I watched as it fell.

All that Ua was… or could have been.

That piece of flesh fell to the ground and I stood frozen as it did.

The Kifo Valley had been widened significantly making it entirely a crater.

I stood at the crater’s edge.

In the silence of the night.

With nought but the face of a beautiful Umande woman in mind-

I gasped upon realizing that I had left Musa and Tal floating in the clouds and so I returned to my doll after dissipating my ethereal presence.

I then rushed back to my children and winced upon seeing Musa cradling a terrified Tal and it was here that I regretted bringing them to Hatua but it was too late for that.

I brought them to the ground, atop what remained of Mount Kupumzika.

They both looked me over with concerned eyes and saw that I was missing an arm and was covered in cracks.

I tried easing their concern by creating a new arm for myself and healing my cracks which helped their brows lower a little.

I offered Musa my hand which he was about to accept but he stopped himself just before his small fingers touched mine.

“Is… my mother...?”

I winced and this, it seems, was all the boy needed as confirmation.

Tears began welling in his eyes but, even though I knew he was suffering greatly inside, he nodded before finally allowing his hand to rest on mine.

I gently held it and led him down the mountain while he held Tal’s hand.

We eventually arrived at the remnants of the royal palace where we were greeted by several guards, a few Shangazi and a wide-eyed Pazia.

“Who are you and where is the Queen?” He barked while the guards pointed their spears at me.

I needed to quickly convince them of my supposed divinity and so, using Light Magic, I created a halo behind my head only it was in the shape of a closed string and glowed a warm golden colour.

[I am… Sav’ta.] I said while projecting my voice throughout the mountain and this alone was enough to bring almost everyone to their knees.

Almost.

“Where is the Queen?” Pazia growled through gnashed teeth.

I liked Pazia.

He was an interesting man who had displayed an incredible level of loyalty.

I would have killed him to set an example for all who spoke against me but ruling through fear was not something I was interested in.

“For the sin of daring to strike her goddess, she was aptly punished,” I explained making everyone before me gasp.

Pazia’s face twisted and I internally applauded him for being able to stand and face me even after everything that had happened.

I wanted to give a grand speech about my future plans but I also wanted to reach as many people as possible.

Gathering every person on my surface in one place would take a lot of time and so I opted for a more visually stunning approach.

I led Musa and Tal to a large rock in the rubble and there we sat while I projected my ethereal presence outward again.

This time, I made it so big that it could be seen from my northern and southern poles.

“Ahem.” I sounded before taking a deep breath.

[My children…] I spoke fully expecting to frighten a good chunk of people as my voice came from everywhere.

[Long and hard have you fought. Each moment – a desperate struggle for survival. Alas, such is the fate of all that lives. To claw and cling onto the very fabric of reality so that we may sustain our existence. I appear before you on this day not to relieve you your burdens but to even the road along which you carry them. In the coming age, I will help you build cities, roads, farms and anything else you might need to better your chances of survival. I will personally visit every village, every town and every city so that we may work together to secure tomorrow. But, for now, while you wait, rest well, my children.]

My words echoed through the atmosphere a few times as my projection faded and almost every humanoid fell silent afterwards.

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A few then began crying, while others screamed with panic. Others jumped with joy while others fell to their knees from terror or the fact that their minds simply couldn’t understand what had just happened.

I turned to Pazia and beckoned him with my left hand.

He, after a moment’s hesitation, walked towards me before lowering his head.

“Go to the armies to the south and tell them to put aside their swords. Send a messenger to the North as well and tell them that the war is over. It is unlikely that northern and southern Hatua will be able to reunite immediately and so I want a border to be drawn along the line which once divided your armies. Understood?” I instructed.

Pazia slowly nodded before taking slow steps backwards.

I then turned to everyone behind him.

“The rest of you should descend the mountain. I would like to erect a temple here.”

The group, after bowing, did as I instructed and as they walked down the ruins of the palace, I began to create a temple atop the remaining bottom half of the Royal Palace.

It was in the same style as the Temple of Tablets, in that it had a rounded, ovular central structure although it only had a single chamber and tower.

I would sit at the centre of the chamber, which was two hundred meters wide, atop a grand throne.

This would be my base of operations in Northern Hatua.

Musa and Tal watched with perplexed eyes as a temple formed around them.

I decided to call this Temple Kupumzika, after the mountain atop which it stood.

I then made my way to the centre of the dark chamber and sat atop my throne before patting my lap.

Musa glanced at my lap and I realized that I was a bit too small and so I enlarged both myself and my throne a little so that Musa could sit on me comfortably.

I now stood two meters tall and this gave the boy and girl plenty of room on my legs.

My arms were also longer and this allowed me to hold them even more snuggly.

This was it.

The beginning of a new age.

One thing I realized as I sat was that progress came at a cost.

In order to build the cities and technologies of the future, the humanoids would need resources and thus would need to dig further into me.

I… I had grown to care for my denizens but to support their advancement would be to allow them to further scar me.

I guess I hadn’t really thought about it since I didn’t feel pain.

I let out a sigh before looking up in thought.

My sleepy children and I were being bathed in the bright light of the full moon.

Mmm…

The Moon.

My moon had been my sole partner for a few billion years.

If it had a soul, I wondered if it had any Soul Memories.

How did it feel about its own existence or mine?

Would it mind if I harvested it for resources and Glass?

My eyes began glowing purple as I gently traced Musa and Tal’s names on the moon’s surface using my gravitational field which was present and reached far beyond it.

I couldn’t help but smile at how sentimental I was becoming but I didn’t mind.

And as for the moon, I decided that it would be the goal I would set for the humanoids.

I wanted them to harvest it until they became advanced enough to build spaceships not too dissimilar to those of the Pāttiram and go as far as possible into the cosmos.

I wanted them to sustain the Perpetuation of Will, even if I couldn’t.

I turned my thoughts towards Y’shuah.

The Aviyvist population there wasn’t worryingly high but they would be the ones who were most likely to react violently to my appearance.

I would need to erect a temple and rule over the Sav’taists above while quelling any rebellious movements below and I had just the man in mind for this.

I created another doll for myself and this one looked more like my old Eshu self.

I would, in the guise of a mysterious stranger, eliminate any attempts at rebellion but that was for later.

I carried my Eshu doll and took him all the way back to the Temple of Tablets.

I then finally turned to Musa and Tal who silently stared at me.

“Is there anything either of you would like?” I whispered.

Musa’s eyes wandered for a bit before returning to mine.

“I-is Aunty Mpole alright?”

“She is alive and well in Kimbilio. Would you like me to bring her here? Or would you prefer if we went there?”

“Mmm… you said that we were going to visit every city, right?”

“Yes.”

“So we’ll visit her when we pass through Kimbilio,” Musa said and I nodded in agreement.

“So which city would you like us to start with after the capital?” I smiled.

Musa thoughtfully tapped his chin.

“I really want to visit the land Prince Jua discovered.”

“Alright. What about you, little one? Is there anything you would like?”

Tal lowered her eyes and didn’t respond.

“Mmm… alright. Come.” I said while standing up.

I then led my children out of the Temple and down the mountain where we were greeted by a sea of people who were all on their knees.

One of them was a Shangazi. One who I recognized.

It was she who served Ua even after the Great Betrayal.

Her name was Saidia and she was an Umande woman whose youthful beauty was marred by baggy eyes and cracked lips.

“I have come not to govern but to guide. In the absence of the Queen who do you think would best lead the people of Northern Hatua?”

Saidia’s eyes widened.

She tightly clasped her hands to the point where she was close to breaking one of them.

“I… it is not my place to say, My Lady.”

“And who decided that?” I smiled.

“Go on. You grew up in this land and even if you cannot choose who would best rule over it, surely you know someone who could make the decision.”

Saidia fearfully glanced at the kneeling crowd behind her.

It consisted of countless Shangazi, even more blessed Sisters and their families since they held the highest status in Hatua.

“I… think it should be a council of Shangazi chosen by Our Lady herself.” Saidia eventually said.

“Mmm… alright. Northern Hatua has three distinct regions: The Capital, The Crystal Lands and The Forest Afor. I want you and two other Shangazi to govern over these regions as you see fit. You will be free to visit me in my temple at any time for advice and guidance.” I instructed to which Saidia frantically nodded.

“Good,” I said before raising myself and my children into the air.

The crowd erupted with gasps but I ignored them as I flew us to Y’shuah-

My eyes widened as I suddenly remembered the most important thing ever.

Before anything else, I wanted to show Musa and Tal my dragon friends.

So I flew us over the clouds towards my northern pole where they awaited us.

About a thousand or so gargantuan scaly creatures.

I landed on the head of my old friend, the Red Emperor and gently patted his head while a wide-eyed Musa and Tal watched.

“This is the Red Emperor! He and I have known each other for a long time and he often supports me when I need it.” I said while making a “Thumbs Up” gesture but my children obviously didn’t get it.

Regardless, we flew around for a while and even hopped from one dragon’s head to another a few times as I rambled on and on about how dragons were, at least to me, the perfect lifeforms.

I also saw, for the briefest of moments, a weak smile on Tal’s face.