> When we embrace what lies within, our potential knows no limit. The future is filled with promise. The present, rife with expectation. But when we deny our instinct, and struggle against our deepest urges... Uncertainty begins. Where does this path lead? When will the changes end? Is this transformation a gift... or a curse? And for those that fear what lies ahead... The most important question of all... Can we really change what we are?

Beatrice ██████, PR Agent - Saintsworths Conglomerate.

The soulscape, a place that represents who we are, what we are, and who we can become. A place that should be a way of knowing ourselves more, a place that is sacred and can be used to explore and know ourselves more.

Unless you are Elizabeth Starbright that is. Since in that case, your [Soulscape] is a ruined city bathed in shadows with an azure moon in the night sky that doesn't have stars...

"Well, that isn't entirely true. We do have constellations now." Said Elizabeth as she turned to look to the sky as a couple of new stars had shown. Not many, but a few more.

The beginning of a constellation. She wondered what prompted her [Soulscape] to start forming constellations in the night sky. Was it the inclusion of Rena in the fabric of the [Soulscape]?

Was it the awakening of Nyx? The birth of Beatrice? The second coming of Aura?

...Her realization of something weird going on with her [Minions]?

"Welcome Mistress." The voice of a young girl spoke to her, turning to the voice in question she found a little girl with obsidian black hair, she had an interesting case of heterochromia since her left eye was azure blue and the right one was bright pink.

In contrast, her right ear had a blue star earring and the left ear had a pink heart earring. It suited her quite well.

"Do you wish for snacks? A bed? The [Minions] have sent their reports to my office and nothing of importance was found. You can rest easy Mistress, everything is under control in your demesne, the new maid recruit is doing her work quite well too..." Beatrice spoke as she guided her to a mansion at the back of the building that housed the shared apartment with Rossie & Rena's soulscape. It was a wonder of design and it seemed more in tune with what royalty would expect to have as a summer house. "After you Mistress."

As soon as they came close to the main entrance a pair of shadow dragons opened the door, the main entrance door was opened a few seconds after. A red carpet rolled on its own towards the main entrance.

She could feel the carpet...So that meant that one of her minions had changed their form into a carpet just to make this scene... So both she and Beatrice were walking atop one of her minions...

"Are there many [Minions] that do this?" Elizabeth asked to Beatrice as they walked inside the mansion, she did notice that the carpet shifted from a [Minion] to normal. So that was a relief.

"...*sigh* No Mistress, that is an independent case, [that] one is more aligned with Mother. So it is...more peculiar." Beatrice answered as such. What did that mean that one of her [Minions] was more aligned with Rossie though?

Not like that was something she could deal with at the moment, case in point...

"[Welcome Mistress, Lady Beatrice.]" The purple-haired girl with robes of an Izanami Priest bowed to them as she came from a side room, "[We have prepared the audience chamber, please come this way. Your loyal servants are waiting.]"

And so, Elizabeth and Beatrice walked to that side, a few hallways later and way too many ornamented candelabra later... Elizabeth found herself sitting at the head of a way too big table in one of the most comfortable throne-chair-thing she had ever sat.

She was annoyed, first, this was clearly a seat meant for a head of state, a king (Or Queen), or the president, hell, she was half sure not even her papa had a chair as comfortable as this one... If he had one he would have gifted it to her, so that was how she was sure he didn't have one.

No, she was annoyed because of the seating and the implications this [Audience] chamber had. Too many chairs, too much space...Only this table for example. It had fourteen seats, to her right and left two had motifs depicting who would be there, a heart to her right and a sword to her left.

Rossie and Rena.

Then was the comet motif with Aura sitting on that chair, Beatrice sitting at another chair, then Nyx placidly lying atop the table as if nothing was wrong.

"[What do you need of us today Mistress.]" Nyx [spoke] from his spot, she was still getting used to it. His voice wasn't... quite there yet, unlike Beatrice who spoke freely to her. Or Aura whose voice was there even if somewhat still being transmitted through [Idea].

No, Nyx was closer to her [Royal Mages] and [Minions], in the aspect that he communicated through [Idea] and sharing his [Intent] with her through Mana.

"First...What is the whole deal with the [Dwellers of the Dark] thing you all respond to? I know I'm the one using it, but that is how [Idea] translates the words when I'm casting it. I never stopped to think too much about it since most of the time it was done in a rush..." Elizabeth said turning towards Beatrice and Aura. "I have some faint idea of what it can mean. But really... Is it...?"

"[Oh that? Yeah, we are dead...Well most of us anyway.]" Aura answered from her seat nonchalantly as she took a sip of a drink that seemingly teleported there. "[Not all of us of course, there are special cases here and there.]"

The purple-haired girl said pointing towards Beatrice and Nyx, "[But most of us is or was dead.]"

"...goddamnit Aura." Beatrice side from the side as she face palmed.

"[What? It's the truth! You can't pretend it isn't. I mean, she knew I was dead! She would need to be an airhead to not notice it!]" Aura protested from the side while hiding behind her chair from Beatrice's glare.

It was kind of cute, she looked like Rossie when she was angry, and when that wasn't pointed your way...Yep, cute is justice.

"So the other minions?" Elizabeth asked, trying to reign the conversation back to the topic at hand.

"...We would need to start from the beginning, so that would be with Lord Nyxfyre..." Beatrice said turning her glare to a look more normal and then looking at Nyx sleeping in the middle of the table.

"Nyx? Something to say?" Elizabeth said, Nyx for his part just stretched (Like one would expect a cat to do after waking up).

"[Right...Well for one I was never dead unlike most of those under you, Elizabeth.]" Nyx said as he stood and some shadows leaked from his body transforming into a holoprojection... Only instead of the usual blue shine this had a dark-light type of illumination thing going. "[There are a few types for those that serve under you.]"

Yes, Aura had said as much.

"[First there is me and Sebastian. Those that were made from nothing, those that had a mission embedded into our core.]" Nyx started and in turn, the holoprojector showed a picture of Nyx in his more draconic form...And of Sebastian, her ever-loyal butler. "[Those like us have one of two destinies to them, either we evolve beyond our mission...Or fulfill it and move on.]"

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She really missed the butler, even if she never quite heard him talk as much.

"[Those that can't or don't want to move beyond their mission are bound to perish as soon as their mission is complete...Should they even attempt to go against it, they will find a fate worse than death even.]" Aura said in a somber tone. "[But enough about that, next type please bossman!]"

"[Right, then we have those like the Maid here. Souls of those that died and got claimed by you. Those that accepted the call of the shadows and embraced it, those that were given a new life under your command.]" Nyx said and the image changed to the purple-haired girl that was Aurelia Vitelius in one half, then to Aura.

The only real difference between the two was that the one on the right (Aurelia) to the one on the left (Aura), was that Aurelia seemed to be older by a few years and angrier. While Aura seemed younger and more bright and happy.

Why was the one that should be angrier and sadder happier? Did her [Shadows] somehow shift their mind?

"[Your power did not tamper with my sense of Self, Mistress. I'm like this because I'm free. And while the call of the shadows can entice. Those that can't control themselves end like empty shells that only want to fulfill your needs. I can decide to stop serving you at any moment I wish.]" Aura said before she could even ask. It seemed the girl was smart.

"[Yes, while we could chain them...We don't need it, since this brings us to the next type.]" Nyx said as the image shifted, this time instead of showing her a singular image it showed her the [Shadow Minions]. All of them, her army made from living shadows.

"Us, the [Dwellers of the dark]." Beatrice said from her seat, "Or more like those that dwell among the shadows of a dead world."

"What?" No wait, then..."Does this mean that my [Soulscape] is a dead world? But the [Soulscape]..."

"[Is a reflection of the soul, the triumphs, the defeats, what made the owner who it is, who it was...A soulscape is a way to determine the path one has traveled, for some it reflects their past full of pain and suffering.]" Nyx said as a new holoprojection showed the old [Soulscape] that Rossie had. A trashed room in an orphanage with a single window that pointed to an empty void. "[For others, it shows what they crave for, but can't achieve...A mockery of their wish and at the same time a grim reminder of what they will never have.]"

Then the image showed the [Soulscape] of Rena, an empty cozy apartment, perhaps a way to show that the red-haired girl wished for a family to share and live with? Instead, she had an apartment full of cracks.

"And this...Why would this be the reflection of my soul then? If anything then it should be my bedroom!" Elizabeth said as she stood and pointed through a window to the ruined city. "WHAT THE HELL DID I DO FOR MY SOULSCAPE TO TURN INTO THE RUINS OF..."

Oh...no....It couldn't be...THAT WAS NOT FAIR!

"[The ruined city, the lost capital of a condemned world.]" Nyx started saying as the image in the holoprojector shifted to an aerial view of her ruined city, and how it shifted to its former glory. "[Welcome Elizabeth, to the capital of Terra Invicta.]"

The city that was shown in the projection was the epitome of a capital city, a very rich capital city, she could see vehicles all around the streets and even some people flying around, not with the use of [Skills] or [Magic]. No.

As far as her [Dragon Eyes] could perceive they were flying using flying devices fueled by technology. Those seemed awfully familiar as if the design of her thrusters in her [Shift] were made with the same design.

"[Welcome to The Saintsworth Capital. Welcome to Aquila.]" Nyx carried on as the focus of the video turned to the spire in the middle, the same building her soulscape had. The same one she woke up in...The same one that currently held the [Lock] that connected her to Rossie.

The same one where she had found the vestiges of [Elizabeth] and [Alexanders] in.

"...Is it because Alexanders then? But if it was the case, most people would end with [Soulscape]s shaped by their former selves! Why is mine so affected by what that blonde asshole did!" Elizabeth said as she sat back down. It made no sense to her.

"[There is a very important difference here, Alexanders' soul was that of someone at the brisk of becoming a GOD. His fate was heavy, his power was big...And while his fate wasn't transmitted, the way it shaped his soul couldn't be fully stripped from your soul.]" Nyx said as the image turned from the thriving city to one at the brisk of destruction, fires were rampart across the city and people ran from one place to the next, explosions went off here and there. But more importantly...

The people that she could see running on the streets slowly one by one turned into static and disappeared.

"[He attempted to save his world to the last moment, even while he could have ascended to godhood, completed his apotheosis. He still tried to save the world, all so he could fix the things no human should be able to tamper with. He fought, he cried, he bargained with the very fabric of reality. And in the end...]" The picture continued zoomed out showing how most of the world was now a wasteland, only the small patch of the city remained somewhat intact, even if it was now closer to a war zone than a city. It was still a city, one with no living being besides the people at the spire in the middle as far as her [Dragon Eyes] could see. "[...He failed. The world died, and all the living beings in the world were stripped from existence and turned into nourishment for the system that he made. A system that was meant to stop the world from dying and saving humanity, in turn, turned into the very thing that destroyed them all...He could have escaped you know. Instead, he seared his mistakes into his soul and carved the names of all of those that died because of his mistake into his soul before attempting to turn back the wheel of time.]"

...HE WHAT?

"[Of course he didn't achieve what he wanted, no human can thread the path of a GOD. Not even those that have the making of one. For only a GOD can tamper with reality as they wish. What remained after was the husk of a broken man, the mockery of a human created from fragments of reality and a weapon...And a dead world.]" That...was a trauma dump if she ever saw one.

"Then...?" Elizabeth said hoping for the happy ending, she knew there must be one in somewhere, she had seen Alexanders and Alexa in her soulscape before, but neither seemed sad nor haunted....at all.

"[Then nothing, my former owner. Mother, attempted to make a deal when Catherine brought the remains of his SELF stuck to your Soul. That is how we got that version of the SYSTEM. This one doesn't have as much AUTHORITY as the one he made in his world. And Mother needs to focus plenty of her mind to keep it running, at least till she makes new subordinate deities dedicated to that. But that is for her to deal with. What Alexanders and that THING did after in your Soulscape was meaningless. Alexanders never attempted to join the circle of transmigration that was made upon this city, and that THING wasn't compatible to being with. ]" Nyx finished his speech about why her soulscape was like that.

But, that wasn't important.....Okay, it was, but she hadn't come for that!

"So my [Shadow Dragons]?" Elizabeth said, turning once more to the picture of her shadow armada of cute dragons.

"[The souls of the damned, or more specifically. They are the former inhabitants of Terra Invicta. Alexanders did carve each and everyone into his own soul...Who ended up being you, each stroke of his WILL made sure they would have a second chance at life. So here they are, you Elizabeth. Have access to a whole world of SOULS to fuel your armada. The only limit you had was mana. But the Inheritance Alexanders left you makes up for it.]" Nyx ended as he pointed toward her chest, or more precisely, towards her [Heart]. "[While that is beating within you, you will never have problems with Mana, MOTHER tried to strip the area of Mana in an attempt to wrestle control over me. But your HEART kept the mana coming. As such she only removed my AUTHORITY over the world instead.]"

The who did what?

"[Oh....shall we prepare for war then?]" Aura said, the usually silly girl had shifted to a more vicious nature, actually, most of the shadows around seemed to follow in those emotions, even Beatrice's eyes had turned once more dangerous(cute) glint.

"We shall take that into consideration, Mother had expressed her interest in dealing with her before anyway. No offense Lord Nyxfyre, but your Mother is a b█tc█." Beatrice said as she made some motion with her hand and a few of shadow dragons darted from her shadow to the outside.

"Wait just a second!" Elizabeth exclaimed, everyone, turning to look at her, "Let's deal with that later okay? We just finished dealing with Akira, no reason to start a new fight just yet okay?!?"

Why was she the voice of reason here?!? Since when did you leave a bimbo in charge!?!? No wait, she wasn't a bimbo anymore! BUT STILL!

"[Your will shall be obeyed Mistress, but know that should you wish to fight against the WORLD. Those under me shall fight at your side.]" Nyx said as he bowed his small and adorable head to her.

"As will those under my command," Beatrice said after, doing a small and very cute bow.

"[As will the dwellers of the darkness.]" And finally, Aura added at the side with the flourish of a maid...who was dressed in Izanami's traditional priestess robes.

"...I will take it into consideration, any other world-shattering revelations I need to know?" Elizabeth said while sighing and letting herself fall into the stupidly comfortable chair.

"[The Soul Gems that Akira dropped can be used to further increase your AUTHORITY, since those are made from FATE intertwined with the SOUL of a Hero.]" Nyx said as he turned the image to the picture of those weird gems. She only had the one that Akira had dropped at the moment.

And she was wondering if she should even think about consuming it or not, she didn't want to leave it lying around, she had lost important things like that before. Like the stupid sports drink, she hadn't found it yet and she had trashed her [Garage] searching for the thing.

She would send a scout to their apartment in Camelot to see if it was around, but she didn't think it would be found...

"Yeah while interesting those are made from Rossie, Rena, and Michael's fragments. Leaving aside Akira's I don't think I should tamper with them. Besides Agatha has them, I will probably not see them again." Elizabeth said, she really didn't want to deal with them.

"[Mistress, should the former Heroes consume them, they will recover some of their former power...And will probably recover their lost memories.]" Aura said at the side.

...Yeah, she had thought that would be a probable outcome from the former heroes interacting with their soul gems. She would need to speak about it with Rossie...And Rena too, Michael...He seemed to be fine as he was, his soul didn't seem to be broken or in any danger. So while it may be beneficial to Rena and Rossie, there was no reason for Michael to even tamper with those things.

"Also one of the scouts reports that [The Sage] is currently waiting for you to wake up in the real world," Beatrice said at the side.

Why the hell was he here? Did he live in Camelot like Rossie or something?

"[Mistress, that man is currently holding the three soul gems. And his soul is in turmoil at the moment. Lady Rena and Lady Rossaline are holding him at bay, but you may need to wake up soon.]" Nyx said from his spot atop the table. He even turned one of the holoprojections into the standout between the three former heroes.

Not a single one of them seemed to be speaking, and since there were mana dampers at the place no skills or magic was being thrown around...And yet.

"LET ME SLEEP GODDAMIT!" The cry of Elizabeth's soul could be heard across the place as she opened her eyes in the real world.

Heads were turned to the blonde girl as she opened her eyes, barely a couple of hours after she had closed them. And way sooner than she would have liked.

She almost regretted doing so, because as soon as she turned her face towards Michael, ready to complain to him, she found him with a haunted look. That wasn't the same look that he had a couple of hours ago in the stadium.

No, it was the look of a very tired and haunted man who had just returned from a war. "Oh, I had hoped you could sleep before we spoke. Lina and Rena were very protective of you." Michael said nonchalantly.

"My name is Rossaline, or Rossie to Eli-Eli," Rossie said at the side.

HighLightning the way Michael had spoken, who called Rossie like that besides Akira? No one, because they were smart. So this meant...

"Oh....you looked into the [Soul Gems]," Elizabeth said as her face reflected the realization.

Michael had peered into the abyss...And in turn that had stared back at him.

Dang it.