'Mia.'

I looked up from the cauldron to see David leaning on the spatial fold leading to the workshop as if it were tangible. I treated it like it was, too; but he had a hand on it and his head was just barely visible as he peaked in, as if it were a door.

'Am I interrupting?'

'Yeah,' I said. 'But you're not disturbing anything. Come in.'

He did, and I couldn't help a frown that could have probably passed as concentration. I knew why he was asking me things, acting as if he was learning things as they happened, even if time had long since become an illusion for him. It was for my sake.

Many supernaturals with non-linear perspectives of time acted like this for the benefit of those around them, because treating everything like it had already happened was awkward at best, not to mention it made people uncomfortable. And that was discounting the paradigm shifts that didn't give two shits about how timeless and omniscient something was.

My boyfriend, I'd decided, was becoming more like his god, and Fixer too. Maybe the Mover, as well, if there was even a difference between it and the thing Yahweh had been hyped up into when monotheism had become cool. They were both monsters, and though I forgave David for acting like they were worth wiping your ass with, I couldn't help but wonder if they really were omnipotent.

I mean, how else could you fit that much hypocrisy in one mind while still having space for an ego that big?

But I digress. David had started resembling his god in that he asked you questions whose answers he knew in order to make you think. That was alright, I supposed. If he asked like some distant, all-knowing deity, it'd just draw more attention to how little he needed me.

Space closed behind David as he entered, sweeping his gaze across my equipment and smiling. The fondness he radiated was a welcome contrast to the coldness of his aura, more precious for how rare it still was.

He had the same look whenever he saw me naked, though he'd seen all of me more times than I cared to count. It was better than boredom, but I was still bemused the sentiment existed.

"I don't see what's so weird, Mia," he'd told me once. "I've seen so many sunsets, but dusk is never less beautiful."

I'd laughed, because it always lifted my heart to see him not cursing at the latest monster to draw his outrage, or praying to the one his father had taught him about since childhood. I needed him happy. I needed him able and willing to forget how he'd been pressured to never show anything but anger growing up, because what was he, a girl? Luckily, with my help, he'd managed to get rid of the inhibitions centred around needing a ring and a scrap of paper to make love to your girlfriend, otherwise you were a lecher.

But David was still a reserved man. He was way more casual about showing affection than half the guys I've slept with, thankfully, but he was still, I don't know, embarrassed? About saying stuff like that thing with the sunset? As if I was going to judge him for showing how much he loved me.

'You're getting better,' he said, suddenly at my side, petting one of my constructs. It was a dense, grey sphere, about waist-height for me, able to grow appendages or shapeshift as a whole. Useful for fetching things when I was caught in a ritual. I was still trying to cast a telekinetic enchantment on it, but I had time.

'Thanks,' I replied, leaning on the cauldron as I turned to face him. I was still in what he called my witch outfit - which would have been cute if not for the ridiculous pointy hat, but, eh. I'd trade style for conceptual clout -, but had put a long, hooded coat and a pair of thick gloves over it. I was fully aware how stupid the hat looked perched atop the hood, and so was David, but he didn't point it out.

Behind me, the mixture boiled and bubbled - hahahaha! -, my newest project taking shape in its depths. Once finished, its physical component would be a skintight, transparent thing that would cover my body as its greater part would veil my mind and soul. I wanted something that could automatically react to threats if I was off-guard or caught up with something else. Ideally, the thing could move my body on its own while I meditated, if I liked.

David took the homunculus in both hands, nose wrinkling, He must have been thinking about how weird it was for my flesh to be this smooth and featureless, but I'd gotten over any hesitation quick enough. When you were able to regenerate, not to mention spiritually related to the salamander of alchemy, it made sense to use your own body. Besides, if I needed to use a part of myself for anything, I'd have the mindless spheres on hand instead of needing to rip chunks of my flesh out.

The armour in the cauldron was based on a similar principle, though a specialised version of it. Since it was meant to prevent harm, I'd used scales and skin scraped from the parts of my body that had been hurt the most in the past, and memories for the incorporeal section. Besides being tough enough to laugh off hits that would go straight through me, it'd also provide limited invulnerability. Szabo, for example, would never be able to slap my jaw off again, the fat freak.

'Did you want something?' I asked, wiping some gunk off a glove. The droplets became solid upon landing on the gold floor, offering a glimpse of my future armour even as they hid the magic conductor from sight.

David let go of the construct, blowing a raspberry as he stuck his hands in his pockets. 'It's great to see you're improving your magic, love, but isn't this kind of a distraction? I mean, your mana doesn't fight back.'

Unlike the space where my demesne should have been. If I hadn't been sure he was asking for my benefit, this would have confirmed it.

Was it a distraction? Arguably. I could master my domain at any point in the future, just like I could improve my magic. But brainstorming over the stubborn demesne wasn't going to help, not with the person Maws had told me about. It wasn't even the fact that zmei without demesnes were seen as incapable weirdos and often had to endure every shitty joke our species was famous for.

At least we'd gotten past the stage where zmei who couldn't maintain a domain ended up as slaves in one owned by another, or indentured servants at best. Didn't mean we didn't have a few lunatics who still practised that, but on the whole, we'd become far less pushy about how might makes right, even if some still lived by that.

Sharpening my sorcerous skills would eventually lead to me having a domain of my own. Indirectly. Most zmei didn't care to cast, preferring to use magic for shapeshifting and nothing more, and few even got past the flips and chants you needed to turn into something else. Hatchling stuff. I won't lie, I got into magic because I didn't want to look like a clown whenever I changed form. Tapping into power from magical objects, the bedrock of sorcery, wasn't even on their radar. What was the need, when they were so strong and more than able to hire mages?

The reason I'd continued also had to do with my dignity, in a way. I'd had to swallow my pride when I'd threatened Maws with the Neverwere Vaults in zmeu country, and even mentioning resurrection ensured by David and DEATH had rankled. Maybe it had to do with growing up mostly among humans and weaker paranormals, but I didn't want to be dependent on others, not like that.

Not even on my boyfriend. He had his own things to do. I didn't want to tug on his sleeve whenever I had a problem. I'd gotten called a clingy bitch just for wanting to cuddle after sex in the past, but this reeked of vulnerability even more.

I needed to be able to defend myself, not wait for David to swoop in. I knew he would, bless him; it was a fact, as much as gravity. Moreso, because that could be subverted. If I became known as the Keeper's woman, the damsel in distress he was attached to despite himself, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

There were more practical reasons for wanting to get stronger, of course, though I won't lie and say my pride, already bruised before the hit, as it were, wasn't a big one. Besides self-defence, it would give me more opportunities to work. I needed something to do - boredom was the immortal's poison -, and I'd go to sleep happier knowing I'd, say, built and orphanage with my magic, enchanting it to last. Or even just being able to paint and sculpt with my mind, only needing a canvas or some raw matter rather than any tools.

Art helped. It was pretty to look at, of course, and I was grateful my senses let me perceive far more of it than a human could, but it also occupied my time. In the mind of a zmeu, it helped to frame activities in terms of hunting or fighting. Worked to keep the dumber predator instincts at bay. At least, framing a portrait as an ideal I was chasing diminished the urge to snatch kids out of their moms' arms and bite their throats out.

Another, more immediate reason was that, if I went to her whining about how I c-couldn't control my demesne, I'd likely just get laughed out of hers. But if I improved my craft as much as I could, I might just impress her enough to at least get some tips.

'It doesn't,' I told David after the nanosecond I'd spent thinking passed. 'And I'm thankful for that. Soon, my land won't be able to resist me, either.'

'If that makes you happy, I'm happy,' he said in that tone that made me wanna pick him up and shake him.

'Hey.' I wrapped the tip of my tail around his neck, pulling him to me until his back rested against my chest, and kissed the top of his head. 'It's sweet that you're fretting, but there's no need.' Cupping his chin, I tilted his head back until our eyes met, then winked. 'I'm not gonna be in danger. She likes interesting people.'

David wrapped an arm around me with a sigh. 'I know, I know. But she's also a hermit by choice, a choice she made because every zmeu who visited her made sure to tell her what a bitch she is. You shouldn't let her upbraid you. If she just starts using you to vent instead of teaching anything, I can alwa-'

The red of my eyes brightened while the black slits darkened. The scoff I let out was tinged with fire. 'Do I need to explain how much I hate having my life managed? Seriously, David? You think I want you to whisk me away whenever someone is mean to mean? I know you trust me more than that.'

His dark, dark eyes softened. 'I just don't want you to debase yourself for power.'

So friggin' dramatic! Just as my current objective was, I admit, but at least I wasn't phrasing myself like that. 'David, I'm not going to debase myself. You know what's gonna happen if I get fed up with her? I'll leave, and she'll let me. And that will be that.'

I hugged him tightly, to reassure both of us that I'd be fine. Each second felt like decades to me, and I was glad I'd learned to manage the hyperactivity that came with superhuman reflexes, because otherwise, I'd have struggled to function in a society mostly made up of people moving far slower than me. I could also enjoy these sweet moments for what felt like forever, and that never failed to make me smile, no matter how silly David was being.

I let go, turned him around, and lifted him for a kiss, this time on the lips. I've always wanted to wrap a guy's tie around my fist while manhandling him. I was getting closer to convincing David to wear a fedora and making the fantasy come true. He was close to cracking, I could feel it!

Since I was too busy too rub my hands together and chuckle nefariously, I instead put my boyfriend down and began to change. My lab clothes went to the aether pocket I'd created, a pair of jeans and a red sleeveless shirt appearing around me moments later. Not after makin sure David got an eyeful, though. No need to make him think I was mad at him.

David looked me up and down, looking amused as he focused on the red ring in my lower lip. 'What's so funny, chuckles?' My voice could be deepened enough to shake a human's bones and have them hearing echoes for seconds.

'Just, kind of surprised it took you this long to get your lip pierced.'

I laughed, making the lab's walls shake. 'You're surprised I started with my other lips?'

'Nah,' he shook his head with a goofy grin. 'That's not what I said.'

I shrugged. 'What can I say? I suppose I just wanted to start from the bottom this time.'

'I understand the feeling,' David said, hand sneaking around my waist for an unsubtle squeeze. I'd be sure to return it with interest.

'I'm sure you do.' I winked, smiling widely enough for him to catch the flash of black at the tip of my tongue, and turned to leave. As I expected, he spread his arms.

'Heeey,' he said in an exaggeratedly whiny voice. 'What the heck? There was no tongue last kiss. What's the point of getting that?'

'Ugh, alright, you baby,' I grunted, trying to sound exasperated, and picked him up again. Since neither my demesne nor my potential teacher were going anywhere, I decided I might as well. By the time I unzipped my jeans, my tail was already throwing my tank top aside.

* * *

After the thirteenth hour of lovemaking, I told David I really needed to get going, or I'd get distracted and put things off for who knew how long. He reluctantly agreed, and I left the house, leaving the homunculi with orders to make sure nothing intervened with my armour's forging, including themselves. Just to be sure, I also told the gold golem standing guard in a corner of my workshop to be careful, as if it needed encouragement. I'd made the shiny lug yesterday, and I was still trying to make it react to things unrelated to security.

I pulled the fabric of zmeu country over that of mundane reality, a process that felt not unlike placing a napkin atop another so that the edges aligned, and took flight. My tank top was narrow between my shoulder blades, so it did not touch my wings, but something still seemed to be niggling at me as I flew, hundreds of thousands of kilometres passing beneath me every second.

'Ah,' I mouthed, pressing the fingers of my left hand together, revealing a couple of black cigarettes with silver tips when I opened them. The sinister hand was more convenient for spellcasting, in the sense it did not tingle after creating matter, unlike the right. It was something that would fade as I sharpened my magic, but currently, it was distracting.

As I stuck the cigs in my mouth, I was reminded of Lucas. We hadn't really talked in a while, and that made me feel like a cow. I could go kick his dad's arse for being a dick to him but not cheer him up? That made me feel like Maws, and a growl escaped my lips, along with a small smoke cloud.

I'd visit him if his demesne happened to be on the way. Sometimes, zmei shifted their homes for various reasons, or the country itself moved them around, though you could resist that if you wanted. Maybe I'd visit his brothers too; hell, what if they happened to be together?

A corner of my mouth curved up at the thought, and I took a deep breath. The cigs felt like a tire fire in a candy factory, along with a whiff of something sensual, like the location they brought to mind was next to a strip club.

'Those are not from our macrocosm,' a deep, cultured voice spoke into my mind. It reminded me of Attenborough, and, heh, I could've listened to that geezer reading the phone book.

'They sure ain't,' I replied, continuing to fly. 'Nice to see you, Hierophant.'

The Unbeing's image flashed in my mind's eye, a considering look on its many-faceted, many-hued visage. Its clawed tentacles were pressed together as its layered, black and silver robes flowed with its movements.

'Hello, my Lady in Flames.'

'I learned 'bout 'em from this guy with a flashy coat and an attitude problem,' I said, pretending I hadn't heard the title. 'Want one?'

'I gathered. And, no, thank you.'

'Suit yourself.' As I spoke through the aether, nothing interrupted my smoking. 'Not that it's not nice to hear from you, but did you need something?'

'We think that, perhaps, you might need something. Need to know it, that is,' the Unbeing said in the tone it usually used for sermons. 'As per our wishes, we have refrained from dedicating ceremonies or holy sites to you.'

'Keep that up, please,' I said, trying to sound casual. 'It's nice to know you guys think I'm great, but worship's too much, really.'

'If you say so.' It sounded uncertain, or maybe like it couldn't understand why I thought that. 'That being said, our number is endless, just like our faith, and our minds ascend the layers of creations at will. If we raised our hands in prayer to you, you would become as mighty as any goddess, and more powerful than most.'

My lopsided smirk faded. For a fraction of a nanosecond, I almost wondered if David hadn't sent his cult's head to deter me, suggesting I swap the power of my domain, and whatever else I might learn, for that gained from veneration. But even the photons spinning before my eyes in a slow dance seemed to be quietly laughing at the absurdity of the thought. David only barely tolerated the Unbeings, and that was only for as long as they didn't pray for anything or fight in his name or for his favour.

Then, I winced at how little faith I'd shown in my lover, even for a moment. 'Hiero? I mean this in the nicest way possible, but would you mind leaving me alone? I'm busy.'

The Hierophant bowed lightly, retreating into the lightless depths of a cathedral. 'We only want you to know you are valued.' A chorus of voices joined its own when it next spoke. 'Without you, do you think the Keeper of Endings would be as kind? Do you think he would guide the virtuous godless, help them shape their afterlives into paradises? We say, nay. He would leave them to their own devices, focusing only on punishing the guilty. Cold duty, blood spilled joyfully and love of torture have only ever resulted in darkling Keepers.'

* * *

The zmeu brothers (and how easy that name came to mind. They certainly weren't the only group of zmeu brothers to band together, but no one really thought of anything else that way. I was surprised I didn't capitalise it in my thoughts) were busy preparing for a family reunion. It looked like I'd smacked enough sense into Maws to make him reconsider being an uncaring douchebag, something that went against both his instincts and his personality. I was in awe.

As such, they hadn't really been able to hang out, nor, really, willing. Aaron had arranged for their parents to come to his barracks-like domain, and he had distractedly told me to take care of David, before leaving my sight, to take care of whatever task he'd set himself, muttering something about how we were good for each other, he was sure.

I'd watched his tails trailing behind him as he'd left, stifling my laugh but failing to hide my smile. Whenever I saw the one split from middle to tip, the halves hanging by a thread, and remembered both the story about how he'd been scarred in battle and the truth of the matter, I just couldn't help myself.

Of course, the Socialist Republic of Romania had been a nation of loyalty, camaraderie and patriotic love. Romance had been allowed, when it could pretty things up, but nobody in charge had seen it as a virtue or a necessity. No wonder, then, that they'd make up a story about fighting and order their Admiral to spout another lie. What would the alternative had been? Admitting people weren't really separated by borders?

Ah...Aaron was too old-fashioned to kiss and tell, but luckily, Andrei's shame had been surgically extracted at birth. When we went to visit the souls of Constantin's parents, he and Simona would come along, as they'd insisted, and I was sure it wouldn't take long for him to start talking about acquaintances from work.

There really was nothing to be cagey about, nor had there been anything since the regime change.

Lucas had pulled me into an one-armed hug, flattening me against his chest. He was in his tank top and tracksuit pants dad outfit combo, and I'd returned the embrace like he was my father. In a way, he filled that role as much as Constantin did, as much as David used to.

"Got something new, hatchling?" he'd asked, trying to bum a cigarette off me.

"Yep," I'd answered, making a third one and offering it to him.

The zmeu had puffed a few times on it, before incinerating it in a burst of blue flame. "Weak. I prefer something I can actually feel through the smoke inside me."

"Yeah, well, not all of us smoke to scour our throats raw," I'd said, watching him summon three of his signature cigars, full of the blue grass of his domain. The, I'd smirked toothily. "And at least I don't look like I'm smoking dog turds."

With a thoroughly unimpressed, deadpan look, he'd lit all three at once, with a lighter rather than his fire breath. This was usually a sign he wanted to savour them. "Punk," he'd said, rubbing a closed fist alongside my crest.

"The truth hurts, doesn't it?"

"Indeed. That's exactly why I prefer to be higher than I can fly."

I'd placed a hand over my heart and the other over my mouth. "B-But Lucas, you c-can't drown your pain in vices, it's unhealthy!"

He'd snorted, left and right heads looking around. "Say, I'd love to talk, but the giant windbag and his arm candy are gonna arrive soon, so." He'd given me an apologetic look. "I gotta get this out of my head."

Or he'd keep stressing over it and getting angry, but that went unsaid. Lucian had been much the same. His usual cheerfulness was gone, replaced by a dark scowl as he waited for Bianca to arrive. I'd put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, remembering what the iela had gone through before creation had changed, and his eyes had softened.

"Hey, don't think I'm not in the mood to talk just cuz I'm brooding," he'd said during a brief stroll across the arid, uneven landscape that passed for Aaron's yard. When I'd asked the old lizard why he didn't go for something prettier than the cratered mess around his barracks, he'd said no one would look for bodies in a place that looked so thoroughly bombed, before chuckling.

"The break is nice, chatterbox," I'd replied. "Though pretty weird."

"You're telling me. But silence comes easier to me than it ever has." He'd closed his eyes, laughing self-deprecatingly. "Damn, but I sound like David. Keep an eye on him for me, please. As soon as we take care of the upcoming mess, I'll try to make time for him more often."

From what David had told me, which fit pretty well with my scrying, Bianca would eventually return to her sisters for some time, more to train than to talk. She'd later use her newfound abilities to help Sofia Ilyich hone hers, allowing the witch to better bridge gaps across creation.

But there was some time left until then. Bianca hadn't arrived, I think, because the idea of meeting Lucian's parents made her uncomfortable. Not nervous, as such a scenario usually would have made most people, but then, she'd heard his descriptions of them.

I could hardly blame her. Bia's situation reminded me how lucky I was for David's father to be such an understanding guy. On the flipside, he said he'd had no problems with my parents when he'd come across their souls, but I'd still declined his offer to meet them.

Leaving the zmeu brothers to their preparations, I'd taken flight again, and was now about two thirds of the way to my destination. Its location had more to do with its inhabitant's desire to be found than with geography, so, since I could glimpse a dark smudge on the horizon and feel it with my arcane sense, I thought the old bat must have been curious about what I was bringing.

Abyss-Growing-Vaster, like most zmei from her generations, were reclusive, by our standards. They met to mate, not mingle, as they often said when asked, but otherwise kept to themselves.

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I suppose that, for people who'd been older than some species by the time the first stars had appeared, anywhere seemed crowded.

The entrance to Abyss' domain resembled a gaping pit, larger than most celestial bodies. Though billions of kilometres across, it looked empty. My eyes failed to glimpse anything in the darkness, as did my arcane sense. I was sure that had little to do with natural gloom, and much with the wards placed on her home by the old zmeu.

It reminded me of that week-long school trip to Greece, specifically the day when we'd gone to see Scylla and Charybdis. They manifested on Earth sometimes, existing both in the Kaos Cluster and our world, when people's knowledge of their legend waxed. We'd been lucky enough to catch them appearing for a few minutes.

Going by Maws' description, Abyss usually resembled the many-headed, whale-bodied monster, but the entrance to her lair reminded me of the living vortex that was Charybdis.

To my utter lack of surprise, she didn't welcome me. I'd expected at least some taunting, though, or riddles. Instead, she looked like she wanted to check just how much I really wanted to meet her.

As I descended, seeing nothing despite darkness that would've blinded an owl being as clear as day to me, I tried to feel if there was anything around me. However, the sense that let me follow air pressure, an extension of my sense of touch that was useful during flight, spotted nothing.

The darkness seemed physical, more like an ocean of tar than the absence of light, and there was a sensation of weight everywhere around me. I kept flying down, wings straining, breaking in half with every beat and healing before the next.

Contrary to popular belief, most paras only gained an inhuman pain tolerance through experience, rather than as an innate power. Broken wings felt like broken arms, though connected to my shoulder blades, but I'd felt worse. Abyss wasn't about to send me running with this.

When Maws had told me about her, I thought he'd been lying. If not dead, surely the ancient witch had isolated herself beyond reach, or become unwilling to receive visitors.

This was the thing about endless realms like zmeu country. It was easy to lose track of things, especially those that didn't want to be found.

But Maws had told me she was willing to meet people who caught her eye, as he knew from when he'd worked security for her. I'd decided to give it a try. After all, if the stories were true, Abyss could tap into the powers of her demesne while outside zmeu country. Even her eons of magical knowledge would have been valuable, but that...I needed that.

After what felt like days of flight, my feet hit rocky ground, shattered wings knitting back together. The darkness disappeared, not fading, but being pulled away like a curtain, and I saw I was in a circular cavern, too tall for me to see the ceiling.

It was covered in rows upon rows of circular openings, each too dark to see into, though something glimmered inside a few of the shadowed circles.

I'm sure it was meant to be scary or confusing, but all I could think of was how stupid the whole arrangement must have looked, with a pit this deep but also this, by comparison, narrow.

The spherical room and the array of identical openings were a ruse, for such things were meant to evoke infinity. I was sure I'd end up in the same place no matter which I picked. No doubt, the zmeoaică felt clever organising things like this.

Looking up into the darkness, I walked forward, stopping when a wall entered my sight. Lowering my eyes, I stepped into the entrance, and felt something like a door heavily but noiselessly slamming shut behind me.

A reminder and encouragement to forget about the outside world and focus on my journey, ignoring any distractions? Or a distraction itself, meant to make me paranoid, or even make me lose time by trying to escape?

I wasn't going to make any decisions based on such cheap tricks, anyway. Chances were, the sorceress just liked dramatic door slams, but who didn't?

Though I could see nothing, I could tell the ceiling was low by the spikes of my crest brushing against something that felt like rock. When I reached out and felt a similar surface, I decided it was far too small for flying to be practical. I'd crack my bones trying to break the unnatural stone, so trying to make a new way was out of the question. I had no illusion about Abyss' ability to shut down my esoteric powers.

She wanted me to walk. Or, rather, make my way to her on my feet - I had a feeling running would result in an injury everyone but me would find hilarious. As galling as it felt to move like I was wingless, it wasn't as though I was in a rush. M limbs seemed to have taken that to heart, actually, with how numb they felt as I began to walk.

After what must have been hours, the walls of the tunnel changed. They were not replaced with anything, but simply faded. When I reached into the blinding light that had replaced them, a glare that made my eyes water but did not reveal anything in the darkness ahead, I only felt a stinging pain that left my hands trembling when I retracted them.

A blunt way to say I should focus on the road ahead, but I'd take it over needlessly the needlessly complicated "suggestions" some mages were fond of.

Eventually, after the pain in my hands stopped, images filled my sight. Not displayed in the lights that had replaced the walls, but rather, in my mind's eye. Abyss was old-fashioned when it came to visions, I saw, since this recreation of my past started at the very beginning and followed events in a chronological order. I suppose I should be grateful at least I got to see things I didn't remember, having been too young.

When the image changed to Snagov Forest, the first place I remembered, I perked up at the sight of my mother getting off my newly-hatched egg, the same yellow-orange of my scales.

David had told me my parents' souls were with him, and that we could meet whenever, but frankly, I hadn't felt the need yet. Maybe this would change my opinion.

'You know where to find me,' my father rumbled, hands on his hips, as his wings twitched, before he and my mother flew off.

Luckily, my hopes had been low, so I wasn't too disappointed. Zmei were infamously apathetic towards their hatchlings, but some at least had the decency to watch over their eggs during the day it took for them to hatch, or at least laid them somewhere civilised. My parents had fallen in the rougher, larger category, I saw.

I huffed silently. Typical zmeu life story. I'd only been unusual in that I'd wanted to learn about my parents and eventually found them, in a way. It would've made no sense to whine: I saw how annoyed Lucas and the boys were after getting to know their parents, and I certainly wasn't jealous. But I wasn't eager to take David up on his offer too soon, either.

I'd be damned if I didn't love my kids with all my heart. It was no less than they'd deserve. Whether it took a year or a trillion, I'd try do do right by them, and I'd never be absent.

Talking about kids...my claws traced my abs as I remembered the future David had told me about. He'd said I was more curvy than ripped in it, after two eggs and one pregnancy. I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

To be, or not to be, a MILF. Hm...

Then I remembered teens mentioning chicks my age while talking about older women, and slumped with a laugh, like David did when people mentioned how he'd been born in the late twentieth century.

"They're making my childhood sound like a historical period!" he'd sobbed once, crying crocodile tears on Constantin's shoulder. His pops, older by twenty years, had rubbed his back with a deadpan look.

Yep. No rush to become a mom. I had all the time in the world, and other things in mind at the moment, anyway.

The vision changed, going over the months I'd spent lurking in Snagov, hunting birds and rodents. I beamed at the image of my standoff with a bear, and the carcass we'd eaten together, and the depiction of my first firebreath, which had scared a wolf pack off.

In another world, such animals might not have populated the forest as they did in ours, altered by the magic and sciences of man. Either way, I was grateful for those days of innocence, as well as the beginning of my true life.

The vision showed the ranger who'd found me. The weregoat had grumbled about zmei never having kids in hospitals, like normal people, but had still managed to coax me into his car, with the help of several cans of canned beef. There, while I'd watched, he'd made several calls I hadn't understood, though I'd heard and remembered every word.

(Now, that was just my experience, guys. You shouldn't follow strangers into their cars just because their meat tastes good.)

I'd made my way through dozens of cans, biting through steel like apple skin, all the while repeating my first world: "More!"

And, not to be narcissistic, but baby Mia had been really cute. I hoped that, if I had a daughter, she'd love life just as much.

He'd then taken me to an orphanage in Bucharest, the first of many. By middle school, I'd got sick of the capital and moved to a quieter place, all the while shadowed by government handlers, who didn't want a potentially dangerous supernatural running loose, no matter how responsible and careful I was.

When I first met David, in ninth grade, I didn't think much of him. He was this thin, brooding undead guy, who only opened up to crack jokes and pouted when you didn't like them. Fortunately, I didn't remain stupid for too long, and soon enough, I realised he was simply awkward around people, rather than an aloof douchebag who got offended if you didn't share his sense of humour.

The fact his classes were perfect setups hadn't hurt, either.

The vision showed a class about were reproductive systems, with David talking about how much blue werewhales could ejaculate in one go, and grumbling under his breath about finding whoever had thought it necessary to include that and beating them over the head with the textbook.

"Huh," Eric had said, thoughtfully. "Is that why the sea is so salty?"

"Nah, you can thank me for that," Bogdan had replied, flexing.

"Stop, you're making me thirsty!" I'd moaned, eyes closed.

"ALL THREE OUTSIDE, NOW!" David had snapped, looking up from the book, before blinking. "NO! I don't trust you three on your own. Shut up, settle down, and I'll think of something."

I chuckled with a wince. Ah, damn, teen me had been a headache, especially once I'd hit eighteen. I'd have to make it up to my boyfriend.

A smirk crossed my face at the thought. Riling him up until he wanted to vent was one of the few ways to make him agree to top me. David was heartbreakingly gentle, and even the possibility of upsetting me made him uncomfortable. His strigoi side wasn't much different: still a teddy bear, though far more eager to dominate me - but still utterly appalled by the idea of so much as scratching me.

I'd like to push the boundaries, there. David needed to understand that I could and had dealt with far worse pain than what he'd do to me would cause, and that I'd enjoy it and heal after.

...Or that was what I'd have said, if I wanted to be a hypocrite. The truth was, I couldn't bear even drawing blood from my strigoi, despite him arguing exactly what I'd outlined above.

I wondered how many others saw the side of David I was lucky enough to see on a daily basis. Ever since he'd started working at Keeper, people across creation had often only seen him in two scenarios: as the grim messenger warning them not to mess with life and death, and as the laughing monster who tore down all their endeavours while joking about their efforts to stop him, before consigning them to an afterlife of his choosing.

And, make no mistake, David didn't show his gentleness to many. Many only saw behind his laughing or scowling mask when he began force feeding them their dismembered limbs and turned their souls inside out.

Heat pooled in my stomach, and didn't stop there. The Unbeings' words came back to me; had I really made him better? More thoughtful? I guess I could've felt smug that I'd changed him so much he'd decided to help infinities of people better their afterlives, but honestly, the idea just had my head spinning.

I wasn't all that, honestly. Not yet. I thought about how I still had a ways to go before my mana suffused me, enhancing my body without needing to be cast, how I still lacked the demesne all zmei had, but that was ridiculous. David didn't love me for power, thank blazes. When I'd turned twenty-one, I'd dated this shy twink named Robert, a bookish mage who'd enjoyed how much I outmatched him physically.

Initially, it had been nice. An earnest guy who liked being manhandled? Hell yeah. "I need someone to tell the server they got my order wrong, and who's going to do it, me? Ha ha," and all that stuff.

But Bobi had leaned into my strength to a pretty weird degree. Not making me do stuff for him or anything like that, but I'd got the feeling he'd started dating me because he'd wanted someone to protect him and act when he was too shy too, and that...wasn't the basis for a relationship. At least, that what I'd thought at the time.

"Listen, you're lovely," I'd told him during the breakup, "but this kind of thinking isn't good for you. You've gotta learn to assert yourself, be your own person. Sure, sometimes boldness will get you into troubles too," I'd pointed at myself with a self-deprecating smile, "but this is beneath both of us. I know you're better than this."

I'd also felt bad about dating a guy who drew the line at making out because he was scared of what I might accidentally do in bed, "in the heat of the moment". I'd say my advice had worked, in a way: last I'd heard about him, Robert had started a podcast about how nervous tics could alter one's magic, citing his propensity for stealth spells and artefacts as an example.

I'd have to bring that up next time David and I visited Sofia. I think she'd adopted me as either her big sister or her mom, but despite her cheerfulness, I was sure she still missed her parents, despite how they'd ended up. I had to make sure to remind her never to lose her desire for friendship and harmony. The world needed that kind of wholesomeness. More than averting any threat she might become, it was good for everyone's soul.

The vision had cycled through less important memories during my musing, and I'd ignored them. Already knowing the details, my mind had filed the sensations away for later contemplation. But the new scene change made my eyes narrow and sharpen.

I'd hit what passed for puberty among zmei a short while ago, and my instincts had been in uproar. I think we all cringed looking back at our teen selves, and I was glad I no longer wet my panties or ogled hot people. That blatantly.

It'd been a trip to the Sighet Memorial, an archive of communism's legacy in Romania that was as bleak as it was extensive. The living atrocities the RCP had left in their wake had either been healed or put down, though sometimes, those categories had overlapped. Since you couldn't keep people mutilated in body and soul around as living museum pieces, alternatives had been sought: holograms, projected retrocognitive visions, golems, homunculi.

Zmei had been a commodity, before the Revolution.

A species so addicted to violence and sex - and rape, when they mingled? The Party couldn't have asked for better scapegoats when a thug was too indiscreet, but also too valuable to discard. Great examples to hold up when the chaotic nature of supernaturals, who needed a firm hand to be kept in their place, needed to be pointed out, too.

Not to mention blackmailed zmei had made for good workers and killers. Aaron said he'd entered the Navy to relax, but I knew half the reason had been selling his services in exchange for his brothers' freedom - and Lucas had still been badgered regularly to become a Securist in his mercenary days.

All in all, I was glad I hadn't been born before the Revolution. Zmei who leered at the wrong person ended up dead at best, at worst castrated and brainwashed, to be put to work as living corpses whenever appropriate.

Not to mention policy that spanned the Eastern Bloc and forced everyone not straight to donate sperms or eggs, lest they be imprisoned for deviant behaviour, conspiring to keep the country's population down, or whatever charges the nation's Communist Party could come up with.

The holograms of the zmeoaice I'd seen at Sighet hadn't been killed, but their spirits had certainly been murdered. Their scales had been scraped off, their knees forcefully straightened until they bent like those of humans, their tails and wings severed. The thing that had approached me, guided by its programming, had been a tall, blue-skinned freak, with light brown hair crafted to her crestless skull and her fangs reduced to stubs. Not recognising the hologram as a representation of a zmeu, I'd nevertheless backed off, a deep revulsion running through me.

There had been all sorts, our gruff weresnake teacher had told us. Zmeaoice who had loved women, or disagreed to be used as broodmares, or who wouldn't be missed. There had even been a hologram of what had once been a male zmeu, who'd been "feminised" until barely a caricature of womanhood could be seen under the surgical scars and grotesque implants. I doubted any of his past boyfriends could have looked at him without throwing up. They'd have probably disagreed with the Party's stance that if you didn't do you duty as a a man because you wanted to live like a woman, you might as well become one.

"But how?" I'd asked, horrified. "Were...were they caught off-guard and altered by magic?" It hadn't made sense to me. Zmei could heal from so much, they could move things to zmeu country, where they controlled reality like self-made godlings..."What did they do to them?"

"You don't want to know," our history teacher had said, not unkindly. "Trussst me, girl. Come on. Let'sss go back to the group." The weresnake had leaned closer to whisper where a human's ear would have been. I had no external ears, but the gesture had been touching, regardless. "Tell me if you need to sssee the psssycologissst." Her yellow eyes had flicked to the holograms, caught in a looped simulation of one of the soirees they'd been made to attend by their lovers in the Party and Security - though owners was a more accurate term, in my opinion. "Wouldn't want you to have nightmaressss."

So, yeah. Despite offering to remove my instincts for David, like Lucas had removed his with the help of the Mother of the Forest, I wasn't exactly jumping at the idea. Whenever thought about altering myself that way, I remembered the gelded, mindless things who'd had the misfortune of thinking the wrong way in the wrong country, and had been made less than slaves, not even free to kill themselves.

And, thought I knew it was ridiculous and that my boyfriend would much rather kill himself than think about doing anything like that to me, a small, stupid part of me - the predatory part, that knew when it was outmatched and was always on edge in the presence of the undead god I'd united my eternity with - couldn't help but wait for the other shoe to drop. It was sure that one day, David would get sick f other people having me, or angry at me talking back to him, or just bored of how little I had to offer him, when all was said and done.

I knew he wouldn't. That he'd never hurt me, even if he hadn't loved me. He didn't hurt those he saw as innocent.

But that smiling, monstrous face, fixed in a slavish grin, was always there when I closed my eyes, waiting for me to join her once I did something wrong and displeased my lover,

It was absurd. If David decided to become a monster, no one in creation would even know we'd ever lived in anything but eternal suffering. He was powerful enough. No matter what I did, if he chose to do that, it would happen.

And yet, as I looked into the future, my heart skipped a beat with every fling. Would this one be the last drop? This one? This?

And yet, I thought with a growl. this monster of mine worships me more than his god, and has never laid a finger on me without my consent.

It made no sense. But it didn't leave me. Maybe I was just too shallow to realise that I liked sleeping around and dressed it up as not wanting to lose a natural part of me. What would happen, would happen.

My more recent memories passed in a blur as my stride grew more purposeful, angrier. The tunnel seemed to shrink - there was a sensation of getting closer to my destination - and soon, enough, I was standing in another cavern, with no shadows in any corner, though there was no source of light.

Abyss-Growing-Vaster was lounging in an oval pit filled to the uneven brim with power the colour of tar. Like Maws had described, a collection of heads rose above a strong, wide body, but they were long and serpentine, unlike those of ordinary zmei. She was shapeshifting.

Tails rose, lowered and curled lazily behind her, tips describing geometric figures and arcane shapes. Arctic blue, black-slit eyes regarded me, halfc-closed, from each of her round faces.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Abyss lifted a hand, palm out. Her claws, millions of kilometres across, gleamed along the edges and tips. She could've been any of the zmei who'd stolen the sun, hiding it in a pocket like a human would a glass eye.

'I know,' she purred, voice surprisingly light for her size. 'I saw what you did, hatchling. Felt as you felt, until the last moment.' Three heads tilted. 'It is deplorable that you would harbour such fears of your own lover, but the truth must be confronted. It is better to admit reluctance is born from fear than to see yourself as a whore, like fools do.'

'I'm not scared,' I said stubbornly. 'I know he wouldn't hurt me, no matter what. He'd change the face of existence before that.'

'Fear, wariness, disgust - it matters not, in the end. You are repulsed by the idea of altering yourself. Yes? Yes.' She spread her forelegs, as if to say there was nothing to add. 'Better than for people to think that you are too lazy or perverse to let go of that side of yourself.'

'Yeah, I'll feel much better if they start thinking I'm a coward instead,' I replied drily. 'Listen. You said you know why I'm here, so I'd like you to say whether you'll help me or not. No pussyfooting, please.'

I was rubbing my face by the end of the sentence, and Abyss laughed. 'Girl! If nothing else, I'd give you a talisman or power for straightening Maws out. I can't, for the life of me, remember when he's ever listened to anyone besides himself.'

'I don't want charity,' I said carefully, trying not to bristle. 'I want training. They say you can change yourself and your surroundings even outside zmeu country, without using magic. That you can use your domain as an endless source of power.'

'All true,' she said lightly. 'And yet, you think you can equal me, instead of hoping to surpass me. I'd rather not have copycats around, even ones as pretty as you,' she winked, 'but, oh well. I can hardly be a chooser, with how few manage to make their way here. Harken.' She stood up, body becoming more humanoid while shrinking, until she barely stood taller than me, with only one head, though several tails still moved behind her. 'Your progress is arse-backwards, but...fascinating.' She rubbed her chin, walking past me and making the surface of a smooth wall ripple, until it resembled a writing board. 'Most zmei can't tap into their demesne's power while outside it, even in zmeu country. You, having an endless font of might but not a concrete domain? I'd ask who taught you, but you haven't spent much time in the country.'

Abyss turned, looking down at me. 'In any case, we can standardise whatever training process you've come up with. I expect you to carve out a domain by this time next year...'

I will have to return to this part of the story David and I live. But, suffice to say, over the next months, I began to understand my power better. And, as my teacher told me to stop worrying about David - there was nothing wrong with him; he understood me, and even if we didn't make love in the times we spent together when I returned home from training, we still loved each other - I found other things to think about.

Until, one day, Abyss asked me if I didn't want to put the technical stuff aside for a while and service my teacher.

'Sure,' I answered, squatting between her parted legs, the closest a zmeu could come to kneeling without changing form. Our bodies seemed to sneer at the idea of submission - more of that unmatched predator claptrap, I was sure -, but I had no problem letting a beauty take the wheel. 'But, as a warning?' I smirked up at the older woman as I placed her thighs over my shoulders. 'I tend to act up. Try not to hold it against me.'

I expected her to say "Oh, I have something else to hold," in a silky voice. Instead, she just grabbed my crest and told me to get to work.

After a few hours, she was ready to ditch the foreplay, but not before a question.

'Do you miss him?' Abyss asked, hands on her round hips.

I shrugged, wiping my face with a forearm. 'Of course. My heart belongs to David - but that doesn't mean I have to scourge myself when I share my body with someone else.' Love was not lust. He understood.

My teacher and current lover nodded, tapping her chin with a finger. Then, she grinned. 'Do you think he misses you?'

It was also during this time that my zmeu name changed. Not by my choice: the name carved into the core of my being by zmeu country before I was even born was gradually wiped clean and replaced.

That had been a hatchling's name, but now, I had started learning to rein in my passions, instead of losing myself to them and forgetting about my dignity.

The Unbeings' echoing chants, their praises to the Lady in Flames, lover and guide of the Keeper of Endings, never truly left my ears, after that.

* * *

Loo-

No.

But we can ju-

No.

But human! It's simply-

I know. Still no.

My worse half crossed its arms with an exasperated groan. You're not going to stand there and tell me Mia getting it on with an older chick isn't hot.

I frowned. Maybe I'm just too jealous to find it hot, alright? Look into a mirror and jack off, or something. But you'll keep it to yourself if you open that video.

As it launched into a detailed explanation of why I was a narrow-minded, hidebound paranoid idiot, I tuned it out. That didn't deter it in the slightest, since it was the most stubborn part of the most boneheaded moron in existence.

...the hell, human?! She's our woman, no matter who has her for a time. She belongs to us, and we to her. Stop being stupider than usual.

I grumbled something so eloquent it sounded like gibberish, but it was cut short by the smooth, bass chuckle behind me.

Arvhek of Naught, Bane of Makers, Sire of Stillborn Creations, and former Keeper of DEATH, regarded me with the closest his not-face could come to a smile.

Arvhek always appeared as a dark figure: a knight in black armour (and why did that feel familiar?), robed, cowled silhouette, a looming man in dark pants, features obscured by gloves and a hoodie. But all of them were impressions plastered over the wound in the substance of the macrocosm he was, like nuclear shadows in front of the blast.

And, though I was channeling the full power of my mantle as guardian of creation, that didn't make his presence any less daunting.

But that was alright. It was why I was here, after all.

Beyond the edge of what I knew as existence, the endless host of Creators who populated the ur-city watched us in utter stillness. But, like pebbles in the wind couldn't have comprehended the hurricane even if they'd had minds, they couldn't grasp either of our powers.

Though sealed in the deepest part of the Neverwere Vaults, I knew the cosmic prison was no more of an obstacle to Arvhek than a cell outlined by a mime would have been to an elephant. He was staying as a courtesy, according to himself. He existed on a greater, deeper level than creation. Or, rather, didn't. Arvhek's power was not that of death, or even the Unnamed Darkness, but something more fundamental. Something that felt like the Unmoved Mover, but bent wholly towards destruction.

As he stood up, appearing as a knight in full plate, with a hooded cape over it, my mantle of power drew tight around the core of my being. His un-words were being edited, essentially, for everyone's safety. They were still laced with something like static, which made my soul bleed.

'Such a heavy burden, placed on such a callow godling?' His fingertip pressed on one shoulder, reminding me of when I'd tried to lift an avil in my teens, and broken my arm in the attempt. He sighed, before laughing self-deprecatingly. 'Is what I would say, if I resembled the image you've built up in your head, my heir. Honestly, David, no one talks like that outside of bad dramas. Not all the time, at least. It's exhausting.'

He turned, whistling tunelessly, and I blinked. '...Arv? You'd better not be trying to-'

'Yes, yes. No need to threaten me with great justice if I oust myself as a treacherous blackguard.' The look he gave me over his shoulder was bored but playful. 'I used to deliver speeches just like that, you know. It comes with the bag of bones shrieking in your ear.'

He sat back down, legs closed, leaning against one wall. 'You've only learned what you want to learn about me, but that is not enough. You must understand, David, that it is perfectly possible to make no mistake, and be as fair as you can, and still fail, and still suffer. It's called life.' Something burned in the centre of his void-visage. 'I fought, like you. I wept and bled and prayed and cursed, just like you. I thought everything was false, so anything could be destroyed, just like you.'

He exhaled. 'But I didn't stop there. Or, rather, I did. Else I would be very, very lonely. You must understand the failures of the Keepers past, if you are to become our better, David.'

He beckoned me to him, suddenly frantic. Confident in my power, I obliged, and Arvhek wrapped his cold, burning arms around me. 'I see your history, and future. You might lift everyone up, but you will be a better Keeper than any of us ever where.' A broken sob escaped him, and the earlier flare was reduced to a gleam. 'An honest husband, and a loving father. Either would be better than I've ever managed...but you'll only have easy victories, if you compare yourself to me.'

'Arvhek-'

'No! Listen to me, for you have nothing to lose.' He pulled back, taking my shoulders into his hands. 'David, duty and the cold comfort execution brings do not make a Keeper whole, much less happy. Take it from the fool who married himself to his oaths, and had both his wife and his Empress end themselves because of him, and only then came back to his senses. Cherish your lover! Do not begrudge her her peculiarities. Know your monster! Sometimes, only slaughter can clear a path. Where the tyranny of ignorance looms, the tree of knowledge must be watered with the blood of the blind. Do not close your eyes by choice!'

I sat, mirroring the position of DEATH's fourth Keeper, as he began telling me about what I'd read in the Keep's archives, and more besides.

I decided I might as well see what Mia had sent me. If only to shut my strigoi side up. But I would have time for that.