Edward Maw paused as he heard a shifting sound echo throughout the room in which he currently occupied. In fact, it was the very same room that Grey had used to interrogate Lillian when they first arrived.

Feeling a wave of guilt spread through him, Edward looked down at the card in his hands, an ace of hearts, which Edward had used in combination with his naturally occurring, inborn telepathy to overhear the conversation that was occurring between his older brother and Grey Silverman. The same way he had used his cards to try and listen in on Ivan Stein and Argon Krieg when they were scheming behind locked doors.

But unlike with his attempt to spy on Ivan and Argon, Edward had succeeded in listening in on what Grey had been saying, and that was where the guilt stemmed from. Grey’s words had touched Edward in a way he hadn’t expected. They showed that despite his horrible visage, Grey had seen through it and grasped his true nature, a nature Edward believed he was betraying in listening in the way he was.

Grey had said that Edward knew the ‘strength of compassion’, yet Edward didn’t really see it as that. Instead, he saw it more as a desire to escape from behind the shield that was his brother. Aleister had defended him his entire life and never once shied away, but Edward wasn’t satisfied with living his life cowering behind the wall that his brother’s existence had become, a wall in between him and the world. A wall, that Edward hoped with all his heart to be free of, an emotion that Grey’s last words had seemed to reflect.

Looking up at the surrounding endless books that lined the walls, from ancient tomes to books that had been written in Edward’s life time, Edward had to wonder if maybe Grey’s words “Maybe one day you will be free” had been not only for Lillian. Lilian, who was bound to the earth, and whose wings had been all but plucked by her desire to continue to exist. But that those words had been for both Edward, who had been secretly listening in, and perhaps for Grey himself.

For those words, Edward knew, came from Grey Silverman himself and not any of his other names. Not the Paladin of Vengeance, not the Knight of Gray and not the Mad Demon Hunter but from the man that had existed before his madness, one who knew the power of an act of forgiveness. Edward felt that he had entered a spiral of sadness from thinking about the loss of such a man. A man, Edward knew would have stood beside him, not to shield Edward but to help him rise up and find the strength to walk through this world on his own two feet, a strength Edward had found merely by accident.

“You know you shouldn’t eavesdrop,” said a feminine voice that cut through Edward’s thoughts like a burning, holy blade.

Turning his face, no longer hidden, Edward looked at Lillian as she stared at him in turn, the two of them held each other’s gazes for a long time before Lillian sighed and walked over to the bench and table that Edward sat on. Sitting down across from Edward, Lillian smiled as she looked at Edward with true warmth that left Edward feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable mainly from not knowing what to do.

“You knew that I was listening in?” asked Edward, his purple eyes reflecting the uncertainty that he felt, uncertainty about the reason why Lillian wasn’t angry or even upset. “And you’re not upset.”

“No, I think that anyone sensible would have been listening in,” said Lillian without a trace of the weight and horror that had been burdening her before. “After all when a paladin known for madness and a dragon-witch hybrid start talking together, you should take notice and listen in, if for no other reason than to know in which direction to run when the fight begins. Besides he’s not wrong in what he’s saying. Most madness places a filter across the mind so that they see the world in only one way. But for Grey, his madness lets him see the world unclouded and untainted.”

Hearing this, Edward had to wonder, as he gazed at Lillian as she came to sit before him, what she had truly learned from the Mad Paladin.

“While that’s all good, what I was asking was how you knew that I was listening in?” asked Edward in excitement, as he surveyed Lillian trying to see what hidden mysteries she knew about and if she was willing to share them.

Looking down at the cards that were arrayed before Edward, Edward followed Lillian’s gaze as she stared at the cards, a knowing look entering her eyes.

“Regardless of what magic you wield, you still create the same phenomenon and even though these cards are a very different magic to what dragons and witches use,” said Lillian as she reached across the table to pick up one of the cards, “if they create the same method of communication then it’s simple to see and interfere with.”

“You know how I’m using these cards,” said Edward as he remembered back to what Lillian had said when she had caught them talking silently before her.

“Yes you used these cards to amplify and redirect your mental powers to allow you to hear and see what is occurring at different locations,” said Lillian as she placed the card down in such a way that it caused the magic construct, that Edward had created to hear and protect the cottage surroundings, to begin to distort.

Scrambling to fix the damage that Lillian had done, Edward looked up with a look of wonder at Lillian when he finished stabilising his work. She had only met him today and she was already capable of recognising the idiosyncrasies of his power, of his magic, something that Aleister had taken years to learn.

“You know that thanks to the magic you’re using I can hear everything you’re thinking and feeling,” said Lillian telepathically into Edward’s mind. “As I told you earlier you are leaving your mind open for anyone to get inside.”

Feeling the spark of hope in his chest grow stronger until it lit his whole being, Edward looked at Lillian and saw for the first time someone who could answer his questions and help him see the wonder in this world, something that no one else seemed to feel or see. Leaving the magic on so that he could purposely show Lillian his every thought, Edward couldn’t help but wonder why dragons would need such a skill in the first place.

“It’s because we dragons can fly between stars,” said Lillian, having shamelessly read Edward’s mind.

“What?” asked Edward in confusion. “I thought, well that the stars were… I don’t know just stars.”

“No, they are suns born from the divine, white wind, shining their light across an ocean of nothingness, some nothing more than ghosts of the stars that once were, while others shine blue light down upon this world, joyous in their youth. Some stars fade to darkness swallowing all that approach them, while others die so that worlds can be made from the elements born from the heart of the stars,” said Lillian, her telepathic communication sending more than just words across the link between the two of them.

Feeling the emotions and remnants of half remembered dreams flood into his mind, Edward saw the infinite nothingness of space around him while billions upon millions of stars glimmered endless in every direction imaginable.

“So why aren’t you out there watching them,” asked Edward as free falling emotions traced through his mind, leaving an aftertaste that made every fibre of his body scream with the sense of loss marked by the missing ability to travel, to fly, between the stars, truly and perfectly free.

“Because I’m here talking to a kind, caring and gentle soul, who just so happens to be a rather handsome man,” said Lillian, her telepathic voice a faint feather brushing across his mind more seductively than anything Edward had ever felt.

Edward felt a stir in his blood and knew that if he had cheeks he would have been blushing from ear to ear, yet even as he tried to school his face and mind to hide this fact, the smile and laugh Lillian emitted showed he had failed. Yet even in failure something else flowed within him, something that Edward thought he would never ever be able to grasp, or more precisely be allowed to grasp. Ignoring the obvious embarrassment and the longing which filled Edward’s purple eyes, Lillian seemed to shift gears as she looked deeper into Edward’s mind.

“Your magic it’s born from a combination of telesma and mana isn’t it?” asked Lillian aloud as if to tell another that she was speaking not only to Edward but also them.

“Yes it is,” said Edward, as he pulled out the Mirror Scroll that Jane had given him so that he could show that his magic affected that which ran on mana as well as the card that had been born from the geometric magic of Heaven.

Seeing the pride and joy that Edward had felt at being able to tell another person about the fruits of his labours, Lillian had to smile. All the while Edward continued to talk about how he was trying to understand how his magic could interact with both telesma and mana and the best way to combine the different systems that they each used.

“Since I’m more used to using telesma than mana I’ve been going about combining the different fields of magic through the fact that the heavenly magic uses circles and 4 to 10 pointed stars. I even once saw a 12 pointed star. And they have symbols around the circle to sometimes add extra effects. But mana is used either raw or through the runes and I thought that I could add the runes to the outside of the circle to create even greater magic. But I’ve not been able to get it to work like it’s supposed to,” said Edward as he let the tide of thoughts he bound inside of himself, flood out.

Looking at Edward, Lillian saw the child-like wonder and joy as he tried to explain about his endeavour and as he continued Lillian could see that he truly enjoyed what he was doing, his gestures and even his face becoming more animated as he started to explain some of his upcoming experiments. Pausing, Edward saw that Lillian was sitting there smiling serenely and while it was different from what most people showed, Edward knew that she wasn’t as excited as he was, and it was entirely possible that Lillian wasn’t interested in how the grammar of runes could be used in conjunction with five pointed stars to create glowing constructs of pure prana.

“I’m sorry,” said Edward as he started to deflate, some part of him realising that he was overly excited by his creations.

“You don’t have to be sorry, not about this and not about anything else,” said Lillian, startled by the sudden change in the boy before her. “I was enjoying listening to the theories. But if I was to give any advice, it would be for you to study mana magic to its entirety before you start trying to combine them.”

“Oh,” said Edward, his demon voice sounding surprised and a little grateful that Lillian was willing to help him. “Then I should be focusing in on the runes?”

“Learn both of the different magics until you have mastered both beyond compare, and when you’re done you can try to combine them in new variations,” said Lillian with a smile at the excitement that lit up Edward’s entire being, “and when you’re finished trying to combine them you will know that what is unique about your magic is not that it can allow for the combinations of mana and telesma something mana has being trying to do for millennia. The true beauty of your magic is that it is something that is neither mana nor telesma and when you know everything about them you will be able to create a new magic unlike any that is currently in use.”

“Me create new magic,” said Edward with awe and wonder.

“It’s not a new idea,” said Lillian before that amazement could fade from Edward’s eyes. “Man, has always tried to create new magic, first with fire and then words and dreams. The scientists try to create magic by learning the rules of reality and using them together to create loopholes by uniting rules that normally don’t apply or even creating environmental conditions that enable phenomenon that would normally be unlikely to occur. Alchemists and espers do the same, although unlike their scientific brethren they are closer to magic than they care to admit even if they don’t use magic. For espers and alchemists don’t have to always have to bow to all of the rules of reality. They can choose to ignore a few or even allow themselves to make it so that a substance under their control doesn’t have to obey any of the normal rules that apply to the rest of reality.”

Staring at Lillian in shock, Edward looked down at his work embarrassed, as he realised that he had handed something to Lillian that she had probably seen dozens of times over, all the while thinking that they were brand new.

Trying to retract the Mirror Scroll, Lillian pounced and placed her finger suddenly on the mirror, pinning it to the table. Starring at the table, Edward looked up, some part of him expecting to see condemning eyes, yet what Edward found was Lillian smiling, a smile that reached her bronze dragon eyes and made Edward realise how truly beautiful she was.

“As for magic; many, many people have tried to combine different magic together, telesma and mana, mana and witchcraft, demonic corruption with dreamweaving, and most often of all the combination of celestial power with the other more mundane magic. Whether mage, wizard, sorcerer or even pagan god, there have been those among them who have travelled across reality and time to find ways to create new magic and for the most part nearly all of them have failed,” said Lillian as she looked down at the Mirror Scroll. The location where her finger was touching the mirror caused the surrounding image in the mirror to blur, like looking through a greasy window. “And those that succeeded were sometimes worse off. The man that made the paladin’s sword springs to mind.”

Hearing this, Edward truly didn’t know what to feel anymore, but the fact that Lillian looked at him with encouragement made Edward’s breath skip.

“Out of them all, you have been given something others would kill to possess and even more would walk willingly into Hell for. So be careful. There will be those that seek your power and others that wish to snuff it out, because they were the ones that didn’t receive it,” said Lillian, her tone growing solemn, before it changed once again as Lillian reached out and caught Edward’s hands. “But never ever let that break you, continue on and you will find wonders, if not you will make them.”

Feeling her hands in his, Edward realised that he could hear Lillian’s mind and the emotions filled within, or more precisely the singular emotion within, an emotion of encouragement and support, ‘Hope’. Hope, for what was to come for Edward and that he would succeed and become a beacon for his fellow man.

“I’m not a man,” said Edward, his voice filled with a complex set of emotions that ultimately boiled down to a lack of self worth.

“I have been alive for seven hundred years. I have seen my fair share of humans, even here in this little corner of the world and I can tell you this Edward. You are a man. And if you get to know them, you will find that while they can be wickeder than anything else in this world, if you earn their trust, love and loyalty, then they will accept you. It is one of the reasons my brethren discovered how to change into your kind so that they could walk and talk amongst you.”

Edward hearing these words couldn’t help but be overwhelmed especially since he could literally see that Lillian meant each and every word. Although, some part of his mind caught the last sentence that Lillian had uttered, and in the back of his mind Edward felt that he had almost grasped a piece of knowledge that would explain everything. Especially since, it reminded Edward about something that he had once told Aleister.

“Now if you’re up for it Edward, I would like to teach you how to at the very least make a silent connection between singular minds,” said Lillian as she drew her hands away from Edward’s.

Nodding and trying to smile, Edward allowed his mind to be seen, by any who cared to look, knowing and hoping that Lillian would see his earnest thanks and gratitude for the help that she was giving.

“One question before we begin,” said Edward, knowing that he would not be reprimanded for daring to ask a question. “How do you know all this, if you don’t have memories of your previous lives?”

“Some things you remember as dreams or as knowledge and some events scar the soul great enough that it becomes something that death and birth can’t erase,” replied Lillian as she looked upwards as if remembering something, a something Edward was sure was the memory he had felt, a memory of flying free amongst the stars. “Anyway, where to begin?”

Sitting at the table Edward felt wonder and amazement as Lillian gave him lesson after lesson, first about telepathy and how to create private connections between individuals, then more about mana and how using it in its pure form came with benefits and dangers. Then on to the current topic; empires that existed and how they used magic or more precisely, how the Dark Empire of Osiris had used mana especially towards the end of the empire’s reign over the majority of the continent of Geb.

“So an ample amount of mana grants eternal longevity,” said Edward as he processed the idea, wondering if the same held for his own unique brand of magic. “And those that possessed enough mana to ignore the affects of time became nobility amongst the Dark Empire.”

“Yes, but it wasn’t restricted to mana. Anyone with enough magic to ignore the call of death was granted titles and land to rule over if they so wished,” said Lillian as she corrected Edward’s understanding of the Dark Empire’s design.

“Wait then what about those that possess mana within their bodies but aren’t able to use that mana to perform magic?” asked Edward as he remembered what he had learned both from Jane Burnout and from Lillian herself.

“Those poor souls are the reason the title of wizard exists, for while they can’t use mana on their own, they still possess it and they have over the millennia used runes to draw out their mana supply. They are in fact more technicians and inventors than anything,” said Lillian as she regarded Edward as if judging whether to bring up the next topic. “You do know about the existence of mana supply and how that functions?”

“Of course I do,” said Edward with joy that he was able to meet Lillian’s expectations. “Those that possess magic within them often say they have a supply or well within themselves that they can draw their magic power, or fuel for their magic, from. For those that use mana, they endlessly generate it so long as they live, but they have a limited amount that they can store inside themselves, with the excess generated going into healing and prolonging their lives.”

“Alright then Edward, tell me about the specifics of the storage of magic within humans,” commanded Lillian as a test to see how much Edward had retained and how much he knew beyond what Lillian had told him.

“For mana, men possess a faster generation of mana while women possess the ability to store more with their bodies. Although this is mitigated, because on average the difference is roughly 10% for both generation and storage,” said Edward while nodding his head in satisfaction that Lillian’s smiled revealed that he was correct so far.

“What about the storage of magic for other types of magic?” asked Lillian, her tone leaving no illusion that she was testing Edward to see if she could trip him up.

“Depends on the magic but for telesma, at least for the seraphim race, they possess a similar storage capacity that those that possess mana do. In fact until the seraphim race was created most clerics believed that they could only channel the magic from Heaven and not store it upon their own persons,” said Edward as he remembered the lessons he had been taught as a child by his older brother, after Aleister had in turn been taught by seraphim willing to teach him, but not Edward.

“Yes had the seraphim been born back in the time of the Dark Empire, they would have been granted the same kind of nobility as those that possessed mana,” said Lillian aloud as if she were musing over the topic like it had just occurred to her.

Looking up at the purple eyes that followed her around with adoring reverence, Lillian smiled as she thought of something to say.

“In fact, had you been born there, they would most likely have made you the next in line to bear one of their titles of highest esteem.”

“What?” asked Edward eagerly.

“I don’t know,” said Lillian honestly as she shrugged where she stood, while the various floating charts and magical boards and light projectors all dimmed as if to emphasise that she really didn’t know.

Sitting back a bit disgruntled, Edward had to admit he wasn’t actually that upset about Lillian not knowing more and that she had caught him in the same trap over and over. For while Lillian earnestly taught all that she could, when a subject matter turned in a direction that Lillian possessed no knowledge of, she simply used it as an opportunity to mess with Edward by letting him get his hopes up before pulling the rug out from under him simply by admitting she didn’t know. Blinking in confusion and frustration that he had fallen for it again, Edward felt a brief burst of tiredness sweep through his mind, one strong enough for Lillian, who still shared a connection to him, to feel in turn.

“You should go get some sleep,” said Lillian as she made the charts and projectors float away back to the various nooks and crannies that they had come from.

“I can use my magic to ignore sleep,” said Edward, all the while cursing himself for having failed to set up the system before hand so that Lillian would not have an excuse to stop.

“You still need to learn that the mental connection between us is more than just emotions,” said Lillian in mild exasperation and amusement that Edward had accidentally allowed those thoughts to escape his mind.

“Don’t you need sleep?” asked Edward as he tried to get Lillian to start talking about another subject.

“No, I can go three weeks without sleep,” said Lillian with a small smile as if that was a joke that only she knew to be funny. “One of the many perks that comes from having a dragon ancestor.”

Frowning in thought, Edward realised that he was actually quite tired as he wasn’t quick enough to pounce on the opening to get Lillian to explain more.

“I think you’re right,” said Edward finally admitting, both to himself and Lillian that he was too tired to stay up later and that he shouldn’t use magic to circumnavigate the need for sleep.

“Thank you for listening,” said Lillian with a hint of mirth but also a touch of sadness as if she would miss the brief interactions they just had.

Too tired to notice these details, Edward simply nodded his head as he started walking deeper into the cottage where he had already been shown his sleeping room. Walking past the room his brother currently occupied, Edward sent Aleister a half sleep addled thought before continuing on past Jane’s door where he felt the stirrings of mana but was too tired to care or investigate. Stepping in front of his door which opened by itself, Edward shuffled into his room, his mind lost within the euphoria of what he had just experienced.

Walking over to his bed, Edward took off his purple and black cloak and cast it aside, the action causing Edward to spin slightly, which in turn caused Edward to catch a glimpse of himself in the mirror that had been supplied to the room. Staring at himself and his distended maw, Edward no longer felt a flicker of emotion, instead he tried to smile, feeling for the first time that there was more to his image than a constant reminder that he was born of a demon.

Lying down in his bed, Edward’s eyes widened as he looked up for the first time to see that the sky had been rendered onto the ceiling giving him the illusion that he was lying beneath a star encrusted sky that clearly was from another world.

Another world, whose sky was filled with seven, golden moons.

Lying there in bed, Edward’s eyes scanned the room as his mind was filled not only with the history and lessons that Lillian had told, but also of a blue headed goddess who smiled and laughed with him. And as Edward lost to sleep, his dreams were consumed by the seeds that could one day grow to be love.

Sitting there at the table, Lillian looked down at the table and played with the half empty cup. As she watched it, she couldn’t help but remember another man who had once shone with the same strength of kindness that Edward Maw had displayed. Mirror’s face seemed to be reflected deep in the cup’s liquid as Lillian stared down into it. The man had gone from caring to cruel in the space of a single night, yet Lillian had always wondered ‘what if.’

‘What if, he was mind controlled?’‘What if, he was corrupted by something?’‘What if, he was driven mad?’

“What if?” said Lillian out loud, as she downed the last of the drink that showed her a haunting memory of the past.

Shifting her bronze eyes sideways, Lillian stared at a single, crimson flame dancing above the non-burning candles that dotted the room, all creating blue flames with such intensity that the presence of a single red light didn’t even cause notice.

“How much did you hear?” asked Lillian of the red flame, her voice conveying that she was truly curious about the answer.

“Only what was said out loud,” replied Jane Burnout. “Witchcraft and magecraft have a long history of intersecting and-

“You used that to hack into my magic and listen in to both Grey and Edward as they both tried to help me,” said Lillian, clearly not angry with Jane, more impressed. “I’m very aware that the magecraft and witchcraft are linked, after all I practise witchcraft and have several books on both Jupitor Soulstorm and Luke Asche, the former, who practically invented mana based magic and the latter, the first to combine witchcraft and mana together.

“Thank you for being so understanding,” replied the flame as it bobbed up and down giving off its gentle red light.

“True, I almost didn’t let you hack in, but I wanted to see what you could do,” said Lillian, suppressed amusement clearly in her voice. “My magic moves to defend me even if I don’t know of the attack itself, and that includes informing me when an attack occurs as well as when somebody tries to subvert my magic.”

“Oh,” replied Jane, her voice deadpanning, but Lillian could practically sense her frustration and admiration.

“Then I take it you also heard the little speech that Grey did?” stated Lillian to her possible, and only female partner in the God Squad, shifting the course of the discussion away from the present conversation.

“Yes and I have to question if he said all those things just to force you into trying to join the God Squad so that he could get something out of it,” said Jane as she mused about the nature of the man encased in his heavenly titanium armour.

“Why isn’t he the leader of this group?” asked Lillian, having interacted with the man, and knowing that he probably was the best for the role considering he had grasped Lillian’s own troubled dilemma in a single talk.

“Probably, because he’s mad,” said Jane, a tinge of sadness appearing in the voice from the flame. “But that’s not the most pressing problem. It’s how heartbroken will Edward be when he finds out you won’t be coming with us?”

“Was it that obvious?” asked Lillian as she looked at the red orb of flame.

“No, and I think that they changed your mind but not about you joining us,” said Jane, her voice containing a hint of knowing, as if she would have done something similar.

“You know this how?” asked Lillian softly, as she looked not at the flame but in the direction where Jane’s room was located, as if she could see the Fire Mage herself.

“Because I saw that Grey’s madness and Edward’s kindness affect you,” said Jane after a short pause as if she had weighed her words before speaking.

“Well your powers of observation were correct,” said Lillian as she looked up at the roof of her cottage before sweeping her gaze across the library’s worth of books that she had collected across her life.

“So if you’re not coming with us, then what will you do?” asked Jane knowing that the answer to the question would alter everything about Lillian’s future.

“You were right, you know, they did affect me, but not in the way they wanted. I’m tired of being bound here one way or another,” said Lillian as she seemed to gain a spark of excitement in her bronze eyes. “I think that I’ll take a leaf out of Edward’s book and journey around the world and learn how to overcome my fate.”

“I’m happy for you, truly I am,” said Jane as the flame flickered and returned to its normal blue firelight.

Jane knew even as she realised the image she perceived through the flame that Lillian had changed. When the God Squad had first arrived, they had torn open the old scars that Lillian had been given courtesy of Mirror, but now those open wounds were healing and this time they would leave no scar. For Jane could see through the flame and knew that Lillian had broken free from the chains that bound her to the ground and while some still remained, they were not able to keep this broken dragon from looking up at the sky and wanting to reclaim her lost position amongst the infinite that existed beyond the bindings of gravity.

The next morning the God Squad assembled for the breakfast that Lillian Darkseed had set up for them. And as they ate the God Squad from the Empire of Geb couldn’t help but notice that the stories of witches making beautiful meals that tempt others into their domain were true. Especially the different drinks that Lillian was serving, something that the witch had learned to serve from others of her kind, who had visited her throughout the centuries, all with recipes that were lost or destroyed by the fall of the Dark Empire, a thousand years ago. Eating the wondrous food and drinking in the delectable beverages, Jane Burnout had to wonder to herself as she ate her second helping, whether Lillian Darkseed had prepared all of this, because she was just naturally used to creating such wonders or if she had intentionally created this phenomenal food simply to put the God Squad in the right mood so that they would be more accepting of her refusal to join them.

Turning to see if Grey also agreed with her, Jane saw Grey attempting to rip his food apart with his teeth, something that was going poorly for him as he had made a mess of his plate and his gauntleted hands. Shaking her head, Jane turned to look at the Maw Brothers as they conversed silently, while Lillian gave subtle glances at them with a searching expression as if proud of her student and at the same time looking to find flaws in Edward’s work.

Not bothering to look deeper than that, Jane turned her attention back to her drinks. While they were definitely enjoyable, Jane had to probe them with her mana as she had a feeling that what Lillian had been feeding them was made not through mundane chef wizardry but through the application of magical witchcraft. Feeling the mana thread through her drink, Jane saw Lillian giving her a look that said she was not only aware of what Jane was doing, but at the same time was more amused than insulted.

“Jane if you wanted to know how to make this, then all you needed to do was ask,” said Lillian as she walked back to the table, a golden mass of pancakes stacked on a plate that floated along behind her.

“I don’t want the recipe nor do I want to know what’s inside it,” said Jane calmly as she eyed the dragon in human skin. “I want to know what magic went into creating it.”

Hearing this and seeing that Lillian wasn’t denying that she had wrought the food from magic, the Maw Brothers shared a look, where purple eyes filled with wonder looked into golden eyes filled with shock and sacrilege.

“You make food with magic,” said Aleister in dismay at the notion that magic was being misused in such a manner.

“Of course. After all, not all magic is created and powered by Heaven,” said Lillian as she tried to stress to Aleister that different magic was held to different standards.

Realising what Lillian was getting at, Aleister seemed to be mollified. Everyone present could see that Aleister wasn’t really concerned about using magic to cook but rather about what had transpired last night and whether Lillian Darkseed had decided to accept her invitation to the God Squad. Jane knew this, because it was plastered across his face. During the breakfast when Edward and Aleister had been sharing looks that practically screamed that they were communicating silently, Aleister’s face had shifted rapidly. Jane suspected that Edward had at that point filled Aleister in on Grey’s and Edward’s own interactions with Lillian. Shifting slightly, Aleister looked around towards the other official members of the God Squad, taking in each of them and their current activities, from Edward and Grey’s atrocious eating styles to Jane’s ambivalent nature.

“I’m sorry to break this cheerful gathering,” said Aleister, not bothering to hide how disruptive he was about to become, “but can you tell me your answer as to whether or not you will be coming with us?”

Hearing the question, the rest of the room grew still as they turned to look back and forth between Aleister and Lillian waiting for the outcome. From Edward expecting Lillian to join and Jane knowing Lillian would decline, while Grey simply blinked several times before resuming his feral eating habits as he ripped apart the kartoffelpuffers he had been served.

“I spoke to your companions last night,” said Lillian slowly as she tried to avoid looking at Edward, “and they helped me reach a decision about what I should do.”

“So I’ve heard,” said Aleister with an edge to his voice, more for Grey than for his brother as Edward had filled him in on all that the Mad Paladin had said.

“Yes,” said Lillian, “and my decision is that I won’t be joining you.”

Closing his eyes as if the answer was a blow, Aleister looked towards his brother to see that the Demon Cleric had his mouth agape in surprise while deeper emotions filled his eyes.

“You’re running,” said Aleister as he turned to look at the dragon witch before him, his eyes reflecting the shared emotional pain his brother felt.

“No,” said Lillian, her voice clear and commanding in a way that seemed to show, at least to Jane, that the millennia old, dragon soul within was still as majestic and commanding as ever. “I’m not running. I simply realised, with the help of Grey Silverman, that I have been bound to this place and not because of Mirror but because of what Mirror caused me to realise. That I am mortal and that when I die, I won’t go to Heaven, Hell or any other afterlife. I will simply dissolve back into my true real self,” said Lillian softly as if the words themselves were painful.

“So you’re going to hide here forever,” said Aleister in disbelief, “waiting for an end to your existence. An end that need I remind you could come from Mirror coming to finish what he failed to do all those years ago.”

Hearing this, Lillian seemed to flinch, if only slightly.

“No, I’m done hiding, waiting, and most importantly, I’m no longer going to remain here idle and listless,” said Lillian with purpose shining in her eyes, something that hadn’t been there before when the God Squad arrived. “I’m going to go out into this world and carve into my soul a sense of self that will be able to stand any weight of time that I have existed for. I will finally be free.”

Hearing this, Grey looked up at the witch before him and nodded his head in a sign of respect and honest admiration. Clenching his fists in frustration, Aleister seemed to judge whether he should say anything before he finally spoke up.

“If you want to be free, if you want to carve into yourself something that will last forever, then killing Mirror, or at least finding out why he betrayed you, would surely help,” said Aleister, his voice betraying the self-hate he had for having to sink that low to try and get Lillian to join the God Squad.

Instead of being offended, Lillian simply nodded her head as if to say that yes she understood what Aleister’s words intended.

“True I could do that, but I refuse to define myself by Mirror’s existence,” said Lillian, her eyes no longer filled with haunting memories. “While I will never forget, I refuse to let him be what binds me and I refuse to let him become the foundation for my future self. A lesson that I learned from you,” said Lillian as she turned to look at Jane who looked back at Lillian with understanding eyes.

Hearing this and understanding what Lillian was getting at, especially once Lillian compared it to Jane’s own history, Aleister dropped his head in defeat knowing that he had endured his horrors on this journey for nothing and that he would have to tell Argon and Ivan that he had failed.

“I think then that as a sign of gratitude that you give us a gift,” said a voice filled with a wicked insanity.

Turning to look at Grey, who had discarded his food with uncaring contempt as if the stellar taste had turned to nothing but ash and dust in his mouth, the others present gawked.

Looking into madness touched eyes, Lillian saw a promise of demise should she fail to give something that would help the Knight of Vengeance on his path to the demon that had broken his soul.

“Grey,” said Edward with a warning tone to his demonic voice that made it clear that despite his disappointment and sorrow at the perceived abandonment by someone that understood him, he was still willing to stand by her.

“No, he’s right,” said Lillian, unfazed by Grey’s sudden demand. “I can’t tell you who or what you encountered, but I can tell you something that you might not know. A tale, that is worth hearing.”

“Oh,” said Grey slyly as if he was waiting with a mind half filled with expectations and another half filled with pre-emptive disappointment.

“Last night I read the books contained within your Mirror Scroll,” said Lillian as she looked at Jane who had been watching events unfold with lukewarm indifference.

Twitching, Jane looked back at Lillian as both Jane and Edward remembered that Lillian had touched the Mirror Scroll and that it had been affected by something. Grimacing that she had failed to notice the subtly of what Lillian had done, Jane also felt a rising concern at what Lillian had seen and discovered in the archives of the Elemental Guard. Looking at Jane with eerie eyes, the Mad Paladin turned back to look at Lillian intrigued by what she would say next.

“You read all of the books contained within the scroll,” cut in Edward as if unsure that he was hearing things correctly, “how?”

“The same way you spied on me during our talk,” said Lillian calmly, not taking her eyes from the hazard within the room, “by actively using witchcraft to enhance my dragon senses, I was able to download the entire books into my mind for later deciphering and reading. What I found was nothing compared to what I didn’t.”

“Meaning,” said the Gray Knight as he leaned closer to Lillian, his body tense in a way that made it clear that he could erupt into joyous rapture or murderous rage based on what he heard.

“Simple, the history books, especially the Book of Rho were either incomplete or false when covering certain subjects,” said Lillian with the assurance of one who had the truth behind her.

“And what did they lack?” asked the Mad Demon Hunter, his eyes burning with desire, while the rest of the group also went still waiting to hear Lillian’s answer.

“The truth of Svar’s Sin,” said Lillian with a small smile, knowing full well that what she had to say would be worth the God Squad’s time.

Reeling back, Grey’s face which had been a mask of concentrated emotion broke out into a smile that would make demons nervous.

“There’s more to Svar’s Sin than what is recorded in the Book of Rho,” said Aleister as if having trouble processing the fact that the holy book of the seraphim was incomplete or wrong about the very incident that had created the world that currently existed.

“Do you want me to tell you the tale?” asked Lillian, a faint smile forming before spreading to a grin that was wholly draconic.

Nodding in acceptance, the God Squad, from the Queen of Burning to the Demon Cleric, from the Angelic Gunslinger to the Mad Paladin, all leaned in waiting to hear the story of Svar’s Sin from someone who had, in all likelihood, been there.

“Well then, I should start at the start shouldn’t I,” said Lillian with a dramatic air. “In the beginning there was silence-

––––000––––

In the beginning there was Silence.

And then a Spark occurred and from that spark came an explosion of Light which ignited the Abysmal matter causing Change and Creation.

From the Light came the Divine White Wind: Albedo, which swept through space spinning stars and suns into being. And from the breath of the stars, a breath born in the moment of their birth and death, the solar winds spun forth the worlds of the living from stardust and fallen and failed suns.

And so, the White Wind continued endlessly back and forth across creation and the wind learnt and became sentient and until the End of Time the wind would Shelter and Heal worlds, worlds such as Geb.

Now I have no doubt that you don’t wish to hear the tale of how dragons were born, nor of the races that dwelt upon this world before man, nor the tale of the Dreamscape and Valere, nor of the Word and the Flame.

The story you desire is the Story of Man, or more precisely the story of a single man: the Story of Svar.

Svar was born before the Word but after the Flame. He was the first human to truly possess the burning light, the spark that drives you to do the things humans do. For while his brethren huddled around the fire, he alone looked up at the stars and longed to reach them.

Longing to attain the impossible and seeking to acquire perfection with an imperfect soul like so many other humans have done thereafter, Svar disappeared and would not return until after the advent of the Word.

He returned when men spoke and talked and longed to take and shape the world as they saw fit, and while none admit to know where Svar went, all know that upon his return to mankind, he brought the greatest and most terrifying gift imaginable: Magic.

Svar used his magical powers to bring his rule to the whole world and all bowed down before him and he judged them all equally, for he remembered what life was like at the dawn of time.

He spread his influence across the world and brought civilisation to the whole of mankind. Eventually he had children with various women and these children spread Svar’s blood once more across the populace creating a nation of magic ruled and bound by the flow of Svar’s blood.

And as the years turned by, Svar became King, Emperor, God, God of his people, God of Mankind. And still the years passed by, a 1000 years became 10,000 years. With some sources saying that the time that Svar ruled over his fellow man was truly measured in millions of years, if not eons or even galactic epochs.

Eventually the whole world grew restless as they continued on under Svar’s rule, for the world turned anew and rebellion grew in the hearts of men everywhere.

The world turned to war and everything fell to ruin.

For within Svar’s World Empire, another was born to magic yet not of Svar’s blood. Galgamesh grew restless under the rule of others and started the Great Rebellion, which fractured Svar’s empire just enough for others like Cain Morningstar and Vii-Zord to also rebel, and for beings like Alucard to be born.

And so the Creation War began, a war named thus by its survivors, because it created the necessary conditions for Svar to commit his Never Ending Sin.

In the smouldering ruins of his empire upon an island capital that is no longer findable, Svar held his dying children, and wept with a pain beyond what mortal humans could ever know. For the death of his children ended potential life spans that were measured in millennia, in the same way mortal humans measure their lives in years.

Now in your human stories you say that Svar, as he laid there, his world burning around him, saw his most beloved daughter’s soul cross the veil into death. And in his grief and rage Svar tore open the world and the one that lay next to it, the World of the Dead, The Beyond.

But what your human histories fail to understand, and what we dragons remember, is that Svar did not go mad from seeing his daughter’s soul cross into the beyond. He went mad, because he saw what awaited the humans that died.

For Svar’s Sin was not the attempt to bring his daughter back to life, no, it was rage at what he found in the afterlife and the beings that dwelt there. And in that rage, grief and insanity, Svar tore a hole in the world. A hole that passed through the void to reach the Worlds of the Dead and as Svar stuck his hand into those worlds, the realms of the living and the dead collided.

They collided and time twisted, sending ripples that affected everything both forwards through time, and backwards.

And as the worlds collided new magic was born, mana, earthforce, dragonlight, telesma, and so many more variations, while celestial energy poured through Svar’s Sin also called Svar’s Gate, a fracture that runs through all creation. A fracture, from which poured forth the energy of the Void, a magic which gave birth to the pagan gods.

In the place called The Beyond, which we now know as the Abyss, seven angels dwelled, the Seven Angels of Sin, each representing the darkest yet greatest attributes of man.

Pride, Lust, Wrath, Greed, Gluttony, Envy, Sloth.

Each a behemoth created by consuming souls that were attuned to their nature, while Thirteen Daemons of Discord danced around them fleeting and eating souls that Angels of Sin failed to consume. Each Daemon of Discord was so chaotic that the Angels of Sin could not abide their presence within them for fear of being torn apart from the inside out.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Svar’s Sin failed to rescue the souls within The Beyond from the Angels of Sin and the Daemons of Discord, but he did allow the Seven Angels of Sin and the Thirteen Daemons of Discord to travel into this world.

The angels and demons marvelled at the world all around them and laughed in joy as it burnt and so they travelled to the corners of the world and turned all that they found to dust, forgetting about the place from which they had been born.

Svar having failed, retreated to a corner of the Abyss where he created his own world and howls there in his grief to this very day.

But in the Abyss free of the entities of Sin and Discord, four angels arose, each a mote of light, born of emotions that were purely poisonous to Sin and Discord, and as they rose they came together and began the creation of Heaven, their names forever etched into history: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel.

These four archangels took telesma and used it to make Heaven, each obtaining an attribute and nature.

Not long after, Anael and Ithuriel arrived and helped finish and complete Heaven, and once Heaven was made and shone a golden light throughout the Abyss, Ishmael and Lucifer arrived at Heaven drawn by the golden radiance.

Yet like so many things born from good and evil of those with souls, the golden brilliance of Heaven would not last, but that is a different story.”

––––000––––

“An interesting tale,” said Grey, his eyes wandering, the insanity in them shining bright but clearly focussed on something else, “but I fail to see what that has to do with us.”

“The tale had aspects that were important to all of you, the tale of the one you seek, the tale of your father, and the tale of how the magic of this world came into being,” said Lillian as her bronze eyes shifted from one member of the God Squad to another as they realised what she meant and what she was implying.

“What do you mean?” asked Grey, the hunger in his voice echoing through the stunned silence of the dining room. “I have researched the Daemons of Discord and none among the nine races are anything like what I seek,” said Grey, his voice filled with an intensity that beckoned for an answer as if he was a drowning man that could finally see the surface.

“In the beginning, there were 12 Daemon Races. Three went extinct during the Wars of the Gods,” said Lillian with a small smile as her words forever solidified the fact that the Book of Rho was truly incomplete.

“Yes none remain,” said Grey, his eyes feverish. “Not a single one.”

“Think, Demon Hunter, the original 13 Daemons of Discord were never counted as part of their creations,” said Lillian as if having to explain to a slow student. “Besides these demons were so chaotic and disruptive, they could not be consumed by the Angels of Sin. What makes you think that mere pagan gods could destroy these beings?”

Hearing this question, Grey sunk back into his chair a look of bewilderment and exhilaration spreading across his face while cunning eyes filled with a promise of death wondered to themselves how to find and track down these missing demons.

Turning away from the silent Gray Knight, Lillian instead focused her attention onto the Maw Brothers who were obviously in conversation with each other even if it was something that was occurring silently inside their minds. A conversation that even with their wild emotions was still being conducted silently even to Lillian Darkseed.

“As for you two, you may have noticed that that vampire hussy said you reeked of discord, and I agree, your father, the unknown demon was most likely one of the original 13 Daemons of Discord,” said Lillian as she looked at the Maw Brothers, waiting to see how they would respond to this piece of news.

“Which one?” asked Aleister, his golden eyes wide with panic and even with a little mania.

While beside him, Edward turned to look at Lillian with a longing expression.

“Most likely the thirteenth,” said Lillian with a measure of uncertainty. “That was the only Daemon of Discord that never made a race and I suspect why you are so unfathomable to me, as I suspect that I have never in all my lives met him.”

“The Daemon of Discord bearing the aspect of Oblivion,” said Edward, his magical voice reflecting perfectly the whirlpool of emotions that he was currently undergoing.

“Yes, in fact that was the only name that the other demons ever knew to call him by,” said Lillian as if trying to remember something important she had once been told.

“Could they be the same?” asked Jane suddenly off to the side as she stared back and forth between the thunderstruck Grey Silverman and the stunned Maw Brothers.

Stopping still even failing to breathe as if the air had suddenly become too heavy to move, the God Squad shared a look before swinging their collective gazes towards the dragon witch all with the hopes of finding an answer.

“No, I think it unlikely,” said Lillian as she searched the face of those present to make sure that they believed her. “Oblivion, from all accounts, was always different from the other demons. And the one you seek Grey, the one that broke your soul, would not be born from the Discord of Oblivion, and possibly not even discord itself.”

After hearing that Lillian found it unlikely that the Maw Brother’s father had been the one that had broken him, Grey turned his mind elsewhere so that he failed to hear Lillian’s last comment. Instead Grey’s mind raced as he suspected which of the remaining 12 Daemons of Discord had broken his soul.

Seeing that the Maw Brothers were lost, debating their parentage and that the Mad Paladin was too busy contemplating the demonic forces that infect this world, Jane had a chance to look at Lillian who was also looking back at Jane. Thinking to herself, Jane looked at the witch before her and had to wonder what aspect of that tale had been for her, and even if there was a part for her, as Lillian had proven that when not dealing with her own monumental issues that she was truly capable of breaking into the minds of others, sometimes even literally.

“Finish your meals,” said Lillian at last as she looked around at the faces before her knowing that she would probably never see them again. “Once you’re done I’ll see you out of the clearing and on your way.”

Hearing this, the God Squad shared a look before resuming their breakfast knowing that the dragon before them had made her mind up and that she wasn’t going with them. And only an act of a celestial or heavenly being could change that, and even that was up for debate.

Exiting from the witch’s cottage, the God Squad looked towards the east. They shared a knowing look. Knowing that when they returned to the Empire of Geb, they would have to face down both the Generals of the East and West who had sent them across countries to find and recruit Lillian Darkseed. Something, the God Squad had failed to perform.

Walking out into the centre of the clearing, the God Squad collectively saw that sometime during the night after Grey and Lillian had had a talk, some sort of rain had occurred and none of the squad had realised it. Looking at the puddles, Jane seemed unsure about why but felt the glen seemed off when compared to yesterday. This made Jane wonder if Lillian had somehow blocked the sound of rain from reaching them for some mysterious reason. Turning to face Lillian to query her about the matter, Jane found Lillian looking about with her own suspect gaze. Seeming to realise that something was off, Lillian scanned the forest around them. But when nothing appeared, the sense of unease on Lillian’s face grew, and as if to cover this, Lillian began to idly talk.

“So not that it’s any of my business, but which route are you taking to get to your warfront?” asked Lillian, not really caring about which path the God Squad travelled. “Because if you’re getting your mage to take you through the shadows, even if I had been going with you, I wouldn’t have taken that option.”

“I don’t know how to move through shadows,” said Jane, annoyed that Lillian who should know better had insinuated that she, a Fire Mage could control shadows. “So are you saying you fear the shadow?”

“No, I don’t fear the shadows or the ocean of darkness beneath them. What I fear are the creatures that live in said oceans of darkness,” said Lillian as she still searched the surrounding forest for the source of her worry.

Instead of seeing that Lillian was making small talk, Aleister saw this as a golden opportunity to try once more to get Lillian invested in their endeavour or at the very least get Lillian to come with them and just maybe get her invested enough to actually care to join them permanently.

“We will be travelling back to Zephyr and once there we’ll take the train down to Notos with the other army forces passing through the town of Ulkiss-” said Aleister, before the sharp glance that Lillian gave him made him stop midsentence.

“So we’ll be passing through Ulkiss,” said Lillian as she hung her head to hide her face or more precisely her expression.

“No, we’ll simply pass by it,” said Jane as she examined Lillian’s sudden change in attitude, especially when she had been on high alert just before.

“Why’s it so important to you?” asked Grey, his blue eyes seeking for answers as if aware that the name had some tie to demon activity.

“Your path will take you through the City of Dead Blood,” said Lillian under her breath, which would have gone unheard if she hadn’t been next to a group of irregular entities.

“The City of Dead Blood,” repeated Grey, a sinister smile slowly spreading across his lips, “then the stories are true?”

“Yes,” said Lillian, “Ulkiss was once a city in which the races of Dead Blood, the ghouls, vampires and revenants, could live together in peace, until about six hundred years ago when the Chalice of Night, an unholy grail made by Ulkry himself, went missing. After that, the ghouls and revenants disappeared leaving only the vampires, and when the seraphim came even they were displaced from the city, for the most part.”

Hearing the name Ulkry, Aleister and Edward stiffened at the remembered pain that the Demon King had brought to them.

“What do you have against it?” asked Jane, seeing a similar pain to the one that she sometimes found within herself, a sense of loss and a desire to one day meet those that she had failed to save and apologise to.

“The vampires that killed my mother were said to live in that city when it was still under their sway,” said Lillian as she turned on Aleister, something about her expression making it clear that she wanted an answer and that he would not like what would happen if he refused to talk.

“None of us knew,” said Edward as he took preventive measures to make sure that Lillian didn’t misunderstand. “We would need to pass through the city no matter what as we are meant to collect items from the Alchemist Guild. And that route is the fastest one to take.”

“So Argon didn’t tell you to take me through that city?” asked Lillian, her eyes scanning for any hint of deceit.

“No, neither Argon nor Ivan told us to travel through that city,” said Grey as he watched the tree line with a dark smile. “But now’s not the time for such talk. We have company.”

Hearing Grey draw his sword as he finished speaking, the rest of those present turned to see the air at the edge of the tree line warp and glitch as twelve mortal men and women appeared at the base of the trees while just in front of the tree line two people appeared. The first was a pirate. There were no other words that could describe what he was. It was so apparent from the flintlock pistol he had in his belt to the cutlass sword on his other hip. Also, from his expensive looking coat to his high, leather boots, every single facet of his being screamed ‘pirate’ as if it was the most important thing about him. The other person, who had appeared behind the pirate, was on the other hand shrouded in mystery as they were covered head to toe in concealing garments that made identifying them all but impossible to the normal human eye.

Yet to Lillian’s dragon senses she could see what her opponent was, an esper and a Beta Class one at that. Also, judging from the fact that the defences around her cottage had informed her that the dimensional distortions had occurred, Lillian knew for a fact that the esper before her was one that possessed the power to move instantaneously between locations. Garbed in impossibly clean, white clothing, the esper gave a nod to the pirate before her, and when the pirate returned the same short, curt nod, the Beta Class Esper disappeared into the same twisted, glitching, space distortion that the armed forces had appeared from.

Seeing that the esper had vanished back to where she had come from, the pirate turned to look at the assembled God Squad with a smile upon his face that spoke of the savagery and bloodlust that was lurking deep beneath the calm façade of his outer appearance. Surveying the God Squad before him, the pirate took his time as he scrutinised Edward who stood in the centre of the God Squad’s formation, before turning to look at the rest. Aleister stood to Edward’s right, Grey Silverman stood in front of Edward and Jane Burnout was on Edward’s left. The pirate after looking at the others finally looked at Lillian who stood at the back of the formation and just far enough apart from them that most people would assume that she wasn’t a part of the group.

“Allow me to introduce myself,” said the Pirate with a sweeping bow of his hat, his smile still as vicious as ever. “My name is Hawk, the Once and Future Pirate King, and at present I am under the employ of one Mirror of Reality. And in my service of the Lord of the Wolfskard, I have been sent here to complete a specific task.”

“To prevent me from joining up with the God Squad,” said Lillian as she cut into Hawk’s speech.

Frowning at the woman before him, the pirate looked Lillian up and down, his gaze searching and questioning before a devious smile spread across his lips.

“I must admit I have indeed heard about you Lillian Darkseed, the dragon souled witch who dwells in the Wormwood Forest, ancient and powerful, and extremely beautiful,” said Hawk as he continued to look her up and down, something that didn’t seem to bother Lillian. “But unfortunately for you, I only happened to learn about you while I was tearing the kraken arms out of Cedric Wolfheart. Oh, he tried to hold out, but kraken flesh regenerates so quickly, and I have amassed a wealth of experience when it comes to hurting people,” said Hawk with a grin that Grey could use for a mirror, except this one was filled with pride and the expectation of retribution.

Yet when none of the God Squad stirred at the incredibly obvious provocation, Hawk simply shrugged his shoulders as if to say ‘aw they really didn’t care about him at all.’

“But you know the most interesting thing that I learned was of the history that is rumoured between you and my current employer, a fact that I learned about not from Mirror himself,” said Hawk, his eyes watching Lillian much like his namesake to see even the most minute twitches of emotion. Smiling, Hawk leaned back as if to say that he had gotten what he had been searching for, confirmation of pain and torment. “Yes ladies and paladin, I was sent here not to stop the joining of Lillian to this little experiment that Ivan and Argon cooked up. I wasn’t even sent here by Mirror to ensure that Lillian here was reminded to stay out of Mirror’s business,” said Hawk, as he waved his hands around to reinforce his words. Words said in an almost maniacal glee that made his words sink in that much faster, both for the unbridled joy they contained and the fact they rung true. “In fact, my dear Lillian, I have never ever even heard your name mentioned in my employer’s residence at all. Why after all that the two of you shared, you could almost believe from the lack of knowledge about you, that Mirror forgot you entirely.”

Hearing this, Lillian’s bronzed eyes wavered before the tremors ran through her body, her breathing coming shallow and fast as she stared at the pirate, the same pirate who watched with parted lips to see if Lillian would crumple beneath her emotions while his twelve armed men laughed in low, dark chuckles at her plight.

“If you’re not here for Lillian then why are you here?” asked Aleister in a clearly bewildered tone even if he tried to hide it from his friends and his foes.

Shifting his attention away from Lillian, the winged beast had grown tired of tormenting the caged dragon and now turned to its real prey.

“I serve Mirror of Reality for the same reason that all gunmen serve alchemists, and for the same reason that the armies of Geb are forever in gratitude of the Alchemist Guild. For long ago the pagan gods made it so that gunpowder or any other ammunition could not be created through normal scientific means, a pact that every pagan god upholds and so until the gods forever die out, guns remain beyond the reach of mortal men,” said Hawk as he turned to his men either side of him who all grumbled their agreement with their leader. “I’m sure that you understand our pain, having to only wield your telesma magic to appease those stuffy, crystalline angels.”

“You’re serving the Mirror of Reality, because he is the only one to supply you with weapons that can work,” said Edward in his demonic voice, echoing the sheer disbelief that the God Squad was feeling.

“Of course for without his weapons how can I return to being the King of Pirates and after that, well, the sky’s the limit,” said Hawk with mild amusement that he would need to spell this out. “After all, the only other way we could get these beloved weapons was if we bowed down and were granted permission by the pagan gods, or we got a magic user to create these materials for us. Neither option is viable since we plan to rule using the power of man, and alchemy is something anyone can do, with some practise. And since the greatest source of alchemic energy are espers then what better way to acquire alchemic technology and energy than align myself with those that generate a near infinite amount. That, dear seraphim, is why I am here,” said Hawk, his face a taunting visage that made Aleister twitch in rage at having his question twisted into something else.

“No, the question was why are you here in this glen, or perhaps a better question is why did Mirror send you to us?” asked Grey with a cutting calm that made the blood thirsty pirate realise that he was near a rabid and broken being.

“Simple, Mirror possesses control over everything that exists in reality, and if there is something new, or something that he has imperfect control over, then he wants to be able to control that with perfect clarity,” said Hawk with a small chuckle as he himself was aware of the irony of his statement. “In fact, that is one of the main reasons that he wants to expand his dominion, to find that which has yet been found, along with finding the perfect way to control it. The other reason is some nonsense about helping his brethren claim the world for themselves, since their kind have existed the longest and they deserve to rule.”

Realising what Hawk was saying, Jane lowered her staff as she looked back and forth between Edward and Aleister before returning her full attention back to Hawk, her eyes burning with dread and rage.

“Which Maw brother does Mirror want?” asked Jane as she gathered her mana within, ready to unleash a scorching inferno that would only burn those that she targeted.

Whipping his head around like a predator noticing prey, Hawk seemed to grow still before he leaned forward, his face becoming obscured in shadow as he said one word that set everything in motion.

“Edward.”

The moment that the last syllable had left Hawk’s mouth, the Mad Paladin charged towards Hawk, his speed and murderous rage making the rest of Hawk’s forces flinch back in fear, all of them turning away from other threats. Undaunted by the Gray Knight’s charge, Hawk just as quickly pulled his flintlock pistol from his belt and with his right hand shot it down into the puddle just before him, a puddle of water that was just a bit too acidic to be natural. Hitting the water, just as the Mad Paladin passed over it the alchemic altered alkali metal bullet ignited and was detonated by the contact with water.

Using the explosion as the starting whistle, the rest of those present in the glen sprung into battle. Jane and Lillian leapt into action, each one heading in different directions focussing on the men and women that had accompanied Hawk to the glen, both of them taking on the six to the right and left of the Pirate King. As for Grey instead of being damaged by the explosion or being sent flying, the Mad Paladin stood still and looked at the pirate with wild eyes that craved for vengeance. The Maw Brothers on the other hand stood where they had originally been standing, their eyes scanning both Hawk and his men waiting to see where they would be needed. Yet they both knew that in the end, they would need to fight Hawk, especially since Hawk extruded such an air of danger, like a wild beast about to take wing and fight.

Standing opposite the Mad Paladin, Hawk let loose with a wild, dark laugh that echoed out to all those around as he sprung forwards, letting his momentum carry him towards the paladin clothed in glowing, golden armour. And at the same time, Hawk pulled the cutlass from his belt so that he had his gun in his right hand and his sword in his left. As the paladin and the pirate neared each other, both of them prepared themselves for the battle each readying their attacks to deal the fatal blow to the other to end the fight as quickly as possible.

Arriving before Grey, Hawk slowed down to becoming almost still as Grey attacked. The Mad Paladin didn’t attack by swiping or lunging at the pirate before him. Instead, he raised his golden sword high overhead and swung down with all his might, the force of the blow causing the blade’s tip to imbed itself into the ground as the shockwave of golden light travelled forward into the depths of the forest. Yet instead of being struck, Hawk simply turned his body slightly so that he sidestepped the attack, allowing the blade Slaphmir to pass by him with only a few millimetres to spare.

Grinning at the miss, Hawk levelled his gun at Grey, his arm tucked against his body, when the Mad Paladin did the unexpected and with a single arm swung Slaphmir at Hawk. In doing so, he tore the blade from the ground, scattering rocks and mounds of dirt everywhere. As the blade cleaved through the air seeking to split the pirate in half, Hawk simply sprung up from the ground and rolled onto the back of the blade.

Seeing Grey’s eyes go wide, Hawk whose legs were up at head height, kicked out clobbering the paladin in the face which at the same time allowed Hawk to spin through the air, turning along his vertical axis so that his left hand gripping the sword shot out and down towards Grey’s head. The blade cleaved flesh apart, sending blood flying. Feeling his sword suddenly stop moving, Hawk looked with incredulous eyes as Grey, who had seen that he couldn’t escape the attack, had done the one thing he could think of to halt the blade. He had caught it in his teeth stopping the blade dead and cleaving his own cheeks apart as well as cracking every one of his teeth under the force required to holt the blade from decapitating him. With his right hand flung out, his sword still in hand, Grey knew he couldn’t get the blade close enough in time so he simply used his other hand to try and punch Hawk, who still hung in the air, as the battle was moving so quickly that gravity had yet to take action on the duo.

Trying to pull the blade away from Grey’s mouth, Hawk reeled himself in closer, a smile of delight adorning his face for at long last he had found someone to fight who could survive long enough to give an actual challenge. And even as he smiled in joy, Hawk’s right hand snaked out and shot the incoming punch from Grey’s left hand. Recoiling from the punch, Grey stood there, wide open for any form of attack that might come next, his arms splayed out.

Feeling that the alchemic blade was lodged between the teeth of the paladin and that he was wide open, Hawk pulled his modified, flintlock pistol up and placed the barrel of the gun against Grey’s head. Turning the exposed combinations on the side of the gun with his thumb, Hawk changed what type of ammunition the gun would fire from alkali metals to titanium. Pulling the trigger, the bullet shot forward into Grey’s head, its metallic nature ensuring that it passed by the protective energies of telesma that Grey tried to hastily erect before his forehead. Hitting his skull with force, Grey’s head snapped backwards as blood and tooth fragments sprayed out into the air. Grey’s mouth gaped wide as he lost the ability to control his lower jaw that pinned the cutlass in place.

Seeing that his sword was free, Hawk placed both boots onto the Knight of Vengeance’s chest and used it as a spring board to jump off so that he sailed backwards through the air, and as he sailed away from the Mad Paladin, who stood reeling from the attack, Hawk opened fire. Pulling the trigger three times, alchemically altered, alkali ammunition shot out and hit the blood that floated in the air. Each bullet exploded in sequence, the first bullet, which had been altered to be frictionless so that it was faster than the other two bullets, hit a drop of floating blood at the level of Grey’s chest. The explosion knocked the Mad Paladin off of his feet into the air, where as he sailed up, the other two bullets hit the blood trail that followed the paladin into the air.

The two bullets exploded simultaneously sending the paladin flying backwards over Edward and Aleister Maw, over Lillian and straight towards her house. Sensing the imminent collision with the paladin, the witch’s house moved to protect itself from the flying mass of titanic metal, the same way the witchcraft infused into the glen would move to defend its creator.

Erecting a defence field, Grey crashed into the green dome of energy and instead of coming to a halt he hit the field and bounced so that he flew up and even further westward into the heart of the Wormwood Forest. As Grey flew out of sight, he hit and crashed through various different trees, all in the space of an instant so that the rest of the God Squad was completely bewildered by his sudden disappearance from the battlefield.

Seeing that Grey had been bested and sent flying, Aleister immediately turned his golden, telesma constructed guns on the pirate before him, sending an endless volley of golden bullets towards the pirate, each one designed to take the man’s life. Observing the onslaught of the golden ammunition, Hawk smiled with a wicked grin before he sprang forwards, his eyes mapping out each of the flight paths of the bullets, before he swung his sword so that he cut one of the bullets in half as he sailed past the bullet. The moment the integrity of the bullet was disrupted, it exploded into a wave of force that the pirate had been counting on.

Using the added momentum of the explosion, Hawk moved through the air. As he flew through the air fast enough that gravity was having trouble keeping up, Hawk encountered other bullets that he then used to change direction as he sliced through them. Using the homing bullets that Aleister shot from his right gun, Hawk cut through the different bullets so that he bounced back into the path of the normal bullets that Aleister shot from his left gun, bullets that flew straight and true.

Dancing from each of the different bullets, Hawk sailed forwards at a frightening pace and all the while as he spun and sailed through the air as he rode the golden explosions, Hawk let loose his own unique set of ammunition. Spinning so that his sixth sense, his sense of balance, seemed to register nothing as if he was somehow floating beyond the control of gravity, Hawk took aim with his right hand so that he could shoot his target with perfect precision. This shooting skill honed over lifetimes was something that allowed Hawk to fire perfectly even if someone forced him to inverse his sense of direction, or took it away entirely.

Shooting out a trio of alkali bullets, each one of the bullets hit their mark, causing puddles of acidic water to be strewn throughout the battlefield. Striking each of the muddy but acidic puddles before Aleister, the bullets reacted and exploded in a wave of heat and force that threw up a wall of mud and dirt that created a brief floating wall of earth that blocked the view of the Angelic Gunslinger. Immediately aware of how dangerous it was to lose sight of an enemy, especially one as mobile as Hawk, Aleister fired three charged, homing, golden telesma crafted bullets through the muck towards the pirate.

Landing on the ground, his arms crossed across his body and paying no heed to what Aleister was doing beyond the mud wall, Hawk pushed off from the ground forwards toward the enemies before him, only for his path to be blocked by the sudden appearance of Edward Maw who appeared with a burst of speed and a flash of black and purple energy. Edward, who normally used his cards to create a space he held dominion over and from where he could fight his enemies from, no longer had that option, as the existence of Lillian’s protective magic would detect his attempts to setup such a field and move to prevent him. So Edward had used his other strength to fight in this battle, his incredible speed, allowing him to move in for the attack in an instant.

Smiling in triumph, Hawk swung his sword forwards, so that his left hand snaked forwards in a horizontal slash that originated from below his right shoulder and headed towards Edward’s chest. Except the blade failed to hit its spot, instead it struck a shield of purple energy that manifested from cards that Edward had spun out of his robes, a shield of purple energy which hung in the space before Edward.

Seeing the six pointed star shaped shield blocking and holding his sword in place, Hawk simply let go of the cutlass and continued the swing of his left hand as if he still had a weapon in it. Reaching out, Hawk grabbed Edward’s robes by the shoulder and pulled him to Hawk’s left and down, all the while using his legs to trip the Demon Cleric. Pulling the younger Maw brother off centre, Hawk pulled the boy into the path of the incoming golden missile that his older brother had shot.

Hitting Edward in the back of the head, the golden telesma bullet burst, but because of the protective measure entwined into his robes, the only damage that Edward received was a sudden loss of consciousness. Seeing the loss of consciousness from the Maw brother before him, Hawk extended his right hand over Edward’s left shoulder and shot the two remaining bullets that flew straight towards him. Snatching his left hand back, Hawk let Edward’s form crumple to the ground as he hopped back from the Maw brother just in time for the muck and floating debris of earth to settle back to the ground.

With his vision no longer obscured, Aleister saw his brother lying on the ground and with a sudden burst of understanding, Aleister had enough time to realise that he had been the one to shoot him. Shocked beyond words, Aleister let his arms droop, and only at the last minute did Aleister realise that he was in danger as Hawk trained his gun on Aleister who stood defenceless before him. Raising his arms up to shield him, Aleister used everything from his elbows up to make a makeshift shield, with his forearms facing skywards.

Letting lose an alkali bullet, Hawk’s smile of triumph grew into something savage as the bullet he shot hit Aleister in the right elbow. The bullet destroyed and embedded itself into the bones of the joint before it exploded due to contact with the blood and water present. Feeling his arm explode and having the force of the explosion spin him like a top as he collapsed to the ground, Aleister struggled to raise himself up as he lay prone on the ground, his right arm attached to his body by only a few sinews.

Calling for his brother, Aleister managed to look up and see he had spun a full three hundred and sixty degrees so that he was facing the same way he originally had. Cursing, Aleister used his remaining working left hand to try and pull himself towards his brother, even as Aleister’s eyes started to change colour as the power deep within started to manifest.

Seeing the black orbs with their white slits that Aleister suddenly had for eyes, Hawk paused as he took aim at Aleister. Recognising the power, Hawk’s face stilled to an expressionless mask that hid what was happening deep within his mind. But before Hawk could make a move in any direction, four blue flames manifested around Hawk, one in each of the four cardinal directions.

Recognising the attack, Hawk used his sword in a reverse grip to pierce through and dissipate the flame behind him as he jumped backwards, just in time for the flames to explode in all their fury. Getting hit by the wave of heat and force, Hawk simply let his overcoat turn into a sail that helped propel him backwards towards the place he had been originally standing when he had first appeared. Landing on his feet, Hawk slid backwards on his feet as he came to rest, all the while keeping his new target in focus.

Staring at Lillian now standing behind Aleister, who was still attempting to drag himself towards his brother, Hawk quickly looked for his men that Lillian had been fighting. Expecting to see nothing but charred or corrupted dead corpses, Hawk had to pause as he looked at his men, all six of whom were down on their hands and knees while around their legs and hands wove blades of grass that gripped and reached upwards like tentacles.

Seeing his men struggle against their organic bindings, Hawk also realised, just like his men already had, that if they struggled too tightly then those blades of grass would swirl and reduce anything in their area to fine minced meat and blood mist. A fact that Hawk could see clearly, which was mainly due to some of the blades of grass already cutting into their prisoner’s body parts, including through their clothing. Seeing that his men were relatively unharmed, Hawk turned his attention back to Lillian, who stood still at the other side of the glen due west of Hawk, with both Edward and Aleister lying in between the two.

“So I guess I know why you don’t weed your lawn,” said Hawk sombrely as he surveyed the ground, trying to map out any of the different plants scattered throughout the glen that might be capable of reducing him to blood mist.

Seeing that Hawk was no longer smiling with joy and was actually taking what was happening seriously, both Lillian and Aleister realised that the smile of joy that he had been wearing was something that had shown how effortless he had considered the battle. And now that he no longer wore the expression, it instilled into both Aleister and Lillian that beneath the rampant bloodlust, there was an ancient mind that had long since mastered every art of war that existed.

“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you,” said Lillian with a stately calm that made Hawk’s eyes swivel back to her as he evaluated what to do next. “I’ll just capture you and find out everything you know.”

“If you want to bind me with vines you should know that my safe word is swordfish,” said Hawk with a trace of amusement that caused Lillian to realise that whatever momentary hesitation she had placed in Hawk was now long gone.

Raising his weapon, Hawk pointed his gun straight forwards as he clicked some of the gears on the weapon changing the settings for what it would shoot out. Seeing this blatant threat before them, the God Squad failed to notice that they were being played with. As while Hawk had surveyed the surroundings he had spotted his second in command, Master Smyth, bound in grass directly south of Lillian’s position, and after she had mouthed her plan to Hawk, he had moved to carry it out.

As Hawk laughed with a cry that would do his namesake proud, he altered the direction for his attack and pulled the trigger at the same time as Smyth pulled her right hand, hard enough away from the ground that the plants reacted in a bloody manner. Seeing her arm below the elbow reduced to nothing but chunks of blood with a clean white bone sticking out by about 2-3 centimetres, Smyth did nothing but raise her arm up to the right height and wait for victory to arrive.

Failing to hear the ripping and tearing of flesh over Hawk’s laugh, Lillian failed to realise she was in danger until the bullet veered too far from her. Striking the bone sticking out of the ruined flesh that had once been her right arm, Hawk smiled in victory as the bullet raced northward towards Lillian who after the briefest of glances from the corner of her eyes, turned her attention back to Hawk. For Lillian didn’t for a second believe that Hawk wasn’t aware that she wouldn’t be touched by the bullet that raced towards her, especially one not made of titanium.

Sensing its creator in danger, the witchcraft woven throughout the glen reacted to Lillian’s imminent death and immediately moved to protect her by manifesting blue burning fire in between the bullet and Lillian. Only as the blue flames swirled into being and Hawk’s grin stretched even wider in anticipation did Lillian realise why he had bounced the bullet off of the exposed bone of his subordinate’s arm. Her plants had torn all the flesh and blood down to the bone, an act Hawk purposely allowed, as it left the bone dry enough that it wouldn’t react with the bullet when it ricocheted. Cursing softly to herself, Lillian failed to move, even as the bullet was consumed and ignited by blue flame, as Lillian knew it was too late to change what would happen next.

Igniting and then detonating the bullet made from solid nitrogen, the wave of force ruptured outwards with incredible ferocity before striking and knocking Lillian sailing, while Aleister had his face driven back into the ground as his ears seemed to rupture. Landing on the ground bleeding and dazed, Lillian became aware that Hawk had trained his gun on her and was just in the act of pulling the trigger when a shadow fell across him.

Feeling the shadow fall across him, Hawk spun around to his left, ensuring the blade swept from east to west, so that when his sword reached out and severed the falling human in half it came in a horizontal and westerly motion. The cutlass made from alchemic metal was extremely sharp, but even then only Hawk’s skills that he had honed over lifetimes of practise, allowed him to use the sharp blade to cut through the falling body with the blade finding the space between vertebras. All so that the blade didn’t even slow down as it cleaved the man in two.

Except what was inside the body was not visceral matter, instead it was liquid flame that Jane had poured into the man until the man was nothing but a bag made of skin, liquid flame and a skeleton to hold it all together. Feeling and seeing the liquid flame spill out all over him, Hawk held his breath as he felt his flesh burn and melt together, reducing him to a blind, scarred, hairless husk. Using his sense of touch, Hawk was aware that the liquid flame had evaporated the moment after it had been exposed to the air, after he had cut his own gunner in half. Cursing internally, he realised that Jane must have killed all of his men and then used one of their corpses as ammunition and camouflage for her magic.

Resisting the pain and the sudden loss of his sight, Hawk felt a shift in the air as something approached from his left. Immediately angling his sword beside his head, Hawk felt the blade tremble as the bullet of telesma bounced off it and headed upwards along the same trajectory that the corpse had come from. Hearing an exclamation of disbelief from up above that he had been able to counter attack while blind and broken, Hawk spun and shot three times in the direction of Aleister who had already launched a new wave of attacks towards the pirate.

As he spun, Hawk used his sword’s pommel to rip open his own melted mouth so that he could not only breath but use the clicking of his tongue to see via echolocation where and what his targets were doing. Getting the gist that the only remaining able member of the God Squad was Jane Burnout, Hawk levelled his right hand up towards the sky where he could feel the faint traces of heat generated by the Flame Mage as she hovered in the sky, waiting to rain down a barrage of firebolts. Yet even as he shot out his titanium ammunition, which was incinerated due to the sudden spike in temperature from Jane’s flames, Hawk was attacked by another enemy.

Bursting out of the westernmost side of the glen, Grey Silverman tore across the open field as if made from a golden meteor, his sword thrust forward as if it was a lance targeted at the heart of the Pirate King. Failing to hear the speeding approach of the Mad Paladin, Hawk was struck by the tip of the sword and was sent flying through the air. The only reason he wasn’t impaled through the chest being that the clothes he wore had been created from esper technology which had made the clothes not only bullet proof but even resistant to piercing attacks as well as extreme temperatures. This was the only reason why Hawk’s melted flesh hadn’t been fused to his melted clothes, as the clothes themselves had been untouched by the heat of the liquid flame.

Flung through the air blind and now without a sense of gravity, Hawk rapidly spun to reduce his momentum and allow himself to orientate where he was and what he needed to do next. Hitting a tree branch, Hawk used it as a stepping stone to bounce up into the trees higher above so that he could bounce from branch to branch until he was somewhat south of his original position and in a perfect spot to overlook his still surviving men and the God Squad who were scattered throughout the glen.

Standing still atop the branches of one of the trees, Hawk planted his sword into the tree and reached into his coat to pull out a vial of cyan-blue glowing liquid which he immediately jammed into his own neck as the liquid absorbed itself through a needle that had emerged from the end of the tube. Acting immediately, the blue potion spread across the ruined flesh that had once been Hawk’s face and as it did the flesh returned to its prime, growing back hair and restoring his sight making it look as if Hawk had never been touched or burnt during the entire battle. From the moment the potion began to take hold, Hawk hid the vial in his right breast pocket of his overcoat while he took up his sword from the tree and began to tap it against his leg, as his face fully restored itself.

Standing there his sight restored, Hawk looked north at Jane Burnout as she floated aloft with an arrow made of flame alight in her hands. Giving her a nod of respect, Hawk turned his gaze down towards Grey Silverman who looked back with a mask of fresh flowing blood. For Grey Silverman had yet to heal himself and the titanium bullet that Hawk had placed in his skull was still visible where it had been lodged into Grey’s forehead, along with a white patch that clearly belonged to bone.

Locking gazes, Hawk and Grey smiled at each other, each one’s smile matching the others in a promise of death. As Grey held Hawk’s vision, he reached up and with gauntleted fingers tore into the flesh of his forehead to rip out the titanium bullet, causing splinters of bone to also burst from his wound. Holding the bullet aloft so that all could see, Grey crushed it between his fingers as golden telesma raced up his face to the wound in his head and began to heal the damage thereby causing the wound to weld itself shut with golden flames. Seeing the unmistakable glimmer of pain in Grey’s eyes, Hawk had to privately admit to himself that he was impressed, especially when the rest of the God Squad used Grey’s second wind to inspire them to rally as well.

“I thought you said that you would use the power of man to make yourself king,” said Jane with a scathing tone that made her disgust of Hawk’s hypocrisy clear for all.

“Indeed I said I would only use the power of man. And I have,” said Hawk as he looked at Jane with eyes that rebuked her burning malice. “You mages should especially know the difference between magecraft and wizardry. And how one is either born to mana or not, as well as the fact mankind long ago found ways to overturn this truth.”

Shocked, Jane floated backwards as she took in what Hawk had said and realised that he was being truthful. For while a mage was born, a wizard could be anyone that had a source of mana and the intelligence to create devices to use the mana, regardless of whether the mana came from inside themselves or not. Seeing the ruined remains of his men beyond Jane’s position as she learned the true meaning of what Hawk meant, Hawk looked down at his remaining forces and sighed in defeat.

“It looks like we will have to retreat. We’ve lost this battle,” said Hawk to his men as they tried to struggle free of their bonds yet at the same time not end up chunks of twitching mounds of flesh.

“You think we would just let you go,” cried Aleister up at the Pirate King, who looked down at him, a cry that Grey echoed with a mad growl.

“Besides Jane here, you’re all damaged and in pain. Heck, the only reason your arm hasn’t fallen off is because you’re using telesma to control and move it,” said Hawk as he looked at the mass of golden telesma, thorn-like bindings that had sprung forth from Aleister’s flesh and helped join the ruined part of his arm back to the rest of his body. “Lillian over there is weakened and dazed, your brother’s out cold by your own doing and that was you all just fighting me. Imagine fighting me and my men.”

“I did and I killed them all,” said Jane without inflection, her green eyes focused in on Hawk and what he would do next.

“Yes, but how much did it cost you? You’re what, down to half the normal amount of mana that you started with,” said Hawk, unruffled by Jane’s words. “Not to mention, none of you can stop me from leaving.”

Re-holstering his gun, Hawk reached into his left breast pocket and removed an alchemist stave that he had been storing there. Holding the stave out, the rest of those present, from Hawk’s pirate crew to the God Squad, all knew that the technology would allow for Hawk to wield some of the power of an esper, and that power in Hawk’s hands would be lethal.

“One piece of advice before I depart, when fighting an esper the path to victory lies in understanding that espers fight with wisdom, intelligence and technology. And any esper that has survived long enough will use this truth to battle, so when you fight expect to face a hundred gadgets, a thousand strategies, and a million ways for their powers and technology to combine, all to create an avatar of unpredictability. So may Fate and Fortune, Luck and Destiny be with you, you’re going to need it,” said Hawk in a charming and resounding voice as he activated the alchemist stave. “Oh, and when we see each other again in the midst of war, let’s try to kill each other but for real this time.”

Hearing his last few words, the rest of the God Squad seemed to shudder back from Hawk as space warped around him and his men, taking them far away as if they had been teleported by the esper that had briefly appeared before their battle.

The moment that Hawk disappeared, Lillian stood to her full height and tried to shake her mind free of the stupor she had been knocked into by her own defences. Looking around the clearing before her home with eyes that were finally clearing, Lillian only saw a battle scarred field and no longer her front lawn that she had had for centuries.

Feeling the energies of her witchcraft begin to spread up from her feet as her magic tried to heal her, Lillian was also very aware that the grass that she had used to capture her six human opponents was waving around as if trying to search for the hostages that she had taken. And with the way that they frantically waved back and forth, Lillian was almost half convinced that the grass was desperately afraid of failing her by somehow losing the victims it had been assigned to cage.

Focusing on more important matters after Lillian sent a quick directive for the grass to settle down, Lillian tallied how many corpses were left from those that had been killed by Jane Burnout. Except as Lillian scanned the clearing, she saw that the bodies had disappeared, with the exception of the lower half of the one Jane had turned into a lava mine.

Seeing that no post-mortem attacks could be conducted by Hawk’s crew, Lillian stopped and finally looked at the Maw Brothers that were huddled on the ground as Aleister cradled his unconscious brother. As Lillian looked at the Maw Brothers, she no longer saw two men that wielded incredibly rare and strange magic, instead she saw nothing more than two scared and frightened children clinging to each other for comfort. In fact as per their own race’s standard they probably were still classified as children, even though Edward as the youngest was actually 17.

Letting her gaze move on, Lillian looked at the kneeling Grey Silverman who was using whatever telesma he had left to heal the ruined and barely attached right arm of Aleister Maw. Grey’s expression was something that caught Lillian more off guard than the Maw Brother’s plight. For Grey’s face was something haunted as if he had seen a nightmare of something similar but at the same time something much, much worse.

Moving past him, Lillian let her witchcraft analyse the damage the brothers had taken and when the answers and results revealed that they were simply exhausted and that there would be no long term recovery needed, she felt the beginning of relief spread through her. Coming to stand next to Jane Burnout, who had landed after Hawk had disappeared, Lillian joined her as she looked down at the corpse that she had used to attack Hawk with.

“They all had a shard of a philosopher stone hidden on their bodies and when he activated that stave, the stones resonated and disappeared with Hawk,” said Lillian as she answered Jane’s unasked question. “Most likely the shards also all came from the same esper.”

Seeing Jane turn to look at her, Lillian saw that the puzzlement that Jane had been wearing was something that had been hiding something deeper that was disturbing her.

“I long ago stopped caring about those that were killed by my fire,” said Jane as she returned to looking at the half corpse that was before her. “But I’ve never really tried to use corpses as ingredients for magic before,” said Jane as if she was unsure about if what she had done was right or not.

“You thought it was necessary to do to fight Hawk?” asked Lillian without hesitation.

“Yes,” replied Jane curtly.

“Then that’s all that matters,” said Lillian, causing Jane to really look at the witch for the first time. “Hawk was powerful and deadly, not to mention skilled enough to both survive being bathed in liquid fire and losing his sense of sight. All of which are skills that are not learned within a single lifetime.”

Looking at Lillian with eyes that were no longer filled with turmoil but with a sudden brilliant focus, Jane spoke.

“Are you saying he was immortal?”

“I don’t know, he could be, but I’m thinking based on the way he treated death itself that he was someone blessed with reincarnation,” said Lillian as she stared off to the east where Hawk and his men were now somewhere recuperating from their battle and loss of people.

“Come help me take the Maw Brothers inside,” said Lillian as she changed the subject as she noticed that Grey seemed to have stopped healing Aleister, meaning that the arm was reconnected enough that Aleister could now be moved.

Stepping forward, Lillian felt Jane follow before stopping lost in thought.

“Wait,” said Jane as she furrowed her brow as if she had just realised something. “What do you mean? Harvested from an esper?”

Quickly catching on to what she was asking and the fact that Jane appeared to have a lack of more in-depth knowledge of alchemy, Lillian paused before turning to look back at Jane to make sure that she understood what was being said.

“Alchemic energy can be derived from a few sources, but the most prominent are espers who constantly generate alchemic energy as a by-product of their powers. A fact which many alchemists used to fuel their work, even if it meant capturing and turning espers into living batteries. But in this scenario the espers are using themselves as batteries and willingly at that, and by some means these espers have found a way to imbue a taint of their own power in the philosopher stones created from the espers.”

Realising what Lillian was implying that Mirror was such a charismatic leader that he could get his own people to experiment on themselves and even let themselves be harvested from all to further Mirror’s cause, Jane’s eyes seemed to burn. Waving at her to come on, the two women arrived at the brothers’ sides and started to untangle them from each other.

Standing with a dark look on his face, Aleister watched as Grey carried Edward back inside the house while Jane and Lillian stood either side of him. Following after Grey and Edward, Aleister looked a bit wild and at a loss of what to do especially since his eyes were still black and white. Seeing that the oldest of the Maw Brothers had realised that he and his brother would forever be on the radar of the Mirror of Reality and that Mirror would most likely keep sending his servants to take them, Lillian opened her mouth to speak and soothe Aleister.

“I’ll be coming with you,” said Lillian.

Such words made Aleister turn his black and white eyes away from Grey as he tried to navigate the front door of Lillian’s house with Edward’s drooping body.

“What?” asked Aleister, in confusion.

“I’ll come with you,” said Lillian simply as Jane watched wide eyed as she looked back and forth between the two hybrids.

“I thought you didn’t want to, because you didn’t want to define yourself based off of Mirror’s fate,” said Aleister as he remembered what Lillian had said at the breakfast table, something that from the looks of him seemed like ages ago.

“True, I don’t want to, but I know what it’s like to suffer at Mirror’s hand and I want to be someone that stops and helps those in need regardless of who is the one making them suffer,” said Lillian as the thoughts in her head straightened out into a singular desire that grew throughout her being.

Shocked, Aleister looked at Lillian, their slitted eyes holding each other long enough for Jane to awkwardly cough beside them. Snapping back to attention, Aleister finally restored his eyes to their normal golden colour and shape before heading into the cottage.

“You think that Mirror will send men to collect both Maw brothers?” asked Jane as she clutched tightly at her staff, her tone making it clear what fate would await those that tried to take the brothers.

“No, I don’t think that at all. I think Hawk might remain silent especially considering Hawk’s actions and words,” said Lillian as she thought back to Hawk, for as he had stood atop the forest canopy he had tapped in code, a simple message that only Lillian had appeared to pick up.

‘Lillian, join the God Squad, or I tell Mirror’.

Thinking about the threat that Hawk had put at the end of his message, it was entirely possible that Mirror wasn’t even aware that Lillian was being recruited for the God Squad or maybe he no longer even remembered her at all. But at the same time, Lillian wasn’t sure if he had meant that Hawk would tell Mirror about Aleister and the substance he radiated that they had both recognised. Nodding her head at Lillian’s word, Jane went inside the house to check up on the brothers and Grey, who despite being shot in the head deep enough to draw blood and bone, seemed to be the most unharmed of the group at least physically.

Standing at the entrance to her house, Lillian gave her clearing a quick scrutinising glance before turning back. All the while wondering what Argon had managed to drag her into and how many sides there were in this particular war. Yet as Lillian descended into her home, she had to privately smile and admit to herself that she was happy that she would be forever recorded as a key member in the chronicles of this war. Something, she had long since desired, to be remembered so that when she faded to nothing, at least the world would remember her, Lillian Darkseed, even if her true dragon self never did.

~~~

Striding into the Hall of Mirrors behind Dimensional Shift, Hawk smiled at the Nine Lords of the Wolfskard as he came to stand in front of the throne of the Mirror of Reality. Looking up at Mirror bathed in a crimson alchemic light, who sat atop a throne made of mirrors in square and rectangular shapes, Hawk bowed as Dimension Shift joined her fellow Beta Class Espers.

In the Hall of Mirrors, there were man sized mirrors that lined the wall, each spaced just far enough from each other that they didn’t look like they were one single mirror, and before the four mirrors that were adjacent to the throne, upon which Mirror sat, stood the Esper Lords. To Mirror’s right and Hawk’s left were four individual espers each one of them an Alpha Class Esper and to Mirror’s left and Hawk’s right were three Beta Class Espers and one Gamma Class Esper.

Looking at them all aligned waiting for their lord’s wishes and orders in this rectangular hall, Hawk took the time to survey the Esper Lords, Mirror of Reality, Shadow of Decay, Flame of Creation, Puppeteer of Matter, Queen of Seduction, Iron Archer, Infinite Impulse, Dimension Shift and finally Hydro Hand. Hawk knew that Mirror was trying to unsettle him by making him wait as if to show him that time meant nothing to him, but Hawk had long since learned the value of time both in its quick, fleeting nature and its long, enduring eternity. So instead, Hawk simply used the time to observe the other eight lords and see what things he could detect from their habits and clothing.

“Report,” said Mirror eventually, his voice surprisingly normal for someone that seemed to style himself as beyond humanity.

Bobbing his head in the briefest signs of respect, Hawk gave his report starting from tracking down information about the initial target and then about the God Squad and their adventures across the land. Speaking in an unhurried and unfearful tone, Hawk talked concisely about everything that he needed to before stopping while Mirror looked at the pirate with fathomless, mirror orbs for eyes.

“So you failed to acquire the target I sent you after,” said Mirror slowly as if waiting for Hawk to panic and desperately beg for his life or a second chance.

“Oh no, I didn’t fail,” said Hawk as he smiled with his trademark amusement up at Mirror who stared down at him with fathomless eyes, eyes that reflected everything and gave nothing away.

“Then where is Edward Maw,” said Mirror with an even tone, “For while I can perfectly reflect his magic already, I desire complete control of, this, prana. Something I can’t do if he is not here to supply me with his magic.”

Instead of verbally responding, Hawk simply raised his hand up to the height of his head. His hand held a card that pulsed with prana, one he had stolen from Edward when they had been side by side during the battle.

“Don’t think so little of me that I would fail to get you what you want,” said Hawk with an amused chuckle. “While the boy used it to fuel his telesma magic, it looks more like mana in my experience, so if you use the information that you stole from the Elemental Guard’s library to reflect this magic like mana then you should be able to contain and wield this magic.”

Raising his hand off of the throne, Mirror made a grasping motion and the card flew out of Hawk’s hand and into Mirror’s. Looking down at the card in his hand, Mirror’s expression shifted from a still stoic expression to a mask of satisfaction. Raising his head back up, Mirror looked down from his throne at the pirate before him and simply asked if there was anything else that he needed to report.

“The God Squad has acquired a fifth member,” said Hawk as he tried to stifle a laugh. “She’s a witch.”

“Any good?” asked the blond haired, buxom woman, who stood along the mirror lined walls, the Queen of Seduction, her question ambiguous enough for those present to wonder what exactly she was asking about.

“Yes. But like with all witchcraft, she only has an advantage if we fight her in her place of power. If she comes to fight us here in this castle, she will be diminished,” said Hawk honestly.

“And how old is this witch?” asked Iron Archer as he shifted his furs that were draped across his body. “She might be more valuable for her knowledge than her witchcraft.”

“She is ancient,” said Hawk without hesitation, “older than the sum of all of us here in this room. Therefore I imagine her knowledge will prove invaluable to the Empire of Geb. But like I have stated, this battle will be a one way road of slaughter,” said the Pirate, a smile plastered across his face.

“Yes a one way road of slaughter, but the question that begs to be answered is which of us will be the ones that will be slaughtered and which will be the ones that slaughter?” asked the Puppeteer of Matter, as he willed into existence a crystal statue of a Hawk made entirely from diamond.

Amusing himself with bobbing balls of fire, the Flame of Creation glanced around and snorted, “Puppet’s right, if we assume that espers are supreme then we would already be ruling the world. We play this safe or we’ll be consumed by our own arrogance.”

“I’m with Flame on this, if we’re not careful then we’ll be consumed,” said the Shadow of Decay speaking up for the first time since Hawk had stepped into the hall.

“I agree,” said the Infinite Impulse and the Hydro Hand, both of their voices echoing through the room.

“It matters not in the long run,” said Mirror as he spoke up, still distracted by the card in his hand. “So long as I stand and live, we’ll win. Before you go, do you have anything to request, Pirate?”

Hearing the hidden order to leave, Hawk turned to look at the Puppeteer of Matter, thinking before he answered in the affirmative.

“I have business that I would discuss with Puppeteer of Matter, if you allow.”

Remaining silent, Mirror turned enough to look at Puppet with his mirror eyes.

“What is it that you need?” asked Puppet as he looked away from Mirror, a faint trace of nerves running through him as he pushed his glasses up.

“I would like to get one of my injured a new clockwork limb and to discuss the healing elixirs that you supplied,” said Hawk as he held up an empty metal and glass tube with faint traces of green liquid inside.

“You used the Green Blood extract,” said Puppet in excitement as he stepped out of place to look more closely at the empty cylinder. “How was it? Were there any notable side effects?”

“As stated, I was injured in the battle by the Fire Mage, Jane Burnout who booby trapped a corpse with liquid fire. And after taking this I was healed completely without my blood turning green permanently,” said Hawk as he saw Flame turn his head at the mention of a Fire Mage using a new type of flame.

Holding the cylinder up to the light, Puppet nodded his head, excited to hear about positive results before he stopped as he realised that he was stepping out of place. Turning slowly, Puppet looked at Mirror who had remained immobile throughout his subordinate’s misconduct. Regaining his more stern composure, Puppet bowed from the waist at Mirror before asking for permission to leave. Seeing Mirror nod his head before returning to looking at the card which was now pulsing brightly with prana, both Hawk and Puppet moved down the hall to the doors, both in low discussion before Mirror’s voice made them stop dead.

“Before you go Pirate, what of Aleister Maw?”

“I tested him as well and even tricked him into shooting his own brother in the back of the head, but all he ever wielded was telesma. There was no indication that he inherited any of his brother’s demon traits,” said Hawk as he swiftly pivoted around to face Mirror.

“Very well then,” said Mirror, as he reached up with his left hand to grab the card so that it was held at each end of its longest side.

Striding out of the doors, Hawk smiled to himself as he refocused on Puppet’s discussion. Puppet spoke animatedly about how hard it was to get the Green Blood extract to work in a non-permanent fashion inside human bodies. Hawk listened attentively as they walked beyond Mirror’s interest.

Paying no heed to his surrounds or those that had just left, Mirror used his power to create a path of reflections that would enable the prana to pass into his body where he used his knowledge of both telesma and mana to create a perfect internal reflection that had a hundred percent efficiency. Creating this prism within himself, Mirror felt the prana begin to move in a stable and unending cycle that would enable the prana to be stored until Mirror had to use the magic for something or until he had an opportunity to increase the amount of prana within himself, something he would ensure. Feeling the prana cycle within him settle down next to the rest of the other cycling energies that Mirror had stored within himself waiting in turn to be used, all understood enough that Mirror could generate more.

Sitting upon his throne, the Omega Class Esper opened his eyes and looked out at the remaining seven espers and smiled darkly, a smile that his Esper Lords reflected back at their master. For Mirror was forever certain in himself, knowing full well that nothing born within reality would ever be able to hurt him.