Jinn swept her hand across the sky, finishing the construction of the new scene about to take place. The ascending path up a new, darker mountainside was almost like a twisted parody of the one leading up to the God of Light's domain. Where on the other path there was lush foliage, the new trail was surrounded by dead, gnarled, hollowed out, and rotting trees in various states of decay. There was no birdsong or any other sign of life, and the sky had taken on an unnatural crimson in the few places it was visible between the thick, dark clouds. Even the four women ascending the slope were quiet as they climbed. Sun's group was equally tense and silent as they followed the Maidens to the top of the 'mountain'… only to find that the supposed summit wreathed in smog and whirling ash was anything but.

"…you've gotta be kidding me," the tallest and most muscular of the Maidens complained as she stood at the edge of what appeared to be a dark, twisted version of a caldera. She was clad in leather armor draped in unfamiliar animal furs, and she wore two simple stripes of war paint beneath her eyes. "The God of Darkness lives inside of his mountain? We have to go all the way down there?"

"Don't complain, Celes," Astrid snapped as she brushed her long, orange hair out of her face. The woman looked equally annoyed and was sweating profusely in her heavy armor as she stood at the head of the pack. "Our mission is too important to reconsider, no matter how unpleasant all of this is. We need to hurry. Mother is relying on us getting the timing right, and she can't move until the spirits here give the signal."

"We'll manage," Fiorella encouraged breathlessly. Her deep brown hair was equally matted and sweaty, and her face was flushed red from exhaustion and the effort of simply breathing in the intense heat. The younger Maiden's bulky armor seemed to be wearing her down much more than Astrid, though she was still making a valiant effort of not letting it show. "We… always manage…"

"…are you alright?" Astrid asked, kneeling down to get closer to her younger sister's face. "We could… two of us go down there, and someone could stay with you? I can go with Lora…"

"No," Fiorella denied immediately. The woman reached down and wrapped her hand around the blackened hilt of the transparent crystal sword at her side. It seemed to be a replica of her father's, newly forged within Salem's laboratory. "We do this together. Let's move."

Astrid looked uncertain for a moment, but quickly hid her face from her sisters by turning back toward the treacherous path downward.

"…right. Let's go."

"While Salem's daughters journeyed forth in the Realm of Darkness to create a diversion, Salem herself once again ascended to the Realm of Light… though she did so in secret," Jinn let on as a second, smaller scene of the witch on the mountain trail came to life in midair. The projection looked almost as though it was being played from a holo-television synchronized with the actual events around them, though both began rapidly skipping forward. "The plan was complex and took many months to solidify… but the moment had arrived. The Relics as you know them were finally ready. Salem carried those corresponding to my brother and I, while her daughters carried the sword and crown. Of course, they were not yet actually the Relics. This is the moment where everything changed."

The projection of Salem faded away as her daughters arrived in the crater about halfway down inside of the mountain. A long wooden bridge led to a platform of black stone mirroring the one high above in the God of Light's domain. The platform was magically suspended over a lake of roiling dark fluid far below, with no other way beyond the bridge to approach or leave it. Twisted bones with red etchings jutted up from within the bubbling pool, giving it the distinct look of grimm. At the far end of the platform, barely visible within the dark clouds of fog lingering about the place, was a red crystal obelisk looming over the rest of the dais.

"This is it," Lora declared in a whisper, pulling her wide-brimmed witch's hat tighter down upon her head. The headgear did well to conceal the tiara she wore, which was inlaid with a series of blackened gemstones. "How do w-"

"God of Darkness!" Astrid yelled, walking forward to stand in front of her sisters as she raised her spear. "I summon thee to offer a proposal!"

The black liquid far below the platform began to bubble more intensely as if to answer. Within seconds, an eruption of the viscous goo shot upward and all around the sides of the platform as a massive creature rose up from the pool and extended its wings. The God of Darkness hovered just beyond the crystal as the smoke and ash cleared away with its wingbeats, revealing the dragon's form.

Unlike its brother, the God of Darkness appeared as a more lizard-like, compact dragon with wide, leathery wings. Its scales were as black as the rock making up the pseudo-volcano of its realm, and a line of jagged spikes extended from the back of its head all the way down to the tip of its tail. The face of the beast was almost entirely bare of flesh, revealing a grinning skull with curved horns and only hanging bits of rotting skin clinging to it. No part of the beast's face moved as it spoke, though its voice echoed throughout the area as it came down to land upon the platform.

"Daughters of Salem," the dragon stated matter-of-factly as it latched its claws down into the stonework. "You have no business here. All of you are well-known servants of my brother, and I will not abide your presence within my realm. Leave now, lest you incur my wrath."

"We are not mere daughters of Salem," Astrid asserted as she slammed the butt of her weapon into the ground. "She is content to continue ruling in silence, disgracing our father's memory by continuing to serve your brother. The four of us have had enough- we refuse to tolerate this indignity and the God of Light's stranglehold upon us. Our loyalty to him is forced, and Salem has been insistent that we cause no more trouble over our father's untimely death. All of her blustering and insistence that the God of Light do something faded the moment she left the mountaintop, and now she sits upon her throne in mourning… or while lashing out at us. We tire of it, and we now come to you for aid."

With a contemplative grumble, the gargantuan dragon lowered its neck, bringing its skull down to Astrid's level. The beast's head was twice as large as Astrid standing at her full height, and its breath carried a scent of rot as wind carried an ethereal voice from between its teeth.

"…and what would you offer me in return for this aid? What exactly is it that you desire?"

Astrid's eyes flicked to just beyond the God of Darkness and to the red crystal obelisk. There was movement within it as the two indistinct shapes gave her some sort of gesture. Astrid knew what it meant- the trap had been successfully set, and the God of Light had left his domain.

"We offer you our loyalty," Astrid began before looking down to the black stone beneath her, "as well as our kingdom. Salem is a powerful sorceress, but she is not more powerful than the four of us working together. We will hand-deliver our lands to you along with her head. You would be in a position of power over your brother in this worldwide push for conquest for the first time in our lifetimes, and likely far longer."

"Interesting," the God of Darkness considered. "And all I have to do is…?"

"Return our father's corpse," Astrid answered, looking back up at the creature. "Your brother did… something with it, when we brought it up to his realm. Our father just disappeared, and Salem has made no effort to retrieve it. We haven't even been given the opportunity to give him a proper burial. That is all we ask in return for becoming the forefront of your army."

"An… interesting proposal…"

Another rattling breath escaped the dragon's mouth as the other Maidens walked forward, standing on either side of Astrid. Fiorella opened her mouth, putting on a distraught face as she spoke.

"Please. The God of Light has done nothing for us, despite all of our prayers. We've remained loyal our entire lives, a-"

A sudden burst of blood flew from the young Maiden's mouth as a loud, sickening crack rang out through the area. Faster than any of her sisters could have reacted, a spike of obsidian had risen up through the dais and pierced Fiorella from behind, tearing through her plate mail and jutting up and out through the center of her chest. The woman's aura rippled faintly before dissipating entirely as her body slumped backward, suspended upon the deadly protrusion of rock.

"Fio!"

Astrid dropped her weapon immediately and rushed to her sister's side with Lora as Celes started to run forward and face the dragon head on.

"What did you do!?" the blonde roared as she pulled back a fist and prepared to strike at the deity.

The dragon beat its wings and took to the air above the scene, looking skyward as it spoke. Its voice carried a tone of panic, catching Celes off guard as she followed the dragon's gaze.

"It wasn't me…"

"Fio!" Astrid tried, keeping a tight grip on her sister's pale hand as she used the other to support Fiorella's head. The older Maiden could barely keep her blood-covered hand still as she cradled her sister and desperately tried feeling for a pulse. There was nothing, and her eyes were lifeless. "T-this can't be happening…"

"Astrid," Lora said coldly through panicked breaths and tears. "Leave her to me. I-I'll… I'll try weaving a spell, I'll do something, but Celes needs you!"

The entirety of the crater became infinitely brighter without warning, and the sudden flood of light made Astrid's blood run cold. Even with her back to the scene playing out between Celes and the God of Darkness, she knew exactly what she was about to see. With a sharp inhale, she turned around to find the black clouds completely gone and a shimmering, elongated dragon hovering high above the realm and its brother.

"Did you think I would not have this place surveilled?" the God of Light asked, its tone full of righteous anger. "That I would trust you not to work against me, with all that has happened between us? And here you are, cutting deals with the daughters of that witch!"

"You do neither of us any favors by killing them without knowledge of what is occurring here!" the God of Darkness roared. "Cease this insanity!"

The God of Light looked down to see glyphs forming around Celes' fists as she bared her teeth up at the dragons. Without a word, it lifted its claw as wisps of light began to coalesce around its fingers.

"You care for them, suddenly? The daughters of my most loyal servant? They are all but playthings. This power struggle has gone on long enough, and none of them are needed on either side. These war games between mortals have always been a mere distraction. Do not pretend as though they could offer you any advantage…"

Astrid turned her attention to the crystal near the end of the platform. As the brothers argued, glowing cracks had begun to form upon its surface. With one final breath, she whirled and drew the sword from the scabbard at Fiorella's side before grasping the tiara on Lora's forehead and ripping it from her.

"What are y-"

Astrid didn't bother to listen as the brother gods clashed high above and Celes began summoning up elemental bolts in an upward rain. The Summer Maiden sprinted for all she was worth beneath the torrents of magic and stone raining from the sky. As she made it within only a few feet of the crystal, she slipped the tiara onto her head and gripped the sword with both hands. She could see the spirits within the giant gemstone, pressing up against their prison as more and more cracks began to form.

With a single swing, Astrid shattered the obelisk and sent a shockwave of magic out across the realm. As quickly as she had swung, the transparent blade of the sword had turned a fiery red, matching the glowing gemstones upon her tiara as she felt a sudden surge of power course through her.

Author's Note:

Two or three to go…

-RD