The battered survivors arrived in the One-Eighth to a thunderous, blinding downpour. If not for the extensive rigging now in place about the Thorn thanks to Parathas' the skinscribe's industry during their absence, Aida was sure half of them would have slipped off. After a long, black night tending wounds, comforting the sick, and mourning those who died in Heaven's Tread or succumbed to injuries during their flight through the Vale and were left for whatever the Mourne was, Aida awoke to glowing pools of sunlight streaming in through the turtle's eye sockets.

Moving quietly so as not to wake the prone forms huddled together for warmth, she tiptoed towards the back of the skull. Families huddled close for warmth and even the seemingly-indefatigable Wretches lay practically heaped atop one another. The meagerness of what belongings and supplies they'd managed to bring worried Aida, but the achievement of actually getting them here alive gave her hope they'd figure something out.

Tiptoeing to the ladder, she found the Valeer clinging to it, muttering and moaning softly. Unsure what to do, Aida patted the woman on the shoulder and tried to make eye contact. A fruitless endeavor. She remembered Fallon saying something something about Valeers looking into another world; whether that was true or not, they definitely only kept a toe in this one.

Fallon. Just thinking his name brought pains of sadness, pangs of anger, and a vague feeling of remorse. They'd gotten on so poorly and only at the end before he'd died did she feel like she started to get to know the man beneath the formality and bitterness. She remembered Eth's nod to him before he'd murdered the Inviolate and the anger surged to the fore.

Looking about revealed no Imminent beyond Ryk who still slept where she'd left him. The girl could have stayed behind in the Vale or wandered off into the wastes for all Aida cared.

Climbing the rope ladders leading to the top proved dangerous, slick work and she lay breathing heavily on the damp bone a moment before pulling herself to her feet. Ghillie sat cross-legged against the fin of the first vertebrae, sheltering between it and the skull's dome where they formed a natural windbreaker against a hearty breeze. Wearing only a meager shift as she picked through her eponymous suit to redo her camouflage. The girl stood and the sides of her eyes crinkled in what Aida had learned was her smile as Aida approached.

Aida hugged Ghillie impulsively, surprised again at the tiny Feral's muscular solidity. After a while, Ghillie returned it and the two stood for several minutes, eyes closed in the warm sunlight.

"Only us left, I guess." Her heart ached with the loss of Fallon, Broadaxe, and so many others.

Aida held the Feral's shoulders, forcing a smile. "I'm glad you're still alive though."

The girl's hands moved rapidly. Death is not the end. There is no end.

"What, like reincarnation or something? Hadn't pegged you as a Buddhist." She shook her head. "God, feels like a hundred years ago since Earth when you all carried me from the nursing home. Careful what you wish for, I guess. Remember all that?"

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Ghillie blinked, as though not understanding.

"Did I lose you at reincarnation and Buddhism? Buddhism says this guy thousands of years ago became enlightened. Said the Hindu religion was bunk and to master yourself plus a bunch of other jazz."

What happened to him?

Aida laughed. "They made him into a religion. Guy named Jesus did the same thing and got the same result."

Her laugh died and she shook her head. "There's a religion out there worshiping me now. Hopefully that Semon Disciple guy is decent 'cause I wasn't very good at religion and I'm certainly not the right person to anchor one."

The people love you. You give them hope.

Aida rolled her eyes. "Depends on the people. And you can love and hope without worshiping. I was aiming for somewhere between Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. and seems I pulled off 'apocalyptic New Age cult' instead. Enough to put gray hairs on your head and I've had enough of those to last a lifetime."

Ghillie nodded, eye-corners creasing. She touched Aida's hair.

"'Ready to start again?' Fallon asked. All this wasn't exactly what I had in mind." Aida's smile returned, this time genuine. "Funky hair, right? Black and strong at the root, gray and frazzled at the ends. I kinda like it. Reminds me."

Her Feral stepped back, climbed to the apex of the skull not far from the Thorn, and gestured broadly with her arms.

Aida followed her. Stared. Gasped.

Everywhere she looked, the once-barren plain seethed with green, accented in blooms of every color imaginable. Creepers, seedlings, buds, and sprouts reached up as far she could see in every direction, the scents of growth, flower, damp, life tinged sulfurous by the distant, rumbling volcanoes. Tiny lizards, miniature six-legged turtloids, and bird-like critters flitted, fluttered, chirped, croaked, tittered, cried, and sang.

"Seven-eighths paradise," Aida breathed, soaking it all in. "Maybe we won't all starve."

Ghillie nodded and glanced at Aida's hand. With her usual quick efficiency, the Feral grabbed, tugged, and shimmied, pulling away the grimy bandage. Aida flexed her smooth, fully-regrown fingers, marveling. "Well, you won't all starve anyway. I don't need to eat since I'm a goddamn demigoddess. You know, I never asked Fallon what else I can do."

Fast. Strong. Tough. More and more older and older.

"No turning into bats, leaping tall buildings in a single bound, or shooting lasers from my eyes?" Her smile faded. "I wonder what Fallon ever did to deserve me for his fate?"

To her surprise, Ghillie signed. Loved wrong.

She threw a few questions out, trying to delve deeper, but Aida knew too little sign to make any sense of it. They ended up staring out over the lush, dew-glistened growth.

In the far distance, a mountain moved. A massive stretch lifted, shifted, and landed. Distance delayed the shuddering thud of its impact for several seconds.

A bellow sounded, distant thunder meets earthquake. Skull trembled beneath their feet.

"My God, that thing's huge... gigantic.. colossal..." Descriptors failed her. "Is that mountain alive? Is that a god like the snake in Heaven's Tread?"

Sounds of life stirred in the skull below them, people moving, talking, crying, laughing, arguing, praying. Her people. She turned towards the giant shell, its packed dust coating washed away to reveal a gleaming gold-fading-to-tarnished-bronze surface. Parathas' small, faded-orange figure waved from the neck opening. Aida waved back.

"This I can work with. Jax'll be coming for us so no time to lose. Let's get to work."

After a final long look at the verdant growth, Aida took a deep breath and climbed down the ladder to her waking people.

Ghillie, as always, followed close behind her.