———Hail———

I daze into the distance looking over all of the men. I then look to Zen and Mom covered in snow. What have I done? Mia squeezes my hand gently, her warmth pulls me back to reality.

"We need to get out of here," she says softly. "Before she comes back."

I nod "But where? I don't even know where to go from here. I don't know who I am anymore, look around, I did this."

Mia looks at me, her eyes full of determination. "We go where the journal takes us. Eluna gave it to you for a reason, she said everything we needed would be in there."

I pull the journal from my pocket. I flip through the pages. "It's so hard to tell what it is exactly I would even be looking for. There is so much in here. Wait..."

I see a map, hand-drawn and detailed with symbols and places I've never seen.

"There's an X here, it's a place called The Bastion of the Gods. It was a meeting ground for the gods after they came here from Hofkin. It's here on Zenot."

Mia pulls the page down so she can see it more clearly. "Maybe there's something there that can tell us more about the Amerei Crux or the DragonsBreath... those things Vermidia wanted."

I take a deep breath. "Then that's where we go. If we really are gods... maybe there are answers there as well. Things mom never told us."

I hear the ice around us begin to crack. I hear her in the distance. Vermidia's dark laughter echoing faintly on the wind, distant but unnervingly close.

"We need to hurry!" Mia urges.

I grab Mia's hand again and place the book back into my pocket.

We start to walk toward the outskirts of our village and into the mountains to the north. As we walk I see the density of snow fade back into the dirt.

"At least I didn't freeze the entire planet I guess, still scary to think about, not being in control with a power like that..."

"It could have been much worse... I know, but it's not your fault Hail." Mia tries to comfort me. "You know, if your name is Hail and you freeze stuff, what do you think I can do?"

I laugh. "That is a great question. If we are the same person, in a way, do you think maybe you could have the same power as me?"

"I guess that would be a fair assumption, wouldn't it? Maybe we should try it out? See if anything happens maybe?"

"Try it out? I don't know if that's the greatest idea Mia."

"Why not? What if I can do something. I'm just saying, we have a demonic witch after us, might not be a bad idea if we tried to see if you... if we could control something like this."

"And freeze another village? Where's mom when you need her, or Zen for that matter. At least if they were here, we'd have someone to help show us how to control it, whatever it is."

"We'll figure it out, together. Here, hand me mom's journal."

I reach into my pocket and pull it out. She eagerly snatches it from my hands and starts to flip through the pages. "Unveil your secrets." She giggles.

"You're so weird." I start to laugh and she laughs along with me.

"Well I'm you so, you're weird too."

I nod. "Fair point, or maybe you just took all of my weirdness so I don't have anymore."

"I guess I didn't think about that," she giggles "shut up I'm trying to read here. You'd think the people trying to protect us would have told us a little more about these kinds of things before they died. Even so, there's nothing in here about our powers."

"Nothing at all?" I ask. Mom had to have written something.

"Not exactly, apparently you froze your room as a child after a nightmare, you were two. After that Zen found a way to mask your powers. I guess that's why you never saw them again until after he..."

"That would make sense. How close are we on the map?" I really don't want to think about Zen anymore right now.

"Um, well we've made it by the looks of things. Well almost anyway. It should be right in those woods there." She points into a dark forest at the edge of the mountains in front of us. "It would be wouldn't it, so... creepy."

"The sun is going down so I guess we have no choice, are you coming?" I ask as I step into the brush.

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"Well, it's either follow you or stay out here with the Daem hunting us." She says unamused.

She follows in close behind me. We walk through the brush and vines, a thin fog covers the flora and fauna. In the distance I see stone pillars. Cracked remains of what looks to have once been statues.

"What are they?" Mia asks.

"The gods I think, look, this one is..."

"Mom..." she brushes the fallen statues arm as it lays on the ground.

"We must be getting close then. Come on, I think I see a building up ahead."

She hesitates for a moment and then follows me.

We walk through the other seven statues and then we see the final one above the door to the temple.

"Dad?" I ask.

He's wearing a crown with nine gemstones and he holds a sword in his hands. Its blade rests pointing down at the top of the door frame.

"Do we knock?" Mia asks.

I touch the door with my palm and it begins to shake. I hear the sounds of clicks rumbling within. Then the shaking stops and the door creaks open revealing a long hall and a staircase leading up into the darkness.

"That's not ominous at all." She chuckles anxiously.

As we step through the temple doors, it slams closed behind us. "Well no going back now, just stay close behind me Mia."

She nods.

The air grows colder, and I feel a sense of ancient power. The long staircase seems endless, and as we walk, I feel a weight begin to press on me, it feels like the eyes of the gods are watching.

Suddenly, the walls around us begin to shimmer, and the air ripples.

I blink, trying to focus, but the world starts to bend. The stone walls of the temple vanish, and I'm no longer beside Mia. Instead, I see them, the gods.

They're gathered in this very place, a council of celestial beings. At the center, towering over them all, is Chronos Magnus. His voice echoes through the chamber as he speaks to the others, though I can't make out the words.

There's Eluna, Zen, and six others I don't recognize, all of them alive and whole. But then... there's Vermidia.

The vision shifts. Now, Vermidia stands apart from the rest, her eyes filled with the fury of betrayal as Chronos approaches her and casts her from the Kingdom with the other Daem.

I watch as she falls into a pit and cries in rage. I watch her as she speaks to Iridian, her words dripping with hatred, though her voice is distant and muffled like it's slipping through time itself. I can't hear everything, but l understand enough. Iridian is feeding her hatred and she's plotting something.

Mia's voice cuts through the vision, distant but clear. "Hail, are you okay?"

I blink again, the vision fading. The stone walls of the temple return, but a dark presence lingers.

"Did you see that?" I ask, my voice is shaking.

Mia looks around but shakes her head. "See what?" She smiles in concern.

Before I can explain, a cold, dark force pushes through the air. I turn toward the far end of the hall, and I see it, a crack running along the stone, seeping with dark purple energy. Vermidia's power.

"That must be from her," Mia whispers. Her voice trembles slightly. "She's been here already, hasn't she?"

I nod and feel my heart pounding. "She's close. Come on we have to find everything we can before she gets here."

We follow the cracks in the walls up the stairs to the next floor and my mind slips again. I see her standing in front of Iridian again but this time I can hear their words.

---Vermidia---

"You're going to fight him yourself? Are you sure that's the best idea given the current circumstances?"

"I have no other choice. His creation of this universe has weakened him. Now is the time to strike."

"And when it backfires?"

"You dare question me Vermidia? Was it not I who saved you from that pit your father cast you into? Yet, you still don't trust my judgment, you still question my leadership? Have you forgotten your pledge of undying allegiance?"

"No, Iridian. I only question what I should do in the event you don't come back from this fight with your brother. What would I tell the others? How would I keep their loyalties?"

He grins. "The plan is simple. Chronos may kill me but in return I will latch a piece of myself to his soul. It will weaken him faster than the others. When the time is right, you will be the one to kill him, after that you will use whatever means necessary to resurrect me. Together we will rule this world and I will take my, rightful, place on that damned Throne."

"Of course my Lord, but what of his children?"

"End them or persuade them to join us, I don't really care either way, once they are dealt with, nothing can stop us."

"Yes Lord Iridian" I kneel at his feet. "It shall be done."

"Good, go then child. Rally your siblings. It's time I face my brother."

"May your blade be his end."

---Hail---

The vision fades again. I open my eyes to see the dark library now lit.

"She's trying to bring him back to life?" I turn to Mia.

"Who?" She questions.

"Iridian, Magnus' brother. She needs the crux to do it."

"How do you know that?"

"I saw it, in a vision just now. How would that even work? Why is the crux what she needs?"

A book lifts off one of the shelves in front of us and floats to the large dinning table in the center of the room. I see a man begin to take form in a mist as he opens the book.

I draw a blade from the wall and point it at him. "Who are you? What are you doing here?!" I shout.

He chuckles and turns to me. "You asked a question didn't you? I thought you might like to know the answer Hail."

"How do you know his name?" Mia asks. I feel her shaking behind me.

"My name is Draco. First born of Magnus. I've come here to aid you for a moment, well kind of, you see I'm not actually here. I'm much further away, on your neighboring planet of Naurus. I've projected a piece of myself here as I felt the doors to this place open for the first time in centuries."

I sheath my blade. "You're Draco, god of dragons."

"I am, or at least I was anyway, a god. Now I'm just some mortal with gifts as it would seem. You don't care for the squabbles of an old man though do you? No matter, I know you don't have the time and neither do I sadly. You came here to find the answers you seek. Well I have them here."

"Why does Vermidia need the crux specifically?" I ask.

"Well the crux was filled with our blood. I suppose the crux may still have lingering residue, I believe she may be after such matter to be used as the life force for a rejuvenated Iridian hmm, with it she could create him a new body. That is if she can obtain his heart first anyway."

"And the blade?" Mia asks.

"The DragonsBreath, well that's a story for another day as it would seem."

"Why do you say that?"

"If I told you, then it wouldn't be long before she searched your minds for the answer. Just know it's the one thing in this universe with the power to kill a god at their full power, permanently. Magnus used the blade to kill Iridian but without destroying his heart, his soul still lingers in this world. Whispering to the Daem."

"Okay well, then where is the crux?" I ask.

"Why do you want it?"

"Well if she needs it then shouldn't I be the one to get it first?"

"Why, so she can take it off your body?" He closes the book he had opened. I read the spine and see that it's a text about something called The Nexus.

"A little harsh don't you think?" Mia asks rhetorically.

"You are children, children who are very important to the fate of our kingdom. You are vulnerable to her ability to invade your mind, you can't even control your own powers. Yet, you want the one thing she needs to bring Iridian back to life?"

"Maybe, but we can figure it out, we can always stay one step ahead of her. The crux has remnants of his blood right? We could use it somehow to track down his heart and destroy it." I say.

He places the book back on the shelf and looks at Mia. He then brings his eyes to me.

"If I tell you where it is, she will just pull it from your mind."

"What if we kill her?" Mia steps further out from behind me and walks towards the table.

"Without the blade, and without any other madium weapons, you don't stand a chance. There is one thing I can do for you though, I can share my knowledge of control to you. You can use it to, learn how to use your powers."

He reaches out his hands. I grab his right and Mia grabs his left.

"With this, I must go." He says.

I feel a hint of power coming up my fingertips. It flows through my arm and into my chest as I close my eyes. The warm sensation fades and I open them again and he's gone. Mia runs to the shelf Draco was just standing at and begins sifting through the books.

"What are you doing?"

"The book he had, it was called Navigating The Nexus. It might have clues to where the crux is."

I feel the earth shake. Pieces of the ceiling crumble and fall to the ground. Cracks tear through the room and purple energy glows through. I hear her again, her laughter drifting through the air.

"Hurry!" I shout.