'Shit-!'

Startled, Mia rose off me, allowing me to roll over onto my back, then sit up. My zmeu's scarlet eyes darkened, a sign that she was looking at me as a whole, not just my body.

Well. Literally, I mean. She wasn't masochistic enough to be with me for my looks. I had firsthand experience with her tastes. Secondhand, too.

However, it seemed Mia didn't find anything wrong with my soul, because her eyes quickly returned to normal, even though they were still worried.

Hell, I was just glad she had both eyes back. If I could swear, there clearly was nothing wrong with me besides the usual.

'The sun...' I began, leaning awkwardly to try and gesture at the window, though it was kind of hard to do it around Mia's body.

'It's night, David,' she said hesitatingly, as if worried I'd finally gone the bad kind of crazy. 'The sun will be up in a few hours. What...?'

'When I was being mangled,' should I have been worried by how hot I found her angry growl at the mention of me being hurt? 'I saw...God, I'm not even sure I can say I saw it. My sight isn't that good. Not yet. Maybe I should eat more lifeforce...'

'David...'

'Right. Sorry. So, I think I saw something black flash over the sun, and remove a part of it, or-no, wait. I didn't.'

'So you didn't see anything?' Mia asked, confused and more than a little frustrated. Not by my bumbling attempt at an explanation, but by the fact it seemed there wasn't anything she could do to help me.

 'No, I didn't see it,' I did, my strigoi side whispered smugly, its shapeless face becoming a half-smirk in the back of my mind. And it was right, in a way. I hadn't seen or paid thought to whatever had happened on the sun, not consciously, but...but it had. Like when you glimpse something out of the corner of your eye, only for it to disappear when you turn to focus. Except, it seemed, I had an entire part of my mind dedicated to this. But why hadn't it said-

'Why didn't you ask?' it taunted, standing in front of me where my unlife had begun.

Ghencea, or, rather, the facsimile of it my worse half had built, looked blurry and indistinct, becoming featureless past the cemetery walls. Above, black shapes wept darker tears into a blazing white sky, while a shattered grey moon danced with itself and laughed, laughed, laughed, rocks the puppets of the nameless, unnameable thing that had crawled inside its core and hollowed it out. It looked up at me as it lowered its head, and nodded down at my strigoi side while it raised its body, returning its attention to its shell.

'Are you ever going to tell me what that is?' I asked, thumb pointing sideways at the moon besides us, and the shape that walked the sky beneath. 'Is it some remain of Chernobog? A parting gift?'

'We are the only thing allowed inside ourselves,' my instincts said, as if daring me to challenge them. Then, that smirk returned. 'Except the zmeu, of course.'

'Of course...' The fact it hadn't tried to do anything to Mia in our intimate moments unsettled me almost as much as if it had. But, despite its urges to break and dominate, my strigoi side had been surprisingly quiet, almost as if it was bidding its time.

'I didn't ask because, dammit, we soon had so much more bullshit to deal with.' I didn't cross my arms. It would have made me seem defensive and whiny. More than I already was. 'But why didn't I remember? If you saw it, and we're one, shouldn't I have seen it too?'

'Do humans remember to breathe? You don't pay attention to all of ourselves, human.' Chuckling to itself, it stepped out of the shadow of the tree on which I had hanged myself, shifting shape just in time to disgust me. Instead of the usual white-eyed, ivory-fanged black silhouette that appeared in my mind, it looked like a twisted approximation of my dying human self: tall, gaunt and tired-looking, with bloodshot eyes and a face that had darkened from lack of oxygen. My tattered grey suit hung off it loosely, while my noose hung from its neck like a tie.

Short brown hair fluttered in a sudden breeze that sounded like the moans of the dead, but I knew there was no one here besides us and the thing in the moon. The graves were just decorations, props. My cracked headstone was the only one with anything close to detail, and I knew that, if I looked into my grave, another mockery of my human body would have stared up with empty eyes and a grimace locked by rigor mortis.

'I saw the sun die,' my strigoi side whispered with an excited little grin that made my human face far uglier than it had been in life. 'It is not long from now, human. Just a few eons...what is that, to what we will become?'

'Oooh!' I held up a hand, wiggling my fingers mockingly, sick of its smug gloating that somehow revealed nothing. 'Whose crystal balls did you lick, that you can see the future? And how did you do it without me noticing?'

'You are an idiot,' it replied, now back to its usual inkblot appearance. Hands sunk into the pockets of a barely-discernible jacket, while the noose swayed over its chest like a pendulum. 'We have a god of knowledge's eyes, and yet you barely use them to look beyond the present. But the sight is here, buried in the core of our being, and am I not so, so close to that? I would bet I'm better with Mimir's perception than you'll ever be by yourself.'

'Then what happened to the sun?'

'Nothing that wasn't quickly undone. You might have noticed the solar system not falling into disarray. Remember the thing wielding that little vampire? You can thank it, from a distance, if you hate yourself.'

'What? I don't understand-'

-anything?

I blinked, back in the physical world, and no time seemed to have passed. Mia was in the same position before my little trip to the centre of my mind, wearing the same expression.

'Sorry...again,' I said, scratching the back of my head like I was posing for my clueless shonen protagonist portrait. 'Just...um, just had a discussion with the other guy. So, when the Fae raided Omu base, I thought one of them might have done something drastic in space. The other guy, who was apparently paying more attention to that than I was, explained that the damage was quickly fixed. Sorry for scaring you.'

Mia took a deep breath (you'd think having a non-mammal girlfriend would mean I'm less distracted when she does things like this, but you'd be wrong), before leaning down to press her forehead to mine.

We didn't kiss, or speak. Just thanked whoever was listening that we were both safe.

'That other guy of yours is pretty perceptive,' Mia smiled as she broke the silence. 'If he can calm you down during moments like this, I think I've found another reason to like him.'

'You mean, besides how eager he is to play vampire and thrall?'

'David, your neck even has marks showing me the best parts. Stop complaining about love bites.'

'Chomps,' I corrected.

'Chomp, chomp~'

***

After Mia was done taking me down a peg (though that was definitely not what I'd call it), and having received no orders except to hurry up, wait and keep our eyes peeled for anything suspicious, we decided to make up to our friends for our lost Christmas.

It was, from a certain point of view, such a stupid, petty thing. Millions had lost their lives, not just their free time, and here we were, worrying about wasted occasions like some spoiled...no. You know what? Back when I regained my will to live, I swore to try and see the bright side of things.

So, after visiting Mihai, and helping him make sure the Unseelie had left no surprises around his apartment, I went to Andrei, and we shared a laugh at the fused iron and flesh sculptures he had made from his would-be assassins, but I had a feeling he was hiding some guilt at the crater that had quickly, quietly been refilled and the new block built over it. The people wouldn't be coming back.

Putting minds in constructs or uploading them to the net was all fine and dandy, and even resurrecting bodies was allowed in certain regions where voodoo dominated, but to truly bring someone back, you'd have to drag their souls back from their afterlives, and....Jesus. Anyone willing to contemplate that wasn't someone you wanted to revive people. Just look at the reason why I was walking again.

And, yes, I was aware of the irony of mentioning Jesus in that context. He was the Son and most human part of God. The point was, only he and his counterparts had the right kind of mindset to judge whether someone deserved a second chance at life.

Alex and a bunch of his ghost neighbours greeted me hefting iron shanks, but I noticed there were fewer of them than last time, and the ones present sported ragged tears in their ectoplasmic bodies.

'It's alright, David. I'm just killing time,' my ghost friend shrugged, tossing an improvised knife from hand to hand. 'The world would, once again, not lose much if I kicked it.'

'Don't talk like that...' I put a hand on his shoulder, touching him like he was solid, and he smiled.

'Remember eight years ago, when you said you thought I'm only asthmatic, not retarded?'

I winced. Alex had already explained that, after meeting my mother in the aether, and listening to her story, he had gone to Andrei on a hunch, and the were had confirmed his suspicions, before asking him to keep quiet until it was time to reveal it to me. 'If you're still mad...'

'Of course I'm not. Everyone uses medical terms as insults, you depressed bum.'

...'I'm no longer depressed, though.'

'Glad you're not denying you're a bum.'

'Well, how could I? Mia won't shut up about my a-'

'David! Ugh, dammit, why are you turning this talk into one of those?'

'Those?'

'Those!'

***

'I was starting to think this was some sort of slow-burning revenge scheme of my sisters', to get back at you for that time,' Bianca said, leaning back against Lucian's broad chest, feet dangling above the floor. The zmeu's tail was wrapped protectively around her, though, save for a few black scars threading through her true form, Bianca's physical body was unharmed. The Unseelie hadn't got far before Lucian had used his control over his domain to fill their guts with carnivorous iron maggots.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

He was almost as creative as me when people close to him were harmed.

'But...' the iela continued, blue-on-blue eyes staring at the corner of the living room Lucian had conjured. 'I went to them after. They were as oblique as ever, but maybe...maybe this is one of those things when you threaten to do something to someone, have nothing in mind, and just laugh as they drive themselves crazy, imagining worse and worse scenarios.'

'Even they aren't dumb enough to shack up with the Unseelie, Bia,' Lucian rumbled, caressing her long blonde hair with one hand. 'Besides, the attack was global.'

'Even so...'

'Yes, David was hurt. But, I don't think the Fae were prompted by anyone, let alone targeting him, specifically. Or he'd be dead,' Lucian didn't look at me, nor did he apologise, instead toying with the haft of his mace, whose spiked head somehow didn't tear through the deep purple carpet.

'Hmph,' Bianca looked to the side sharply, crossing her arms. She was wearing a red dress trimmed with white fur-the two had been preparing to open their presents when I had arrived-and had discarded her frumpy human form. 'Maybe. I just want...'

'Someone you can blame and kill?' I suggested, feeling it was the right time to chime in, the two having let out their worries.

'Yeah,' Bianca agreed, shrugging off her current lover's arm and dropping off his thigh and to her feet. She covered the twelve metres to the opposite wall so fast the sound only reached our ears endless seconds later. Both Lucian and I, being thousands of time faster than sound, could, of course, easily track her.

Then, one marble-white, slim hand slid through the enchanted gold, which I knew for a fact was tougher than steel, like it was warm dough. With an easy tug, Bianca ripped out a spherical chunk of gold bigger than her and heavier than a pickup truck.

The iela bounced over three tons of gold up and down in her palm like it was a beach ball, not looking at us as she spoke. 'Though I sure hope they'd be nice enough to stand still and let me get a weapon. Maybe even kill themselves for me.'

Lucian and I looked at each other awkwardly. Back when I was human, I often complained like this in front of my friends, but Bianca had decades of experience with being talked down to by every supernatural stronger than her and able to resist her power. So, almost everyone.

'Fairy...' the zmeu tugged at his moustache. 'You couldn't have done anything. They were too fast for me to physically stop, let alone you. If it wasn't for reality here responding to my thoughts-'

'I'd have died. Yes, Luci, thanks for reminding me how useless I am.' With a sarcastic laugh, Bianca clapped her hands, pulverising the chunk of gold. Well over twice the energy needed to vapourise a human, in such a casual action, and yet she felt-was-powerless against so many. It was even worse for mundane humans.

'You know...there was once this sale, books from other realities, in the mid-nineties. David probably doesn't remember,' the iela tilted her head, humming a low note that reversed time, turning the dust back into gold and smoothly repairing the wall. 'Quickly shut down after a dormant Necronomicon equivalent woke up. I flipped through a few of them, about supernaturals, and guess what? In some of those worlds, I'd be a physical powerhouse.'

Bianca turned back to us with a dry smile. 'I can slap bullets out of the air or let them bounce off me, stop a speeding train...you know those tanks most countries keep around to test supernaturals? See how many megajoules they can laugh off, how easily they can react to hypersonic shells and how many tons of steel they can shatter. In my case, hundreds, easily and several. And I'm a wimp.' The iela sighed. 'Sometimes, I wish we had fewer overpowered bastards...'

'Now, Bianca,' Lucian was behind her faster than she could see. 'Think about the reverse. I sometimes imagine you stronger. In fact, I keep having this dream where we...'

Welp. That was my cue to leave them alone.

***

'I'm glad you're alive, girl.'

There was nothing erotic in the way Lucas embraced her, pressing her into his chest. No matter how many times she'd joked and teased him over they years, she knew he only saw her as the bratty little sister or daughter he'd never had.

' 's'alrigh, Luc. I couldn't leave you alone with only Major Disaster and General Principles to annoy you, anyway,' Mia reached up to pat his left neck.

Lucas' middle head dipped lower with a huff, probing the air for blood, poison or curses, and finding nothing. He knew he had no right to try and stop her, if ARC was what she wanted, but...

'Please, don't try. Let's just be happy we're speaking,'

Mia cleaned her throat after a few minutes of comfortable silence, and the older zmeu opened his arms, allowing her to leap off him and into the air.

Lucas' domain in zmeu country was a field of snow-white and steel-blue flowers, surrounding a silver shape that resembled an orrery they way a jet resembled a paper plane. It changed shape, size and weight every time time Mia's attention drifted, eternally remade by its master's will.

In his youth, Lucas, like most zmei, had been violent. His power and mindset had assured him a spot as a thug for the Party, before he had settled down to paint with something other than red, hanging up his morningstar.

Not many knew it, but the zmeu brothers' weapons had names, given to them by the Mother of the Forest. Three Moons Falling, as its name suggested, was thrice as heavy as Earth's moon, and hit hard enough to shatter the world, when swung at full strength-about equal to a kick from Aaron.

That wasn't its noteworthy trait. Three Moons thirsted for blood, and gave its wielder the abilities of those he had harmed. On a whim, Lucas could obtain a strigoi's healing, a mage's power, or a iela's voice, among many, many other powers.

He hoped he would never have to use any of them, let alone all.

'I know we've both thought it, but...I really should've told you earlier.' Mia crossed her legs, hovering, looking down at her former employer. 'You're like the father I've never had.'

'Aw, piss off, hatchling,' Lucas said gruffly, fishing three blunts out of his pocket and lighting them with a firebreath. 'Don't you start with the daddy jokes, or Silva will get jealous.'

'Should I talk about your weapon instead?'

'No. No working the shaft, yanking my chain, or playing with my...tch,' Lucas turned his right head's blunt to ash with a snort. 'I'm not good at this emotional shite. But...thanks.'

'You're welcome.' There was a brief pause, then Mia spoke again. 'I can feel him, you know?'

'Who, Silva?' Lucas furrowed his brows. Yeah, he bet she felt him all the time...

'No. My father. It's faint, kind of like...like those times you told me you could feel where your brothers were?'

'How far is he? Want me to fly you to him?' Lucas offered, half-jokingly. If he was in zmeu country and she wanted to talk...well, he wouldn't butt in. But taking her to her father would be no problem.

'A hundred fifty million klicks, east,' Mia pointed with her tail, shooting him a challenging look. 'How many seconds would it take you to fly that far?'

'One,' he said simply. Knowing how fast you could get to the sun was always useful, just in case you got into a scrap with a stubborn vampire and needed to remove their esoteric tricks. 'So? Are we flying or not? My parents will get together again at this rate.'

He just hoped they'd still do it in zmeu country. Maws could shatter Earth with a word and punch stars to nothing, but that did little to explain how he had survived their mother...

Repressing a shudder, Lucas took his former apprentice under one arm, and tensed his wings.

***

Mount Meru was large and heavy enough that, in the mundane universe, neutral by Treaty, Earth's sun would have orbited it.

That was nothing to Hanuman. Large enough to swallow the sun as a child, unless he altered his size, he could heft the mountain with one hand, handling weight equivalent to the Milky Way like a human waiter with an empty plate.

Despite his strength, and body even Indra's Vajra could not harm, Hanuman was worried. Not for himself, but for his worshippers, reincarnated before their time due to the actions of chaotic fools. What had the Seelie been doing while their opposites rampaged, anyway?

'Han,' his friend's voice interrupted his brooding, drawing his attention to a small monkey that was so much greater than most.

Sun himself was not present, of course. The Buddha Victorious in Strife did not personally dabble in earthly matters anymore, but his avatars, created to protect those who walked the Middle Way and nudge them to enlightenment (and which, amusingly, retained some of the Monkey King's personality before he had attained Buddhahood), did.

'You are beyond such worldly things as rage.' Wukong's orange, diamond-pupiled eyes shone mischievously. 'But if you want a brawl, old Monkey can sock you one. Hmm?'

'Tempting as it is to add a new adjective to your beads,' the Buddha adjusted the heavy red beads encircling his golden-furred neck with a haughty sneer. 'I must ask, where are the others? Oberon and Titania have some explaining to do-'

'Unless they send Puck,' Wukong said thoughtfully, twirling Ruyi with his tail.

'Puck,' That would be a good for a laugh. 'Besides the pantheon heads...have you heard anything? Is Heracles alright? Is Gil coming?'

'You sound like Enkidu!' Sun said in mock-admonishment, tossing his golden-hooped staff into the air and landing to balance on its tip on one foot. 'Are you so nostalgic, Han?'

'More like wishing for peacemakers in case fighting breaks out. If you're my only help, then I really need help.'

'Oi, pudding-eater! What's that supposed to mean, besides "beat me bloody"?'

The divine leaders and Seelie Royals were not the only people they were waiting for, though. Several unaligned signatories of the Syncretic Treaty to share Earth-Samuel Shiftskin, Eidolon, FREAKSHOW's Armament-along with Elsbeth Crane, Aya Reem and, it was rumoured, a disgruntled Ying Lung, were also expected.