"You have noooo idea how boring reality becomes the more predictable life is." Aphra's voice was the first thing understandable after the rubble quieted down. "I doubt you'll ever truly appreciate the lengths I go to to alleviate the tedious march of time. You're just as boring as Cael. You love spending your time mucking about with pitiful mortals. How could you understand."

Merin tightened her grip on her father's blade. She hadn't seen this blade in centuries. One of her half-brothers was supposed to inherit it after their father's passing. The blade disappeared with her father's death, and she hadn't stuck around in the tower, lest she be blamed.

Merin looked at Aphra; even now, the other woman was still chattering away. The magic that pulsed off her ancestral aunt was what she'd sensed from Mordecai. Merin's senses were dulled from disuse and neglect, so she had never felt the full scope before. But this was undeniably Aphra, aka Mordecai.

Acuzio had never answered her questions about Aphra before, and now his responses were unneeded. Merin had all the pieces she needed to understand this distant relative.

Aphra was the woman in her mother's journals. She represented the closest the Phoenix could get to her true form. The Phoenix spent centuries burning through different bodies as her mother stripped her of her identity, dignity, and power.

What was left was this twisted being who became a reality-breaking deity.

Merin looked over at Red, who stood equally unfazed by the rubble she had brought down on all their heads. She knew it was a pointless action, but her temper had been sparked. She wasn't thinking logically; she just wanted to shut off Aphra's abrasive words.

It didn't work.

Aphra was still chatting as she stood on the pile of stones. Unlike Merin's stillness, Red went on the offensive. He vanished and reappeared behind Aphra. His arms were nearly invisible as he threw multiple attacks towards her person.

Aphra continued to sling insults in both of their directions as she smoothly fended off each of Red's attempts to land a blow. She didn't so much as blink as she languidly dodged each attempt.

Merin wanted to help in some way, but she felt useless. The speed at which Red and Aphra moved was barely visible to her. She could barely step in the first time, and there was no telling how a second attempt might make things worse.

She turned her attention to Acuzio instead. The Dragon God hadn't budged from his spot by the now broken throne. He wasn't watching the fight or engaging with anyone aside from Aphra.

A flash of rage shot through Merin, and before she could stop herself, she directed a wall of silver at Acuzio. The dragon didn't even bother blinking as the wall came down and covered him. It shattered against his scales, and he slowly blinked at her amid the shattered light.

"Is that all?" He said. His rumbly voice was barely discernable with the distance between them.

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Merin tightened her hands into fists. The gesture dug the blade's hilt into her palm. The pain sharpened into the final crack in her self-control. Merin yelled as she unleashed all of her pent-up emotions. She sent endless energy blasts at her unabashed ancestral uncle. She was out of breath and red in the face when she stopped.

The rubble Acuzio laid on didn't even resemble dust by the time she was done. The Dragon God still hadn't moved from his original position. And there wasn't even a broken scale; he looked untouched and unbothered.

Merin looked over to see how Red was faring. He was still exchanging invisible blows, and she couldn't track him fully. Aphra was laughing as she bobbed and weaved. There was a light in Red's eyes that she didn't like to see. He was enjoying the fight and clearly giving his all to kill Aphra.

Merin's lips trembled as the fear of losing struck far too many chords in her heart. There was no way the two of them could handle these ancient beings. Their combined strength was just as incomparable as their added experience in battle.

Merin tightened her hold on her father's blade. There was no way these two deities didn't know that.

A loud crash sent her head whipping over to see Red's face down in the rubble. Aphra didn't go for the killing blow but teleported via flames to stand beside Acuzio.

Aphra grabbed the crocodile-sized Dragon God by the tail and swung him around. The boisterous deity made her way to some rocks and, in a wildly strange move, started chucking rubble at them using Acuzio.

Merin's mouth fell open at the sight, which stayed open as she created barriers around Red and herself.

"I can smell your small brains trying to comprehend the intricacies of our dynamic. Don't bother." Aphra said with a vicious smirk.

Merin was wondering, but there was no way she could get the answer. Her mother's journals had left her in the dark about this.

But that didn't mean she should leave all the fighting to Red. Merin looked up at the bright moon's rays. The moon's rays were fading, and with it, her use to Red would also disappear. He was empowered by blood and would never need an external factor like herself to be at peak strength.

Fire gave Aphra and or Mordecai strength, so what fueled Acuzio? Gods weren't fully limited by what empowered them, but like most creatures, they had a preferred element.

Merin covered herself with a shield just in time to avoid a direct hit from a burning chunk of rubble.

A loud, rich chuckle made Merin whip her head over to Red. He tossed his head back and gave a full belly laugh. A twisted excitement she had never seen in him before shone out of his eyes, matching the joy in Aphra's eyes.

Red vanished and reappeared yet again next to Aphra. He wrestled the Dragon God away from his sibling and threw him aside. Yet again, Red started trading blows with Aphra. The two were so in sync with one another they appeared to be dancing as they tried to murder the other.

Acuzio didn't appreciate the attack, and the vibrating beast started growing as he launched himself at Red.

Aphra stepped aside and appeared before Merin could take a breath and adjust to this new development. Merin erected a shield that might as well have been a piece of parchment. Aphra's hands cut through it without pause and grabbed Merin's arms.

"Prove to me that all the lives wasted in creating you was worth it. Show me your strength," Aphra said with a savage glare as her fingers broke the bones in Merin's arms. The broken skin and bones should hurt, but what bothered Merin more was the lack of pain. Her body didn't have a pulse, didn't need substance, and never felt pain. To become a Moon Goddess was to live with the constant hollowness of existence.

Merin could understand why Red and Aphra lived for a fight. It seemed to be the only way they felt alive. But this couldn't be the answer. How could she make them realize this?

Undaunted, Aphra directed an assault on Red as well. She directed flames to lick at his feet and keep him anchored to the ground as Acuzio slammed into Red.

Merin tried to move so she could help, but Aphra kept her in check by not letting her go.