It was until Danna became a goddess that she realized how flimsy time was. The connection between humans and monsters via the Divine Reflection made it even more strange as it shifted and distorted in wild ways.

Despite that, their journey was still long by any standard.

After they'd stepped through the portal, they'd all turned to light as they shot towards their destination. For the mortals like Gi, the journey would seem instantaneous. For Danna, light was her natural form. She was aware enough to count the passing days and months and to look back on the world left behind.

She watched as Tiria and Nori joined forces to send skirmishing raids against the Demon Empire; she watched as both Poe and Kumo settled into human towns in very different ways; and she watched as somehow Samba befriended a human.

Unlike Igna and the Thousand Islands, the chill that her followers had felt quickly turned to winter. For all but Tiria, snow started to fall and stick to the ground and would remain there until the season ended.

With nothing but time, Danna spread her gaze across the world of humans and monsters so that she might see all.

****

The genocide of the monsters was proceeding well. King Rellington's commanders were securing the two new islands that had joined the Thousand Islands. Once they were fully captured, the resources there would help his war effort quite a bit.

He leaned over the map of the world that rose magically from the table in his war room. Light shimmered with peaks and valleys of the world so he had a good sense of the terrain anywhere. It was partially based on a true map below, and in a few areas, the light dimmed from large changes to their world.

The two new islands had since been added to the map, but there was a large swath in the center of the main continent that was dim. That worried him.

"Sire?" Dali, one of his agents, waited patiently as he examined the map. King Rellington hadn't even noticed him enter.

"Do you have news for me?"

"No sire, still no news from either Empire."

He nodded. "Very well. Take some rest, but get one of the others to continue sending me hourly updates. Send a runner for Ellen as well. It's important but not urgent."

Dali snapped off a salute before heading off to do his orders. The King settled into his chair, continuing to stare at the maps, but not really seeing it.

He'd come a long way from the bratty child filled to the brim with hubris. The lesson had cost him most of his peers. It was sad that they hadn't survived to learn the same lessons he had, but it wasn't as if they'd been truly friends either. Fader though?

He'd been a friend - equal parts loyal and irreverent.

Without even realizing what he was doing, King Rellington bowed his head and began to pray.

"Dear Father, I thank you for your guidance and strength that allowed me to bring my people together against the monster surge. As you mandate, I've spread your greatness as far as I could amongst the soldiers. I just... I wish to selfishly ask one more boon of you.

Please shelter Fader in your heaven and help him find the peace that he missed in life."

He thought he should say more, but what else could you say to an all powerful god about your small concerns? The King kept his head down and closed his eyes, trying to calm his circular thoughts of Fader, the Surge, and his people.

"Am I interrupting?"

Ellen's voice caused the King to shoot his head up. She stood at the door to his war room, arms crossed. She wasn't angry despite the ever present dour look on her face. She had just experienced too much life for a smile to come so easily.

"No, just resting my eyes for a moment. Come in."

She walked in eyeing him suspiciously before sitting down in one of the chairs that flanked his war map. "You want me to go to the main continent."

He smiled wearily. "I was going to try and butter you up first."

She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "It's fine. I'll go to Veridia first since it's closer. I know a few settlements on the way to the capital. Even if the Surge is far worse on the main continent, there's no way an entire empire disappears over night."

"I'd expect them to last at least this long as well. Some of my peers were wards in both Veridia and Frosthelm so I've heard a few tales of their prowess."

"Bolan and Tufot, I remember. You might recall that Gillian was one of mine as was Gale."

A sting of regret stabbed into his heart. They didn't often discuss her two apprentices that had died in the Dungeon with him. For a time, he was certain she blamed him, but after Fader's final Dungeon boss, she probably laid the blame on him instead and just had the decency not to bring it up.

Gale had been one of his childhood friends that had forced her house to remain loyal to him during the succession - somehow even after her death they hadn't blamed him.

The heavy silence of those lost hung between them for several pregnant moments. Eventually, Ellen sighed and broke the silence. "All right. Let me go gather my things."

Ellen left the war room and the King returned his idle viewing of the map. The light of the map twinkled naturally as it lay and it took the Prince a minute to realize that it was moving. He jumped to his feet, preparing to call his guards, but the light soon shot upward and resolved to a figure.

A figure of a man that radiated divine power.

"You've done well, King," the Father said. The King immediately pushed his chair away and sank to the floor in a bow.

"I'm unworthy of such praise."

"Perhaps, but I have need of you and you won't survive this Surge without my help. Will you accept my power?"

"All you have to do is command me and I will follow, Father."

Unseen by the King, a wicked smile spread across the Father's face.

****

Galvina paced nervously before the throne room. The snows had already started to fall as she'd made it back to the capital and her father hadn't summoned her in the three days since she'd been back.

She was seriously debating whether she should just leave and hope he forgot she existed or if stepping into the the throne room was the best move.

"Show some decorum, sister."

Galvina's head snapped around and she found Graves standing there with a serious look on his face. Her insufferable brother was her only true sibling and her twin at that, but where she was eleventh, he was the third.

A growl stuck in her throat. "I'm surprised you're not already in there trying to suck father's cock. I'm not the only one that failed their mission."

"You're charming as always." He walked past her without saying anything else, but he did take a purposeful step to the side to avoid her like she was diseased or something. She fucking hated him.

The only good thing about Graves was that it was hard to be anxious when you were pissed off.

She followed him in, walking along the purple carpet that led into the throne room. Flanking either side of the carpet was six chairs, all facing forwards towards the smooth granite throne of the Demon Empire.

In the chairs facing the throne, her siblings were already there. That idiot Junior almost spilled out into the carpet with how large he was, but at six, he was a high number. She took a right towards the low numbers and sat in the second to last seat.

In the twelve seat was Morok. He was the only non-pureblood in the entire thirteen. As part goblin, his ears towered over the tiny nubs of his horns and his number twelve was burned into his cheek.

"You're cutting it awfully close. The God Emperor hates to wait."

"I don't need any lectures from a monster only half better than a slave."

He glared at her, but he did shut up. Although she wasn't as polished as Graves, she was exceedingly talented at pushing just the right buttons. She didn't get to discover if he'd find his tongue though as the double doors that lay behind the throne burst open and the Emperor strode into view.

The Emperor was even taller than Junior, but his physique seemed to be carved of red marble. A rich purple cloak covered his shoulders, but otherwise his chest was bare revealing no scars.

The God Emperor took no wounds.

As he sat down on his throne, he folded his lower set of arms into his lap while he laid his cheek on one of his fists. His voice rumbled like thunder in the small space and Galvina shivered. He was the closest that a monster could be to a god and she'd fucked up.

"One. Speak."

Fel rose quickly from his seat. He most closely followed the Emperor's evolution with four arms and a broad physique, but seeing the real thing just feet away made him look more like a child. "Father, the war against the humans to the west goes well. We've taken several major cities on the route to the capital and expect them to fall at winter's end."

"Good. Two. Speak."

As Fel sat, Aelg stood. Like Galvina, his appearance wasn't changed much by his Body or evolutions so his appearance matched that of a more common demon despite his large horns. "Father, we've hit more resistance against the humans to the east. They use the mountains to their advantage and the snows don't seem to slow them as much as they do our own forces."

"Take Five, Seven, and Twelve. Pull the Fire Regiment from the western front and use it on the east."

"Your will be done, Father."

"Eight. Speak."

Aelg sat down and Auraco stood instead. The creepy demon spoke in a halting voice and never seemed to blink. Galvina hated her less than Graves, but it was still up there.

"Father. I did not personally find the goblin rebel Nori, but the remnants of one of my companies spoke of her attacking them as they were assaulting one of the human settlements to our south. They also spoke of a new monster with her. Their descriptions bare resemblance to another that I'd found that was also strong."

For the first time, the Emperor's head rose from his bored expression and pinned Auraco with his glare. The creepy demon didn't even have the good sense to be intimidated.

"What type of monster was this?"

"An otter."

Galvina broke into a cold sweat. After she'd helped them escape, had the remnants of Gi's clan come here? They shouldn't be anything compared to the thirteen, but the same could be said of the goblin rebel and she'd caused no end of issues.

"A new clan then...," the Emperor said, seeming to chew on the idea.

Was this going to be a problem for Galvina? Or maybe... Maybe it was an opportunity after she'd fucked up conquering Igna. He seemed interested at least. It was time to roll the dice.

Galvina shot to her feet.

"It must be the Underbridge Clan from Igna, Father. They took out Queen Siht during the chaos of the Surge."

The Emperor slowly tapped his finger against his lip before gesturing to her.

"Tell me more."