The Metallic Councilors, his ene-no, their enemies now, rushed at him and Impencrest. Jay pulled a soldier to him with a Hook of Thought, launching their head into a tentacle. Impencrest covered the girl's eyes with fire, preventing her from seeing the chaos. Jay let water coat her ears, plugging them as well.

  "So, what's your name?," he asked Impencrest. "I don't want to call you Impencrest in my head."

  "Xera," she said with a grunt, heaving her warhammer to the side and taking down a massive portion of their enemies. "I use warhammers and fire. I'm a Thoughtstriker. You?"

  "I'm Jay, and I practice all the paths. I use multiple elements, and with one of my abilities, I can use any of them."

  Xera nodded before starting. "Wait. What?"

  Jay shook his head, Amon's tentacles scything through their enemies. "Just know I have multiple paths. No one knows what's going on with me either."

  Xera nodded. "Sure. So, what's that silver liquid?"

  "My soul, controlled by a being inside of me."

  "I give up."

  Jay laughed, summoning his Flowering Domain, flowers suddenly appearing and crunching down a massive amount of Councilors. "So, why are these people so weak? The ones in the base were far stronger, and even then, you were the only one with power I would expect of a Metallic Councilor."

  Xera smiled. "The Metallics accept a lot of people and put them in Tier One. Then, when they prove themselves, they get promoted to Tier Two, and that's when you can expect them to be as strong as I am. Until then, any nobody can join Tier One."

  Jay nodded. "So, why'd you join the Metallic Council? You switched sides so abruptly-I don't think you liked them much."

  "I didn't. I joined to keep my sister safe."

  "So, what are you going to do after this battle?"

  Xera stopped for a moment. "I dunno?"

  Jay sighed. "I'll ask Diamond to put you in school."

  Xera's eyes widened. "Isn't Diamond the leader of the Gemstones?"

  Jay nodded. "He's scouting me to be Onyx."

  "Why are you telling me all of this?"

  "What are you going to do with the information? Go back to the Metallics?"

  Xera nodded thoughtfully, pulping a head. "I suppose that makes sense."

  Jay activated The Harsh, Lifegiving Sun, giving his plants a boost. They started eating faster, rapidly crunching down their enemies. Xera shuddered. "I don't want to be your enemy anymore, anyways. Those flowers look painful."

  Jay smiled. The last few members of the council waited just outside what they assumed was his range. He turned to Xera. "Do you want them alive?"

  "Nah. They tried to use sis as bait. Kill em'."

  Jay turned to them. Amon pulled all of her tendrils back, collecting his soul. Then she launched a single large spike through one's head, killing more as Jay launched himself forward with Hooks of Thought.

  Diamond's voice sounded in his head. "We need one to interrogate."

  Amon stopped before killing the last one, and Jay grabbed him in a loose Crush grip. Xera raised an eyebrow. "Diamond wanted to interrogate one," Jay said, shrugging. "Oh, by the way, Diamond. Can you admit her to school?"

  Diamond's voice came from between them. "You mean the ex-Metallic Councilor?"

  "Yes."

  "Sure."

  Xera nodded in relief. "That means she gets a safe place to stay?," she asked, poking at her sister.

  Jay nodded. "The students aren't very nice, but they also aren't very strong. Just a warning, don't talk to Millie in the morning. Do not interact with her. Do not look at her weird. Later in the day, anything is fine. Avoid her at all costs in the morning, though."

  Xera nodded, looking confused. "Sure."

  "Trust me, you'll see when we get there. Diamond, can we get a lift back?"

  "I'm always the transportation, aren't I?," Diamond asked from thin air before portals appeared under their feet.

  They landed in the eating room of the dorms, seeing everyone suddenly stop eating lunch to stare at them. Diamond appeared. He pointed at Xera. "This is a new student." He pointed at Xera's sister. "If anyone hurts her, they'll be tossed into the Void." He pointed at Jay. "This is a student who's already a student here but was missing for a bit."

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  Diamond abruptly disappeared. Jay grabbed Xera, pointing at Millie, who was sitting alone. "That's Millie. She's nice, except in the morning."

  He dragged her over, sitting them next to Millie. "Hi! Thanks for saving me and stuff."

  One of her water tentacles dropped food off in front of him. "A war's starting and Father wants to recruit you."

  Jay sighed. The king wanted to recruit him? "If I take the position, can I be a Gemstone?"

  Millie shook her head. "It's either this or that."

  "I'd rather not, then."

  Millie nodded. "He'll be disappointed, but its fine."

  She turned to Xera. "Who's this?"

  Xera answered for herself. "I'm Xera, an ex-Metallic Councilor. This is my sister, Olive."

  Mllie folded herself over the table to get a closer look at Olive. "Hi!"

  She returned to a normal position, as if nothing had happened. Xera sighed. "So, what kinds of lessons do we have?"

  Diamond's voice sounded in Jay's ear. "You don't really need the lessons, because you're technically not really part of this school anymore. I'm promoting you to Onyx as soon as I can. We need to do it before the war starts, and though this may be early, it has to be done early. Your two friends don't need to go to classes either. Millie learned everything from her Father and his tutors, and Xera learned from the Metallics. They can come with you on missions, which will start soon."

  Jay nodded. "Diamond just gave me some information," he began. "So, all of us will go on missions together, if you want. We don't need to go to classes, though I think training would be a good idea. I'm being promoted to Onyx soon."

  Millie spoke. "You're going to be put on the Gemstone Council? That's really cool!"

  "It also means I don't get a commander," a weary voice sounded behind her. Jay suddenly realized the entire room had gone silent.

  He looked over at a man, standing directly behind their table, wearing a crown and holding a scepter. "Father!"

  Onyx sat, waiting patiently in his cell, covered with chains. He would be released soon-there was no need to rush. Footsteps sounded and he watched, through the tiny gap between chains that he had, Diamond walk into the cell. "If you attempt to break out again, we'll put even more chains on you."

  Onyx laughed. "That doesn't matter."

  Diamond smiled, the grin not quite reaching his eyes. "I trust you know we're increasing security."

  Onyx nodded. "It doesn't matter."

  Diamond's smile faded and he started pacing around Onyx. "You know, I've never found out why you suddenly went insane. What exactly happened?"

  Onyx gleefully replied. "I saw the truth."

  Diamond shook his head. "And that's why I never found out. Give me a better answer."

  "They broke by chains and let me see the truth of why we all exist."

  Diamond went white. "How many of the eight chains did they break?"

  Onyx laughed. "Seven. It's so freeing, being released."

  Diamond sat down. "Who has the power to release seven. Seven! Of the damn chains?"

  Onyx smiled at Diamond. "You should know."

  Diamond strode out of the room. If Onyx was seven chains down, he was doomed. There was no going back for him, and yet... He couldn't finish Onyx off yet. His body was... volatile, and if he died it would mean the destruction of much of the area, on a scale not even Diamond could completely prevent. Diamond sighed, teleporting into his office. He looked over the mission reports, noticing one he could assign to Onyx. Setting it aside, he flipped through the rest, assigning them to various members of the Council.

  He was left with a single unassigned mission sheet. Looking it over once again, Diamond stood up, throwing the paper into a portal which led directly into a volcano. He teleported out of his office. I'm the only one who can do this.

  He kept teleporting, carefully, avoiding lines of runes the Metallic Council had set up to warn of spatial distortions. Slowly, surely, he approached his end goal. A mansion stood there. Onyx's old residence, now the base of Gold, the current leader of the Metallic Council. He stepped inside, still undetected. Gold was a floor above him, in his bedroom. Diamond left a message for him, popping it right in front of Gold's face. Gold scrambled to his feet, grabbing his armor and weapons while Diamond walked outside.

  He watched Gold stride through the front door, looking oddly confident. "So, I get to face the space mage himself!"

  Diamond shook his head. "I'm not a space mage."

  Gold laughed. "How are you not a space mage if all you do is rip open portals day in and day out?"

  Diamond simply smiled and waited. Gold summoned a pair of nunchucks, whipping them around his body at insane speeds. "Cut the theatrics. Fight already."

  Gold rushed him, swinging his weapons. Diamond easily dodged every blow. I'm still just as fast as I remember! He activated his Aura. It fell on the area around him. "Gold. Do you know what happens if you believe an illusion is true?"

  Gold ignored the question, continuing to attack. "It becomes true."

  A meteor fell from the sky, landing on Gold. He looked up, seeing Diamond's meticulous illusion, backed only by his ability, Believe in the Truth. Gold screamed, watching the massive hunk of rock. He believed it to be real, and so it was, crushing his entire body and almost killing him. Diamond made it disappear just before it killed Gold. "What are the Council's next plans?"

  Gold smiled, his face the only thing in his body that still worked. "You'll never know."

  Diamond smiled, stepping back. "And why is that?"

  Onyx spoke, replying to him. "Because you're missing a few Chains, obviously!"

  Diamond's eyes widened at the vice grip around his neck. He shifted the ground under Onyx, loosening his grip just enough to break out of it. He stepped through a hastily created portal, landing back in his office. Diamond touched his neck. Then he checked his status, unemotional. It was already too late.

6/8 chains of sanity

  Onyx laughed. He'd gotten the old fool, and easily. Just six more chains to go before they won against that unkillable idiot. Gold sputtered in front of him, slowly dying. Onyx's eyebrows furrowed before he tapped Gold, breaking a few of his chains. Gold stood up in front of him, no longer having some of those human qualities which prevented him from using the full extent of his power. His body had already mostly healed, and the pain he should have felt no longer affected him. Onyx laughed into the sky. He'd win, and gift this world to the Monsters. Then he'd get promoted, and everything would be great.

  He strode into the mansion behind Gold, which hadn't taken a lick of damage from the fight. Obviously. It was his house. It was far better than the illusionary prison Diamond had made-that'd been easy to get out of. Just stop believing in its existence, though his lack of chains made that harder. Onyx frowned. Diamond had only gotten away because he didn't have all of his chains. Maybe he should get rid of his last one?

  He smiled again. It was his favorite contortion of his face, not that he felt happy anymore. He'd break his last chain a little later-not yet. He looked up at the sky again. The gods were staring down on this world, letting it all happen. Just what he expected from agents of the Monsters. Entering his house, Onyx immediately found his bed, which hadn't been moved in the slightest. He kicked it aside. Sleep was no longer necessary. From beneath the bed, he found something he'd left here so long ago.

  Onyx put on the pendant, a black gem now shimmering on his shirt.