all of them happy to see their hero heading off to save the Arcane Realm from its second Eternal War. As Luz looked at the cheering from the people of the city, and the looks of amazement and adoration from some of the Union forces, something suddenly jumped out at her; some of the faces she saw among the Angels on both sides were incredibly familiar. Part of her wondered if it was just because Angels of the same Crest Order tended to look similar to each other, but Angels like herself were also usually very good at telling each other apart.

Luz couldn't help but wonder; with Reformation being a thing that was discovered and derived from the Divider's ability, was it possible that some of these people were Wings of Rani in the future and had chosen Reformation so they could keep serving him and his ambition? If some of them had been with him all the way since Nephalia, it did make sense why they'd be so loyal to him!

Of course, Luz might very well have been wrong and she didn't have time to think on it much either, as the world around her once again broke apart into a maelstrom of memory fragments. The memories were even more fragmented this time, with Luz only catching short snippets that sent only a few minutes of memory into her brain with each flash. First she witnessed Rasiel's return to the formed Crest Union Capital; a city that somewhat resembled a tiny, primitive version of Gran Seraphia. There he was met by the rest of the Seraphim Grand Council, who reluctantly accepted him as Metariel's Ophanim. What followed was five years of hazing, which ended up backfiring horribly for the Crest Union; many didn't accept a Seraphim raised by Nephilim and tried to belittle and abuse him, only for Rasiel to put them in their place every time. No other Seraphim was able to match his Titan-enhanced power in a one on one battle, so the lower ranked Angels of the Union stood even less chance and Rasiel quickly grew used to fighting duels and going through debates and trials to counter the influence of those trying to mess with him. Luz was horrified to see the former state of the Crest Union; their modern incarnation could be callous and controlling, but at least they always seemed more caring and their worst traits were symptoms of a system they were afraid to change… This past incarnation was basically the same as Belos' Empire in the way it brutally suppressed any who didn't fit in.

And Rasiel certainly did not fit in.

Still, through power and wit, and the approval of Metariel as his "master", Rasiel began making changes within Crest Humility. He reminded them of their duty to be humble and leaders, rather than rulers, and improved the order's credibility. This, combined with Rasiel's insistence on equality and meritocracy ensured that the lower classes began to love him while the upper classes hated him… but with his power weighing down from above and his supporters nipping at their heels from below, his political enemies soon found themselves either conforming or losing their power. The social upheaval he caused was massive and kept him so busy that he was unable to visit Nephalia, though he did exchange letters with them frequently, which mollified his Titan family.

Unfortunately not everything went in his favour. Rasiel's social reforms and increasing power had ruffled the feathers of most of the Seraphim Grand Council, and in petty revenge, they refused to agree to finally sending the ceasefire and negotiation requests to the Demon Coalition, causing the war to continue to drag on for five more years. The Seraphim of Temperance, Charity, and

Patience joined with the Seraphim of Diligence (who still hated Metariel and Rasiel) and with four Seraphim against three, Metariel and the Seraphim of Kindness and Chastity were unable to get the approval. They attempted to repeal some of Rasiel's reforms too, but were met with too much opposition from their own Crest Orders to be able to get away with it without being lynched, so they instead tried to have Metariel and Rasiel killed by voting for them to lead the army on an attack of the Demon Coalition's capital city; a guaranteed suicide mission.

Metariel died in that battle and the Crest Union Army suffered a loss of 30% of it's members, before Rasiel, now the de-facto Lord Seraphim of Crest Humility, ordered a retreat. It was a fighting retreat, and Rasiel himself guarded the army's back as they fled, fighting a one-man battle against countless Demons and all without killing a single person. He collapsed in exhaustion after his army escaped, losing only 4 people in their retreat, but the Demon Coalition actually treated him honourably. They called him "Rasiel of the Clean Blade" for his refusal to kill, and after explaining the situation to the heads of the Demon Coalition (who were as sick of the fighting as he was), they actually agreed to release him and send him back to the Union with terms for a ceasefire and a request for a meeting.

Rasiel did return and was given a Hero's welcome by the army… who had arrested the entire Seraphim Grand Council in a military coup after learning of their duplicity in ordering a suicide mission. Of course, only a seventh of the army had actually been sent, but the rest had joined the survivors in their outrage against the Council. Rasiel was given command of the whole Union, but then had the other Seraphim released on probation (but demoted), then restored the council with new Seraphim and with him taking his rightful place as one of them, claiming he didn't want to conquer the Union; he wanted peace.

With him now as the most senior member of a whole new Seraphim Grand Council, he'd finally been able to call for a ceasefire and organise a meeting with the heads of the Demon Coalition, which would take place at Nephalia on neutral ground. Rasiel had then enjoyed an in-person reunion with his family before the meeting, which had gone relatively smoothly. Both sides wanted an end to the war and since neither side could even remember what the war had been started over, they each agreed to return any cities they'd conquered (with the caveat that any people living there could remain without prejudice), and a new treaty would be made to ensure peace between their nations. Reparations were debated on, but both sides had hurt each other pretty equally, so there was no way either side could pay the other back fairly as it would basically equate to trading an equal amount of money and resources. Instead actual trade agreements were made and borders were debated on and settled, eventually leading to peace officially being declared across the Arcane Realm.

This lead to a time of celebration, reconstruction, and a boom in economy, technological and magical advancement, and of course, population across the entire Arcane Realm. It was a time of abundance and peace, and for Rasiel, that meant a lot of work.

Now that the war was over, Rasiel found a whole new slew of problems dropping into his lap as he and the council were inundated with the reconstruction efforts for the Union, as well as his own passionate pursuit of reform. He proposed many laws and changes, some that were accepted, some that required some convincing, and some that were shot down by the other Seraphim or the people of the Union. Luz watched this and saw the Union slowly evolving into something akin to the version she knew off. It appeared that Rasiel's Union was something of a chrysalis phase, in which the warring Union of the past transitioned into the Union of Luz's time.

However the world beyond the Union was not so harmonious, as Luz learned through the snippets of news Rasiel received from reports. The Demon Coalition had only formed to fight against the Angelic Crest Union and now they had no unifying force to rally against and so had broken apart. Some member states formed alliances, some became isolationist, and others even began feuding with each other and making threats of war. It was as frustrating for Luz to watch as it was for Rasiel, especially since he couldn't really do anything about it! After all, just because their races were at peace didn't mean the Demons would welcome an Angel interfering in their business, especially as the years went by and people began to forget their gratitude for his work in ending the Eternal War.

Unfortunately, that forgetfulness grew worse as the years became decades and after less than a century, the embers of a third Eternal War rose from the ashes of second old one. Angels were long-lived creatures and not everyone was happy that the Demons and Witches hadn't been made to pay more for the losses they inflicted on the Angels. Then there were the Demons, who told stories to their descendents that grew more exaggerated with each new retelling, feeding the anger of a younger generation towards an enemy they had no true personal issue with. Tensions grew within the Union and between the Demon States, and they grew between the races too, with even Nephalia slowly becoming more and more tense as decades of safety made them forget the terrors of war that had brought them together. Not only that, but since Rasiel had tried to limit the use of Portals to the Human Realm and keep the young race out of Arcane affairs, there had been some pushback from both races, who enjoyed having the primitive Humans around for their labour and worshipping devotion.

Rasiel did his best to promote peace and hold things together, but the new generations of Demons and Witches just saw him as the enemy, no longer remembering "Rasiel of the Clean Blade", while the Angels began to see him as a Demon sympathiser who was too cowardly to fight. The Seraphim on his council slowly gave into peer pressure and radicalisation too, and the poor man found his voice almost drowned out by growing discontent. Rani and the Nephilim kept things contained within Nephalia at least, but the other Titans had not bothered to return to the mainland, instead finding comfort in their new homes out in the Great Sea, where they'd lived for centuries, and that fact further fuelled a growing belief that the war never truly ended.

Luz hated watching it, especially when after 200 years of peace, a new war was finally sparked. It started from something so small too; Luz could hardly believe her ears as she stood in the Council Chambers of the Union's Capital and listened as Rasiel and the other Seraphim received a report on it. It was a bar fight of all things; a remote inn that catered to both races had gotten a little rowdy and a Demon had spilled an Angel's drink. Insults were thrown, then fists, and then swords and spells, leading to a fight that swiftly became a blood bath. Several people died and their friends carried those stories home and suddenly both races were demanding justice for their slain kin, which had lead to a small battle between a Union Town and a Demon Town. The Demons had lost and run for help, causing other Demon Towns to come to their aid and destroy the Union Town. It had escalated from there until several Demon Cities were threatening war with the Union as a whole if reparations were not paid. Rasiel tried his absolute hardest to convince the rest of the council to try for a diplomatic solution, but he was steadfastly ignored. His voice was alone and even as the head of the council, he was not the ruler of the Union as a whole.

And so a new war began, and Rasiel's power waned dramatically as he continued to sue for peace and continued to be rejected and ignored. Old grievances emerged and the war became a muddled mess that eventually boiled down to two opposing views: the Angels considered the Demons and witches to be Chaos Incarnate and in need of purging, while the Demons and Witches saw the Nephilim (who were becoming known as Titans more commonly) as their Living Gods whom the Angels considered threats and believed they would finally return only after the Angels had been wiped from the planet.

Just like that, 200 years of peace gave way to another war and Luz felt her heart breaking for Rasiel. She began to understand him even more, which honestly scared her a little… but what scared her more was seeing Rasiel being worn down by the war. She began to see shades of the Divider and she did NOT like it. Then there was the fact that the poor guy had been kept so busy that he hadn't seen his Titan family since the negotiations 200 years before, and the war had made getting letters through to one another next to impossible, so they'd barely spoken since it started… and it didn't look to be letting up anytime soon either.

Rasiel had also gathered all the people who still believed in him and his vision of peace and formed the Wings of Unity; an advocacy group of both Angels, Witches, and Demons that aimed to promote peace and stop the fighting where possible. Luz saw that they were similar to the Red Cross or Doctors without Borders from the Human Realm in what they did; offering medical care, supplies, and reinforcements to civilian targets, primarily defending against Demon attacks since the Crest Union still obeyed him enough to not attack civilians… though only barely. However she also saw further shades of the Divider's future path, especially as the Wings of Unity uniform featured a Titan Skull and wings; bearing a striking resemblance to the Wings of Rani uniform and logo…

But no matter how much she wished it wasn't so, Luz could do nothing but watch as things grew worse and worse. In the end, it would take a whopping 400 YEARS after the negotiations that ended the second Eternal War before Rasiel got to see his family again… and Luz could feel it in her gut that something very bad was about to happen as the maelstrom of memories slowed down.

She braced herself for what she'd see as the memories solidified around her once again and she found herself stood on the deck of a large airship travelling at the head of a small fleet. The fleet itself was only about ten ships, but each one was as large as a cruise ship in the Human Realm and looked able to carry thousands of people each. They also had the iconography of the Wings of Unity on them, letting Luz know who they were.

Turning around, she found Rasiel leaning against the railing at the bow, his eyes trained on a report in his hand. Luz looked over his shoulder to read it and saw that it was an intelligence report; Angels from a small Union town of only 5000 people were calling for help from the Union, as they were currently in the direct path of a Demon Army of 20,000, which would surely wipe the town off the map if they reached them on-route to their actual targets. The Seraphim Grand Council had sent an army of their own; 20,000 to bolster the 5000 people in the town and give them the numerical advantage. Rasiel had advised against it but had again been ignored; the idea that not all 5000 residents of a town would be able to fight had been rejected by his war hungry compatriots. So instead he'd headed out with his Wings of Unity to try and evacuate the city ahead of time, especially since the two armies were moving at such a rate that they would likely clash within spitting distance of the town.

Sighing heavily, Rasiel looked over the railing and saw the Union Army marching through the fog far below.

"Thank the Heavens for Glyph Combinations. Without this mist, they'd have seen us and tried to stop us." Rasiel commented to his Palisman, Hesperus.

Hesperus (whom Luz had seen carved from wood given to Rasiel as a parting gift from Rani) hissed softly and thanks to this being Rasiel's memories Luz was experiencing, the young Seraphim was able to understand her. "It was wise to disguise us as cloud cover. But I'm afraid we may be too late. The two armies are only a stone's throw from the town. I fear that it is too late to evacuate them."

"You may be right, old friend. In which case, I should take precautions… I can also sense something just beyond those mountains. It is trying to conceal itself from me, but it isn't doing enough… I fear it may be something very large and powerful." Rasiel frowned. The Arcane Realm was home to many breeds of Mega Fauna that were not to be trifled with, with creatures of a similar scale to the Ash Moths being semi-common. Of course, since Titans still lived in this era, the Ash Moths were likely colossal even compared their modern day forms.

Luz watched as Rasiel turned to his crew and cast a spell of some kind to create a cyan aura around the entire fleet. He then shouted; "Full speed ahead to the town! Circle it from above and begin Barrier Procedures! Angelic and Demonic Diplomatic Teams are to prepare for work immediately! Combat Units are also to prepare and remain on stand-by until I give the signal."

"Yes, Lord Rasiel!" was the unified response from everyone aboard the fleet, and Luz wondered if the cyan spell had been to keep the sound from travelling beyond their cloud cover. Regardless, the aura faded and the airships sped up, letting Luz see that it was glyph combos engraved on the hull of the airships that were producing the fog, and they became a lot more obvious when moving faster. Luz curiously flew down to look at the approaching Union Army and saw that they'd taken notice of the more rapidly moving clouds and were now marching faster towards the town. She then flew and saw that the Demon Army was doing the same, but thankfully the Wings of Unity were faster.

The fleet reached the town and began encircling it from the sky just as ordered, before members of the Wings of Unity (primarily Angelic ones) descended down from their ships and began running to the borders of the town and putting down Barrier Glyph Combos that looked far more complicated than the ones King had made. She then watched as they were all activated, creating a series of massive barrier walls that resembled soap bubbles that all stuck together. Rasiel then created a giant version of the combo with his own magic and snapped his fingers, causing the internal borders of the different barriers to "burst" and the mass of barriers to suddenly transform into a single colossal one. Luz wondered what the point of that was compared to just making a giant barrier from the start like she'd done at the Navel Woods, but then she saw how hundreds of Wings of Unity members were maintaining it together to strengthen the defences while reducing the load on each individual person.

"Interlocking Barriers… I am totally telling King about that! I imagine the Divider will be peeved that he's teaching me tactics to use against him!" Luz said with a little smile. She was trying to stay positive ahead of what she was sure would be a horrible experience.

With the barrier now complete, Rasiel was able to pass through it by using the glyph combo to make a door, then went and landed on the ground just outside the town and shot a massive blast of light magic into the air, basically making a massive beacon to draw both armies towards him.

The Union Army couldn't really ignore one of their own leaders, so they began turning their marching column a little towards Rasiel, while the Demon Army launched a volley of spells at the town to test its barrier. The barrier didn't so much as flicker, so they begrudgingly began marching towards Rasiel too, willing to ignore the town and instead go for the threat they could actually reach; namely Rasiel and the Union Army. As both armies began to converge on him, Rasiel used magic to enhance his voice as he turned Hesperus into a staff (which looked curiously like the Rod of Asclepius).

"HOLD PEOPLE OF THE ARCANE REALM! CEASE YOUR HOSTILITIES! THIS LAND IS HOME TO A TOWN OF INNOCENTS UNINVOLVED IN THIS WAR! LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS SO WE MAY SETTLE THIS PEACEFULLY, OR AT LEAST MOVE FURTHER SOUTH AND WAGE YOUR POINTLESS WAR WHERE THE INNOCENT WILL NOT BE HARMED!"

The two approaching armies continued to march, and while the Angels initially looked ready to obey him, the Seraphim at the head of the army began yelling orders to disregard Rasiel, while the Demons actively began moving faster, eager to begin the clash.

"Petty fools…" Rasiel sighed, before willing all seven of his glyph markings to glow and then unleashing a massive, oppressive wave of magic. The wave was powerful enough to make the barrier around the town ripple, and cause the first few lines of both armies to be knocked backward, creating a domino effect that caused a good chunk of both armies to fall over and begin scrambling to get back to their feet, creating chaos on both sides of the would-be battle and halting their advance. As Rasiel (and Luz) watched them pick themselves up, they noticed several humans amongst the soldiers on both sides, all of them wielding heavy armour and weapons to make up for their lack of magic. Seeing the young race used as soldiers sickened Rasiel; they had barely developed beyond their extremely primitive origins, and yet they'd already been dragged into another Realm's wars.

"I WILL NOT WARN YOU AGAIN! MOVE SOUTH OR STOP THIS POINTLESS BATTLE BEFORE IT BEGINS! THERE IS ROOM IN THIS REALM FOR US ALL, AND NO POINT IN VENGEANCE FOR ANCIENT SLIGHTS!" Rasiel bellowed.

But the Demons still ignored him, and the Seraphim leading the Union Army stood and yelled back. He was Preditael, the new Seraphim of Diligence and one-time Ophanim of the same Seraphim who'd caused Rasiel grief when he'd first been forcibly recruited into the Union.

"Stand aside, Rasiel! The Chaotic Blood of the Demons must be purged! Leave this place, and we may turn a blind eye to the Demons within your little pet project!" Preditael yelled. He was an unpleasant man that was more muscle and mouth than morals, with caramel skin and white hair tied into a wolf knot, and every bit of flesh beneath his eyes clad in heavy white and gold armour.

"Preditael, if you wage war here, this town will be destroyed! The barrier will not protect our people forever!" Rasiel yelled.

"Then they will die for the glory of the Union! If they will not fight beside us, then that is the only fate they deserve! We do not consort with the Agents of Chaos or their false Nephilim Gods like you do, Rasiel! Now stand aside, or we'll put you down like the traitor you are!" Preditael declared, brandishing a sword made of fire.

Rasiel narrowed his eyes and turned Hesperus into sword form, looking a tiny bit less detailed and extravagant than the form Luz had seen when he'd first summoned her. He then conjured a second sword made of light and crystal, as well as a trio of crystal kite shields that floated around him, intended to defend against attacks from behind as both armies began to fully charge at each other, filling the air with the sound of battle cries. Rasiel took a deep breath and readied himself for a battle on both sides, saying a quiet prayer to the Sephiroth and Magic itself to help him survive… only for the battle to not even occur.

The sky suddenly went dark as a very large, very familiar shape leapt out from behind the mountains and briefly blocked out the sun, before the colossal creature landed on all fours over the town, guarding it with their body and making their eyes flash.

"R-Rani!?" Rasiel cried in shock and joy. It was her he'd sensed before! She must have used some kind of cloaking magic to hide herself from them all, only to for Rasiel to still sense her a little thanks to their bond via the glyphs.

Rani, for her part, smiled briefly at Rasiel, having heard his booming voice earlier and recognised it immediately, then breathed raw magic onto him, causing a barrier with her glyph markings to appear around him. With Rasiel stuck in this barrier, Rani willed it into the air than unleashed a massive, incredibly powerful beam attack from her mouth, which she used to burn a trench between the two attacking armies right before they could clash. The Demons (who had briefly been egged on by her appearance, thinking she was on their side), suddenly skidded to a halt and dropped to their knees in reverence of the Titan, while the Angels also froze but did so more out of fear than anything else. Not even the arrogant Preditael was stupid enough to attack a city-sized Titan who'd just burned a 10ft deep trench in the earth in front of them!

With the battle stopped, Rani placed Rasiel down on the Angel side of the barrier and released him from her barrier, then lowered her head down to that side too and made her whole body begin to glow. As the glow became focused on her throat, Rani suddenly spat out a glowing egg directly in front of Rasiel, making him smile as he realised what she was doing. A glowing ball of energy then emerged from Rani's chest and hit the egg, causing her body to go dormant as the egg hatched to reveal a seven foot tall, miniature version of herself.

This was an Avatar, used by Titans to interact with the world on a smaller scale. They were fully functioning mini-bodies to contain their souls, and the glowing ball Rani had released moments before was her own soul. The Avatar body took its first breath and shook itself as Rani took control of it, then she smiled broadly and ran at Rasiel.

"My boy!" she cried with joy.

"Rani!" Rasiel cried too, meeting her halfway and being captured in a hug. Rani was larger, so she easily scooped up her adopted son and spun him around a little.

"Oh Rasiel, I'm so glad to see you! It's been so long! And I haven't heard from you in years!" Rani cried, actually leaking tears down her skull as she nuzzled him.

"I'm so sorry, Rani! The Union was a madhouse and I couldn't get away! Whenever I did, there was war to avert and people to save! And I tried sending you letters, but the war had made that nearly impossible!" Rasiel explained, crying even while smiling.

Rani chuckled; "As excuses go, "War messed everything up" is a good one, so I'll forgive you!" she said jokingly. "I can't believe you're really here! I'd heard rumours of the Wings of Unity and this attack, so I came to defend the town and see if your people could get a message to you! I never imagined you'd be here in person!"

"You always taught me not to expect from others what you won't do for yourself." Rasiel said; "I lead every Wings of Unity Mission I can. But thank you so much for helping us out! How have you been? And where are Civa, Nilam, and Mancal?"

"I've been well! Stopping as many battles as I can by making the Demons stop and keeping the Angels from attacking. I've also been destroying the portals that both sides use to bring Humans through. They're charming little creatures but have no business in this world's petty conflicts. As for the others; Civa is trying to convince the Demon Coalition to stop the war, but all the member states keep blaming each other so they can avoid stopping without making it look like they're disobeying their "Gods" or whatever…" Rani sighed, making air quotes; "Nilam is back at Nephalia, trying to keep its remaining population together, but a lot of people have begun to move out as old racial tensions build again. Then there's Mancal; they headed out to the Great Sea to try and bring the other Nephilim back to the continent so we can stop this new war just like Torram the first of the Nephilim once did. We haven't heard from them in a while, but it seems like they're not making a lot of headway… our kind left this continent to avoid war after all."

Rasiel sighed; "Well at least they're well and doing their best to preserve what we built together. It feels like it's all slipping through our fingers…"

Rani nodded and stroked his hair sympathetically; "I know, Siel. Demons only live for 100 years on average, so each generation tends to forget the lessons of the previous ones a little more year by year, while the Angels are too stiff and unchanging… to them, war with the Demons is the "Tradition" and peace is the brief dalliance into new horizons before going back to war… It's horrible, but we're doing our best."

That cheered up Rasiel a little, though he immediately went on guard as Preditael slowly approached the two. His sword of fire, which was actually his Salamander Palisman, was now back in animal form and clinging to his belt via its tail, and he was keeping his hands clearly visible so as not to appear threatening. Still, Rasiel eyed him suspiciously and Luz, who'd been getting caught up in the emotional reunion, felt her stomach dropping as she suddenly had an awful feeling that everything was about to change.

"Preditael, what do you want?" Rasiel asked with a frown.

"To speak to you and this… Nephilim. I've not seen her since my former master was the Seraphim of my Order, back when we came to claim you from that city." Preditael replied.

Rani narrowed her eyes on him as she tried to remember his face, but seeing as most of his face was obscured, she couldn't quite manage it. "Former master… I guess that makes you one of the Ophanim. Sorry, but I don't recognise you."

"I didn't think you would. You no doubt remember how my master was brutalised by Metariel though." he replied.

"Oh, he was the annoying and mouthy one, right? Yeah, can't say I felt too bad for him." Rani shrugged.

Preditael scowled and clearly wanted to get angry, but more so because he couldn't disagree. Luz got the impression his master had not been a pleasant man to deal with… she wondered if he was still alive or if he'd been killed in the war.

Ignoring Rani's comment, Preditael edged closer as he kept his hands visible. "You are also the one responsible for those glowing tattoos that Rasiel has, correct? The ones that grant him power."

"My glyphs. I'm responsible for four out of the seven, and my three friends each donated one. They helped Rasiel grow through the ranks of your Angel hierarchy much faster." Rani said freely.

"So I've heard…" Preditael muttered, looking at Rasiel's markings. Rasiel had been evasive when talking about the markings, initially only saying that they were blessings from the Nephilim. However he was not the first Angel to be blessed; others have been too (such as the Celestial) and records were left behind that detailed how they made Angels stronger.

Rasiel narrowed his eyes; "If you're hoping for a blessing to make you more powerful, think again. Each glyph requires true understanding of the element and its aspects in order to bond with it. The Nephilim also need to be WILLING to give the blessing, or it won't work."

"I've heard this also. While you've been off gallivanting with your little band of misfits, the Union researched this matter. We have a deal we'd like to offer you, Rani of the Nephilim." Preditael stepped closer to the Titan's Avatar and Luz found herself yelling for her to step away. Of course, Luz went unheard… the events she was watching had already happened a long time ago.

"An offer? Let me guess; my blessings in return for something I want?" Rani asked, looking very unimpressed.

"But of course. Leave the bonding to us; just hand out the blessings and you'll have the finest home in the Arcane Realm, right in the capital of the Union. We'll even make it sized for your big form, if you want." Preditael said, grinning widely; "You'll live a life of luxury with hordes of Angels to meet your needs. Far better than the Demons and their chaos and squalor can offer you. After all, your kind IS half-Angel, somewhere generations back."

Rani scoffed; "Oh, so now that you want something from me, suddenly I'm not some rabid false god any more? How nice. Well sorry, brat-ael, I have no need for fancy houses and worshippers, so you're gonna need a better offer."

It was clear Rani had no intention of accepting no matter what the offer was; she was unwilling to bless anyone on either side of this pointless Eternal War. If she wasn't going to support the Demons who worshipped her, she certainly wasn't going to support the Angels who considered her to be little more than a giant monster!

However Preditael's smile didn't falter; "What if we offered to return Rasiel to you?"

"Excuse me!? I am not a thing to be given away!" Rasiel snapped; "I am also still the Lord Seraphim of Crest Humility and head of the Council! You don't have the authority to trade me away like a plaything!"

Preditael rolled his eyes; "Oh please, we both know your authority is waning! The rest of the Council outvotes you at every turn! We also both know you didn't choose to join us and would be happy to leave!" he turned back to Rani; "Think about it; it's the perfect solution! You get Rasiel back, he gets to go back to his "family" or some such nonsense, and we get the blessings needed to overpower the Demons and finally end this war! The Union takes control of this continent and the rest of the Arcane Realm's land, and the Nephilim can keep the Great Sea. We all win!"

"Except for the Demons you'd ruthlessly murder! I won't agree to support anyone who commits genocide!" Rani snarled, getting in Preditael's face.

The Diligence Seraphim looked briefly cowed, but soon shook his head to shake off the fear and looked Rani in the eye. "So your answer is no?"

"Of course it's no!" Rani yelled.

"Then will you leave and stop getting in our way?" Preditael asked.

Rani growled; "Not a chance. So long as your people and theirs continue to perpetuate a genocide against one another, I will be there to stop you however I can!"

A sudden tension filled the air as Preditael's eyes became strangely dull. It was the expression of a man resigned to something and Luz did NOT like it. Rasiel clearly didn't either as his grip on his swords tightened a little and his eyes were fixed on Preditael's hands, which remained up where he could see them. Unfortunately, that was not where his eyes should have been.

"What a pity. Bloodshed it is then." Preditael sighed, before snapping his fingers.

Instantly, his Palisman transformed back into sword form while still on his waist. The Palisman itself turned into the hilt of the blade and spewed a blade of fire magic, but since the hilt appeared out of Rasiel and Rani's lines of sight and their eyes were focused on his hands, they didn't notice it. This allowed the Palisman to twist itself in hilt form before releasing the blade, resulting in a burning sword of fire magic suddenly blasting out into Rani's chest, running her Avatar form through completely.

Rani choked as all the air was forced out of her lungs from the vicious, burning stab. She couldn't even scream thanks to that, even as she felt the flames burning her Avatar body from the inside. The attack destroyed her heart immediately and caused her to fall back in shock.

"RANI! NO!" Rasiel screamed, before leaping at her and Preditael. The Enemy Seraphim moved to defend himself but Rasiel was too fast and unleashed a furious roar as he sliced off Preditael's wings with his light sword, then decapitated the man with his Palisman sword, leaving his corpse to fall to the ground beside Rani.

Rasiel ignored the dead Seraphim and knelt by Rani's side as both armies were up in arms. The Demons and Witches were enraged by the cowardly act, while the Angels were shocked and horrified to see one of their own killing another. Luz was shocked by both attacks, and had screamed in horror as Rani fell and Rasiel took his vengeance. Now tears streamed down her face as she watched Rasiel trying in vain to heal Rani's wound.

"Rani! Hold on, please! You've got to hold on!" he cried. "Y-Your real body! We'll get you back in your real body!" he tried to pick her up; "If you touch it, you can send your soul back into it! You can-!"

But it was too late. Rani's true Titan form was so large that flying up to her head or to either of her hands would be impossible before her time ran out, so Rasiel was forced to watch as the light faded from Rani's eyes.

"Ra...si…el… I… lo…" Rani tried to choke out, blood pouring from her throat with every syllable. She did not get to finish her sentence though, as her Avatar finally succumbed to her wounds and the connection between her soul and the living world was severed. Her Avatar body went limp with one last long sigh, followed swiftly by her true body also going limp and collapsing onto the town she'd been shielding, and which she'd have crushed if not for the Wings of Unity's barrier.

Luz covered her mouth in shock and horror as it slowly dawned on Rasiel what this meant; Rani had died. Luz suddenly remembered what she'd learned from Zachael's final message to King; the Titan Trappers had managed to kill many Titans by slaying them in their Avatar Forms, when they were much more vulnerable, and clearly Preditael had just done the same.

"Oh Rasiel…!" Luz whispered, her heart breaking as the shock of Rani's death finally wore off for Rasiel and he began looking down at his hands, stained blue from where he'd tried to heal her. He began to hyperventilate, tears streaming down his face, as he shook like a leaf… but then the worst of it came. Luz watched with open-mouthed horror as Rani's light glyph vanished from his chest; visible proof that Rasiel's ability to feel positivity and caring had died with Rani. That was when Rasiel began to really grieve.

Rasiel's grief was not a quiet thing; he screamed in absolute rage and sorrow and deep, unendurable pain. He screamed out like a man being flayed alive, as deep inside he felt his heart be torn in two. He screamed as waves of power blasted off of him so intensely that Preditael's body was vaporised by it (though Rani's Avatar was not), and he continued to scream as all his glyphs went haywire. The ground beneath him shook as gale force winds blew around him and lightning bolts shot down from the building storm clouds. A blizzard began from those same clouds, and a fire burned from Rasiel's skin as withered and dead-looking trees began to twist out of the ground around him, protecting him and Rani's body from all threats. It reminded Luz of her own grief when learning of her fathers' fates, only dialled up to 11, and all she could do was watch and wish that she'd been there to hug her dear friend in his moment of grief.

This was it, she realised. This was the moment she and Rasiel had both faced, and which had diverged their paths. Luz had fallen into grief and despair, but she'd had Amity to pull her back into the arms of those who loved her… but Rasiel was alone, surrounded almost entirely by enemies of either his race or his philosophy. The Wings of Unity were present, but they weren't Rasiel's friends and loved ones; they were his subordinates, who respected him but were not emotional support. Still, despite knowing how this ends, Luz dearly wished just one of them would step up, leave the barrier, and embrace the man.

But the first one to step up was not a friend; it was an Arch-Angel of Crest Diligence and Preditael's Ophanim, finally getting over the shock of her master's death.

"Traitor! Rasiel just murdered Lord Preditael! Arrest him immediately!" she ordered, causing a small squad of ten other Arch-Angels to fly at Rasiel. The man made no attempts to stop them or even seemed to know that they were there, but then one man thrust his sword at Rasiel in an attempt to slay him. The heat of the flames erupting from Rasiel's body, along with the powerful winds, caused his blow to go off-course and instead slice the side of Rasiel's shoulder.

In a flash, Rasiel's emotions all focused into one; pure, unadulterated hatred. He had tried so hard all this time to achieve peace and this was his reward!? To see his mother figure murdered in front of him!? No… no more! He would take no more!

Still roaring, though now sounding like a beast rather than a tortured man, Rasiel spun around and cleaved the attacking Arch-Angel in two with a single swing of his blade. The brutal kill made Luz gasp in horror, but sadly it would not be the last; the other Arch-Angels sent at him began to try and attack, but the raging Rasiel tore through them like a man possessed.

The second Angel tried to run him through with a spear while two others shot powerful water spells to douse his flames, only to produce a huge burst of steam that allowed Rasiel to mostly sidestep the blow. The spear still pierced through his right bicep though, but Rasiel didn't seem to care and let the spear's shaft slide through his body as he leapt at its wielder and promptly sliced her head off. One of the water wielding Arch-Angels then shot a spike of stone at him, stabbing him in the back, though Rasiel's Seraphim endurance allowed him to keep it from going in too deep, and he responded by pulling the spike out of his flesh and violently beating the Arch-Angel's head into a bloody paste with it. Four more Arch-Angels lunged forward with rapiers and pierced all four of his limbs, but again, Rasiel seemed numb to the pain and used the rapiers in his arms to pull their wielders to him so he could smash their heads together. He then used one of their corpses to knock over one of the Arch-Angels stabbing his legs while throwing Hesperus' sword through the throat of the other, decreasing the Arch-Angel unit from ten to four. This went down to three as Rasiel leapt at the man he'd just knocked over and crushed his throat with a hard stomp.

The remaining three backed off in terror, and the equally terrified and horrified Ophanim ordered the whole army to attack and kill Rasiel. Not only that, but the Demons took the opportunity to attack too, charging into the fray to kill the Angels and avenge the Nephilim they'd just seen murdered.

It was a chaotic and violent bloodbath in which Rasiel slaughtered his way through countless Angels, Demons, Humans, and Witches, all while taking more damage with every person he killed. Luz, in tears and barely able to keep watching the horrible scene, noticed that despite his seemingly rabid state, Rasiel never attacked a person who didn't wound him first, so with every kill he made, he suffered an injury too. Not only that, but people were dying around him constantly as the two sides warred with each other, though very few dared to get near Rani's fallen avatar, as the wild and raging Rasiel always got there first and drove them off with blasts of wind and snow. It was all a whirling melee of blood and dust, and Luz finally began to understand what the Divider had said before…

… Luz had known nothing about the true hell of war. Now she did, and her sympathy for the Divider reached a new height. But then something happened that Luz hadn't expected.

After maybe an hour of battle, the area around Rasiel became nothing but a ring of fire and corpses, and stood in its centre was Rasiel himself, in the worst state Luz had ever seen a living person. Countless blades were stabbed into his limbs and back, the amount of blood he was losing was horrendous, staining the earth gold, his magic was waning to the point of near existence, and his wings were in almost as bad a shape as when Belos had stolen them. The fact Rasiel was even still alive was a miracle, but that miracle had run its course. The poor, broken man barely had the strength and time left to drag himself back towards Rani's body, but as soon as he did, he whispered her name one last time and then collapsed to the ground.

In that moment, Rasiel the Seraphim died.

Luz could scarcely believe what she was watching; the Divider was a man she really wanted to punch at times, but the Rasiel she knew (and which had been present through most of these memories) was a sweet, kind man who only ever wanted to help people, not unlike Luz herself. Watching all his work be forgotten and disregarded, then having him lose his mother figure and then die in a battle he'd tried so hard to stop… it shattered Luz's heart into a million pieces. So even though she knew he was alright in the present (though how she didn't yet know), Luz grieved for Rasiel and felt deep sorrow for all the pain he'd gone through.

"By the Titans, the Sephiroth, and everything beyond; Rasiel needs so much therapy. I guess that's the first item on the agenda for when all this is done…" Luz whispered to herself, trying to think of practical solutions. Part of her own therapy had been to acknowledge her own feelings, allowing herself to feel them as much as possible, then try to find either healthy coping mechanisms or practical ways to address the cause of those feelings.

As Luz thought about it, the memory around her began to go dark at the edges and Luz found herself sinking into the ground. She panicked for a moment, but since this was only a memory, she relaxed and let it happen, suddenly finding herself submerged in some dark water, with Rasiel sinking beside her. He looked healthy, though his eyes were dead and the plant glyph on his stomach was flickering as Rasiel grappled with his understanding of life. Luz had no idea what was going on, until the hand of a Titan Avatar suddenly plunged into the water and grabbed Rasiel, then pulled him up to the surface. She followed him and found herself in the In-Between Realm, stood on the infinite, murky water amidst the Portal Seeds and identical twisting tunnels.

Rasiel was stood in front of her, dazed and confused, but then looked upon the face of his rescuer. He then gasped (Luz did the same) as he laid eyes on Rani, who was giving him a very weary smile.

"R-Rani!?" Rasiel whispered, not trusting his voice to speak higher right now.

"Oh, my little Rasiel." Rani sighed with the saddest smile Luz had ever seen; "It's me. I'm here."

"RANI!" Rasiel burst into fresh tears and threw himself at her, embracing her with all he had. "I-I thought you were gone forever! By the Sun and Stars, I thought I'd lost you!" the poor man sobbed, clinging to the Titan like she'd disappear if he let go.

Rani shook her head and kissed his forehead; "You'll never lose me; I'll always be right here." she said, poking a claw against his heart.

Rasiel sniffled, but then gave a sad smile of his own; "None of that matters now, Rani. You died, and so did I. Our time in this world is over now. We can move on together to the next world."

"Not quite, my boy." Rani said, stroking his hair; "As a Nephilim, upon death my soul is briefly bound here, in the In-Between Realm. This place lies in the space between Realms, even between the living ones and the dead. I can remain so long as I choose, and thanks to my connection to you through your glyph markings, I was able to bring you here with me. But…" she trailed off for a moment as she lifted Rasiel's chin so he was looking her in the eye; "…I can also send you back to the world of the living."

Rasiel's eyes widened in both surprise and horror, while Luz covered her mouth as her mind suddenly went back to months ago, when she'd come face to face with Orion in the In-Between Realm while sick on Titan Trapper Island. He had told her that a Titan could revive the dead, but only if they had a strong connection via the glyphs (which Rasiel did) and were willing to sacrifice the magic that connected them to the In-Between Realm, forcing them to move on to the afterlife in return for saving someone else from death.

Apparently Rasiel had also been told this at some point in the past, as he began shaking his head and backing away from Rani; "No… No! No no NO! I refuse!"

"Rasiel…" Rani tried to say, but she was cut off.

"Absolutely not! I've had enough!" Rasiel cried; "I want to stay with you! You were the first person to love me unconditionally! Even the people of Crest Chastity when I was an infant… if they're anything like the people I know from that order in the modern day, they saw me only as a cog in a corrupt and twisted machine!"

"I want to stay with you too, my Rasiel. But I know you… if you left that world for good now, you wouldn't rest easy. You'd feel regrets for all the people you could have helped." Rani said softly. "That world still needs you."

"Why!? Why does it need me!? And why should I care if it does!? I gave them everything! For almost 500 years, I lived for the sake of others! First for the people of Nephalia, then the Union and the Arcane Realm as a whole! What did it amount to!? What difference did it make!? All my hard work meant nothing in the end! I was born in an Eternal War and I died in an Eternal War! Angels, Demons, Witches… even the Humans! They're all hopeless! They want to fight and destroy and murder each other!" Rasiel was in tears of frustration; "What more can I do!? I gave them my life and it wasn't enough! They took me from the only place I was happy and then they murdered you in front of my eyes!"

He hugged Rani tightly and buried his face in her shoulder; "W-What more can I give? What more do I have for them to take? I've done enough… please… I don't want to save them any more."

Rani tutted softly and stepped back so she could look Rasiel in the eye, then began to gently rub the side of his neck; "Rasiel… what have I told you about lying? You know it only hurts you."

Luz gasped softly as Rasiel averted his eyes and petulantly said; "My heart hurts more."

Rani shook her head; "I know. And that hurt is why you're saying all this. I know you, Rasiel; you are hurting now but when that pain fades, you'll end up drowning in regrets. I am sorry to force this on you, but for the sake of the world we both love, and the future generations who deserve peace, you must go back. You're the only one who can bring peace… maybe not alone, but you will definitely do it. I feel it in my bones."

"Why? Why me? Why do you believe in me so much?" Rasiel asked, beginning to look almost resigned.

"Because you're my son." Rani smiled; "And I believe you'll be what this world needs; a bridge between the Angels, Demons, Witches, Nephilim, and perhaps even the Humans. Only someone like that can truly create a lasting peace."

Rasiel grimaced; "I don't know if I can be that person. I don't know if I want to be that person! I don't understand them! The Angels and Demons, or the Humans caught up in their battles and the Nephilim who fled rather than get involved… I don't see eye to eye with any of them. How can someone like me make that peace?"

"I don't know. But I am willing to wager my immortal soul that if you aren't the bridge we need, you'll at least be the one to create it. You are a wonderful young man, Rasiel; I know you love this world and its people despite how cruel they've been to you and each other… so please; fulfil my last request." Rani hugged him once more; "Go back, and build the Paradise we dreamed of."

Rasiel grit his teeth and clenched his eyes shut in a pained grimace, before his face went slack and he released a long sigh. In a broken voice, he said; "I'm scared…. When I go back, I'll be alone."

"For a little while. But you'll find friends; Civa, Nilam, and Mancal are still out there and will support you, and you'll find more people to love. I know you're not interested in romance, but perhaps you can find a different kind of comrade. Either way, I believe in you whole-heartedly." Rani assured him.

Rasiel sniffled and Luz suddenly felt like she was looking at a little boy, working so hard to come to grips with having just lost his mother and now being required to give her up once again.

"I'll miss you, Mama." he said in a tiny voice that broke Luz and Rani's hearts.

"And I'll miss you, my little boy. I'll always be watching over you, no matter what." Rani whispered back, tears in her eyes.

The two embraced each other for a few seconds more, before an intricate array of glyph markings appeared all over Rani's body and wings as she wrapped them around Rasiel's body. Thick streams of golden magic poured out of the glyphs and formed a golden orb around Rasiel that began to lift him up into the air, while Rani began to sink into the water. As the two were pulled apart, Rasiel gasped and desperately tried to hang on to his mother in all but blood, but the power of the Nephilim was restoring him to life and sending Rani on to the next world, to be with her own parents.

"I love you, Rasiel. Be the man I know you are; the kind man who wants the best for everyone even if they don't deserve it! I'll be with you, always!" Rani cried, trying to smile even as tears filled her eyes and sobs shook her body.

Rasiel tried to hold on with all his might, but eventually his hand slipped away; "Mama! I-I'll do it! I'll make a paradise where everyone is happy! I'll end these stupid eternal wars! I'll make it happen, no matter what! So please…" he began to sob harder; "… please rest in peace! I love you Mama! I love you!"

Rani smiled even as she sobbed, and waved at him whilst repeatedly calling out; "I love you!" as she sank beneath the water, causing it to glow a bright, shimmering gold. The light blinded both Rasiel and Luz, and marked the transition from the In-Between Realm to… some place else.

When the light finally faded, a tearful and emotionally wounded Rasiel found himself in what appeared to be the Arcane Realm, only different. Luz looked around alongside him, feeling the otherworldly nature of this strange new place. To the average person, it'd just look like a meadow of golden grass, with a ring of mountains surrounding it in the distance and a slight hill in the middle, occupied by a single apple tree. It was pretty, but only someone seeing and experiencing it themselves could feel the odd energy in the air, like something beyond mortals roamed the meadow. Rasiel and Luz were both sure that this was not the Living Realms, but were also quite sure it wasn't the Dead Realms too; there was no safe way to come back from the Dead Realms, and Rasiel doubted he'd somehow moved on after Rani's sacrifice.

"What is this place…?" he muttered. Rani's barrier of magic had disappeared, so he began to walk up the hill to the Apple Tree, which was the only landmark in the meadow.

Upon reaching it, he found someone sat on the ground beneath its branches, leaning back against its trunk. This person was, shockingly enough, Metariel the former Seraphim of Crest Humility and Rasiel's one-time mentor.

"Metariel!?" Rasiel exclaimed, reeling from all the shifting emotions.

"Not quite." said the being in front of him, speaking in a voice that sounded like Metariel's, but with an otherworldly echo. "I am not a being with a form, so I required a body and a voice with which to meet you; Rasiel, Son of Rani."

Rasiel blinked; "A being without a form?"

"Indeed. I took the form of the Seraphim named Metariel so that you had a comfortable and respected figure with which to converse as I perform my task. My initial intention was to take the form of the Nephilim known as Rani, but in light of your recent distress, it was decided that I take a form unrelated to hers to avoid further emotional distress." the being replied.

Luz had no idea what was going on, and Rasiel clearly didn't either and had even less patience for it too, as he sighed heavily and glared at the odd creature. "Look, I have no idea who or what you are, or what you want. So speak plainly; my mother lost her life twice over so I could stop this war and I do not want to be delayed."

"Understandable inquiries. I will elaborate in order; I am the Arbiter of Power, a function of the Universe given limited independence and intelligence so that I may take Seraphim that have met the physical and magical requirements for ascension and implementation into the Sephiroth System, and give them the necessary examinations to determine their suitability for one of the remaining roles, of which there are eight out of ten. Would you like clarification on what a Sephiroth is?" the being, the Arbiter, asked.

Rasiel just stared, dumbfounded, as did Luz. Despite what had led to this, Luz was also a little excited; so this was the moment Rasiel would become a Sephiroth!

Sadly, she would not get to see the moment itself as the Arbiter spoke again. "I apologise for the inconvenience, but Sephiroth Assessments must remain confidential. I'm afraid the guest will have to leave."

The Arbiter then turned and looked directly at Luz, shocking her deeply. "Y-You can see me!?" Luz gasped, looking between the Arbiter and Rasiel. Strangely, Rasiel didn't appear to be reacting to what the Arbiter said, showing no signs of confusion or even proof that he'd heard it either.

"This is not an event that occurred within the memories of Rasiel the Divider." The Arbiter said; "You are bearing witness to an automated defence placed within the minds of the Sephiroth. As vision of a Sephiroth is obscured to those that have not directly encountered them, so too are the Sephiroth Examinations. This memory will remain sealed to you. Farewell."

Luz opened her mouth to try and talk, but the being in front of her was not actually the Arbiter; just a spell cast on Rasiel. It drew a spell circle and shot it at Luz, causing her to suddenly feel tingly as the world around her shattered into another maelstrom of memory. However unlike before, it didn't show her any fragments and instead immediately reformed into the next memory, which appeared to take place back in the Arcane Realm. Luz gasped as she reappeared in the middle of the battle that had taken Rani's and Rasiel's lives, and found herself stood over their bodies. Rasiel's was still bloodied and wounded, but almost as soon as Luz returned, his wounds began to glow until his entire body was shining, turning him into a golden silhouette with his glyph markings shining in their signature colours. His body then rose up into the air and the light grew more intense, causing the battle to slow to a standstill as everyone turned to see what was happening. Rasiel's eight silhouetted wings multiplied and became ten, and his glowing halo solidified into a deep reddish gold metallic form, before the light faded entirely and Rasiel was left standing there in all his glory.

He hadn't changed much besides the wings and halo, but his Divine Regalia (which had previously just been a pair of white pants and sandals, fitting for the Seraphim of Humility) had received an upgrade in the form of golden bands around his ankles, waist, wrists, biceps, and throat, as well as a cape and sash wrapped around his waist. His sandals had also turned gold but none of the existing components of his regalia had gotten more complex looking. However the most unnerving thing in Luz's mind was his expression, which was a dull and listless. It was like he was supremely bored and disappointed, and made a striking impression in Luz's mind… it was the face of a man who was done with everything the world had thrown at him and was no longer going to take it.

Almost immediately, the battle screeched to a halt as an eerie silence filled the air. Both Angels and Demons alike knew the significance of a Sephiroth and seeing Rasiel reborn as one in front of their very eyes filled them with a sense of dread.

Rasiel's eyes scanned the crowd and all the terrified faces, before snapping his fingers softly (making everyone around him flinch) and causing his voice to be magnified; "I am Rasiel the Divider, Third Born of the Sephiroth. By my order, this battle and this war is to come to an end immediately."

He spoke in an almost mono-tonal voice, but the power in it was unmistakeable and slowly, one by one, most of the people on both sides dropped their weapons or stopped their casting in obedience to the man. Rasiel eyed the few that didn't and snapped his fingers again, this time making a loud sharp sound that startled most of the people who could hear it. His spell caused the weapons of the holdouts to begin heating up until they could no longer stand it, causing them to yelp and drop their them. This was enough to have a lot of them drop to their knees in terror, but a handful of Demons instead screamed in rage and rushed to attack the Divider, casting spells. Rasiel barely acknowledged them, merely snapping his fingers and summoning Hesperus, who took on his sword form (now in the fancier version Luz had first seen earlier that day). He allowed their spells to hit him, wounding him but doing no lasting damage as the cuts and burns healed up immediately. He then blitzed through the attackers, slashing this way and that without spilling a single drop of blood.

When he was done, the Demons that had attacked him all slowly turned to him and kneeled on the ground, bowing their heads.

"Forgive us, Lord Divider. We were afraid and saw you as an enemy. But it was just pointless hatred. We are sorry." one of them, a Satyr Demon, said.

Luz frowned; the Satyr Demon and his cohorts had been divided, but not to the same extent as the people on the Isles were. The Divider had cut away their hatred and their desire to fight, but little else, leaving them feeling ashamed of their actions.

"You will be forgiven." Rasiel said, smiling for the first time since his return. His eyes were sad though, and as he raised his voice to address the armies, Luz couldn't help but wonder if this was the moment he first got the idea for his Paradise; a world of only the Divided.

"You will ALL be forgiven. This Eternal War is at an end! I will allow no more senseless bloodshed and violence! Those who insist on continuing will find their will to fight divided from them! Peace is the only option now." the Divider declared, smiling at the people around him.

The armies looked conflicted and afraid, but none dared to attack him after what they'd just seen. As far as they knew, there was no defeating a Sephiroth. The Divider smiled once again, though Luz could see doubts in his eyes; part of him was clearly uncomfortable with using his powers in such a way, but for the sake of peace and avoiding bloodshed, he was burying those feelings. Luz watched as he snapped his fingers to make all the dropped weapons disappear, then again to heal the wounded, leaving only the dead laying on the ground. He ordered the people to begin taking the dead and preparing them for proper funeral rites, and as they were doing that, the Divider used his immense magical power to create a massive tree that grew up around the town he'd come to protect, causing the tree to shield the town beneath its roots as well as wrap around the true titanic body of Rani, which he was unable to move normally thanks to the Nephilim resistance to Sephiroth Magic. The tree enveloped and held up Rani's body so that the Wings of Unity within the town could drop the barrier without her falling onto and crushing the place. The Divider then grew a huge number of flowers all over Rani's body, including a giant wreath of roses and lilies that he placed on her head like a crown.

"Rani… Mama… rest in peace. I will make Paradise for all, no matter what." he whispered, before heading down into the town and meeting with the Wings of Unity and the townspeople. The latter was mildly terrified but also incredibly grateful, while the former were all deeply sorrowful for their leader.

"My Lord… I am so sorry." one of the Angels said. He looked to be on the verge of genuine tears, which ironically made the Divider feel both better and worse. He felt worse for obvious reasons; a comrade was hurting because of him, but he also felt better because it confirmed that despite his earlier feelings, the Divider truly did still have people besides his family who loved and cared for him. Or perhaps he'd been right, and the Wings of Unitysimply were family to him.

The Divider put a hand on his shoulder and said; "Thank you, my friend. Your condolences mean a lot to me. I…I am a Sephiroth now… I will never be able to see Rani again. But I have all of you and the future generations of our world to look after. I will make her proud and do right by all of you."

A Demon from the Wings of Unity smiled; "We're with you to the end, Lord Divider!"

The others cheered in agreement, and the Divider felt a happy tear come to his eye. "Thank you all! We will move out immediately for the cities of the Demon Coalition Leaders and have them agree to a ceasefire, even if I have to divide them from their hatred first. But first, I have a humble request for all of you… I wish to change the name of our organisation. Having the "Wings of Unity" lead by "The Divider" feels wrong…"

His followers nodded in agreement, understanding where he was coming from. The Angel who'd first offered condolences then asked; "What should we call ourselves now?"

"Something that honours the person who gave me my new life and entrusted her dreams to me; my mother Rani. So, from this day on, we are the Wings of Rani!" Rasiel declared.

That was met with a round of cheers from the newly dubbed Wings of Rani. Rasiel then turned and began to march towards the two armies, with his followers following proudly behind him. They had an Eternal War to stop!

Having born witness to the Death of Rani and Rasiel, the Birth of the Divider, and the Rebirth of the Wings of Unity into the Wings of Rani, Luz felt like she was on the verge of understanding everything and a part of her was terrified of that fact! The memories around her faded away and she found herself returning to the odd ritual chamber-style room with memory windows everywhere, which she idly noticed were new ones. However her mind was still focused on what she'd just learned.

"Rani's death broke Rasiel, but he was able to scrounge together enough hope to keep going for the sake of their shared dream. Rani left everything to Rasiel, even giving up her chance to be with her son again so she could bring him back to life. But I wonder if that was the right choice…" Luz muttered to herself. She was deeply grateful to Rani for raising and then reviving Rasiel; he was like an Uncle to her and she loved him deeply, but it might have been better for the world if they'd moved on together to the afterlife… Rasiel would have known peace and the Divider wouldn't exist. Even though he'd seemed to have accepted his new role as the Divider willingly and was going to try and achieve Rani's dream, it hadn't slipped Luz's notice that he hadn't gotten her light glyph back and she had a feeling it wasn't because Rani was now dead and passed on.

Before she could think on it any more, Luz was suddenly startled by a hand clapping down on her shoulder. She held in a startled yelp and spun around to see that it was the Divider; the real present day one, looking at her with concern.

"Luz, there you are! I've been looking all over for you!" the Divider exclaimed; "What in the heavens happened to you!? One minute you were with me and about to enter my next memory and the next you were glowing and vanished!"

"I-I don't know… I just…" Luz said, still reeling from everything.

"After you disappeared, I was ejected from my own memories! I've spent all this time trying to reassemble my spell and get back here! Are you alright!?" the Divider asked, gently patting Luz down in search of injuries.

The combination of all that she'd just seen and the pure concern the Divider was showing her proved too much for poor Luz. She sniffled loudly, then broke down in tears and hugged him tightly.

"R-Rasiel! I was in here the whole time! I saw all your memories! When Rani found you, when you were blessed and bonded with your glyphs, your ascensions, Metariel finding you, the peace you fought so hard for breaking apart, and then Rani's passing and you becoming the Divider… I saw it all! I am so, so sorry!" Luz sobbed, burying her face in his chest; "I-It wasn't fair! You shouldn't have had to go through all of that! You lost so much and it was so painful… I am so sorry!"

The Divider's eyes widened in surprise, but then he smiled sympathetically and returned the hug, very gently rubbing Luz's back and stroking her hair to comfort her.

"Oh Luz… I think you ended up seeing a bit more than I intended. D-Did you see what happened after Rani was taken from me?" the Divider asked.

Luz sniffled and nodded, looking up at her honorary uncle with big glistening eyes. If the situation was nicer, it would be genuinely adorable, but Luz was so sad that the Divider couldn't enjoy her being adorable.

"Ah." he winced; "I'm sorry. I intended to show you Preditael's betrayal and Rani's passing, then skip straight to my return as a Sephiroth. My death, my revival, and most of all, my killing of those people… I never wanted you to see those." the Divider sighed.

Luz didn't say anything at first and just kept hugging him as she cried her heart out, but the Divider eventually asked; "Do you think less of me now? Knowing that I murdered people?"

"No." Luz shook her head and sniffed hard to try and get her tears under control; "I saw what happened. You only attacked those that hit you first. Even when nearly mad with grief, you tried to show mercy and be a good person. But those people wanted to fight and kill. I'm not happy they died, but it was kind of their own fault." she said.

The Divider smiled with relief; "I'm glad. I brought you here to understand me; I'd hate to make you despise me… you're too important to me for that and this fight between us is already straining things."

"I do understand you better… you were weak at first and didn't fit in, but you tried your best. You bonded with glyphs and became more powerful, doing your best to make things right for the world… but it was never enough; things always got worse. And then when you lost your Mama… I remember how I felt the day I lost my Papi, and how it felt learning about Dad and his fate, as well as Papi's true fate… it was like I lost them all over again. So I know how you feel… I wish I could have been there for you back then." Luz confessed.

The Divider's eyes glistened as he wore a grateful smile; "And I wish I could have been there when you learned of your fathers' fates. I am sorry that I wasn't. I'm sorry for a lot of things… but it'll be okay. It doesn't serve a purpose to dwell on the grim past, my girl. I showed you these things so you can understand me, not pity me. There is much about our people's history that you don't know. For example, did you know that the first Seraphim of Crest Humility is the reason that Angels can't lie?" the Divider said with a smile; "He thought that deceit was the root of all corruption and evil, so he created the Curse of Truth and imprinted it on every Angel in the Union. The curse seeped into our very DNA and was passed down to our children as a result. The people weren't too happy about that and killed the man responsible soon after, but he took the secrets of the Curse of Truth with him to the grave. No one has been able to undo it since, and we eventually just got used to it. Many of our kind even consider it a blessing now!"

The Divider chuckled, but his attempts to cheer Luz up with the little bit of history resulted in nothing more than a watery smile that barely even really registered as a smile

Trying again, he continued; "Fun facts aside, the two of us can work together to achieve paradise. I never took a real Ophanim of my own; I was only ever assigned one, but with you by my side, we can make a perfect world."

Luz looked up at him and shook her head with a heartbroken frown; "I can't. I won't. I understand what you went through and what you want to do and why you want to do it. I sympathise… but I can't agree. I've also seen all that has happened because of your divisions. Friends forced to fight each other, people losing who they are and becoming your puppets, families broken apart, and so much more! I know you'll say it's all just temporary, but these are people's lives, Divider. You may not be killing people, but you're still stealing their lives and freedom from them."

There was a long moment of silence as the Divider and Luz stared into one another's eyes. Luz saw a lot of emotions; disappointment, anger, sorrow, and even regret in the Divider's eyes, which eventually became a mix of hope and denial as he gently wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs.

"Then it seems our trip through my memories must continue. We've yet to reach the end, you've yet to see why I gave up on doing things the nice way. But you'll soon see; I'll make you understand." the Divider said, a strained smile on his face as he took her hand and showed her to the first of this new set of stained glass windows.

This window depicted Rasiel in his Divider form stood between armies of Angels, Demons, Witches, and Humans, with his hands held out to shield them all from each other while a peaceful expression adorned his face. The Divider opened his mouth to speak, but Luz instinctively reached out for the window, King's glyph glowing on her chest.

"Luz? What are you doing?" the Divider asked.

"I think King's linking power is what let me view your earlier memories in the way that I did. I want to see if that'll work again. I want to see it all; the fall of the man named Rasiel and his metamorphosis into you." Luz answered, touching the window.

In a flash, the window shattered and both Luz and the Divider experienced the maelstrom of memory fragments just like Luz had earlier. The two were still holding hands so they remained together as the snippets of memory flashed through their minds.

Luz watched as the Divider left Rani's Grave, having buried her Avatar Body in the centre of the town beneath her real body, and took the Wings of Rani back to the capital of the current (or then current) Demon Coalition, forcing the Demon Army to march with them while the Union Army was sent home to warn the Union of his impeding arrival and the peace talks he would be demanding. He reached the Coalition Capital (sadly missing Civa as she left to return to Nephalia) and declared the war over, and demanded the leaders come with him to Nephalia for the negotiations. Naturally the Demons were not quick to obey the demands of an Angel, even a Sephiroth, but the Demons of the Wings of Rani and the Coalition's own army made it clear to their leaders that the Divider had fought his own people as well as theirs when the battle began, and had been lovingly greeted by a Nephilim, which swayed them a bit more. The death of Rani and the Divider's ruthless execution of the man responsible had also helped get a good number of the Demon Coalition on side.

But of course, there were those that still refused and tried to fight, only to have their will to fight divided from them. That had started a brief incident in which other Demons and Witches had risen up to fight the Divider and the Wings of Rani, but none stood a ghost of a chance and ended up divided too. It was strange to see people be divided without turning into the drones Luz knew from the present era, but it did prove it could be done! The people were the same, but just unwilling to fight (though they were still willing to bluster and threaten without ever following through). After that, the Demon Coalition's leaders were brought to heel and escorted to Nephalia, where the Divider reunited with Civa and Nilam. That was a tearful reunion, especially as news of Rani's death had spread by this point. The three of them had cried together, and the Titans expressed pride in the Divider's new ascension, though Luz could also see that they were a little unnerved by what they saw in his eyes.

The reunion was also a short one; the Divider and the Wings of Rani continued on to the Union, leaving the Demon Coalition under Civa's watch while Nilam went out to sea to find Mancal. The Divider's welcome in the Union was about as tumultuous as could be expected; half the people praised him for his ascension while the other half condemned him as a traitor. The Divider had no patience for the Council this time though and immediately divided them when they began making accusations. He scolded them for prolonging the war out of some genocidal desire to wipe out the Demons, then dragged them all back to Nephalia for peace talks.

Unlike the last peace talks at the end of the second Eternal War, Luz felt that this was less a meeting of two equal sides and more like a bunch of naughty school children in the Principal's Office, being scolded for their actions and being forced to get along. The Divider literally dictated the terms, which Luz wasn't sure she agreed with on principle, even if she did agree with the terms themselves. They were simple; first, each side was allowed to occupy no more than 33% of the Arcane Realm, with the remaining 34% being free to inhabit for all. Second, there was to be no warfare or fighting (something Luz felt might have been the precursor to the modern Union's aversion to violence of all kinds), with only self-defence being permitted. And third, the Nephilim were to be respected but otherwise left alone; the Demons could worship them and the Angels could keep their distance, but neither side was to bother them.

There were other terms and conditions too, such as limiting the use of portals, limiting connection to the Human Realm, and forbidding the continued use of Humans as their proxies in war. In fact, the Arcane Realm was closed to the Humans, whom the Divider felt were becoming too influenced by their people. Humans already in the Arcane Realm were given leave to come and go through the early Portal Gates, but only if they had family among the Witches and Angels.

And like that, the third Eternal War ended. It was almost anticlimactic how easy it was, and how quickly the world slipped back into peace again after a few hundred years of war. The Third Eternal War, lasting only a couple of centuries, was by far the shortest and barely deserving of the title… though it did also start a rather nasty theory from some of the darker parts of society. The First Eternal War had spawned the Guardian and the Nephilim, the Second Eternal War had spawned the Celestial and the orphaning of Rani and Rasiel, and now the Third Eternal War had spawned the Divider. Rumours began to fly that the Eternal Wars gave birth to new Sephiroth, though it was a theory the Divider squashed viciously in order to prevent fools trying to start new wars.

Eventually Mancal returned and the three Nephilim and the Divider spent some time together, helping keep the peace and settle the races down into their new normal. The other Titans even began coming back, having enough faith in the power of a Sephiroth to believe in the wars being done for good. With that, the Wings of Rani became a diplomatic organisation meant to help the different nations and races of the world come to peaceful agreements in their disputes, and the Divider himself stepped out of public life. The Divided were compelled to obey him, so to allow them to live a normal life, he kept out of the way and lived a reclusive and peaceful life within a little tree cottage he'd build on Rani's Heart Tree, which became the name of her grave.

But once again, people's memories were painfully short. Old generations of Witches and Demons died and their children, raised on old stories, grew to resent the Angels that had killed so many of their kind, while the static and unchanging Angels returned to their Demon-hating default. Small wars flared up, and if the Wings of Rani or Nephilim couldn't settle it within a year, the Divider would leave his seclusion and end the war himself. But this was always a stopgap measure; no matter how many times he ended the wars, they always started up again! He never got more than a few centuries of peace before war reared its ugly head! It was like a disease, and so long as the Divider was around to hand out the cure, it faded and died, only to come back when he was gone again.

This process repeated itself for almost 25,000 years! The Divider, who'd become a Sephiroth at a mere 500 (middle-aged for a normal Angel but barely anything for a higher rank) ended up spending the vast majority of his life trying to live in peace and quiet only to be forced to come out and stop another pointless war every few centuries! Luz, who saw mere snapshots of this, adding up to only a few minutes of her time, still felt the irritation of it, especially towards her own people. The Demons and Witches at least had the excuse of having short lifespans, so the same ones never made the same mistake twice, with a couple of generations passing before they forgot the lessons they learned, but the Angels were much more long-lived! Even common Angels usually lived long enough to see the same mistakes made two or three times, and that wasn't even getting into the higher ranks!

But the straw that finally broke the camel's back would come in the next memory.

When the maelstrom of memories faded, Luz found herself back in the chamber with the Divider and his memory windows. Taking a moment to compose herself and take a calming breath, Luz said; "I'm starting to really pity you. Having to deal with people so determined to destroy each other must be so hard!"

"Oh, you have no idea. They were like children, constantly thinking they could get away with all kinds of things as soon as I was gone. Eventually I was forced to treat them like children and separate them… permanently, or so I'd hoped." the Divider sighed.

"When you divided the Arcane Realm into the Demon and Divine Realms…" Luz said with a frown.

The Divider nodded and showed Luz the next window, which depicted the Divider with his hands out to his sides and a globe in each of them, representing the two realms. He invited Luz to touch it, but this time when she did, she found herself sucked into a single solid memory rather than a maelstrom of them. It seemed that those fragments only happened when a single window represented a series of smaller memories over a long period of time, and windows representing single memories just worked like normal.

Luz appeared inside the Divider's little cottage in Rani's Heart Tree, and was immediately charmed by it. It was a little bit like the Owl House, full of small odds and ends and very homey. The Divider was sitting in front of a fireplace reading a book contently, looking incredibly relaxed. Everything seemed alright with the world; there was obviously no war going on if he was so calm and at peace, but something had to happen to change that. The change came in the form of a visitor; Civa knocked on his door and let herself in, using an Avatar Body. Luz peeked outside the cottage as Civa stalked in and was shocked to see that Civa's true body was now larger than even the Boiling Isles!

"Civa! Nice to see you! It's been a couple of years since your last visit. How are your children doing?" the Divider asked pleasantly.

"They are well, Rasiel. And I'm sorry, but I'm not here for a visit; I have bad news." Civa said seriously.

The Divider sighed heavily and closed his book; "Let me guess; the people are at war again? It's been 5000 years since the last one…. I'd hoped they'd finally learned their lesson."

Civa cringed; "Actually…. I recently found out that this new war is a true Eternal War. It's been raging for at least 4500 years. The death toll is already in the billions."

Luz went pale as the Divider dropped his book in shock and got to his feet. "Excuse me? Did you just say they've been at war for four and a half millennia, without me noticing!?"

Civa nodded; "Yes. It seems like they finally learned a lesson… just not the one you'd hoped for."

"How!?" the Divider demanded.

"The Human Realm." Civa answered, already bracing for the Divider's anger; "Both sides have access to Portal Gates. They've been secretly sending people through them and building armies in the Human Realm to wage war. Naturally this has caused the Humans to be dragged into it too. Witch Populations now exceed all Demon Subspecies, with ALL Demon species combined equalling their number. The Angels are also adapting to more closely resemble Humans from specific areas of the Human Realm."

The Divider shook his head; "But I monitor all the Portal Gates! How did they make more!? I thought no Nephilim was willing to share their blood for the process!?"

"The Angels started a nursery for orphaned Nephilim, remember?" Civa pointed out, making the Divider's eyes widen; "Not a lot of blood is needed for the gates. They took blood through approved medical testing procedures, then instead of destroying it, they squirrelled away for these forbidden gates. As for the Demons; well some Nephilim were happy to give blood to their worshippers."

"Damn it all!" the Divider cursed loudly as Hesperus came slithering out from a fortress of pillows in the corner of the room. "I trusted them! I thought they'd finally grown up and stopped killing each other! I thought "wow, 5000 years of peace, maybe Paradise is in reach!" but NO! They did this instead! They invaded another world and dragged them into their war! Well no more! I am ending this today!" the Divider raged, turning Hesperus into a sword as he stalked out of the house with Civa in hot pursuit.

Luz followed too, and both she and Civa felt the pure volcanic rage bubbling away within the Divider, ready to erupt in a violent explosion. Luz couldn't blame him; she was disgusted by the forces of the Arcane Realm turning the Human Realm into their battleground… it brought up unpleasant comparisons to aspects of Human history too, which made her discomfort grow.

When he left the house, the Divider flew up high and snapped his fingers to open a portal into the Human Realm, which he passed through immediately, followed swiftly by Civa and Luz. They appeared in the air above the ocean, where Rasiel closed his eyes and then flew off of the Planet Earth entirely so he could see the entire globe. Civa didn't follow; her Avatar body couldn't withstand leaving the atmosphere or re-entering, but Luz did and watched as the Divider pointed at different points on the globe, muttering to himself about battlefields. The main ones he identified seemed to be the Sahara Desert, the Mohave Desert, the northern reaches of Canada and Russia, both the polar ice caps, and the massive stretches of open water in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Next, he pointed to an area near Greece and muttered; "I sense a build up of Angels there…" he then pointed to a region of the sea north of Cuba and Haiti, and east of Florida, to an island that Luz didn't recognise; "…and Demons there."

He then closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them with an angry scowl; "They're fighting right now! Damn them!" he hissed, before flying down towards Africa, specifically heading for a massive savannah in what Luz believed was Tanzania, if she remembered her geography. Upon arriving there, she sighed in disappointment to see tens of thousands of Angels and Demons engaging in violent warfare. The savannah was already scarred by the battle and soaked in blood, and corpses were building up everywhere. Luz felt her stomach churn, but also feared that she was becoming desensitized to the horror after seeing so much of it in short succession.

The Divider, having no mercy or patience left, rocketed down into the centre of the battlefield and landed like a meteor, creating a shockwave (though not a crater) that knocked every participant of the battle off their feet. There was a wave of groans and cries of surprise, as well as yells of complaint before the Divider shut them all up with an echoing roar of "SILENCE!"

Immediately, a deathly silence filled the savannah as everyone on the battlefield was engulfed by dread, realising the jig was up. The Divider had discovered them and now they would suffer the consequences.

"Every SINGLE Demon, Witch, and Angel is going to be returned to the Arcane Realm RIGHT NOW! If you even try to evade me or sneak back through, I will personally make you regret it! Now go!" The Divider bellowed, creating a pair of portal to the Arcane Realm right in front of him. "And so help me, if I find you fighting on the other side, I am going to show you what REAL violence is!"

Terrified, the Arcane Residents scurried through the portals, with the Witches and Demons taking one that spat them out just outside the Demon Coalition Capital, while the Angels took the other and were released outside the Union Capital. The Humans remained and the Divider closed the portals and declared; "You will no longer have anything to do with our world. Live your lives in peace, and try not to learn from our example."

He then snapped his fingers, causing the corpses to disintegrate into nothingness and the blood and damage to the Savannah to be undone, making it look like the battle had never occurred. Once that was done, he rose up into the sky and cast a spell to project his face into the sky across the whole globe, and made his voice echo out so everyone on the planet could hear him; "All Angels, Demons, and Witches are to return to their bases within the Human Realm immediately. Do not test me or think you can hide; I WILL find you. Go."

His voice left no room for argument and all foreigners to the Human Realm begin high-tailing it either to the Union Base in the Mediterranean or the Coalition Base near Cuba. The Divider knew it would take some time for everyone to get there, so he began flying around all the battlefields, restoring the damage they'd done to the Earth and disintegrating any corpses left behind, including those buried in graves (of which there were an upsetting amount of mass ones). It took him a couple of days to clean the Earth of all signs of non-Human civilisation and warfare, during which his anger had failed to abate even a little. Civa remained with him the entire time, trying to calm him down and keep his spirits up, but he largely just humoured her. Finally, once his work was done, he meditated to check that all Witches, Demons, and Angels were in the appropriate base, and upon finding out there were stragglers in hiding, he hunted them all down and showed no mercy; he divided them without listening to a word they said, then personally sent them back to the Arcane Realm,

Once the bases were the last hold outs, the Divider finally went and sent them back to the Arcane Realm too. The Union Base was a city built on the Mediterranean off the shore of Greece, and the Coalition Base had taken over an entire small island in what Luz suddenly realised was the Bermuda Triangle, and instead of evacuating the bases and wiping them from the Earth, the Divider instead divided them from the planet and sent them through a portal, where they ended up in the Arcane Realm's Great Sea, as close to the homes of their factions' capital as possible. Finally, the Divider channelled a huge amount of magic from his ten wings into his Palisman Sword, then shot a beam of magic into the Earth itself, causing the entire place and everyone on it to be engulfed in light, save for the Divider and Civa. Once the light faded, a confused Civa asked;

"What was that about, Rasiel? What was that spell?"

"I divided the Humans from their memories of us." the Divider answered; "Now they can continue to grow and develop without our influence."

Civa's eyes widened; "B-But isn't that incredibly dangerous!? Removing that much of people's memories and lives… I mean we've been a part of their history for over 5000 years at this point! Their species could be greatly damaged by this!"

The Divider shook his head; "Don't worry, I left enough fragments and echoes that their minds will piece together a new history. They will see us all as only stories and myths… perhaps religious figures if that. They have the ingredients to form civilisations of their own now anyway; they will be fine."

Civa didn't look certain, but it probably was ultimately a good thing to let the Humans view their war-hungry people as nothing but myths and cautionary tales. The Divider then opened a portal back to the Arcane Realm, and as he and Civa went through it, Luz wondered just how much of Human society had ended up influenced by the echoes the Divider had left behind within them. She'd never imagined he'd already divided the Human Realm from their memories… but that also begged the question; he could do something like that and even divide a whole realm into two… so what was he waiting for with his Paradise Plan? If he could divide the entire population inone fell swoop, why hadn't he done so? It'd take him like five minutes, then he'd take a quick jaunt to the Divine Realm and repeat the process! His bizarre pseudo-Paradise would be complete in under half an hour! Did them having magic make it harder? Was dividing memories just easier? Luz had so many questions!

Stepping through into the Arcane Realm with the Divider and Civa, Luz watched as the former turned to the latter and softly said; "I am about to do something I know you won't approve of. A solution to the endless wars between the Demons and Angels that is extreme and borderline unthinkable."

Civa frowned; "What is it, Rasiel? What are you planning?"

"You'll soon see. Just… whatever happens, I pray you'll forgive me. I WILL achieve mine and Rani's shared dream; no matter what it takes." the Divider promised.

"You're worrying me, Rasiel… but I can already tell your heart is set on this, so just promise me one thing; if you need help, come to Nilam, Mancal, and I. We weren't with you when Rani passed and I know we could have helped ease the burden on your soul if we had been." Civa said.

"Alright. I promise." the Divider said, "Now go back to your real body. What I'm about to do could be… disruptive for your connection."

Civa nodded and headed off; it was rare for a Titan to take their Avatar very far from their original body and she'd felt off when in a different Realm from it. The Divider watched her leave, then cast the same spells he'd cast in the Human Realm, projecting his face onto the sky and making sure everyone around the globe could hear his voice.

"People of the Arcane Realm: Demons, Witches, Angels, and Nephilim… I am the Divider, and I speak to you now with great disappointment. For the last 5000 years, I had felt pride in all of you for not engaging in warfare and slaughter, only to learn that you've been doing it behind my back and within the Human Realm too. Billions of lives were snuffed out in this war… I uncovered mass graves and clear evidence of attempted genocides from BOTH sides of this war, and all I can say is this… I no longer have faith in you. I no longer believe you are capable of doing the right thing. The moment I look away, the Demons and Witches will start murdering Angels, the Angels will start murdering Demons and Witches, and those who ask for peace will be ignored, mocked, or eradicated. My Wings of Rani have done their best to serve as mediators but there can be no more mediation."

The Divider's expression hardened as everyone in the Arcane Realm felt a shudder go up their spines. "You have no valid reasons for war. You use past injustices as excuses to murder. You use history and wars fought by people long dead to justify genocide. You see each other as chaotic monsters or fascist dictators, and you've proven incapable of change. Well, if you all want the other gone so badly… then I will oblige. You all want a Realm to yourselves? Then that is what I shall give you!"

With that final declaration, Luz watched as the Divider lifted his sword high above his head and began charging it with a monstrous amount of iridescent magic. It was more magic than Luz had ever felt, and it caused the Divider's sword to become an iridescent blade that extended all the way up to the beyond the sky and towards the star in the centre of solar system, where it tore a hole through to the In-Between Realm. The sun turned iridescent too, before the waves of flame and light it gave off transformed into the same shimmering black and gold material as Portals and Portal Seeds. The Divider then roared and unleashed even more power into his sword, causing a beam of magic to go up the blade and into the sun, whose odd portal-like flames then began to rapidly expand outward like a supernova, engulfing the solar system, the planet that the Angels and Demons lived on (which Luz never caught the name of), the galaxy, and the entire Arcane Realm, taking everything except the living and splitting it into two. No one could see what came next as everything dissolved into a functionally infinite balls of light that pulled away from each other and spread apart within the In-between Realm, which had swallowed the entire Arcane Realm thanks to the supernova-like effect the Divider had caused.

It was mind-boggling to observe, but Luz found herself equal parts horrified and enraptured by the sight as half of the light balls came together to form one massive orb, and the others formed another. The In-Between Realm then spread between the two, forming a border as the two newly reformed realms began to take shape. Finally, there was a bright flash and a strange thrum of magic that shook Luz to her core, and then she suddenly found herself in the In-Between Realm, which looked the same as all her other visits. The Divider was on his knees in front of her, panting as he cradled an exhausted and unconscious Hesperus in his hands.

"I-It… is… done…" he gasped out, trying to recover his strength. He'd used a monstrous amount, but thanks to being a Sephiroth, he was able to recover fairly quickly and opened two portals to two identical looking realms, allowing Luz to finally see what he had truly done. The Arcane Realm had been perfectly divided into two identical realms of half the size; every single rock formation, landmass, body of water, and natural phenomenon was identical between both realms, only half the size that it had been when they were the Arcane Realm. Only the life forms and their artificial creations like cities and buildings remained the same size, though in some cases the surrounding area had been changed to fit around the structures. All Angel made constructs, along with the Angels themselves and half of all flora and fauna had been moved into the newly made Divine Realm, while the Demon made constructs and their makers had been moved to the Demon Realm, along with the other half of the flora and fauna (family units of fauna were preserved and kept together). The Titans themselves had also been split up between the realms, with those related to each other or possessing a strong bond ending up in the same realm.

Luz initially thought suddenly having half the space would be a massive issue, but the Arcane Realm HAD been sized for the Elohim who were naturally twice the size of the Demons and Angels, so now that they didn't need to share land with the other side, both Angels and Demons actually had a lot more freedom and space to move freely!

Once he was feeling up to moving again, the Divider used his magic to project himself onto the sky of the new realms and speak to the people living there once more. He had observed them enough to know that aside from some confusion (from their point of view, everything had gotten very bright and then the world had shrunk), most of the people were adjusting well to the new reality, having feared something much worse.

"For those who do not understand what I have done; I used my powers to divide the Arcane Realm itself and split it into two realms; one for Demons and Witches, and one for Angels. I expressly forbid all contact between the realms for all except the Nephilim, who may migrate between the two at will. I will be watching for attempts to cross the realms, so do not think you can get away with secret portals a second time! In fact, you may have noticed that all existing Portal Gates have been divided from both realms and reduced to atoms. Now you can live your lives without involvement from the other race and have no reason to fight and kill. Now be at peace and do NOT disappoint me again… any who try to build new portals will be divided without mercy. You have all abused my trust too much." The Divider declared, his voice lacking any of Rasiel's warmth. It was the voice of the Divider and the Divider alone, much to Luz's discomfort.

That was the moment that the memory came to an end and Luz was ejected back to the room of stained glass windows, where the Divider of the present met her.

"And that is the end of the Arcane Realm, and my naive attempt to stop warfare by splitting the sides apart… I wish I knew then what I know now; that simply separating them wasn't enough, especially with how much spite and malice they all had." the Divider scowled.

Luz sighed; "I can't deny that I get where you were coming from. I still don't agree, but I get it. The Human Realm isn't home to me, it never was, but it still hurt to see it used as a battleground."

The Divider nodded; "My thoughts exactly. After the division, things seemed to settle down for a while… a whole 200 years."

"You're kidding!" Luz exclaimed.

"Nope! That's all it took for them to start trying to get at each other again! The Angels of that era were obsessed with enforcing their own brand of order, and as all the Nephilim eventual migrated to the Demon Realm due to distrust from the Angels of the era, the Demons wanted to wage a "holy war" on the Divine Realm." the Divider said, shaking his head ruefully.

"But you didn't let them, right?" Luz asked.

"Right. I lived in Nephalia, which I moved to the Demon Realm, along with Civa, Nilam, and Mancal who were understandably upset with me. Regardless, I followed through on my warnings and placed an enchantment on the borders of both the Demon and Divine Realms, allowing me to detect whenever someone tried to get in or out, and when I detected such an event, I went down and divided the culprits and destroyed their gates. The Demons had ample supplies of Titan Blood, while the Angels eventually found a synthetic replacement that uses Angel Blood, Angelic Alchemy, and Symphonic Magic in a similar way to the Teleportation Circles you're familiar with. But they were relentless in their attempts to get at each other." the Divider explained.

Luz groaned and rubbed a hand over her face; "This is getting nuts! I knew Angels and Demons didn't get a long, but this…? Not since Belos have I heard of people so determined to hurt others!"

The Divider nodded sagely; "Things continued like that until just over 100,000 years ago…"

"Which I guess is when you finally lost patience and snapped, becoming the man you are now?" Luz asked.

Surprisingly, the Divider shook his head; "No. I was willing to keep securing the border for the millennia between the Fourth Eternal War's end and the start of the fifth. It wasn't a particularly difficult task, even if it was frustrating, and even if they were upset with me for dividing the Arcane Realm, I still had the company of my Titan friends, who visited frequently."

"Wait, fifth!? There was a fifth Eternal War!?" Luz exclaimed; "But how!?"

The Divider scowled furiously as he led Luz to the next window, which depicted something very strange. It showed Rasiel in the centre and holding what appeared to be a green diamond-cut gemstone of some kind. It was a small gem, roughly the size of a D20 from one of Luz's TTRPGs, and there were two more depicted in the window too. Robed figures with their backs to Luz were shown holding a blue and pinkish-red gem of the exact same cut and size, and streams of magic looked to be flowing from the Divider and the robed figures and into the gems.

"What the…? What is this?" Luz asked.

"The birth of the three so-called "Blessed Gems" and the thing that led to the calamity of the Fifth Eternal War. Or should it be called the fifth phase of the single Eternal War, since one could argue they never TRULY ended." the Divider answered.

He pointed to the two figures; "They are my fellow Sephiroth; the Guardian and the Celestial. The Guardian stayed out of mortal affairs and only previously appeared before me to make sure I did my job and also to demand answers for why I divided the Arcane Realm. I explained to him that my job was to divide parts of the universe that were inhibiting each other's growth and that dividing the Arcane Realm met the conditions, so they left me alone. As for the Celestial, they were off making their Archives and studying the cosmos, trying to understand more of the celestial bodies she governed."

"I see… and the three of you made these gems together and they caused the Eternal War to start up again?" Luz questioned.

"Indirectly, yes. You see the Guardian was not pleased; the constant warfare meant that all the Seraphim who earned a meeting with the Arbiter of Power were found unworthy of becoming a Sephiroth, so they decided to create tools that could test a Seraphim and show the Arbiter they were worthy of being a Sephiroth, or could be given to regular Angels to speed up their ascensions to create new Seraphim. To this end, they devised the Blessed Gems; a gemstone containing the full power of a Sephiroth and which could bond to any sapient being and gradually turn them into a Seraphim. Even non-Angels!" the Divider said.

Luz's eyes widened and her mind immediately went to Amity; could one of those gems help Amity live with her longer!? She wasn't sure if it was a good idea (and using a Bloodline Potion to turn Amity into a Half-Angel had been discussed with her Hermosa already, and had been rejected), but it was at least a possibility if they neared the end of Amity's life and neither could bear to part.

The Divider crushed that thought though; "I don't know where the gems ended up, but they were a colossal failure. Creating one of these gems required a Sephiroth to focus on what they considered to be an important trait, then cast a Sefirot Art: the Sephiroth equivalent of the Seraphic Art, onto a crystal that the Guardian prepared. I focused on wit, intelligence, and humility; I wanted to promote Sephiroth who didn't need to rely on violence."

"That sounds nice. But I suppose it didn't work…" Luz said.

"Indeed." The Divider nodded; "Using the Sefirot Art drained ALL my power, as well as that of the Guardian and Celestial. It took a full ten years to recover, during which time no Angels or any other resident of the Divine and Demon Realms were able to bond with the gem I'd forged. I don't know what the Celestial or Guardian focused on, but I know that the Guardian's gem didn't bond with anyone either, and the Celestial's gem bonded with many Angels, producing many Seraphim, but all were corrupted by the power of the gem and eventually had the gem recalled by the Celestial. I believe she later used it and the other gems for some other purpose, though I don't know what. All I know is that in the chaos of the Fifth Eternal War that followed, all three gems were lost somewhere beyond the three realms you've visited."

Luz nodded in understanding, wondering what had become of the gems and if their disappearance was linked to the Celestials', as well as wondering what the Celestial had done with those gems while she'd had them. However one thing she didn't understand was how the gems supposedly brought about the last Eternal War.

"So what did the gems do exactly? To start the war I mean?" she asked.

"Directly? Nothing. The red gem was used in the war by a few Angels, turning the tide in their favour before the Celestial recalled it. The problem came with the consequences of the creation process… as I told you, the Sefirot Art left me disabled and powerless for 10 years. No magic of any kind and barely enough energy to stay conscious for more than a few hours. I spent 90% of that time asleep, and as the saying goes; "When the cat's away, the mice shall play." the Divider frowned severely.

"Oh no…" Luz's heart sank; "They took your absence as a chance to start the war up again, didn't they? Only with the Celestial's Blessed Gem making one of them stronger."

"Got it in one." the Divider said with a sardonic smile, showing Luz to the next memory window. Luz had no intention of entering this one though, and the Divider had no intention of asking her too, as the window depicted a truly vicious and bloody battle between the Angels and Demons, with the Humans once again dragged into it as the Divider's absence was taken as either him giving up on stopping them or even him supporting the war. The Divider was also depicted above the scene, looking down with fury and an inability to act.

"During that time, all I could do was give orders to my Wings of Rani, but most of them were hunted and persecuted by both sides of the conflict. I also had the aid of Civa, Nilam, and Mancal, but all of them had children by that point and were eventually forced to keep out of the war to protect them. But of course, the situation didn't last forever; my magic finally returned, I allowed the Celestial to take my Blessed Gem to do whatever she wanted, and then I entered the war myself." the Divider said, looking at the next window, which depicted him descending onto the battlefield and both sides fleeing in fear from him and the Wings of Rani surrounding him.

"That was when I decided that I had been naive. I thought the problem would be solved by ensuring the two sides didn't share space with one another. Why would the Angels and Demons fight if they didn't have to see each other any more? But I'd misunderstood that these wars were a thing of hatred and ideology. I'd divided the world, when the problem was its people… so after a lot of introspection and the loss of all the patience and forgiveness I still had, I began Project Paradise." the Divider explained.

Luz was a little surprised; after what happened with Rani and the division of the Arcane Realm, she'd expected the final catalyst that made the Divider take that final plunge into his current madness to be a big explosive event… instead it was an act made with resignation. The Divider had simply been worn down too much and gave up on people; he'd spent a long time trying to help them, then just trying to keep them from hurting each other, and they'd continuously disappointed him. The fifth bout of the Eternal War was just the straw that broke the Camel's back, and it was almost depressing how anticlimactic it was. Almost like the Divider had planned it but chosen not to act until he lost the last dregs of hope.

The Divider didn't show Luz any more memories and instead snapped his fingers to replace the world of memory with a vision of the Owl House and the cliffs beside it, upon which he sat to enjoy the waves. Luz sat beside him as he finished his tale.

"I never made it a secret what I wanted for Project Paradise; I would divide every living thing and take away their negative feelings. Their hatred, their anger, their disgust, their xenophobia, their fanaticism… I would strip it all away and leave only joy. No more war, no more violence, no more fear. A perfect utopia in which everyone gets along and feels only happiness. The Wings of Rani were split on the decision with some supporting me while others did not. My Titan family sided against me too, and so did most of the world, though a high number of others did agree and joined with me. At the time, the Eternal War was still raging as I searched for what I needed to complete the project, but ironically enough I put a stop to that without even doing anything." The Divider smirked as he looked at Luz; "Turns out that the other saying; "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" is also true. I became a common enemy that inadvertently unified everyone against me. I eventually lost, was cut up, and my pieces were sealed away. Civa and her bloodline took the Black Tomb containing my body, Nilam and his bloodline did the same with my soul, and Mancal did it with my Titan Blessings. Eventually Civa and Nilam's descendents joined together and their lines became one, with Orion as the ultimate product of it. Mancal's line eventually led to Cassiopeia, and the combining of them resulted in King… How ironic that the Titan to help free me would be the descendant of all three of my dear old friends."

He looked to Luz with eyes full of hope; "You've no doubt figured out most of my plan by now, yes? How I intend to use the Primordial Wellsprings of two bonded Titans; namely Orion and Cassiopeia, to power Project Paradise. The first phase is reassembling the Arcane Realm; doing so will not only undo my mistake but also leave a sizeable rip in the fabric of the universe for a short time before the In-Between Realm rushes to fill it. From there, the second phase will begin… the Union Pillars will harmonise with my power and the Titans' wellsprings and divide every living thing within the unified Arcane Realm. The Divided Orbs harvested from this will be enough to power the enchantments in Rani's Eden and the White Tomb within it."

"White Tomb?" Luz frowned.

"Part of the Eternal Division." the Divider grinned; "It will cast a spell over the Divine Realm that will instantly divide every creature that appears within it, whether through reproduction or travelling through a portal. Infants will be free of negative emotions before they are even born! It'll need some calibrations to ensure healthy development of children, since as loathe as I am to admit it, some negative emotion IS necessary for developing a healthy response to dangerous stimuli, but it'll be something subtle that they won't even notice as they grow up!"

Luz's eyes widened as a horrible feeling filled her chest; she knew the Divider's big system likely wouldn't involve his sword, but when the topic of dividing babies came up, she couldn't help but picture him stood over a crib with his sword in the air. "You'd go that far!? Also why a White Tomb!?"

"Of course! For the sake of an enduring paradise, it is necessary! Remember how many times new skirmishes and wars cropped up again because new generations were born, developed hatred towards others due to their history, and continued a cycle of hate? This will erase that problem. As for the White Tomb; I will seal a portion of myself within it." The Divider said, his expression turning grim for a moment; "Again, while I hate to admit it, negativity IS necessary for universal balance. Too much positive energy without enough negativity will cause the ambient magic of the world to become unstable and cause natural disasters, especially around the Titan Landmasses. So instead of simply destroying the negative emotions that my system will remove, it will instead be focused into myself. I will divide myself into two bodies; one that will remain free and be like you and everyone else, free of negativity, and one that has no consciousness and will remain sealed in the White Tomb as a sacrificial lamb."

Luz opened and closed her mouth a few times, so shocked by the Divider's final plan that she couldn't truly find the words she wanted to say. A plan to create a perpetual division within the Arcane Realm, with himself as a sacrificial pawn to take all of the world's negativity… it was horrible to think about! However the Divider looked so hopeful as he turned to her once more and took both of her hands and pressed them between his own, looking as if he was praying.

"You understand now, right? The Paradise I want to make, eternally free of hatred, sadness, and war! You can see now why I did all of this, yes?" he asked, smiling.

Luz nodded slowly; "I do understand… you and I are a lot alike. Our childhoods were spent weak and unable to help people, but we were blessed by Titans and grew stronger and finally became useful! But nothing we did seemed like it was enough… for me, things went wrong at every turn, and for you the eternal wars just kept coming… and we both ended up losing parents to something that we blame ourselves for…"

Luz had made a lot of progress, but in her darkest moments, she did still wonder if her Papi would have lived if not for her helping Belos in the past. She usually shook this off by remembering that if Belos had not lived, then neither would her Dad, Hunter, or Lyra, but the feeling of guilt she still felt sometimes was deep and complex.

"I understand how you feel, Divider. I understand it so much that it hurts, and it's a little scary. When I first learned how Vitimir had caused my Papi's death, and Belos had caused my Dad's death, I felt so hurt and angry… I looked back on all that I'd done and wondered why it had gone wrong and what I could have done differently. For a moment, I saw the world as something dark and ugly, and wondered if maybe you weren't right; if it would be better to just cut those parts away. And I won't deny that seeing some of the things you've built has also made my heart waver a little."

Luz closed her eyes and looked back at the ocean; "Rani's Eden is amazing and what you did for the orphans was incredible. The improvements you made to Cartilia, the Healing Coven, and the bullying situation at St. Epiderm were all wonderful, even if I don't approve of how you dealt with the bullying. And you did also try to save the Mandragora race, even if Arboriel and Terra abused your trust to turn the unwilling into Mandragoras… I know you can do amazing things for the world. But I can't ignore the bad stuff either."

The Divider frowned; "What do you mean?"

"Don't you remember all the things my friends and I said when we first met again after all these months?" Luz asked; "So many awful things have happened as a direct result of you dividing the good but sparing the bad! Odalia was spared and immediately abused your absence to take over Bonesborough, further dividing Alador and Darius by using the spirit of Alador's little sister to possess them into the Division Ritual! "

The Divider grimaced, but Luz was not done; "Mom was right about nearly being part of a plot to kill the person I am now via Reformation, and she couldn't resist or go against it because you divided her! You turned my Mom into a shadow of the person she truly is, making her betray everything she stood for! You turned Tia Lily back into a lackey after all she went through with Belos! You forced Titi Raine, Severin, and Kyrie to feel nothing but happiness as their beloved father figure/uncle was dying and separated the Secuna Family out of some weird, twisted desire to get Skara's parents back together! And let's not forget putting the likes of Terra, Vitimir, and Adrien into positions of power despite all they've done, and Arboriel too! They were spared division despite what they've done in the past while my friends and family… YOUR friends, were divided for merely standing up to you!"

Luz wished she could bring up Flora and Carnar too, but didn't in case it drew the Divider's attention to Digale Island again. But the fact that he'd let Flora go after all she'd done was unacceptable, especially as she'd then stood by and done nothing while Carnar acted against innocent people. And Carnar was a situation Luz could rant about for hours; he'd segregated the people of Digale Island, treated the Demons like second-class citizens (at best), and was actively hunting Demon children! It was nothing but pure luck that saw the CATTs going to the island in time to save those poor Dryder girls!

"Luz, you don't understand… I was trying to give them a clean slate! To give them a chance to prove people could change and that maybe Division is the wrong course of action!" the Divider exclaimed; "I tried to do things your way! To show them kindness and offer a way for them to become better people! But in the case of Odalia, Terra, and Arboriel at least, they all abused it!" the Divider argued; "Isn't that proof of my point!? Truly bad people won't change unless they're forced to!"

For a moment, Luz could only stare at the Divider in pure horror; "Y-You spared them because of me!? But wait…" her expression began to melt into anger; "… Divider, answer me honestly; did you know they would abuse your trust!? Did you give them that chance as an honest attempt to give help them prove they can be better, or did you do it knowing they would fail, so you could use it as proof that your method is the right one!?"

The Divider averted his eyes and Luz gasped, snatching her hands away from him and getting to her feet, looking at him with betrayal in her eyes; "You knew… you knew!? How could you do that!?"

"Luz, listen to me-" the Divider tried to say, getting to his feet too.

"No!" Luz cut him off; "People were hurt! People suffered! Darius, Alador, Mom, Lars, Zara, Tia Lily, Kyrie Crane, Titi Raine, Severin, Derwin, Jerbo, Amelia, and all the other victims of Arboriel and Terra! Good people, honest people, your friends and comrades! You divided them and left them at the mercy of monsters! How could you!?"

"I needed to show you the truth! I needed you to see that I was right! That some people cannot be redeemed through kindness or understanding!" the Divider yelled.

Luz scoffed; "Do you think I'm an idiot!? I know that! What, do you think I was gonna fix all my problems with hugs and love? That I was gonna tell Belos he was just misunderstood and try to fix him with kindness!? Because let me tell you, Samael tried that and it didn't go well! Sometimes bad people are just bad people and they need to pay for their actions! Forgiving someone for what they've done is one thing, but letting them get away without consequences is another! I just don't think those consequences should be brainwashing!"

"Then what would you do with these people!? The ones who refuse to change and keep hurting others, or transfer their hatred down through the generations!?" the Divider demanded.

"Imprison them, punish them for their crimes, and try to rehabilitate them! Find the reason for their actions and try to fix it! Show them a better way if possible or keep others safe from them if not!" Luz argued.

Now it was the Divider's turn to scoff; "And if that doesn't work? Are you just going to keep them locked up forever? A waste of space that others have to waste time and resources caring for!? Or do you kill them and end the problem once and for all!? Perhaps reform them like the Angels do!? In which case, why not divide them instead!? Surely that's better than death or reformation!? Tell me, Luz!? How would you end war and violence and hatred!? I want to know your answer!"

Luz shut her mouth tight and bit her lip as she tried and failed to think of something she could say. She was a 15 year old girl; she didn't have all the answers! She couldn't solve societal problems by herself! She'd so far just fought bad guys and given people with good hearts a chance to prove themselves. This was all too much for her and for a moment, she felt her heart wavering… she was alone with the Divider, faced with all the suffering he'd endured and understanding all too well why he'd made the choices he'd made… but still, she didn't agree with him! She wanted to say something to convince him, but what more could she say? Most of her arguments would be dismissed by him saying that if everyone involved had been divided, none of this would have happened!

She thought about it hard, before finally replying; "I don't have an answer, Divider. I don't know how to stop war and violence forever. When it came to Belos, my solution was to petrify him and leave him for others to deal with. That's been my go to all along… when faced with a bad guy, I stop them but I'm never the one in charge of deciding what to do with them after that. I'm still just a child… I don't like admitting it, but it's true; I'm a 15 year old girl whose biggest problems should be homework and high school drama… But despite all that, I'm here fighting a war for what I believe in."

Luz took the Divider's hand; "I am doing all that I can to help the people I love and save the world that I love. I can't build a real paradise like you want… and maybe you're right that a Fake Heaven is better than a Real Hell… but maybe an imperfect but Real Heaven is better than a perfect fake."

The Divider stared into her eyes; "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I want to build the best, happiest place that I can. Even if it's not perfect and bad things still happen, I want to make a world where we work together to fix our problems and not just hide them away or pretend they never existed." Luz declared.

"You are naive. Please Luz, you understand all that we've both been through! You've seen what happens when the undeserving are given second chances! Please, just accept this! A world of only happiness… how could anyone argue against that?" the Divider pleaded.

For a long moment, the two Angels stared into one another's eyes as a whole plethora of emotions flashed across them. Both of them felt like they were so close to convincing the other, and in truth there was a time where either would have agreed with the other in a heartbeat. Before coming to the Demon Realm, Luz would likely have joined the Wings of Rani herself, thinking she was helping… but growing alongside such complicated, flawed, wonderful people had made her realise that even the imperfect and flawed could achieve wonderful things. They'd all grown as people and Luz knew that as bad as the growing pains had been, it was necessary.

"Divider… many months ago, someone I greatly respect listened as I told him that I was scared of trying to change things on the Boiling Isles because I didn't want to be like the Angels that the people feared, or the dictator that already ruled it. But do you know what that man said to me?" Luz asked rhetorically; "He said that if I was afraid of that, then I should announce my beliefs, explain my feelings, and see if I could find others that felt the same. That I could find change through peace, and by calling upon the will of the people. That I didn't need to force anything, and if the people of the Isles didn't want to change then I should stop and let things go."

The Divider's face fell; those were the words his other self had said to Luz on her first day at Hexside as a full student.

"And you know Divider? The people of the Isles have heard your feelings and beliefs, and have chosen for themselves to resist the changes you want to make. You're now forcing it on them. You yourself are starting another war! Peace between the Angels and Demons has long been achieved; isn't that enough?" Luz implored.

"No! No it is not enough!" The Divider yelled, snatching his hand away and beginning to pace around, acting twitchy. "Too many people suffered! I lost Rani, my friends turned on me, the Wings of Rani who believed in me ended up reformed! And even if the races themselves aren't at each other's throats, things are still bad! The Crest Union gave up violence but is just as controlling! The Demon Realm has become brutal and vicious with creatures like Odalia and Vitimir! Even the Human Realm… don't get me started on that place! I read some history books that washed ashore and it was enough to make want to puke! People cannot be trusted to change and do the right thing on their own! They always devolve into cruelty and evil in the end! I can't just stop! I need to fix it! I need to fulfil my promise to Rani!"

The Divider grew more and more erratic as the mental world he'd brought Luz to began to crack apart. Luz panicked and tried to put a hand on his shoulder; "Divider, that's enough! You need to calm down! It's just me here!"

"Exactly! It's just you! You're supposed to understand! You said you'd understand! But you don't! You're still not getting it! What more do I have to show you before you'll understand!?" the Divider cried.

"I do understand!" Luz insisted; "But understanding is not the same as acceptance! And you said a second ago that too many people had suffered for you to stop; but isn't that the same logic that the Angels and Demons used to justify new wars with each other? That their ancestors and people were hurt too much for it to be just forgiven? Don't you see the hypocrisy!? Please…" she offered him her hand; "… trust in me. Together we can make a new Paradise where as many people as possible are truly happy, not just forced to be happy. It won't be perfect, but it'll be enough! Please, Divider… let's end this battle now. I don't want to fight you!"

The Divider froze and stared at Luz, then slowly began to reach for her hand, his eyes full of doubts and fears. However he stopped at the last second and shook his head, then straightened up and took a step back.

"No, Luz. I can't. I won't turn back after coming this far." he offered her his hand; "I will ask you again, Luz; become my Ophanim and help me build a true and perfect Paradise for all."

Luz tearfully shook her head; "I won't do it, Divider. You have the Wings of Rani believing in you, and I have the CATTs believing in me. I won't betray them, especially not for a cause I don't believe in."

The Divider nodded his head grimly, turning to the side to hide a single tear that began to slide down his cheek. "I had feared as much. There is still time before the ritual is ready. I will find a way to make you join me. If simply explaining things isn't enough… then we'll try the carrot and stick approach."

Luz gulped; she didn't like the sound of that! "Divider, wait! What are you-!"

"Goodbye Luz. I will see you soon." the Divider cut her off, before snapping his fingers and making the entire dream/mental world he'd created shatter into a billion pieces around Luz. He shattered with it, leaving the shared mental space. Luz found herself falling into the abyss as the world turned black, and she was certain she was about to wake up, only to suddenly find herself landing hard in a new room.

The poor girl groaned, feeling no pain but definitely not enjoying the physical, mental, and emotional whiplash of the Divider's departure and her fall. It had felt a little like falling through the map in a video game and suddenly finding herself landing in another room deep below the first… thankfully without the fall damage! She sat up and looked around in confusion, wondering if she had been sent back into the temple chamber with all the stained glass windows, since the room looked like the elemental temple's ritual chambers. However she quickly noticed that the room was made of blue stone, just like the chamber at Caplacier, and there were no memory windows. The walls were also made from the giant blue snake statue that Zara had been sealed into, so there was no way in or out. Curious, Luz turned to where the Black Tomb originally was and saw the wide open maw of the snake statue's head, with a familiar figure sitting in it.

Rasiel the Divider.

Luz scowled and marched over to him, noticing his eyes were closed as he was deep in concentration. She stopped in front of him and opened her mouth to demand answers as to what he was playing at, but the sound of her taking a breath caused the man's eyes to snap open and stare into Luz's. Instantly, Luz knew this was NOT the Divider; the look in his eye was completely different and the way they glistened and filled with tears as a broken smile formed on his face confirmed it for her.

"R-Rasiel!?"

"Luz!" the man cried, leaping to his feet and hugging the girl. He sobbed and laughed with joy as he held her, stroking her hair as he held her tightly. "Oh Luz, you're here! It worked! Oh Titan, it worked!"

He pulled back a little and knelt down so he wasn't towering over her; "Oh, look at you! A Seraphim at the tender age of 15! You're so beautiful! I bet Amity is VERY pleased!" he laughed, tears still streaming down his eyes.

"R-Rasiel!? Is it really you!? My Rasiel!? Tio Rasiel!?" Luz cried, kneeling down too so they were roughly on the same eye level.

"It's me, Luz. I'm so happy to finally be able to see you again, and speak to you with my own voice! Listen; I am SO sorry! For banishing you and your friends to the Human Realm, for keeping Samael trapped, and for what I'm doing to the Demon and Divine Realms! Please believe me that if I could stop it, I would!" Rasiel cried, holding onto Luz's shoulders with desperation.

She smiled at him; "I know, Tio Rasiel. I've known for a while now; you and the Divider are just too different, I knew something had to be going on! But what is going on? Where are we? I mean, I know we're inside a dream made from your mind, but like… I need specifics!"

Rasiel nodded; "This is a part of the Divider's subconscious, where he has repressed me. I can't do much from here, but I can observe his actions. It's thanks to this that I was able to see his plans to bring you here. I knew he was going to show you our past, including Mama and my Titan friends, and how I died, as well as how I broke in the end."

Luz smiled bashfully; "Yeah… I feel kind of bad for going through your private memories. Even if your other self did kind of force me… Still, as much as I understand what you went through, I still won't go along with that insane Project Paradise plan!"

"I know, and I am so proud of you for that! You're a good girl, Luz! The best!" Rasiel beamed, petting Luz's hair again and making her blush and smile wider. "But getting back to what I was saying; I knew he'd pull you into this dream world, so I prepared to hijack it, and you, for a meeting of my own! I couldn't do it earlier since the Divider would grow suspicious if you didn't appear when he summoned your mind, but he wouldn't notice it if I brought you here after he tried to make you wake up again. Thanks to that, we can meet face to face like this."

"And I'm so happy we can." Luz said; "I've missed the real you! Can you tell me more of the Divider's plans, and what's really been happening?"

Rasiel nodded, though he did so with a slight frown; "Truth be told, the other me already told you most of what he's doing. I know he plans to use the Archivists to find Cassiopeia's body parts and move them together to one spot, but since I've been causing him so much grief by acting as his conscience, he's taken to shutting me out and repressing me, so I only know bits and pieces of his plot. He is also making a replacement for her heart; I don't know how or what, but it involves Galdorstones."

Luz made a mental note of that; "Got it. But how are the Archivists gonna move Cassiopeia? I get the penance angle the Divider is going for since they're the reason she's dead, but Archivist Magic shouldn't work on a Titan. Even a dead one."

"When you want to move fire without magic, do you try to pick up the flames themselves? No, you scoop up the thing that's burning." Rasiel explained; "They'll lift the earth beneath Cassiopeia and warp it elsewhere. I don't know when he plans to start this or where he'll move her too, but Digale Island won't be safe for much longer. As soon as you wake up, get ready to move."

"Got it. Is there anything else? Like details of Project Paradise?" Luz asked.

"On that topic, I don't know any more than what you've been told, excluding the three phases. Phase One is the unification of the Demon and Divine Realms to recreate the Arcane Realm. Phase Two is the mass-division of the entire Arcane Realm. Lastly, Phase Three would have the Divider seal part of himself in the White Tomb and activate the Perpetual Division System. The level of power he is amassing will be enough for even Titans to be effected, though King is the only one at the moment, his descendents would be divided like anyone else." Rasiel said.

Luz grimaced; "Okay, so we can't even afford Phase One to happen! Reunited the realms at this stage would be a disaster! I mean the Boiling Isles and Gran Seraphia are in the same spot! Will they become neighbours all of a sudden? Or some messed up miss of Titan and City!?"

"Probably the former; one thing you can credit the Divider for is that he wants to avoid as much trauma as possible in this process." Rasiel said; "But none of that matters, because we're going to stop him."

Luz grinned and leaned in close; "Of course, you must know all his weaknesses AND how he was beaten the first time! Tell me everything!"

Rasiel sighed and sat back in the snake statue's mouth, while Luz sat cross-legged in front of him like an eager little girl waiting for story time. She knew this story would be unpleasant, but it was important for her to know!

"You'll have to forgive me, but I don't have a lot of power so I can't send you into any memories to watch the events that happen; you'll have to rely solely on my words and your imagination." Rasiel began; "The first War of Division as it came to be known was over in only 5 years. The Wings of Rani were massively outmatched, though we did have large numbers of Angels, Demons, Witches, and even Titans on our side."

"Wait, you had Titans too!?" Luz exclaimed.

"Yes, but only a few. Less than 20, and all of them fairly young and having been born in the Demon Realm after I split apart the Arcane Realm. They wanted to see the Arcane Realm restored to its original splendour, so there would be more room for their species to spread out. I was lucky that the Titans as a whole have a rule against fighting one another, so as to avoid devastating the land, as it meant the other Titans kept out of it… save for my old friends, Civa, Nilam, and Mancal. They were basically my Aunt, Uncle and "Titi" respectively, so fighting them hurt… It was also the first time I began to doubt myself and my plans." Rasiel said, staring wistfully into the distance.

"Like you, they tried to hard to convince me to stop… that Rani wouldn't want this. But I was so angry at the time that I just didn't listen. I wish I had, as I spent the rest of the short war in doubt. I spent half the war fighting and dividing people, and the other half trying to figure out how to make Project Paradise a foolproof plan. I'd eventually come with the idea of using Titan Magic to break the original spell that split the Arcane Realm up, and using the Divided Orbs I'd harvested as additional power sources to help fuel the system, but I hadn't thought up the Perpetual Division System yet. As it turns out, my other self was calculating that during his time sealed up; 100,000 years is a long time to focus on one task after all, especially with nothing else to do."

Luz's eyes widened; "Wait, your "other" self? But I thought that part of you was just your memories."

Rasiel shook his head ruefully; "No. The Divider you know and myself are different personalities. You see, when we were a single entity, our conscience plagued us incessantly. It kept us awake at night, filled us with doubts, and often left us paralysed with indecision. To remedy that, we used our power to divide our conscience from our mind, leaving it sealed up in the deepest recesses of our inner world. The Divider refused to remove it entirely, fearing it could be found and weaponised against him… he was right to think that too, since that's ultimately what happened."

Luz gasped softly; "So the "You" we met in Caplacier wasn't your soul without memories, it was your soul and conscience!?"

"Yes. And the version sealed up inside the In-Between Realm was not my memories, but rather the rest of my mind. That's why I was so easily overpowered when we became one gain; I can interfere with the Divider's mind but I cannot control it. So far my attempts to stop his worst actions have just left him suppressing me more and more, while causing his behaviour to be erratic. We were so shaken after dividing Eda that I was able to reassert myself a bit, but that just led to him sparing people who shouldn't have been, like Odalia and Terra. I'm not sure if my words got to him or he just decided to show you and I that we were wrong about division not being the solution; he acts like it's the latter but I can't be certain." Rasiel said.

"I see… but then what do I do? How was the Divider beaten the first time?" Luz asked.

"It took a lot." Rasiel said grimly; "We were cornered in the Demon Realm by a massive coalition of enemies. While the Angels and Demons were willing to work together against us, they'd still chosen to stay out of each other's realms and instead help each other with supplies and intel, so we assumed we'd only be dealing with a Demon Army, whilst having our Titan allies helping to demoralise them… but we underestimated how well our threats had united the people of the realms. Nothing brings people together like a common enemy it seems. Instead of just a Demon Army, we were lured into a trap by the Seven Seraphim, Eight Supreme Dragon Priests, our three Titan family members, and the Demon Army we'd come to fight… all led by the Guardian themselves, who'd judged our actions as going too far. Their role was to manage the other Sephiroth after all, and while they'd been able to accept our division of the Arcane Realm, they couldn't excuse our actions this time."

Luz gulped; "So many people… so much power…!"

Rasiel nodded; "Indeed. They defeated our forces in a decisive battle, but we still refused to give in. So they united their powers against us with the intention of sealing us up like Orion sealed Samael."

His young honorary niece gasped, but then frowned in confusion; "Hold on, you said they tried to seal you like Samael? But then how did you end up all split up?"

Rasiel gave a sad smile; "Because I betrayed the Divider. I knew that we would eventually break out of any seal; Samael was a child and a Sephiroth Seed rather than a True Sephiroth, so he wasn't able to escape, but we were a full Sephiroth and nothing can hold us indefinitely… not under normal circumstances. So as the Divider was beaten following the battle, I was able to wrestle back control for a brief time and forcibly Divide myself, whilst begging my family and the Guardian to seal me away. They agreed, and I successfully tore myself into the Divider's mind, my own mind, the Blessings of Rani, and my physical body. The gathered army then combined their power with the Guardian to guide them, encasing each piece of us into the Black Tombs, which my Titan family took custody of. However the piece containing the Divider's mind was seen as too dangerous and thus the Guardian sealed it into the In-Between Realm. The enchantments on the tombs were also made so that only an agreement between Demons, Angels, and Titans could open them."

Luz's jaw hung open in surprise even as she began to tear up a little; Rasiel had been trying to save them all from the start! He hadn't been lying or wrong when he'd first awoken; the Divider had ripped him apart and sealed him up… he just didn't realise it was him, who was a part of the Divider.

"Rasiel… you did all that and condemned yourself to such a horrible fate, all for the people?" Luz asked, deeply touched and a little upset by his sacrifice. "But why didn't you just separate yourself from the Divider's Mind?"

"Because without the mind, I lost my personal memories and only retained knowledge of impersonal things; I'd have been like a newborn, almost like I was reformed but kept an adult body. It took 100,000 years in a Black Tomb, during which I observed the outside world as much as I could in such a state, before I was able to become the man you first met." he explained, before sighing as he added; "Besides, I may have become separate from the rest of the Divider's psyche, but we had still been unified when we first made the Division Plan and began acting on it. I bared some responsibility, so I accepted punishment for it too. I didn't deserve to escape the consequences of my actions." the man said wistfully, a look of self-loathing on his face.

Luz wanted to disagree, especially since she felt Rasiel's self-loathing was something she should help him work through, like her friends helped with hers. However Rasiel spoke again before she could; "In the aftermath of our sealing, things actually settled down between the Demon and Divine Realms… mostly at least. The Guardian, realising how bad things had gotten, sat down with the leaders of both sides and created that Treaty of Division that you ran afoul of. It prevented any organised hostilities between the nations of the two realms, as well as forbade attempts to open my tombs. Angels were forbidden from going against the Titans too, while the Demons were forbidden from intentionally trying to breed with them to create a new hybrid race, instead only gaining power through the Titans' Blessings. Both sides were also forbidden from getting involved in the Human Realm as much as possible, with only a few grey areas for visitors and missionary work… though the Angels were forbidden from trying to influence the humans during this work. You know what happened from there."

Luz nodded grimly; "The Titans ended up destroyed by the Archivists and the Trappers, and Angels who tried to perform missionary work in the Demon Realm were met with suspicion, hostility, and violence. The Divine Realm never sanctioned these trips and most were from outside the Union or runaways from it, like my Mom, so the murder of them wasn't considered a violation of the treaty… and over 100,000 years, the Demons forgot about you and the tombs' true purpose, while the Angels stopped bothering to teach about it too. I wonder if they did it just because they thought no one would ever break the treaty, or if they wanted to forget their shameful past."

Rasiel shrugged; "The Union changed a LOT between the Eternal Wars. Everything that happened after my sealing is a second hand account at best so I only know a little, but it seems the end of the war with the Demons also brought about the semi-pacifist policies of the modern Union. I guess they were finally sick of the blood shed!"

The two Angels shared a smile at that; it only took multiple wars, near-genocides, and the near-division of all life, but both sides had largely taken to living in peace, with the only hiccups being the unwanted intrusion of a few Angels. Of course the loss of the Titan Race was another big issue, and now that Luz knew of Rasiel's connection to the Titans, she understood his hatred of the Archivists a lot more. But she also understood why Rasiel was so fond of King; he was the descendant of all three of his Titan Family members, so it only made sense!

"So what do we do now?" Luz asked; "I'm guessing if we gather the same kind of force as defeated you in the past, we should be able to replicate the Divider's first defeat, right?"

"Right. But you'll need to gather a force at least equal to the first one. They only barely managed to seal me with that power." Rasiel said; "Which means an army of Demons, the Seven Seraphim, a powerful Witch of each of the elements, three Titans, and a Sephiroth."

Luz went pale; "But that's impossible! If we rally everyone on the isles, we can get the army, and I'm sure I can convince the Seraphim to join up, with Samael acting as our Sephiroth, but like it or not we only have three Supreme Dragons and one very young Titan!"

Rasiel smiled and patted her head; "Be calm, Luz. You don't need the Eight Elemental Witches and Demons to be Supreme Dragons; just to have bonded with a Titan Glyph. Your friends are already on the way there if what we heard about Amity, Gus, and Skara is true."

"So if the whole Hexsquad bond with their glyphs, we'll have another of the conditions we need to stop the Divider?" Luz questioned.

"Yes. As for the Titans; it's not the raw power that matters. Three newborn babies would be enough! The Demon Army and the Sephiroth provide the lion's share of the magic, with everything else being to provide the types of magic. The Seraphim are needed for a full variety of Celestial Energy, while the Elemental Witches and Demons are needed for the Physical Energy. The Titans just need to represent all the glyphs themselves, providing Titan Magic to counter the Divider's Sephiroth Magic, AND a way to make the Elemental Witches and Demons more powerful." Rasiel explained.

"That's nice and all, but it doesn't solve our problem! King only has 4 glyphs, including one that isn't elemental or even fully formed! Where are we going to find the others?" Luz fretted.

Rasiel chuckled and shook his head, acting like Luz had just asked a very silly question; "You, of course! You have the full blessings of not one but TWO different Titans! You've fully bonded with Orion and Cassiopeia, and every type of elemental glyph! You could theoretically serve as the needed Titans all on your own! You just need to figure out how to fully channel the power of the Titans through your body, instead of letting it be converted into normal Seraphic Magic by your wings."

That made Luz smile a little; it seemed that overcoming her personal trauma with the Titan Transformation and then attaining that power was the key to unlocking the final piece they'd need to stop the Divider! She trusted that her friends would bond with the glyphs one by one (though she worried a little about whoever had to bond with the darkness glyph, which Luz assumed to be Lyra), and then all they'd need to do is find a way to get the Seraphim Council and the people of the Boiling Isles together to finally stop the Divider!

"Okay, I think we finally have the beginnings of a plan! With this, we can defeat and seal up the Divider again! And if you can repeat what you did last time, you can divide him as well, so you can be separated from him!" Luz beamed.

Unfortunately, Rasiel just shook his head with a sad smile; "I don't think that's going to work, Luz…"

"W-What!? Why!?" she cried.

Rasiel prepared to answer, but then the temple began to shake violently as if struck by an earthquake. Luz, already sat on the ground, was badly shaken by the quake but not harmed, while Rasiel found himself knocked out of the snake statue's mouth, falling beside Luz. He then looked up and gasped as he saw parts of the temple break apart, revealing the endless black void beyond it.

"Damn it! The Divider must have sensed that you're still connected to us! He's trying to shake you loose by destroying the whole dream world he's created, including this part!" Rasiel growled.

"W-What'll happen to me!? I'm not gonna get trapped, right!?" Luz panicked.

Rasiel shook his head; "You'll be fine. Your mind will be ejected from this place and you'll wake up back in the real world."

"Oh good, I was worrie- EEK!" Luz screamed in shock as the ground beneath her suddenly broke apart and she fell into the void. Rasiel quickly lunged and caught her, leaving the girl dangling above the abyss.

She looked down for half a second, then squeaked in fear and looked back up at Rasiel; "O-Okay, real or not, dangling over an abyss is scary!"

The temple continued to fall apart, with the area beneath Rasiel breaking too. However unlike Luz, he remained floating in place. "We don't have much time! I can't keep you here much longer! I need you to listen; the Divider is going to become a lot more erratic and dangerous soon."

"He is!? Why!?" Luz yelled.

"Because I need to trick him into thinking my power over him is waning! He remembers how I sabotaged us the first time and knows I'll do the same when we fight again, so he'll be prepared for it! So I need to lure him into a false sense of security. I'll be resisting him less and less, letting him think I'm growing weaker, until I finally stop getting involved at all. This'll stop him from holding back; you'll be dealing with a version of him that isn't restricted by morals or conscience; he'll keep moving towards his solitary goal of completing Project Paradise. Then, when the moment of truth comes, I'll be able to snatch back control for a brief moment when he least expects it!" Rasiel explained quickly.

Luz grinned; "And divide yourself up again! We can then seal the Divider's mind and leave the rest for you to control!"

Rasiel shook his head forlornly; "No, Luz. The connection between the Divider's mind and body is the strongest one there is; I won't be able to steal control long enough to sever it, and if I just cut myself away, the Divider will still keep his power and break free eventually! So instead, I'll divide his physical body to remove his wings! That'll leave him virtually powerless and we can seal him up!"

"B-But that'll leave you sealed up too!" Luz protested.

"I know." Rasiel said softly; "I'm sorry Luz, but there is no other way."

"There has to be!" she argued; "W-What if we cut the Divider's Wings off BEFORE you use the division!?"

"I need magic to Divide myself; no wings means no magic." Rasiel retorted.

"Then divide yourself from the Divider then we'll cut his wings off!" Luz suggested, feeling more and more desperate; she couldn't bear to lose yet another family member!

Sadly Rasiel once again shook his head; "That won't work. That bastard Belos made the Divider paranoid about losing his wings, so he enchanted them with a spell that instantly destroys them if they're removed, allowing him to regenerate them. The only way to stop that is to divide them from my body; that'll stop them regenerating since my magic would render them not a true part of me any more. You'll then only have a few seconds to seal me before he takes back control and undoes the division. Undoing a division doesn't need magic after all. Now, you need to listen to me; the Divider suspects you are hiding out on Digale Island and will make inspecting the place a top priority. If you ARE there, then you need to evacuate! Promise you'll forget about me and get everyone to safety!"

Luz grimaced as tears began to build in her eyes; "Rasiel, I don't think I can do this! I can't just condemn you to eternity in prison! T-There has to be another way!"

"I've thought about this long and hard, Luz. I'm sorry, but it's the only way… I need to pay for my sins and if sacrificing myself to save you all is how I do that, then I will accept it." Rasiel smiled.

"No! I'll find another way! Any other way! I don't know how, but I will! I became a Seraphim in only a year! I'm used to doing the impossible!" Luz declared, tears beginning to spill.

Rasiel felt his grip beginning to slip as he slowly shook his head; "Not this time, my darling girl." he then pulled her up just enough to give her a kiss on the forehead; "This may well be the last time we get to speak… I love you, Luz. I love King, and Eda, and Amity, and all the CATTs too. And I'm sure that given time, I'd have loved your Mami and little sister too. Please, apologise to Samael and everyone else on my behalf and remember… the months I spent with you were the happiest months of my life!"

"Rasiel! Please don't give up!" Luz begged.

"I'm sorry. Goodbye Luz, the Seraphim of the Demon Realm. Live long, and live well!" Rasiel said, breaking down into sobs as he let go, causing Luz to plummet into the abyss.

Luz felt her heart breaking as she fell, but she refused to give up no matter what; "I WILL SAVE YOU! I DON'T CARE WHAT I HAVE TO DO! I WILL BRING YOU BACK TO US! HAVE FAITH IN ME! PLEASE!"

Rasiel said nothing in response, and just continued to smile as he cried and watched her descend into oblivion.

Luz eventually fell so far that she couldn't see Rasiel any more, after which her eyes began to grow heavy as if she was falling asleep. Finally, after almost a solid minute of falling, Luz closed her eyes, whereupon the sensation of falling suddenly hit her full force and she jerked awake.

Luz sat up quickly, panting hard as she suddenly found herself back in her nest on Digale Island, proving she truly was awake again. For a split second she'd wondered if all she'd just seen had been a mere dream brought about by the shock of the Divider's return, but she remembered everything so clearly that she couldn't deny it. But that just made her mind race with all that she'd just learned, so much so that she didn't notice Amity sitting on a chair beside her nest.

"Batata, are you okay!?" Amity asked; "You were sleeping like the dead for way longer than normal, then you suddenly bolted awake! Did you have a bad dream at the end there?"

The girl put down the book she'd been reading and helped flatten down some of Luz's wild curls. She then gasped as Luz suddenly switched into her Divine Regalia and hopped to her feet.

"What time is it!?" she asked urgently.

Amity's eyes widened a little; "Uh, about 10:30 am? Some of us were kinda worried that you were sleeping so late, but we all figured you needed the rest. I've been sitting with you just in case… Luz, what's going on?"

"Amity, we need to go! Call everyone! Get the others together for a meeting and begin evacuation procedures right now!" Luz said urgently, throwing open the bedroom window so she could fly out.

"What!? Luz, slow down! You're not making any sense!" Amity protested. "Did you have a nightmare? Everything is okay!"

Luz shook her head; "There's no time! The Divider did something funky and pulled me into a dream world! A lot happened, but then I met Rasiel in his subconscious and he warned me that the Divider thinks we're here and is planning to attack us!"

Amity's first instinct was to tell Luz that she'd just had a nightmare, but something about how panicked Luz was made her doubt that was true. Luz could be irrational sometimes, but she wasn't stupid!

Summoning Ghost (who'd been napping with Stringbean nearby), Amity entered her fused form and Luz was immediately validated as Stringbean, who'd been in the dream world too (hiding in Luz's hair) had seen everything and told Ghost about it. Ghost then gave Amity a very abridged version, making the girl go pale as she followed Luz out the window and began calling the CATTs Elites together for an emergency meeting, while Luz began yelling orders to begin the evacuation of the Island.

Thanks to the evacuation plans made just the day before, everyone began grabbing their family members and anything irreplaceable and rushing for the Teleportation Circle back to Orion's Right Palm. At the same time, a massive barrier appeared around the town, and as people began nervously waiting for the full evacuation to start, the elites gathered around Luz and Amity, looking for answers.

"You're sure you weren't dreaming?" Darius asked quietly, not wanting to decrease the people's faith in Luz if they were overheard.

"I'm sure of it! My mind couldn't have dreamed up most of the stuff I saw!" Luz said firmly.

"We believe you, Owlet. But besides the warning, what the heck did you see? You look upset." Eda said, gently putting a hand on Luz's head.

"It's a long story; I'll tell you when we're safe! Let's go to the other side of the Teleportation Circle and secure the area and make sure it's safe. Then we'll get everyone moved to CATT's Cradle. It'll be a tight fit, but it's better than being divided." Luz said as she and the others headed onto the circle itself, leaving behind only Lyra and Camila so they could begin evacuations too once they got calls that it was safe. As she walked, Luz noticed everyone was present except for the divided Angels of the Wings of Rani, who'd been left in the old Demon Village since dragging them along would be a liability when the Divider showed up.

Luz stepped onto the circle and began to sing the activation song… only for nothing to happen. Panicking, she tried again, and again got no result. Lyra then tried it to no avail, and Camila too. The crystals in the circle refused to budge.

"If the circle isn't activating, then it's either damaged or something disabled the other side!" Camila frowned.

Immediately, every member of the CATTs felt a sudden wave of terror; they didn't have enough airships to make it through the Maelstrom Strait even with Luz, Skara, and Samael opening passages for them through the hurricane, and even if they fled by air, they had nowhere to go! The path to the Isles was likely already being flown by the Divider's forces! Assuming he wasn't just using portals… but if he wasn't, Luz didn't know why.

"What do we do now!? Should we try cramming everyone on submersibles and going underwater?" Gus asked.

"We don't have enough." Masons sighed; "We'd need to sacrifice at least 40% of our people! Most of them adults, since we can't leave the orphans."

Matt looked to him worriedly; "Are you gonna be okay Mason? Finding the circle near your Pillar means the Divider almost definitely knows you're helping us."

Mason shrugged; "Doesn't matter. The moment he sees me here, my cover is gonna be blown anyway."

Samael, who'd been acting antsy ever since the evacuation began, suddenly went pale and looked to the south. "Oh no… King, Luz; I think something big is coming!"

Everyone else went pale as well, and then turned a shade of green as they turned to the south and witnessed a flash of light that pierced through the hurricane wall of the Maelstrom Strait… right before the entire thing dissipated. In an instant, the hurricane petered out and the border of whirlpools vanished too, leaving nothing but calm seas around Digale Island.

"Oh Titan…!" Luz breathed, seeing the Divider flying there, with a fleet of Wings of Rani Airships and flying soldiers in the air behind him. The Huntsman was also present, though he was stood on the bow of a huge warship sailing on the sea below.

King's eyes narrowed into slits as his fur puffed up; "So that's why he didn't use portals… he needed to sail his little fleet to our doorstep!"

The warship the Huntsman stood on resembled a giant Viking Vessel adorned with Titan Bones, including a Titan Skull figurehead. Behind the ship was an entire fleet of dozens of smaller vessels, all crewed by people wearing Titan Skulls…

The Divider had brought the Wings of Rani… but the Huntsman had brought the Titan Trappers!