The three men sat..., stood..., lay..., in a circle, huddled against the howling winds and snow. They were spent, their aether fully expended from their efforts to take down the creature.

Their considerable cultivations were no longer able to protect them from the elements.

Matthew sat on a rock, panting softly as he looked towards the devastated clearing where they’d all been standing.

“Ha...Fuckin’ ay we showed him…” said Matthew.

“...’He’ is our boss and I’m pretty sure he’s still very much alive.” said Jermaine.

Matthew lay back, reclining on his rock.

“Ngh...Whatever, Leave me alone. A win’s a win. At least I’m counting this as a win. Now all I want to know is what the prize is.”

Jermaine simply shook his head, refusing to be pulled into some bizarre argument.

Matthew  Colby was one that troublesome sort who fell into into strange moods whenever they’d fully and truly exhausted himself. Paradoxically growing hyper, despite being barely able to stay upright.

“Nh...Good work guys.” said Billy.

Angelo, Matthew and Jermaine turned towards the speaker. Angelo and Matthew said nothing, too shocked for words while Jermaine, visibly paled.

“...Er...Thanks. Hey Will are you okay?” asked Jermaine.

“Huh? O-Of course I am...for the most part anyway.”

“Your head’s missing... ” said Matthew. Blunt as always.

Kneeling in the circle where the beast had been bound was a naked body, lean, looking almost emaciated. Surrounded by black chains and white ash. Its neck topped only by air with a scant trace of gray light coming out of the stump.

“Right…..” said the headless Billy.

There was no follow up past that. Jjust an eerie and protracted silence that was made all the worse when the body slumped forwards. Cracking, crumbling, becoming yet another pile of ash.

Jermaine stared at the white heap as he watched the wind shift it and spread it around. He nodded, not sure what expression to make.

Then he looked around hoping to see the other Billy, who had brought them to this clearing. He found him, yet another pile of wind swept ash.

Angelo frown at the ash, but made no comment. As for Matthew he’d finally passed out. Lying with his body draped across his rock.

Jermaine looked around at all the ash, feeling a slight chill rising up his spine, as he envisioned Edna and Elena’s reaction if they found out about this. He trusted that they’d understand that Billy was the one responsible for this.

What he didn’t trust was that their response would be even-keeled even knowing that. Besides ‘that’ issue, he also knew that he likely wouldn’t enjoy working with the two without their flat voiced, laconic counter weight around to keep them grounded.

He’d do it, because by this point his fortunes were more or less tied with Bone Tree Company’s, but it’d be hell. A luxurious, hell, yes, but hell all the same.

Having said that, He still felt something that was as close to panic as the illustrious Jermaine could feel without losing his patented unflappability.

He pulled his fingers through his hair, put his hands on his hips and then put those hands around his mouth. Framing them like the cup of a megaphone as he called out.

“Yo, Billy! You out there, man?!”

“...Nh?....Yes….It seems so. I certainly am….out there. I am also currently at this location as well. Did you need something.” said Billy. His voice sounding nearby, though a body was nowhere to be seen.

His voice flat, toneless and surprisingly reassuring. A sigh of relief escaping Jermaine as he slumped against a frost covered tree.

“Right...well, what happened with your body...er, ‘bodies’ man?” asked Jermaine. His tone slightly piqued as his anxiety was quickly converted into irritation.

“Mhm….the process was a little more traumatic then I expected and exactly as energetic as I feared.” said Billy. His voice seeming to come from everywhere at once.

“Okay...so that’s the explanation for why all your bodies disintegrated?” said Matthew who’d just woken up.

“Correct...I was preoccupied and took some damage that I usually would have been able to avoid, disperse or absorb.” said Billy.

“Preoccupied?” Jermaine.

“Yes.” said Billy. Not going into details of how, much of his actual consciousness had been scattered across the planet, lest the details of his fortunately temporary peril get back to the girls.

Angelo interjected, swinging his sword, sensing something odd about the weight of the blade.

“Whatever….You’re alive.... Now let’s go home.”

*****

Ophelia stayed true to her word, politely declining an invitation from Alphonse, so she could remain at the Bone Company’s new headquarters for a while longer.

Waiting for the man of the hour to arrive. She wasn’t bored while she waited. Not by any means. After all she’d just been told, that she and her people were now expected to take over the governance for what would almost certain end up being Argus’ seventh Great Kingdom.

Though  whether it ended up being, the Seventh or fifth Great Kingdom depended on  whether or not they didn’t literally swallow up Lloyd and Argus too while they settling into themselves. As with everything else that had to do with the odd little Company and its people, she wasn’t sure what to feel about the situation.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

On the one hand, the Ministry had been running nations for eons. Or else, how else would one explain the sudden inexplicable peace that was decided upon by the five  brutal warlords who’d eventually be made the first Great Kings of Argus.

Quietly running countries and bringing order to the world was what the ministry did best. And it was almost refreshing to know that she and her people would not have to be quite so circumspect about it.

Even if that wasn’t the case, the hundreds millions of lives that would be affected, more or less ensured the ministries cooperation if only for the sake, of keeping the peace.

Still, she didn’t like having the feeling that ‘she’ was being led around by the nose. She’d done plenty of ‘leading’  and manipulating herself and much prefered to stay on that end of such exchanges.

*****

It took a week for her waiting to pay off. She was checking up on Dennis, who was telling her about some kind of tumult that was taking place in the church. Yet another messenger had come to her lodgings in Garland with a missive from Alphonse.

An invitation from the Primus for another game of chess and some Ministry insight on what was happening to his world. Ophelia felt a rare pang of guilt. Hurriedly sending back the messenger with her apologies and a promise to be there as humanly possible.

She would have suggested that Alphonse call Dennis over but she knew it wouldn’t be the same. Alphonse’s relationship with the Ministry and in essence the church’s relationship with the ministry, largely hinged on the relationship between Alphonse and Ophelia.

The two were siblings in all but name. Orphans sold to their respective trades, somehow managing to keep close, in spite of the odds. The relationship between the next Primus and the next Head Administrator would likely be more distant.

While the Ministry and the Church had always cooperated in their manipulations of modern Monde, they were still both highly exclusive highly secretive orders and therefore, likely to be more cold to each other, unless the situation required them to be otherwise.

For instance as far as she knew her Dennis, and Alphonse’s Ludwik were barely on speaking terms. Which now that she thought about it, was a bit of problem. While ‘too much’ overlap between the Ministry and the Church was likely to be a recipe for disaster.

Ophelia had objective data that put the last two hundred years of her and Alphonse’s tenure as the least chaotic years in over six millenia…’relatively speaking’. She  spent a few minutes trying to figure out how to get two men to be closer.

Several things came to mind, since surprisingly enough planning playdates for grown men was part of her skillset. The only problem was the fact she knew that at least one of them would know exactly what she was doing.

And this was one of those things where being aware that one was being observed could sometimes change the outcome for the worse.

She was still mulling this over when he walked past her, lean and tall and dark, his slick and dripping looking like he’d just come out of the bath.

Though she’d rather have died than admit it, she’d jumped up from her seat in excited, running over the door of the little office that the people of the new Bone Tree Republic had been so kind as to lender.   

She caught herself, stopping herself from bursting out of the door and calling after him. Wondering just what on earth she’d been about to do. Peeking out from her doorway in time to watch the young man run into his Chief Executive Officer and Chief Liaison.

*****

*Flick*

“.....Um..Ow?” said Billy.

Rubbing the spot on his forehead even though it didn’t hurt.

“What was that for?” he asked.

Edna rolled her eyes at him, rising on the tip of her toes meet her lips with his. Struck by how odd it was that it was only in times like these that she’d notice that he wasn’t actually shorter than her.

“I don’t know what you were up to. I don’t even need to know what the plan was...for now. But I ‘do’ need to know when you’re going to be putting yourself at risk. Understood?” she said. Her voice stern, though there was still a slight curve in her lips.

“Nh...Yes, dear.” said Billy.

He’d said it half-joking, yet they both ended up just standing there. Staring at each other. Feeling warm in several ways that were both comfortable and uncomfortable, but more the former than the latter.

Finally Edna chuckled and stepped back. Cheeks only slight red. She cleared her throat and then handed the man a stack of paperwork.

“Ehem...alright then. So long as you understand. You can expect to get an earful from Ell and Tam though.”

Billy sagged. Imagining it. Wondering just how they’d found it. Overlooking the fact, that he’d had a few of his clones out and about while he’d been doing his little experiment.

While he’d careful enough not to put them on anything crucial, or anywhere where public, naturally the disappearances had been noticed. If only by the upper level staff, i.e. the girls.

More proof that hyper intelligence didn’t stop one from making stupid oversights.

“Anyway…” said Edna. Chuckling a little more as she saw Billy’s brow scrunch and correctly guessed that he was likely trying to figure out how he’d been caught.

“You have someone waiting for you.” said Edna.

Turning Billy around and pointing him towards the office, where Ophelia already sat at her desk. Pretending she’d not been standing at the door, peeping, just seconds ago.